CHAPTER 490: 455 ENVY ABLAZE (4000 WORDS)

"Do you need anything?"

Brother Wen Nian asked Mom in a gentle and polite tone.

Mom hurriedly smiled, pulling me forward to approach them,

"Young Master Wen, do you know our Xiao Li?"

I stared at Wen Nian and Song Lili, and when I saw Wen Nian holding her hand, a surge of jealousy, pure and simple jealousy, welled up inside me—jealousy at others having good things I didn’t...

"Yes, Auntie. What’s up?"

"You... how do you know each other?" Mom continued to smile as she asked, then hastily added, "Ah, I’m Lili’s... stepmother, just a bit curious, might have asked too much."

"Wen Xiaonian, let’s go downstairs, I’m so hungry."

Song Lili urged.

Wen Nian gave her an indulgent glance and then politely said to Mom,

"Auntie, I wish you a happy marriage, we’re heading downstairs now."

After saying that, with his big hand holding her small hand, he and Song Lili went downstairs together.

I stood there, staring foolishly...

At that moment, I had already forgotten that Song Lili lost her mother at a young age and was about to grow up alone in Ruicheng. All my feelings of superiority over Song Lili vanished in an instant.

"Xiao Qiao, do you like that young man?"

Mom suddenly asked me.

I was a bit shy, but I always spoke frankly to my mother, "Yes, the young man is like a prince from a fairy tale."

"Xiao Qiao, he’s not a fairy tale prince, he’s a real-life prince."

"..."

"Come on, let Mom fix your hair and touch up your makeup so you can go downstairs looking beautiful. Mom will find an opportunity to introduce you to that young man."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Mom was very confident, and so was I, full of anticipation.

From that time on, I always remained confident, no matter how Wen Nian and Song Lili knew each other, in the future, the person who would stand by Wen Nian’s side could only be me.

I’ve always firmly believed that.

During the second half of the wedding banquet, Mom and I were well-prepared, but after going downstairs, we couldn’t find Wen Nian and Song Lili, not until the banquet ended, and all the guests had gone.

Mom and I still looked around, waiting.

Until Song Jiayu told us, "No need to look for Lili, she has gone home already."

"Did she go home alone?"

Song Jiayu smiled and merely said, "Don’t worry, someone took her."

Mom and I didn’t ask further.

It was wise not to probe because at that time, only a few people knew that Wen Nian was the biological grandson of Wen Liangyu, even Song Jiayu was unaware.

In Song Jiayu’s eyes, he was just a boy from the military compound neighborhood, and it was much later that she learned of Wen Nian’s status.

Besides, his appearance was brief, as if he just came for... Song Lili.

As it turned out, Wen Nian didn’t immediately take Song Lili home.

Where they went, what they did, I didn’t know, but that night, I didn’t go to bed at my usual schedule, standing alone on the balcony until after ten...

A luxury sports car stopped downstairs, Wen Nian got out of the car, with Lili following him.

She had changed into a blue tulle dress, which looked stunning under the courtyard lights.

"Go inside, I won’t join you."

"Oh."

"Not happy?"

"No, does my face show I’m unhappy... don’t talk nonsense."

"Hahaha..."

He held Lili’s hand, one looking down, one looking up, their eyes meeting...

It was the night that played tricks, the light that played tricks; in their eyes, there was a glittering reflection, and only each other.

Would anyone believe a seven-year-old girl if she said she saw love?

Lili went inside, I watched Wen Nian stand there until she had gone in, the door closed.

Then...

He looked up, was it inadvertent, or had he already seen me...

He caught sight of me, smiled politely, and then left.

I lay at the window, straining on tiptoes to peep, like a child who hadn’t seen much of the world.

Ruicheng, I had never considered going there, but afterward, during summer and winter vacations, I would often go with my parents, even requesting to stay there.

But during those three or four years, I only saw Brother Wen Nian three times.

Turns out, during that time, he had gone to serve in the army.

After studying abroad for a year, I returned and saw Brother Wen Nian in Ruicheng... but by then, his relationship with Song Lili was quite ambiguous.

But I wasn’t worried because I knew Brother Wen Nian was destined to be a great man standing at the apex of this country.

And Song Lili... heh, she was mediocre in her studies, went to an ordinary high school...

Then she didn’t even choose a college and ran off to travel the world; such a person... could never match up to Brother Wen Nian.