Hear this life

That afternoon, Wen Tingli came out of school, called a rickshaw at the school gate, and hurried home.

She is studying at Xiu De Girls' Middle School and recently got a boyfriend named Qiao Xingchu, the eldest grandson of Qiao Peiying, a family of weaving magnates in Ningbo.

The Qiao family was going to host a banquet tonight to entertain Shanghai celebrities. Wen Tingli was also invited because she was Qiao Xingchu's girlfriend. She wanted to leave a good impression on the Qiao family, and was afraid that she would not have enough time to dress up after school, so she simply asked for sick leave from the school.

"Pretending to be sick" may be difficult for others, but Wen Tingli has always been good at it.

Since she was a child, she has had an ability that others do not have. When she wants to cry, she only needs to blink her eyes, and crystal tears will flow down in strings. Anyone who sees her pitiful appearance with tears in her eyes will feel completely soft-hearted. If she rubs her face hard, her nose and cheeks will turn red, and her swollen eyes will make her look like she is seriously ill. Every time she pretends to be sick, she succeeds every time.

This time was no exception. When she got home, Wen Tingli didn't even bother to change her clothes, but made a face proudly at herself in the mirror.

"You liar! You cheated me of all my money and my heart—"

These were the lines and movements from a civilized play called "The Love of the Luan and the Phoenix" that she watched last time. She was not very attentive in her studies, but she memorized the lines faster than anyone else.

After performing in front of the mirror, Wen Tingli smiled happily, put down the cheongsam in her hand, and picked up an ivory French silk dress.

Qiao Xingchu agreed to pick her up at five o'clock, so she still had an hour to dress up.

It was a surprisingly fine day in June, and after lunch the women in the alley gathered at the public tap to chat and wash clothes.

Wen Tingli listened to the noisy sounds and felt indescribably happy. She liked early summer the best of the year, not for any other reason, but because things in this season were always exceptionally bright, like now, with white clouds like light fluff hanging in the blue sky outside the window, the color so clear that it seemed unreal, and the various dresses spread out in front of her, with the splendor that only summer could have.

She was changing her clothes in front of the mirror with great interest. Suddenly, the downstairs became quiet. The neighbors seemed to have seen something strange and shut their mouths collectively. Finally, someone coughed first: "Are you here to see Tingli? Yes, she's here."

Wen Tingli secretly glanced downstairs and heard her nanny Zhou Sao knocking on the door outside: "Miss, there are guests at home."

Accompanied by Xiao Taozi's nonsense shouting: "Sister..."

Wen Tingli opened the door and took Xiao Taozi into her arms, but she refused to let Mrs. Zhou enter the house and closed the door again.

Little Taozi had slept for the whole afternoon, and was extremely happy to see her sister. She gently touched her sister's face with her little hands and kept chirping. Wen Tingli sucked on her sister's cheeks a few times, put Little Taozi on the ground, found some chocolate for her to eat, and went back to the mirror to continue fiddling with her.

Little Taozi looked up at her sister, her face full of curiosity.

Wen Tingli caught a glimpse of Xiao Taozi's silly look in the mirror and couldn't help but chuckle: "You also want to give me some advice, right? So what do you think, is this dress better for me or that one?"

***
Downstairs, Wen Desheng was entertaining Qiao Xingchu. In addition to Qiao Xingchu, there were also several well-dressed female and male classmates who came with him. They invited Wen Tingli out in the name of joining the fellowship.

Wen Desheng was very satisfied.

The fact that the young man named Qiao could make such an arrangement at least shows that he knows how to protect his daughter's reputation.

Speaking of which, this was Qiao Xingchu's second visit to the Wen family. Wen Desheng had already found out all the details about the Qiao family after their first meeting. He couldn't say a single "no" to this person, no matter his family background or appearance.

But no matter how warm and welcoming he was, he would never let Qiao Xingchu step onto the stairs. His daughter's reputation was important, and he didn't want the neighbors to say dirty things about her in the future.

This time, he opened his door just like last time, and used tea and snacks to keep a group of young people downstairs. He stared at Qiao Xingchu with one eye, and kept glancing at the shadowy figure outside the door with the other eye. His expression seemed to be telling the neighbors: "Did you see? My Wen Desheng's daughter is very well-behaved."

Fortunately, Qiao Xingchu was very polite. Not only did he not find an excuse to go upstairs to look for his daughter, he didn't even bother to glance upstairs.

Wen Desheng saw this and a smile appeared on his skinny face. In his life, Wen Desheng was only proud of two things: one was that he married a lovely wife, and the other was that he had two beautiful daughters.

Last year, his wife died of illness, and he also fell seriously ill. During his illness, he once wanted to follow his wife, but he barely held on for the sake of his two underage daughters.

Now he doesn't expect anything else but for his daughters to find a good family in the future.

He looks down on the poor.

He had suffered enough from poverty for most of his life. He took his wife and brother to Shanghai from Nanjing, and after several years of hard work, he saved enough money to open a clothing store. With the joint efforts of the couple, the business of the store was getting better and better every year. Now, the "Desheng" clothing store is well-known far and wide, but only he and his wife know the ups and downs in it. If his daughter marries a poor boy in the future, won't she suffer the same as her mother?
Speaking of the sworn brother who came to Shanghai with him back then, one cannot help but sigh at the irony of fate. This man was called Qiu Dapeng, and he became rich not long after arriving in Shanghai. He drove a rickshaw, lived in a mansion, and even only smoked "Cheerac". It happened that the Qiu family's mansion was not far from his home, so he would come to visit with his wife and son whenever he had nothing to do.

When Wen Desheng was still proud of taking his daughters to the Great World to play every week, Qiu Dapeng's son had already been a regular customer of Cinnamon. The family hired two chefs, one Chinese and one Western, who cooked all kinds of delicious food every day. If he wanted to eat any dim sum, he only had to make a phone call and the waiter at Feida Coffee House would deliver boxes of expensive Western dim sum to his door.

Wen Desheng felt jealous, but his wife always treated the Qiu family indifferently.

After Mrs. Qiu passed away due to illness the year before last, the father and son came more frequently. Even though he was slow-witted, it was only then that he realized what the Qiu family was thinking.

In recent years, Tingli has grown into a beautiful young lady and has been admitted to Xiu De Girls' Middle School. Qiu Dapeng clearly wants to matchmake his son with Tingli, but his wife says that Qiu Dapeng is not a decent man and absolutely refuses to agree. Before she died, she stared at him and forced him to swear that he would never let Tingli marry Qiu Lingyun before she would close her eyes.

But this couldn't stop Qiu Lingyun from thinking about Tingli. In the past two years, this kid would drive his rickshaw to the school to block Tingli when he had nothing to do. Tingli was a little wily and had her own ways to squeeze that kid, but as a father, he was still worried about this matter.

Fortunately, my daughter was very determined and brought back a boyfriend without making any noise. Compared with Mr. Qiao in front of him, Qiu Lingyun was a complete loser. Qiu Lingyun was probably afraid of making trouble for himself, so since Mr. Qiao appeared next to Tingli, he never showed up near his daughter's middle school again.

When he thought of this, Wen Desheng felt a little uneasy. When his wife was alive, she often told him: It is better to offend a gentleman than a villain... He was not sure whether Qiu Dapeng was a villain, but he knew that offending people was never good. How about taking some things to Qiu Dapeng's house some other day?
As a few people were chatting, they heard footsteps on the stairs. It turned out to be Wen Tingli coming down holding Xiao Taozi's hand.

When Qiao Xingchu looked up, a smile appeared in her eyes. She had been fiddling with things in the room for a long time and finally picked out the most conservative dress to wear, a smoky pink wide-body cheongsam with a pair of apricot white flat leather shoes. She had no jewelry on her body, only a pearl hairpin on her head. She looked like a lily in a vase, so graceful and unparalleled.

At one glance, Qiao Xingchu recalled the scene when he first met Wen Tingli several months ago.

On that day, several girls' middle schools in Shanghai jointly held a patriotic performance. His sister's school also had a program. His sister was a little nervous as it was her first time on stage, and she forced her brother to go and watch the performance.

Because there were a lot of people coming to see the performance that day, his sister reserved a seat for him in the VIP seats on the east side. He found the small passage and was about to enter when the scarlet velvet curtain moved and a girl walked out.

The girl was holding a bunch of lilies in her arms, and she wasn't paying attention for a moment and almost bumped into his arms.

The girl hurriedly stopped. Qiao Xingchu also stopped, and when she lowered her head, she unexpectedly saw an incredibly beautiful face, with eyes that seemed to be shining with stars under long eyelashes, and her eyes were moving, which was shocking.

The girl seemed to confirm that she did not bump into Qiao Xingchu, so she just laughed and ran away.

Qiao Xingchu saw the girl again in a show later. It was a play by Shakespeare, and the girl played Juliet, while another girl from Xiude Middle School pretended to be Romeo.

Everyone's performance was very good, but Qiao Xingchu could hardly take his eyes off the girl. Her performance seemed to have some kind of magic, and her every frown and smile could easily bring people into the play.

He heard someone in the back row laughing and saying to another person: "She lives up to her reputation, right? She's the school beauty of Xiu De Middle School..."***
He was lost in thought when Wen Tingli came over with Xiao Taozi. She greeted every student except Qiao Xingchu. Finally, she handed Xiao Taozi to Zhou Sao, circled the arms of two female students, and walked out, saying, "Dad, we're leaving."

Qiao Xingchu smiled slightly, squatted down and held Xiao Taozi's hand, then handed a big gift box to Xiao Taozi: "Your sister said you like reading comic books?"

However, Xiao Taozi's attention had long been drawn to the table behind Qiao Xingchu, which was piled with the colorful cakes that Qiao Xingchu brought.

Wen Desheng politely declined a few times, but he couldn't stop them. Seeing that they were about to leave, he didn't see them off in person. He just smiled and said at the door: "You must be back at nine o'clock. Liu, Chen, Mr. Qiao... Then I'll trouble you to take care of Tingli."

***
Two rickshaws stopped at the entrance of the alley.

Qiao Xingchu's cream-colored Austin coupe could only accommodate two people. After a few pretended discussions, the students all swarmed into the rickshaw at the back.

Qiao Xingchu was always very gentlemanly. He opened the door for Wen Tingli first, then got into the car from the other side. After sitting down, he glanced at Wen Tingli and asked with a smile, "Why aren't you wearing the dress I bought for you at Sincere Department Store last time?"

"Isn't this one I'm wearing good? Students should act like students."

There was only one dress in the Sincere Department Store, and anyone who asked around would know that it was given to her by Qiao Xingchu. She and Qiao Xingchu were not engaged yet, and if someone noticed this, she would be the one being framed.

Qiao Xingchu stopped smiling and said, "You have always been stubborn. You always refuse to accept anything I give you. I didn't think this through, but -"

He said to her seriously, "My grandfather came from Ningbo yesterday. I took you to my house tonight. I want to announce you as my fiancée in front of all my relatives and friends. From now on, you don't have to worry about anything. You can wear the clothes I gave you whenever you want."

Wen Tingli's heartbeat quickened. She turned her head to look out the window and said quietly and solemnly, "But I haven't decided whether to agree to you..."

But she successfully suppressed the smile on her face, but she couldn't suppress the smile in her heart. After a lot of effort she adjusted her expression and sat up straight again, with a smile still in her eyes.

In fact, she had met Qiao Xingchu half a year ago. When he came to school that day, a classmate said that he was Qiao Baoxin's brother, who had just returned from studying abroad.

At that time, she was fed up with Qiu Lingyun's harassment. She could not rely on her father, and the foreign police in the concession would definitely not interfere in the affairs of ordinary people. A classmate gave her a bad idea: "Wen Tingli, there are so many people pursuing you, including rich men, doctors, bank managers... There are many outstanding people... Just pick one of them to be your boyfriend, and I guarantee that the jerk will not dare to harass you."

Wen Tingli didn't think so. Did she have to find a random boyfriend just to avoid a scoundrel? What if this guy had bad character? Wouldn't she be pushing herself into the fire pit? Besides, she was very proud and looked down on ordinary people.

Just at this time, Qiao Xingchu appeared. A casual inquiry revealed that the Qiao family was a well-known wealthy family in Shanghai, and many people in the school knew the Qiao brothers and sisters.

The rich girls in the school would inevitably sneer at these Shanghai playboys, but it was rare to hear them say anything wrong with Qiao Xingchu.

So, not long after, they had the encounter at Xinmin Theater that night. Everything was carefully planned by her. She had calculated which passage Qiao Xingchu would take to find his sister, and she was waiting there in advance, holding the bouquet of flowers, pretending to accidentally bump into his arms...

After several "chance encounters", it was finally Qiao Xingchu's turn to pretend to "chance encounter" her...

She didn't know that Qiao Xingchu had been staring at her.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I was thinking." Wen Tingli looked down at herself. This cheongsam was made at home. Although the style was not fashionable, the material was first-rate. Wearing it to a banquet would be both decent and not extravagant.

As for other things, she has always been more confident than ordinary people, and she believes that the Qiao family will like her.

"Are you nervous?"

Wen Tingli smiled and said nothing.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. I'll be with you tonight. You're so cute. The elders at home will like you."

Wen Tingli breathed a sigh of relief and said "hmm" happily.

The Qiao family's house is a simple Chinese-style mansion, but the garden is decorated in a Western style, with strings of crystal chandeliers, the lights make the night sky as bright as silver.

Qiao Xingchu personally led Wen Tingli and her group inside, taking good care of her along the way. As soon as they entered the hall, a fashionable woman with a gorgeous face came over and grabbed Qiao Xingchu: "Where have you been? Your father is sending people to look for you everywhere."

Qiao Xingchu smiled and said, "I just went to pick someone up. Aunt, this is Miss Wen Tingli, she is also studying at Xiu De. These two are Miss Chen and Miss Liu, they are my sister's classmates."

After that, she said to Wen Tingli: "This is my aunt. My uncle's surname is Li. How about you... call her Mrs. Li first." Her eyes and tone were exceptionally gentle.

Wen Tingli bowed to her politely: "Mrs. Li."

Her demeanor was very solemn, but her smile was very sweet.

Mrs. Li's expression suddenly became complicated. She stared at Wen Tingli and looked her up and down. Qiao Xingchu coughed beside her, and Mrs. Li came back to her senses: "Welcome, welcome. Baoxin is playing bridge in the flower hall. I'll ask Butler Wang to take you there."

Without waiting for Qiao Xingchu to speak again, she suddenly pointed at the French window opposite: "Liyun is back."

Qiao Xingchu paused for a moment. Wen Tingli looked over curiously. Two plump angels were gurgling in the garden pool outside the window. There were several beauties standing by the pool. One of them was a lady in a beige dress, looking at this side through the glass window.

Qiao Xingchu quickly regained her composure and said to Wen Tingli in a gentle voice, "I'll come find you later."

Wen Tingli walked a few steps and looked back, and saw Mrs. Li whispering something to Qiao Xingchu, whose face was becoming more and more ugly.

The small flower hall was more lively than the outside. The large begonia-colored sofa was filled with young people, but Qiao Baoxin was not the focus of the crowd. Instead, everyone was surrounding a man in a black suit. The man looked to be about 25 or 26 years old. He was handsome and had a very likable temperament. He was there lazily turning the champagne glass in his hand.

Qiao Baoxin saw Wen Tingli and the others coming in, and hurriedly separated from the people around him and stood up to greet them, "Oh, you're here. Let me introduce you. This is Chen Aisha, and that's Liu Qizhen. Her name is Wen Tingli, and they are both my classmates."

Everyone stood up to greet him, but the man in the suit didn't move. Qiao Baoxin deliberately lowered his voice and said, "Don't be surprised, he is my younger cousin, and he is much older than me."

Everyone in the room laughed. The young man laughed too, and simply put down his champagne glass, and bowed to the girls in a serious manner: "Ms. Liu, Ms. Chen, Ms. Wen, I was impolite just now, and I apologize to you now."

Everyone laughed again. Qiao Baoxin happily pulled Wen Tingli and others to sit down: "My cousin likes to joke. Actually, he is a very easy-going person."

Wen Tingli met the man's half-smile and half-smile, and suddenly remembered why she felt that this man looked familiar.

(End of this chapter)