Chapter 601: I want your whole life, as my name
"Wen Xiaonian."
"Uh-huh?"
"You’re doing this on purpose... you’re flirting with me, right?"
"Hahaha!"
Wen Nian looked at the blushing and annoyed face and laughed, quickly lifting his glass,
"Lady, happy birthday."
"Hmph."
They shared the same birthday, the day they got married.
After lunch, they visited the glasshouse, where a small display table was set with numerous artworks.
At around three o’clock, an old lady came in,
"Sir, ma’am, would you like to learn how to make wine?"
This was too novel for Song Lili, who pulled Wen Nian along and ran.
In the winery, seven or eight workers were already at work, with bunches of green grapes and apples all washed clean.
Although Wen Nian wasn’t particularly interested, seeing Song Lili’s excitement, he also learned along with her.
She was always full of curiosity for things she hadn’t experienced before.
She was having so much fun making wine.
When a few workers praised her for being smart, she immediately became joyful.
Seeing her happiness, Wen Nian felt a twinge of discomfort in his heart.
In her previous life, she had also married him, but those thirteen years of marriage she talked about seemed filled only with gloom and sorrow.
Wen Nian, did you ever properly show her the various pleasures of this world?
Wen Nian, did you fail to keep your promises to her...
After the wine-making experience, the two of them walked hand in hand down the path lined with falling leaves.
The evening breeze gently blew, and more leaves fell from the trees.
Song Lili ran ahead of him, went far ahead, turned around, and started recording with her phone,
"I want to capture the sound of your footsteps on the fallen leaves!"
Wen Nian smiled and steadily walked towards her.
Song Lili squatted in front, holding up the phone, watching through the lens as his tall figure took large strides in her direction; his eyes were smiling, the corners of his lips curved, tenderly gazing in her direction...
Behind him, a setting sun. The evening sun spread over the half of the azure sky...
He approached step by step, and finally stopped in front of her, crouching down.
Just like that, Song Lili was still looking at the phone screen, watching Wen Nian through it...
"Why not look directly, isn’t that more detailed?"
Wen Nian reached out and moved her phone away.
Their eyes met, gazing at each other at close range.
In his amber-colored pupils, her face was reflected, her hair somewhat tousled, blown wildly by the wind.
Wen Nian suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her closer, and kissed her.
Song Lili watched him with her eyes wide open...
After a while, Wen Nian let her go and gently stroked her forehead hair with his hand,
"If you like it here, we can come more often"
he said to her.
"We’ll come here every year on this day."
Song Lili said to him.
"Uh..."
Wen Nian was slightly hesitant, and Song Lili immediately frowned, "You just said we’d come often..."
"It seems I need to curry favor with someone."
"Who?"
"The owner of the manor!"
Wen Nian said earnestly.
Song Lili was amused by him, "Mr. President has to put in effort to please someone else, huh."
"Because the lady likes it."
"..."
Song Lili sat directly on the ground; the sound of crushed leaves filled the air as she laughed idiotically to herself.
Wen Nian sat opposite her, holding her hand.
Song Lili looked at him, her almond eyes clearly shining with bright sparks.
"Lili..."
"Hmm?"
"I want your lifetime, like my name."
"..."
Wen Nian.
————
They stayed in the manor until nine o’clock and didn’t have a chance to meet the owner of the manor; the two of them started a bet just for fun but couldn’t determine a winner.
They returned to the President Mansion at ten o’clock.
Song Lili went to take a bath, unaware that Wen Nian would just barge in without even knocking, wrapping her up in a hug,
"I concede voluntarily."
"What?"
Song Lili was startled, and Wen Nian suddenly spouted such a line, causing Song Lili to be truly taken aback.
"It was the bet we made during lunch today."
Wen Nian spoke in a husky voice next to Song Lili’s ear, while he was saying this, his hands were restlessly roving over Song Lili’s body.
"Did you meet the manor owner?"
Song Lili was surprised and turned to look at him.
Wen Nian shook his head.
"Then why are you conceding?"
"I just am. You win."
"..." Song Lili raised an eyebrow, "Letting me win... did you do something that would make me angry?"
"Let you win, work until twelve o’clock."
"I—"
Song Lili was completely dumbfounded, but the next second, Wen Nian had already pounced on her.
That night, Wen Nian, who had been abstinent for several months, was like a greedy wolf, devouring Song Lili piece by piece.
Past midnight, Song Lili lay exhausted on Wen Nian’s body, with legs so sore and weak she couldn’t move at all.
And not only that, she was drowsy!
Wen Nian gently patted her back, coaxing her to sleep just as he would with Wen Qichen.
The contented ’Wen wolf,’ with a comfortable smile, lay there with eyes open, gazing at the skylight...
He thought back to March 28 of last year, to all the March 28s before that, and to every March 28 from his childhood that he and Song Lili spent together.
He truly felt content.
————
Day by day, time flew by in the hustle and bustle.
This day, it was Zhongli Yuting’s birthday, and he invited many relatives and friends.
Lu Yonghuai had always had a good relationship with Zhongli Yuting, but Lu Yonghuai flatly refused him.
Not just a polite excuse over the phone, but with a snort, he declared,
"I’m busy, not going!"
The invitation of guests was handled by Lady Zhongli, so when the phone call reached the Lu Family and Lu Yonghuai retorted with a dismissive "hmph" like that, Lady Zhongli found it quite baffling and immediately reported it to Zhongli Yuting.
Zhongli Yuting wasn’t too concerned at first, assuming that maybe Lu Yonghuai was just going through a midlife crisis with unstable emotions.
So, he personally made a call to invite him, which led to the following conversation,
"Have you no shame? Inviting me to celebrate your birthday?"
"...Lu Yonghuai, what do you mean by that?"
"If you’re observing a mourning period, have your wife call and invite me, I will definitely go."
"Lu Yonghuai!"
"I’ve got nothing else to say, hanging up now."
"You need to explain yourself, where have I offended you this time?"
Zhongli Yuting, although always seeming like a nemesis to Lu Yonghuai and never missing a chance to trade barbs upon meeting, this indicated that their relationship was actually quite good.
Moreover, with Zhongli Wuzhi and Xiaoer dating, Zhongli Yuting was even more convinced that the marriage between their families was all but certain.
Despite both of them clamoring about not wanting to be related to each other by marriage.
What was this situation with Lu Yonghuai?
He was celebrating his birthday, and here he was talking about observing a mourning period?
Even the best of friends couldn’t just casually make this kind of joke, right?
"You haven’t offended me; I just plainly find your Zhongli Family rather unpleasant. If I’ve said something to upset you, Zhongli Yuting, don’t take it to heart, or else I fear your heart won’t be big enough to contain it."
"Is it that Zhongli bullied your family’s Xiaoer again?"
Thinking it over, that was the only possibility left.