Chapter 2125: To Have or Not Have Children
Manager Su of Chenxing Gallery received an unexpectedly large business deal. A mysterious client had shelled out a staggering ten million to have a painting restored. This enormous sum left him both delighted and filled with questions.
The person who greeted him was Mr. Zhang, the villa’s manager, in his forties, dressed impeccably in a suit. The owner did not make an appearance.
Mr. Zhang led him to a room deep on the third floor.
Manager Su couldn’t help but be excited. With such an expenditure on restoration, it must be a priceless masterpiece, perhaps from some renowned artist?
Mr. Zhang unlocked the door, and the intricately carved wooden door slowly opened.
Manager Su glanced inside.
Dim lighting.
This collection room exuded a strange feeling.
A huge painting was hanging in the very center of the room’s wall, stunning in its impact, taking him by surprise.
The painting wasn’t a world-famous masterpiece, just an ordinary landscape portrait.
However, it was unlike any ordinary painting; it possessed a pair of unusual eyes, exquisite like enchanting dual pupils painted on canvas. Hidden beneath lush, long lashes, they were tranquil as a lake yet conveyed an entrancing darkness and a mad descent... This starkly contrasting character made him emanate an indescribable seductive mystery.
He stared at the girl in the painting.
"Time has finally turned us into me and you. Is it time that’s cruel, or are you more cruel?"
A surprisingly gentle voice, like a lover’s whisper, with an exhilarating tenderness that stirred the heart!
If not for having been with him for so many years, even Mr. Zhang would have mistaken him for the gentlest man on earth.
However, Mr. Zhang knew better.
His master’s gentleness was like the evil flower from hell, mixed with the most potent poison, rooting deep into the marrow, rendering it incurable.
"Time passes so fast, I’m starting to forget what you look like."
The young man looked at the person in the photograph, sighed softly, and picked up the pen again.
"This painting is called ’Invisible Summer,’ what a beautiful name, just like you! Goodbye, my summer!"
...
Six months later.
At nine in the evening, Lin Wangxia rushed out of the kitchen, sweating profusely, chasing after Li Anqi who was about to drive off.
"Anqi, I heard you’re going to Europe with Old Lady Xie for half a month. Could you bring something back for me?"
Li Anqi covered her nose, took a step back:
"It’s not that I don’t want to help. You know I’m accompanying Old Lady Xie on official business to Europe, and I’m too busy. Cheap skincare products are cheap everywhere; there’s no need to buy them abroad."
"Anqi, you misunderstood. I wanted to ask you to buy some imported medicine. I have a sick person at home, and it can’t be bought locally. I’m begging you."
Although both were employed by Old Lady Xie, there was a world of difference in their status and salary.
Li Anqi was a graduate with a master’s in commerce from a prestigious university, Old Lady Xie’s senior personal assistant, shrewd, flexible, and capable, earning several times more than herself, and usually disdained to associate with people of her class!
And she herself, with only a high school education, worked at the villa.
At best, she was called a life assistant; at worst, she was just a gofer or nanny, ready to lose her job at any moment. Previously, Mrs. Zhao, the most trusted life assistant of the old lady, had fallen ill, and she took over her duties.
This Old Lady Xie, was a wealthy yet harsh matriarch.
Quirky, solitary, and famous for finding faults in everything.
She had no idea how many scoldings she had endured, always working on eggshells, diligent and proactive, yet the old lady never liked her, always picking faults.
With just six thousand yuan a month, it was already high for someone with such low education, impossible to find better, so she valued this job highly.
"Anqi, please. I’ve written down the medicine’s name; the store is near your hotel. Could you please make a trip? The medicine is really important." Lin Wangxia pleaded with a smile, slipping a bottle of high-end perfume into Li Anqi’s hand. These days, asking for favors without incentives was difficult. This excerpt is from my new work, Fresh Wife, To Have Or Not.
