Chapter 28: A Beautiful Morning
Not all students celebrated April Fool’s Day, and Wen Hupo was one of them. She woke up early, as usual, and sat by the window with a cup of warm milk. For breakfast, she liked croissants sprinkled with powdered sugar, paired with a warm cup of coffee. This was the perfect morning. After arriving in China, Mr. Diplomat encouraged her to embrace the local customs and enjoy a Chinese breakfast – steamed buns, fried dough sticks, dumplings, and hot soy milk. But she found them too greasy.
Nevertheless, she always felt that every morning in China was beautiful.
“Miss, your friend has already finished his run. Just half an hour ago.” The cautious maid with freckles reminded her.
“…” Wen Hupo casually looked away. “I wasn’t looking at him.”
The maid nodded nervously, making Wen Hupo feel a bit embarrassed. Her denial seemed a bit too obvious.
Lu Li went for a run every morning. Ever since he learned where Wen Hupo lived, he would deliberately run past her villa. Wen Hupo liked this feeling of having someone accompany her before she started her day. She secretly cancelled her chauffeured car and would jog with Lu Li for a while, calling it exercise.
It wasn’t that she had fallen for the scumbag Outstanding Representative, but she enjoyed the simple warmth of companionship. Just like what she had observed in the activity classroom, Lu Li, An Baili, and Chu Jingyi would bicker and laugh together, three people with completely different mindsets and values, yet they got along so harmoniously. Especially Lu Li. Wen Hupo was certain that he held a whole world within him, a world whose boundaries even she couldn’t grasp. He seemed to be carrying something, burdened by something, hesitating about something, struggling with something.
Just like her.
She carried the dream of becoming a great artist, burdened by the reputation of the Amber family, hesitant about her identity, and struggling in a world of chaos and confusion. But she couldn’t bring herself to let go of her pride and connect with ordinary, optimistic people like Lu Li.
What was Lu Li thinking?
This question would sometimes pop into her mind. She was curious about the Outstanding Representative, and she knew this was a dangerous sign.
After finishing her milk, Wen Hupo was about to leave for school when she heard the maid call out, “Miss, a call from your father.” Wen Hupo’s platinum blonde eyebrows twitched slightly. She disliked the terms “father” and “miss.”
“Hello, Father.” Wen Hupo recalled the etiquette lessons and greeted Mr. Diplomat in a calm and gentle tone.
“Good morning, my lady. How is the morning sun in Chuanhai?” Mr. Diplomat chuckled heartily. “How are your studies and life going? Are you getting used to it?”
“Thanks to you, everything is fine.” School life was simple. She would jog with Lu Li for a bit in the morning, then take the bus to school, find a corner in the activity classroom, paint if she had inspiration, and read if she didn’t. At noon, Lu Li would usually come over with the two chattering girls, and she would secretly observe them. This had become a habit of hers.
“That’s good. By the way, my lady, about the gentleman from Chuanhai No. 1 High School who you had a romantic encounter with… are you willing to tell me his name now? Haha, just kidding, Happy April Fool’s Day. Don’t be so serious, my lady.” Mr. Diplomat changed the subject. “It’s like this, my lady. Old Osric was admitted to the ICU an hour ago. The family lawyers have already started working, and the asset division process is under preliminary review.”
“Okay.” Wen Hupo listened, her heart unmoved. She had never felt a sense of belonging to the Amber family.
Old Osric was the current chief accountant of the Amber family, rumored to be the illegitimate son of the old patriarch. He controlled the family’s core assets. The effective condition for all inheritance-related contracts of the Amber family was Old Osric’s natural death. Even the government was waiting for the day they could collect another inheritance tax.
He was already so old that he could barely walk.
Wen Hupo thought of the old man she had met once. He could only consume liquid food through a straw, couldn’t take care of himself, and only spoke one sentence a month. So many people wanted him to live, so many wanted him to die.
When a person lost their emotional value as a human being, stripped down to nothing but monetary value, they were no longer a person, but an object. A stamp with the label “human.”
A thought suddenly struck her. She seemed to understand why Lu Li had integrated himself into the lives of An Baili and Chu Jingyi. If a person was aloof and detached, unable to connect with others emotionally, what were they? A money-making machine?
“My lady, our trip to China might have to end earlier than planned.” Mr. Diplomat’s words made Wen Hupo’s grip on the phone tighten. “Not right now, of course. The situation within the family is a bit complicated at the moment. Well… within two months? How about that?”
He wasn’t asking for her opinion, but giving an order.
“Will we ever come back to China?” Wen Hupo asked, the words slipping out before she could stop them.
“Perhaps we’ll come back for a visit sometime.” Mr. Diplomat said with a smile.
Wen Hupo didn’t reply. She understood that Mr. Diplomat only saw her as a tool. Every legitimate heir of the Amber family could secure 0.5% of the inheritance for their parents. That’s why Mr. Diplomat had been frantically searching for his illegitimate children in recent years. Wen Hupo was brought back to the family castle under such circumstances.
Before the inheritance division process was complete, he had to protect all his children. That’s why he brought Wen Hupo to China. But what would happen after the inheritance was divided? Would he still care about her?
Wen Hupo was a smart girl, and it was this rationality that made her utterly disappointed in the world.
“I understand.”
Mr. Diplomat asked again, “My lady, you sound a bit disappointed. Are you sure you have no objections? Don’t worry, I’m a democratic person. I won’t force anyone to make a decision.”
“I have no objections.” Wen Hupo’s voice returned to its usual coldness and aloofness, her words concise.
“Have a pleasant day. Prepare a farewell party for your friends.” Mr. Diplomat hung up the phone.
Wen Hupo’s heart, which had been warmed by the trio, turned cold and hard again. In a flash, she saw the next few decades of her life: alone in a small room, sitting in front of a canvas, painting the withered maple leaves outside the window.
So the world was still this boring… It had never changed. She thought it might be different this time…
Wen Hupo chuckled self-deprecatingly. She didn’t have her warm coffee this morning, didn’t see the shameless Outstanding Representative, and received the phone call she least wanted to hear.
It was truly the worst morning ever.
If only someone would jump out and tell her that it was all just an April Fool’s joke…
Leave a Reply