Chapter 36: I’m Outside Your Building

Chapter 36: I'm Outside Your Building

Before Wen Yu could finish his sentence, his cousin's face kept switching between pale and livid.

She followed Wen Yu's gaze and saw her husband with blood seeping from his forehead not far away.

"Wen Yu! You... you're slandering him!"

The cousin yanked her hand away from Wen Yu. "It's obvious you're the shameless one, seducing your cousin-in-law! And now you're trying to frame him?"

"You're just some wild kid from the countryside who doesn't know your place. You'd do anything to marry into the Shen family!"

The cousin-in-law grabbed his head and stormed over, glaring viciously at Wen Yu. "Dad! Mom! Look at this little piece of trash! He smashed a bottle on my head! And now he's trying to say I assaulted him?"

"Pfft! Look at yourself—would the Shen family's oldest son even want you? He's just trying to shake us down!"

Wen Yu stood there helpless, the red mark on his wrist from where his cousin yanked him still throbbing faintly.

"You... you all..."

Just then, a deep, commanding voice cut through. "That's enough!"

Everyone turned to look. Wen Baichuan stood there in a Mao suit, his face lean and distinguished.

His gaze swept calmly over the cousin's family, whose faces had turned sour.

"Everything has to be settled with reason."

"You're saying my son seduced you? A soon-to-be young mistress of the Shen family—why would she need to throw herself at you?"

The cousin-in-law's face turned a deep, ugly red. "Uncle Wen, your son came from the countryside. Who knows what kind of trash he picked up there."

Wen Baichuan's tone stayed calm, but every word cut like a knife. "You're getting a big head, huh? What do you think your family's worth?"

"Would Wen Yu lower himself to cling to you?"

The cousin-in-law gritted his teeth, veins popping in his forehead. "The Wen family sure knows how to raise their kids."

Wen Baichuan grabbed Wen Yu's arm. "As for today, I'll have a lawyer and the Shen family come over, and we'll sort this out properly."

The cousin's family's faces changed the second they heard "lawyer"—panic started to set in.

"Uncle Wen, come on, we're all family—there's no need to take it that far," the cousin said with a bitter tone.

The middle-aged woman beside her chimed in, "Oh, brother-in-law, why get so worked up on such a happy day?"

"We're all family—can't we just talk this out? Look how scared you've got the kids. And Wen Yu, honestly, why'd you have to go and smash a bottle at someone? It's so bad for peace."

Wen Baichuan looked at the middle-aged woman's fawning smile. "Family?"

"Just now he called Wen Yu a wild kid from the countryside—did he think about family then? Now you're scared? Scared that if this blows up, it'll ruin your family's name?"

All the color drained from the cousin's face. She grabbed Wen Baichuan's arm. "Uncle Wen! This is all a misunderstanding! Look at Wen Yu—he's so well-behaved, so reasonable. Anyone can see he's not the kind of person to do something like this!"

"He just had too much to drink and ran his mouth—he's not like this normally! For the sake of both our families' reputations, can we just let this go? Please?"

Wen Baichuan's head was pounding. "This can't just be swept under the rug."

"Don't you own a winery? Give it to Wen Yu."

When Wen Yu heard the word "winery," his pupils narrowed slightly.

He tilted his head a little, his eyes landing on the cousin-in-law, full of pure disgust.

He didn't really want the winery. He thought someone that disgusting deserved to be castrated, like those eunuchs in the TV shows!

But Wen Baichuan's words had flipped the whole situation in an instant, and he had no choice but to go along with it.

Wen Baichuan even asked him if this was okay. Wen Yu shook his head—barely—but Wen Baichuan acted like he didn't see it.

The cousin's eyes went wide like she'd just heard something insane. "The winery? Wh... what?"

"What? Can't stand to give up the winery?" Wen Baichuan curled his lips into a sneer. "Weren't you just saying we're all family? Wen Yu got scared and humiliated—surely a winery as compensation isn't too much to ask?"

The cousin knew the winery was badly run, but the land itself was worth a lot. No way she'd agree!

"Dad..." The cousin looked at her father, trembling, hoping he'd help—but he'd stayed silent the whole time.

But her father, who'd stayed quiet and just wanted to smooth things over, had his cloudy eyes flicker when he heard the word "winery."

He stepped forward, shoved his still-stunned daughter aside, and clasped his hands at Wen Baichuan. "Brother-in-law's right! We failed to discipline our kid! Since brother-in-law's spoken, the winery... we'll hand it over! Consider it a little something to calm Yu'er down!"

At those words, the whole room went dead silent.

The cousin-in-law shouted in disbelief, "Dad! Are you insane? That winery is—"

"Shut up!" The cousin's father whipped around, glaring fiercely at his son-in-law. "Look at what you've done! You've lost us so much face—do you want to end up in prison too?"

He turned back to Wen Baichuan with a fawning smile. "Brother-in-law, how about this? As long as this doesn't blow up, as long as we don't involve the police, we'll transfer the winery's paperwork immediately!"

Wen Yu watched their family's opportunistic faces.

Wen Baichuan stood on his side, but he had never once asked for his opinion.

After Wen Yu returned home with Wen Baichuan,

The air still carried the suffocating weight of the earlier scene. Wen Yu kept his head low, his movements sluggish. He didn't want Wen Baichuan to see his disheveled state, and just wanted to retreat into his room.

He was about to turn and head inside when Wen Baichuan's steady voice came from behind.

"Wen Yu."

Wen Yu stopped, turning stiffly. "Dad."

Wen Baichuan stood there, the halo of the light outlining his tall, upright figure.

"Not satisfied with how I handled it, Wen Yu?"

Wen Yu looked up. He was afraid Wen Baichuan would think he was ungrateful, afraid he'd think Wen Yu was greedy.

He wanted that lecherous cousin-in-law to go to prison.

He wanted the cousin-in-law to die.

Suddenly, he felt so vicious.

"I..."

"That winery... I don't want it. I feel like... it's dirty."

"Those people are just too—"

Wen Baichuan listened as Wen Yu spoke, "Too dirty, right, Wen Yu?"

"Wen Yu, if you blow this up, our Wen family will be affected too. In the end, those people will still use their connections to sweep it under the rug—they just don't want it getting around in the upper circles."

"You think they're scared of the news coverage? They're afraid their business partners will hear about this and cut ties."

"Ordinary people basically never hear these behind-the-scenes whispers."

"As long as we act quickly, the outside world won't know, but the circle is different."

Wen Yu listened in a daze, never having thought of it that way.

But Wen Yu still felt sick about it—if only he could make them truly pay.

Wen Yu was silent for a long time.

He could see a deep, practical wisdom in Wen Baichuan.

"But, Dad..." Wen Yu lowered his head, looking at the watch on his wrist, its time precise, his voice so low it was barely audible, "I still feel... it's just not enough."

That disgusting feeling of being touched couldn't be made up for with money or saving face.

And that cousin-in-law—greasy, with a kid's body, a lecherous look, and an ugly face.

"Wen Yu, this matter ends here. There's only so much I can do for you." Wen Baichuan turned and left without a backward glance.

Wen Yu had hit someone with a bottle for the first time, but even then, Wen Baichuan had to clean up the mess.

He was really just too small.

After Wen Baichuan left, Wen Yu's phone rang.

"Gu Junhan?"

Wen Yu had no idea why he was calling.

A low, raspy male voice came through the receiver, "I'm at your door."

"Come down."