Aunt Li did not expect to hear such inquiries from Lin Qinghan. Over the years, Mr. had been busy with work and never inquired about the affairs at home. So, how did Mr. come to know about something now?
Regardless of the reason, it's still a good thing. At least Mr. has started to care about the Madam.
She had long felt sorry for the suffering the Madam had endured over the years. Now, as she heard someone bring it up, it was as if the floodgates had opened, and she poured out all her concerns.
"In these three years, the Madam was actually only happy in the beginning."
"She didn't have many friends. Apart from occasionally having Miss Ji come to accompany her, the most common thing she did was wait for your return. You were always busy with work and came back at irregular times. She was afraid of disturbing your work, so she didn't dare to call you often."
"Sometimes, dinner at home would be reheated several times to make sure you weren't coming back, and only then would the Madam start eating."
The more she spoke, the more distress appeared on Aunt Li's face. She sighed gently, "But in the first two years, the Madam was just staying at home alone. She looked a bit lonely. Since Auntie came to the house, she..."
When she mentioned her aunt, Lin Qinghan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and his voice became heavier. "She what?"
Upon hearing this, Aunt Li glanced at Lin Qinghan and then whispered, "Auntie never liked the Madam. When you were at home, she restrained herself somewhat. But when you were not at home, she always ridiculed the Madam."
"She always said that the Madam couldn't bear children, calling her useless. These words spread outside, and as a result, others also gossiped about the Madam."
"Even when she invited Miss Su to the house last time, it was her idea to arrange Miss Su's room next to yours and the Madam's. She even instructed the Madam to tidy up Miss Su's room."
All of these things that Aunt Li said, Lin Qinghan had no knowledge of. Wen Ruan had never mentioned these matters to him. Sometimes when he casually asked, she would just smile and say, "It's okay."
While Aunt Li continued to chatter, Lin Qinghan suddenly saw in his mind the words Wen Ruan had spoken when they were at the Ji family.
With red eyes and a hoarse voice, filled with endless grievance and indignation, she looked at him and said, "In the three years of our marriage, in the more than 1100 days we've been together, we were once the closest of relationships in this world. But you've never had the time to talk with me openly and honestly."
"You're always too busy, always with so many things to do. Have you tried to understand my life? Have you tried to understand what kind of days I've had in these three years?"
He suddenly felt a chill all over his body, as if he were in a freezing cellar.
How could this be? Lin Qinghan couldn't understand. His aunt had always been very charitable in front of him, not to mention those people outside, hadn't they always been respectful when he and Wen Ruan attended banquets?
The sound of the clock ticking in the living room resounded, concluding with a final chime.
Pulling away from his incredulous thoughts, Lin Qinghan spoke in a hoarse voice, "Why didn't she tell me?"
Even if Wen Ruan didn't say anything, why did others act in the same way?
"I've wanted to tell you more than once, but the Madam..." Aunt Li paused, and sighed softly, "The Madam said you were already very tired from work and there was no need to worry about the house."
"Mr..." Aunt Li looked at him and called out, "For these three years, the Madam has had a really hard time. She used to be so fond of smiling; who wouldn't love her? But in these three years, she only looked happier when you came back."
Lin Qinghan's thin lips trembled slightly. He closed his eyes, and in his mind, many images of Wen Ruan flashed by.
When she first married him, her face was bright and beautiful with a brilliant smile. She liked to cling to him, holding his hand as they walked, demanding kisses from him morning and night.
She was like a child who never grew up.
But what about later?
He had almost forgotten the last time she smiled as brightly, or the last time she held his hand without a care.
Tick tock, the sound of the minutes and seconds passing by.
He didn't know how long had passed before Lin Qinghan's hoarse voice echoed in the room, "I understand now." He didn't look at Aunt Li again and turned to walk upstairs. He stumbled as he walked, almost falling.
"Mr!" Aunt Li hurried over, reaching out a hand as if to support him.
"I'm fine." Lin Qinghan leaned on the banister, not allowing himself to be helped. He lowered his eyes, and the light reflecting from the chandelier overhead cast a heavy shadow on his face, as if it were carved from white jade.
As he was about to continue walking upstairs, he suddenly stopped. In a cold tone, he left behind a sentence, "Tomorrow, do something for me."
Lin Xiue had played cards late into the night and only returned home when it was almost eleven in the morning.
She had become accustomed to the comfortable life at the Lin family's residence. Even when she went out, she was always upheld due to her status as Lin Qinghan's aunt. Even when playing cards, someone always made allowances for her. She thought about how yesterday, her friends deliberately let her win while suggesting introducing their daughters to Qinghan.
She actually didn't fancy those families at all.
Compared to the Ji, Li, and Su families, they were far inferior.
But acting as a go-between brought her quite a few gifts, which she naturally didn't mind. After all, Qinghan would definitely not be interested in them. So, she would just make a few polite comments, and after a few days, invite them to visit her home. This way, Qinghan could make an appearance.
The more she thought about it.
More pleased.
Lin Xiu'e, thinking about whether to go for a beauty treatment first or to go shopping, while getting out of bed, when the door was suddenly opened by someone.
What's going on? Lin Xiu'e frowned and saw Aunt Li leading a group of maids standing at the door, her face sank, and her voice also became heavy, "Who told you to come in without knocking?!"
"Just now someone already knocked on the door, maybe Madam is sound asleep and didn't hear it," Aunt Li replied calmly.
Lin Xiu'e was dissatisfied with Aunt Li's attitude, but she was an elder in the Lin family, even Lin Qinghan respected her very much, so she could only sneer, "What's the matter? You bring so many people up here, didn't you see that I just woke up?"
After saying that, she yawned and asked, "Is breakfast ready?"
Aunt Li: "In response to your words, breakfast is ready, you can go downstairs to eat after changing your clothes."
This looks promising.
Lin Xiu'e was satisfied, and she was just about to ask someone to find her clothes from the wardrobe, but Aunt Li had already instructed the others, "Alright, you can go in and clean up, be careful, Sir said that Madam is also a member of the Lin family, she is allowed to take away everything she has arranged for the past year, so don't touch or damage her things."
"Yes!"
Several maids answered and went straight into the house, tidying up clothes and jewelry, and Lin Xiu'e was dumbfounded watching the commotion.
What's going on?
Due to being too shocked, she couldn't react for a while, and it took her a while to finally change her expression and intervene, "What are you doing?! Who allowed you to touch my things, put them down!"
She walked over to try to intervene, but no one paid any attention to her.
Aunt Li lightly blocked her, saying in a flat tone, "Madam, you'd better go downstairs for breakfast first. Don't worry, nothing that belongs to you will be missing."
"When everything is packed up, someone will accompany you to the airport."
What does that mean? To the airport, what plane? Who will take her? Where does she want to go?
No! This is her home!
She's not going anywhere!
Acting as if she were crazy, she rushed over to stop them, but how could the pampered Mrs. Lin Xiu'e possibly stop the maids who were used to rough work? Aunt Li looked at her in this state, frowned, and called two more maids, "You two, come here and help Madam down."
"Li Suzhen!"
Lin Xiu'e was taken by someone, her face flushed as she scolded, "Who do you think you are? You are just a dog of the Lin family, and yet you think of yourself as a member of the Lin family?! You better explain to me now, or when Qinghan comes back, just wait and see!"
"If Sir didn't give the order, how could I dare to do this?"
Aunt Li said with a smile, and seeing her pale face, she added very considerately, "Sir said that your health is not good, the air in the city is not good for your recovery, so he specially bought a manor for you in England. In the future, you can rest well in England."
"Your immigration procedures will be quickly approved. In the future, you should just stay in England for your rest."
What, what?
Was this decision made by Qinghan? How, how is this possible?
Lin Xiu'e even forgot to struggle, her angry expression turned to shock. She stood there, at a loss for words, and finally stammered, "How, how can this be?"
"How can Qinghan make such a decision?"
Aunt Li looked at her, and although she didn't want to say it, when she saw her look like this, she sneered, "Madam, have you forgotten how you treated Madam all these years?"
After saying that, she didn't bother with Lin Xiu'e anymore, and instructed the maids, "Alright, take Madam downstairs."
"Yes."
Lin Xiu'e was taken downstairs by two maids, and she looked confused, with no more struggling movements.
So Qinghan did this because she had been unkind to Wensoft before? But, but didn't he dislike Wensoft? Both of them had reached the point of divorce, so why would he stand up for her now?
Aunt Li packed up things very quickly.
She put all of Lin Xiu'e's belongings into boxes. When Lin Xiu'e went downstairs, she finally realized what was happening and began to make a scene, crying, "I won't go, I'm Qinghan's aunt, he can't treat me like this!"
"Give me the phone, I want to call Qinghan!"
"He lost his parents at a young age, who took care of him then? He can't be so heartless!"
She wouldn't go to that so-called English manor, and even if someone served her there, how could it be as comfortable as staying in the city? In the city, she was pampered wherever she went, but when she went to England, who would recognize her?
She wouldn't go, even if she were beaten to death!
Seeing her tantrum, Aunt Li's frown deepened, and she stepped forward to speak, "Madam, you should have a conscience. Since Sir lost his parents at a young age, what did you do for him?"
"You dated someone and didn't come home for days on end, which made Sir very angry. You said you were good to Sir, but it was only to buy him a few clothes and some food when you thought of him."
"Sir respected you as an elder, and even agreed for you to return to the Lin family, even giving you a large monthly allowance from his own account. You say that Sir is heartless, what about you? If you treated Madam better, and didn't always interfere in their marriage, it wouldn't have ended up like this."
Lin Xiu'e's face turned pale and then red as she was being scolded.
Aunt Li had planned to give a good scolding, but seeing the two bodyguards sent by Li Ze come in, she couldn't be bothered to argue with Lin Xiu'e anymore and simply told them, "Everything is ready, you can take Madam away now."
"Yes."
Lin Group.
Li Ze answered the phone call from Aunt Li. After hanging up, he knocked on the office door, and when he heard "come in" from inside, he entered and reported to the person inside, "Boss, Madam Gu has been sent on the plane. She was still struggling on the way, saying she wanted to call you and the old master."
Lin Qinghan didn't even lift his head, continuing to sign the contract, and said indifferently, "Let her be."
"Okay," Li Ze replied, then remembered something else and asked, "There's one more thing. The finance department used to give Madam Gu a regular sum of money for her living expenses. What about that in the future?"
"Stop it."
"Okay."
Li Ze didn't expect the boss to be so ruthless, so he didn't dare say anything more. He quietly acknowledged and then left.
After he left,
Lin Qinghan continued to review the contract for a while. He put down his pen, stood up, and looked at the bustling traffic outside the French window. The noon sunlight was good. He opened his phone's Weibo and went to the profile of the only person he followed.
She had posted a new Weibo.
It showed her sitting in a classroom in the afternoon, with the sunlight shining on her, turning her face to smile brightly in the backlight.
Lin Qinghan's hand holding the phone trembled, and his slightly lowered eyelashes also flickered.
Aunt Li was wrong about something. Since leaving him, that bright smile had returned to her face.