Chapter 234: Chapter 233: Apologize? Looks to Me Like You’re Here for a Beating!

Peking University Staff Family Courtyard.

This is a grey, shabby apartment building.

The walls are peeling, and the corridors are cluttered with briquettes and large cabbages from each household.

The air is filled with the smell of grease and a musty, stale odor.

Meng Ting carried a mesh bag and carefully avoided the puddles on the ground, stepping in her high heels.

The mesh bag contained two cans of malted milk and a bag of deep red apples.

These are considered substantial gifts nowadays.

She stopped in front of a door at the innermost part of the third floor.

She reached out to tidy her hair and adjusted the corners of her clothes.

A perfectly standard, slightly superior fake smile appeared on her face.

“Knock knock knock.”

She knocked on the door.

She’d already rehearsed in her mind.

Although Gu Yanshen is a regiment leader, this is Beijing University.

Lin Wanyi is just a student with a child; what good place can she live in?

At best, it’s a dormitory room assigned by the school, with the family of four crammed together, finding it hard to turn around.

By then, as long as she acted generously and placed the items down, could those two still kick her out?

If toughness doesn’t work, then softness will.

She really wanted to see what special skills Lin Wanyi possessed.

“Click.”

The door lock rattled.

The door opened.

It wasn’t Lin Wanyi who opened the door.

It was Gu Yanshen.

The man wore a grey house sweater, his sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing his solid forearm lines.

He also held a half-wiped diaper in his hand.

Seeing the person at the door, the gentleness on Gu Yanshen’s face faded.

Like a door, shutting all warmth inside.

“What’s up?”

Two words, blunt and firm.

Meng Ting’s smile stiffened.

She hadn’t expected a direct hit right at the door.

“Mr. Gu, I’m Meng Ting, I came to…”

“Who?”

Gu Yanshen frowned.

That name again.

Meng Ting tightened her grip on the mesh bag, her knuckles turning a bit white.

Suppressing her displeasure, she softened her voice.

“I’m Meng Ting from the student union, yesterday what Zhao Hong did was a misunderstanding, I came specifically to apologize to sister-in-law.”

As she said this, she tried to squeeze her way in sideways, regardless of whether Gu Yanshen allowed it or not.

“It’s quite cold outside, Mr. Gu, won’t you invite me in?”

Gu Yanshen didn’t move.

Blocking the entrance like a mountain.

“Yanshen, who is it?”

A lazy voice came from inside the house.

Soft, like a cat just waking up.

Gu Yanshen turned around, and his voice immediately changed, becoming so gentle it could drip water.

“Don’t know, just a door-to-door salesperson.”

Meng Ting almost choked.

A salesperson?

She, the renowned school beauty of the National Defense University, the daughter of the logistics director, reduced to a mere salesperson?

“Let her in.”

Lin Wanyi’s voice came out again.

Only then did Gu Yanshen unwillingly make way.

“Come in and change your shoes, don’t dirty the floor.”

Meng Ting rolled her eyes.

In this shabby building, does the cement floor really need shoe changing?

Such pretentiousness.

She lifted her foot over the threshold.

The next second.

She froze.

Her whole body seemed nailed in place.

This… is this an apartment building?

In front of her was a room filled with warm yellow light.

Not the dim kind of bulb, but a table lamp with a lace lampshade, giving off a soft yet bright glow.

The floor wasn’t cement.

It was covered with a thick wool carpet, ivory-colored, looking extremely soft.

The walls were adorned with elegant floral wallpaper.

The curtains were made of heavy velvet, dark green, hanging perfectly, blocking the outside cold and decay completely.

The room was very warm.

Even a bit hot.

In the corner, an oddly styled stove was burning, emitting no smoke, just warmth.

The air carried a faint, fresh scent.

Not the cheap scent of vanishing cream.

It was like some precious floral fragrance mixed with the smell of milk.

Meng Ting felt as if she had traveled through time.

This wasn’t 1970s Beijing.

This was the mansion of a capitalist in Old Shanghai, wasn’t it?

“What are you staring at? The slippers are beside you.”

Gu Yanshen’s voice pulled her back to reality.

She looked down.

Seeing a pair of pink cotton slippers, embroidered with a bunny.

She glanced at her own high heels, speckled with mud, and suddenly felt a bit ashamed.

Replacing her shoes, she walked into the living room.

Lin Wanyi was sitting on the sofa.

It was a genuine leather sofa.

Dark brown, polished to a shine.

She wore a white cashmere cardigan over a red plaid long skirt.

Her hair was casually tied at the back of her head, fixed with a jade green hairpin.

Her face without makeup, yet her skin was so fair it seemed to glow, like a peeled egg.

She held a tiny baby in her arms, playing with a rattle.

Another slightly older boy was sprawled on the carpet.

Holding a small screwdriver, engrossed in taking apart an old box.

“Sit down.”

Lin Wanyi gestured to the single sofa opposite her.

Not even bothering to stand.

The inherent elegance and arrogance made Meng Ting very uncomfortable.

As if she were the master and Meng Ting the servant.

Meng Ting forced herself to walk over and placed the mesh bag on the coffee table.

“Sister-in-law, I’m Meng Ting.”

“Yesterday Zhao Hong was rude to you. I’ve come to apologize on her behalf.”

“These are two cans of malted milk, and some apples, for the children.”

She deliberately emphasized the words “malted milk.”

A rarity.

Ordinary families wouldn’t even buy them for the holidays.

Lin Wanyi glanced at the mesh bag.

She didn’t speak.

Just picked up a strawberry from the fruit plate.

The strawberries are as big as eggs.

Bright red, with droplets of water clinging to them.

They look so sweet.

In the northern winter, not to mention strawberries, even green leafy vegetables are rare.

Lin Wan Yi brought the strawberries to the mouth of the little girl in her arms.

“Ningning, ah—”

Little Gu Ning opened her toothless little mouth and bit the tip of the strawberry.

Red juice flowed down the corners of her mouth.

The sweet fragrance instantaneously exploded in the air.

Meng Ting swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

She glanced at the vibrant, dripping strawberry.

Then looked at the few wrinkled, even slightly blotchy Guoguang apples in her net bag.

A burning pain surged on her face.

This wasn’t a gift-giving visit.

This was downright embarrassing.

“No need to be so polite.”

Lin Wan Yi took out a handkerchief and gently wiped her daughter’s mouth.

Her actions were leisurely and methodical.

“Malt milk powder is too sweet, has no nutrition; our child doesn’t drink it.”

“As for the apples…”

She pointed to a box of fruit under the coffee table.

It was a full box of Yellow Marshal.

Each one plump and smooth, golden and enticing.

Far superior to the few Meng Ting brought.

“Yanshen’s comrades sent them, too many, we’re worried about finishing them.”

“If Meng likes apples, why not take a few when you leave?”

Lin Wan Yi smiled.

Her brow and eyes curved.

But in Meng Ting’s eyes, that smile was sharper than a blade.

“No… no need.”

Meng Ting’s voice was a bit dry.

She felt as if she were stripped bare and thrown onto the snow.

From the moment she entered until now.

Be it the house’s decor, or the food and items.

Lin Wan Yi crushed her in every aspect.

What exactly was this woman’s background?

How much does Gu Yanshen’s monthly allowance amount to?

How could it support this lifestyle?

Could it be…

A malicious thought bubbled in Meng Ting’s mind.

Profiting from speculation?

Or remnants of capitalist influence?

She turned to look at Gu Yanshen.

Trying to regain some ground.

“Mr. Gu, your lifestyle here is even superior to the chief’s in our courtyard.”

“Eating strawberries in winter, our school’s cafeteria is struggling with even cabbage leaves.”

Her words, sharp as needles.

Implying Gu Yanshen’s conduct was questionable.

Gu Yanshen threw a dirty diaper into the bathroom, washed his hands, and came back.

He picked up a strawberry from the table and stuffed it into Lin Wan Yi’s mouth.

Without sparing a glance at Meng Ting.

“My wife loves to eat them, so I get them.”

“Do you have a problem?”

“No… no problem.”

Meng Ting was utterly speechless.

“Anything else?”

Gu Yanshen picked up the thermos bottle on the table, beginning to mix brown sugar water for Lin Wan Yi.

“If there’s nothing else, please leave, we’re about to eat.”

A blatant dismissal.

The message was brutally clear.

Meng Ting sat there, feeling like she was on pins and needles.

Couldn’t stay, couldn’t leave.

Just then, Gu An, lying on the floor, suddenly raised his head.

The little guy was stout and sturdy with bright black eyes.

He pointed at the malt milk powder on the table that Meng Ting had placed.

And in a childish voice, he said a single word:

“Unrefined.”

Pfff.

Lin Wan Yi couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Gu Yanshen’s lips curled slightly too.

Meng Ting’s face instantly flushed to the color of a pig’s liver.

She suddenly stood up.

The chair scraped across the floor with a dull sound.

“Since it seems Mr. Gu and your wife don’t welcome me, I’ll be leaving now!”

She grabbed the net bag on the table.

The last shred of her dignity.

Turned and walked out.

Without even a goodbye.

Out the door.

The cold wind blew.

Meng Ting then realized her back was soaked.

All from anger.

She stood in the dim hallway, looking back at the tightly closed door.

Inside, laughter from Lin Wan Yi and Gu Yanshen could be faintly heard.

As well as the child’s babbling.

Warm to the point of being piercing.

“Lin Wan Yi…”

Meng Ting gritted her teeth and fiercely threw the net bag to the ground.

Two cans of malt milk powder rolled out, clattering.

“Just you wait.”

“Living well, aren’t you?”

“Eating well, aren’t you?”

“Eating strawberries in winter, aren’t you?”

Meng Ting’s beautiful eyes were filled with spite in that moment.

She remembered her father Meng Dehai’s words.

In this courtyard.

Electricity, water, coal, that’s the lifeblood of logistics.

If there’s no electricity, no coal.

Let’s see how that capitalist’s daughter would continue to eat strawberries while dressed in skirts in their wool-carpeted living room!

To freeze and starve that delicate flower.

A simple matter of pulling a switch, cutting off supplies.

Too easy.

Meng Ting sneered coldly.

Picked up the malt milk powder off the ground.

Walked away on high heels, with a clacking sound.

Each step as if stepping upon Lin Wan Yi’s face.

Tonight.

You’ll know the meaning of “bitterly cold weather.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep