"Okay, I'll take you there."
On her way there, Xin Wenwen told the music company to reserve an empty recording studio for her to record songs, and Tang Ran soon received the news.
They had many mutual friends, and Tang Ran rushed to the music company after hearing the news.
Tang Ran lived relatively close to the music company. When Xin Wenwen took Xin Hailan to the lounge, Tang Ran arrived just in time. As a result, Tang Ran watched helplessly as Xin Wenwen walked intimately with a woman.
Since Tang Ran had come to her senses last Christmas, she has been trying to get back together with Xin Wenwen. However, Xin Wenwen is no longer as gentle with her as before, and even hangs up on her directly, which makes her very angry.
Today, she wanted to seize this opportunity to talk things out with Xin Wenwen face to face.
However, upon arriving, Tang Ran was immediately enraged to see Xin Wenwen being intimate with a woman.
Xin Wenwen led Xin Hailan to the lounge and then left.
Xin Hailan was the only person in the lounge. There was a stack of magazines on the coffee table. Xin Hailan flipped through them idly, and when she saw the person on the cover of one of the magazines, she was stunned. She pulled the magazine out.
These magazines are not the latest ones. The one Xin Hailan has in her hand is a magazine published last year, and the cover person is her aunt's wife.
Xin Hailan looked at the name of the person above—Lin Leyao.
Xin Hailan learned her aunt's wife's name for the first time; she never expected that her aunt had married a celebrity.
Xin Hailan sat on the sofa, took out her phone and searched for the name Lin Leyao on her browser. Instantly, a lot of rumors and gossip popped up.
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Author's Note:
I didn't have time to write yesterday's update, I'll make up for it on Monday, I'll post two chapters that day. Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2022-03-17 23:33:45 and 2022-03-19 22:50:39!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the grenade: 55157345 (1 grenade);
Thank you to the little angel who watered the nutrient solution: 4 bottles of Xikuai;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
Chapter 58
Xin Hailan read through all the rumors and gossip about Lin Leyao that popped up on her browser.
Seeing that Xin Wenwen hadn't returned for a long time, Xin Hailan opened the door to the lounge and wandered around the company.
Tang Ran originally came to see Xin Wenwen, but after seeing Xin Wenwen with another girl, all her attention was focused on that girl.
After Xin Hailan finished using the restroom, she went outside to wash her hands at the sink and saw a woman dressed in all black, wearing a black baseball cap and a black mask standing behind her.
Xin Hailan assumed the other person was also there to wash their hands, so she moved aside to make room for them.
But the other person remained standing quietly behind him, without making a sound.
Xin Hailan suppressed her doubts, wiped the water off her hands, and turned to leave.
The woman wearing a mask moved quickly and blocked her way.
"Are you Xin Wenwen's girlfriend?"
The other person's voice, though penetrating the mask, clearly reached Xin Hailan's ears.
Xin Hailan looked at the woman opposite her. Although she couldn't see the woman's face, she could clearly feel the scrutinizing gaze in the woman's eyes, which were not covered by a mask.
Xin Hailan's eyes darted around, and she asked in return, "Do you know my sister?"
Tang Ran frowned and asked, "Is Xin Wenwen your sister?"
Xin Hailan nodded and said, "Xin Wenwen is my cousin, and my name is Xin Hailan. I am her younger sister."
Tang Ran looked Xin Hailan up and down with disbelief and asked, "Are you a child of the Xin family?"
Xin Hailan nodded seriously and replied, "Yes, my father is Wenwen's third uncle."
Xin Wenwen's third uncle. Tang Ran pondered for a long time, still not believing it, and said, "How come I've never heard of her having a third uncle? If you're her cousin, how come I've never heard of you?"
Tang Ran's words struck a nerve with Xin Hailan, and her eyes darkened as soon as Tang Ran finished speaking. Her father had been driven abroad by her grandfather, and she had never returned to the Xin family mansion for the past ten years or so, so many people had never heard of her.
However, if she had been born in China and grown up in the Xin family, who would question her or distrust her like the woman in front of her?
Xin Hailan's eyes were filled with an inscrutable expression. She quickly suppressed her turbulent emotions and said, "My grandfather had seven children. Isn't it normal for Sister Wenwen to have cousins?"
Tang Ran stared at Xin Hailan for a long while, her hostility gradually subsiding. She replied to Xin Hailan, "I know."
Xin Hailan grinned, her round eyes wide with unusual curiosity, and asked, "Are you my sister's girlfriend?"
A few seconds later, seeing that Tang Ran on the other end didn't reply, Xin Hailan seemed to suddenly realize she had said the wrong thing and quickly said, "Sorry, I was just joking..."
Xin Hailan's words were quickly interrupted by Tang Ran, who said, "Yes, but we had a fight a while ago and I broke up with her. She's been angry with me lately and doesn't want to talk to me."
After listening, Xin Hailan seemed to think of something and asked, "Then, are you a celebrity, sister?"
Tang Ran gave a faint "hmm" and took off her mask in front of Xin Hailan.
Xin Hailan lives abroad most of the year and knows nothing about domestic celebrities. Therefore, when Tang Ran took off her mask, she couldn't recognize who she was. However, she still pretended to be very surprised, widened her eyes, and exclaimed "Wow!"
Xin Hailan asked, "Sister, do you know Lin Leyao?"
Xin Hailan changed the subject too quickly, and Tang Ran was stunned for a moment before nodding and saying, "I know her."
After speaking, Tang Ran stared intently at Xin Hailan. She thought the girl was going to talk about Xin Wenwen's past relationship with Lin Leyao, but things didn't turn out as she expected.
Xin Hailan thought for a while before choosing the best way to ask the question: "Does Lin Leyao have a boyfriend?"
Tang Ran frowned deeply: "You're from the Xin family, don't you know if Lin Leyao has a boyfriend?"
Xin Hailan exclaimed "Ah!" and gave an awkward laugh, saying, "So you know my aunt?"
They were just acquaintances; she had even been humiliated by Xin Ying in person.
But she couldn't let anyone who wasn't there that day know about such an embarrassing thing.
Because of past unpleasant experiences with Xin Ying, Tang Ran's mood would instantly plummet whenever she heard her name. This time, upon hearing Xin Hailan mention her aunt, Tang Ran's face darkened uncontrollably, turning ashen.
Tang Ran didn't answer. Xin Hailan keenly sensed her emotions and immediately changed the subject, saying, "Sister, you must have a very good relationship with Sister Wenwen, right? I feel like you know a lot about my family's situation."
Tang Ran chuckled but did not answer.
Xin Hailan had finished her probing, and instead of asking a barrage of questions like before, she took the initiative and said, "Sister, let's exchange contact information."
The two exchanged contact information.
After saying goodbye to Tang Ran, Xin Hailan returned to the lounge.
In the quiet lounge, Xin Hailan searched for a long time using her browser and finally figured out the basic information of Tang Ran, whom she had just added.
She left Tang Ran's contact information for her own purpose.
She knew that her grandfather had only agreed to let her stay for the New Year, but her ultimate goal was to return to China to study and stay there permanently. She knew that achieving this goal wouldn't be enough with just her own and her grandmother's help; she also needed to get past her aunt.
She had just returned to China and knew very few people, including few friends. Getting to know this person who was quite knowledgeable about her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law's situation might be very helpful for her staying in China.
After doing all that, Xin Hailan continued to sit quietly in the lounge.
At 10:30 a.m., the door to the dressing room opened, and Xin Wenwen returned from the recording studio.
Xin Wenwen looked terrible. She said to Xin Hailan, "I have to go back to the company right now. Do you want to go for a walk around the area? I'll find someone to go with you."
Before Xin Wenwen could finish speaking, Xin Hailan immediately asked, "Can I go to the company with you?"
Xin Hailan's quick reply surprised Xin Wenwen. She hesitated for a while, then, remembering her grandmother's instructions, she could only nod and say, "Okay, come with me now."
Xin Hailan got her wish and got into the car that Xin Wenwen was taking her to Huanning Group.
Half an hour later, Xin Wenwen's car arrived at the underground parking garage of Huanning Group, and Xin Wenwen and Xin Hailan entered the company together.
Just like before at the music company, Xin Wenwen took Xin Hailan to the lounge and then left.
Xin Hailan stayed in the lounge for a full hour. Seeing that it was almost midnight and Xin Wenwen still hadn't returned, Xin Hailan got up, opened the lounge door, and went out.
Today is New Year's Day holiday, and many office workstations within the group are empty, but quite a few people are still working overtime.
The offices were filled with the sounds of keyboards clicking, documents being flipped through, and employees whispering among themselves.
Xin Hailan didn't go inside the office area; instead, she strolled leisurely along the corridors on each floor.
At noon, the door to the Huanning Group's conference room was opened from the inside, and Xin Ying walked out.
Today, Xin Ying and several department heads came to work overtime and held a small meeting together.
The meeting lasted two hours and ended just in time for lunch.
Xin Ying was chatting with her secretary when she heard a voice calling from not far away: "Auntie."
The sound wasn't loud or soft, but at the entrance of the conference room filled with business people, it seemed extremely out of place and instantly drew everyone's attention.
Upon hearing the voice, Xin Ying instantly guessed who it was. She waved to the department heads behind her, and they quickly dispersed.
Xin Hailan becomes extremely nervous whenever she is alone with Xin Ying.
Seeing Xin Ying walking towards her, Xin Hailan timidly took a step back. Then she quickly realized what she was doing, stopped in her tracks, and walked towards Xin Ying.
"Auntie," Xin Hailan called softly as she stood in front of Xin Ying.
Xin Ying frowned slightly and asked, "Why are you here?"
Xin Hailan replied, "Sister Wenwen had something to do at the company, so she brought me along."
Xin Ying didn't intend to press further. She raised her hand to look at her watch, then asked, "Have you eaten?"
Xin Hailan shook her head.
Xin Ying said, "If you want to wait for Wenwen to eat together, I'll give her an extra hour so she can take you out to eat. If you're too hungry to wait, you can go downstairs for a staff meal. Which one do you choose?"
Without much thought, Xin Hailan replied, "I'll eat the work lunch."
"Okay." Xin Ying turned to her secretary. "Take Xiao Hai to eat."
The secretary nodded immediately.
Xin Ying turned around and said to Xin Hailan, "Go with her. Tell her what you want to eat."
Xin Hailan lowered her head, nodded, and followed the secretary listlessly.
Xin Hailan stood at the elevator entrance and glanced back at Xin Ying's departing figure.
Her feelings at that moment were mixed.