Chapter 17 - Let Me Be Your Sunshine

After a light vegetarian dinner, Tang Wei Sheng crashed into Li Juan's room. He was planning to help Li Juan to document her findings. However, she refused his help and done everything on her own.

While Li Juan was busy typing on her Laptop, Tang Wei Sheng took her photos without letting her know.

He looked at the photos on his phone and looked at the girl sitting in front of him.

When Tang Wei Sheng met Li Juan for the first time, she looked like a lost kitten in the dark corridor. A normal girl without any peculiar features.

He did not even care to take a second look at her.

But to his surprise, he got attracted to her pitch-black eyes. Those captivating eyes were like two big black holes which attracted everything in it. And those tears from her eyes- melted his heart and it was the first time he ever had made some girl cry.

Tang Wei Sheng has met numerous women in C country and abroad but none of them was pretty enough to compare with the woman who is sitting cross-legged in front of him, in a pair of pyjamas and a bare face.

Li Juan has successfully transformed from a little caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly.

Tang Wei Sheng involuntarily beamed at Li Juan.

"Sweetheart, when are you going to sleep?" He asked Li Juan.

"Not now." Li Juan replied without even averting her gaze from the laptop. She looked dead serious with the thick-framed glass.

A typical nerd vibe -"do not disturb" was surrounded her.

Tang Wei Sheng knew that Li Juan was a nerd. But he never imagined that she would completely turn into a workaholic.

From today's experience Tang Wei Sheng understood that Li Juan was so dedicated and concentrated in her work that she doesn't even care about the outer world, not even her boyfriend.

"Why are you working so hard?" Tang Wei Sheng asked her.

Li Juan stopped typing and looked at him with a blank expression.

"From our first meeting to this day whenever I saw you, you are either with books or work. Even when I invited for the party, you tried to skip it by saying that you got work.

Seriously girl, don't you have a life?" Tang Wei Sheng asked her casually.

He was curious about the reason which made this girl so studious that she forgot that she is alone with her boyfriend.

Li Juan's expression turned serious.

Did he go overboard with the question? Again? Tang Wei Sheng realized that he was a little rude with that question. Li Juan removed her glasses and closed her laptop.

He seems bored, that's why he is looking for trouble. Don't he know that we are not supposed to disturb people who are writing?

"If you are that much willing to work hard, then work with me in Tang Corporation." Tang Wei Sheng suggested her.

Li Juan moved to his side to sit next to him.

"Thank you for the offer Mr CEO, but I am sorry I can't accept your offer." Li Juan politely rejected his offer.

"Why?" Tang Wei Sheng exclaimed.

Tang Corporations was one of the biggest corporations in the continent and who would reject a job offer from the CEO himself?

Li Juan touched Tang Wei Sheng's palm and smiled softly.

"First of all, I don't think that Tang Corporations have a position which is related to archaeology."

While speaking Li Juan counted Tang Wei Sheng's long fingers to explain her reasons.

"Secondly," Li Juan hesitated for a moment, "I don't like working in a corporation."

Her reasons were simple and sounded logical.

"Well, for your first condition, I am sure that I can create a job position in your area of interest, like how we investing in the current research." Tang Wei Sheng assured her.

"And for the second, why you dislike working in corporations?" He enquired her with a serious tone. He himself was the heir of a giant corporation and he knows how badly people wanted to work in Multinational corporations.

"All those workload and targets, business meetings and competitions, I cannot work under that much pressure." Li Juan tried to point out the demerits.

"All those stress…It will make my brain explode." Li Juan vaguely tried to explain.

But Li Juan herself knew that her explanation doesn't make any sense. The research she was currently doing was much difficult than a normal office job.

About the financial statements-only money she got in hand was the funding for research and it was much less than that of the annual salary of a low-level employee at Tang Corporation.

Even with the part-time tutor job, she does not have a large sum of money as savings.

Even the working hours were different – it was eight hours for employees in Tang Corporation and Li Juan almost worked 10 hours in the lab and even worked at her home.

"So are you saying that research career at university doesn't have these problems?" Tang Wei Sheng was dead serious about his job offer and their conversation was heating up.

"At university … I do have the same situations, but the environment there is different.

I have an excellent, highly supportive team." Li Juan smiled and continued.

"Well, I confess that I don't have that many savings. Even I have to work part-time on weekends so that I can meet my daily needs.

You know, I can't depend upon my research fund always." Li Juan said jokingly. "But more than anything else, I like being there. University, our lab, professor, senior Cheng, Tae min, it has become a home for me." Li Juan said happily.

Tang Wei Sheng agreed with a nod.

He knew that Li Juan was financially unstable. She worked hard from her childhood itself and seeing that she is still struggling, he felt bad for her. He felt like Li Juan lacked time for herself.

Li Juan was only 26 years old and she was supposed to have a joyful time in her life. Tang Wei Sheng wanted her to enjoy life like everyone. He doesn't want her to suffer anymore. He wanted to provide her a better life.

That's why he offered a job.

But Li Juan declined it by quoting simple reasons.

Tang Wei Sheng's cheerful mood disappeared. He couldn't understand Li Juan's reasons at all.

"Senior Tang," Li Juan noticed Tang Wei Sheng's long face and called his name. "You may find this silly or maybe I'm being rude.

But, to be honest, I don't like corporations or a conglomerate. I really don't like them." She said in a passive voice.

Tang Wei Sheng looked at her dazzled. Girl, your boyfriend is "The CEO of Tang Corporations", maybe in your future, you will become the lady boss and have to lead the corporation with your husband. How can you dislike Corporate life?

"My father was one of the heirs of a corporate family." Li Juan said without any emotion.

"But I heard that your dad worked as a detective?" Tang Wei Sheng was surprised. He clearly remembered Tang Wei Lan's words about the police medals kept in Li Juan's house.

"Yeah. He was. But before that, he was the youngest son of a powerful family somewhere in the south. When he married my mother, they disowned and removed him from the family registry."

"Oh, they are abominable." Tang Wei Sheng blurted out.

"My great grandfather was strictly against their marriage, so he gave my dad two options. Marry a girl from some powerful family and inherit the shares or marry my mom and leave the house.

My dad was the spoilt child in his family and he never liked to live by the rules set by his family.

He always wanted to have a simple life. To have a good job, a small home, a loving wife and a bunch of children. So he chose the second option.

But not everything in our life happens the way we want to." Li Juan sighed.

"Soon after I was born, my dad went abroad with his friend and family. There he met with an accident," Li Juan pressed her lips and closed her eyes to suppress the tears.

Tang Wei Sheng held her closer and comforted her with his embrace.

"In the beginning, we thought it was a car crash, but later it was found that It was a well- planned murder.

Dad's friend, that uncle was a board member of some conglomerate-someone intended to kill him and his family.

The most depressing thing was the perpetrator was someone from his family.

For some shares, his stepbrother killed that uncle."

Li Juan's voice started trembling. Tang Wei Sheng cuddled her and let her head rest in his shoulders.

"After dad was gone, my mom struggled a lot. People even told my mother to hand me over to any adoption centres, so that she could at least afford a job. But she refused to hear them and came to Jing city looking for a job, with a baby me."

"Your father's family, did they came looking for you? After all, you are their blood and kin."

"Maybe, they have- I don't know." Li Juan looked confused. "My mom never told me about anything about dad's family. She always felt guilty because she took their son from them."

"Do you hate them? Tang Wei Sheng asked her.

"No, I don't know why. but my mom always reminded me to not to loathe them. Even before her surgery, she told me to not to hate them."

"Have you ever looked for them?" Tang Wei Sheng asked her.

"I don't hate them, that doesn't mean that I like them either." Li Juan tried hard to control her tears.

"In fact, I'm thankful for them. Because of them, I grew up as Li Qin's daughter. I would not have become Li Juan if they decided to let me in their family.

Seeing mom's everyday struggle, I have decided to study harder and get a good job. And provide a good life for mom. That was my dream.

And you know, it wasn't that easy for me." Li Juan looked at Tang Wei Sheng with moist eyes.

Tang Wei Sheng understood the pain in her words. She was raised by a single parent, she lived in poverty and she looked different from others- she was one of the representatives of a marginalised group in their society.

There is nothing more painful than hurting a child by avoiding and mocking him/her - only because they were different from the rest of the people.

It was difficult for her to achieve what she has now. The prizes she won, the ranks she holds, everything was the results of her painful past.

Tang Wei Sheng placed a kiss in her forehead. A gentle smile bloomed in Li Juan's lips.

"Do you know what is the most crucial pathbreaking moment that happened in my life?" Li Juan asked him.

Tang Wei Sheng looked at her with curious eyes.

"I studied harder and cracked one of the difficult exams in the country and got admitted to Silver Oak school. There I met a boy on a lonely stormy evening.

On that day, my life took a different path and started to follow him." She caressed his fingers and placed a kiss on it.

Tang Wei Sheng's heart was filled unconditional love and pleasure for the girl, who was in his embrace.

"His radiant smile was like rays of hope for me.

His presence lit my world like a sun."

Li Juan raised her head a little and smiled when her eyes met with Tang Wei Sheng's soulful eyes.

"I was like a withering plant kept in darkness, counting its last days. He found me, took me out of that darkness, gave me sunlight, nurtured me and made me grow into a plant with beautiful flowers."

A small teardrop fell into Li Juan's red cheeks. It was his tears, Tang Wei Sheng's tears.

It was the first time when Tang Wei Sheng's eyes got filled up with happiness.

Li Juan's words touched deep down in his heart.

He felt like he was blessed and cursed at the same time.

He felt blessed because he loved a girl like her.

He felt cursed because he has lost ten years of their time together.

Tang Wei Sheng hugged her with all his might.

He released her from his embrace and looked directly into her pitch-black eyes.

"Li Juan!!!!!" Tang Wei Sheng called her name for the first time in his life.

"I love you, more than anything in this world."

"Let me be your sunshine forever."

Li Juan got startled for a moment.

It felt like a Dejavu.

"Allow me to be your sun forever" a man's deep voice heard in her mind

Where did she hear it before?