August was the month of harvest and the gains were often surprising.
There were different breeds of grapes in the garden of Lishan Mansion. Hence, they ripened at different periods from June to October.
Wen Xinya strolled in the backyard and walked past the grapevines which were all covered in grapes that looked like purple agate. They seemed to glow under the sunlight.
Wen Xinya could smell the fragrance of ripe grapes from afar, which caused her mouth to water.
Wen Xinya had a penchant for eating grapes. Hence, they hired professional gardeners to tend to the grapevines in Lishan Mansion. Thus, the grapes were all large, juicy, sweet and vibrant.
That was also the reason Wen Xinya craved the grapes in the mansion.
To her surprise, the grapes had already ripened.
Wen Xinya was over the moon. She dashed into the living room, only to be greeted with the sight of Si Yiyan reading “The Legend of Athena”. Despite the sheer thickness of the book, Si Yiyan managed to complete half of it within just a few days.
“Si Yiyan, the grapes have ripened,” said Wen Xinya, who could not be bothered to worry about whether or not she had interrupted him. She hurriedly tugged his arm.
Si Yiyan placed a bookmark in between the pages before closing the book. Staring at her calmly, he asked, “What did you call me?”
Wen Xinya pouted and corrected herself unwillingly. “Yan~”
Si Yiyan remained still with raised brows.
His intense gaze made Wen Xinya feel guilty out of nowhere. She gently tugged Si Yiyan’s sleeve and said, “Fine, it just slipped my mind for a while. I won’t make a mistake again in the future.”
Actually, she found it easier to address Si Yiyan by his full name and she was also used to it. Hence, she would sometimes forget to call him “Yan”. However, Si Yiyan was extremely petty and would get upset whenever she made a mistake. He would also demand her to correct herself.
The frown on his forehead faded and Si Yiyan said, “Don’t make a mistake again next time.”
Wen Xinya murmured to herself, “I wasn’t wrong. You’re just being too anal. Isn’t your name Si Yiyan?”
However, she had forgotten that Si Yiyan had a sharp sense of hearing and obviously heard her. “What are you mumbling about?”
He had heard her but did not plan to expose him.
Wen Xinya frantically smiled and tried to please him. “Hehe, I wasn’t.”
Si Yiyan instructed the servants to pluck some grapes and wash them before serving them.
Wen Xinya happily popped a grape into her mouth which was then filled with the sweet and fragrant grape juices. “Let’s plant a patch of strawberries in the garden in the next few days! We’ll get to eat some strawberries by Spring next year.”
Strawberries were her favorite.
Si Yiyan burst into laughter and asked, “Are you planning to become a farmer?”
Wen Xinya seemed to be ambitious, but she was actually a simple girl who would be easily satisfied. Her desire to become stronger was not for superficial reasons, but rather it was because she wanted to be in control of her destiny.
Wen Xinya cocked her head sideways and blinked innocently. “It’s not that bad of an idea! I’ll get to be a landlady and own my own land. That’d be a carefree life.”
Si Yiyan stuffed another grape into her mouth and exclaimed, “Landlady!”
While enjoying the grape, Wen Xinya stared at Si Yiyan smilingly and said, “If I’m a landlady, that makes you the landlord.”
Wen Xinya could not help but imagine Si Yiyan as a landlord. However, his aura was too commanding and she could not see him as one.
Si Yiyan laughed and said, “Life would be perfect after we give birth to plenty of children.”
Wen Xinya almost choked on the grape juices after hearing her words. She was filled with an inexplicable discomfort and immediately turned red.
Wen Xinya retorted. “Who wants to give birth to your children? Shameless. I’m only eighteen this year!”
Noticing how embarrassed she was, Si Yiyan smirked and said, “Yes, you’re indeed a little too young to be a mother now.”
Mrs. Tan said that it would be difficult for Wen Xinya to get pregnant and she ought to do so when she was young so that it would be easier for her to nourish her body.
Wen Xinya immediately flew into a rage and grabbed Si Yiyan by his collar. “You’re not to spout any nonsense.”
She reckoned that she must have been out of her mind.
I’m only 18 years old and I just turned legal. Why did I even talk about bearing children to Si Yiyan?
Although she seemed like a ferocious tigress, she was actually weak and feeble. Si Yiyan pulled her into his arms and said, “Fine, I won’t spout any nonsense. Let’s not get impatient.”
Boiling with anger, Wen Xinya rolled her eyes at him and barked. “Who’s getting impatient…”
Si Yiyan frantically comforted. “Fine, fine, you’re not impatient. I am…”
Wen Xinya felt that there seemed to be something strange about his words, though she could not quite put a finger on it. She waved sluggishly and said, “I can’t be bothered to argue with you.”
Dear… do you realize that you’ve been led astray?
Si Yiyan decided to stop teasing her. He whipped out a document and handed it to her. “Here’s the information that you wanted. Take a look at it and see if there’s anything you’d like to add.”
It was Wen Xinya’s trump card for preventing the project from proceeding.
“That’s quick,” Wen Xinya said in shock.
She had decided to jeopardize the banquet organized by Wen Haowen and Ning Shuqian, precisely because she was worried that Si Yiyan would not be able to come up with the document, so she wanted to stall for time.
Si Yiyan said calmly, “They may have three days to consider, but who knows what might happen in three days? The most important thing to do is to get this document ready as soon as possible.”
He had guessed correctly. Because Ning Shuqian and Wen Haowen had indeed tried to cozy up to the directors, just like he expected.
Wen Xinya hurriedly skimmed through the document to see that it was rather detailed but concise.
Wen Xinya put the document away and gazed at Si Yiyan with glistening eyes. “Si Yiyan, you’re really impressive.”
He managed to come up with such an elaborate document and refined it to perfection within such a short period of time.
Si Yiyan’s ego was fed and he felt like his efforts were worth it because he had received her compliment. “Although you’ve jeopardized the banquet, I reckon the directors will approve of the fund request, latest by tomorrow afternoon. Once the directors have approved of it, the shareholders won’t be able to stop them. So, you don’t have much time left.”
The information that he had given Wen Xinya was just the initial data. She was the only one who could perfect the remaining data and time was not on her side.
Wen Xinya nodded and said, “Don’t worry. I know what to do.”