Free Web NovelChapter 166: Chapter 166: Wen Meng’s Photo Wall
As they passed the highway exit for Jingyang, Wu Yun felt a strong urge to turn off and show Wen Meng the local culture and customs of his hometown.
However, they had already told Wen Meng’s parents when to expect them, so they were probably already preparing lunch.
Though Wen Meng usually seemed carefree and unconcerned with minor details, she was actually a very emotionally intelligent girl. She had noticed Wu Yun glancing at the road signs a few times, and remembering he was from Jingyang, she instantly understood what he was thinking.
Squeezing Wu Yun’s right hand, which rested on her lap, Wen Meng said softly, "Wu Yun, before we go back to school, I’ll go home with you for a visit."
A sad song happened to be playing on the car radio, which made Wen Meng think about Wu Yun’s family situation. She couldn’t help but tighten her grip on his large hand with her left one.
After nearly two hours of stop-and-go traffic, they finally managed to crawl off the highway.
Following the GPS location Wen Meng provided, they crawled through Mianzhou City for another half an hour before finally reaching her family’s residential complex.
Wu Yun swore that he would never go out during major holidays again. It was an absolute sea of people, with traffic jams everywhere.
Fortunately, Wen Meng’s family lived in what was considered an upscale residential complex in Mianzhou, so there were still plenty of parking spaces in the underground garage.
He found an unreserved spot beneath Building Three. With a squeal of tires against the epoxy-coated floor, the G63 just barely squeezed into the standard parking space.
"There’s no need to take my things upstairs. You’re driving me to the airport after dinner, remember?"
Wu Yun casually picked up the three gift bags containing the watches and then took Wen Meng’s handbag from her.
DING-DONG!
Tang Chunmei, dressed for the kitchen, opened the door to see her daughter’s arm linked intimately with a young man’s—it was Wu Yun.
Tang Chunmei’s face immediately broke into a wide smile. "Xiaowu, you’re here! Come in, come in! Make yourself at home!"
"Meng Meng, honestly," she said, feigning disapproval. "You should have just come. There was no need to have Xiaowu buy gifts!"
Wen Meng had told Tang Chunmei before they set out that Wu Yun had bought a little something for her and her husband, but she hadn’t specified what it was.
"Xiaowu, please have a seat. I’m still in the middle of cooking, so I’ll leave you two alone for now!"
With that, Tang Chunmei turned and went back into the kitchen, and the sound of chopping soon followed.
Wu Yun finally had a chance to take in the decor of Wen Meng’s family home. He could tell the renovation was only a few years old; the complex itself was quite new, after all.
The luxurious, warm-toned decor, complete with ornate European-style sofas, made Wu Yun guess that Tang Chunmei had been the one to call the shots on the design.
The combined living and dining room area was quite spacious, and there was even a small pond with a rockery on the balcony.
Seeing that Wen Meng had changed into her slippers, Wu Yun gave her a wicked grin. "Aren’t you going to invite me to see your room?"
Wen Meng shot Wu Yun a sidelong glance. "What’s that look for? It’s not like I’ve got a treat waiting for you in there."
Wu Yun covered his face in mock despair. "Wen Meng, what kind of person do you take me for? Am I really like that in your eyes?"
As he spoke, he glanced around. Seeing no sign of Tang Chunmei emerging from the kitchen, he wrapped his arm around Wen Meng’s waist and whispered, "Besides, do you really think I’m the kind of guy who rushes? This little bit of time wouldn’t be nearly enough!"
"I just want to see what your room looks like and maybe peek at some old photos of you!"
Wen Meng hemmed and hawed for a moment without saying anything.
"Wen Meng! If you won’t let me see, does that mean you have some dark secret to hide?"
Wen Meng playfully tapped her fists against Wu Yun’s chest, saying sheepishly, "Of course not! Just... promise you won’t laugh at me when you see the photos!"
With that, Wen Meng took Wu Yun’s hand and led him toward her room.
She pushed open the door, revealing a room filled with an indescribable floral fragrance. The sheets and duvet cover were freshly changed, carrying the clean, tidy scent of sunshine.
A series of photo frames of various sizes hung on the wall next to the door. Wu Yun counted twenty-one in total, arranged in two rows.
Each photo had a caption.
In the leftmost frame of the top row, a young Tang Chunmei lay in a bed, holding a swaddled newborn. Wenfeng stood beside them, leaning down to look at the camera.
"March 15, 1994, 3:15 PM. Mother and daughter are both safe and sound! —Wenfeng"
The second photo was of Wen Meng at one year old, toddling toward the camera with her arms outstretched.
"March 15, 1995. A memento of Meng Meng’s first year! —Wenfeng"
In the third, Wen Meng was sitting on the edge of a flower planter. She held a flower in her chubby little hand, her sweet face smiling at the camera and revealing two neat rows of milk teeth.
"March 15, 1996. Rongcheng Zoo. A memento of two-year-old Meng Meng. I hope my daughter will always be this happy. —Wenfeng"
In the fourth photo, a little Wen Meng was wearing a small backpack and holding her teacher’s hand. She was looking back at the camera, her eyes welling with tears and her lip trembling as if she were about to cry.
"March 15, 1997. Meng Meng is three. Even after more than ten days of kindergarten, she still doesn’t want to be apart from her daddy! —Wenfeng."
As Wu Yun looked at the photos taken on Wen Meng’s birthday each year, a smile touched his lips, but his eyes began to redden.
He missed his grandparents. Including the time before his rebirth, they had been gone for over a decade.
Secretly wiping the corner of his eye, Wu Yun smiled and continued looking at the photos.
The second row was different. The captions and the person accompanying Wen Meng in the photos had changed to Tang Chunmei, but Wen Meng’s smiling face and the heartwarming messages remained the same.
"Huh!?"
As Wen Meng covered her face, Wu Yun finally saw *that* photo.
In it, Wen Meng had poofy, long hair that covered half her face, while Tang Chunmei pointed at her head with a stern expression.
"March 15, 2009. Give her an inch and she’ll take a mile! What are they teaching in that dance class, how to do your hair like this? Get it changed back right now! —Tang Chunmei."
"Hahahaha!~"
Wu Yun leaned against the wall, unable to stop himself from bursting into laughter.
Mortified, Wen Meng pounded on Wu Yun’s shoulder. "I told you not to laugh! I told you not to laugh!~"
It took a while for Wu Yun to stifle his laughter, but he couldn’t resist teasing her. "Wen Meng, does your heart still race when you hear music from Audition Online? Are those Keyboards in the corner the ones you smashed to pieces?"
"You’re dead! Don’t say it! Don’t say it!"
Covering her face, Wen Meng flopped onto the bed, kicking her feet wildly to vent her embarrassment.
Her vigorous movements caused her short skirt to ride up, revealing the safety shorts she wore underneath.
But Wu Yun was in no mood to appreciate the sight; his attention was completely captivated by the photos, as if he could immerse himself in Wen Meng’s past just by looking at them.
Seeing Wen Meng grow more beautiful with each passing year, her alluring charm beginning to blossom in high school, Wu Yun felt a pang of something akin to having stolen another family’s prized treasure.
Looking at the captions again, it was clear that Wen Meng was the absolute apple of her parents’ eye.
’If they ever found out I was three-timing,’ he thought, ’Tang Chunmei would probably charge out of the kitchen with a cleaver and send me to meet my grandparents right then and there.’
"Wen Meng, it looks like it’s time to start a third row of frames!"
Wu Yun said suddenly, making Wen Meng, who had been lying on the bed scrolling through her phone, freeze for a second. "You’re right!"
She quickly realized what he meant, scrambling up from the bed to happily link her arm with his. Resting her head on his shoulder, she asked, "Do you want to be in the next one with me?"
Wu Yun lowered his head, inhaling the light fragrance of her hair.
"I want to be the one who writes the caption, too."
