HBWMA -Chapter 72 Seeds of Suspicion

Jiang Wanyi was startled. She turned around and only then realized three people were standing behind her—among them was Brother A-Ling, the one she had been longing to see day and night.

Anyone would find this hard to take.

“……”

Jiang Wanyi’s face instantly flushed red. Embarrassed, she didn’t know how to respond.

Shen Qingyu had the least patience for this kind of timid behavior. He ignored Jiang Wanyi completely, walked into the pavilion, took out his phone, and started playing a game.

Jiang Wanyi glanced at Shen Qingyu timidly. She knew him—he was the young master from the second branch, Third Master’s family.

In the past, during New Year’s Eve banquets, Shen Qingyu would also come to Qinyuan, but he never sat at their table, so they barely interacted.

Compared to those earlier years, Shen Qingyu had grown taller, and his gaze had become sharper.

After a moment of hesitation, Jiang Wanyi turned to Shen Guiling. Her little face was still flushed red.

“Brother A-Ling, I just… I just…”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish.

Shen Guiling’s entire presence seemed almost Buddha-like, calm and gentle as he replied, “There’s no need to explain something so trivial.”

“Heh!” Shen Qingyu looked up. “Impressive. With that level of acting, you’d be wasted not becoming a diplomat.”

It was obvious he just didn’t want to deal with this attention-seeking “show-off,” yet he made it sound like he was being considerate of others.

Shen Guiling glanced up casually. Their eyes met, and an unseen current of tension silently intertwined in the air.

“……”

Shen Guiling smiled faintly, then turned and walked out of the pavilion.

“Heh. I thought he could keep up the act longer. Already cracking?” Shen Qingyu lowered his head and continued playing on his phone.

Jiang Wanyi looked back and forth between them, then instinctively chased after him.

“Brother A-Ling.”

Shen Guiling turned into the corridor and suddenly stopped.

Jiang Wanyi caught up to him, cautiously studying his expression. “Brother A-Ling, thank you for speaking up for me just now.”

Shen Guiling’s expression was calm. “I didn’t speak up for you.”

“Brother A-Ling, you don’t need to explain. I understand.”

Jiang Wanyi shook her head. She had already decided on this in her mind—whether he admitted it or not didn’t matter.

Shen Guiling fell silent for a moment, then looked toward the direction of the flower hall. Before he could speak, Jiang Wanyi changed the topic again on her own.

“Brother A-Ling, my mother and I came today to clear up the misunderstanding from that day. It wasn’t what you think it was. Once my mother explains everything to Old Master Shen, we’ll move back here. Then I’ll have my mother make you some Huai City dishes again.”

Shen Guiling’s eyes moved slightly. “That day… I think I smelled shrimp in the food box. I still find it a pity. The aroma seemed very appetizing, but unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to taste it.”

Seeing his interest, Jiang Wanyi immediately brightened up.

“Yes, yes! That’s Huai City’s most famous shrimp meatballs!”

Then, as if remembering something, her expression darkened.

“I knew it! My sister must have been lying! I was right!”

Shen Guiling looked slightly puzzled.

Jiang Wanyi said indignantly, “Brother A-Ling, you don’t know this, but my sister took your food box and told my mother she found it in the trash. She’s been like this since she was young—she lies constantly. I knew you weren’t that kind of person.”

Shen Guiling gave a faint, indifferent smile and did not explain a single word.

“Wanyi.”

Fang Mei had already finished speaking with Shen Zhuang. As she stepped out of the flower hall, she saw Jiang Wanyi and Shen Guiling talking under the corridor.

She deliberately stood for a moment, waiting until the timing felt right before slowly walking over.

“Master A-Ling, what were you two talking about?” Fang Mei asked with a polite, composed smile.

Jiang Wanyi pretended to be shy and clung to Fang Mei’s arm.

“Mom, Brother A-Ling said he really likes your Huai City cooking. Also, my sister lied—Brother A-Ling never threw away our things.”

Fang Mei’s expression flickered slightly. She directly ignored the second half of Jiang Wanyi’s words and said gently, “If there’s a chance, Auntie will cook for you again. It’s getting late, Wanyi. We should head back now.”

Jiang Wanyi still wanted to talk more, but she was more afraid of Fang Mei. She could only reluctantly say goodbye to Shen Guiling.

“Brother A-Ling, we’re leaving now. I’ll come find you when school starts.”

Shen Guiling nodded politely.

Fang Mei smiled in return, then took Jiang Wanyi’s hand and walked out of Qinyuan.

Shen Guiling stood to the side, his gaze lightly falling on Fang Mei.

No one knew that a year ago, he had already seen Fang Mei in Shen Qian’s villa. Back then, he had hacked into the villa’s security system. He didn’t hear their conversation, but he saw Fang Mei behaving intimately—constantly leaning into Shen Qian, while Shen Qian maintained a refined, gentlemanly facade.

Shen Guiling found it disgusting and shut the feed off after only a few seconds. After that night, he never saw Fang Mei on the surveillance again.

He originally thought that woman was just some casual companion Shen Qian had called while Yao Ge was away. Only when he saw Fang Mei again in the Shen residence did he realize things were not so simple.

It turned out Shen Qian had already set up a plan long before he entered the Shen family.

At first, Shen Guiling wasn’t interested in Fang Mei. But that night, Jiang Huashan used medication to relieve his allergic reaction—forcing him to pay attention to this mother-daughter pair from the Jiang family.

Initially, he suspected Shen Qian had told Fang Mei something. That Fang Mei had instructed the short, stocky man to drug him. But after a brief test just now, Shen Guiling could confirm that Fang Mei and Jiang Wanyi had no idea he was allergic to seafood.

If that was true, then things became interesting. How did that “shorty” know about it?

A faint current of darkness stirred in Shen Guiling’s eyes.

It seemed everyone here was hiding secrets they could not speak of.

“They’re already gone, yet you’re still watching? Brother A-Ling is that gentle with everyone?”

Shen Guiling’s eyelids moved slightly as he turned around.

Shen Qingyu stood there with a mocking smile.

“To think even a down-and-out family living off the Shen family’s charity gets treated so carefully. It’s almost pitiful.”