Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Add Me on WeChat
"Ashley, hurry up!"
Ariana Grant rolled down the window from the back of the business vehicle and waved at her.
Ashley Shaw nodded, turned her head, and bowed once more to Grandpa Prescott.
"I’ll come to see you again next time."
Grandpa Prescott smiled warmly, "Alright, once your college entrance exam results are out, I’ll set up a feast for you."
Calculating the timing, the results should be out next week. Ashley thought for a moment and said, "No, next time it’s my treat. I’ll cook for you at my friend’s place. How about that?"
In her previous life, after marrying Warren Prescott, she didn’t improve in any other aspects, but her culinary skills became exceptional.
This could be seen from Warren Prescott, who was extremely picky yet enjoyed her cooking.
"That sounds great! I’ll be waiting for that."
"Alright. I’m leaving now, please hurry back inside, don’t stay out here in the wind."
"Okay!"
Ashley Shaw waved and sat in the back seat of the business vehicle.
The pickup truck led the way in front, smoothly driving out of the neighborhood.
Mr. Coleman knew the general direction but not the specific address. He gazed forward, slightly turning his cheek, "Young Master, which neighborhood is Miss Ashley in again?"
Warren Prescott had been watching the side mirror outside the car and, hearing this, smoothly gave an address.
But suddenly, he remembered something and had Mr. Coleman turn on the hazard lights and pull over to the right.
The business vehicle behind naturally also pulled over.
Ashley Shaw was wondering why the car stopped when she saw Warren Prescott get out of the pickup truck in front and walk over to knock on her window.
"You’re not using QQ anymore, right?"
He noticed that since the college entrance exams, her status had always been offline, not once logging in.
Ashley Shaw didn’t know why he asked this but nodded truthfully, "That’s right, I use WeChat more now. Why?"
"Mr. Coleman doesn’t know the exact address. Let’s add each other as friends and you can send me the address."
Warren Prescott said this while handing over his WeChat QR code.
His expression was calm, giving no hint of anything.
Ashley Shaw didn’t want to add him.
She originally planned to cut off all contact between them, so there was no need to add him as a friend.
Ashley Shaw didn’t take out her phone to scan and just said, "It’s at Caldera Lodge, over in the old town. Mr. Coleman should know it."
"Still, let’s add each other so you can give me the exact address, that way we can take the shortest route."
With the conversation this far, refusing further would be too obvious and disrespectful.
Regardless, after the college entrance exams, Warren Prescott indeed hadn’t troubled her once.
Even today, he truly meant to help.
Ashley Shaw had no choice but to take out her phone and scan Warren Prescott’s QR code.
After sending the friend verification, Warren Prescott turned back to the pickup truck.
Warren Prescott’s WeChat list had a single name "Warren," unchanged even after many years.
However, the avatar was different from the previous life.
His avatar was a group photo from the beginning of the semester’s sports meet, and she was in that photo too.
Ashley Shaw opened the chat and sent the address for Caldera Lodge.
On the other side, after getting back into the truck, Warren Prescott had an ambiguous smile on his lips.
Seeing this, Mr. Coleman felt uneasy.
"Young Master, can we depart now?"
"Let’s go."
Warren Prescott’s voice carried a drawn-out tone he usually didn’t have.
The tone even finished with an upward inflection.
He resembled a peacock blooming in spring.
Though Warren Prescott himself didn’t realize it.
He was currently focused on his phone, browsing Ashley Shaw’s social media moments.
But he was disappointed to find that Ashley Shaw’s moments consisted only of two gray lines with a small dot in the middle.
There was nothing.
His eyes, once bright, dimmed slowly.
He had hoped to discern her preferences through her moments.
After living under the same roof for so many years, he knew nothing about her likes.
For instance, when moving fruit, Grandpa had mentioned, "No need to move apples, Ashley doesn’t like them."
He knew only this, that she didn’t like apples.
Oh, and she didn’t like puffed food, because when Aunt Shaw was still around, she once brought a lot of puffed food to his room, asking if he’d eat it. She said Ashley won it in a contest but didn’t like those so she asked him.
It’s because he remembered this that when Cillian asked what Ashley liked, he deliberately said puffed food.
But his knowledge of her was limited to just this.
He couldn’t say he knew nothing, but he was truly ignorant.
Warren Prescott’s eyelashes drooped, and his mood at the moment felt like a roller coaster at its lowest point.
At least they added each other as friends, right?
At that moment, a new message popped up on WeChat.
The message was from "summer."
Ashley Shaw.
Warren Prescott perked up and opened the chat.
It was an address for a dessert shop, along with a voice message.
He played the voice message, and Ashley Shaw’s voice came through.
"Sorry for the inconvenience, but could we detour to this place first? I want to take the fruits to the shop and share them with everyone."
Warren Prescott naturally knew that Ashley Shaw was now working in Claire Xavier’s shop, introduced by Cillian Xavier.
The work was exhausting, much harsher compared to what he suggested.
His eyes flickered with darkness, but he replied with an "okay."
After thinking about it, he felt that "okay" was too blunt, so he sent an emoji—"smile.jpg"—from the system.
"Mr. Coleman, head here first."
He gave the address to Mr. Coleman, who immediately made a U-turn at the next intersection.
In the business vehicle behind, Ariana Grant leaned over to look at Ashley Shaw’s phone screen.
"No way, why is he sending that emoji? Is the young master unhappy or is he hinting at something?"
Ashley Shaw shot back a confused expression.
"What do you mean?"
Ariana Grant pointed at the enigmatic smile emoji, "You don’t like using emojis so you might not know, but we usually use this ’smile.jpg’ when we’re really displeased with someone."
"Is that... so?"
In her previous life, she rarely received emoji messages from Warren Prescott.
Except for that one emoji that made her suspect he might have cheated on her.
"Yes! Definitely! I mean, if he really didn’t want to come with us, why did he? Now he’s here and unhappy, throwing a tantrum like that. His temper is really hard to handle!"
"Then... what should we do?"
Ariana Grant sighed, "There’s nothing we can do. Once we reach your workplace, let’s treat him to a cake as thanks? He doesn’t need money; this seems the only option."
Ashley Shaw nodded, "That’s what we should do."
After all, he did come to help them.
About forty minutes later, the two vehicles stopped one after the other at the entrance of Pastoral Serenade.
Ashley Shaw wasn’t there today, and with that post deleted, the shop felt much quieter.
But because of a call from Ashley Shaw, the employees who weren’t off today were all waiting at the doorstep.
Claire Xavier stood at the forefront.
After talking with her younger brother about Ashley Shaw yesterday when she got home after the Lynch Group incident,
she found out that the information she obtained about Ashley from Rosalind Lynch was fake and even deliberately misleading.
She had a fresh perspective on Rosalind Lynch and a renewed understanding of Ashley Shaw.
She beamed a bright smile, but it faded when she saw Warren Prescott alight from the pickup truck.