08. He smelled of her perfume.

At 10:30 a.m., Mu Jia and Xiao Yu came out of Zhong Sufang's house.

As Mu Jia expected, Xiao Yu's smooth talk and handsome face were enough to make the old lady smile from ear to ear shortly after they met.

The gifts Xiao Yu brought for Zhong Sufang were also personally instructed by Mu Jia, catering to her preferences. They were all exquisite and thoughtfully chosen health-preserving medicinal herbs and utensils.

The old man scolded them for spending too much money, but you could tell he was happy about it.

Zhong Sufang is nearly eighty years old and still in relatively good health. She insists on living alone and taking care of herself. She has repeatedly refused her children's suggestions to hire a live-in nanny or caregiver to help take care of her.

The two chatted with her for nearly two hours, then, using the excuse that they had a separate date planned later, refused to stay for lunch.

Zhong Sufang held Mu Jia's hand and complained that she had originally planned to make them stir-fried liver with scallions, braised pork with preserved vegetables, steamed spare ribs with rice flour, and carp with hot oil... all of which were Mu Jia's favorite dishes when he was a child.

After saying that, she turned to Xiao Yu, patted the back of his hand, and said naturally, "Xiao Yu, what kind of dishes do you like to eat? Just tell Grandma, and Grandma will cook them for you in the future."

Xiao Yu's handsome eyebrows curved into a smile, and he readily agreed, "Okay, thank you, Grandma!"

Mu Jia had finally come back, but she hadn't been able to eat a single bite of her cooking. Zhong Sufang felt a pang of regret, but seeing the young couple so inseparable, her joy and relief overshadowed her regret, so she smiled and let them go.

Mu Jia tugged at her arm, comforting her while pleading, "Grandma, I'll be staying in China for at least two months this time. There's plenty of time. You should rest well today. When you come back next time, you have to cook me lots of delicious dishes. You don't know how much I missed those flavors while I was abroad!"

“Okay!” Zhong Sufang raised her hand and gently ruffled her hair. “Bring Xiao Xiao over in a few days.”

Mu Jia nodded, then pulled Xiao Yu to say goodbye to Zhong Sufang, "Don't see us off, Grandma. We'll go down ourselves."

Zhong Sufang lived on the first floor. Mu Jia took Xiao Yu's arm and went downstairs. They arrived at the bottom of the building in just a few steps.

As they reached the stairwell, Xiao Yu suddenly reached out and gently brushed her hair with his palm.

Mu Jia paused for a moment, then looked up and realized that it was the air conditioner unit of the upstairs neighbor dripping water.

He just reached out and, with lightning speed, blocked a drop of water that was about to fall onto her hair.

"Thanks."

Xiao Yu looked down and saw the girl beside him smile at him. She had bright eyes and white teeth, her eyebrows were curved, and her long black hair was like satin, exuding a faint fragrance of orchids. In the natural light, the edges of her hair were shimmering slightly.

Her sweatshirt was tucked into her skirt at a comfortable tightness, outlining a slender, supple, and graceful figure. From a distance, she looked like a bright and fresh lily of the valley.

Exquisitely beautiful. Pure white, and dazzling.

Mu Jia reached out and gathered her fluffy, shiny hair—so fluffy it could be used in a shampoo commercial—and then took off the hair tie from her wrist, casually tucking it behind her head in a few quick movements.

A few years ago, she graduated with a master's degree from overseas and joined her current company. Because of her overseas background and her own desire to go abroad, she was sent to Latin America in her first year of employment.

About half a year later, she returned to China for vacation. The day after she returned, she came to see Zhong Sufang. The family gathered together for a meal and chatted, laughing and talking, which was very heartwarming.

But some time later, after she returned to Mexico, her mother, Yuan Mei, mentioned to her during a video chat that after she left that time, her grandmother had secretly cried alone in her room.

Mu Jia was shocked and hurriedly asked why.

When Yuan Mei first saw that scene, she was also very puzzled. After repeated questioning, the old lady finally said that it was because she felt sorry for her granddaughter, and also because she was old and easily moved to tears.

Yuan Mei still didn't understand. Mu Jia hadn't lost much weight since returning from her six months in America, except for getting a little tanned.

The old lady knew that Mu Jia had always been spoiled since she was a child, but this girl had always been good at dressing up. This time when she came to visit her maternal grandmother, she made a point of having exquisite makeup and wearing beautiful clothes. After resting for two days back in China and adjusting to the time difference, she looked great and was in good spirits. As her mother, she couldn't see anything about her that made her feel sorry for her.

Zhong Sufang shook her head at her daughter, "Didn't you see Jiajia's hair? It used to be so shiny and smooth, but now it's so dry and brittle..."

Mu Jia then realized that at that time, there were not many Chinese employees in their company's Latin American branch, and the employees were treated as if women were men and men were animals.

Because of her academic background in international trade and her overseas study experience, she had to get involved in online operations, offline reception, channel coordination, and even sales and infrastructure.

In addition, being new to the place, I was not used to the local environment. Besides work, I also had to adapt to the local food, living conditions, customs, language and culture. I was so busy every day that I wished I could be split into several pieces.

For six months, she could barely support herself, so how could she have any extra energy to take care of her hair?

She knew that Zhong Sufang had cared about her since she was a child, and she couldn't bear to make the old lady worry, so she chose to only tell her good news and not bad news. When they met, she deliberately dressed up in a glamorous way.

I was secretly relieved that, despite not eating well and not sleeping enough, I hadn't lost much weight thanks to the high-fat, high-sugar, and high-calorie diet of Latin America.

Who would have thought that "the devil is one foot tall, but the righteous are ten feet tall"? Even after retiring for many years, Zhong Sufang, who had managed people in a public institution her whole life, still had a sharp and discerning eye. She could see from her granddaughter's hair that her life was not easy.

Having learned her lesson, Mu Jia was no longer afraid to just go through the motions when she returned to China to meet people again. Instead, she would put on a thorough and meticulous "self-presentation" that went down to every single hair on her head.

Mu Jia snapped out of her daze and saw that Xiao Yu was also staring at her blankly, seemingly lost in thought.

She smiled, reached out her hand, waved it in front of him, and said earnestly again, "Xiao Yu, thank you."

The man snapped out of his daze and smiled, "No need to thank me, why are you being so polite with me?"

Her voice suddenly choked slightly.

Xiao Yu noticed this and was about to say something when she smiled gently, "I don't want to be a liar. But finding someone I truly like who also likes me seems really difficult..."

“So,” her tone brightened again, “you really helped me a lot this time. Even if it wasn’t for my grandma, I don’t have to worry about my parents calling me again and subtly suggesting I change jobs or go back to China for blind dates anytime soon!”

Actually, this morning, when they were chatting and arguing in the car, Chu Chiyi accidentally guessed the answer to one of their sentences.

He said at the time, "If you need someone to play the role..."

In fact, the role of Xiao Yu's boyfriend was indeed played by an actor.

He was her friend, even more than a friend, a friend who had confessed his feelings to her several times, both deeply and lightly.

Xiao Yu is a tactful person. After expressing his feelings to her several times, she politely declined each time and then quietly returned to being just a good friend.

As for his future plans, Mu Jia didn't know. But she actually liked and envied people who could easily know when to advance and when to retreat.

Xiao Yu's accompaniment to her home this time was purely out of loyalty as a friend.

They've worked together very well these past two days, using a mix of truth and deception to completely fool everyone in her family, from Lu Siming to Zhong Sufang.

For example, Mu Jia's company did have a collaboration with the Xiao family's business, and the two did have a working relationship, but their first meeting was at a local bar. It wasn't until their second meeting that the work setting, as described in Xiao Yu's story, took place.

For example, after the cooperation was finalized, Xiao Yu did stay in Mexico for another six months. However, the real reason was that his family wanted to build a factory in Latin America and needed to conduct preliminary on-site inspections and planning, not because of her.

Therefore, their "story" was already half true and half false, but after he told it, its credibility immediately increased several levels. He really helped her a lot.

She had been in a hurry to pull Xiao Yu away, partly because she didn't want the old man to overwork himself, and partly because she was afraid that if he stayed too long, he would be exposed in front of Zhong Sufang, so she decided to leave while she was ahead.

The two walked out of the residential area, with Mu Jia holding a small dog in her arms.

The white Schnauzer was named Mimi. She got it after graduating. Later, Mu Jia was sent abroad by her company, and it was inconvenient to take the dog with her, so she entrusted it to her grandmother to take care of.

When she returns from her vacation, she will pick her up and take her back, ostensibly to strengthen their "sisterly bond".

As she walked, she teased the little white dog in her arms, "Mimi, you're going to come home with your sister for a while now, aren't you happy?"

Mimi was a female dog, so Mujia had always been rather unconventional in calling her "sister"...

As they walked, they teased the puppy together. Mimi, like its owner, shared Mu Jia's personality—both were attracted to good looks. Upon encountering a handsome man like Xiao Yu, she seemed quite interested. Normally not very affectionate, she now shamelessly snuggled into his arms.

Xiao Yu took the dog, not caring at all that large patches of white dog hair instantly covered the velvet fabric of his dark blue LV casual suit.

Mu Jia pursed her lips at Mimi, "Mimi, call me brother!"

Xiao Yu was amused by her.

Mu Jiahao patted his shoulder generously: "Come on, I'll treat you to dinner."

"Okay." The man smiled, his captivating peach blossom eyes curving slightly.

Then I heard her ask, "By the way, you've almost finished helping me with things here. What are your plans next? Are you going back to Huai City?"

Xiao Yu is not from Pinghai; his ancestral home and the headquarters of his family's business are both in Huai City to the south.

“I’m not going back yet.” He shook his head. “I want to stay in Pinghai for a while. The factory construction in Mexico isn’t finished yet. I can go back to Mexico City from here in a while.”

Seeing Mu Jia looking at him with some surprise, he smiled slightly with a hint of helplessness and added an explanation: "My mother used to be from Pinghai."

Mu Jia suddenly realized, and her bright eyes filled with smiles again as she looked at him.

He deliberately raised an eyebrow at her, "Didn't you just say you were going to thank me?"

“Yes.” She nodded.

"So how do you want to thank me?" The man's alluring peach blossom eyes darted around before finally settling on her face.

Before he could finish speaking, a casual glance caught sight of a familiar object not far away.

Her gaze froze, and upon closer inspection, it was indeed Chu Chiyi's GT Mustang.

Regardless of the modified exterior, the dark green color of his car was already eye-catching enough.

Two years ago, when he first changed to this car, she couldn't understand why he would choose such a car that didn't match his outward image at all.

The car was quite eye-catching, but it was parked under a large sycamore tree in the neighborhood. The tree was lush and provided ample shade, and she had been so focused on talking to Xiao Yu that she hadn't noticed it.

Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. They had been upstairs for over two hours. Had he returned, or had he never left at all...?

Almost at the same second that her gaze fell on the windshield of the car, the car door suddenly opened.

Following Mu Jia's gaze, Xiao Yu also saw the person getting out of the car.

He silently observed the man approaching them, his gaze undisguised.

His attire today was completely different from his style last night.

But it must be admitted that, because people are natural clothes hangers, they can pull off both styles very well.

Just like his personality, beneath his calm and composed exterior lies a subtle sense of control and ease.

Chu Chiyi stopped in front of them.

The man's scent seemed somewhat familiar.

After a few seconds, Xiao Yu realized that it was familiar because it smelled the same as Mu Jia's...

The difference is that, compared to her light and faint fragrance, his was noticeably stronger.

Xiao Yu suddenly frowned almost imperceptibly.

Chu Chiyi didn't look at him, but said directly to Mu Jia beside him, "Your parents are back."

"Oh." Mu Jia looked at him and nodded.

"He's in the hospital now."

"What?!"

It has a cover!

It's a color that's easy on the eyes!