Chapter 14, "A Little Rain." ...

"Hourly rain".

Huang Shiyu had just reached the circular garden in the middle of the villa community when she saw Lu Xiao standing not far ahead, tilting her head and sweetly calling her name.

She was still wearing that camel coat, her hands in her pockets. The villa's streetlights were spaced a few meters apart, and Lu Xiao stood in the shadows. The light wasn't clear, and when it shone on her, it looked like the lines drawn by a painter with charcoal, making her features distinct in light and shadow.

"Why did you come out to pick me up?" Huang Shiyu walked quickly to Lu Xiao.

"I was just worried you wouldn't be able to find my house," Lu Xiao said, linking arms with Huang Shiyu as they walked. "What, am I out picking up my girlfriend?"

"Damn, even you're making this joke at me." Huang Shiyu's tone revealed a hint of helplessness.

"Judging from what you're saying," Lu Xiao turned her head slightly, her eyes fixed on Huang Shiyu's face as if trying to find out what was going on, "Could it be that someone else said the same thing to you just now?"

Lu Xiao's gaze was very direct, locking onto Huang Shiyu's face. In Huang Shiyu's eyes, that gaze could be summed up in four simple words: Confess the truth.

She was truly impressed by Lu Xiao's detective-like intuition. Could it be because Lu Xiao had read a lot of suspense novels, making her intuition as sharp as a dog's sense of smell?

Unable to stand Lu Xiao's creepy gaze, she raised her hand and, taking advantage of Lu Xiao's inattention, lightly scratched her cheek, replying vaguely, "It's a shame you're not a detective. Besides, isn't Shen Nanfeng home? Shouldn't you be enjoying a cozy time with your husband and kids right now?"

To be honest, there was nothing wrong with telling Lu Xiao, but the thought of how it might bring up her and Li Xingzhou's past made her not want to talk about it anymore. After all, one lie requires countless more to cover it up, and she was now acutely aware of that problem.

Huang Shiyu's grip was quite strong, as could be seen from the previous application of the medicine. A small blush quickly rose to Lu Xiao's fair face. When she heard Huang Shiyu ask about Shen Nanfeng, her body stiffened for a moment, but she quickly covered it up by covering her face.

"He's busy, in a meeting," Lu Xiao said awkwardly, covering her face.

Huang Shiyu responded, "That's true. During the mask-wearing period these past few years, the backlog of cases has kept him busy for a while."

Seeing Lu Xiao covering her face, she said worriedly, "Let me see, did I use too much force just now?"

Children from poor families learn to be independent early. Huang Shiyu developed her strength through daily housework. Although she was born in a small county town, it was surrounded by mountains. Standing in front of the door, all you could see were mountains that you couldn't cross, making it feel more like a small village.

Her family was so poor that they didn't get a water heater until Huang Shiyu went to middle school. The water heater was an old appliance that her aunt had discarded. As you can imagine, Huang Shiyu had to chop wood in her spare time for the next few years, which was used for cooking and for bathing.

Over the years, his hands became rough and dry, and his strength was greater than that of an adult man.

In the few years since I came to Shanghai, I've been learning skincare from Lu Xiao, and my dry, wrinkled hands have gradually come back to life.

However, the strength and winding, rugged wrinkles left by life's trials remain.

"Your skin is so smooth and delicate," Huang Shiyu commented earnestly as she looked at it. "You won't need to buy blush anymore. Just call me if you want some."

"Thank you so much, you saved me a lot of money." Lu Xiao's lips twitched. As she spoke, they arrived at her villa. The door opened, and she took Huang Shiyu's arm and went inside, asking, "What would you like to eat? How about rice noodle soup?"

"I love you." Huang Shiyu hadn't visited Lu Xiao's house many times and had no interest in touring the mansion. She simply found a seat in the dining room, propped her cheek up, and watched Lu Xiao busy in the kitchen.

With her other hand lightly tapping the table, she stared at a certain fulcrum in front of her. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. She took out her phone and stared at the message bar for a while before remembering that Li Xingzhou had sent her a message a few days ago. How could this be the reason that he said the two of them had no way to contact each other?

Looking back now, Huang Shiyu realizes that Li Xingzhou must have been very pleased with her when she looked so embarrassed.

But she couldn't care less about whether Li Xingzhou was really pleased with himself or not. There was something more important to do right now: to quickly repay the favor she owed Li Xingzhou.

Owe someone a favor is like taking out a high-interest loan or using Alipay's credit service. If you don't pay it back soon, the interest will snowball, and it will be hard to say how you'll ever be able to repay it.

Huang Shiyu thought for a moment and sent the other party a message that was both appropriate and wouldn't make the other party think he had ulterior motives.

After all, when she thought about what Li Xingzhou had said to her, Huang Shiyu felt that this person was really overly superior. He must have been eating too well abroad these past few years, so much so that he couldn't understand the implied meaning of other people's words.

Huang Shiyu now felt that when talking to Li Xingzhou, it was best to be official or straightforward, and definitely not give him any opportunity to have any wild ideas.

Just after sending the message, Huang Shiyu noticed someone walking in her direction. Just then, Lu Xiao came out carrying a bowl of cooked rice noodle soup. Huang Shiyu looked up and saw Shen Nanfeng, who should have been in a meeting, standing in front of her in his pajamas. She was a little stunned.

Huang Shiyu looked at Shen Nanfeng, then at Lu Xiao and asked, "Didn't you say he was in a meeting?"

Lu Xiao paused for only two seconds while holding the noodle soup, then quickly organized her thoughts: "Yes, he was in a meeting, but he left some documents at home, so he didn't go."

While she was putting in the noodle soup, she frantically gave Shen Nanfeng meaningful glances, warning him not to talk nonsense.

Shen Nanfeng stood there watching Lu Xiao wink at him; her little expressions were much cuter and more lively than her cold mouth.

Shen Nanfeng's eyes fell on the pot of noodle soup on the table, his eyebrows raised, he was very happy. Lu Xiao didn't know what he was happy about, she only knew that this person wouldn't talk nonsense, so she was immediately relieved.

Huang Shiyu was confused by Lu Xiaoniu's nonsensical words when Shen Nanfeng spoke up.

"Well, that meeting wasn't very important, so I didn't go afterward."

Huang Shiyu said, "Would you like a bowl of rice noodle soup? Xiao's rice noodle soup is the best."

Lu Xiao said, "He just ate at work, so he's definitely not hungry, right?" She glanced at Chen Nanfeng and continued, "Besides, he's very busy; he has a bunch of cases to handle."

Shen Nanfeng seemed not to receive her signal: "I think I'm a little hungry."

Lu Xiaosheng's hand trembled slightly as she made the noodle soup. She looked up, rolled her eyes at Shen Nanfeng, and cursed him inwardly for doing it on purpose, remembering their previous argument. Then she regained her composure and said, "Don't you usually not like eating noodle soup?"

Shen Nanfeng understood perfectly well that Lu Xiao was glaring at him with a look that seemed to want to devour him. However, the two hadn't spoken much since their argument that day. Whenever they opened their mouths, it would quickly escalate into a confrontation. Because of this, Shen Nanfeng was quite exhausted.

Shen Nanfeng looked at Lu Xiao and said with a smile, "I just happened to want to eat this today. It's been a long time since I've tasted Xiao Xiao's cooking. Today, I'm still benefiting from Shi Yu's cooking."

Huang Shiyu always felt that there was a barrier between the two of them, as if she was being shielded, with an atmosphere she couldn't understand. However, their words were normal and she couldn't find any fault with them, as if she was overthinking things.

Huang Shiyu thought to herself: It must be because of Li Xingzhou. It's all because of his weird sense of superiority that she's now so nervous about talking to people.

Li Xingzhou, who was in a villa in Jing'an District, suddenly sneezed and took a tissue to wipe his mouth.

"You're obviously too cocky, and you got scolded for it." Xiang Zhinan, sitting opposite Li Xingzhou, fiercely protected the milk tea in his hand with his palm, as if afraid that Li Xingzhou would contaminate it.

He tossed the used tissue behind Xiang Zhinan, hitting the trash can, and asked in a lazy tone, "Finished?"

As he spoke, Li Xingzhou lowered his eyes and stared at the phone on the table. The screen was lit up, and the message bar still contained the text message sent by Huang Shiyu.

Li Xingzhou stared at it for a long time without replying. He looked at it again and again, and read it to himself: "Mr. Li, thank you so much for saving me today. It saved me a lot of trouble. So I would like to take up your time to invite you to dinner. Would you mind setting a time?"

Li Xingzhou chuckled, thinking to himself: "Using such polite language, anyone who didn't know better would think I'm your boss!"

Here, however, it's a completely different scene.

Huang Shiyu knew that Shen Nanfeng was just being polite, so he quickly invited Shen Nanfeng to sit down and said, "Let's sit down and eat together."

As Shen Nanfeng watched Lu Xiao serving him his bowl of rice noodle soup, a warm feeling welled up in his heart. He smiled and said, "You guys eat first, I'm going to wash my hands."

Even after Shen Nanfeng sat down, his handsome face, illuminated by the lights, radiated a warm smile, and the solemn expression of a judge quietly faded from his eyes.

Looking at the bowl full of seafood-flavored rice noodle soup in front of him, Huang Shiyu praised, "Thank you, Xiao. It smells so appetizing and looks delicious!"

He added, "This bowl of seafood is so generous; thank you to Xiao for her generosity."

Lu Xiao smiled and said, "I know you like seafood, so I served you all of it."

Shen Nanfeng looked at his bowl, which was practically just clear broth and water. He picked up a spoon and stirred it, but it was all just rice noodle paste and soup. Then he glanced at the seafood that was about to overflow from Huang Shiyu's bowl, and his smile immediately fell.

When Shen Nanfeng learned that Lu Xiao was treating him differently, he silently ate a bite. But he still couldn't swallow his anger. He looked up and, while Huang Shiyu was eating her rice noodle soup, winked at Lu Xiao. The meaning was clear: Who is your husband after all?

Lu Xiao didn't want to clash with Shen Nanfeng again while Huang Shiyu was around, so she turned her face away and refused to look at him.

After all, she hadn't told Huang Shiyu about their argument. Recently, Huang Shiyu had been busy with this merger and acquisition deal, so she had no reason to bother her with such trivial matters.

Time is precious in the adult world, and for businesswomen, every second is worth a fortune.

Huang Shiyu, who was eating with his head down, seemed to remember something and suddenly looked up at Shen Nanfeng, asking, "Does your court still have any houses that are cleared of problems?"

Noticing Shen Nanfeng's somewhat surprised look, Huang Shiyu explained, "The lease on my rental apartment is about to expire, and after living in Shanghai for so long, I'm really looking forward to settling down here. You know how expensive Shanghai's housing prices are for me right now, but foreclosed properties are more suitable for me."

She didn't tell Lu Xiao what happened today. There was no particular reason; she just didn't want Lu Xiao to worry. She only told her that she missed her and Dou Dou, and that she wanted to stay here for a few days. She did have the idea of ​​moving. She was originally looking at apartments, but the price of apartments with good soundproofing was too expensive. She had invested most of her money in the field of artificial intelligence, so she didn't have much money on hand. That's why she set her sights on foreclosed properties. And coincidentally, Shen Nanfeng was a judge, so he was the most knowledgeable and had the best channels to get foreclosed properties without any problems.

Because foreclosed properties without issues don't circulate on the market; they only circulate in banks and courts.

Shen Nanfeng was unaware of Huang Shiyu's complex inner thoughts, and simply assumed that she genuinely wanted to settle down in Shanghai but was short of money, so she came to ask him if he knew of any cheap foreclosed properties.

He said, "It's not that there aren't any, it's just that you might have to wait in line."

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow: "Why don't you just give her a backdoor admission?"

This was the first thing Lu Xiao said to him today, but the content of her words wasn't very pleasant.

Shen Nanfeng put down the spoon in his hand and said, "It sounds reasonable, but Xiao Xiao, do you think I'm the kind of person who would abuse my power?"

"I was just mentioning it casually, you're overthinking it," Lu Xiao said casually, eating the rice noodle soup in her bowl.

Shen Nanfeng was seething with anger at Lu Xiao's indifferent attitude. He wanted to explain the intricacies of the situation to Lu Xiao, but he knew she wouldn't want to listen.

Huang Shiyu was now certain that there was indeed tension between Shen Nanfeng and Lu Xiao. She tried to smooth things over by saying, "Actually, I was just mentioning it casually. When buying things, you have to compare prices from different places. Buying a house is even more so. Hehe, let's not talk about this anymore. Let's eat our noodle soup quickly, otherwise we'll have a bunch of offspring that we can't finish eating."

After making her excuses, Huang Shiyu glanced down at her phone; the message she had sent to Li Xingzhou was still there.

Huang Shiyu thought to herself: How important is this guy? Does she really have to go to the company to invite him in person? She didn't believe Li Xingzhou hadn't checked his phone. With his personality, how could she not know? He's definitely doing a deep analysis of her text message right now.

Huang Shiyu suppressed her urge to complain and, remembering the important matter of moving, sent a message to someone on the other end of the WeChat group.

The person chosen by Huang Shiyu to move was playing a duo game with Li Xingzhou when Huang Shiyu's WeChat message arrived, just as they finished the game.

Xiang Zhinan stared at the content on the screen, blinked, and after confirming that he hadn't misread it, burst out laughing, "My goddess asked me to help her move tomorrow morning, I'm so happy!"

Li Xingzhou glanced at him, as if he couldn't stand his silly look, "You're this happy just because I asked you to move? That's all you're good for."

Xiang Zhinan was in a good mood and ignored Li Xingzhou's teasing.

"Zhapu Road in Hongkou District...it looks a bit far." Xiang Zhinan read aloud while looking at the map on his phone.

As Li Xingzhou listened to Xiang Zhinan's rambling, he felt that the address sounded familiar. Many images flashed through his mind, and then he remembered that this was the place where Huang Shiyu lived. Could there be such a coincidence in the world?

In the business world, everyone knows that Huang Shiyu's other nickname is Helen. Only a fool like Xiang Zhinan, who is oblivious to everything else and only wants to be in love, would not equate these two nicknames with the person.

He can't even imagine what Xiang Zhinan's expression would be if he knew that Huang Shiyu and Helen were the same person.

After Li Xingzhou confirmed it several times, he was finally certain that Huang Shiyu had asked this big idiot to help her move her luggage. Li Xingzhou scoffed, feeling a pang of bitterness in his heart, like a bottle of cola that had been recklessly escalating. With just a slight twist of the cap, the bubbles connected to his soul would burst open.

I'd rather have this big idiot carry it than have him do it. Is he really that unpresentable? Li Xingzhou was almost laughing in anger.

A note from the author:

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To Nan, the "left-behind child" (frustrated): Has anyone even considered my feelings?! I'm so angry!!!