Chapter 32 Chapter 32 An ambiguous and awkward atmosphere spread. ...
Lu Yanxiao did not overstep his bounds. He walked to where the high heels were scattered and put her down.
She was running in a hurry and her high heels were taken off carelessly, making a mess. Lu Yanxiao picked up both shoes and placed them neatly at her feet.
"Stand still, hold on to me."
As he spoke, he squatted down, gently lifted one of her feet with one hand, and helped her put on her shoes with the other hand.
The high heels were the type with crystal buckles at the ankles. The man was not very skilled in the movements, and even though he was extremely careful, his rough fingertips would still inadvertently brush against her ankles. In the quiet environment, the senses seemed to be infinitely magnified, and the place where the skin touched felt as hot as if it were being roasted.
Lin Mo smoothed her hair embarrassedly, her face getting hotter.
"Thank you, I'll do it myself."
To hide her embarrassment, she waved her hands helplessly, adjusted the position of the buckle herself, and after putting it on, she looked back with a vague and panicked gaze. Unknowingly, Xu Tingzhou, Wang Qian and the car had disappeared without a trace.
Lin Mo was shocked and remembered what Lu Yanxiao said.
She asked weakly, "Um, what did you mean by disposing of it when you told Assistant Wang just now?"
Lu Yanxiao: "Literally."
"Huh? What are you going to do about this?"
It might sound a bit exaggerated, but it was really hard for her not to think in that direction. What was even more strange was that she didn't think Lu Yanxiao was going too far, but she couldn't help but worry about the consequences.
She thought for a few seconds, then mustered up the courage to speak out: "Beating and abusing people are both illegal."
Lu Yanxiao raised his eyebrows and chuckled, "Are you concerned about me?"
Lin Mo didn't hear the man's cheerful tone at all, and explained seriously, "I could have called the police, but the surveillance camera must have captured Wang Qian beating him, and it looked like he was beaten pretty badly..."
The implication is that calling the police would be more disadvantageous to them.
Lu Yanxiao: "Don't worry, I will take care of it."
Lin Mo frowned: "Handle...deal with it?"
Lu Yanxiao: "It's legal."
"Oh, that's good." Lin Mo breathed a sigh of relief.
Lu Yanxiao: "I'll take you upstairs."
Still reeling from what had just happened, she wasn't sure what Lu Yanxiao meant by "handling it." Would Xu Tingzhou come again? This time, she didn't refuse and softly said, "Okay."
The lights in the underground garage were dim and yellow, and it seemed even more eerie after the twists and turns. From time to time, short sounds came from a certain direction, as if there was some hidden crisis. She unconsciously scratched her fingertips to relieve her inner anxiety.
"Can I ask you for a favor?" Lu Yanxiao suddenly broke the silence.
"What's the matter?"
Lu Yanxiao handed over the phone: "Your research institute sent it, but there are two places I'm not sure about."
"Let me see." Lin Mo took the phone.
The document is a "specification" for cooperation. After the experiment was completed in the research institute a few days ago, the cooperation between the two parties has been basically achieved. Before the formal work begins, some information needs to be integrated and unified. This document is exactly for this purpose.
Lin Mo walked and looked, explaining the place circled by Lu Yanxiao to him in detail, and unknowingly walked to the elevator.
Lu Yanxiao pressed the up button first.
"Just these two points?"
Lin Mo instinctively flipped the file back. At this moment, her phone vibrated and a new message popped up. She was so engrossed in reading that her fingertip accidentally touched it, and the dialog box switched to the chat interface of the sender. "Oh, sorry."
She hurriedly returned the phone to Lu Yanxiao, but she was always extra sensitive when it came to work. With just a quick glance, she had already gotten a rough idea of the content of the message - it was work content sent by a person with the note "Zhao Zhengrong from the Design Department".
Zhao Zhengrong, Design Department: [Mr. Xiao, I've confirmed with the Research Institute that a colleague working under Director Feng sent the wrong version. The two places you marked have now been changed. I apologize for the oversight. Below is the updated version with the details. Please check it.]
Zhao Zhengrong sent a new version of the file and attached a text at the end to explain the differences before and after the update.
Lin Mo was surprised to find that they were the two places that Lu Yanxiao asked her to see.
So, Lu Yanxiao didn't intend to ask her to help look after it?
She tilted her head and looked at Lu Yanxiao in confusion.
"Are you feeling better?" Lu Yanxiao took the phone and asked calmly.
"ah?"
Lin Mo's expression froze for two seconds, and she quickly realized that he had deliberately asked her to "help" in order to help distract her. He knew that once work was mentioned, she would be able to focus quickly.
A sudden warmth welled up in her heart, and she curled her lips and replied, "Yeah, much better."
The sound of the elevator arriving was heard, and when the door opened, the messy scene just now appeared before our eyes again.
Lin Mo hurried in to pick up the fur coat from the floor. This was her and Lu Yanxiao's work uniform for their "acting" performance, so it must have been quite expensive. She picked it up and inspected it from front to back. Fortunately, it was not damaged.
When she turned around, she found Lu Yanxiao squatting with a photo frame of her and Xu Tingzhou in his hand.
"Do you still need these?" Lu Yanxiao frowned.
"I don't want them anymore. They're not important." Lin Mo took the photo frame from his hand, threw it into the cardboard box with disgust, and continued to pick up other things.
Lu Yanxiao curled the corners of his lips silently, picked up the scarf and covered the photo directly with it.
After everything was packed up, the elevator just arrived at the tenth floor. Lin Mo picked up the box and walked out first: "We're here. Wait for me, I'll put these in the stairwell."
There is an antechamber in front of the stairwell on her floor. In order to make it easier to pick up cardboard and waste items, the cleaning lady once asked her that if there was anything she didn't want, she could throw it into the bucket in the antechamber. The cleaning lady would come to clean it every morning and evening.
She did as her aunt said and put in the unwanted old things and cardboard boxes every time.
“Squeak—”
The door of the stairwell was pushed open a crack. Lin Mo just took half a step in but stopped again, her heart trembling.
The sensor light inside seemed to be broken, and it was pitch black. The stairs going up and down were like two tunnels extending into the darkness, and something horrible might emerge at any time. The wind from outside the building blew in, making a ghostly whirring sound in the stairwell.
The uneasiness that I had suppressed with great difficulty resurfaced.
Forget it, I’ll throw it away tomorrow.
Thinking of this, she stepped back again, but before she could open her mouth, Lu Yanxiao walked up to her and stopped in front of her: "Give it to me." The next moment, her hand lightened and the box was taken away by Lu Yanxiao.
"The bucket is in the upper right corner." Lin Mo blocked the door with her body so that the faint light from the corridor could seep in a little.
Lu Yanxiao nodded, put the items in the box into the bucket one by one, and then took apart the cardboard box, folded it flat, and put it in upright. After doing all this, he did not come back immediately, but paced and looked around.
Lu Yanxiao: "No lights?"
Lin Mo: "Yes, but it breaks down every now and then."
Although this community is close to Qinzhou Lake, it is separated from it by a main road. In addition, it is a bit old, and the property management and prices are seriously mismatched. She has gotten used to it. She used to go out at night often and was not afraid at all. But after experiencing the incident with Xu Tingzhou today, she inexplicably felt a little nervous.
To avoid Lu Yanxiao's misunderstanding, she slowed down and said with a casual smile, "I'm actually quite brave. In Changli, sometimes I work overtime until the early morning, and the streets are empty. It's no problem for me to ride my electric bike home by myself. Today... I'm sorry to trouble you again."
As he spoke, Lu Yanxiao had already thrown away the "trash" and came back, patting the dust off his hands: "It's okay to be timid."
Lin Mo was stunned.
The man spoke casually, as if he was just saying something very ordinary, but for some reason, these words made her feel grateful for being understood.
"How about going in and taking a shower?" Lin Mo opened the door to her house.
Lu Yanxiao paused his movements and glanced at her sideways, his eyes flashing with a hint of inquiry and confirmation.
Lin Mo said clearly: "When you threw the things, didn't your hands get dusty?"
Lu Yanxiao: "Okay."
After entering the house, Lin Mo took out a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet for him, put them on the ground, and pointed in the direction of the bathroom: "The bathroom is here, hand sanitizer..." As she spoke, she looked up and found that Lu Yanxiao was looking at the photos placed on the shoe cabinet, and his eyes fell on the photo of her and Wei Wei.
She suddenly remembered what Wei Wei had told her on WeChat on the way back from the auction, about Lu Yanxiao's brutal fights, how he had slashed his classmates and himself with a knife...
So, to better observe the man's expression, she moved closer and put the slippers a little closer to him, and said casually, "I bought these slippers for Grandpa before. They are brand new and he has never worn them before."
Lu Yanxiao did not respond.
But when his eyes swept across the group photo, there seemed to be some fluctuations in his eyes.
Could it be that he also knows Wei Wei?
When Lu Yanxiao was changing his shoes, Lin Mo couldn't help but look at his arm.
Will there be scars?
Thinking this way, she followed Lu Yanxiao into the bathroom and pretended to talk to him, "That green bottle is hand sanitizer."
Lu Yanxiao nodded, remaining silent on the surface, but his thoughts became clear.
In fact, he had already had a vague feeling on the way back in the car, including the girl's hesitant look when they said goodbye in the garage. He also realized that the girl seemed to have something to say, but in the end she was unwilling to say it, so he naturally didn't ask. It was not until now that he saw the photo of the old friend and the girl's overly obvious behavior that he was sure where the problem lay.
Lu Yanxiao simply rolled up his sleeves, revealing the scar on his elbow.
The scar was very shallow, a thin line, and his skin was cold and pale, so it was not even visible if you didn't look closely. But Lin Mo was close to him and was looking at him deliberately, so she could see it clearly.
"What's wrong?" Lu Yanxiao asked.
Lin Mo shook her head guiltily: "Nothing."
After coming out of the bathroom, she quickly changed out of her dress and put on home clothes while Lu Yanxiao was washing. When she came out, Lu Yanxiao had just finished washing and was standing at the other end of the living room. They looked at each other at the same time.
"I……"
The two of them said the same word at the same time, and then stopped talking at the same time.
This was the first time Lu Yanxiao came to where she lived. At first, because she was still scared, she didn't think much of it when she invited him in. But now, when the two of them were in the living room together, she felt inexplicably more uncomfortable, as if she had just realized that he had truly entered her life at this moment, and they would get married soon.
An ambiguous and awkward atmosphere spread infinitely.
"I wanted to ask you, do you want something to drink?" Lin Mo straightened her clothes, breaking the quiet atmosphere.
"Can I have some tea?" Lu Yanxiao sat down on the sofa in the living room.
"Okay, wait a moment."
Lin Mo walked into the kitchen, fetched water, turned on the power, washed the cups, and prepared tea. After completing the entire process, her tense state was relieved. Because she had to boil water, it took some time. While the water was boiling, she quietly leaned out half of her body to take a look outside.
Lu Yanxiao lowered his head and typed on his phone, looking very busy.
On the kitchen counter, the water was almost boiled. The gurgling sound of bubbles dispelled the empty silence very well, as if there was some kind of cover. She bravely took a few more glances, wondering how to ask.
Unfortunately, the man suddenly raised his eyes and she was caught red-handed.
"It will be ready soon." Lin Mo evaded the question and retreated to the kitchen. After a moment, she placed the tea on the coffee table in front of Lu Yanxiao. "Black tea, how about you try it?"
Lu Yanxiao picked up the teacup and took a sip: "Not bad, do you usually drink tea?"
"Well, sometimes when I need to stay up late to write a paper or work, I make some tea to refresh myself." At this point, Lin Mo sighed softly, "By the way, this tea is really refreshing. Do you suffer from insomnia?"
"Won't."
"That's good."
The atmosphere fell into silence.
Lin Mo glanced at the scar on Lu Yanxiao's arm and made up her mind. Instead of racking her brains to think of how to ask in a tactful way, which would seem like she was trying to pry into other people's secrets with ulterior motives, it would be better to just ask directly.
"you……"
"Buzz—buzz—"
The phone on the coffee table kept ringing. Lu Yanxiao picked it up and took a look. It was a video call from WeChat. He looked at Lin Mo, but didn't intend to answer it for the time being: "What did you say?"
"It's okay, you answer the phone first."
Lin Mo planned to stay in the bedroom to give Lu Yanxiao space to talk, but just as she stood up, an active male voice came from the other end of the phone, calling her name.
"Are you with Lin Mo now?" The boy didn't see her, but his voice rose several degrees and greeted her across the air, "Hi, Lin Mo, can you hear me?"
Lin Mo mouthed to Lu Yanxiao: "Your friend?"
Lu Yanxiao: "We're high school classmates, good friends. Do you want to say hello?"
"good."
Lin Mo tidied her hair a little and leaned towards Lu Yanxiao. On the screen was a handsome boy with curly hair. The boy had dyed his short hair brown, looking sunny and bright.
"Hello, my name is Lin Mo."
"Hello, my name is Cheng Sheng." Cheng Sheng bluffed and faced the screen to shake her hand. "Finally, I see you in person. You're a real beauty. Lu Yanxiao is lucky to have you."
Lin Mo smiled awkwardly: "Thank you."
No, wait.
Lin Mo was stunned. His name was Cheng Sheng, he had curly hair, and he was a high school classmate of Lu Yanxiao. Didn't Wei Wei tell her on WeChat that the person who had a knife fight with Lu Yanxiao had these three pieces of information?
"Are you high school classmates?" Lin Mo deliberately asked the question.
Cheng Sheng: "Strictly speaking, we are alumni. I am one grade higher than Yan Xiao, so he has to call me senior."
Lu Yanxiao snorted disdainfully.
"Hey, Lu Yanxiao, don't be so unconvinced. What's going on? You want to fight again? Didn't you get enough at school? Have you forgotten how you got the scar on your arm?"
Lu Yanxiao said impatiently: "It's alright, hang up."
"Hey, hey, don't worry. I haven't wished you a happy wedding yet." Cheng Sheng chuckled a few times and turned to Lin Mo, "Lin Mo, I wish you a happy wedding. I'm in Australia and can't congratulate you in person, so I specially sent you some gifts. Remember to check them when the time comes."
"Thank you, you're welcome."
After hanging up the call, Lin Mo felt relieved. She was not stupid and knew very well that Lu Yanxiao must have noticed her abnormality a long time ago. After seeing Wei Wei's photo, he figured out the reason and specially found Cheng Sheng to explain.
The fact that the two have such a good relationship now is enough to prove that the fight back then was not worth mentioning. It was probably just a common conflict among hot-blooded young people.
She had been struggling for a long time, unable to bring herself to ask the question, but it was easily resolved by Lu Yanxiao. Unable to help but feel a bit guilty, she pointed at the scar on Lu Yanxiao's arm and asked gently, "Did you get this from fighting with him?"
Lu Yanxiao simply nodded without further explanation.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry into your privacy, I just..." She was a little unable to say it, because she was indeed affected by Wei Wei's words, and her heart was shaken. She was afraid that she didn't know Lu Yanxiao well enough, and she was afraid that there would be hidden dangers in the three years of the marriage agreement.
"Are you afraid of me?" A fleeting gray light flashed in Lu Yanxiao's eyes.
"No."
Lu Yanxiao raised his eyes and looked at her. After a while, he said calmly, "You can regret it before you get the marriage certificate."
The atmosphere fell silent again. After about a minute, Lu Yanxiao glanced at his phone and stood up. "Xu won't be coming again. Close the door."
Lin Mo was stunned. The man's affirmative tone made her suddenly realize that his presence at her house and his desire for tea so late at night were all deliberate attempts to keep her company. And the busy conversation on his phone just now was also a way for Wang Qian to confirm whether Xu Tingzhou was still a threat to return.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt that this was the case, and my inner self-blame deepened.
"If you regret it, you can stop at any time before getting the certificate." Lu Yanxiao repeated it again lightly, and then walked straight to the entrance to change his shoes.
"No, I don't regret it." Lin Mo hurriedly chased after him.
At this moment, she made up her mind.
After calming himself down, he spoke truthfully and calmly, "I was a little scared of you when we first met, but after spending a few days together, I wasn't scared anymore. Today, someone we both knew said something that made me waver. I was actually torn between my friend's words and my own judgment for a while."
At this point, she smiled and said firmly, "Now, I trust my own judgment, and our cooperation remains unchanged. Also, Lu Yanxiao, thank you. Thank you for asking your friend to explain it to me. Thank you also for Xu Tingzhou's matter."
Lu Yanxiao raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked her, "Have you thought about it?"
Lin Mo: "Yeah, I've thought about it."
Lu Yanxiao: "Close the door, see you tomorrow."
Lin Mo: "See you tomorrow."
*
In the underground garage, as soon as Lu Yanxiao came out, Wang Qian and two other men and women in work clothes immediately came to greet him.
"Boss Xiao." Wang Qian put the black coat he had brought on his boss and reported respectfully, "Wu Zhengquan is already at the club."
"No rush." Lu Yanxiao nodded and glanced at the other two with a cold face.
The two men were like frightened birds, and they couldn't help but shiver, but they had forced smiles on their faces.
Wang Qian introduced: "These two are the property management staff of Jinwan Community, Mr. Bai Qibai, the general manager of Shaofeng City business, and Mr. Chen, the person in charge of the community area."
"Hello, Mr. Xiao." Mr. Bai smiled and stretched out his hand.
Lu Yanxiao simply ignored the hand and didn't give the other party a good look.
President Bai withdrew his hand awkwardly, not daring to be negligent in the slightest. He quickly apologized, "I'm truly sorry, President Xiao. What happened today was an oversight on our part. From now on, we will definitely increase security efforts, and such incidents will never happen again."
Manager Chen stepped forward and added, "We've urgently dispatched staff to inspect and maintain all infrastructure in the community early tomorrow morning. We'll ensure all issues are resolved within a day. Also..."
"Tomorrow?" Lu Yanxiao raised his eyes, his gaze chilling.
"It's already, off, off, off work..."
Manager Chen found that the more he spoke, the scarier the boss's expression became. He didn't dare to continue and nervously asked Mr. Bai for help.
After all, President Bai is the regional head. Although she was called in suddenly, she asked her subordinates to send the surveillance footage to her on the way. After watching it on her mobile phone, she immediately guessed how they had provoked Lu Yanxiao, the living devil - the girl in the surveillance video must be the living devil's sweetheart and also an owner of their community.
So, based on his own guesswork, Mr. Bai explained, "Mr. Xiao, it's quite late now, and many owners may have already gone to bed. If we go over there to inspect and repair it now, we're afraid it will disturb the owners."
Lu Yanxiao: "Okay."
The two property staff breathed a sigh of relief, and after a brief report, they were about to leave when they saw Lu Yanxiao raise his hand.
President Bai immediately chimed in: "President Xiao, do you have any other instructions?"
Lu Yanxiao: "Notify the owner in the property management group, and then go and repair it. Be quiet."
Mr. Bai nodded and said, "Okay, I definitely will."
After leaving Jinwan Community, Lu Yanxiao and Wang Qian drove straight to the Yunting Club by Qinzhou Lake. Just as Wang Qian said, Wu Zhengquan had been waiting for a long time. He sat nervously and uneasily on the single sofa in the corner with a solemn expression.
Seeing Lu Yanxiao appear, Wu Zhengquan immediately stood up: "Boss Xiao."
Lu Yanxiao pressed his hand, motioning him to sit down. He took off his coat and said with a smile, "Mr. Wu, congratulations. I heard your daughter is getting engaged today. I was busy and couldn't make it, but this courtesy cannot be omitted."
Lu Yanxiao handed his coat to Wang Qian, and Wang Qian handed him a document.
Lu Yanxiao sat down opposite Wu Zhengquan, crossed his long legs, casually flipped through a few pages of the document, and pushed it towards Wu Zhengquan.
Beads of sweat rolled down Wu Zhengquan's forehead. Before coming here, he only knew that Xu Tingzhou had offended Lu Yanxiao again. As for what Xu Tingzhou had done specifically, he had no idea.
He knew very well what kind of person Lu Yanxiao was. This meeting was even more terrifying than the Hongmen Banquet. He looked at the cover of the document and then at Lu Yanxiao, his heart in turmoil, and he didn't dare to accept it at all.
"Boss Xiao, Xu Tingzhou's matter..."
Lu Yanxiao raised his finger, stopping him from saying anything else: "Boss Wu, take a look first."
Wu Zhengquan wiped his forehead, took the document, and after opening it, his expression gradually changed. It turned out to be an agreement to renew cooperation with his company.
Wu Zhengquan looked at Lu Yanxiao in disbelief: "Boss Xiao..."
"I told you, this is a gift for you." Lu Yanxiao's eyes were stern, and a wicked smile appeared on the corner of his lips. "But, there are conditions."
Wu Zhengquan had a bad feeling and forced himself to smile apologetically, "You go ahead."
"For the next five years, Xu Tingzhou must not appear in Shaofeng again." Lu Yanxiao tapped the armrest of the sofa with his slender fingertips, a hint of amusement in his smiling eyes. "I think your factory in Southeast Asia is perfect for him."
"This..." Wu Zheng was embarrassed.
It is true that he has a cooperative factory in Southeast Asia, and he also has leverage over Xu Tingzhou. Sending people there is not a big problem, but his daughter just got engaged to Xu Tingzhou today, and now her heart and eyes are full of Xu Tingzhou. If Xu Tingzhou lives in Southeast Asia, his daughter will definitely follow him. The environment where the factory is located is far inferior to that in China, and he is reluctant to let his daughter suffer there.
"No rush, have some wine and think about it slowly." Lu Yanxiao leisurely poured Wu Zhengquan a full glass of red wine.
He then asked Wang Qian indifferently, "Have you received the notification?"
Wang Qian lowered his voice, but deliberately controlled the volume within the range where Wu Zhengquan could hear: "Yes, Mr. Zhao from Hongguang and Mr. Chen from Yuxin are on their way. They were very happy to hear that you invited them to drink."
Lu Yanxiao nodded lightly.
Wu Zhengquan was almost frightened, as Lu Yanxiao's threat was clearly a dagger hidden in his smile.
Since the Spring Festival, Lu's company severed its cooperation with Kongying and he nearly went bankrupt. Later, he begged for help from everyone and finally got the help of Mr. Zhao and Mr. Chen. The company was able to survive until today.
Now, Lu Yanxiao invited these two leaders here, and his purpose was self-evident. He wanted to crush his only hope.
wrong.
Wu Zhengquan's expression paused, and he suddenly came to his senses.
Since these two were always available at Lu Yanxiao's beck and call, it meant that they were also afraid of Lu Yanxiao. It also meant that they helped him at that time because Lu Yanxiao was leaving him room so that he could control him again in the future.
The more Wu Zhengquan thought about it, the more certain he became of his guess.
He has no choice now.
"Okay, I agree." Wu Zhengquan thought it over carefully, picked up the pen and signed his name on the agreement.
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