Chapter 62
Watching this scene, Lu Xiao's worries were replaced by warmth. He walked over and gently put his arm around Zhuo Hua's waist: "Okay, let's ignore them. What do you want to eat tomorrow? I'll make it for you."
Zhuohua leaned into his arms, tilted her head up, and smiled sweetly: "Everything you did was good."
The night was deep, and the city's neon lights flowed outside the window. In her little ice crystal nest, Frostfeather finally calmed down, rolled over, hugged her fluffy tail, and made soft purring noises.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, in a luxurious apartment, Wu Ying was crying into the phone, while Feng Qi, with a gloomy expression, was scrolling through an encrypted communication software, with several unintelligible symbols flashing on the screen.
An ominous undercurrent, carrying an aura of decay and distortion, seems to be silently spreading through this star-studded city.
In an unassuming office in an ordinary office building not far from the residential area, Lin Wei from the Lingte Bureau was intently staring at the screen in front of her.
Several surveillance feeds were displayed on the screen, one of which was magnified and showed the entrance to the upscale residential complex, as well as a blurry image of the area near the pavilion from not long ago. She typed on the keyboard, bringing up the basic information of Wu Ying and Feng Qi, along with several old files marked "abnormal energy fluctuations (weak)".
“Team leader,” she picked up the intercom, “new residual ‘scent’ signals have been detected near the target area, which subtly match some of the low-frequency characteristics of the previous TV station warehouse incident. In addition, the energy field fluctuation patterns of the newly emerging related individuals, Lin Weiwei and Zhou Yuxuan, show signs of unnatural distortion.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Chen Feng's calm voice came through: "Record it, continue to observe. Note... maintain distance. 'God's Arrival's' warning is very serious." His voice carried an unprecedented level of caution.
The morning sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the living room of the new home in a warm golden glow. The air was filled with the enticing aroma of fried eggs and toast.
"Chirp! Lu Xiao! Bacon! The bacon's burning!"
Shuangling stood high on the kitchen island like a little supervisor, her blue eyes fixed on the sizzling bacon in the frying pan, her little wings flapping anxiously as if she could control the heat.
Wearing an apron, Lu Xiao skillfully flipped the bacon with a spatula, a helpless yet indulgent smile on his lips: "Okay, little darling, that's good."
He precisely placed a few slices of perfectly fried bacon, with slightly charred edges, onto a plate, and then casually put two more slices into Shuangling's special jade dish.
Shuangling immediately pounced over, burying her little head in the plate, eating happily, and mumbling indistinctly, "Hmm... it's cooked alright! Make it crispier next time! Mwah!"
Zhuohua, dressed in a silk bathrobe, leaned lazily against the island counter, holding a cup of hot milk in her hand. Watching the interaction between the person and the bird, her eyes were filled with an unyielding warmth.
The sense of security brought by her new home and the warmth of everyday life before her eyes seemed to finally give a clear outline to the "leisurely retirement" life she had been pursuing since her rebirth.
"What's the plan for today?" Lu Xiao asked, bringing the fried eggs and toast to the table.
Zhuohua thought for a moment: "I've made an appointment with Su Qing to discuss some follow-up work. What about you?"
“New script reading session.” Lu Xiao poured her a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. “Liang Hui’s side is moving very quickly; the contract details for the male lead have already been sent over.”
He spoke calmly, but his eyes gleamed with earnestness and eagerness. This was an opportunity Zhuohua had fought for him, a stage for him to prove himself.
"Chirp! A new script?"
"Shuangling looked up with a small piece of bacon in her mouth, her bright blue eyes sparkling, "Are there any delicious scenes? Like a royal banquet? A Manchu Han Imperial Feast?" The little one's focus is always on food.
Lu Xiao chuckled: "It's a modern crime drama, so there will probably be a lot of people dying in the movies."
"Boxed lunch?!" Shuangling immediately turned her head away in disgust, flapping her little wings. "Boring! Lu Xiao, you have to tell the director to add a food consultant! Otherwise, I won't go to visit the set!" she announced arrogantly.
Breakfast ended happily amidst Shuangling's disdain for the "boxed lunch" and Lu Xiao's promise ("I'll definitely bring you something delicious").
Lu Xiao went out to the company, while Zhuo Hua, holding Shuang Ling who was still devouring bacon, nestled in the beanbag chair by the huge French windows, basking in the sun and looking through the emails sent by Su Qing.
Frostwing, having eaten and drunk its fill, curled up comfortably into a snow-white ball of fur on her lap, its emerald eyes half-closed, emitting soft purring sounds.
Su Qing's efficiency was as high as ever. Besides finalizing the details of Lu Xiao's role as the male lead in the crime drama, she also sent over several promising variety show appearances and endorsement offers. Zhuo Hua lazily scrolled through his tablet, showing little interest.
For her, these jobs were more like a "game" to accompany Lu Xiao through life, and incidentally earn some mortal currency to buy top-quality ingredients for Shuang Ling.
"Chirp..." Shuangling rolled over on her lap, revealing her soft belly, and murmured dreamily, "...salmon...blueberry..."
Zhuohua chuckled and tapped its little belly with her fingertip: "Foodie."
In the afternoon, Zhuohua arrived at Xingyao Media as promised. Su Qing's office was spacious and bright, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the bustling city.
"Zhuohua! Please have a seat!" Su Qing greeted her warmly and personally poured her a cup of premium herbal tea. "The station is taking Lu Xiao's crime drama very seriously. The director is a veteran and powerful actor, and the crew is reliable. It's bound to be a hit! You have an amazing eye for talent!"
Zhuohua sat down casually, picked up her teacup, smelled it, and said with an elegant and relaxed demeanor, "He's suitable."
Su Qing sat down opposite her and handed her a document: "In addition, I have a few variety show offers that I think are good. One is a slow-life travel show, which focuses on healing and is very suitable for your current image; the other is an acting competition show with a strong panel of judges, which will be very helpful for Lu Xiao to improve his professional reputation..."
Zhuohua casually flipped through the pages, while Shuangling peeked out from her handbag (an ordinary tote bag with a spatial expansion spell applied), curiously examining the plants and decorations in Su Qing's office. It had absolutely no interest in business negotiations.
Su Qing was still analyzing the pros and cons at length when Zhuo Hua's fingertips stopped on an advertisement in what appeared to be an ordinary fashion magazine.
It was an advertisement for a high-end fragrance brand, with beautiful visuals and the spokesperson being the popular young actress Wu Ying. The advertisement itself was nothing special, but in Zhuo Hua's eyes, the image of Lin Weiwei printed in the magazine, and the "aura" surrounding her that ordinary people couldn't perceive, presented an extremely unnatural, sticky pink color, interspersed with strands of unsettling gray-black lines.
This twisted and chaotic aura... is exactly the same as the "stale dog skin plaster mixed with rotten peach blossoms" smell that Shuangling caught last night, only it's been more thoroughly masked by commercial packaging. It seems the reach of that evil magic extends far beyond private interactions.
Zhuohua calmly closed the file and looked up at Su Qing: "These aren't urgent. Director Su," she said in a flat tone, "are you acquainted with Wu Ying?"
Su Qing was taken aback, not expecting Zhuohua to suddenly ask this, but still answered, "We know each other, just nodding acquaintances. Her agent and I get along alright. What's wrong?" She keenly sensed that Zhuohua's question was not simple.
"It's nothing," Zhuohua picked up her teacup, took a sip, and said with a clear, cold gaze, "I just feel that her luck lately... is a bit strange. It's like she's being forced by something, her foundation is unstable, and her inner fire is too strong. I'm reminding her manager to be careful of a backlash."
She stopped short of giving a direct warning, out of consideration for Su Qing. Whether the other party listened or not was none of her business.
Su Qing's heart skipped a beat. Who was Zhuo Hua? The "luck monster," "excessive internal heat," and "backlash" she mentioned were definitely not good omens! Considering Wu Ying's recent explosion of resources and the unstoppable surge in popularity even after her relationship was exposed, there was indeed an unusual sense of urgency and... eeriness?
She immediately said seriously, "Okay, I've got it. I'll definitely remind you!" Zhuohua's golden words were the highest level of alarm to Su Qing.
Shuangling tugged at Zhuohua's clothes with its little paws in its bag, its blue eyes full of disdain: "Chirp! It's no use reminding you! That smell has already seeped into your bones! You're surrounded by rotten peach blossoms, evil spirits have seeped into your bones, you'll turn into dried-up human sooner or later! Stupid woman!" Only Zhuohua could hear its complaints.
Zhuohua tapped her fingertip lightly on the handbag, signaling the little one to be quiet.
After finishing their business, Zhuohua politely declined Su Qing's dinner invitation and left with Shuangling, who was still muttering complaints about Wu Ying in her bag. Just as they stepped out of the Xingyao Building, Zhuohua paused slightly, her gaze seemingly casually sweeping over an inconspicuous black sedan across the street.
Inside the car, Chen Feng and Lin Wei from the Lingte Bureau were wearing listening headphones, their eyes glued to the monitor screen in front of them. The screen showed a live feed of Zhuo Hua walking out of the building, along with various rapidly fluctuating energy readings.
"The target left Xingyao Media... The energy field is stable, with no abnormal fluctuations..." Lin Wei reported in a low voice, "...Just now in Su Qing's office, there was a brief energy focus and... a fluctuation similar to 'insight,' the target was... Wu Ying's advertising image?"
Chen Feng's eyes sharpened: "Wu Ying... matches one of the couples in the neighborhood last night. Record the correlation."
Just then, the snow-white little head peeked out from the bag on Zhuohua's shoulder again. Shuangling's emerald pupils locked onto the black sedan across the street, and her little face showed an extremely human-like, undisguised expression of disgust.
"Chirp! It's those two dust-eating bastards again!"
Shuangling's sweet, childlike voice, laced with disdain, pierced through the distance, seemingly ringing directly in Chen Feng and Lin Wei's ears, "Always sneaking around like a little shadow! Hua Hua, do they have a crush on you? A toad trying to eat swan meat! Lu Xiao will beat them up if he finds out!"
Chen Feng and Lin Wei, inside the car: "..." Their expressions instantly froze, so embarrassed they were practically digging their toes into the ground. Being called a "toad" to their faces by a bird—that was an absolutely awful experience.
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