Chapter 68: How many lies did Lu Tinghe still hide from him? ...
Lu Tinghe looked over calmly. The man was not wearing glasses, but his eyes were fixed on him.
Those light-colored eyes were shrouded in a layer of black mist, appearing even deeper, and their pupils contained complex emotions that were difficult to interpret.
The moment she looked into the man's eyes, Shi Shang's brain started working immediately.
He quickly opened the washing machine door and threw the shirt in. He fumbled to explain, "I'm thirsty. I got up to drink some water."
"I happened to be passing by here and saw your clothes dropped on the ground, so I came in to take a look."
His brain had not yet figured out what had just happened, and when he suddenly faced Lu Tinghe, he subconsciously chose to conceal the real reason.
The succubus's intuition told him that it would not be a good thing if the other party knew about it.
Lu Tinghe seemed to accept his explanation and said with a half-smile: "So that's how it is."
He walked in, looked up at the dim environment, and said disapprovingly: "Shang Shang, why don't you turn on the light? The laundry room floor is slippery, be careful not to fall."
Shi Shang swallowed and said, "It's okay, I can see it."
Then he asked, "How about you? Why are you up too?"
Lu Tinghe looked calm and explained softly, "When I woke up and didn't see Shang Shang, I thought I didn't clean up properly tonight and made my baby uncomfortable."
Shi Shang: "No, I ate them all."
Lu Tinghe was standing in front of him. With just a glance, he could see the evidence of his crime lying in the washing machine behind him.
The originally neat shirt was now covered with wrinkles and crumpled into a ball, obviously having been severely trampled.
"I'm so sleepy, let's go back to sleep." Shi Shang pretended to be sleepy and yawned loudly.
Worried that Lu Tinghe would ask more questions, he took the other's hand and led the man out.
"Okay." Lu Tinghe didn't ask any more questions and went out with him obediently.
Memories and reality were mixed up, Shi Shang's mind was in a mess, and her thoughts turned into countless mixed threads, with no beginning or end, and she couldn't make sense of it.
Shi Shang was worried that he would suffer from insomnia because he had something on his mind.
But leaning against Lu Tinghe's warm chest again, surrounded by the dense fragrance of lily of the valley, it was like returning to the most reassuring place in the world.
He rubbed the man's chest muscles and put his calves on the man's knees. Soon he felt sleepy.
Shi Shang's eyelids drooped, her breathing gradually became even and long, and she soon fell asleep again.
Unconsciously, his body had already become accustomed to Lu Tinghe's presence.
The young man fell into a deep and sweet dream, unaware that the man holding him was silently gazing at his sleeping face for a long time before finally closing his eyes.
The next day, Shi Shang woke up and while Lu Tinghe was having breakfast, he sneaked into the laundry room to take a look.
The shirt in the washing machine had not been washed yet, so he opened the door, carefully took the shirt out, and buried his head in it to smell it.
That strange feeling disappeared without a trace.
Shi Shang put the shirt back on and breathed a sigh of relief.
Maybe he was making a fuss too much. The house was a large flat with a good separation of wet and dry areas.
The public bathroom is on the other side. Since there is a sink outside this room, I guess there is a washing machine inside. It makes sense.
As for why he woke up in the middle of the night and was attracted by the smell of the shirt, he ran from the living room to the laundry room and secretly picked up the shirt and sniffed it.
Maybe he slept too much last night and his mind was not very clear.
It couldn't be because last time when Drunk Milk stayed over, he got up from bed in the middle of the night, followed the smell to the laundry room, picked up Lu Tinghe's clothes and sniffed them, which left him with the impression that "the laundry room is here."
How is that possible...
The next day, when he woke up, Lu Tinghe was clearly acting normal. Logically, he shouldn't have done anything strange.
After convincing herself, Shi Shang finally felt relieved.
He tiptoed out of the laundry room and went to the restaurant for breakfast.
*
After finishing the professional course examination, Shi Shang felt much more relaxed.
On this weekend, he went to the coffee shop and finished his last part-time job.
When his colleagues learned that he was leaving, they were a little reluctant to see him go.
Shi Shang was also reluctant to leave. The atmosphere in the coffee shop was friendly and he got along well with his colleagues.
In between his part-time jobs, he also learned simple latte art from them.
After finishing work, he went to the locker room to change his clothes, folded his work clothes, and returned them to the deputy manager together with the nameplate.
Seeing him about to leave, everyone gathered around him and said, "Little boy, please come often in the future. We'll give you a discount!"
"That's right, without a cute baby like you in the store, I think the weekend sales will drop again."
Shi Shang smiled shyly: "I can't bear to leave you all either. I will definitely come back when I have time in the future."
Everyone laughed. Only one girl with short hair frowned: "Hey, you can still see Xiaoshi. After I leave, it will be difficult to see him."
Shi Shang was surprised and asked, "Sister Xiao Wen, are you going to quit too?"
Xiao Wen is the deputy manager of the coffee shop. When the manager is not around, she is in charge of all aspects of the store. She has excellent business and management skills.
Shi Shang learned the latte art from her.
Xiao Wen: "Yeah, I finally saved enough money, so of course I want to get out of this misery as soon as possible."
A store clerk asked curiously, "Why so sudden?"
Xiao Wen crossed his arms and said angrily, "It's all because of that Zhou Paopi. His demands have been getting more and more demanding lately. He's basically treating me like a donkey. I've had enough!"
"If it weren't for the double salary increase in the past few months, I would have quit long ago."
Working under her manager, Xiao Wen had accumulated too much dissatisfaction. Since the manager was on a business trip today and wasn't there, she might as well let it all out at once.
Speaking of the manager, everyone immediately resonated with each other and started to complain.
"I knew it was him. He's in the title of manager, but he doesn't do anything real. He just orders us around. He's just a lackey of the capitalists. How could he be so arrogant?"
"Didn't they say our coffee shop was bought out by some big boss a few months ago? Why didn't they replace him?"
"That's right. Zhou Paopi doesn't know how to manage at all. He's fussy and stingy. Asking for leave is harder than climbing to heaven. It's time to change the manager."
"Sister Xiao Wen, when you become rich in the future, you must leave a job for us."
"Yeah, yeah. If I stay any longer, I think he'll make me so angry that I'll lose a few years of my life."
Everyone laughed and soon moved on to other topics.
Shi Shang listened to their complaints quietly, but found that she was becoming less and less able to understand.
A trace of doubt emerged in my mind.
"Zhou Paopi", Manager Zhou?
But hasn’t the manager always been easy to talk to? Every time he asked for leave, the manager readily agreed.
The last time I knew he was in the hospital, I gave him a red envelope for lost work time.
Thinking of something, he suddenly asked, "Sister Xiao Wen, do you know who bought the coffee shop?"
"Hmm?" Xiao Wen touched his chin. "Let me think about it. The contract says...it seems like the CEO is named Jiang?"
It wasn't the name she expected, and Shi Shang's brows relaxed unconsciously.
Before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he heard another colleague say, "That's not right. I was once called into the manager's office to be reprimanded, and I happened to overhear him talking on the phone with the big boss. The manager seemed to call him Mr. Lu."
"That's normal," Xiao Wen said without taking it seriously. "A big boss can't do everything himself. He always has a few secretaries and assistants to help him."
"Hey, Xiaoshi, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so bad?" She looked at Shi Shang with concern.
The boy's face was much paler than before, and his lips were pale.
"I didn't sleep well last night, so I might be a little tired." Shi Shang forced a smile and pretended to be calm. "Then I'll go home first and come to visit you later."
Everyone in the coffee shop looked reluctant to leave him and waved goodbye: "Okay, be careful on the road."
"Remember to go to bed early tonight, don't stay up late."
…
Lu Tinghe had an emergency meeting today, so Shi Shang took the subway back alone.
It was the evening rush hour, and the subway line to University A was a popular line. The carriage was packed with workers and students. Not only were the seats full, but even the aisles were jammed.
It is difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Shi Shang is used to getting into Lu Tinghe's car after work, eating snacks and cakes prepared by her boyfriend, turning on the heater and enjoying the night view outside the window.
He was not used to riding in a crowded subway for the first time, and his ability to grab a seat was greatly weakened.
Finally, I was squeezed to the junction of two carriages and didn't even get a handrail. Fortunately, there were people crowded around me, so I didn't have to worry about falling suddenly.
The whole way was filled with the noisy chatter of students and the clamor of mobile phone video players. Shi Shang felt like he was going to be dizzy.
It was not until the subway arrived at the station and he struggled to squeeze out of the car that he had the chance to take out his cell phone.
The boss's surname is Lu, and the assistant's surname is Jiang...
Could it be Lu Tinghe?
Shi Shang silently recalled the coffee shop's recruitment standards.
No work experience is required, the hourly wage is high, and the working hours happen to be when he doesn't have classes.
Any of the conditions are met, and it is a popular choice for college students to work part-time.
Logically speaking, it should be very popular.
Shi Shang didn't notice anything wrong at the time, but now she gradually came to her senses.
Since it is so popular, why did it just happen to fall into his hands?
And the timing... is also coincidental.
He had just confided his troubles with working to Lu Tinghe a few days ago, and then he found a nearly perfect part-time job.
Are there such coincidences in this world?
Shi Shang's doubts grew deeper and deeper. She opened WeChat and clicked on the manager's chat window.
He edited a paragraph and sent it, but hesitated at the last moment and deleted it word by word.
Whether it was true or not, he wanted to get the answer from Lu Tinghe.
There are so many people with the surname "Lu" in the world, and it may not be Lu Tinghe's "Lu". Maybe it's just a coincidence?
Returning to Lu Tinghe's off-campus apartment, Shi Shang unlocked the door with her fingerprint.
Auntie was preparing dinner in the open kitchen. Seeing him, she was no longer surprised and said with a smile, "Little boy, you're back."
Shi Shang said politely, "Good evening, Aunt Zhang."
He put on his pink bunny slippers and walked into the living room. The door at the end of the corridor was still closed.
Lu Tinghe said last time that it was a storage room.
Shi Shang's mind moved slightly, and she suddenly asked, "Aunt Chen, do you have the key to that door? I accidentally left a scarf in there, can you help me open it?"
Aunt Chen glanced at the door and said, "That door is usually locked. Mr. Lu has the key. Do you need it urgently? I'll contact Mr. Lu right away."
Shi Shang forced a smile: "It's okay, I'm not in a hurry. Let's wait until he comes back."
After Aunt Chen finished making dinner for two, she left work.
Lu Tinghe had not returned yet, and Shi Shang was sitting on the sofa, absent-mindedly watching the variety show.
He touched the ring on his neck and looked up at the closed door involuntarily.
There was a faint voice in his heart telling him that all his questions could be answered there.
Shi Shang sat for a while, but still couldn't hold back, so she stood up from her seat and walked to the end of the corridor.
He put his hand on the door handle and pressed it down gently, and the closed door opened a crack inward.
Shi Shang was stunned for a moment. He didn't even use magic just now.
The door was opened because——
This door has no lock at all.
Shi Shang pushed open the door and walked inside.
A faint scent of incense came towards him.
The room was very spacious and had few furniture. A dark brown solid wood desk occupied the center of the room, and there was a cabinet built into the left side of the wall. There was nothing else.
It doesn't look like a storage room, but more like a study.
The curtains were wide open, and the orange-red sunlight shone in through the window.
On the right wall, there happened to be a framed painting hanging, which was suddenly illuminated by the light. The red maples in the mountain spring under the moonlight were embellished with gold foil and were shining brightly.
Shi Shang's gaze froze for a moment, and she dared not look into his eyes.
This was the sketch he submitted for auction, which was sold at a high price of 100,000 yuan.
Why are you here?!
Unless, Lu Tinghe is his buyer.
Shi Shang's mind was blank. The lover who was familiar and gentle in the past suddenly became a stranger.
Lu Tinghe, how many things are you hiding from him?
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The author has something to say: Shang Shang Bao: [scared][burst into tears]
Lao Liu: [Please][Please] Please, baby, forgive me as soon as possible
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