Winning the lottery
When Tao Chu woke up, it was already noon. When she checked her phone, she found dozens of unread messages and missed calls.
Before she could even open them all, Wen Yunsheng called.
"Chuchu, where are you?!"
"I'm in my room, what's wrong?" Tao Chu yawned.
"What's your room number? I'll come pick you up—wait for me, don't go out by yourself!"
Tao Chu hung up the phone, opened several messages from Tao Guohua marked with exclamation marks, and understood why Wen Yunsheng was in such a hurry—
During the luncheon, Li Yue announced the list of winners in front of everyone, and to everyone's surprise, he had won the grand prize: a ticket to the "Sea Chaser" cruise ship.
The lavish pleasure quarters at sea opened their doors to her, just waiting for her to step inside.
Tao Guohua was excited and thrilled, but Wen Yunsheng was filled with unease.
If HP hadn't called last night, Tao Chu might have gritted his teeth and boarded the "Sea Chaser" in order to get clues.
But now, should she still risk her life to board the ship...?
Cen Le also found out about winning the lottery and advised her to be careful.
She was washing up while replying to Cen Le's messages when she heard the doorbell ring. Only then did she realize that she hadn't put on her wig yet.
She sent Wen Yunsheng a message saying "wait a moment," but only a minute or two later, the doorbell rang again.
She shouted, "Wait!"
This time, the silence only lasted for half a minute before the doorbell rang again, continuously.
Tao Chu was already preoccupied with the "Sea Chaser" incident, and the constant urging only fueled her anger.
Suppressing her anger, she carefully checked her wig in the mirror, put on a coat, and walked towards the door: "What's the rush..."
Before opening the door, Tao Chu peeked through the peephole first—
Tao Guohua, Wen Yunsheng, and Li Yue were standing at the door.
You've got this whole group together, are you going to invite her to play mahjong?!
No wonder the doorbell was almost run out of breath from being rang so many times...
These three people came together, so it must be about winning the lottery; they're probably going to argue about it for a while.
Tao Chu rolled her eyes, then froze after opening the door.
She looked at the three people in front of her with her mouth slightly open: "Oh, how come... you're all here?"
Tao Guohua squeezed through the door: "Oh my dear girl, how can you sleep so much? You're not replying to messages or answering the phone!"
Li Yue gripped the door frame, stepped out and wedged one foot in the doorway, and followed Tao Guohua inside.
"Ms. Tao, congratulations on winning our grand prize! After arriving at the port tomorrow, you can board our 'Sea Chaser' directly."
Only Wen Yunsheng remained outside the door. He silently shook his head at Tao Chu, who gestured for him to come into the room as well.
She closed the door and turned around to see that the room was already packed full.
Tao Guohua and Li Yue had already taken two of the three chairs next to the small round table, and Wen Yunsheng was standing next to the remaining one.
Tao Chu walked over, and Wen Yunsheng pulled the chair out slightly, pushing it in a little further as she was about to sit down.
She turned back and nodded slightly to him. Wen Yunsheng took half a step to the side and stood beside her.
Tao Chu smiled and looked at Li Yue diagonally opposite him: "Mr. Li, my original plan was to spend the Spring Festival holiday with my family on the 'Dream Chaser on the River,' but I have to go back to school after the holiday, so I really don't have time to take a cruise..."
Tao Guohua rested his elbows on the table, leaned forward, and stared intently at Tao Chu:
"Chuchu—I've calculated the time, there's enough time! Tomorrow is the second day of the Lunar New Year, and by the time you return to port after your 'Sea Chaser' cruise, it will be the eighth day. Don't schools abroad start quite late?"
Tao Chu gritted her teeth, her smile undiminished: "Dad, I have other plans after the New Year, and I don't intend to stay in Jianglin for that many days."
"Well...we can't miss such a great opportunity to go on vacation!" He desperately winked at his daughter.
When Li Yue saw someone acting as his advocate, he immediately relaxed, leaned back in his chair, and scanned the father and daughter back and forth with his eyes.
Wen Yunsheng put his hand on Tao Chu's shoulder and looked at Tao Guohua: "Uncle, I was chatting with Chu Chu yesterday, and I realized I still owe her a skiing trip. I'm planning to take her to France on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. The tickets have already been bought."
Tao Guohua glanced at his daughter, who was shyly lowering her eyes, and was surprised at how quickly their relationship had progressed. He suddenly hesitated.
It seems that Wen Yunsheng cares a lot about Chu Chu, which is a good thing. Traveling together will surely allow him to get some information out of her.
Although the information on the "Sea Chaser" is more valuable, if Chuchu encounters danger, she might not be able to return with the evidence, which would be a greater loss than gain.
Seeing that Tao Guohua was pursing his lips and not saying anything, Tao Chu pressed his advantage.
She gently pushed Wen Yunsheng's hand away, as if to avoid suspicion: "Dad, if you're worried, I won't go to France. It really... it really isn't appropriate."
Seeing his daughter hesitate, Tao Guohua quickly slammed his hand on the table and said, "You two are childhood sweethearts. I watched Yunsheng grow up. What could I possibly worry about?! If you want to go skiing, then go..."
Li Yue interrupted him, raising an eyebrow at Wen Yunsheng: "President Wen, you're not attending the 'Sea Chaser's Waves' fifth anniversary celebration? If the big boss Wen knew you'd suddenly skipped it to go skiing in the Alps, he'd probably be furious, right?"
“It’s none of your business.” Wen Yunsheng glanced at Li Yue.
Li Yue was annoyed by his remark and took out his phone to send messages.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang again.
Tao Chu frowned. The mahjong lineup was all set, so who else could join? Xu Jing and her daughter? Surely it couldn't be Cen Le, could it?
Through the peephole, she saw a man in a beige suit and gold-rimmed glasses standing outside the door.
She thought for a moment and realized that the three people behind her were there, so there shouldn't be any safety issues. She then opened the door.
The man's eyes lit up when he saw her, and he beamed: "Surprise! Chu Chu!"
Tao Chu's question, "Who are you looking for?" stuck in her throat as she stared at the man in front of her, trying hard to recall.
He's a little over 1.8 meters tall, with broad shoulders and long legs. He's good-looking; you should remember him if you've seen him before.
The man stepped forward, grabbed her arms and pulled her into his embrace. Tao Chu subconsciously stepped on his foot, preparing to strike him with her elbow.
The man seemed to have anticipated her move. He grabbed her shoulder with his right hand, bent down before she could explode, and whispered in her ear, "Are your wounds all healed?"
Tao Chu was stunned. The man patted her back and continued softly, "Behind the ear... and here."
Tao Chu stopped resisting—this person not only knew the exact location of her injury abroad, but also managed to find her here; the only thing she could think of was…
Wen Yunsheng strode towards the door and shouted, "Let go!"
The man released Tao Chu, stood up straight, and nodded with a smile to the people in the room.
"Hello, I am Chu Chu's boyfriend, Shen Yingchang."
Tao Chu's mind went blank. How did he become her boyfriend?!
Dude, you started acting without even going over the script beforehand?!
Wen Yunsheng stopped and stared at Tao Chu, whose ears were red and who hadn't turned around yet.
Upon hearing this, Tao Guohua could no longer sit still. He stared uneasily at Wen Yunsheng's unpredictable face and asked Tao Chu, "Chu Chu, what... what's going on?"
Li Yue tilted his head back and burst into laughter: "This is really lively!"
Tao Chu took a deep breath and turned around.
She glanced timidly at everyone in the room and tugged at Shen Yingchang's suit cufflinks: "Brother, say something! I'm afraid I won't be able to keep up with your performance."
Shen Yingchang grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward: "Chuchu, please introduce everyone to me."
Tao Chu nodded, calmed himself down a bit, and introduced Tao Guohua first: "This is my dad."
"Hello, Uncle!" Shen Yingchang stepped forward and extended his right hand. Tao Guohua gave a stiff smile, shook hands briefly, and then immediately withdrew his hand.
“I know Mr. Li, I met him at the inaugural banquet yesterday.” Shen Yingchang also shook hands with Li Yue.
"Miss Tao's silver dress shone brightly last night, didn't Mr. Shen see it?" Li Yue smiled at him, "How come you only noticed it now after being on the ship for a whole day and night?"
"Something came up and I was late. I only heard the last few sentences of Mr. Li's speech and couldn't find Chu Chu."
Tao Chu immediately tried to smooth things over: "I left early last night..."
“She was with me last night.” Wen Yunsheng walked up to him and extended his hand. “Wen Yunsheng.”
Tao Chu gritted her teeth. Was this the time for jealousy and rivalry? This was just making things worse!
But fearing that Shen Yingchang might not recognize Wen Yunsheng and would let something slip, she quickly added, "This is a friend of mine from Jianglin..."
Shen Yingchang slightly suppressed his smile and looked at Wen Yunsheng: "I haven't heard Chu Chu mention this before—but it's a pleasure to meet you."
Wen Yunsheng's face darkened further. He grasped Shen Yingchang's outstretched hand, shook it gently a few times, but did not let go.
Tao Chu glanced down and saw that the clenched hands were white, indicating that he had used a great deal of force.
She clenched her fists; all she wanted now was to end the chaos as quickly as possible and ascertain Shen Yingchang's background.
So she turned to Li Yue and said, "Mr. Li, let's leave the lottery discussion here for now. I'll contact you through Mr. Wen later."
After saying that, he looked at Tao Guohua and said with a smile, "Dad, I'll come find you later."
Finally, she turned around and looked at the two men who hadn't let go of each other's hands. Tao Chu really wanted to roll her eyes to the heavens.
She grabbed one wrist with one hand, using her thumb and knuckles to force them to let go.
Wen Yunsheng was surprised by Tao Chu's strength and looked over, only to be glared at back by Tao Chu.
Shen Yingchang's eyes held a smile, and Tao Chu even saw a hint of...appreciation?
"Alright, this further confirms my guess," Tao Chu thought to himself.
She heard Li Yue and Tao Guohua get up and walk around, leaving only Wen Yunsheng behind.
When Wen Yunsheng saw her looking over, he immediately shook his head: "I'm not leaving."
Li Yue happened to walk up to them and immediately stopped, looking at the three of them with great interest, as if he wanted to stay and watch the show.
At this moment, Tao Chu really wanted to rip off the wig that was covering his head, vigorously rub his long, short hair, and roar, "Get out of here, all of you!"
Damn it, five people are crammed into a tiny cabin. Li Yue, if you want to watch a show, why don't you upgrade me to a larger suite first?
They were all dressed in sharp suits, looking very respectable, but did no one have any sense of propriety?
Fortunately, Tao Guohua finally played a role—or perhaps he didn't want to stay and suffer—he patted Li Yue, who was blocking the way, and said, "President Li, let's go."
The door opened and closed again. Tao Chu saw off the two plagues, and when he turned around, he saw that the two of them had sat down.
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