Chapter 95
After Lu Boyi's introduction, Xu Gui finally had a general understanding of Mom Bell's family background. It was about the same as she had calculated. Mom Bell's family background was indeed extraordinary. The Bell family was a so-called noble family in Y country.
The founder of the luxury brand "Denra" is Mom Bell's great-great-grandfather, and the Bell family is the biggest boss and the absolute controller behind the "Denra" brand.
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui suddenly realized something: "...No wonder this guy dared to 'shamelessly' ask me to be the spokesperson for 'Denla'." It turned out that he wasn't just being arrogant; he actually had that kind of ability.
Lu Boyi said, "Although the current head of the Bell family is Mom Bell's sister, Mom Bell herself also has a lot of influence in 'Denla'!"
Mom Bell's authority stems from his own strength, from his status as an international photographer and an artist admired by countless people. After all, Denra, as a high-end luxury brand, has always been associated with fashion, and Mom Denra holds a very high position in the fashion world.
—It is said that any celebrity photographed by Mom Denra becomes an international sensation and receives countless fashion resources.
but……
“I heard that Mom Denla hasn’t photographed people for a long time. In recent years, he has mostly photographed natural scenery…” Lu Boyi said. “Some people say that he has lost his creative spark and his inspiration has faded.”
They say he's already like a shooting star streaking across the night sky.
Hearing this, Xu Gui recalled how radiant and rejuvenated Mom Denla was after their shoot, and couldn't help but say, "That's not necessarily true. Maybe his talent for photography has returned?"
Lu Baiyi looked at her and said, "If that's the case, then that would be wonderful..."
The two chatted about Mom Bell for a while, and then the topic naturally shifted to other things. Xu Gui talked about her experiences on the island over the past few days. She said the facilities there were excellent and she had a great time.
She also told Lu Boyi about being invited by a surfing instructor to become a surfing athlete, and then said in a serious tone, "...Kuang Ming seems very afraid that I will be poached!"
During their conversation, Xu Gui did most of the talking while Lu Boyi listened. Lu Boyi was undoubtedly a very good listener; he listened attentively to Xu Gui's words and would occasionally chime in to keep the atmosphere from becoming awkward.
So, after chatting for a while, the atmosphere between the two was quite good and relaxed.
Xu Gui then asked Lu Boyi about his experiences in H Province, asking if he had encountered anything interesting. Lu Boyi thought for a moment and said, "...I came here to discuss work. To be honest, I haven't really had any fun. I don't know what's fun or interesting to see. However, I did go to several nice restaurants with the people from our business partners."
He told Xu Gui, "Our company's partner this time is a gourmet. He loves to eat and knows how to eat well. Every time we discuss cooperation, we go to all kinds of delicious restaurants, even those hole-in-the-wall eateries hidden in corners..."
Lu Boyi found it somewhat amusing when he talked about it—of all the company executives he had met, this old gentleman was the most peculiar.
However, the other party loves to eat, and Lu Boyi also loves to "eat" (he loves to cook, isn't that a kind of love for eating?), so the two can be said to be very compatible. They have a lot to talk about when it comes to food, so the cooperation between the two sides is very pleasant and smooth.
Now, the cooperation between the two sides has been completely agreed upon, and only a contract is needed to finalize the cooperation. It is because of this that Lu Boyi is able to stay at home.
"Looking at it this way, it's true that I'm lucky..." Lu Boyi said thoughtfully, "When I came out to discuss business, the person in charge of the partner even had the same hobbies as me."
Xu Gui nodded in agreement, saying, "Your luck is excellent! It's the best I've ever seen among humans..."
What she didn't say was that Lu Boyi's luck was even stronger than some of the auspicious beasts born of heaven and earth that she had seen... Perhaps Lu Boyi wasn't human in his previous life either.
Xu Gui pondered.
...
About an hour later, Xu Gui reluctantly let go of Lu Baiyi's hand. Having absorbed all the luck, she felt dizzy and had a kind of oxygen-induced dizziness and satisfaction.
"Huh?" When she tried to let go, she realized she hadn't let go. When she raised her hand, she discovered that their hands were intertwined at some point.
Xu Gui stared blankly at the two intertwined hands, then looked at Lu Baiyi beside him.
Lu Baiyi glanced down at it, and as if it were burning him, he quickly let go.
"Sorry," he said, "I wasn't paying attention..." He was probably relaxed while chatting and didn't realize he had grabbed Xu Gui's hand.
Lu Boyi felt his face burning. His eyes darted around, and he didn't dare to look at Xu Gui. He apologized, "Miss Xu, I'm sorry."
Xu Gui leaned back against the cushions on the sofa, feeling dizzy, and said, "It's okay... By the way, could you please stop calling me Miss Xu? Aren't we good friends? It sounds so distant and overly polite of you to call me Miss Xu..."
Such politeness, it doesn't seem like we're good friends at all—the dizzy person had already forgotten that she and this Mr. Lu weren't good friends.
“Just call me Xu Gui, or Little Turtle is fine too, that’s what the dean and the others call me.” She said this, then thought for a moment, “How about I call you Lu Baiyi, Lu Baiyi, Baiyi… 10 billion, Lu Baiyi, 60 billion… Your name is so strange.”
Lu Boyi is actually a very rational and calm person, but at this moment, he inexplicably felt a sense of unease and tension.
Hearing Xu Gui's words, he said, "In my family, my generation belongs to the Bai generation. Yi means playing chess... This name was given to me by my grandfather, who hoped that I would become a chess player in the future."
The player who wields the pieces, not someone else's piece.
But what can you do when his surname is Lu? Lu Baiyi... Each of these three characters is not bad on its own, but when put together and said, it sounds like he's talking about 60 billion.
Lu Baiyi was also somewhat helpless.
Lu Baiyi explained, but did not hear Xu Gui respond. After more than ten seconds, he finally turned to look at Xu Gui and found that Xu Gui was holding a cushion on the sofa, her upper body was leaning on the sofa, her face was red, and her eyes were closed. She looked like she had fallen asleep.
Lu Baiyi: ?
Seeing that Xu Gui's face was very red, he frowned, reached out and touched Xu Gui's forehead. However, measuring body temperature by hand was not accurate, so he got up and went to get the first-aid kit at home, took out the thermometer, and used it to measure Xu Gui's temperature.
Fortunately, Xu Gui's face was just very red, but he did not have a fever, which relieved Lu Baiyi.
"Why did she suddenly fall asleep? Was she working too hard?" he wondered, sitting next to Xu Gui and staring blankly at her face.
To be honest, although the two of them had met several times, as "acquaintances" who weren't very close and were of the opposite sex, Lu Baiyi hadn't really looked closely at Xu Gui's appearance. After all, staring at someone's face would be extremely impolite.
So this is the first time Lu Baiyi has looked at Xu Gui so carefully and seriously.
Xu Gui is very pretty, with delicate features that are round and smooth without any aggressiveness, making her very likable at first glance.
Her face was small, her mouth was small, even her nose was small... Lu Baiyi reached out and vaguely compared them, and found that Xu Gui's face seemed to be smaller than one of his hands.
Lu Baiyi couldn't help but wonder, "...Your face is so small. Are all girls' faces this small?"
When Lu Baiyi came to his senses and realized what he had done: "..."
He suddenly stood up and rushed into the villa's kitchen—he felt he needed to calm down.
But a few seconds later, Lu Boyi came out of the kitchen again, took a clean blanket from the cabinet in the living room, and gently covered Xu Gui with it.
Because of the hot weather, the air conditioner was on at home, and the air was very cold. People might not feel cold when they are awake, but they will definitely feel cold when they are asleep. Lu Baiyi was a little afraid that Xu Gui would catch a cold.
After finishing that, he returned to the kitchen, took out the ingredients, and started cooking.
He remembered that Xu Gui really liked the lychee soup last time... There was a big bag of lychees at home, delivered by the property management staff this morning. He hadn't had a chance to eat them yet, so he decided to take them out now and make them all, since he would probably be going back in the next couple of days and these lychees would spoil if he didn't eat them soon.
The lychees were all delivered by the property management company on Jinding Mountain. They were of very good quality, very large, and the peeled lychees were crystal clear, with thick flesh, small seeds, and a sweet taste.
Lu Baiyi guessed that Xu Gui would like to eat this, so he only peeled most of it and left the other half for Xu Gui to eat when he woke up... Drinking only lychee soup might be a bit too monotonous?
How about we make some more snacks? The butter cookies from last time seemed pretty good, didn't they?
As Lu Baiyi was thinking, his hands moved automatically, taking out the ingredients for baking butter cookies... When Xu Gui woke up, before she even opened her eyes, she smelled the sweet fragrance in the air.
She opened her eyes, sat up, and looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings. She slowly remembered that she was in the Lu family's villa.
Xu Gui looked at the blanket on her body, then at the sofa beneath her, and vaguely realized: "...I just fell asleep?"
Xu Gui pondered for a few seconds, then couldn't hold back any longer. She was drawn in by the sweet fragrance in the air, so she simply threw off the blanket, slipped on her indoor slippers, and followed the scent to the kitchen.
Before she even went inside, she heard a tinkling sound. Xu Gui peeked inside and saw Lu Baiyi wearing an apron and standing in front of the large kitchen sink.
Xu Gui's eyes widened in surprise—she had seen Lu Boyi dressed casually in a short-sleeved T-shirt, and she had also seen him in a suit and tie, looking very serious. But this was the first time she had ever seen Lu Boyi like this, so relaxed and at home.
Lu Boyi was taking the baked cookies out of the oven. He was trying some new flavors this time. He was holding insulated gloves and was about to take a cookie to taste when a furry head suddenly appeared next to him.
"Is this the cookie I ate that day?" Xu Gui looked up at her, her fair and delicate face framed by bright, sparkling eyes.
Lu Boyi paused for a moment and nodded: "Yes... I baked a new flavor this time, would you like to try it?"
Xu Gui nodded quickly, "Okay." The speed of his nod was without the slightest hesitation, showing great respect for the food that was delivered to him.
Lu Baiyi couldn't help but smile when he saw her like this.
When he first met Xu Gui, he found that she was a very frank person, or rather, a very honest person. When faced with something she wanted, she would not be shy or hesitant, but would generously and honestly choose to accept it.
Oh, not really. Sometimes she'll say things like, "Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" or "Won't this be bad?"... But her body language is absolutely honest and straightforward.
Lu Baiyi really liked this quality in Xu Gui, probably because he himself couldn't do it.
Lu Boyi thought for a moment, then reached out and handed Xu Gui a disposable glove. After Xu Gui put it on, he took a biscuit, stuffed it into his mouth, and started chewing.
When she took a bite, she could clearly hear the crisp sound of the biscuit being bitten; it was so crisp that crumbs were falling off as she bit into it.
"How is it? How does it taste?" Lu Boyi asked her.
Xu Gui chewed and chewed, and after swallowing, she said, "I think the last one was better. I don't really like this taste..." She frowned and looked at the cookie in her hand.
Although she didn't like it, she still finished the cookie.
Lu Boyi glanced at it and said, "This is chocolate flavored. Don't you like chocolate?"
Xu Gui: "...I don't like it even a little bit."
“Okay,” Lu Boyi said, “I didn’t expect you to dislike the taste of chocolate. Luckily, I also prepared two other flavors, one cranberry and one pure butter cookie. You seemed to really like the butter cookies last time… I’ll bake them first.”
Xu Gui nodded like a chick pecking at rice.
Lu Boyi took out the box of baked cookies, put them in a special jar, and casually set it aside. Next, he started baking two other flavors.
Xu Gui couldn't cook, so she just followed him around. Lu Baiyi glanced at her, stuffed the leftover lychees from making lychee soup into her arms, and told her to sit next to him and eat lychees.
Xu Gui looked at the half-basin of lychees in his arms, obediently sat down, and began to peel and eat the lychees.
The lychee has a very thin shell with beautiful patterns on it. Once you peel it open, the juicy, white lychee flesh inside is revealed, still glistening with lychee juice droplets.
Because the lychee flesh is very plump and the seed inside is very small, a bite of it is bursting with juicy sweetness.
Xu Gui: "...It's so delicious!"
Fresh lychees taste completely different from lychee soup; they're fresher, sweeter, and juicier. Xu Gui thought, "...It's so good to be human." There are so many delicious things to eat.
While eating half of the lychee, Xu Gui glanced at Lu Baiyi not far away, looked down at the lychee in his arms, and suddenly thought: Is it not good to eat alone by myself?
As she was thinking this, she popped another juicy lychee into her mouth.
Lu Boyi was very focused on baking, but after a while, he suddenly felt someone poke his arm. He turned around and saw Xu Gui standing next to him.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Here!" Xu Gui handed him a bowl and said, "This is for you!"
Lu Baiyi looked down and saw a bowl of translucent, glistening lychees. He looked at Xu Gui with some surprise and asked in a low voice, "Did you peel these?"
Xu Gui nodded, proudly stating, "I'm not just a freeloader! I peeled this especially for you!"
She handed the bowl to Lu Baiyi and said, "These lychees are really delicious, you should try them."
A glint flashed in Lu Baiyi's eyes. He took it and thanked Xu Gui, saying, "...Thank you."
Xu Gui generously replied, "You're welcome!"
She peered into the oven: "How long will this take to bake...?"
Lu Boyi, holding the lychees, said, "About half an hour. I used low heat; that's how you make crispy cookies."
Xu Gui nodded, his eyes filled with anticipation for the cookies, devoid of any other desires.
...
That day, Xu Gui not only ate biscuits and lychee soup at the Lu family's house, but she also had dinner with Lu Boyi. Lu Boyi cooked a simple meal of three dishes and a soup, but it tasted very good. Xu Gui ate two large bowls of rice and was full.
When Kuang Ming came to pick her up that evening, he saw that she was carrying a lot of things in her arms. At a glance, they were all food, such as cookies and fruit in a food container.
Kuang Ming:?
Xu Gui got into the car, and Lu Baiyi stood beside her, bending down to talk to her through the car window. He said, "Xiao Gui, drive slowly on your way back and be careful. Remember to call me when you get back to the hotel."
Xu Gui nodded: "Okay."
Kuang Ming's eyes widened: Xiao Gui?
When these two met at noon, weren't they Miss Xu and Mr. Lu? How come they've become Xiao Gui after just one afternoon apart?
Kuang Ming was puzzled. After he drove away, he looked at the huge pile of things Xu Gui was carrying in the rearview mirror, his lips twitched slightly, and he complained, "Are you eating and taking things at the same time?"
Xu Gui sighed, "There's nothing I can do, Lu Boyi is just too enthusiastic! He said he made too much, and if I don't take it with me, he can't finish it all by himself, so he'll have to share it with the aunties on the mountain whom he doesn't know..."
Rather than giving them to unfamiliar aunties, it's definitely better to give them to someone you know.
"Look, Yuan Lu, this is lychee soup that Lu Baiyi made. I'll share it with you when we get back!" she said happily to Yuan Lu, who was also sitting in the back seat.
Yuan Lu: "Wow..." So much food!
Kuang Ming asked in confusion, "I just heard Mr. Lu call you Xiao Gui. You two became so familiar in just one afternoon?"
Xu Gui: ...Actually, she was also wondering why Lu Baiyi started calling her Xiao Gui as soon as she woke up. Only the people in the orphanage and her fans would call her that.
so……
"...He must think we're already very close, and that he considers me a good friend!" After thinking it over, Xu Gui came to this conclusion with certainty.
Kuang Ming sighed, "I hope so."
*
The next day, Xu Gui and his group left H Province and went straight back to A City.
Yesterday, Xu Gui told Lu Baiyi that they were going back today, so when she was at the airport this morning, she received his message. Xu Gui leaned back in the waiting room, yawned listlessly, and typed a reply to him.
At nine o'clock, Xu Gui and his group boarded the plane. After a journey of more than an hour, the plane landed at the airport in City A.
Stepping out of the airport, Xu Gui looked at the unfamiliar scenery around her, yet a strange sense of peace arose within her. It was as if the mere fact that she was "back in City A" was enough to make her feel at ease.
Company staff came to pick them up. Kuang Ming looked at Xu Gui and asked her where she planned to go back to, whether it was the company dormitory or the orphanage.
Xu Gui was texting the director when he heard this and said, "Let's go back to the orphanage. I haven't seen the director and the others in a long time. Besides, He Yuan isn't in the dormitory either. I'll be all alone when I go back..."
While they were in H Province, He Yuan wasn't idle either. Kuang Ming had previously gotten her a job on the show "Acting Competition," and not long after they left, He Yuan started filming, and she's still filming now.
If Xu Gui were to go back to her dorm now, she would be all alone, so she might as well go back to the orphanage, since she had just bought a lot of local specialties for the children there.
Upon hearing Xu Gui's words, Kuang Ming nodded and said, "Okay."
Xu Gui hadn't been back to the orphanage for a while. As soon as she returned, she received a warm welcome from everyone. The children from the orphanage surrounded her, chattering and making a lot of noise.
Xu Gui was delighted to find that Wu Xueya's mother, Aunt Tuanzi, was also there.
After exchanging pleasantries, everyone went inside. Xu Gui asked the dean and the others if they had received the seafood he had mailed earlier. Although it was easy to buy seafood in City A, Xu Gui felt that the seafood he mailed back was definitely the best.
It was just pulled from the ship, packed and iced, and shipped over immediately, very quickly.
Upon hearing her words, the dean nodded and said, "Received... The seafood is just as you said, very fresh, especially the shrimp, Xueya and the others love it."
Upon hearing this, Xu Gui couldn't help but feel a little pleased.
"I'll send you more next time I have the chance... Oh, and I also brought you some gifts! They're seashells I collected on the beach." She added, taking out the seashells she brought back, saying, "I specifically chose the prettiest ones!"
For adults, pretty seashells might not be a big surprise, but for children who have never seen the sea, the seashells that Xu Gui brought back were very novel.
"Wow!" the children exclaimed.
Xu Gui handed the seashells to the staff at the facility so they could distribute them among the children to avoid any bias. All the gifts she brought were seashells, and everyone received the same ones.
The children were taken away to distribute gifts, while the director took Xu Gui to his room to rest.
Before leaving the orphanage, Xu Gui, like the other children in the orphanage, lived in a dormitory with bunk beds, where several children slept in one room.
However, after reaching adulthood and becoming capable of supporting himself, Xu Gui left the orphanage. Every time he returned, he stayed in a guest room at the orphanage.
However, upon returning this time, Xu Gui discovered that the dean had led her to a separate room, which did not resemble a guest room.
Xu Gui looked at the dean with a questioning expression.
The director smiled and said, "This was prepared especially for you... In the future, if you want to come back, just come back. You don't need to stay in the guest rooms anymore. After all, you are now the biggest investor in our orphanage. No one else can be short of rooms, but we can't be short of yours."
The dean's last sentence was delivered with a hint of a joke.
After listening, Xu Gui looked at the dean with bright eyes, couldn't help but hug her, and said, "Dean...you're so kind."
The director patted her on the shoulder, laughing and crying at the same time, "You silly child, you gave the orphanage so much money, and they even decorated a room just for you. That's really good, isn't it?"
She sighed, "Silly child..."
Xu Gui didn't care; she just thought the dean was a good person.
She knew that if conditions allowed, the director wanted every child who left the orphanage to return to its "home." However, the orphanage was poorly equipped and small, so the children who were able to live independently after reaching adulthood had to move out.
After all, their orphanage only has so much space, and it's barely enough. If the grown-up children don't move out, then the underage children will have nowhere to live.
"When I have money in the future, I'll build a big house!" Xu Gui said, hugging the director. "So that anyone who wants to come back to the orphanage can come back and live here!"
The dean felt a lump in his throat as he listened.
"By the way, Xu Ai and the others also went back to the orphanage a couple of days ago. It's a pity you weren't there, otherwise you might have run into them..." the director said.
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