"..." Silence is the key to wealth.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Guanqi chuckled, "Junior Chu Qing, you really are straightforward."
Lu Chuqing added, "Just call me by my name, don't use any of those 'junior' or 'younger sister' terms, they sound really greasy."
Despite being repeatedly rebuffed, Zhou Guanqi didn't change his expression, but his smile became somewhat forced. "Fine, next time I'll just call you by your name."
After finishing their hot pot meal, Qiao Xiangdong suggested going up to the fourth floor to go rollerblading.
While buying milk tea on the fourth floor, he happened to see a roller skating club.
But we had just come out of the escape room not long before, and we really weren't in the mood for anything else. Now that we were full, we were just going to digest our food.
Zhou Guanqi wanted to have more contact with Lu Chuqing, so he naturally felt there was no problem and started to boast that he would invite them to play.
Lu Chuqing took on a fan art commission and stayed up almost midnight last night to finish the basics. There are still details she needs to work on when she gets back.
He said, "Sorry, I won't go rollerblading. I've been out all morning, and my family is urging me to go home."
Hearing her say that, the others didn't dare to offer any more advice.
Zhou Guanqi very gentlemanly offered to take her home, saying, "Let me call you a taxi; it's hard to get one at this hour."
Lu Chuqing declined, saying, "Thank you, but it's alright. I'll just take the bus back."
After being rejected, the boy didn't press the matter and said, "Okay, shall I take you to the bus stop?"
"No need, the bus stop is right at the intersection, it's very close." Lu Chuqing refused again.
Rejected again, Zhou Guanqi remained good-natured with a smile, "Alright, then drive carefully."
"Okay." After saying goodbye to the others, the girl turned and left.
Lu Chuqing didn't go home; she took the bus to Lu Linqi's house.
Last week was the same; it was midday, and when we got back, the two adults were doing something inappropriate for children. This time, she learned her lesson and found somewhere to play for a while before going back.
She has seen her second brother very few times recently. Apart from exchanging milk at the bus stop at the school gate every morning, she rarely sees him after school or on weekends.
I wonder what her second brother is busy with this time.
As she was thinking, she arrived at the villa entrance, where a tall young man dressed in a casual long shirt and trousers appeared before her.
"Aren't you cold? You're only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt," Lu Chuqing asked first.
"I didn't feel anything while I was inside, but it's a bit cold outside," Lu Linqi said. "What brings you to see me today? I thought you'd forgotten about your own brother after you got a new one."
The boy emphasized the words "his second brother," his jealousy blatantly obvious.
The two walked into the house together. Upon hearing his words, Lu Chuqing immediately laughed, "What? What?"
"Am I smelling something wrong? Why does someone seem so jealous?"
The girl's smile was bright and unrestrained, and her eyes were dark and shining. Lu Linqi looked at her smiling without any annoyance, his eyes full of doting.
"Yes! You're my only sister. How can I be happy if someone tries to take my sister away from me?"
These words surprised Lu Chuqing. Her second brother had been arrogant since childhood, and it was rare for him to speak so frankly.
That makes sense, given the rapid pace of social development, especially in the last two years, with the city undergoing tremendous, visible changes.
The Lu family didn't have any special background. Lu Hang, the second uncle, had a really tough time making a living in business. It was quite an achievement and showed his extraordinary ability to maintain a foothold among other established companies in the provincial capital.
Although the man looked young, he was over forty years old, and in the past two years he had often felt that his health was not as good as before. Business dealings inevitably involved drinking and socializing, and the second uncle also felt that his body could not keep up, so he wanted to hand over the important responsibilities to his eldest son.
But Lu Linqi is still a bit young, so Lu Hang doesn't dare to push him too hard. He can only let him learn more so that he won't be clueless and look completely dumbfounded when dealing with things in the future.
During this period, Lu Linqi was taken by Lu Hang to simple social occasions. After returning home after each occasion, the boy could truly feel how difficult it was.
I also gained a lot from this experience, and when I saw my sister whom I hadn't seen for a while, I couldn't help but talk to her a lot.
"We ate hot pot." This is a statement of fact.
Lu Chuqing took a sniff of her sleeve and indeed smelled like hot pot.
"I went out with my classmates and we had hot pot together for lunch," she said.
Lu Linqi had already taken a carton of yogurt from the refrigerator and handed it to her. "Is yogurt okay? It'll help with digestion and cut through the grease."
“Okay.” The girl took it, untied the tube, tied it open, and took a sip.
Seeing that the house was very quiet, she asked, "Isn't my second uncle home?"
"I went to see my mom." Lu Linqi took out a cup of instant noodles from the kettle. "I just finished a busy period. I went to see my mom to spend some time alone with her. Otherwise, she'll be lonely and bored at home all by herself."
As he spoke, the boy sat down at the table, lifted the lid, stirred the instant noodles a couple of times with his fork, and then took a big bite.
Lu Chuqing glanced at the clock on the living room wall; the hour hand was already pointing to two o'clock. Looking at the boy wolfing down his food, she asked in confusion, "Where's Auntie? Didn't you eat? Didn't Auntie make you anything?"
Lu Linqi was really hungry and didn't bother to stop eating. He said indistinctly, "Auntie has a new grandson and has already taken a week off."
"Aren't there other nannies?" Lu Chuqing unconsciously imagined that after the male head of the household left, the nannies began to mistreat the young master, and they looked at Lu Linqi with pity.
No wonder people say that wealthy families are full of troubles. The nannies alone could be the subject of a hundred-episode drama about their scheming, not to mention the property battles and all sorts of love and hate among the other siblings.
Just thinking about it made Lu Chuqing feel like she could see her second brother's miserable and tragic life in the not-too-distant future.
Lu Linqi had no idea what she was imagining, and didn't turn around to look. He slurped up his instant noodles and said, "My family only has two long-term nannies. One went back to take care of her grandson, and the other accidentally fell down a few days ago when it was raining."
"So, before my second uncle leaves, he won't find you a part-time cook?" Lu Chuqing had clearly forgotten that the boy could cook for himself.
Lu Linqi explained simply, "I'm too lazy to cook, so I'll just eat whatever's available."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chuqing thought of asking why they didn't come to her house for dinner, but then she suddenly remembered that since Xi Jun and Xi Qingxu moved in, Lu Linqi had hardly ever been to her house except for that one time when he came to deliver Chinese medicinal herbs.
This reminded her of the year Lu Hang insisted on going into business, leaving the boy at his grandparents' house, where he rarely returned.
Even as a child, he didn't like to trouble others, was obedient and sensible, and never worried his grandparents.
It seems they were afraid of troubling them again by going to her house, and most likely they were afraid that Xi Jun would be dissatisfied with it.
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