Wencheng was developed earlier, and most of the residential areas in the city center are quite old, mostly walk-up buildings. The houses are old, but because of the good location and the excellent supporting facilities such as schools and hospitals nearby, second-hand houses here can sell for sky-high prices. A house here is no less expensive than a villa in the suburbs.
Mu Hua has lived in this old neighborhood for a long time.
This house was left to Mu Hua by her parents. It's a small two-bedroom apartment of 98 square meters. Although the house is old, it's decorated very warmly. The living room window faces a towering banyan tree outside. Under the tree, a group of elderly people often gather to play mahjong and chat about gossip, which gives it a very lively atmosphere.
Mu Hua got married here, and Xiao Shu was born here. Although they are not short of money, they have never thought about moving to another house.
He's just so sentimental; only in this house does Mu Hua feel like he's at home.
Right now, Xiao Shu is having breakfast at the coffee table in the living room, while Mu Hua is packing his luggage in the bedroom before going on a business trip. The housekeeper bought some river shrimp this morning and is kneading dough in the kitchen to make shrimp cakes for lunch.
The aunt covered the kneaded dough with plastic wrap to let it ferment, and casually asked a question towards the open bedroom door.
"Teacher Mu, how long will this job last?"
Mu Hua went into the bathroom, took out the razor and put it in his suitcase. "If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be gone for two months. I'll come back early after I finish filming my scenes."
"Goodbye, Dad." Xiao Shu was quite used to Mu Hua's business trips, her eyes still fixed on the cartoon playing on TV.
Mu Hua walked over, squatted down in front of the small book, and gave it some instructions.
"Listen to your aunt at home, eat well, sleep well, and watch less cartoons, or you'll go blind, understand?"
Xiao Shu's eyes were still glued to the TV, and he nodded perfunctorily to deal with his father's nagging.
Mu Hua patted his head and asked, "Do you remember what your father told you?"
"I know that no matter what happens, we must eat properly, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
Mu Hua propped herself up on her knees, said a few words to the aunt, picked up her packed suitcase, and walked out the door.
The old apartment building had no elevator. Mu Hua carried her suitcase down three flights of stairs, put her luggage in the trunk of her car, and her phone rang urgently in her pocket.
He took out his phone, and the moment he saw the incoming call, Mu Hua's expression gradually froze, and the fingertips holding the phone went slightly numb due to the emotional impact.
The caller was Li Zhesheng.
Three years ago, Mu Hua learned some details about Liu Zhi's suicide from Li Zhesheng, and then he never contacted Li Zhesheng again. In Mu Hua's heart, Li Zhesheng's name was also a memory he didn't want to recall.
The unexpected phone call caught him off guard. He took a deep breath before answering it.
"Hello."
"Mu Hua, hello, I am Li Zhesheng. I want to talk to you again about Liu Zhi's death."
Mu Hua and Li Zhesheng arranged to meet at a nearby private club. It only took about ten minutes to drive there, and there was no traffic. However, Mu Hua felt that the road was as long as it would never end.
Qiao An went to the company early in the morning, and even Lele made an appointment with Xiao Tong to go to the library. Du Xiaoruo was left alone at home. She watched a movie, had lunch, and then lay down on the sofa.
My phone rang; a text message had come in.
Du Xiaoruo closed her eyes, reached for her phone, unlocked it, and squinted to read the text message.
It was a text message from the bank confirming the arrival of a deposit. She counted the string of zeros after the 1, and it was exactly one million. It must be the payment from the "Beibei Restaurant" program team.
After glancing at it, Du Xiaoruo calmly tossed the phone back, closed her eyes again, and money was now just a string of numbers to her.
Because she woke up very late this morning, she couldn't fall asleep even with her eyes closed. Du Xiaoru lay there bored for a while, then sat up, went upstairs to change her clothes, and decided to go out and take care of something.
Last night there was a heavy rain, and the weather, which had been muggy for a long time, finally felt a bit like autumn. I didn't feel hot when I went out; on the contrary, I felt quite comfortable.
Du Xiaoruo didn't call a driver. Instead, she drove herself to the most bustling commercial street in Wencheng City, parked the car in the mall's underground parking lot, took out sunglasses and a mask from her bag and put them on, before taking the elevator to the first floor of the mall.
She first wandered aimlessly around the mall, but didn't find the store she was looking for. So she left the mall and wandered around the streets until she finally spotted a pharmacy on the street.
Next to the pharmacy, to the left is an ice cream shop, and to the right is a real estate agency.
She first went to an ice cream shop and bought an ice cream. With one hand in her sweatshirt pocket and the other holding the ice cream, she casually walked past the pharmacy and noticed that the store was quite crowded.
So she pretended to look at the glass door of the real estate agency next door, which was covered with small advertisements, while glancing at the scene inside the pharmacy out of the corner of her eye.
"Madam, is there anything I can help you with?" Her movements immediately caught the attention of the real estate agent, who came out to greet her, wearing a white shirt and black trousers.
Du Xiaoruo turned her face away uncomfortably and replied softly, "I'm just looking around."
The real estate agent had been waiting in the shop all morning, and finally someone came in. Judging from his clothes, he seemed to be a wealthy person, so the agent wasn't about to let him go easily. He continued his sales pitch.
"What kind of property are you looking for? Why don't you come in and take a look? We have many properties that we haven't posted."
Du Xiaoru followed the real estate agent into the store in a daze, listened to the agent introduce a bunch of random properties, and in the end, she inexplicably paid a deposit of 20,000 yuan to reserve a two-story shop on the street, and only then did she successfully get rid of the agent.
As Du Xiaoruo walked out of the real estate agency, she noticed that the pharmacy was almost empty.
She quickly slipped into the store, grabbed a pink box from the counter like a thief, and walked over to the counter to pay with her head down.
The cashier yawned wearily, finished collecting the money, put the box in a small plastic bag and handed it to Du Xiaoruo, then continued to sort out the medicines.
Du Xiaoruo packed the items into her bag and walked out of the pharmacy with a sigh of relief.
When Qiao An returned home that evening, she noticed that Du Xiaoruo was acting strangely, as if she had something to say but was finding it difficult to speak.
After dinner, Lele went back to her room to pack her things for school registration the next day, leaving Du Xiaoruo and Qiao An alone in the living room.
Joan moved a bunch of unfinished documents and sat down at the bar to work.
Du Xiaoruo drifted past the bar and went into the kitchen to drink a glass of water.
She floated out of the kitchen again, deliberately circled around the bar, and sat down on the sofa in the living room.
After sitting for less than 10 minutes, she stood up again, intending to go to the kitchen for a drink of water.
After Du Xiaoruo had circled around seven or eight times, Qiao An finally put down the documents and called out to her.
"Xiaoruo, is something wrong?"
Du Xiaoruo stopped, pursed her lips, and just a second ago she was blushing and shy, but the next second she suddenly pulled a box of condoms from her hoodie pocket and slapped it in front of Qiao An.
“Joan, I think our relationship should take a step further.”
Qiao An stared in surprise, her mouth agape. She looked down at the box of strawberry-flavored nipples in front of her, then looked up at the serious-looking Du Xiaoruo. She was completely bewildered.
Du Xiaoruo thought for a moment and then added, "Of course, I won't touch you until you're ready."
After speaking, she turned around and went upstairs, leaving Qiao An alone, bewildered in the wind.
He took out his phone, opened the notes app, and saw a list he had compiled of "100 Sweet Things You Did with Your First Love".
Make her breakfast.
[Let's go cycling on the beach.]
Go to the amusement park and ride the Ferris wheel.
[...]
While he was still planning his innocent and naive first love, Du Xiaoruo had already driven onto the highway.
Joanne was completely confused.
Who exactly is the domineering CEO here? Did someone get the wrong script?
But the chaos was only temporary. As Joan gradually realized what had just happened, he suddenly became inexplicably happy, like a little mongrel about to get a chicken leg.
Quickly pack up the documents, go back to your room, take a shower, spray perfume, and change into a sexy yet abstinent dark silk robe.
After nearly two hours of fussing, Qiao An finally knocked on Du Xiaoruo's door.
Du Xiaoruo opened the door to the room, and Qiao An leaned lazily against the door frame, his messy black hair loosely draped over his forehead, and a thin layer of mist filled his clear gray-blue eyes. He licked his dry lips, and his Adam's apple swayed sensually.
His long, slender fingers toyed with the little pink box, his every move full of provocation.
Du Xiaoru grabbed Qiao An by the collar and pulled her into the bedroom, the bedroom door clicking shut behind her.
Qiao An pinned her against the wall, enveloping Du Xiaoruo in a strong woody perfume scent—Qiao An's calm and self-assured fragrance. She looked up, her dark eyes equally misty. Due to the height difference, her lips met Qiao An's Adam's apple, like a thirsty kitten, and she kissed him.
"Woman, you're playing with fire!"
Joan whispered hoarsely in her ear. She had no idea where he'd learned all those nonsensical lines.
"Knock knock, knock knock..."
There were two knocks on the door, followed by the butler's voice.
"Sir, Madam, someone has come to visit."
Qiao An grabbed Du Xiaoruo's slender waist and yelled at the door, "I won't see her. Tell her to come back tomorrow."
The housekeeper added, "It's Mu Hua. He says he has something urgent to discuss with you."
Du Xiaoruo pushed Qiao An's firm waist and abdomen with her hand, "Mu Hua still needs to be seen."
Joanne reluctantly let go, angrily straightening the loose belt of her bathrobe.
"He had better be really in trouble, otherwise this day next year will be the anniversary of his death."
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