Chapter 3 Moving house will surely drive your ex-husband crazy.
Zhuang Fuyao slept until noon. Ms. Ji and Lao Zhuang had booked a European tour and were out shopping, so they didn't have time to look after her. She was woken up by a message on her phone.
The three of them got really drunk yesterday, exchanged contact information, and created a group chat.
While she was still sleeping, the other two were already actively chatting in the group. The more assertive girl was named Song Qing, and the other one's name was unknown; Song Qing called her Bagel.
After she got up, she replied to a message in the group chat: [Woke up and want to eat someone.jpg]
She rarely blacks out when she drinks, so she still remembers everything we talked about yesterday. One thing she said was very true: people still need to have their own careers.
Her creative inspiration seems to have dried up in recent years; her works are even less inspired than they were in college. After spending a lot of money on exhibitions for many years without any improvement, she simply gave up. So, although Zhuang Fuyao now holds the title of artist, she is essentially a wealthy idler. Her daily routine consists of shopping, having afternoon tea, and getting beauty treatments with other wealthy women.
But Zhuang Fuyao is currently inhabiting the body of her twenty-two-year-old soul, a time of passion and vitality, and she has no desire to retire so early.
She spent a week visiting stores and conducting market research, but in the end, it was Bagel's WeChat Moments that gave her inspiration.
Bagel posted a set of photos in a traditional Chinese style, which sparked her idea to open a restaurant with a traditional Chinese style.
In recent years, many restaurants have adopted an antique style in their decor, but the dishes remain the same. This time, she wanted to start with the scenery, imitating antique decor, makeup, and clothing, and not serving home-style dishes, but only intricate intangible cultural heritage dishes.
This can be considered, in a way, turning an interest into a profession.
After finding the right direction, we started to choose a location. Coincidentally, the owner of a film studio was reselling the operating rights.
This is a small film studio in the suburbs. Due to limited sets, it has been operating at a loss for many years. If you take it over now, the approval process will not be difficult, and the price is not a concern.
It's no exaggeration to say that the one thing she has in abundance right now is money.
After hearing her idea, Ji Lan and Zhuang Shaoping were very supportive. One wanted to transfer her secret stash of money, and the other wanted to transfer her his retirement savings.
Ji Lan has been in the entertainment industry for many years and has won several Best Actress awards. Her film remuneration, plus some miscellaneous investments, is quite considerable.
Before retiring, Zhuang Shaoping was a high school principal. Although not as wealthy as Ji Lan, his position was still quite respectable for an ordinary person.
Zhuang Fuyao smiled and shook her head, "Okay, I really don't need the money. I'll definitely come to you when I need more."
After discussing starting a business, Ms. Ji asked, "How did your conversation with Xiao Qin go? I didn't have a chance to ask you last time."
Zhuang Fuyao thought to herself, "We haven't even added each other on WeChat, how can we chat?"
But she didn't dare say this to Ms. Ji, so she just gave a few perfunctory replies and hung up the phone.
At that moment, a message popped up at the top of the screen: "Ms. Zhuang, would you like to go to the movies tomorrow?"
There were no notes, only the username "Green Waters and Lush Mountains".
Zhuang Fuyao looked puzzled and asked him who he was.
[Qin Zhenglin [smile]] It's true what they say, speak of the devil and he appears.
After transmigrating, Zhuang Fuyao learned about the hidden meanings of many facial expressions, and now she can no longer look at this expression directly.
Unexpectedly, Qin Zhenglin was already on her friend list, but she had no feelings for him. Going on the blind date was just a whim to satisfy her curiosity.
To avoid taking up too much of everyone's time, she felt it necessary to give a formal reply: "I'm sorry, Mr. Qin, the blind date last time wasn't my personal choice. I have no plans to remarry at the moment, and having children isn't part of my future plans. You are a very excellent person, and you will definitely find someone more suitable for you."
She spoke politely, but any adult should be able to tell that she was giving him the "friend zone" treatment.
……
In fact, after his blind date with Zhuang Fuyao, Qin Zhenglin met five other blind dates, but he was not very satisfied with any of them.
Qin Zhenglin felt that the younger ones were not financially well-off and were obviously after his money, and might even use his inheritance to support gigolos after he passed away.
As for those around his age, they were mostly divorced... In short, after looking at them all, he still felt that Zhuang Fuyao was better.
Unable to make up his mind, he consulted a friend.
When his friend saw Zhuang Fuyao's photos, he was amazed and said that he didn't know how lucky he was. "With her conditions, and the fact that you don't need to support her child, does it matter whether she has a child or not? On the contrary, you're missing out on this opportunity."
People are sometimes so easily influenced by their friends' ideas.
These past few days, Qin Zhenglin has felt a faint, lingering flutter in his heart whenever he thinks of her. Their last meeting was brief, and nothing came of it.
That's when he decided to take the initiative and ask her to go to a movie.
What did she mean by replying with this message?
A friend once said that blind dates are, in a sense, a form of business.
Was she trying to negotiate with me by saying that?
After thinking for a while, Qin Zhenglin replied: "Miss Zhuang, I don't mind that you have children. Although I've never been a father, I can learn. I'm confident that I can be a good stepfather to your children after we get married."
"..."
Zhuang Fuyao couldn't understand his seemingly self-delusional thought process, and she was also worried that if she continued to argue, she would be misunderstood as "playing hard to get."
She swiped left on her chat window with Qin Zhenglin and clicked "Don't show," deciding to avoid seeing it altogether.
-
After signing the transfer contract for the film studio and completing a series of approval procedures, you can start decorating.
Zhuang Fuyao chose the nearest auspicious day to start work.
Home renovation is a big deal, and she wasn't comfortable leaving it all to the construction team; she wanted to keep a close eye on things herself. But that raised the question of where to live.
Her current apartment is too far from the film studio, and traveling back and forth takes too much time. It would also be difficult to find a suitable place to rent in the short term.
When the three of them went out to play, Song Qing heard about her troubles and suddenly asked, "Does your ex-husband own a house nearby?"
"His current residence is quite close to the film studio."
"Then you can rent his house."
"It's not quite appropriate..." Zhuang Fuyao realized as soon as she finished speaking.
What's wrong with that? It's not like we're not paying rent. There couldn't be a better idea!
It would solve the housing problem and allow her to live with Liang Huaixu. They would see each other all the time, so how could they not have a chance to rekindle their old feelings?
She immediately called Liang Huaixu.
Liang Huaixu pondered for a moment.
Zhuang Fuyao wanted to rent his house, and he wouldn't refuse, but...
"The only house in my city that is close to the film and television city is the one in Boya Bay, but I also live in the house in Boya Bay."
“I’ll only stay in one room, pay double the rent, and I definitely won’t bother you.” Zhuang Fuyao thought he was unwilling, “When did you become so stingy?”
When she called, Liang Huaixu had just arrived at the conference room. A large group of people were sitting at the table waiting for him to discuss a bidding project worth billions of yuan. Meanwhile, his ex-wife was calling him stingy on the phone.
A hint of helplessness crossed Liang Huaixu's face. "That's not what I meant."
When Zhuang Fuyao spoke to him, she couldn't help but think back to the past, and she was already a little angry.
"So what do you mean? You don't want to rent the house to me? Or do you think I'm affecting you?"
Liang Huaixu hadn't heard her lose her temper with him in a long time, and he felt a little dazed. "It's nothing. If you think living in Boya Bay is convenient, you can move here anytime."
Zhuang Fuyao replied indifferently, "Oh."
Liang Huaixu wanted to say something more, but the phone went dead with a "beep".
……..
Having achieved her goal, Zhuang Fuyao continued shopping with her friends.
The three women walked down the street with completely different styles. Song Qing was dressed in a Maillard style, Shu Run was a sweet, natural girl, and Zhuang Fuyao was wearing an outfit from her wardrobe, which made them look more like wealthy ladies.
She doesn't really like this type of outfit. So, taking advantage of the fact that everyone was free today, she went and bought some new clothes.
After buying her cosmetics, Shu Run stared at Zhuang Fuyao for a while as they passed by the cosmetics store.
Zhuang Fuyao laughed and said, "What are you looking at?"
Shu Run: "Sister, I always thought you were wearing makeup, but when I looked at you today, I realized you were only wearing lipstick."
Song Qing also came over to look, "I didn't even notice if Bagel hadn't said anything. Another day of envying Nongyan."
The sales assistant overheard their conversation and, with great tact, came over to promote the service, "Hello ma'am, we're having a promotion: get a free personalized makeup experience with any purchase!"
Song Qing and Shu Run both wanted to see Zhuang Fuyao with full makeup. "Let's try it!"
Zhuang Fuyao couldn't resist their coaxing and laughed, "Okay."
She watched the makeup artist work on her face while learning.
She wore makeup for a while when she was in college, but the makeup styles that were popular at the time were very heavy, and they looked too flashy on her. After the initial novelty wore off, she felt that just wearing lipstick would have looked better.
The times are different now. There are many different makeup techniques and styles. A good makeup artist knows how to discover beauty and amplify it. After the results were achieved, Song Qing and Beiguo praised her to the skies.
After she finished picking out her cosmetics and came out of the store, Bagel was still saying, "She's more of a celebrity than a celebrity!"
Zhuang Fuyao also found it quite amazing. Both were applying color to the face, but the current makeup looked better than before.
"Bagel, please control yourself. You bunch of people who are obsessed with looks are hopeless." Song Qing pretended to be serious, then turned and hugged Zhuang Fuyao. "Ahhh, she's so beautiful!"
Shu Run: "..."
Song Qing said without exaggeration, "On the day you move, you must put on a full face of makeup. You'll be sure to seduce your ex-husband to death."
-
In the 1960s and 70s, the Liang family went abroad to develop their businesses, leaving only a small portion of their assets in China.
After Liang Huaixu took over the domestic industries, the core industries began to shift, and the Liang family's strategy for the next hundred years was to return to China for development.
Liang Huaixu cultivated trusted confidants to help him handle the group's affairs, but the group's affairs were complicated and complex, and many things still required his final decision. Therefore, apart from going back to school once a week, he spent most of his time working at Changting Group.
Today was an ordinary workday, but the secretariat staff noticed something unusual.
Secretary Cheng was summoned to the president's office. When she came out, her expression was very strange. She shook her head incredulously, "Let me tell you, this is too strange."
"As soon as I walked in, General Manager Liang praised my good taste. I thought he was implying that my attire during work hours was problematic." She took a slow sip of water when she got to the crucial point.
The others were extremely anxious, "Sister Cheng!"
"What's the rush?" Secretary Cheng finished her book and smiled mysteriously. "In the end, they asked me to pick out bedding and other household items. I asked what style I wanted, and President Liang said he wasn't sure either, only that the customer was a woman and he wanted a few sets of each style."
Everyone gasped. They knew that President Liang had divorced five years ago. Could it be that Changting was about to welcome a new president's wife?
After thinking about it for a while, everyone felt it was very likely.
If it's a relative, you can just let the housekeeper handle these daily necessities; there's no need for an administrative secretary.
A person nearby said, "According to reliable sources, a few days ago, when General Manager Liang was in a meeting, he received a phone call, and the tone of his voice was very suspicious."
"Really?!" they asked Secretary Cheng.
No one knows the boss's gossip better than the people in the secretariat.
The news has spread, it's no secret. Secretary Cheng thought for a moment and said, "...it's probably that kind of tone that's both indulgent and helpless, yet also frustrated."
Wow!
They actually prefer discussing entertainment gossip and don't care much about their leader's private life. There are several vice presidents under President Liang, but they are too lazy to inquire about them.
But General Manager Liang is an exception. On the one hand, as the top leader, General Manager Liang always holds a special place in the hearts of Changting employees.
On the other hand, they judge by appearance.
They privately described President Liang as having a movie star's face, a male model's physique, and the air of an official.
Over the years, Mr. Liang has remained single, never even bringing a female companion to events.
They were particularly curious about Mr. Liang's love life and wanted to gossip about it.
After get off work, Liang Huaixu took the things that Secretary Cheng had bought home.
He originally intended to tidy up Zhuang Fuyao's room himself, but he received news that Old Madam Liang was unwell and he needed to make a trip to England, so he had no choice but to entrust the task to Aunt Yuan.
"Clean up the second bedroom upstairs. We need to be extra careful about mosquito control in the house lately. Place several mosquito repellent sachets near her bed."
"When she arrives, if she still needs anything, just buy it according to her needs. There's no need for her to ask me specifically."
"She doesn't eat cilantro and prefers sweet food, so you can add a little sugar when cooking."
After giving his instructions, he looked around. The house had just been renovated two years ago.
The design adopts the currently popular black, white, and gray minimalist style.
I didn't think much of it at the time, but now when I look at it, I feel that this house is too cold and impersonal.
Zhuang Fuyao really likes warm colors, and their previous wedding room was also decorated in a warm color scheme.
A complete renovation isn't feasible right now, so he could only start with decorations. He told Aunt Yuan, "Hurry up and try to decorate the house to make it more cozy."
Aunt Yuan was slightly taken aback, not expecting her husband to make such a big fuss. This must be either a younger relative by blood, or...
Thinking of this, she immediately became alert and said, "Yes, sir."
After cleaning overnight, she went out shopping with several other housekeepers early the next morning.
"How to make a house more cozy" is an open-ended question.
They brainstormed ideas and decided to start with the details, decorating it like their own home. First, they ordered many green plants and flowers, then they bought tablecloths, cushions, and even refrigerator magnets.
After all these arrangements are made, the same house gives people a completely different feeling, transforming from a cold, high-end atmosphere into a warm and inviting space with a sense of life.
Everything is ready, all that's left is to tidy up the room.
As Aunt Yuan picked up the washed and dried four-piece bedding set and prepared to go upstairs, she suddenly asked uncertainly, "Which bedroom did my husband ask me to clean yesterday?"
The others didn't know either. "Sister Yuan, the gentleman was only talking to you at the time. We were far away and didn't hear clearly."
Aunt Yuan was too embarrassed to ask the gentleman about this, so she could only deduce it step by step.
She remembered that her husband had originally planned to tidy up the bedroom himself.
Even Young Master Chaoluo didn't receive this kind of treatment.
Therefore, it is unlikely that they are a younger relative by blood.
If they weren't juniors...
Perhaps we should clean up the rooms on the third floor?
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