He went home and cooked some tomato and egg noodles.
After eating his fill, Chu Xu finally lay down on his two-square-meter balcony to catch the evening breeze of Yuzhou.
The weather in May was already somewhat warm. It was fine when the sun wasn't out, but the moment it appeared, he just wanted to wear short sleeves.
As he was scrolling through short videos, a pop-up for a new WeChat friend suddenly appeared.
The nickname was a capital J, and the profile picture was a photo of someone's back while mountain climbing.
There was no accompanying note attached.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Xu accepted. Lately, colleagues had been adding him from time to time, so this was probably just another one.
Then Chu Xu went off to take a shower.
He only came back twenty minutes later.
When he checked his phone, that person had sent him a WeChat message.
"Come home with me this weekend. My family wants to meet you."
Chu Xu felt baffled. Who on earth was this? Coming right out of the gate with "come home with me"—was this some new kind of scam?
"Who are you?"
Chu Xu quickly tapped on his keyboard and replied.
"What do you think?"
The other person replied immediately.
Chu Xu was momentarily stunned.
His brain raced frantically. Home, meet them, them...
In an instant, he guessed who it was.
Someone from her side of the family, and judging by this, this person should be his so-called marriage match.
How was the progress moving so fast?
Curiously, he clicked on her Moments, but there was nothing there.
He had wanted to see what she looked like, but there wasn't even a photo.
However, based on the person he had seen this evening, if she was of the older generation or something, then this one shouldn't be bad either.
Besides, even if she was bad, could he back out now anyway?
With a bitter smile, Chu Xu replied: "Alright, contact me this weekend, I have the weekend off."
With weekends off during his internship, once he became a regular employee, barring any accidents, it would probably drop to a single day off per week.
Such was the life of a working stiff: you couldn't control your salary, you couldn't control your time, and you even had to swap shifts for holidays, dammit.
Seeing that the other person didn't reply, Chu Xu sent her another message:
"May I ask, why did you choose me?"
This had been his question for the past few days—why him?
With a family background like theirs, there were countless guys who wanted to be taken in as a son-in-law.
To put it bluntly, the moment they opened their mouths, men would be lining up.
In the face of money and interests, dignity was utterly worthless.
Since the other party came from such an illustrious background, why pick him?
And specifically calling him out by name at that, which Chu Xu found completely incomprehensible.
Yet the other party's reply failed to answer Chu Xu's doubt: "It's a family arrangement, I don't know either. You can ask yourself when we get back."
"Alright."
There was a condescending tone to the other person's replies that made Chu Xu very uncomfortable, so he couldn't be bothered to say anything more.
He went back to his bedroom, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep before long.
Meanwhile.
Jiang Mu, who had just finished her work, stretched, revealing her fair and delicate waist.
Her mood seemed quite good tonight.
She had also handled her work with ease.
Jiang Mu probably knew the reason why, but she didn't care to dig deep into it. Let it be, it was pretty good just like this.
...
Friday at six-thirty in the evening.
Chu Xu clocked out from work once again.
With the weekend starting tomorrow, things were finally looking up.
"Chu Xu!"
A female voice suddenly called out from behind. When he turned around, it was none other than his colleague Xie Youxue.
A younger girl born in 2001, though she was a year older than him, he certainly couldn't call her "older sister".
The two of them had a good relationship and often chatted.
"Youxue, you've finished work too. Are you resting tomorrow?"
"Oh? What is it?"
Xie Youxue blinked, smiling to reveal two cute little tiger teeth. "Are you asking me out to the movies? If that's the case, I can agree to it, you know."
This girl always talked a lot, and most of the time she would block off all your retreats, leaving you completely without a reason to refuse.
Chatting with her, Chu Xu wouldn't mind anything; he just said very relaxedly, "Forget it, if your husband finds out I'm going to get beaten up. I never poach other people's partners."
"Get lost!"
Xie Youxue gave Chu Xu's arm a punch and said viciously, "Say that nonsense again and I'll tear your mouth apart."
This was indeed Chu Xu talking nonsense. The girl born in 2001 didn't have a husband, and not only that, she didn't even have a boyfriend.
Otherwise, Chu Xu wouldn't have made those jokes with her.
"True, with how fierce you are, who would ever marry you?"
"Get lost, Chu Xu, I'm going to beat you to death!"
Laughing and joking, the two of them arrived at the underground parking garage. Xie Youxue drove a MINI, and she assumed Chu Xu wanted a free ride, even thinking about giving him a hard time in a moment.
As a result, the latter stood in place and refused to move.
"Let's go, the car is over there." Xie Youxue pointed toward the inner part of the garage.
Chu Xu immediately reacted and smiled, "I'm waiting for a friend, you go ahead."
What a narcissistic girl—how could he possibly try to hitch a ride without receiving an invitation?
Besides, their routes didn't overlap at all, and Xie Youxue could only drop him off near his home.
Could that even be called a ride?
"Psycho!" Xie Youxue rolled her eyes and leisurely went to get her car.
Only after she left did Chu Xu start searching around the garage.
He had only received her WeChat message this afternoon; they were originally supposed to go tomorrow, but it had been brought forward—they were going out to dinner tonight.
The sudden change in timing caught Chu Xu somewhat off guard, but it wasn't something he couldn't handle.
Taking a few steps to the left, he spotted that Bentley Mulsanne, which truly stood out like a crane among chickens amidst a sea of cars averaging under three hundred thousand yuan.
Chu Xu walked over and knocked on the front passenger window. After waiting a minute, there was no movement.
He knocked again, still no movement.
Fortunately, there was no one around, otherwise he definitely would have been mistaken for a thief.
Chu Xu frowned. What was the meaning of this? The person was in the driver's seat and wouldn't even unlock the door—was this supposed to be a humiliation?
Chu Xu's expression turned somewhat unsightly, but he still forced out a smile.
"Director Jiang, please open the door."
Jiang Mu in the driver's seat wore an ice-cold expression. She didn't even look at Chu Xu as she flicked her finger to unlock the car door.
Only then did Chu Xu get in.
The moment he sat in the passenger seat and closed the door, he felt a wave of low pressure spreading, carrying a faint, bone-chilling coldness.
"Is the AC really this strong..." Chu Xu muttered to himself.
The overhead car light was still on.
Chu Xu could clearly see what Jiang Mu looked like.
If that day he only had a vague idea that Jiang Mu was very beautiful, today he had a clear recognition of Jiang Mu's stunning appearance.
A cascade of large waves fell down her back, her facial features were exceptionally exquisite, her side profile looked nearly perfection itself, and her red lips were as translucent as agate, exuding a mature charm.
Although light makeup could conceal some traces of the years, one could still tell that the Director Jiang before him was not very young.
Chu Xu guessed she was probably around thirty-five. Of course, that was upon close inspection; without looking closely, she'd look at most twenty-eight or twenty-nine.
Yet no matter how one picked faults, beauty remained beauty—this was undeniable.
It was his first time encountering a woman of this age who could still be so maturely and stunningly beautiful, prompting Chu Xu to praise sincerely:
"I thought Director Jiang was very pretty that day, but seeing you again today has truly blown me away."
Chu Xu almost never hid his thoughts and spoke his mind freely, especially when it came to compliments like this; he certainly wouldn't hold back.
"Is that so? Compared to that girl just now?" Jiang Mu blurted out.
She hadn't even noticed herself saying those words, and only after reacting did she feel how ridiculous it was.
"Her?"
Chu Xu smiled, shook his head, and said, "Director Jiang is definitely prettier, no comparison needed."
Actually, Xie Youxue wasn't bad either, but people's aesthetics differed—some liked grapes, others liked apples.
Just like Chu Xu, he preferred older, more mature women because they caused less trouble.
Immature girls had problems all day long and left you with zero personal space.
It was just like raising a daughter who depended on you for everything, and Chu Xu simply didn't have that much time to coax a child.
As soon as he finished speaking, Chu Xu suddenly felt that it wasn't that cold anymore, as if the AC had been turned off in an instant.
He glanced at Jiang Mu in surprise, but there was nothing unusual about her.
"Alright, let's go. Fasten your seatbelt."
Jiang Mu gradually calmed down, her expression no longer as icy as before. The speed of the change was something even she hadn't noticed.
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