When Jiang Chen woke up the next day, he found breakfast left on the table: a simple bowl of vegetable noodles made by Lu Hongluan.
He paused slightly when he saw the breakfast.
It wasn't that Jiang Chen had never eaten anything so plain, but rather that this was probably the first time a woman had ever made him breakfast. Though hiring a nanny would probably achieve the exact same result.
Naturally, Jiang Chen was not moved to tears by this. After being distracted for a moment, he sent Lu Hongluan a message: "The breakfast you left was too plain, and the soup was a bit dry. Next time, remember to add a slice of ham and two poached eggs."
Soon after, he received a reply from Lu Hongluan: "Got it! [Smile]"
"It's making me mad!"
At that moment, Lu Hongluan, who was on her way to classes at the university, puffed out her cheeks instinctively when she saw the message.
She had kindly left breakfast, only to have it criticized. Hmph, these rich people really are picky.
However, considering that he had helped her, Lu Hongluan didn't say anything overly harsh.
"Hongluan, what are you messaging about?"
Her good friend An Ya asked with a beaming smile.
Lu Hongluan and An Ya had met while doing work-study programs. Unlike her, however, An Ya's work-study was just a social experience, which she stopped doing shortly after trying it.
The guitar skills Lu Hongluan had learned were also taught by An Ya, so that she would have an advantage when looking for part-time jobs.
Recently, rumors about Lu Hongluan being kept by a sugar daddy had been flying everywhere. Even though An Ya was surprised by Lu Hongluan's transformation, what she actually said was: "Babe, you should have changed like this ages ago."
An Ya blinked and asked, "Is it that fake boyfriend of yours?"
Lu Hongluan told An Ya everything that had happened recently. In fact, she understood very well that what she was doing did not conform to moral standards, and there was really no difference between this and being kept.
Fortunately, An Ya did not look down on Lu Hongluan because of this, fully understanding that Lu Hongluan had simply run out of options.
After listening to what An Ya had to say, Lu Hongluan nodded and replied, "Yes."
"What did he send? He wouldn't want you to..." A trace of worry flickered in An Ya's eyes.
Lu Hongluan shook her head. "No. See for yourself."
She forwarded the chat history to An Ya, then grumbled, "I just thought leaving him breakfast was on my way, but he finds fault with everything, and I'm not even allowed to be angry. I'm really so depressed."
An Ya looked somewhat surprised. "He hasn't touched you?"
Lu Hongluan thought about it and said, "Not yet, for now."
"Then what if he *does* want to touch you?"
A trace of worry clouded Lu Hongluan's eyes. This question was still far too sharp for her.
However, the problem Lu Hongluan was agonizing over was no big deal at all to Jiang Chen. At that moment, he was pulling himself together to welcome the investors' auditing team.
This was a very professional team, which made Jiang Chen rather curious about the identity of the buyer Liang Hao had found. After all, his asking price was one billion, and ordinary companies couldn't simply pull out that kind of cash. Even behemoths like Penguin and Ali didn't inject capital into a company by immediately dumping a pile of cash; instead, they acquired companies in batches.
He had originally prepared himself to make things difficult for them, but to his surprise, this group of people finished up and left very quickly.
For the next few days, Jiang Chen did not return to the residence where Lu Hongluan was staying, instead running around busily on account of the acquisition deal.
News of the acquisition had also begun to circulate within the company due to the arrival of the auditors. For ordinary working stiffs, they didn't care about the significance of this acquisition; what worried them was their employment prospects afterward. After all, jobs weren't easy to find these days.
The day before the appointment arranged by Liang Hao, Liang Hao suddenly sent a message: "Buddy, I'm really sorry, I won't be able to accompany you tomorrow."
Jiang Chen replied, "It's nothing. You've already helped me bridge the gap, and that's more than enough."
"Bro, thanks."
"If you're thanking me, once this is done, you're going to drink with me until we're thoroughly wasted. You and I haven't had a proper drink together in a long time."
Jiang Chen sighed. "Stop laughing at me."
His relationship with Liang Hao was rock solid. However, because Su Zhi hadn't liked him having social engagements, for the past three years he had practically cut off contact with all his fair-weather friends. Even when hanging out with Liang Hao, his closest friend, it was limited to logging online to play some games together. Later on, he didn't even have time for that.
Alright, Jiang Chen admitted it—he really had acted like a pathetic doormat. Perhaps precisely because of this, Su Zhi had felt bold enough to hurt him so carelessly.
Liang Hao: "By the way, this guy has rather peculiar tastes. If you can keep him happy and amused, then everything will be fine."
Jiang Chen: "Thanks."
Jiang Chen knew that if Liang Hao described someone that way, it definitely meant that person's background was extraordinary.
After hanging up the call, a subconscious sense of unease settled over him. At that moment, he also saw a post in his Moments.
It was posted by Su Zhi.
Jiang Chen had never deleted Su Zhi; he felt that deleting people over such things was an immature behavior. Not to mention, who knows, he might still find a use for her later on.
He took a deep breath and decided to go out for a stroll to clear his head before dealing with tomorrow.
...
Night Bar.
Su Zhi stared blankly at the glass of alcohol in front of her.
It was already ten o'clock in the night. In the past, Jiang Chen would have urged her to go home by this time, or simply come over to pick her up. Back then, she felt that Jiang Chen interfered way too much.
Yet, it had already been a full week. She had been coming to the bar to drink every night for a whole week.
In the past, whenever she was at a bar, Jiang Chen could always find her. But now, she either walked home alone or had to ask Lu Yao to pick her up.
Take right now, for instance.
Lu Yao sighed and said, "Su Zhi, my dear princess, I was about to fall asleep, and you make a phone call like this. It breaks my heart, you know."
Unlike Su Zhi, Lu Yao was a relatively obedient person. She didn't like going to bars at all.
Lu Yao's words made Su Zhi bite her lip. Looking somewhat aggrieved, she said, "Yaoyao, I know you're the best."
"Alright, alright, I really have no choice with you."
Just then, they heard a familiar voice.
It was Qin Yu, who looked pleasantly surprised as he said, "A-Zhi, Lu Yao, you're here."
Su Zhi looked at Qin Yu, her eyes glazing over slightly.
Right now, she didn't even feel a sense of joy. During this period, under her arrangements, Qin Yu had joined her company and become a department manager. His performance wasn't the most outstanding, but it was decent enough. However, the thing he did most every day was manufacture all sorts of opportunities to bump into her by chance, which was starting to grate on Su Zhi's nerves.
Yet even now, Su Zhi still viewed Qin Yu through a layer of rose-tinted glasses.
Lu Yao looked at Qin Yu, a trace of disgust flashing in her eyes. She snapped ungraciously, "Why are you like a plaster that just won't peel off?"
Qin Yu's expression flickered slightly, but he didn't blow up. Instead, he said, "I knew A-Zhi was in a bad mood, so I came here specifically to keep her company."