“I don’t have anything to answer,” Xu Qingzhu continued. “You don’t have anything to ask either. As for things like the weather, they’re not usually our concern. So just be yourself, okay? Let’s have a meal together, and then do whatever you want afterward. There’s no need to make things so tiring for yourself.”
Liang Shi instinctively wanted to explain, "No..."
“I know you’re waiting for me to ask you about what happened this morning,” Xu Qingzhu said. “But I don’t plan to ask. It’s pointless for me to ask if you don’t even understand it yourself.”
Liang Shi: "..."
She was shocked by Xu Qingzhu's insight and intelligence.
In such a short time, she was able to see all of this clearly.
“I asked Zhao Xuning. Mrs. Qi doesn’t usually appear in the industry, while her husband, President Qi of Qida Company, presents himself as a doting husband. Qi Jiao is even more mysterious. She’s practically invisible at school, but in her third year of junior high, she suddenly tried to jump off a building. She didn’t succeed that day, stayed in the hospital for a while, then transferred to another school, and since then, she’s practically disappeared from the industry.” Xu Qingzhu laid out all the information she knew in front of her. “If you want to investigate, you can start with Qi Jiao.”
Liang Shi asked in surprise, "Why...why are you helping me?"
The water began to boil.
Xu Qingzhu put a plate of meat in the pot, saying, "I'm doing this to help myself."
Liang Shi: "Hmm?"
Xu Qingzhu: "I don't want to eat while looking at a face that looks extremely dejected."
Liang Shi: "..."
"Even with that gloomy face, she still had to put on a happy face to make others happy." Xu Qingzhu's face looked ethereal through the misty fog. As always, she had no expression, and her voice was clear and cold, but her words were like the sun, warming people's hearts.
“If you’re unhappy, you’re unhappy. What’s the point of hiding it?” Xu Qingzhu said. “No one needs you to coax them to be happy. Everyone has the freedom to be happy or unhappy.”
Xu Qingzhu placed the plate on the table. "Liang Shi, you are free."
//
It rained all night long, just as expected.
Drizzling softly, lingering tenderly.
Several claps of thunder sounded during the night, but Liang Shi slept soundly.
The weather cleared up early the next morning.
Liang Shi didn't draw the curtains at night, so he was woken up by the sunlight in the morning.
Her hair only blocked half of the sun, while the other half was warmed by the sun. When the glaring light moved to her eyes, she subconsciously raised her hand to shield them.
Her slender fingers spread across her face, and she curled the corners of her mouth into a smile.
I had a wonderful dream last night.
Liang Shi glanced at his watch; it was 7:20.
Yesterday's rain left a lot of water on the roads, and the news is still reporting on it.
Worried that Li Ran and the others might not go to Yunfeng Mountain, Liang Shi asked in advance: "Sister Ran, are you still going to Yunfeng Mountain?"
Li Ran: [Let's go! It's not raining, let's meet at nine o'clock.]
Liang Shi: [Okay.]
Liang Shi got up, washed up, and then went to the living room. Sunlight streamed in, and she was in a great mood.
After doing a quick workout, I went to cook.
To thank Xu Qingzhu for the hot pot last night, she specially cooked a nourishing porridge.
You can smell the aroma of porridge even before you go downstairs.
Although the hot pot last night was so spicy that Liang Shi almost cried, it was still a delicious meal.
Xu Qingzhu came downstairs at about the same time as usual, close to 8 o'clock.
Liang Shi prepared breakfast almost right on time, and Xu Qingzhu came over just as he put it on the table.
She laughed and teased, "Did you come down because you smelled the fragrance?"
"Hmm." Xu Qingzhu sniffed again, "Even the neighbor's dog is drooling."
Liang Shi: "..."
Her smile widened.
After taking the bowl and chopsticks, Xu Qingzhu sat down at the table to wait for her to eat, while her phone displayed the daily news.
She massaged her neck to relax, and only asked when Liang Shi brought over the red bean buns, "Are you going out today?"
Liang Shi nodded: "Yeah, I've made plans to go hiking with my colleagues. What about you?"
Hsu Ching-chu said, "I'm going shopping with Sally and Cherry."
“Sure,” Liang Shi said. “Have a good look around and buy a lot.”
Xu Qingzhu smiled and said, "Okay."
Her smile is the kind that's very gentle.
But he doesn't smile much, so he gives people the impression of being aloof, indifferent, and unapproachable.
Liang Shi suddenly said, "Xu Qingzhu, you look really beautiful when you smile like that."
It is entirely objective praise, devoid of any personal bias.
But Xu Qingzhu suppressed her smile upon hearing this, and said, "Let's eat."
After a quiet breakfast, Xu Qingzhu was in charge of cleaning up the kitchen. Liang Shi sat at the table for a while, thought for a while, and then transferred 100,000 yuan to Xu Qingzhu.
She didn't have much money left in her own account, and now that the real heiress was about to return, she had to be prepared to run away at any time, and she needed to leave enough money for rent and living expenses in the short term.
Therefore, the amount that can be given is limited, and this is already the maximum amount.
After that, the two went about their own business and did not disturb each other.
Their relationship returned to normal.
Liang Shi arrived at the meeting place with Li Ran and the others on time.
Because Yunfeng Mountain is located in the suburbs, Li Ran hired a separate minivan.
There were six people in total: besides her and Li Ran, there was one editor, two advertising team members, and one male Alpha from the filming team.
The male Alphas were jokingly said to be there to protect them.
The eldest brother is kind and honest; he was the one who went with Liang Shi and the others to film last time.
After returning, Liang Shi found an opportunity to give him a personal autograph from Zhao Ying, which made him extremely happy. He would always bring Liang Shi a drink whenever he brought a beverage.
A group of six people got into the car, and as the car drove away from the city, they all fell asleep in the car before half an hour had passed.
Apart from Liang Shi.
Liang Shi slept very well last night and is not sleepy at all now.
She was playing a game on her phone.
Halfway through the journey, the car started to bounce, waking everyone up. Then everyone started chatting idly.
It's all about the magazine department.
Someone started talking about Minghui Jewelry recently.
Especially the press conference on Friday.
"Have you guys seen it? That design is absolutely stunning." A female colleague from the advertising team pulled up the concept art from that day. "If I had the money, I would have gone for it."
"How much will it cost?" Li Ran asked.
"The ring cost over 70,000 yuan," the female colleague said.
Li Ran: "That's alright, nothing like the expensive BARE."
“But BARE’s materials are good. Minghui’s materials have been declining for the past three years. Some netizens have posted pictures of their products, and they turned black in less than a month. They’re just a pair of rotten iron.” My female colleague said, “However, previous years’ products weren’t as good-looking as this one. If it were 7,000, I would buy it just for its appearance.”
"It's a real shame for Minghui. Such a big brand, and it just declined like that," Li Ran sighed.
Another female colleague said, "It's okay, the Sheng family is here, they should be able to save the day. Their current president is a complete incompetent, he has absolutely no management talent. Minghui was so successful under Old Master Sheng, now that his granddaughter has joined the company, I think they can manage."
Li Ran: "Grandpa Sheng's granddaughter? My goodness, the Sheng family are all geniuses."
"What about Grandpa Sheng's daughter? If she were a genius, how could she let her husband ruin Minghui like that?" the female colleague said.
Li Ran paused for two seconds, then said very sincerely, "A face genius, you could call yourself a genius... right?"
Female colleagues: "..."
"Speaking of which, the Sheng family really is beautiful." The female colleague handed over the photos. "They have divine beauty, face geniuses. They only held one press conference and they already have fans online. Some fans even buy Minghui products specifically because of her."
Li Ran glanced at him, then glanced at him again, and then looked at Liang Shi.
Liang Shi coughed softly.
Li Ran returned the phone and then casually commented, "No one in the Sheng family has ever grown up to be ugly. Have you seen the photos of Sheng Qinglin circulating online? He's incredibly handsome! Even in today's entertainment industry, he'd easily outshine a whole bunch of young heartthrobs."
"..."
So everyone started talking about the entertainment industry again.
Once the buzz surrounding the Sheng family had died down, Li Ran secretly sent Liang Shi a message: 【Good heavens!】
Liang Shi: [...]?
Li Ran: [Your wife actually works at Minghui Jewelry!]
Liang Shi: "..."
She thought everyone already knew.
Minghui Jewelry may have lost its reputation, but it still holds a high position among its members who work for luxury brands.
You may have heard of Minghui Jewelry when you were still in school.
It might even appear in university classrooms.
This little incident was quickly forgotten.
Yunyin Taoist Temple is located high up on Yunfeng Mountain, not quite at the top, but not too far off either.
Climb the stone steps from the foot of the mountain.
Because it was the weekend, there were quite a few people there.