Lu Zhixin moved back into the riverside residence.
When Xu Tingsheng returned to the riverside residence that day, he saw someone with butt stuck out and face pressed close to the ground as she extended her hand beneath the sofa with great difficulty, sweeping out a whole bunch of cigarette butts as well as empty liquor bottles. Then, she painstakingly used a cloth to wipe over the area.
With Lu Zhixinâs 1.7m build, her actions were instead restricted, her movements burdensome.
Perhaps because she felt that there shouldnât be anyone coming right now, she cared not about her dishevelled hair in the least, having no image so to speak of as she focused earnestly on cleaning up the area. Once in a while, she would clench her teeth and complain a little. Once in a while, she would sing some lyrics off-tune as she entertained herself.
Seldom seeing her as âunglamorousâ as this, Xu Tingsheng stood at the doorway and watched her for a while rather interestedly, âNot bad, itâs really somewhat like she can act as a goddess descended from heaven, whilst also able to be a housewife.â
Finally, getting up as she was about to go to the toilet to wash the cloth, Lu Zhixin discovered Xu Tingsheng who was standing at the doorway.
âYouâŚjust arrived?â
Lu Zhixin rather panickedly wiped her face with the back of her hand, more black stains thereby appearing on her face.
âIâve been watching for a while,â Xu Tingsheng said cheerily, âWho would have known? Youâre pretty capable.â
âOhâŚhuh, for a while?â
Lu Zhixin thought of her utterly unglamorous look from just earlier, and also the off-tune singing, and alsoâŚthe way her butt had stuck out, in those shorts that she was wearingâŚthis was totally different from how she had taken the initiative and teased Xu Tingsheng that day.
âXu Tingsheng.â
âHuh?â
âBastard.â
Without any prior warning whatsoever, a red-faced Lu Zhixin threw the blackened cloth she was holding towards Xu Tingsheng in embarrassment and anger.
Fortunately, Xu Tingsheng reached out and caught the cloth, blowing away the dust that had flown by his mouth as he said, âYou donât have to work so hard, right? Weâve swept through the place once already, and those places all canât be seen. Also, you justâŚI didnât see anything that I shouldnât have seen. Is there a need to feel so wronged?â
Lu Zhixin could not rebut that last sentence of Xu Tingshengâs, for it was not like she could say: My butt was sticking out like that, didnât you see it?
Therefore, a rather infuriated Lu Zhixin caught on those earlier words of his, questioning, âYouâve swept it? Also, those places that canât be seen-smell it yourself, isnât it smelly? I had to spray air freshener a few times, did you know? And look at this sofa, how dirty is it? Itâs fortunate that I added an extra sofa cover over it, or perhaps weâd have to throw the whole thing away.â
âAlso, look there, and there. What are these things? Those bones are all about to rotâŚdonât you feel disgusted by it? Youâre not allowed to bring people over to watch football again next time.â
Xu Tingsheng listened earnestly before smiling, âHeh, who would have thought that you actually have such a shrewish side? It really canât be seen from how you usually are. This is great, I wonât have to worry about you being bullied by your husband when youâre married in the future.â
Having gotten over her anger, an exasperated Lu Zhixin felt like rolling her eyes. The image that she had initially displayed before Xu Tingsheng was the same one that she maintained before outsiders. Cool to the point of being a little aloof whilst also elegant and dignifiedâŚthe image that Xu Tingsheng had of her was already diverging more and more from that right now.
âGo and sweep your own room,â Lu Zhixin did not answer Xu Tingsheng as she just pointed towards his room.
Over this period of time, Lu Zhixinâs room had been locked tight. Meanwhile, there were many people who had slept inside Xu Tingshengâs room.
âThereâs no need to, right? Itâs not like Iâm living here. Iâve applied to continue staying in the dorms along with Fu Cheng and the others over the summer holidays,â Xu Tingsheng said.
âBut itâs smelly, and I feel disgusted just thinking about it. Can you just please go and sweep it? Change the sheets, cases and whatnot, Iâve bought you new ones. Theyâre on the table inside.â
Lu Zhixin was virtually pleading to him with tears in her eyes. Xu Tingsheng could only listen to her and sweep his room clean. Then, he helped Lu Zhixin to clean up some other areas. They busied themselves for the entire afternoon before finally managing to restore things somewhat.
Finally, the two plopped down on the ground, exhausted and heaving for breath.
âI hadnât expected that not only are you good at business, you even know how to do housework. Youâre even pretty experienced at it,â Xu Tingsheng told Lu Zhixin sincerely.
âWhen I was young, My Dad was busy, so I always had to take care of myself. I could already cook when I was eight, just not as well as you. When I was twelve, I began helping my Dad to watch over the storeâŚalso, the shrewish you were taling about. At that time, our toilets, drains and whatnot were all shared with many other neighbours. We also all cooked in the corridors. If I hadnât known how to be shrewish and kick up ruckuses, as a little girl, I would have been bullied to death,â Lu Zhixin did not look at Xu Tingsheng as she spoke in a tone that lacked emotion.
Xu Tingsheng didnât answer, certainly not being as foolish as to ask âWhat about your mother thenâ, for such could already be determined from her words. Lu Zhixin had unconsciously told Xu Tingsheng a side of her that was completely different from the her he knew and her past life.
âMaybe she isnât always like how she acts before other people. Maybe her calculative nature, her ruthless methods as well as her resolve and abilities are not all that hard to understand.â
âŚâŚ
Hucheng was already becoming busier and busier in its daily operations. Fortunately, Lu Zhixin had had the foresight to specifically hire a few Accounting and Managment personnel during their mass recruitment. Like this, they could basically leave the matters of the training institute to their employees to handle.
While the âHundred Cities planâ sounded incomparably grand, when looked at in close detail, it was actually just a somewhat expanded version of the previous Nine Cities plan.
The one in charge of implementing the plan was Lu Zhixin who took charge at both the riverside reisdence and the training insititute. Old Wai stayed behind to keep an eye on the IT department while Li Linlin oversaw the customer service department as well as the department that checked and confirmed the information registered on the platform.
Xu Tingsheng himself was in charge of the most tiring part, that which truly required him to personally head out to other places.
Currently, Hucheng urgently needed to plan for establishing training institutes in the other eight cities aside from Yanzhou where it operated. This would definitely profit them immensely in the future.
It was this that Xu Tingsheng had tasked himself with.
Due to his responsibility towards the students and Huchengâs image, Xu Tingsheng had to personally go down for a on site investigation for virtually every single one of those organisations that approached them hoping for cooperation.
For those that had to be rejected, he would reject them however much money they offered him.
For those that he might be able to acquire, he would first covertly plan for such future possibilities.
Of those around Xu Tingsheng, Fang Yuqing and Fang Chen severely lacked a sense of ownership while Huang Yaming who had not participated much in Huchengâs affairs all along had gone to TianyiâŚ
Xu Tingsheng could only begin a hectic life of travel alongside Fu Cheng and two other employees.
Fu Cheng unexpectedly requested to travel everywhere along with Xu Tingsheng on his own accord. Most of the time, he would solitarily walk amidst the entire city everywhere he went. After Xu Tingsheng had finished his matters on hand, he would follow him to the next city.
He was searching for her.
Xu Tingsheng would return to Yanzhou once every five to six days to recover from his exertions.
In talking business over this period of time, the wine culture of the country was still inescapable. Fortunately, both the employees he had brought along were pretty good at drinking, and Fu Cheng could also help once in a while. Due to money, even Xu Tingsheng himself had to drink a little more from time to time.
If he didnât often step on the brakes for this kind of lifestyle, Hucheng still having yet to develop, Xu Tingsheng himself would already first have collapsed.
Xu Tingsheng would bring back quite a few things every time he returned. Every so often, some of his customers would give him some gifts such that he would âtake care ofâ them or give them âpriorityâ. Otherwise, they would just feel uneasy.
There were gifts of all kinds. Perhaps because Xu Tingsheng was a young man and it was in consideration of him trying to pick up chicks or perhaps because they were well informed and knew that Hucheng Education had a female boss rumoured to possess even greater authority than him, her word standing as law, some would intentionally think out of the box and prepare some gifts for women from time to time.
Regarding this, Xu Tingsheng would keep what was unisex or for men and dump it in his room when he returned to be used if so required. Whoever around him wanted them, they could just take it.
As for the female items, those branded handbags, vases and whatnot, seeing that Xiang Ning was still young, Xu Tingsheng would give them all to Lu Zhixin after having returned home.
It is very difficult for men to understand women and their passion for branded handbags. Even despite Lu Zhixinâs mild personality and wealthy background, she would still be excited and overjoyed by some exceptionally favoured ones.
The good thing about this was that Lu Zhixin was smiling more and more in front of Xu Tingsheng, their interactions no longer being so âheavyâ and serious. She would no longer say with a stiff face every time Xu Tingsheng returned, âXu Tingsheng, I have some opinions on the prices and durations of these pieces of businesses youâve accepted. Letâs talk.â
One must know that this was how Huchengâs employees usually comforted themselves after having been taught a lesson by Lu Zhixin, âSo what? Even our boss, Xu Tingsheng, often receives a scolding, right? This is no biggie at all!â
This day, Lu Zhixin happily returned to her room with two of the gifts that Xu Tingsheng had brought back.
A short while later, she stormed out of her room with one of them, an intricate box, in her hand. She stood in front of Xu Tingsheng, glaring at him. From the looks of it, she also appeared kind of wretched aside from being furious.
âWhat? You donât have to be angry even if you donât like it,â Xu Tingsheng said.
âBastard.â
Lu Zhixin mightily dumped the box in Xu Tingshengâs hands, turned and left.
âThe heck, what kind of temper is thisâŚalso, can you scold anything else apart from bastard?â Xu Tingsheng muttered to himself.
âPervert,â Lu Zhixinâs voice resounded from outside the door through clenched teeth.
Apparently, she had not gone far. Only after having scolded him like this did her footsteps as she ascended the stairs resound.
âWhatâs up with thisâŚcanât she say it directly?â Xu Tingsheng muttered as he opened the exceptionally intricately designed box from where he could see that Lu Zhixin had opened itâŚit was a small cloth, and still a small cloth. It was thin, and it was lace.
âThe heckâŚperverted.â
Xu Tingsheng knew what the box contained. It wasâŚa set of kinky underwear.
âThe heckâŚwhich training institute sent this? This sick pervert, weâve definitely got to end our cooperation immediatelyâŚâ
After a while, Xu Tingsheng calmed himself and thought for a bit. Then, he carefully resealed the gift box with tape and brought it upstairs.
âOld Wai, come here for a bit. Iâve brought you a present.â
âFor me?â
âFor you to give to Linlin.â
âNo need, we always take some of the stuff that youâve brought back.â
âThis is different. Youâve got to tell Linlin that you bought this specially for her yourself, alright? For things like presents, things you took from me and things you carefully picked yourself hold completely different significance.â