Lu Zhixin felt a lot more reassured after hearing Du Jiang's words. This stern, intense-looking man before her was not one of those foolhardy, brawl-loving people.
Having followed Mr Xu for some time, been in the ring and experienced life in prison, the fierce and agile Du Jiang still had a unique aura that made it hard for other people to get close to him. Still, his performance had proven very satisfactory as virtually no fault could be found in how he conducted himself at all.
As for his wages, Xu Tingsheng had not exaggerated. His current income was on a whole different level from even that of Hucheng's middle echelon employees.
"Bro Du is right. Just treat him normally, Zhixin," Xu Tingsheng said.
"Got it," Lu Zhixin passed him another glass of water.Xu Tingsheng accepted it and raised it towards Du Jiang.
"We'll be troubling you then, Bro Du."
Substituting wine with water, he downed it in a single gulp.
Du Jiang nodded, saying, "Rest assured."
"I'll be leaving first then. Don't forget to keep yourself safe," Xu Tingsheng turned, preparing to head out.
"Hey, you…" Lu Zhixin yelled from behind him, sounding a bit hesitant, "You haven't had lunch yet, right? How about we eat together?"
"Maybe next time. I'm a little busy right now."
He opened the door, exited and closed it behind him.
There was the sound of footsteps descending the staircase.
A long time passed before Lu Zhixin snapped out of her reverie.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtDu Jiang said nothing while she was staring blankly at the door in a daze, not even moving at all as it was like he was not even in the room. While he could tell that Lu Zhixin's behaviour was a little odd, he would not get involved in it or give any indication of his thoughts. He was already accustomed to what his role should be.
Lu Zhixin turned towards Du Jiang and smiled, "In that case, Bro Du, I'll get someone to bring you to eat and make arrangements for your lodgings."
"I'll be troubling you then, Boss Lu," Du Jiang carried his bag and stood up, handing her a sheet of paper, "These are my three handphone numbers. Please save all of them, Boss Lu. Normally, all three of these numbers should be able to get through at any time. If one of them is unable to get through, Boss Lu, please immediately call the other two numbers. Please also give me your public and private numbers, Boss Lu."
As keeping her safe was Du Jiang's job, Lu Zhixin could not very well refuse him. She grabbed a name card and wrote her private number on it before handing it over to Du Jiang.
Du Jiang received the name card from her.
"Also, please pass me your car keys, Boss Lu," He requested.
"Huh? But what if I…" Lu Zhixin was rather hesitant.
"I'll be in charge of driving and waiting for you, whether you're shopping, having tea or anything. Also, I will not leak your information to anyone, Boss Xu and Tingsheng included. This is as per the instructions of Boss Xu and Tingsheng."
The Boss Xu that Du Jiang spoke of was naturally Mr Xu. He spoke matter-of-factly while calmly opening up his palm.
"Like I can do whatever to you," Lu Zhixin felt aggrieved as she helplessly placed her car keys in Du Jiang's palm.
"My car is…" Lu Zhixin started to say.
"I know. Tingsheng already told this to me earlier. He also borrowed a car from Zhicheng which will be sent over in a while. In the future, we can take turns using either car, as decided by me," Du Jiang said, "I'll be going first. See you later, Boss Lu."
Du Jiang went out.
"Making it seem so serious...and then still acting cool," Lu Zhixin stood there, muttering aloud, "Not even willing to have a meal...afraid I'll poison you?"
"Linlin said that you suddenly have a goddaughter now, Fu Cheng's child. I looked on Weibo…"
"She also said you seem to really like kids, really like kids a lot. How can you find a little girl…"
"That, that Ms Fang. She should be coming to Hucheng, right? Let's see if you'll call me or not."
"It's very troublesome on my Dad's side, but I will protect Hucheng. He's currently treating me like an entry ticket, consorting with all those rich people everywhere, talking nonsense and giving my number away. Because of that…so many men have begun bothering me now."
"But I feel like I won't be able to get married...Xu, Ting, Sheng…"
"My alcohol capacity is getting better and better, and it's more difficult for me to sleep at night."
"..."
Musing aloud with those fragmented thoughts, this was not a commonly seen side of Lu Zhixin at all.
……
Xu Tingsheng did not have anything to do that day, in truth. As Mr and Mrs Xiang were going to leave soon, Xiang Ning was accompanying them at home.
He grabbed lunch alone somewhere and went back home to sleep.
After sleeping for almost the entire afternoon, Xu Tingsheng had a simple video conference with Hu Chen and He Yutan. With that, it was already nighttime. He next sat alone in the living room to watch a game of football as a lonely person, but as Niannian had just stayed in the house for a few days, there was still a baby smell in the air as loneliness simply would not descend at all.
Fu Cheng called and said that they would not be returning to Libei after leaving Hunan. Instead, they would be coming straight to Yanzhou. It would be better to settle the matter of their flat and Ms Fang's job as soon as possible.
It would also be better to find a professional nanny as soon as possible lest the good ones were all snatched up.
Having become a father, he was indeed no longer like any typical boy now.
Before going to bed, Xu Tingsheng received a call from Xiang Ning. She would be sending her parents off the next day and could only look for him in the afternoon. It was decided that they would meet with her policewoman cousin and her future husband some time before dinner.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"My cousin said that she would like to treat you to a meal…" Xiang Ning said rather guiltily.
"We should look at the flats first. There are only two left that she can pick from," Xu Tingsheng said, really feeling a bit apprehensive about potentially eating with that cousin."Yeah, that's fine too. I'll tell her," Xiang Ning said and hung up.
In truth, Xu Tingsheng actually had four flats remaining. Yet, two of these were rather unique in location. When the Xiang family had previously decided on their flat, Xu Tingsheng had reserved both the ones beside it for his own purposes.
From the looks of it now, one of these should be left for Fu Cheng. Firstly, they were bros. Secondly, as Xiang Ning liked Niannian a lot, she would surely be happy about this.
The other flat was for himself.
Xu Tingsheng would never be able to bear taking these two flats out, period.
……
The next evening, after crossing the bridge, Xu Tingsheng stopped the car with Xiang Ning inside a distance away from the sales building.
Xiang Ning's policewoman cousin was standing by the entrance. Rather than police attire, she was dressed rather gender-neutrally in a slick, efficient manner. Beside her was a bespectacled, rather thin-looking man.
"Are you sure your cousin isn't here to catch me?" Xu Tingsheng asked.
"Huh? Why would she do that?" Little Xiang Ning asked.
"For cheating a young girl, and lying when questioned by the police."
"Teehee…"
As the car stopped, Xiang Ning got out first and ran towards her cousin.
Xu Tingsheng followed her at a distance of four or five paces behind.
As he was thinking about how to offer his greetings, he suddenly saw...Xiang Ning's cousin move. Decisively, agilely, her gaze cold and intense, Comrade Cousin dashed towards him, barrelling forward at full speed.
"She really wants to catch me? Or is this some kind of setup?"
Xu Tingsheng was stunned silly.