When the red wine was decanted, Zhuang Long poured himself a cup.
Leaning against the railing, he gazed into the night, his mind in a state of blankness.
He didn’t think of anything. It was as if he had thought of everything.
When Xiao Li realized that he was not by her side, she also woke up. She put on an extremely thin nightgown and walked to the balcony. Through the glass door, Xiao Li saw Zhuang Long leaning against the railing, holding a glass of wine. He did not drink it either, as if he was deep in thought.
The night wind blew his black hair gently in the wind. Their hearts were connected. He suddenly turned around and smiled at Xiao Li. Then, he extended a hand. “Ah Li, come.”
Xiao Li pushed the door open and walked out, holding his hand.
Zhuang Long took the opportunity to circle her in his arms. When he breathed, he smelled of alcohol. “Ah Li, what were you thinking when you saw me in the Middle East that year?”
“Do you want to hear the truth?”
“Of course.”
Xiao Li said, “The first time I saw you, I thought to myself that it was fortunate that I had covered my face with a veil. Otherwise, you would have seen my ugly side.” Xiao Li loved to look beautiful, and he was most unwilling to let Zhuang Long see her ugly face.
Zhuang Long laughed out loud. “What else?”
Xiao Li thought for a while before saying, “I thought I would die. I didn’t expect you to develop the antidote. At that time, I thought that if I could see you once before I died, my life would be worth it.”
The strong arm around her waist seemed to tighten.
Zhuang Long rubbed his chin on Xiao Li’s shoulder.
“Ah Li.”
“Ah Li.”
He called Xiao Li’s name like a drug addict taking his last drag. Every time he called her Ah Li, his voice was filled with deep affection.
…
After staying in the United States for more than a month, Fang Yusheng and his family were finally going home.
The day before she returned home, Qiao Jiusheng decided to bring her husband and children to buy gifts for Lisa, Chi Baoguang, and Fang Shan. In terms of raising children, Qiao Jiusheng’s attitude was the same as Fang Yusheng’s. When it came to food, she needed them to eat clean and nutritious meals. When it came to clothes, she only pursued cleanliness and comfort, not branded goods or prices.
Fang Zicheng and Fang Zikai were studying at a private kindergarten. In Binjiang City, it was considered an elite kindergarten. In the kindergarten, everyone wore the same school uniform and carried the same school bag, but the other necessities and shoes were bought by their family. In Fang Zikai’s class, the shoes worn by the other children were all branded. Only the two of them had shoes of all prices.
They had canvas shoes that pulled back, as well as children’s shoes from first-tier luxury brands like Dior.
Even a three-year-old child would not be able to tell the difference between a pair of shoes worth dozens of dollars and a pair worth thousands of dollars. Therefore, when shopping, the brothers would only buy what they liked. When they wore comfortable clothes and shoes, they would also buy a set for Fang Shan if they saw anything they liked.
Qiao Jiusheng had bought Lisa a bracelet that complemented her aura. The bracelet was not expensive, and the diamonds on it were not real. Instead, they were synthetic colored diamonds, but they were beautiful. In addition, it did suit Lisa, so Qiao Jiusheng bought it. Then, she bought a watch for Chi Baoguang.
Although Fang Yusheng was a stingy person, when it was time to buy something, he would not hesitate to swipe his card.
The family returned home happily with bags of various sizes.
When he got home, Fang Yusheng stared at the pile of things and his heart began to ache. He sat on the small sofa in the room with a stack of small bills in front of him. He calculated again and again, and finally came to a conclusion—
He had to work hard to earn money and support his wife, children, parents.
Every time Qiao Jiusheng saw Fang Yusheng settling scores with a stack of bills, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. If he was ugly, Qiao Jiusheng would have scolded him for being good-for-nothing.
The next day, they returned to the country.
The family of four had just gotten off the plane and walked out of the airport when they saw Chi Baoguang, who had personally driven to pick them up.
Chi Baoguang had specially applied for leave to pick them up this afternoon. He was still driving the same van.
Chi Baoguang drove them to his and Lisa’s small apartment building for dinner. After dinner, Qiao Jiusheng gave the gifts she had chosen to Lisa and Chi Baoguang. Chi Baoguang’s wristwatch had cost more than 100,000 yuan, but Lisa’s bracelet had only cost more than 2,000 yuan.
However, Lisa loved that bracelet very much.
In order to be able to take pictures of the bracelet’s beauty, she specially returned to the house to change into a beautiful dress and put on beautiful makeup. Then, she asked Qiao Jiusheng to provide good lighting, and asked Chi Baoguang to take a photo of her in the mirror. She took more than ten photos. After she was done, Lisa sat on the sofa and selected the photos one by one.
In the end, she chose two of her favorites and posted them on Weibo.
Beauty Lisa: A gift from my daughter-in-law. It’s so beautiful. Love you @Qiao Jiusheng.
After she posted on Weibo, she turned to Qiao Jiusheng and said, “Ah Sheng, I’ve posted on Weibo. Take a look.”
Qiao Jiusheng and Fang Yusheng were helping Chi Baoguang clean up the dishes. Hearing this, Fang Yusheng took the initiative to take on the remaining work and said to Qiao Jiusheng, “Go to my mother’s side. I’ll clean up.” Qiao Jiusheng walked to Lisa’s side and sat down.
She logged into Weibo and reposted Lisa’s post.
Qiao Jiusheng: Mom’s hands are the most beautiful / Beauty Lisa: A gift from my daughter-in-law. It’s so beautiful. Love you @Qiao Jiusheng.
Beauty Lisa was now a popular blogger on Weibo. Qiao Jiusheng had always been a well-known rich second-generation socialite in Junyang City and Binjiang City. Her good taste had brought her a large circle of fans. Unlike Qiao Jiusheng, Lisa had become a popular blogger because of a video.
Lisa had taken up her old profession as a professor.
She was teaching at Binjiang University, and still taught physics.
Lisa was old, but not that old. She had a young mind, good taste, and was dressed very elegantly. Many students couldn’t help but secretly take videos of her lectures and post them on Weibo, calling her the ‘goddess loved by time’.
Just like that, Lisa was on fire.
Later on, she was simply on Weibo full time. Her daily routine was to show off her life on Weibo, her husband, her adorable grandson, and her handsome son. Occasionally, she would drag her daughter-in-law to show off her mother-in-law-in-law relationship. In short, Beauty Lisa was a winner in life. She showed off her life non-stop every day, and enjoyed all kinds of happiness.
However, when one became famous, there would always be some insensible haters who liked to jump in.
Seeing that Lisa had sent a new photo, the haters began to comment—
Rose, Rose, I Love You: Hehe, isn’t your daughter-in-law very rich? Why would she give you such a cheap necklace? I’ve just checked. On the official website of China, this necklace only costs about 3,000 yuan.
Show-off my ass: How dare you show off a fake diamond? Haha…
Lovers Aren’t Fated: This hand must have been photoshopped. How can a normal old woman’s hand be so young?
Lisa was so angry that she roared at her husband, “Boguang, they’re bullying me!”
Chi Baoguang came out of the bathroom after washing his hands. He took Lisa’s phone and frowned. Without another word, he retorted.
Beauty Lisa replied to Rose Rose I Love You: Picture.jpg.
Beauty Lisa replied smugly: Picture.jpg.”
He stared at the incomplete message from his lover. After some thought, he recorded a video on the spot. Chi Baoguang threw the phone to his daughter-in-law and instructed, “Don’t record your face. Just your hands.”
