Chapter 61 – The Cousin's Backstory (3)
On the other end, Lang Jinzhi had just wrapped up his meeting.
Secretary Cheng handed his cellphone to him, "You have a text from Miss Zhong."
Lang Jinzhi paused for a second.
He could also count all the times that Zhong Yuhuan had called him, and speaking of texts…. Barely ever.
Did something happen?
Was it Xu Yushan? Was his warning not sufficient in deterring her?
Lang Jinzhi took the cellphone from Secretary Cheng, opened it up, before he saw the text: "How are you feeling today, cousin?"
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That was it. Just a short and simple sentence.
Yet the short and simple sentence was enough for Lang Jinzhi to feel surprised.
She didn't text him because she needed something from him; she texted him just to see how he was doing?
He recalled the day before. Zhong Yuhuan was urging him to go home, and wouldn't let him drive tired….
Lang Jinzhi thought about it for a second. Standing outside the conference room, he lowered his head and responded to the text with utmost seriously: "I am fine."
He even added the compulsive period at the end of the text.
He looked at the text that he had typed and felt that it might have sounded too distant.
His little cousin had initiated the conversation, he couldn't possibly be so cold toward her.
He added after that: "How about you?"
He looked at the text some more and they still seemed abrupt.
Lang Jinzhi frowned, turned toward Secretary Cheng and asked, "Do you know how to respond to texts from a kid?"
"What did Miss Zhong say?" asked Secretary Cheng.
Lang Jinzhi handed his cell phone over to him and scooted a little to the side to leave the path in and out of the conference room open.
Secretary Cheng, after reading the text, asked, "Would you like me to respond to her?"
"Please."
Secretary Cheng clicked the back button a few times and removed everything that Lang Jinzhi had typed and replaced them with: "I was in a meeting earlier and just saw this text. Thank you for asking, Cousin. I felt much better. You should watch out for school/life balance as well."
Secretary Cheng went on to type some emoji and the text turned into: "I was in a meeting earlier…. You should watch out for school/life balance as well. (づ￣3￣）づ╭～
After he has sent the text, he returned the phone back to Lang Jinzhi, "Done."
Lang Jinzhi put his phone away.
Lang Jinzhi felt an odd sensation of regret, but at least he has responded back to the texts in a timely fashion and he felt better.
On the other end, Zhong Yuhuan received the text.
Zhong Yuhuan pulled out her phone and checked. She felt that her cousin was much more talkative today and even added emoji, something just felt off about that.
Nonetheless, Zhong Yuhuan responded with: Okay cousin (づ￣3￣）づ╭～
Lang Jinzhi received the text from Zhong Yuhuan shortly.
He was sitting next to his dad in the back of the car and heard a "DING" from his cellphone.
He fished out his phone and took a look.
Even though he didn't know what an emoji was, but this one was self-explanatory.
That was…blowing a kiss?
Looking at the sudden and direct fondness from his little cousin, his fingers were and all the more he didn't know how to respond.
Slowly but surely, he began to have a different kind of sensation inside of him.
When Mr. Lang saw that, he smiled so much one could see his crow's feet and asked, "What seems to be the matter?"
Chapter 62 – Interlude: Xu Xing (1)
Lang Jinzhi closed up his phone and said in a low voice, "It was from Zhong Yuhuan."
Mr. Lang paused for a second and said, "OhB, your aunt's child."
Lang Jinzhi nodded.
Mr. Lang paused again and said, "I thought you haven't seen or talked to her since your aunt's funeral?"
"I helped her out on some things – adopted a couple of kids and put them under the Ding's."
"Oh, Zhong Chi was a bit much. It's not a bad thing to adopt a couple of children to keep her company," said Mr. Lang.
Lang Jinzhi acknowledged his father's words then, after thinking for a little bit, added, "Last time I had dinner with grandpa, she came too. Even brought me a gift."
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"Oh yeah? Then if she has time in the future, why don't you invite her to have dinner at our place?" said Mr. Lang, a bit surprised.
Lang Jinzhi nodded.
The two switched the subject after that, and the topic never came up again.
Lang Jinzhi, on the other hand, made a mental note – he could treat his little cousin better from now on.
They tried a few times to set it up after that but it has yet to happen, either Zhong Yuhuan was too busy or Lang Jinzhi was too busy.
Before they were able to meet up for their dinner, Xu Yunhui's son had arrived at Zhong's. Xu Xing came home from school lugging his suitcase behind him.
Zhong Yuhuan leaned over the banister on the third floor and looked down sluggishly.
"What'd you looking at?" asked Huo Chengming as he walked over to her with a big bowl of large strawberries in his hand.
Zhong Yuhuan casually picked one up and tossed it into her mouth as she smiled and said, "Looking at Xu Yunhui's son, of course."
Huo Chengming said in a low voice, "If he dares pick on you…"
"He wouldn't dare," said Zhong Yuhuan as she patted Huo Chengming on his arm. His arm is tight, slightly bulged up with a thin layer of muscle that only belonged to a youth. Zhong Yuhuan was genuinely surprised, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, Chengming-ge ge has muscle on his arm now!"
Immediately, Huo Chengming's mind was somewhere else.
His entire neck turned beet red, and he grunted lowly, "Mmm."
As they were talking, footsteps could be heard at the front door mixing with the laughing from Xu Yunhui.
"You have never taken a good look at this before you left for school. Come, let us show you your room first, okay?" Xu Yunhui's tone was more tender than normal and her face szx loving.
Xu Xing was skinny and bespectacled. A backpack on his back, he wasn't showing a lot of emotions on his face nor did he show much reactions to Xu Yunhui's tenderness.
Xu Yunhui stroked his face as her heart ached and said, "I never should have let you gone to that school. You've been there for too long. You are darker and skinnier than I remember, what had happened to you?"
Xu Xing didn't say anything but slightly looked up at the banister on the third floor.
Zhong Yuhuan looked at him from the top down and gave him a cold look without hesitation.
Xu Yunhui was still going on, "Why don't you switch to Murphy High School? All your dad's friends' kids go there. And you can get to know them and get closer with them…"
As she went on and on, Xu Yunhui finally noticed that Xu Xing wasn't responding to her at all.
"What are you looking at?" Xu Yunhui looked toward the direction that he was looking at.
When she saw Xu Yunhui on the third floor, she almost couldn't maintain her smile.
"Oh, she's the same age as you but a few months older. You need to address her as jie jie," said Xu Yunhui.
Xu Xing still didn't say anything.
Xu Yunhui was finally a bit annoyed.
She didn't care much that Xu Xing wasn't responding to her, but that was before she knew that Xu Yunhui was looking at them. She could only imagine what Zhong Yuhuan was thinking about it all.
Xu Yunhui gently shoved Xu Xing toward the couch and said to him at the same time, "Alright, we don't have to go check out your room right away. Here, have a seat. Let's chat for a little while."
Chapter 63 – Interlude: Xu Xing (2)
Xu Yunhui turned toward the third floor and called out to Zhong Yuhuan, "Huanhuan, why don't you come down and join us?"
Slowly, Zhong Yuhuan responded with a, "Okay."
After she said that, she turned to Huo Chengming and asked, "Where's Li Jinyuan?"
"I don't know what he is doing."
"Go get him, we will go downstairs together," said Zhong Yuhuan as she opened up the door to the staircase.
Huo Chengming nodded and turned around to get Li Jinyuan.
The three of them slowly went downstairs.
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Zhong Chi had also arrived home at the same time.
He hadn't seen this son for a long time so he had on him a very tender and fatherly smile.
"Great, the whole family can spend New Year together!" said Zhong Chi happily.
Xu Xing only grunted an acknowledgement.
That made Zhong Chi somewhat disappointed, and his fatherly love was half gone immediately.
Especially after Zhong Chi saw Zhong Yuhuan and the other two sitting on the other side of the couch.
Even though Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan were adopted kids from the welfare services, they were both very attractive individuals. Even with just simple sweaters and long pants, they already exuded the aura of wealthy young masters.
On the other hand, Xu Xing, with the baggy uniform of 13th Secondary School compounded by his skinniness, make him looked ridiculous.
He did not look like a wealthy young master at all.
The drastic contract made Zhong Chi even more unhappy.
His face darkened and he said, "I have said this many times before. Studying is your duty, as is getting good grades. But you shouldn't be a nerd. What good is a nerd? You can't manage business with just knowledge from textbooks."
Xu Xing's face started to darken as well, but he slowly responded with a "Mmm."
Xu Yunhui didn't interject. She had always wanted Zhong Chi to be more like a father to Xu Xing and to give him more guidance.
The stricter Zhong Chi was to him, the more it meant that he held him to a higher standard, right?
Zhong Yuhuan looked at the scene unfolding in front of her and couldn't help but laugh to herself.
So, this "family of four" all have their own ideas, they weren't really that close of a family.
Xu Yunhui didn't understand her son and daughter, neither did her son and daughter understand her. And they couldn't see eye to eye with Zhong Chi.
The only reason that they looked like they were getting along happily was all Xu Yunhui's doing. In truth, any slight pressure could make the whole thing come crumbling down.
That night, everybody had dinner together.
Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan's dinner table etiquette was taught personally by Zhong Yuhuan.
Looking at Xu Xing, again, he did not measure up to the other two.
Zhong Chi's face continued to darken progressively.
He couldn't stand the fact that his own son was inferior to the kids from the welfare services!
Seeing that Zhong Chi wasn't in the best of moods, Xu Yunhui decided against bringing up the issue of officially making Xu Xing a Zhong.
Zhong Yuhuan and the other two had a good time at dinner. The others, not so much.
Zhong Yuhuan put down the utensils, wiped her mouth, and said in a low voice, "We are going back upstairs now."
Zhong Chi had intended to take this opportunity to teach Xu Xing some skills, so he didn't even look up before he said, "Go."
Zhong Yuhuan had the soul of an adult so she could tell what's good and what's not. She could put up with many things, such as studying hard, or reading difficult books…
Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan, on the other hand, were naturally talented so they picked up many things faster than others and didn't always need to be taught.
Xu Xing, on the other hand, was not particularly talented, nor had a soul that did not belong to his age. The sterner Zhong Chi was with him, the worst results he would get. Any criticism would only bring about his rebellious side.
Zhong Yuhuan smiled and said, "Bye."
Chapter 64 – Interlude: Xu Xing (3)
Shortly after they went upstairs, they could hear the sound of tea cups being smashed.
It wasn't this bad just two years ago. The more successful Zhong Chi was, the more draconian he had become and the less patient he was. Smashing tea cups was nothing.
After going back upstairs, Li Jinyuan suddenly called out to Zhong Yuhuan.
"Yeah? What 's going on?" Zhong Yuhuan looked at his dubiously, waiting for him to go on.
Li Jinyuan smiled tenderly and with a hint of awkwardness, "I am ready. When do we leave?"
Zhong Yuhuan cocked her head and said, "That fast?"
Li Jinyuan said in a low voice, "Not that fast. 130 days, 3120 hours. Many things could have been done already."
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Huo Chengming also chimed in from one side, "I am ready as well."
Zhong Yuhuan blinked. It had been that long already?
It had been that long since she had adopted them?
"Wait a little while longer," said Zhong Yuhuan.
"Why?" asked Li Jinyuan dubiously.
"We will be coming back here in the future so your network is very important. The kids that you hang out with at school right now will become your network in the future. We should be more familiar with them first before we leave," said Zhong Yuhuan.
She had no idea how Huo Chengming started out in the book.
But if he had natural talent, wouldn't his possibilities be even broader if he also has a larger network?
The same applied to Li Jinyuan. If he had a big network, then he wouldn't have to struggle as much as he did like in the book when he went into entertainment.
"Whatever you say," said Li Jinyuan and Huo Chengming simultaneously.
Zhong Yuhuan nodded and said, "Okay, let's go to bed."
There were still noises coming from downstairs, but Zhong Yuhuan had no more interest in eavesdropping.
To put it simply, ever since she had replaced the original owner, the new Zhong Yuhuan was no longer on the same level as Xu Yushan and Xu Xing.
All they ever thought about was to plot against what belonged to Zhong Chi. They wanted the shortcut way, not how to make it on their own.
They network only for the purpose of kissing up to others.
But that wasn't Zhong Yuhuan's way.
And Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan would also be different in the future.
Xu Xing returned back to his school not too long after he arrived at the Zhong's mansion.
He claimed that the school asked them to go back sooner, but Zhong Yuhuan's speculation was that he couldn't stand being lectured by Zhong Chi.
Xu Yunhui had been hinting left and right for Zhong Chi to initiate Xu Xing's transfer to Murphy High School.
Zhong Chi was in line with that idea as well. However, he didn't want to hold a banquet in the future while claiming Xu Xing as his own but Xu Xing would show up, act cloddish, and made a fool out of himself among those from the upper class.
Time flew by.
Zhong Yuhuan finished junior high school and entered into senior high school.
Xu Yunhui and Xu Yushan never forgot the $5 million that Zhong Yuhuan got from Zhong Chi. During this entire time, Zhong Yuhuan had never moved out. It would be difficult for Xu Yunhui to bring this up to Zhong Chi. Zhong Chi, on the other hand, had long forgotten about that $5 million.
After all, Zhong Yuhuan had stopped causing trouble ever since then. To him, that money had bought him quiet and peace and that wasn't a bad thing.
Xu Yushan had no interest in sharing what was bothering Xu Yunhui, nor had it occurred to her to reach out and ask about her brother. She wasn't successful when it came to Young Master Nan, but after several more matching making, she finally found herself Young Master Nan's cousin, Nan Xuyang.
Zhong Yuhuan took down the #1 position in another examination. The group of second generation rich kids took her out to celebrate.
During the gathering, Yan Sen asked her, "Zhong Yuhuan, when are you going overseas?"
"I haven't decided yet. What about you guys?"
"Probably another 6 months or so, then we will be ready to go."
This was when Zhong Yuhuan realized that they were all eager to go overseas; everybody was just waiting for her to say when.
Zhong Yuhuan chuckled and said, "Okay, then we all start getting ready now. We will reconvene overseas!"
Chapter 65 – Zhong Yuhuan's 14th birthday (1)
Truth be told, if they wanted to go overseas, they could leave any time they wanted. But, Zhong Yuhuan's purpose wasn't to be a bum overseas. It was to leave the Zhong's and gain a real skill. A skill that would allow her to be independent in the future. For that, she needed a lot of preparation.
This preparation took over six months.
Today, Zhong Yuhuan had turned 14.
Standing in front of the mirror, she was now truly a young woman.
Zhong Chi, learning that she would be leaving soon, needed to at least put up the front and host a birthday party for her.
Xu Yushan and Xu Xing had never had one hosted for them since they have come to the Zhong's, let alone changing their last names. Appearances have always been important to Zhong Chi, Xu Yushan and Xu Xing have not yet reached his standard, so, naturally, there wouldn't be any name changing. By this time, Zhong Chi even hoped that between Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan, one of them was actually his bastard child.
Almost half of the upper class from Hai City attended Zhong Yuhuan's birthday party; even the ones who couldn't go had sent gifts, giving the Zhong's a lot of respect.
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As soon as Zhong Yuhuan walked out in her evening gown, she heard others talking in a low voice, "There is a difference between the daughter from the wife and children from a mistress."
"Yes, that's the difference between a pheasant and a phoenix. Even if you throw them a birthday party, will they be able to not embarrass themselves?"
Zhong Yuhuan looked up to the end of the hall when she heard that.
At the end of the hall stood Xu Yushan; obviously she had heard the conversation as well. Her face darkened immediately, and she didn't hide the hateful look that she gave her.
Zhong Yuhuan, on the other hand, was in a good mood and walked out slowly.
Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan were waiting outside. They were dressed up in formal gears as well; full suits, one in black and one in white. The two of them together looked like white and black knights.
The two kids from the welfare services have slowly grew into young men, and their bodies could now fill out a suit. They looked better and better.
Of course, at their current age, white tees and white shirts were still better choices for them.
Standing in the middle, they were both very pretty boys!
Even undergoing this voice-changing period, Li Jinyuan still said in a low and somewhat coarse voice, "Huanhuan is very pretty today."
Huo Chengming, on the other hand, didn't say anything. Ever since he had entered into his voice-changing period, he had been talking as little as possible, as though he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of Zhong Yuhuan.
Zhong Yuhuan reached out her hands.
Understanding her meaning, Li Jinyuan and Huo Chengming both reached out at the same time and each took one of her hands into theirs.
"My shoes today have heels, I don't want to fall," said Zhong Yuhuan as she lifted her foot to show them.
She was wearing lace-up shoes; her skin under the laces was white like snow.
They didn't see whether the heels were high, but they did notice her toes. Her toenails were clipped nicely and her toes were a bit pink; they were very pretty to look at.
"Did you see?" asked Zhong Yuhuan.
Neither one of them saw anything, but they nodded anyway.
Huo Chengming adjusted from holding one of her hands to her entire arm before he finally said in a low voice, "No falling."
Zhong Yuhuan cocked her head and smiled at him, "Thank you, Chengming-ge ge."
As they were talking, they have already arrived at the banquet hall.
The arrival of Zhong Yuhuan immediately attracted most of the attention.
Chapter 66 – Zhong Yuhuan's 14th birthday (2)
Xu Yushan entered right after Zhong Yuhuan, but few noticed her. Xu Yushan was reminded once again that as long as Zhong Chi didn't make it official, they would never had any status in this circle. So what if they have moved into the Zhong's mansion?
Enviously, Xu Yushan stared at Zhong Yuhuan, who was flanked by her knights.
As soon as she turned her head, she saw her own brother in his formal wear. His face gloomy and expressionless. She was even more upset. Why was it that Zhong Yuhuan could train them to become so presentable but her brother was the way he was?
He was dad's real son!
What Xu Yushan didn't know was that every time Zhong Chi lectured him, it only rid him of more of his confidence and made him even less willing to try to blend into this circle.
Naturally, standing in the corner the way he did made him looked even worse.
It was a rare birthday party for Zhong Yuhuan. First, the second-generation rich kids who were close to her all presented her with their gifts that they brought. Then it was the older guest, most of them were old business associates of the Zhong's or the Ding's.
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Grandpa Ding was upset at Zhong Chi, so he did not come in person, but Zhong Yuhuan already had it all planned out. She would make a trip to Yue Lan Mansion after the birthday party was over.
When the banquet hall was bustling with noises, Lang Jinzhi showed up.
Everybody knew that the Ding's and the Zhong's had bad blood between them since the death of Ding Ruxue and Lang Jinzhi had no contacts with the Zhong's all, so nobody expected him to show up today.
Following behind Lang Jinzhi was his secretary, carrying a suitcase in his hand. It was obvious to everyone that Lang Jinzhi just came directly from a business trip. Everybody was baffled; they have never heard that Lang Jinzhi was close to this cousin.
Yet, regardless of what they knew or what they didn't know, the truth was Lang Jinzhi showed up at the party.
Everybody looked at Zhong Chi and saw that his face darkened a bit, and that's how everybody learned that Lang Jinzhi probably came for Zhong Yuhuan, not so much for Zhong Chi.
Lang Jinzhi had a gift box in his hand. Opening it up, he took out a diamond tiara and put it on Zhong Yuhuan. "Present," he said.
Zhong Yuhuan didn't know Lang Jinzhi would make a special trip to bring her a gift so she was quite happy as well.
"Thank you, cousin," said Zhong Yuhuan as she lifted her hand and touched the tiara.
"Why don't you go get some rest first, cousin. Come join us for dinner at Yue Lan Mansion at night?" said Zhong Yuhuan immediately.
Lang Jinzhi was quite tired so he nodded. Without greeting anyone else, he left quickly.
Naturally, after he was gone, everybody came up and said nice things to Zhong Yuhuan.
The banquet lasted till that afternoon.
Zhong Yuhuan had received quite a bit of presents. She immediately gave Secretary Cheng a call and had him help her in picking them up and storing them away.
Otherwise, once she was gone, guess who they'd all go to? With the way Xu Yushan was, she just might take all of them.
Zhong Chi had the hotel prepare a banquet for the family.
Zhong Yuhuan really stood out, especially the way she was flanked. It had made Zhong Chi looked good.
She was, after all, his daughter. When she made him looked good, he didn't mind being nice to her in return.
Chapter 67 – Zhong Yuhuan's 14th birthday (3)
Zhong Chi drank a bit much today, so Xu Yunhui helped him to get some rest. Soon, Xu Xing, Xu Yushan, Huo Chengming, Li Jinyuan and Zhong Yuhuan were the only ones left at the table.
Xu Xing continued to keep his head lowered quietly.
Even Zhong Yuhuan started to feel bad for him.
Xu Yunhui didn't want him to attend #13 High School anymore, so Zhong Chi transferred him to Murphy High School, but Xu Xing couldn't fit into that place. Never mind about friends, it was lucky that he didn't get into fights with the other students.
Xu Xing was progressively more unhappy at school, but Xu Yunhui refused to let him transfer back to #13 High School. Zhong Chi also felt that it was his own problem not being able to fit in.
His own sense of self was about to be destroyed by his parents and his sister.
Zhong Yuhuan sighed and looked away.
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Right then, Xu Yushan toasted to Zhong Yuhuan, "Congratulations on your upcoming trip!"
She paused, then, with the corners of her mouth lifted up, said, "Too bad you will miss my engagement ceremony."
Zhong Yuhuan lifted her brows. She thought to herself;who was that unlucky person.
Xu Yushan smiled shyly and said, "Nan Xuyang, he is cousin of Young Master Nan. If you follow through with your engagement and be married to Young Master Nan in the future, I will be your cousin-in-law as well!"
Zhong Yuhuan had no idea who this Nan Xuyang was, nor did she remember anyone ever mentioning him. That only meant that there was nothing notable or mentionable about this person within the second-generation rich kids.
Zhong Yuhuan smiled too, "Oh okay, then I wish you luck. May your love last forever."
There was a little intention of showing off from Xu Yushan. As young as Zhong Yuhuan was, she was a woman after all and must have thought about marriage. She wanted to make a point that she wasn't exactly picking up what Zhong Yuhuan didn't want.
Now that she heard what Zhong Yuhuan said, Xu Yushan suddenly felt a bit of panic.
But why?
Xu Yushan gritted her teeth.
It was just a smile from a little brat…
Zhong Yuhuan put down her wine glass in her hand and said to Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan, "Let's go." Then, she walked away without looking at Xu Yushan again.
If Xu Yushan truly got married and minded her own business, she just might be able to dodge that landmine that she had set in place.
If she got any other ideas after getting married, well then, she asked for it herself.
After leaving the hotel, the three of them headed straight toward Lan Yue Mansion.
After having dinner with Grandpa Ding and cutting her birthday cake, Zhong Yuhuan started to feel tired.
Zhong Yuhuan walked out of the mansion and sighed at the front door.
Li Jinyuan quickly asked, "What's the matter?"
Huo Chengming, on the other hand, had already squatted down in front of her and said in a deep voice, "I'll carry you"
"Carry me and walk all the way home?" chuckled Zhong Yuhuan.
"Carry you out of the mansion district first then get a car," said Huo Chengming. The voice of a young man during the voice-changing period certainly wasn't too pleasant to the ears.
Zhong Yuhuan jumped onto his back right away; she even reached her hand out to touch his Adam's apple and said to him, "The voice-changing period will be over soon. Chengming-ge ge must talk more in the future."
Huo Chengming nodded then, thinking about what she just said, added a "Mmm".
Walking next to them, Li Jinyuan said in a low voice, "Huo Chengming, I can carry Huanhuan when you are tired."
"I won't be tired," said Huo Chengming simply.
Li Jinyuan, "…"
Zhong Yuhuan, lying on Huo Chengming's back, kicked her foot and said, "KIA!"
Huo Chengming's ears turned red. Obediently, he started running with Li Jinyuan trailing behind him.
Chapter 68 – Ming-ge ge (1)
Before they took off, Zhong Yuhuan exchanged contact information with all her buddies that she had been hanging out with; this included cell phone numbers, email addresses, MSN, penguin IDs, etc…. to make sure that they would be able to stay in touch in the future.
Once Zhong Yuhuan finished packing, the three of them headed to the airport.
Original translation is from fuyuneko dot org. If you're reading this elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.
Lang Jinzhi was too busy to see them off from the airport, but he did give Zhong Yuhuan a call.
"I have an old classmate who works in Birmingham. Once you are over there, if you have any questions, you can reach out to him. My secretary had already texted you his contact information…."
"Mmm, thank you, cousin." As Zhong Yuhuan was talking on the phone with her head lowered, she gave her suitcase a kick without thinking.
Lang Jinzhi paused for a little bit and said in a low voice, "I'll keep an eye out on the Zhong's."
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Zhong Yuhuan smiled even happier, "Thank you, cousin."
"It's getting late. You should board."
"Okay."
After hanging up the phone, Zhong Yuhuan checked her inbox. Sure enough, she saw a message from Secretary Cheng.
In addition to that, there was also a message from Zhong Chi's secretary.
"Mr. Zhong had already sent over your allowance. Once you arrive, there will be someone by the name of Chloe to come and pick you up. She will give you the keys to your new place."
Zhong Yuhuan turned off her phone.
She wasn't going to turn down Zhong Chi's money because of pride.
Of course, she was going to spend his money. Not only that, she wanted Zhong Chi to voluntarily give her more money. That way, she might be able to save up some of her allowances, it'd come in handy whether to keep them for herself or as capital for Huo Chengming when he launched his career.
Zhong Yuhuan looked up and smiled at Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan and said, "Let's go. It's time to board."
The three of them quickly boarded the plane with their suitcases.
Nobody else accompanied them on this trip.
Zhong Yuhuan found Chloe at the exit after they have landed. Chloe drove and took them first to where they would be staying.
Zhong Chi had prepared for them a high-end apartment that wasn't too far from the school.
Chloe left after giving them the keys. Before leaving, she told them that she'd be back the next day to take them to school.
They were strangers in a strange land, but Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan were no longer the two kids who had just walked out of the Welfare Services. They were neither anxious or shy.
They boiled some water and poured a cup of water for Zhong Yuhuan before they started looking for restaurants nearby.
All Zhong Yuhuan had to do was rest on the couch.
"We are going to be staying in the dormitory until we graduate and only come back here when school is out, so there's no need to unpack now," said Zhong Yuhuan as she placed her chin on the armrest of the couch while watching Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan moving around.
"Okay."
They had picked a boarding school. The school was quite strict and required them to stay in the dormitory all the way until graduation. The only time they could leave was when school was out.
After they have put down their stuff, they picked a Chinese restaurant close by for dinner.
Naturally, Chinese restaurants overseas did not remotely match up to the ones in China. Zhong Yuhuan was used to food in China so she was a bit pickier. After a few bites, she started biting the spoon for fun.
Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan noticed her action right away.
"Was it not good?" asked Li Jinyuan.
"Mmm," nodded Zhong Yuhuan.
Li Jinyuan thought about it for a bit, smiled and said, "I will go learn how to cook, so I can cook for you in the future."
"Okay!" Food in UK made Zhong Yuhuan feel despair.
Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan, on the other hand, were not very picky, even if they had already gotten used to fanciful living style and food during their stay at the Zhong's.
Chapter 69 – Ming-ge ge (2)
Halfway through the meal, Li Jinyuan stood up and went to the bathroom.
He was gone for a long time without returning.
Finally, Zhong Yuhuan put down the spoon in her hands. Frowning, she asked, "What's happening? Why was he gone for so long?"
There was still racism overseas.
Zhong Yuhuan worried that was what Li Jinyuan had run into.
Standing up, she said, "I will go look for him."
"I'll go with you," said Huo Chengming when they saw that Li Jinyuan had returned.
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Zhong Yuhuan looked up and asked, "How come you were gone for so long?"
Li Jinyuan was holding a business card in his hand and said as if in a trance, "I just ran into a strange Chinese man."
"Eh?" Zhong Yuhuan took the business card from him and took a look. The printed words said "Vianager"…. with a phone number behind it.
Zhong Yuhuan had it figured out right away, "….. Mmm, a scout? What did he want from you?"
Li Jinyuan said in a low voice, "He asked me to be a model for a set of photo shoot."
By now, Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan had undergone another growth spurt and was even taller than they were a little while ago.
A boy their age was more or less fully grown, and their body shape fully formed.
It wasn't surprising that someone would invite Li Jinyuan to be a model.
It was just odd that this part didn't seem to exist in the original novel.
Zhong Yuhuan didn't get hung up too much on that. After all, a lot of details were not mentioned in the original novel. She said to Li Jinyuan, "You can give that a try, but you have to hurry. School is about to start."
Li Jinyuan nodded. His smile seemed to have brightened some more.
Huo Chengming, on the other hand, had lowered his head, seemingly deep in thought.
The very next day, they all went to school to complete the registration for school and the dormitory.
Chloe left after the process was completed.
Zhong Yuhuan gave Li Jinyuan's friend, who was working in Birmingham, a call. His surname was Chen, Chen Mingye, and he was a Chinese who had been working overseas for years.
As soon as Chen Mingye received her call, he went over to London right away.
It was Zhong Yuhuan's hope for Li Jinyuan to broaden his horizon. As much as she was an adult on the inside, she was still a minor on the outside. She didn't want all of them to be taken advantage of. It would be much better to have an adult with them, and a local at that.
Chen Mingye was going to meet up with them on Wood Avenue.
While the three of them were waiting at the street corner, a silver Ashton Martin drove up and slowly stopped in front of them.
The car door opened and a young man in a printed suit got out. He didn't not look anywhere as mature as his name has suggested; this man looked like a textbook player.
"So this is Cousin Zhong?" giggled the man, sounding very friendly.
Zhong Yuhuan nodded and introduced Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan.
Smiling, Chen Mingye greeted the two of them one after another and had them get into his car. Once they have gotten inside of his car, they saw a young woman sitting in the passenger seat. She had on a power suit and looked to be Cheng Mingye's secretary.
"So, you want to go to Victor?" smiled Chen Mingye, "We will take you there right now. I have already done some research on this company. Their specialty is to identify young male model; they don't work with anyone older. But they are very good at training and introducing young models. Any models who joined their company will have the opportunities for photo shoots, catwalks, shows, magazine covers…. You name it."
Zhong Yuhuan nodded, "Thank you so much for your help."
"Don't mention it. Aren't you Li Jinyuan's cousin? You can refer to me as ge ge too! I don't even have a sister!" chuckled Chen Mingye.
Chapter 70 – Ming-ge ge (3)
Zhong Yuhuan gave him a, "Ming-ge."
That made Chen Mingye happy. He smiled and said, "In the past, when I have others to refer to me as ge, they've always called me Chen-ge. That was so cliché and uncreative. If we are still in China and someone called out a 'Chen-ge', at least 8 or 9 people would turn around."
(T/N: Chen is a very common Chinese last name.)
Chen Mingye was chatty, friendly, and easy to talk to. Zhong Yuhuan was happy chatting with him.
As they were chatting, they have arrived at the modeling company.
Li Jinyuan had already given them a call. The other party didn't expect such a short turnaround time so he quickly ran downstairs.
Zhong Yuhuan studied the man.
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The man was around 40 or so. She didn't think he was too successful in what he did as his suit was a bit wrinkly. One would think their appearances were particularly important in this field.
The man was surprised when he saw them getting out of the car.
He couldn't help but took a few extra looks at the Ashton Martin before he smiled and said, "Hi, everyone. My name is Wei Jie, you can call me Xiao Wei."
(T/N: "Xiao" means small in Chinese, it's a common way to nickname someone.)
Zhong Yuhuan almost laughed out loud.
"Xiao Wei" at his age?
Chen Mingye nodded and said, "Okay, Xiao Wei, how does this photo shoot work? Should we discuss upstairs?"
"Yes, yes, let's go upstairs."
With Chen Mingye there as their "face", everything was smooth going.
Once the contract was signed, Wei Jie immediately showed Li Jinyuan the way to the photoshoot. The entire process lasted over 6 hours.
Zhong Yuhuan was so hungry that she decided to leave the male lead behind and went to lunch with Huo Chengming and Chen Mingye.
When they came back after lunch, Li Jinyuan was finishing up as well.
Li Jinyuan probably just had his make up removed. His bangs were still wet and stuck to his forehead. Hiis eyes were brighter and more handsome than usual.
Zhong Yuhuan's eyes swept passed him and thought to herself, the older he gets the prettier that face would be, then what?
"Waited long?" asked Li Jinyuan as he smiled at Zhong Yuhuan. "Let's go back to school."
Chen Mingye personally drove them back to school before he took off.
There were quite a few people walking around campus at this hour, but mostly Caucasians. Occasionally there's an Asian, but none of them stood out. All of a sudden, Zhong Yuhuan, Huo Chengming, and Li Jinyuan had become the center of attention.
Their dormitory rooms were nearby, so they went upstairs together.
Huo Chengming and Li Jinyuan both followed Zhong Yuhuan into her room.
The two young men rolled up their sleeves and was about to help her unpack.
Zhong Yuhuan look at Li Jinyuan and said, "Why don't you go get some rest? You must be tired today."
Li Jinyuan suppressed his desires to stay and smiled, "Okay."
He was pretty tired.
After Li Jinyuan had left, Huo Chengming and Zhong Yuhuan were the only ones left in the room.
Zhong Yuhuan yawned and sluggishly sat down on the ouch.
Squatting down and unpacking her suitcase, Huo Chengming seemingly casually brought up, "… called him ge ge?"
"Huh?" asked Zhong Yuhuan, baffled.
Huo Chengming paused for a few seconds before he repeated himself, "Huanhuan referred to Mr. Chen as ge ge also?"
Zhong Yuhuan's opened her mouth a little.
Before she could say anything else, Huo Chengming added again in a low voice, "Ming-ge?"
That had finally brought up Zhong Yuhuan's memory.
There was also a "Ming" in Huo Chengming's name. Different characters, but they had the same pronunciation.
Zhong Yuhuan jumped off of the couch, walked over to him, squatted down and put arms around his, "Are you mad at me?"
"No," said Huo Chengming in a suppressed voice.
Aye, the boss villain would never say what he felt.
Zhong Yuhuan pressed herself against him more. Looking straight into his eyes with her pretty, limpid eyes, she said in a soft and sweet tone, "Chengming-ge ge."
"I won't call him that again," she said.
Chapter 71 – Nude Beach (1)
Zhong Yuhuan adapted to life in the new school quickly.
Every time Chen Mingye came to London for a business trip, he'd bring them some hard to get items from China. The way he put it, his personal plane had to make a trip to China every week anyways. He might as well bring some goods back. And since he has the goods, he might as well share them with Lang Jinzhi's sister.
Chen Mingye, however, had been dispirited for quite a while after Zhong Yuhuan referred him to Mr. Chen all over again.
Finally, he smiled helplessly and said, "Alright, I guess I can't argue with Lang Jinzhi's little cousin. 'Mr. Chen' will have to do." What he didn't know what that her changing the way she referred to him had nothing to do with Lang Jinzhi.
Not too long after, they welcomed the first long vacation.
Seven days for Thanksgiving break.
It was Chloe who drove them from their dormitory to their off-campus apartment.
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Sitting in the car, Zhong Yuhuan yawned sluggishly as she cocked her head and watched the foreign scenery outside the car. Suddenly, she noticed something on the streets.
"…. I think I saw Li Jinyuan's pictures."
Zhong Yuhuan stuck her head out of the car and looked.
Chloe, hearing what she said, slowed down purposefully, but there was only time for a quick glance.
"Was that from the earlier photo shoot?" asked Zhong Yuhuan.
"Yeah, it was meant to fill a last-minute slot in a magazine, so we took a few shots for that. Later on, Wei-ge called and said some clients liked it for an ad so he sold them one of the pictures. He didn't tell me specifically where it would be used."
"Chloe, what building was that we just passed?" asked Zhong Yuhuan.
"Marks & Spencer."
Zhong Yuhuan turned and looked at Li Jinyuan, "Look! That's amazing! Your picture was posted on the Marks & Spencer's building! You need to ask Mr. Wei for the details later."
Li Jinyuan nodded.
Zhong Yuhuan and Huo Chengming went with him that day because Chen Mingye drove them there that day.
Wei Jie saw them and figured that they were wealthy kids, so he definitely wasn't going to try to cheat Li Jinyuan. Instead, he was really planning for him. This was much better than trying to nurture a kid from a poor family.
That was more or less what Zhong Yuhuan had in mind, but she didn't share her thoughts.
Wasn't it a good thing to make the path smoother for the male lead?
As the car continued to go forward, they saw Li Jinyuan's image on another picture soon. This time, the picture was even bigger.
After Chloe saw that, she slowed the car down again.
This time, Zhong Yuhuan was able to take a good look at it.
The young man in the picture was leaning slightly, his bangs sparingly hanging down. Below them was his elegant, handsome brows and straight nose. His features were more distinct and stood out compared to other young Asian men one would see all the time. His look was that of a graceful melancholy.
There seemed to have a spark of light in his eyes, dimly looking at every one who walked below him, making him irresistible.
…. Exactly how the foreigners like it!
Zhong Yuhuan sighed to herself.
"It's wonderful," said Zhong Yuhuan with utmost seriousness.
Li Jinyuan looked at Zhong Yuhuan and said, "As long as Huanhuan likes it."
Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but chuckle."It's pointless that I like it. We need lots and lots of people to like it. It's so marvelous," said Zhong Yuhuan as she pointed at the picture one more time before she adjusted her position and sat back down.
Before long, the car stopped in front of their apartment.
Zhong Yuhuan thanks Chloe for her trouble and Chloe immediately said, "No problem. Miss and the two young masters have been back in a while, so I had someone came and cleaned the place up."
"Great, thank you." Said Zhong Yuhuan as she walked upstairs.
The entire apartment was spotless, and Chloe even put new clothes in the closets.
Nothing very stylish or expensive, but sufficient for just wearing around the apartment.
Chapter 72 – Nude Beach (2)
Chen Mingye's call came right when Zhong Yuhuan sat down on the couch.
"School is out? When do you want to get dinner? I need to take a picture and send to your cousin, so he knows I was earnestly taking care of you." Said Chen Mingye.
"Alright," replied Zhong Yuhuan. "Where are you right now, Mr. Chen?"
"By the beach. Do you want to come? I can take you diving."
"Yes, I would love to!" said Zhong Yuhuan right anyway.
On the other hand, Li Jinyuan received a call as well; this one was from Wei Jie.
"Oh my gosh, Dear Young Master Li. I am finally able to get a hold of you!" said Wei Jie as soon as Li Jinyuan had picked up the phone.
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"I think I have mentioned before that I study at a boarding school," replied Li Jinyuan casually.
Of course, Wie Jie wasn't truly mad at him, he just wanted to gripe. Once he was done, Wei Jie segued into the real topic immediately. After all, he still needed Li Jinyuan to bring him more fortune.
Wei Jie asked, "School is out right? For a total of 7 days? Come over to office, let's talk about a long-term contract."
Li Jinyuan pursed his lips a bit then, taking a look at Zhong Yuhuan who was still on the phone, he said in a low voice, "Okay, but it can't take too long."
"It won't! It won't!" said Wei Jie immediately.
After Li Jinyuan finished his call, Zhong Yuhuan finished hers as well.
Huo Chengming came out of the kitchen and handed Zhong Yuhuan a cup of hot water that he had just heated up for her. Zhong Yuhuan did not take the glass from him but drank directly out of it. After taking a sip out of the glass, she licked her lips and said, "Mr. Chen is going to come and pick us up in a bit, he's taking us to Brighton."
"Okay," replied Huo Chengming.
They have been slowly growing out of the voice-changing period. Their voices were deeper now, closer to that of an adult man.
Li Jinyuan put away his cellphone and said in a low voice, "Wei-ge just called. He asked me to head to his office."
"Okay, then you should go. He just might have good news. Do you need us to go with you?" asked Zhong Yuhuan.
Looking at Zhong Yuhuan's sleepy face, Li Jinyuan said, "No, that's okay. I can go by myself."
"Okay, then call a taxi."
"Mmm," nodded Li Jinyuan before he left with his wallet, cellphone, and keys.
Looking at the back of Li Jinyuan, Zhong Yuhuan said in a low voice, "You two have changed so much. Li Jinyuan is not shy anymore."
"Mmm," said Huo Chengming.
Zhong Yuhuan felt that Huo Chengming's response was a bit too patronizing, so she turned and got closer to him and said in a soft voice, "Chengming-ge ge, are you still shy?"
Huo Chengming froze for a second.
Zhong Yuhuan felt that even his hair was about to explode, so she quickly took a step back and said, "Let's go buy some snacks for our car ride later."
Huo Chengming knew that she liked snacks, so he nodded.
The two left after Li Jinyuan.
The grocery store wasn't far from where they were. Chen Mingye arrived in his car when they were done with their shopping.
Chen Mingye rolled down the window and waved at them, "Get in."
"Eh, where is Xiao Li?" asked Chen Mingye curiously after the two of them got inside the car.
"He went to the office."
"To Victor? Speaking of, I have seen his picture on an ad a few days ago. Have him ask for a large sum. If he couldn't get it, I'll send my lawyer." Having said that, Chen Mingye paused, then jumped to a different topic, "This will be close to a 5-hour drive."
Zhong Yuhuan yawned sluggishly, "Alright, let me take a nap and we'll just be arriving when I wake up."
"Okay, you sleep," said Chen Mingye as he put in a CD. Soft music poured out from the car stereo, making one even sleepier.
Chapter 73 – Nude Beach (3)
Zhong Yuhuan looked up at Huo Chengming and asked, "Are you sleepy?"
"No, I am not," said Huo Chengming. Then, lifting his hand, he wrapped it around Zhong Yuhuan's shoulder and said, "Lean on me."
Zhong Yuhuan shook her head, "My neck will be crooked."
After that, she kicked off her shoes and moved her entire body onto the seat before leaning her head down on Huo Chengming's lap.
Huo Chengming was not ready for that; instinctively, he reached out one hand to support her back.
Zhong Yuhuan said, "I'll sleep like this."
Huo Chengming looked at her curled up legs, making her body seemed even smaller. With one hand under her back, he pulled her up a bit and said, "Sleep."
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His hand perfectly supported the back of her head to make her feel more comfortable.
Zhong Yuhuan yawned and slowly closed her eyes.
Chen Mingye couldn't help but turn around to take a look. Smiling, he said, "You siblings are so close."
Huo Chengming smiled as well. Lowly, he said, "We are."
Chen Mingye was starting to get sleepy as well, so he started engaging Huo Chengming in conversation. First, he asked Huo Chengming how school was, then he asked if Zhong Yuhuan was bullied at school.
"She won't be bullied." Huo Chengming pursed his lips, then said in a low voice, "She's very popular everywhere she goes."
"Oh, that's true."
As Chen Mingye was talking, he started rambling.
It didn't matter whether Huo Chengming could follow or not, he complained about his business partners, his clients, even his silly father.
"Day after day, I mean, I can't catch a break," frowned Chen Mingye as he went on and on.
Having said that, he stopped talking right away, "….. Let's not wake her up."
Huo Chengming looked down at her.
Zhong Yuhuan was sound asleep.
Chen Mingye sighed, "My silly dad had a bunch of bastard kids, each one dumber than the previous one. All of them are worse than me. I had to do everything, and all they ever want is money. What the hell?"
Suddenly, Huo Chengming said in a low voice, "There a solution for that."
Chen Mingye went on for a bit longer, "…. And that silly dad of mine, when will he stop…. Eh? What did you just say?"
Huo Chengming repeated himself again in a low voice, "This matter can be resolved."
Chen Mingye lifted his head slightly and, through the rearview mirror, he saw the look on Huo Chengming.
His beautiful brows were lowered, and his eyes hazy. It didn't look like he was joking; contrarily, his look could make one worry.
Chen Mingye was just about to say something else when he looked up and saw the street sign.
"We are almost there. You might want to wake her up."
"Mmm," replied Huo Chengming as he lifted Zhong Yuhuan up.
Zhong Yuhuan woke up from being lifted into an upright position. She blinked slowly so she could see clearer.
Chen Mingye pulled his car over to the side of the road. Quickly, workers came over to take care of the car.
Huo Chengming reached out and held Zhong Yuhuan's hand and pulled her out of the car.
They have arrived at the beach.
The sun was warm, and they could hear the sea breeze brushing pass their ears. The wind gave an indescribable calming effect.
Following behind Chen Mingye, they walked forward.
They were just about to step onto the beach when Huo Chengming could no longer remain calm.
He gave Zhong Yuhuan a full body hug. On top of that, with one hand behind her head, he pressed her against his chest.
Zhong Yuhuan struggled for a bit. A little dazed, she asked him in a dull voice, "What is going on?"
Huo Chengming turned, opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.
He had overlooked something important.
He had heard about this place before from a fellow classmate. The Brighton Beach of Cornwall was the famous first nude beach!
Chapter 74 – Would you like to touch them? (1)
Chen Mingye acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. He turned around and called out to them, "C'mon over, Xiao Huo! What you standing over there for?"
Zhong Yuhuan also tugged at Huo Chengming's shirt and asked, "What's happening?"
"…. Ugh… well, don't look. Something that you shouldn't be looking at," said Huo Chengming, sounding very uncomfortable.
Having said that, Huo Chengming continued to hold Zhong Yuhuan and started walking back down the path that they came from.
Chen Mingye ran up to him and said, "Hey, hey, don't go. We are not going onto the beach. There's a vacation home here. An Over-the-water vacation home. C'mon, let's go to the vacation home!"
Huo Chengming finally stopped, but he still had no intention of letting Zhong Yuhuan away from his chest.
Chen Mingye found it amusing looking at the way he was acting, "Alright. You can carry Huanhuan. And we will go this way."
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Zhong Yuhuan couldn't see any light in front of her and could only catch a glimpse of light here and there as he was walking.
After a few minutes, Zhong Yuhuan felt that the way they were walking was very awkward, so she said in a low voice, "Chengming-ge ge, why don't you just cover my eyes, it's … difficult to walk like that."
Huo Chengming finally let go of her, but switched to covering both of her eyes.
Zhong Yuhuan stood up straight and switched to a different pose to walk in front of Huo Chengming. Huo Chengming, walking behind her, looked like he has his arms around her.
"What is it that you don't want me to see anyway?" Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
Huo Chengming would either stare down at the road or looked at the top of Zhong Yuhuan's head. In any case, he was determined not to look over at the beach at all. He said in a low voice, "You just can't look."
Zhong Yuhuan blinked and said helplessly, "Alright, just don't walk me into a ditch."
Her eyelashes brushed over his palm, which tickled him, as though it had tickled him in his heart. Huo Chengming said softly, "I won't."
"Alright, it's right over there." Chen Mingye pointed at it before he stepped up onto the bridge.
The wooden bridge led out to the vacation home above the water. The outside of the vacation home was painted a blue color. It looked very much like a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
Huo Chengming hesitated for a little bit and asked in a low voice, "Will there be waves?"
Chen Mingye smiled and said, "It'll be fine, the waves will hit the beach first, alright? Don't worry, we will hang out here until the evening, have some BBQ, then return to the hotel. I have booked a hotel nearby. And, you can let go now, she won't be able to see that from here."
Huo Chengming vocally acknowledged. He dropped his hands and switched to holding her hand.
Zhong Yuhuan could see out of her eyes again.
She blinked. Looking at the little vacation home in front of her, she let out a genuine sigh, "This is so pretty!"
"C'mon up!" said Chen Mingye as he walked forward and onto the bridge.
Huo Chengming held onto Zhong Yuhuan's hand tightly. It was lucky that the bridge were quite wide, otherwise it'd be difficult to fit the two of them side by side.
Once they had stepped onto the bridge, they could look down and see fish swimming underneath them through the gaps on the bridge, and if they looked to the side, they could see the waves splashing against the bridge.
Chapter 75 – Would you like to touch them? (2)
The bridge was steady, but when one looked at the moving water, it created an illusion that one's body was rocking back and forth.
Zhong Yuhuan instinctively grabbed onto Huo Chengming's hand tightly.
Now, she had finally figured out why Huo Chengming was holding onto her hand.
After walking into the vacation home, they saw a bed, television, and couch, and also a bathtub and a swimming pool that was connected to the ocean.
The best of it all, was that there's a big rug in the middle. All one needed to do was to sit down cross legged and one would be able to have BBQ, have some fruits, or even play some poker.
"Do you know how to swim?" asked Chen Mingye.
Zhong Yuhuan pointed at Huo Chengming, "He just learned it before we came here."
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"What about you, Huanhuan?"
Zhong Yuhuan reached out her pinky finger and said, "Just a little bit. Nah, I'll pass. I don't want to drown."
"No worries, the water is pretty shallow." Chen Mingye went and brought over a swimming ring to her.
Right then, the workers started bringing food inside.
All sorts of fruits, sashimi, shrimps, calamari etc., along with some wasabi. In addition, there were also fruit juice and red wine.
Chen Mingye knew how to enjoy himself. He opened up the bottle of wine before he went to the swimming pool outside with his wine glass.
Zhong Yuhuan wasn't entirely heartless. She still remembered Li Jinyuan, who was having a business discussion with Victor. She held onto Huo Chengming with one hand as she walked toward the swimming pool and dialed Li Jinyuan's number with the other.
Huo Chengming, on the other hand, carried her swimming ring on his own shoulder.
He was tall and handsome so he looked a little bit ridiculous with the swimming ring on him. Yet, he didn't feel that anything was out of place; after all, they had already took turns carrying Zhong Yuhuan's bunny backpack way before now.
After they reached the swimming pool, Chen Mingye put down his wine glass, took off his jacket, and jumped straight into the pool in his shirt and pants.
He wouldn't dare to take them off even if he wanted to.
Lang Jinzhi would kill him.
"The view here is amazing," said Chen Mingye as he turned around. "It's very good for decompressing. When you are particularly stressed out, you can run on the beach naked. And since everyone else is also naked, you won't feel out of place."
Li Jinyuan did not answer his phone.
Which was how Zhong Yuhuan heard Chen Mingye's comment. After he had finished talking, it finally registered to her, "This is a nude beach?"
Chen Mingye nodded and said immediately, "But I didn't take you onto the beach, don't tell your cousin!"
Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but chuckled, "Okay, now I see."
No wonder Huo Chengming wouldn't let her look around at all!
Having said that, she pursed her lips and her eyes were filled with curiosity, "I have heard of those back when I was still in China, but I have never seen it. Truth be told, I am quite curious about it…"
Chen Mingye said, "There are nude hot spring in Japan as well…. And in Germany…."
Zhong Yuhuan opened her mouth and was just about to say something else when Huo Chengming put one hand on her shoulder, leaned over, and said into her ears, "No, you can't," sounding oddly solemn for a change.
"Okay," said Zhong Yuhuan, not without disappointment. "I'll come back after I turn 18. I will be able to look legally then."
Huo Chengming's ear turned slightly red. His mouth shut tightly and still a little upset.
….. No, not even when she turned 18.
Chapter 76 – Would you like to touch them? (3)
As they were chattering away, Li Jinyuan finally picked up the phone.
"Huanhuan," came Li Jinyuan's voice.
Zhong Yuhuan asked, "Have all the details been nailed down?"
"No, not yet. It will take another day." Li Jinyuan sounded a little down as he said that.
But before Zhong Yuhuan could say anything to comfort him, Li Jinyuan quickly added, "But I have good news."
"Eh?"
"I received money for the ad." Li Jinyuan paused for a little bit before he said in a low voice, "I can buy gifts for Huanhuan now." It seemed as though he held the phone very, very close when he said that. Every time he enunciated a word, Zhong Yuhuan could hear it clearly, which gave her an odd illusion of some sort of tenderness.
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As she had expected, the male lead was quite amazing!
Zhong Yuhuan sat down. With a slight smile, she said, "You are so amazing!"
"What would you like?" asked Li Jinyuan from the other end of the phone.
Zhong Yuhuan thought about it carefully, "Anything. Good food, any fun things or activities, anything…." She stared at the ocean in front of her, and the only thing she could think of right now was the ocean.
"Okay, I will buy them all for you," said Li Jinyuan from the other end of the phone.
Chen Mingye was rushing them on this end, "C'mon in, Xiao Huo. We can always buy you new clothes when we get back to the hotel later!"
Huo Chengming finally put down the swimming ring, removed his jacket, and revealed his white tee shirt underneath.
He turned and looked at Zhong Yuhuan.
Zhong Yuhuan noticed Huo Chengming's look and reflexively gave him a wink.
Huo Chengming received the "wink" before he slipped into the water and, following the water passage, all the way into the ocean.
His action startled Zhong Yuhuan. She stood up immediately, took two steps forward, and looked in the ocean's direction.
Huo Chengming waved his arm in the ocean and swam in backstroke in a carefree way.
His long limbs, all stretched out when he swam in the ocean, were indescribably aesthetic.
Swimming in backstroke, Huo Chengming's head faced up and looked toward Zhong Yuhuan naturally. Meeting his eyes, Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but smile and finally let out a sigh of relief. She took another step forward, grabbed the railing nearby, and leaned over it to watch Huo Chengming swim.
Li Jinyuan, on the other hand, noticed the silence from Zhong Yuhuan's end and said in a low voice, "Having fun over there? Let's talk later then."
"Okay, c'mon over when you are done over there."
"Okay."
Zhong Yuhuan hung up the phone.
The moment that she looked down to hang up the phone, Huo Chengming swam back already and climbed back up from the ladder.
Zhong Yuhuan grabbed a big towel and handed it over as she lifted her head up and looked at Huo Chengming.
His white tee shirt was drenched and clung onto his skin allowing his buff and adolescent body to be visible. One could almost see his abdominal muscle through the wet tee shirt.
Surprised, Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but said, "Eh, you have abdominal muscles now?"
Taking the towel from her, Huo Chengming froze like a tree trunk and didn't know what to do with his arms and legs.
He panted a little, failing to find words.
After a long white, he suddenly said softly, "Yes…. All 8 of them."
Would you like to touch them?
But he didn't say the second part out loud.
Chapter 77 – Her Picture (1)
Huo Chengming barely stopped himself from saying that out loud.
He felt that it would be a little too flirty and that he should not say that out loud to Zhong Yuhuan no matter what.
Huo Chengming wrapped the towel around himself.
Zhong Yuhuan, also, quickly turned and looked away. She softly said to Chen Mingye, "Mr. Chen, can you give Lisa a call and have her go help out at Victor's?"
Chen Mingye took a sip of the wine and asked, "Xiao Li is still not done with his matters?"
"No, not yet."
"Hmm," said Chen Mingye. "Can you hand me my cell phone?"
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"Okay." Zhong Yuhuan was just about to turn around and walk inside the house when Huo Chengming said, "I'll go get it. You get some rest."
Zhong Yuhuan nodded.
Chen Mingye chuckled when he heard that, "Exactly. Huanhuan, you should try to get in the water and give it a try. I promise you won't drown. If anything happens to you, I will send your cousin my head!"
Huo Chengming has long legs. He ran inside the house and grabbed the cellphone in barely 2-3 steps. He handed the cell phone over to Chen Mingye with one hand as he grabbed the swimming donut with the other and put it on Zhong Yuhuan.
"You hold onto the swimming donut, and I'll hold onto you," said Huo Chengming in a low voice.
Zhong Yuhuan nodded.
By the time Zhong Yuhuan was in the water, Chen Mingye has finished up with his call as well, "Don't worry. I have spoken to Lisa already and she will keep an eye out. You really don't need to worry so much about it. He's a boy, he will figure it out."
Zhong Yuhuan hang on carefully to the swimming donut, nodded, and smiled, "I still can't help but be a little worried about him."
On the other end, over at Victor's, Wei Jie greeted Lisa with a smile.
Lisa was Chen Mingye's secretary and also the one sitting in the passenger seat when they first met him.
Lisa didn't even meet with Li Jinyuan, she knew that kids that age did not like relying on adults so she had no intention of him know that she was there. She took off once she made sure everything was fine.
Wei Jie walked her downstairs and finally patted his own chest after he turned around. He thought to himself that Li Jinyuan was truly a young master from a prominent family.
"Wie-ge, I thought you said this wouldn't take long?" ask Li Jinyuan as he poked his head out.
He had already changed.
He had on a white shirt with a red embroidery that one could make out it was in the shape of a dragon. His bottom was black slacks with wide legs. The hem of his pants were embroidered with golden threads. His outfit was of an obvious eastern style.
Wei Jie looked at Li Jinyuan and couldn't help but sighed, "You were born for this!"
His outfit made his elegance go up an entire level.
He had combined a Chinese man's elegance, calm demeanor, and sophistication all into one.
Wie Jie's goal was to get him onto the runway so he booked him for a show of a high-end brand. The client agreed immediately after they looked at Li Jinyuan's photoshoots. A boy who possessed such heavy Chinese style but also, at the same time, could catch the attention of the foreigners would definitely shine on the runway. He would be able to capture the attention of both Chinese and foreign audiences.
"Oh, don't worry about the time. All we need a few days of training and you will be able to go onto the runway. Do you know how many people have taken countless photoshoots just for this moment? And, how many days out of a year is this taking you anyway?" said Wei Jie.
Li Jinyuan stood in front of the mirror and said in a low voice, "Is that so?"
"Of course! You will for sure become a hot commodity in this field after this show. There are so many companies in the last couple of years trying anything they can come up with to appeal to the Chinese market, but they have yet to find a good model for the role. And then there are the brands that naturally inclined toward Asian models and feel that the unique disposition of an Asian would bring them many new ideas …"
Chapter 78 – Her Picture (2)
Li Jinyuan paused and said, "I think this outfit is good. Let's go."
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" said Wie Jie happily.
Li Jinyuan looked at himself in the mirror once again.
He wanted to become strong.
Strong enough that he would be able to protect Zhong Yuhuan.
Li Jinyuan changed out of his outfit and followed Wie Jie out of the company.
"Should we head over there now?"
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He planned to take Li Jinyuan to the training school first.
"In a little bit. Let's stop by Selfridges & Co. and Matches Fashion first," said Li Jinyuan as he got inside the car. His tone was becoming more and more like that of an adult.
Wei Jie paused for a second, "You need to go buy something?"
"Yes, I need to buy something for my older … younger sister," lied Li Jinyuan straight through his teeth. He hasn't addressed Zhong Yuhuan as his "older sister" in a long, long time. And once they had become more familiar with each other, Zhong Yuhuan had been calling him by his name. Who would know she wasn't his younger sister if he said so?
Wie Jie smiled and said, "Alright, just in case the shops are closed by the time we are done."
Wie Jie had the driver adjust their course right away and went over to where Li Jinyuan had requested.
On this end, Zhong Yuhuan was already exhausted after swimming around the pool two to three laps with her swimming donut.
"Alright, we will take you diving tomorrow." Chen Mingye could tell that she was already tired.
"Why don't you take me to BBQ now?"
"Okay, we can go now." Chen Mingye was a man of good patience. He immediately got out of the water set aside his wine and his swimming.
"Wait." Chen Mingye squatted on the pool side and aimed his cellphone as Zhong Yuhuan, "Let me take a picture of you first and send to your cousin."
Zhong Yuhuan had no choice but to smile.
"Kacha" and he snapped a picture of her.
Chen Mingye immediately sent the picture to Lang Jinzhi while he grumbled at the same time, "How I wish you are my sister instead. All we have are a bunch of foolish bastards in my family….."
"Alright, let's head to the beach…." Chen Mingye stopped himself instinctively midway through his sentence as he made eye contacts with Huo Chengming. "We will just BBQ right here. I will have them bring all the equipment."
Zhong Yuhuan nodded.
When Lang Jinzhi received the text message, he was just walking out of Lan Yue Mansion. He has the habit of checking his phone frequently because of work; he usually received plenty of emails that required his attention. Right now, he just fished out his phone and checked again.
He noticed the next message was from Chen Mingye after he took a look.
That must have to do with Zhong Yuhuan then.
Lang Jinzhi clicked it open and was met with Zhong Yuhuan's smile unexpectedly.
Her hair was wet and some of her hair was falling down on her forehead and side. Her features, now wet, was even brighter and purer than usual. Her mouth was curved, and some of her teeth could be seen. He could see the waves from her eyes as though, at that very moment in time, even her look was sweet, soft, and sparkly like water.
Lang Jinzhi couldn't help but smile at the picture.
As he turned around and headed back toward Lan Yue Mansion, he read the text from Chen Mingye, "Your cousin swam here with her swimming donut."
It wasn't very often that he walked and read his cellphone at the same time.
Chapter 79 – Her Picture (3)
Lang Jinzhi returned to the mansion.
The maid, seeing his return, was surprised, "Young Master Lang, how come you are back?"
"Where's my grandpa?"
"Master hasn't gone to bed yet."
As Lang Jinzhi walked inside the door, he could immediately see his grandpa sitting on the couch, watching some disc on TV. On the TV screen there was a pair of sisters, bumbling around as they walked.
Grandpa Ding signed, "Back in the days, your mom and Huanhuan's mom had some good days together. Now…. I just wish you and Huanhuan can have a good relationship."
Lang Jinzhi muttered a "mmm" before he handed his cellphone over, "Chen Mingye sent this. Huanhuan is on Thanksgiving break and he took her out for some fun."
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As soon as Grandpa Ding heard that, a slight smile appeared on his dull face.
He put on his glasses that were hanging around his neck before he looked at Lang Jinzhi's phone.
"Oh, pretty. Prettier than her mom when she was young." As he was talking, the smile on Grandpa Ding grew.
Lang Jinzhi didn't say anything.
He thought she was pretty too.
He didn't know when it started, but somewhere down the line, the radiance from her had already surpassed that of the sun.
Lying on the hotel bed, Zhong Yuhuan sneezed a few times before she sat up.
She sniffled and looked outside the window.
The sun had already risen.
Zhong Yuhuan slowly got dressed and sneezed again.
She lifted her hand to rub her nose.
Hmm. She might have caught a cold. She probably spent too much time in the swimming pool yesterday.
Right after Zhong Yuhuan had finished getting ready, Huo Chengming came and knocked on her door.
"I'm ready," said Zhong Yuhuan as she went to open the door.
Huo Chengming stood right outside the door. As soon as Zhong Yuhuan walked up, she felt a shadow being cast over her.
Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but lift up her hand to compare the height difference between the two of them, "…. Did you guys eat spinach meant for Popeye? How did you grow so tall? And so fast?"
Huo Chengming's mouth curved upward as he reached out, wrapped his arms around Zhong Yuhuan, and picked up her like a kid. Zhong Yuhuan was immediately higher up than him.
"Hey, hey, hey, ge-ge. Be careful and don't smash my head on the door frame!" Zhong Yuhuan shouted in fear as she pushed her hands on his shoulder.
Huo Chengming's smile deepened some without him noticing. He carried her a few steps forward before he put her down and said, "You were taller than me earlier."
Zhong Yuhuan patted herself on her chest and said, "You don't say, even the air smells better when one is taller."
Huo Chengming smiled and said, "Let's try it again next time then."
Zhong Yuhuan thought about it for a second and said, "Next time I want to ride on Li Jinyuan's back!"
Huo Chengming frowned and said, "Mmm."
Zhong Yuhuan walked in the front and walked toward the elevator as she fished out her phone and dialed Li Jinyuan.
The other end picked up quickly.
Zhong Yuhuan had just walked into the elevator, and she sneezed again.
Huo Chengming frowned and handed over a tissue to her as he asked in a low voice, "Why are you sneezing?"
Zhong Yuhuan waved her hand.
From the other end of the phone, Li Jinyuan's voice came almost at the same time, "Why are you sneezing? Did you catch a cold?"
"No," replied Zhong Yuhuan.
"You sound a little stuffy; you must have caught a cold," said Li Jinyuan definitively.
Zhong Yuhuan sniffled again and started making "Ahhh" and "OOooh" noises. Then, baffled, she asked, "You could tell from that?"
"Yes, I can," said Li Jinyuan in a low voice.
The sound of her voice had seared into her brain a long time ago.
He could tell when it's just a little bit off.
Especially after that one incident when she texted him during her severe stomachache, Li Jinyuan had become much more sensitive since then.
"How come you didn't come to Cornwall?" Zhong Yuhuan decided to change the subject.
On his end, Li Jinyuan had a helpless look on him, but he replied to her anyways, "Something… came up." He paused for a second and his heart was beating faster.
He wanted her to go, enjoy her time off and get some rest, but on the other hand, he also wished that…
"Wie-ge had signed me up to a show. Huanhuan, do you think you can…. Come and watch?"
Chapter 80 – Fashion Show (1)
"A fashion show?" Repeated Zhong Yuhuan as she sneezed again.
She hadn't expected Li Jinyuan's career to take off so early.
"Mmm, I was just there for headcount." Li Jinyuan warmly smiled on the other end of the phone.
Zhong Yuhuan asked immediately, "When is the show?"
"Two days from now. Starts at 7:30 PM." Li Jinyuan's voice sounded the same as it was always, but on the other end of the phone, he couldn't help but clutch the phone tightly.
"Okay, I will be back tomorrow," said Zhong Yuhuan without even thinking about it.
Li Jinyuan's grip on the phone tightened some more, and he said in a low voice, "You have to take your temperature in a while. Take some medicines if you need them. If your temperature is too high, then have Mr. Chen take you to the hospital."
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Zhong Yuhuan couldn't help but chuckled, "Hey, who's the older one here? You or me?"
The light in Li Jinyuan's eyes sparkled a little and he said in a soft voice, "Be good, Huanhuan, hmm?"
Li Jinyuan had a very nice voice and the tenderest tone. "Zhong Yuhuan had no choice but to say, "Okay, I'll listen to Li Jinyuan."
Hearing her using his whole name, Li Jinyuan couldn't help but smile. He said, "Okay, then bye for now. I need to go practice."
"Mmm. Bye for now."
Zhong Yuhuan hung up the phone and couldn't help but sigh.
Weren't they both so shy and conservative and poor with words when they were younger? How did they seemingly become a little more forceful and a little taller before she knew it?
"You caught a cold?" She had just hung up with Li Jinyuan and she now heard Huo Chengming's voice coming toward her.
Zhong Yuhuan shook her head, "No."
She didn't like taking medicine.
Probably because she had way too much medicine in her past life. When she saw medicine now, her first reaction was to vomit.
Huo Chengming didn't say anything, but as soon as they stepped out of the hotel, he took her straight toward a clinic by the hotel.
Even Zhong Yuhuan was surprised, "When did you discover this clinic?"
"I memorized it on our way here," said Huo Chengming. Then, after a slight pause, he continued, "I also memorized the escape route should a tidal wave cover up the beach.
Zhong Yuhuan didn't know what to say to that one.
He was, after all, a boss villain.
That was well planned if she had ever seen any!
Now that they have already arrived at the clinic, Zhong Yuhuan couldn't possibly turn around and dash. Not to mention that Huo Chengming was behind her blocking her way out. She wouldn't be able to run away even if she had wanted to.
She didn't want to turn down his care for her either.
She had no choice but to walk into the clinic, see the doctor, and take some medication.
When it was all done and Zhong Yuhuan was about to pull out her credit card, Huo Chengming beat her to it in pulling his money out.
Zhong Yuhuan gave him a look, smiled, and said, "Chengming-ge ge has money now?"
Huo Chengming looked a little embarrassed and said in a low voice, "Not too much, but enough to feed Huanhuan."
Zhong Yuhuan leaned against the chair and said in a low voice, "Chengming-ge ge is so awesome."
Huo Chengming's look mellowed out. Ever since a long time ago, she had always praised them by saying they are "so awesome". Her tone was that of one talking to a small child yet still very sincere. Everytime they've heard that, they couldn't help but feel delighted like a stream of warmth was going through their hearts.
She still had this habit.
Similarly, no matter how many times he had heard it, he would feel happy uncontrollably.
Huo Chengming sat there with Zhong Yuhuan for a little while before he helped her up and headed back to the hotel.
Zhong Yuhuan thought about it for a bit and said, "Should we just head back today? Go back, get a good night's sleep and rest up tomorrow so we can head to the show at night."
Huo Chengming paused for a little and said, "Alright."