Chapter 26
Li Xiaonan's two hands were like two people applying medicine. Just by raising them up together, you could see the negative attitude of the second person applying the medicine.
However, Li Xiaonan didn't pay attention to these little details. He stood at Zhou Rui's door, staring at Zhou Rui's door, thinking about how to get it open.
Hou Ranxi sat on the sofa looking through his own documents. He had come to Chai Meicen's house but was still looking through documents, as if he couldn't stop for a moment.
In between cooking, Chai Meicen found a toolbox for Li Xiaonan: "Try to take the door lock off. Otherwise when he doesn't go to tutoring tomorrow, I still won't be able to get in."
The devil can reach one Chinese foot, and the Dao is the same.
Your mom can only make a breakthrough if she is able to let go.
Li Xiaonan was extremely conflicted, holding the tools and looking at Chai Meicen as she went back into the kitchen. He took out his phone and sent Zhou Rui a message: I'm forced to do this.
Then he squatted in front of the door and started taking apart the door lock.
Soon, Li Xiaonan had taken the door lock off Zhou Rui's room and neatly placed it to the side.
"I'm leaving first." He didn't want to stay any longer, otherwise he would definitely end up fighting with Zhou Rui.
"Have a meal before you go. I made enough for four people already." Chai Meicen immediately poked her head out and said.
"I'm not hungry..." Li Xiaonan immediately shook his head.
"I don't care if you are hungry or not, I care that the food I made doesn't go to waste."
"Oh." Li Xiaonan had no principles and stayed again. He weighed Chai Meicen against Zhou Rui and felt that Chai Meicen was more difficult to deal with. So he sat down next to Hou Ranxi.
The two men didn't speak to each other, just sitting there.
This was Li Xiaonan's first time at Zhou Rui's house, so he felt a little uncomfortable. He stood up and looked around, and just heard Hou Ranxi say, "The bathroom is diagonally across."
"Oh, thank you."
After Chai Meicen finished cooking, she placed the food on the table. Li Xiaonan had just finished washing his hands and came out. Sitting down and looking at the things on the table, he fell silent.
Chai Meicen was in a good mood today. She had specially prepared matching dishes and arranged the rice into cartoon patterns.
What was placed in front of Li Xiaonan was a panda bear's meal, garnished with vegetables, and with a fruit platter on the side.
At this time, Chai Meicen brought out a fruit juice with a straw and lemon slice.
Looking at the dishes Chai Meicen had made, they were all very...colorful. They looked like something a child would really like and also very appetizing.
The plates she used were also very artistic, unlike home cooking. Instead, it looked like a restaurant.
She had thought about opening a restaurant before, but something happened afterwards, so she didn't open one.
After Chai Meicen finished arranging everything else, she went to wake Zhou Rui up.
Hou Ranxi sat down at the dining table by himself. Seeing that a cartoon rice meal was also prepared for him, a little cat, he couldn't help but smile wryly.
"She cooks very well." Hou Ranxi praised.
"Oh." Li Xiaonan didn't immediately pick up his chopsticks, but waited instead.
There was an exclamation from Zhou Rui's room: "Damn! How did you get in? Don't open the curtains, my dog eyes! Give me back my eye mask!"
"Get up, it's already noon and you're still not done sleeping. You play on your phone all day, and were up late again last night, right? How long do you think you'll live if you're wasting away the days and nights like this?"
"What's up with my door lock?"
"I took it off. Get up."
"You've gotten really cocky recently!"
"Hurry up and get up. Li Xiaonan is in the dining room." Chai Meicen reminded.
Zhou Rui was silent for a moment before getting up and standing barefoot at the door to look out. Indeed seeing Li Xiaonan, he immediately shrank his head back in and asked, "What's going on, why is he here?"
"What's it to you that he's here? Not welcome?"
"Just didn't expect it... I'm changing, you get out." Zhou Rui said while fiddling with the door lock, "You just took it off like that, did you consider the door lock's feelings? It's been with us for over ten years, don't you feel anything for it?"
Chai Meicen walked out and sat down, completely ignoring Zhou Rui. She said to Li Xiaonan, "Don't stand on ceremony, eat."
"Where's auntie?" Li Xiaonan asked.
"Oh, her..." Chai Meicen was stumped by the question.
"She's off traveling the world." Hou Ranxi answered.
Li Xiaonan nodded, then asked Chai Meicen again, "Do you live together with Zhou Rui?"
"What business is it of yours?" Zhou Rui walked out from the bedroom, swaying into the bathroom. He still shouted from inside, "You guys eat first, I'll be right out."
Li Xiaonan looked back again and decided to wait a little longer.
After Zhou Rui came out, Li Xiaonan finally felt more at ease and picked up his chopsticks.
Zhou Rui sat down and asked Li Xiaonan, "How did you get here?"
"Don't mention it." Li Xiaonan dejectedly gave Zhou Rui a rough summary of what happened that morning. Zhou Rui listened while eating, even exclaiming admirably, "Awesome, one against three."
"Mm."
"Just forget about that dad. Having one like that is worse than not having one."
"But he's still my biological dad after all."
"I don't even have a concept of what a dad is. I don't even know my biological dad's last name." Zhou Rui said with a smile and continued eating.
Chai Meicen's movements paused for a moment at that.
Li Xiaonan took out his phone and opened an unread message.
The voice message played out loud. A sweet female voice asked, "Brother, are you playing with Brother Zhou Rui?"
Hearing this voice, Zhou Rui shuddered and quickly waved his hands, "Just say I'm at tutoring!"
Li Xiaonan typed a reply.
"Where is he tutoring? What organization? I want to go too." The girl asked again.
Listening to his sister's voice, Li Xiaonan was also a little helpless: "She kept asking me about you all last night."
"My god, how is your sister so precocious?" Zhou Rui said, then pointed at Li Xiaonan and said, "I don't even dare reject her too harshly. Last time I said something mean and made your sister cry. I got in a fight with this guy and it pissed me off, you know how aggravating it is?"
It was as if Chai Meicen was listening to a joke, and she laughed for a long time before chatting with Hou Ranxi, "How did you end up coming over?"
"I bought plane tickets to take you out to play tomorrow."
"Rare. The workaholic is willing to take time off from work to relax?"
"Well, I'm going with the company employees, so it counts as a company benefit."
"Alright, I'll pack." Chai Meicen immediately got up to pack, not even finishing her meal.
"Where to?" Zhou Rui leaned over to ask.
"Maldives."
"I'm going too!"
"Aren't you starting tutoring from tomorrow?"
Zhou Rui was on the verge of collapse. He shouted as he hugged Hou Ranxi tightly, "I'm going too! I'm going too!"
"Hmm...seeing as you've been taking good care of her these days, I'll try pleading for you." Hou Ranxi said to Zhou Rui.
"Yes!" Zhou Rui was immediately persuaded.
Li Xiaonan sipped his juice, watching the three of them. He always felt it was very strange.
Could it be...this Hou Ranxi at his age is still interested in Chai Meicen?
Old pervert.
Didn't Zhou Rui realize his future dad was infatuated with someone else?
Li Xiaonan stared at Hou Ranxi for a while longer.
Can't see through. He's probably overthinking.
The next day, Hou Ranxi specially sent a car to pick up Chai Meicen and Zhou Rui from downstairs of Chai Meicen's building.
The car stopped downstairs of Hou Ranxi's company building. Everyone had already gotten on the coach bus.
Hou Ranxi stood by the car waiting for them. He personally helped Chai Meicen with her luggage, then brought the two of them onto the coach bus.
"Wow! Boss Hou is riding the bus with us!" Someone on the bus immediately teased.
"What, am I not allowed on coach buses anymore?" Hou Ranxi smiled and asked, not putting on boss attitude at all.
"No, it's just we figured a domineering boss like you would take your private car to the airport. Then we'd ride economy class while you take your assistant to first class, using your actions to tell us we're not of the same world."
Hou Ranxi got Chai Meicen settled into a seat, then looked at that person and replied, "Too bad you guessed the ending right but not the beginning."
"Haha, Boss Hou I volunteer to be your temporary assistant to ride first class with you!" A girl stood up, leaning over the seat and said.
Hou Ranxi smiled again as he declined, "I'm riding first class with our two little friends here. My assistant will ride economy class with you all."
Chai Meicen and Zhou Rui sat together, Zhou Rui by the window and Chai Meicen on the aisle.
Hou Ranxi sat on the other side, closer to Chai Meicen. He introduced to Chai Meicen, "Don't worry, they're two to a room. You and Zhou Rui will have single rooms."
"Boss Hou is playing favorites!" Someone heard Hou Ranxi and immediately complained.
"The two sitting here are shareholders. Do you think that's fair or not?"
"Fair." That person immediately changed their tune. "That's little bosses for you!"
The woman who had previously offered to ride first class suddenly came over with her bag. She stood by Hou Ranxi and said, "Boss Hou, move in some."
"What's the matter?" Hou Ranxi didn't move.
"To report on work."
Hou Ranxi hesitated for a moment before giving up the seat for her to sit inside.
With her head turned, Chai Meicen could see that woman. Her outfit wasn't bad, and she was decent looking. Though it seemed she had gotten cosmetic surgery. Her nose tip was a little too sharp, and her chin was also a bit pointy.
But her figure really wasn't bad. Zhou Rui's preferred voluptuous type. She also had a faint fragrance about her.
After sitting down, she really did chat about work with Hou Ranxi for a bit.
Chai Meicen didn't understand, so she took out her phone to play on it.
Zhou Rui craned his neck to watch. He leaned in by Chai Meicen's ear and said, "Obviously... I said there's no way my Uncle Hou is a man no one is interested in."
"Mm, he should be quite popular indeed."
"If I don't make things clear, Uncle Hou, who is right in front of my eyes, will get hooked up and taken away by others using a banana as bait."
"Stop wasting time with nonsense."
"See for yourself..."
Chai Meicen went to take a look and realized they were no longer chatting about work. The woman had started saying to Hou Ranxi, "I also brought Lao Gan Ma (a popular Chinese chili sauce brand)! I can't live without Lao Gan Ma. I'm afraid food would be tasteless without it. I also brought self-service hotpot and some instant noodles."
Hou Ranxi nodded, "Oh."
"Aren't you afraid you won't eat well there?"
"The villa I'm staying in has a kitchen. The kids will cook." Hou Ranxi pointed to Chai Meicen next to him.
The woman peeked at Chai Meicen and waved at her, "Hi, little boss!"
Chai Meicen smiled back politely.
Zhou Rui suddenly stood up and said to Hou Ranxi, "Uncle Hou, let's switch seats. I love sitting next to big sister the most."
After saying that, he pushed Chai Meicen to sit inside and Hou Ranxi quickly sat next to Chai Meicen.
Zhou Rui sat next to the woman. He put on a U-shaped pillow and wore an eye mask in the shape of a frog, then started sleeping.
The woman was dumbfounded and it became quiet afterward.
Hou Ranxi sat down and started laughing. He turned to Chai Meicen and asked, "I brought everything I need. Just bring some essentials."
"I'm not a child. I know how to pack for trips," Chai Meicen replied.
"But you called me uncle. Rest your head on my shoulder when you're tired."
"It's not even a long trip."
"Just rest for a bit, it's fine."
Chai Meicen thought for a while and still leaned her head on Hou Ranxi's shoulder to nap. Hou Ranxi didn't move and just let Chai Meicen lean on him.
The air conditioner in the car blew gentle breezes, softly brushing Chai Meicen's hair and gently caressing Hou Ranxi's cheeks. It was soft and tender.
In his memories, 16-year-old Chai Meicen had waist-length hair. With the current shoulder-length bob cut, she gave a different impression.
They arrived at the first class cabin. Zhou Rui consciously sat in a separate seat.
The middle seats could fit two people. When you close the door, it becomes a private space - a perfect world for two.
Chai Meicen sat in the middle seat. Seeing Hou Ranxi sit next to her, she felt a little awkward. "This kid is just causing trouble."
"He probably just wants a dad too."
Chai Meicen leaned back in her chair and sighed, "People get old. What's the point of doing that kind of thing again?"
"It's a bit upsetting to hear you say that now."
"Oh right, I'm still young and youthful now."
Hou Ranxi adjusted Chai Meicen's seat. "Lie down and rest for a while. We still have a connecting flight later which will probably be tiring. Rest while you can."
"What about you?" Chai Meicen asked.
"I'll read some documents."
Chai Meicen nodded. She put on earbuds and soon fell asleep leaning against Hou Ranxi.
Hou Ranxi wanted to get a blanket to cover Chai Meicen. When he moved, he realized Chai Meicen was clutching the hem of his clothes.
He remembered Chai Meicen was afraid of loneliness.
It had always been an issue when the child had to sleep in a separate room as she grew up. But when Zhou Rui had to be separated from Chai Meicen, it was even harder for her.
Chai Meicen feared solitude. She was hurt and afraid to be left alone.
He had thought Chai Meicen was much better now. He didn't expect her weaker side to show even when asleep.
A seemingly strong woman would reveal her feminine side when sleeping.
He could only use his foot to hook the blanket and cover Chai Meicen. He reached out and ruffled Chai Meicen's hair, whispering, "I'm here. I won't leave you."
He wasn't sure if Chai Meicen could hear with the earbuds on.
After they arrived, Chai Meicen and Zhou Rui were still under Hou Ranxi's special care.
The other company employees were arranged to stay at a hotel. Their company had booked nearly half the hotel. Half of the rooms were for their company staff. Everyone cheered as they checked in, planning to change into swimsuits and go swimming.
Hou Ranxi didn't arrange any special activities. It was just an island. They would vacation over the National Day holidays and then go back.
He took Chai Meicen and Zhou Rui onto a yacht heading to where they would stay.
"That big-breasted snake is trying to seduce you, isn't she?" Zhou Rui grabbed Hou Ranxi's wrist on the boat and interrogated him. It was as if Hou Ranxi was cheating.
When in fact, Hou Ranxi was currently single.
"She probably has some interest, I guess." Hou Ranxi wasn't dumb. He could tell.
"You let her sit next to you. You're deliberately provoking my mom. I'm telling you, with my mom's mindset, she might even happily give you her blessing."
Hou Ranxi shook off Zhou Rui's hand. "Firstly, she's an employee of my company and contributes considerable revenue. Secondly, she said she wanted to discuss company matters. I can't bluntly reject her. Finally, I have zero interest in her."
"Damn it, why am I so pissed at you! Men are all the same!"
"How did you include yourself in this?"
"Really, if you continue like this, I won't care about you anymore. If my mom finds a man her age, I won't care either." Zhou Rui said in a temper.
When in fact, Hou Ranxi was currently single.
Hou Ranxi didn't know how to explain company relations to Zhou Rui. He could only admit his mistake, "Fine, it was my fault."
"Do you like my mom?"
"Yes, I do."
Zhou Rui had just been complaining about the glaring sun. Hearing Hou Ranxi suddenly admit it, his eyes nearly popped out in shock.
After so many years, this was the first time Hou Ranxi had admitted it.
"No one else but her." Hou Ranxi said again, smiling gently at Zhou Rui with tenderness in his eyes.
"Do you want my help?"
"Do you know what would help me the most?"
"What is it?"
"If you can accept me."
Chai Meicen wasn't a child anymore. If she really wanted to find another man now, her first consideration would be whether Zhou Rui could accept it.
He was certain Zhou Rui was quite fond of him.
Just then, Chai Meicen suddenly ran over and shouted at Zhou Rui, "Son! Take a photo of mom!"
She held up a chiffon scarf, letting the wind blow it as she struck a pose of enjoyment for Zhou Rui to photograph.
Zhou Rui was speechless. "Take that scarf off!"
Chai Meicen removed the scarf and tied it around her neck. She changed to a pose with arms spread open.
Zhou Rui was so annoyed he simply walked over. "Can you stop posing like a middle-aged tourist?"
As he spoke, he helped Chai Meicen pose by having her rest her arms on the railing and gaze into the distance.
As Zhou Rui looked for the right angle, Chai Meicen asked, "You're not taking a face shot?"
"I guarantee I'll take it beautifully! Don't move, yes, no need to smile, close your mouth a bit, you can gather your hair a little." After saying that, Zhou Rui started photographing Chai Meicen.
When they arrived at a standalone small villa by boat, the yacht stopped.
Zhou Rui excitedly got off the yacht to take a look. This place was very special. A standalone small building was built over the sea. It looked to have about three bedrooms inside. There was also a waterslide outside leading directly into the sea.
The small courtyard had a private swimming pool with an inflatable flamingo tube inside.
Just as Zhou Rui was looking around, he saw Hou Ranxi carry his luggage off and return to the yacht. The yacht then slowly sailed away.
Zhou Rui was shocked and shouted, "What's going on?"
"There's food in the fridge, eat whatever you like. The boxes also have plenty of instant noodles and snacks. Most importantly, your textbooks are there." Hou Ranxi replied.
"Then what?" Zhou Rui asked with hands on hips.
"We'll come get you in five days. Have fun playing. Oh right, there's no signal or internet here. Study diligently and you'll improve."
As the yacht sailed further away, Chai Meicen laughed hysterically while Zhou Rui hopped around in anger, "I'll be your grandson if I help you!"
But if he really helped, he would become Hou Ranxi's son. There wasn't much difference.
Author's note: Yes, it was deliberately brought overseas.
Zhou Rui watched the sly monkey take his mother away for a lovers' getaway.
See the main character column.
Why are readers so irritable nowadays, always threatening to drop the novel? I don't know and dare not ask. Anyway, I'm intimidated.
[Summary on April 16, 7pm]
Thank you for the hand grenades from Shui Banxia and Huai Xu.
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