Chapter 27
Zhou Rui not by her side for an hour: Feeling a bit sleepy.
Chai Meicen sat on the yacht yawning continuously. Hou Ranxi brought her a glass of mango milk and said to her, "Go back and take a nap if you\'re tired."
They had wasted quite a bit of time on the plane. Chai Meicen always felt like she hadn\'t slept soundly.
Travel is for fun, but traveling around is really tiring.
She nodded, took a sip of the mango milk, and couldn\'t help but laugh when she remembered Zhou Rui jumping with anger.
"Don\'t you think a storm could come and flood that house into the ocean?" Chai Meicen suddenly asked this question.
"It\'s fine over there, don\'t worry." Hou Ranxi really didn\'t know what was going through Chai Meicen\'s mind. If there was really such a risk, who would invest so much in building villas like that?
"I wonder if he\'ll get so angry he rips up the book."
"That won\'t happen. Zhou Rui is actually an obedient child. It\'s just that he had nothing to do the last couple of days so he started reading."
The hotel villa that Hou Ranxi booked, the one where the two of them were staying, had the best location and scenery.
It had its own private beach and a huge infinity pool. A large area was private and no one else could disturb them.
If you\'re vacationing, this is definitely a great place to stay.
Chai Meicen was sleepy, so she went back to the room and slept.
When she woke up and looked around the room, then wandered around the lobby, she realized it was just her and Hou Ranxi staying here.
The other company employees were staying very far away. You\'d need to take a tour bus or ride a bike to get there.
Zhou Rui wasn\'t here yet, so she felt a little uncomfortable.
As she was wandering around, she heard the sound of water.
Hou Ranxi saw Chai Meicen while swimming. He got out of the pool, went over to grab a towel off a lounge chair, put it on, and walked over to ask, "Do you want to change into a swimsuit and come swim?"
"It\'s just the two of us staying here?" Chai Meicen pointed and asked.
With such a large place, seven or eight people could live here comfortably.
"Yeah, like I said when we came, only the three of us have separate rooms."
"But..." Chai Meicen felt it was a little inappropriate.
Hou Ranxi walked up to her and bent over to look at her. "What, are you afraid of me?"
Chai Meicen looked at Hou Ranxi in shock.
He had just been swimming, his hair was dripping wet and casually pushed back. He didn\'t look ugly at all, on the contrary, it added a touch of uninhibitedness.
His features were handsome, his eyes seemed to contain stars. Perhaps from sunbathing, his cheeks were a little flushed.
Glistening droplets of water slid down his cheeks, flowing down his neck, and finally blending into the patch of droplets on his chest.
His muscular chest was still partially covered by the towel, but it would still make people subconsciously want to swallow, arousing more fantasies.
As for that virile waist and abs... Chai Meicen glanced and looked elsewhere.
"Of course not, I just woke up and am still gathering my wits." Chai Meicen casually ruffled her hair and walked towards the yard.
Hou Ranxi stood not far away and asked her, "Do you want something to drink?"
"Uh...plain water."
"Okay. I boiled water before you took a nap. The temperature is probably perfect now."
Chai Meicen stood at the edge of the pool and looked back. After Hou Ranxi walked away, she slapped her own cheeks.
Careless.
But now, would it seem too deliberate to tell Hou Ranxi to sleep separately?
Would it hurt Hou Ranxi\'s feelings?
She clenched her waist and looked down at her current self. Hou Ranxi probably wouldn\'t be so nefarious as to make a move on her sixteen year old self.
And think about Hou Ranxi\'s female employees, with such hot figures who actively pursue him, if Hou Ranxi didn\'t want them, he couldn\'t forcibly go after her!
Thinking this, she let out a sigh of relief.
Yandan immediately recovered, turned around and went upstairs to change into a swimsuit.
Hou Ranxi held the glass of water and saw Chai Meicen come down in a swimsuit. His body stiffened slightly as he asked, "This swimsuit is...?"
"Oh, it\'s the frogman swimsuit Jiahua School issued. It\'s the only one that fits me so I just brought this without buying a new one." Chai Meicen felt the Jiahua School frogman swimsuit was quite good, the length wasn\'t too exaggerated either, just to the knees and elbows.
Plus Hou Ranxi notified her suddenly, she didn\'t have time to prepare. This just happened to be brought along.
Hou Ranxi cleared his throat, seemingly shocked by the swimsuit, and nodded with feigned composure as he handed the water to Chai Meicen.
"It\'s quite cute." Hou Ranxi stared at Chai Meicen for a while longer, barely stifling his laughter.
Chai Meicen was very cooperative. She suddenly turned her head and smiled at him, eyes narrowed, mouth curled up, deliberately acting cute.
Uh...
So adorable.
It made Hou Ranxi flustered instead.
Chai Meicen drank a sip then went swimming.
Hou Ranxi sat on a lounge chair watching Chai Meicen swim, the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile.
After reverting back to sixteen, her whole being seemed to have regained her youthful appearance. Most notably, Chai Meicen\'s biggest knot had come undone. The burden in her heart had been removed, allowing her to happily play again.
"You swim pretty well." Hou Ranxi chatted with her casually from the shore.
"Yi Qian Ge taught me." Chai Meicen replied indifferently.
At the mention of this name, Hou Ranxi\'s expression became strange for a moment before he asked again, "Do you still hate him?"
"How to put it..." Chai Meicen climbed onto a floaty and sat down, even crossing her legs. "At first I really hated him, but later I thought, maybe we shouldn\'t have been together from the start. He rejected me very early on. I was the one who stubbornly insisted on being together."
If you hate, that means you still care.
So many years have passed, and Chai Meicen has finally reached indifference. Mentioning that person\'s name still does not hurt or make waves in her heart.
In the end, it\'s just that she\'s completely fallen out of love.
Seeing through it all, fuck it all, being carefree now is most important.
"If...if he came back, what would you do?"
"If he comes back then he comes back."
"What if he came to find you?"
"I won\'t go easy on him!" Chai Meicen\'s tone suddenly turned vicious. "He doesn\'t deserve the time of day from me."
After hearing this, Hou Ranxi laughed.
Chai Meicen spread her hands and shrugged, smiling wryly at the corners of her mouth. "Fortunately Zhou Rui is quite likable now."
"Yes, Zhou Rui is a good kid."
"I don\'t even have any interest in thinking about anything else now. I just want Zhou Rui to get into and graduate university smoothly. After that I won\'t interfere. When he graduates, I\'ll graduate too. Then I\'ll be free."
"After that he\'ll still have to get married and have kids."
"Whether he wants to get married and have kids is up to him. I won\'t be helping him raise children." After saying this, Chai Meicen entered the pool again and continued swimming.
After swimming another lap to the shore, holding onto the edge she said to Hou Ranxi, "Uncle Hou, I want fruit."
"Okay, I\'ll go prepare some for you."
Chai Meicen grinned to herself in the pool. She always felt it was ridiculous calling Hou Ranxi uncle.
Now Hou Ranxi was also used to it, taking care of her just like an uncle.
"Are you tired?" Hou Ranxi placed the fruit on the shore.
"Cut it open for me."
"Alright." Hou Ranxi did as asked again.
"What are we eating tonight?"
"We\'ll go out and walk around, and I\'ll take you shopping."
"Are you going to buy something?"
"Yeah, I\'m going to buy something."
"Great!" After eating a piece of fruit, Chai Meicen said, "Just thinking about Zhou Rui eating instant noodles alone in that little house makes me feel wonderful all over."
Although she said that, she was still concerned, afraid Zhou Rui would go hungry without her there.
Chai Meicen said this as she got out of the pool and went upstairs to change clothes.
These clothes were also bought when Zhou Rui accompanied her to go shopping, a strappy sundress, giving off a girl next door vibe.
She applied a layer of sunscreen then asked Hou Ranxi, "Do you need any?"
Hou Ranxi had already put on a t-shirt. He thought for a moment then nodded.
"I\'ll help apply some to your neck. You can do the rest yourself." Chai Meicen said as she tiptoed over to help Hou Ranxi apply sunscreen.
Hou Ranxi was also very cooperative, bending over to make it easy for her.
It was as if they were already used to this kind of interaction.
Their mode of transportation was also very environmentally friendly. Hou Ranxi rode a bicycle with Chai Meicen sitting on the back.
She wore a straw hat when going out. One hand held her hat while the other hugged Hou Ranxi\'s waist. She asked Hou Ranxi, "Do you want me to navigate for you?"
"Even if we get lost, going around in circles once more will become a special memory in this place with such beautiful scenery. Getting lost could turn into a special memory."
"You\'ve successfully convinced me."
Their trip to the mall was quite roundabout. They even had to take a boat to get to another place before finding a decent store.
The two first went to eat dinner, then browsed around.
Chai Meicen didn\'t seem very interested in anything.
"You really won\'t buy anything?" Hou Ranxi stood next to Chai Meicen and asked, looking quite disappointed.
"I\'m not lacking anything." Over the years, Chai Meicen had time and money. With nothing to do, she would go shopping. She had already bought most of what she wanted.
"Ah, not swiping a card once makes it feel like we didn\'t really come here. I want to buy you something, anything is fine." Hou Ranxi sighed and looked at Chai Meicen plaintively again.
Chai Meicen nodded and continued wandering around with Hou Ranxi.
"I\'ll buy you a bag, how about it?" Hou Ranxi took the initiative to ask.
"Should I be buying a school bag now?"
"Buy the women\'s style."
Hou Ranxi pushed Chai Meicen to go shopping. When he saw good ones, he recommended them to Chai Meicen.
Chai Meicen looked at two of them and asked Hou Ranxi while holding them up: "Which looks better?"
"Buy both."
"Oh." Chai Meicen went to look at other bags again, picked them up and showed Hou Ranxi, "Does the blue or the pink look better?"
"Buy both."
"No, these two are the same style, just see which color looks better." Chai Meicen tried to call back Hou Ranxi\'s rationality.
"Different colored bags match different styles of clothes, so buy both and carry them according to mood." Hou Ranxi had his arms crossed and analyzed it sensibly.
So, in order not to disappoint Hou Ranxi too much, Chai Meicen decided to buy both.
She really is a considerate older sister, hehe.
Hou Ranxi followed behind Chai Meicen carrying a bunch of shopping bags, using his arms to push Chai Meicen into the swimsuit store: "Let\'s pick out a swimsuit that suits your current figure."
"Didn\'t you say the one I have looks good?"
"But it\'s not very suitable for taking pictures, what do you think?"
"Oh yeah, that swimsuit doesn\'t photograph well, I\'ll pick another one."
She couldn\'t pick one that showed her stomach, so she picked a more conservative style.
Hou Ranxi looked at it and nodded: "Hmm, it\'s pretty good."
"Don\'t guys all like triangle tops?"
"I\'m looking at you now like you\'re my daughter. I don\'t want other men staring at my daughter, this one is good, let\'s buy it."
"Okay, I\'ll listen to dad."
When Chai Meicen was about to leave, she saw Hou Ranxi spacing out and couldn\'t help but turn around and ask him: "What\'s wrong?"
"I was thinking, if I had a daughter your age, I would have to start working hard at fifteen..."
Chai Meicen also stopped and started thinking. After thinking for a while, she suddenly came back to her senses: "Why am I playing the fool with you? You should hurry up and think about when you can find a girlfriend! You\'re not young anymore, yet you still wander around absentmindedly every day. You should go back to the company, see if the company can provide for your retirement and funeral arrangements."
Hou Ranxi cleared his throat and hurriedly took Chai Meicen to the next store.
Chai Meicen was anxious, even scolding Hou Ranxi.
The next day, Chai Meicen got up early. Holding the menu, she studied it for a long time, then went to Hou Ranxi\'s door and knocked.
"Wait a moment, I haven\'t finished washing up yet." Hou Ranxi\'s voice came from inside.
"What do you want for breakfast? I\'ll call and order it. Do you want porridge, noodles or bread?"
Hou Ranxi opened the door a crack and stretched out his hand: "Let me see the menu."
Chai Meicen handed it over. Hou Ranxi immediately closed the door.
Chai Meicen stood at the door and waited for a while, couldn\'t help but ask: "What\'s with the shyness? Is there something you don\'t want me to see?"
"I don\'t want little Chai to see this thirty-year-old old man looking haggard."
"What\'s the difference after you wash up?" Chai Meicen never thought Hou Ranxi would wear makeup. What could be different about a grown man?
"No beard, and different hairstyle."
After a while, Hou Ranxi handed out the menu: "I want porridge."
Chai Meicen pushed open the door and used her foot to keep it open while looking at Hou Ranxi.
Hou Ranxi panicked. Before he could close the door, Chai Meicen had grabbed his face and turned his chin back and forth: "You look quite handsome, what can\'t be seen?"
Hou Ranxi smiled helplessly. He didn\'t close the door anymore but opened it freely for her to come and go.
Chai Meicen didn\'t go in. She went out to call and order breakfast.
After breakfast was delivered, Chai Meicen hurried upstairs again: "Little monkey, come eat."
Hou Ranxi reached out to support her: "Slow down, don\'t fall."
While the two of them sat downstairs eating breakfast, Hou Ranxi looked at his phone for a while and said, "We\'ll go eat dinner with them tonight. It\'s rare to come out, we should at least have a meal together."
"I don\'t care, eating is eating no matter where we are." Chai Meicen answered indistinctly with food in her mouth.
Hou Ranxi suddenly took a picture of Chai Meicen and looked at his phone and said to Chai Meicen: "You really give off the feeling that you\'re naturally cute anytime, anywhere. Even eating breakfast you\'re so adorable."
Chai Meicen reached over to take Hou Ranxi\'s phone to look at the photo, then threw it back to Hou Ranxi: "Made you want to have a child just from looking at me, right?"
"Ha?" Hou Ranxi was stunned.
What\'s this have to do with that? Why not wanting to find a girlfriend?
"You\'re not young anymore either, it\'s time to find someone. I didn\'t say anything before because your career was the priority, but you\'re already in your mid-thirties..."
"Let\'s eat breakfast."
"Whenever I bring this up, you don\'t want to hear it."
"There are things I like to hear, and things I don\'t. Alright, let\'s eat."
Chai Meicen didn\'t say much more and nodded her head to continue eating.
That night, the company people gathered at a hotel.
Hou Ranxi\'s assistant had booked it early. Only their company people were here.
When Chai Meicen went in and saw the wine, she smacked her lips.
Chai Meicen could drink quite a lot, with decent alcohol tolerance. She just had one flaw - after drinking, she talked a lot, pulling people to chat about truthful things.
After sobering up, she wouldn\'t remember anything, just like nothing had happened.
After Chai Meicen sat down, she looked at the wine bottles and picked one, just about to open it when a company employee walked over: "Hey, little one can\'t drink this, drink Coke."
Chai Meicen was immediately unhappy: "I\'m not a little one."
"Be good, it\'s illegal for minors to drink alcohol abroad. You don\'t want us to get into trouble, right?"
Only then did Chai Meicen give up. Her whole being sank into despair.
During the dinner that followed, Chai Meicen resentfully drank Coke while staring at them drinking merrily. She felt extremely upset.
After a while, the female employee who had been very interested in Hou Ranxi came to Chai Meicen\'s side and asked: "Little boss, where\'s the other little boss?"
"Oh, left at the stand-alone villa studying."
"So it\'s just you and Mr. Hou together?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
She smiled and shook her head, finally remembering to introduce herself: "I\'m called Peng Shu Yue."
"I\'m called Chai Meicen."
"Oh, related to Mr. Hou\'s sister?" Peng Shu Yue only knew the other major shareholder was surnamed Chai.
"Yeah."
"No wonder Mr. Hou treats you so well, turns out you\'re the relative of Mr. Hou\'s benefactor. Why didn\'t older sister Chai come?"
"She doesn\'t want to move."
After a while, Peng Shu Yue was called away by others to drink.
Hou Ranxi came to Chai Meicen\'s side and whispered: "Watch first, tell me which wine you like, I\'ll buy it back for you to secretly drink."
"Deal!" Chai Meicen immediately became excited and ran to look at the wine rack for what she wanted.
On the other side, after drinking alcohol, this group became unruly.
The employees who could come on this trip were all elites in the company. Hou Ranxi didn\'t put on airs with them either. As they chatted, it became lively.
"Find a woman, stare into each other\'s eyes for 3 minutes!" Someone suddenly shouted.
"Getting stared at for 3 minutes by Mr. Hou\'s good-looking eyes, wouldn\'t we fall in love?"
Hou Ranxi smiled and shook his head: "Let\'s not."
"You live alone, don\'t participate in group activities. What happened to team building? Come on, let\'s pose, do a kabedon!"
"And use one hand to hold up her face!"
"3 minutes is too long, 30 seconds is good, but has to be a kabedon!"
Hou Ranxi sighed helplessly. He looked left and right and found Chai Meicen.
Chai Meicen had just turned around wanting to watch the fun when she saw Hou Ranxi walking straight towards her. Then he suddenly put his hand against the wine cabinet.
She leaned against the glass door, looking at Hou Ranxi\'s face up close in shock.
The whole hotel was dimly lit. The wine cabinet had colorful lights that shone in Hou Ranxi\'s eyes, making them even more dazzling.
He still had an unrestrained smile on his face. Looking at her, he whispered: "Just 30 seconds."
Then he held up her chin.
"Oh..." She suddenly became a little panicked.
The author has something to say: Giving away fifty red packets randomly for comments.
[Sorted on April 17, 20:17]
Thanks to Deep Water Fish Lei who turns into a little monster when drunk
Thanks to Sonnig\'s rocket launcher
Thanks to Icex5 and Taoshi\'s grenades
Thanks to Coconut Smoothie x3, 27091702x2, Ugly Cat? x2, Mo Cheng Shen, 34136850, This GuGuGu is not as good as us..., Madou, Don\'t Know the East is Already White, 21737495, Liangyi Rolling is the Best, Float, Hua Rushi, A Li\'s Dream, Zhi? Can, 35834171, I Have a Cat, Thirteenth Month, Tang Xuan Ji, Ye Ying\'s Little Gongjue, 35504574, Wild, Vast Light Cold, Gu Ying, Ah Yi Happy Happy Happy, February Red Lady, He Ben C, Zhe Ka, Luo Li, Love Milk Super, Feng Mimi, Lu Li, Light Containing, Red Bean Sand Blueberry Pie, 30037252, Passing Soy Sauce, If You Can Do It Then Don\'t Nag, Vicious Female Supporting Character, A Nian, Susu\'s Landmine