Chapter 70: Reunion
After seeing the house, Wen Yuhuai was very satisfied. The landlord hadn’t lied to him; although the place was remote, there were supermarkets and such nearby, and the living facilities were complete. Most importantly, the scenery was even more beautiful than in the photos.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a holiday paradise. No wonder they were building a resort here. If he had money, he would invest too; as long as the fame spread, it was clearly a guaranteed profit.
After settling on the rent, Wen Yuhuai signed a one-year lease and smoothly moved from the hotel to his new home, starting a comfortable new life of “slacking off.”
After paying the rent, he still had several tens of thousands left. As long as he spent carefully, it was enough for him to lie low for a while. He decided not to look for a job before the New Year and just rest for a few months. This would also reduce the risk of exposure. He’d check the situation after the New Year.
Those two in the capital were likely just acting on a temporary obsession. After some time, their interest in him would probably fade. Then he could return to Shencheng; they shouldn’t go so far as to cross thousands of miles to catch him again.
After staying here for a while, Wen Yuhuai quickly adopted a relaxed mindset, treating it as if he were on vacation. He even bought a camera on a second-hand platform. Every day, when he had nothing to do, he would go out for a stroll and take photos. His days were quite pleasant.
At the same time, in the second month of his stay, the resort the landlord mentioned began construction. Wen Yuhuai would wander over to watch the excitement when he was free; every day was very fulfilling.
However, a sudden event made him afraid to leave his house for several days.
The matter wasn’t particularly large, but it wasn’t small either. Wen Yuhuai’s face was naturally eye-catching, even more so in a small place like this. Local girls his age soon noticed him, and some bold ones even began to pursue him directly.
Admittedly, in the past, Wen Yuhuai would have been quite happy with this and wouldn’t have minded having a romantic fling in such a beautiful place.
But Wen Yuhuai had just escaped the clutches of Fu Xingjian and Gu Yanxiu. He sometimes had nightmares of being kidnapped back. Naturally, he had no mind for romance and even had an attitude of “keeping a respectful distance.”
However, that girl was truly persistent. Even after being rejected, she continued her pursuit and even sent him flowers every day.
How could Wen Yuhuai handle that? Rejection didn’t work, so he simply started staying indoors and giving her the cold treatment.
After living in seclusion like this for over ten days, Wen Yuhuai finally dared to sneak out again. However, he didn’t dare go back to the resort; instead, he carried his camera and walked further away, dedicating himself to discovering new scenery.
The girl didn’t appear again. She must have been hurt by his attitude and given up out of heartbreak.
Wen Yuhuai breathed a massive sigh of relief. And as a blessing in disguise, with this precedent, other girls didn’t dare act recklessly, giving him quite a long period of peace.
In the blink of an eye, the New Year was approaching, and the weather here finally turned cold.
Wen Yuhuai was sensitive to the cold, so he stopped going out to shoot. He began nesting in his room, watching TV and playing games. It just so happened that the landlord’s son was on summer break, and the two became acquainted after a few interactions.
“Brother Wen, my mom stewed pork ribs today and told me to ask you to eat with us.”
Wen Yuhuai gave a few polite refusals, but then, pretending he couldn’t turn them down, he nimbly stood up and followed along.
His own cooking skills were truly subpar. The things he made were edible, but only barely; the taste was really nothing to write home about.
The landlord auntie was very enthusiastic toward him. Seeing that he always ordered takeout, she began inviting him to eat together.
At first, Wen Yuhuai was naturally embarrassed to go, but the landlord simply said, “Young man, I see you’re alone and rarely cook for yourself, and takeout isn’t healthy. How about this: you pay an extra two hundred for food every month, and you can just eat with us from now on.”
Wen Yuhuai was shamelessly moved. Without further hesitation, he accepted the proposal and began his life of “mooching” meals. Two hundred for food was obviously not enough; he consciously raised it to five hundred.
The landlord auntie refused to take it, but after he pushed, she finally took an extra hundred, charging him three hundred a month.
To be honest, her cooking was really good. Though not as good as Auntie Chen’s, it was definitely not worse than the local small restaurants.
While eating, she mentioned the resort.
“It should be completed by next summer. Our area will become lively then.”
Wen Yuhuai was surprised. “So fast?”
This wasn’t a small project. He thought it would take a year or two, but it was going to be finished in six months.
The landlord auntie thought nothing of it. “It’s not that fast. The big boss behind it hired so many workers, and some of the existing structures weren’t touched much…”
Speaking of which, she couldn’t help but sigh again. “I even saw that big boss once. He’s incredibly handsome—not at all inferior to Xiao Wen. He looks like a celebrity on TV—”
The landlord’s son, He Yu, interrupted her, his eyes looking straight at Wen Yuhuai. “No matter how good-looking he is, can he be better looking than Brother Wen? Mom, you’re exaggerating.”
The landlord auntie also glanced at Wen Yuhuai and didn’t argue. Instead, she sighed again, “Xiao Wen is truly handsome. Do you have a girlfriend? Do you want me to introduce someone to you?”
Wen Yuhuai’s hand holding the chopsticks paused. Just as he was about to find a reason to brush it off, He Yu spoke again. His handsome face wasn’t looking too good, and his voice sank a bit. “Mom, stop acting like a random matchmaker. Brother Wen doesn’t need your introductions.”
The landlord auntie felt that was the case. After all, not long ago, a very pretty girl had pursued him passionately and nothing came of it. He wouldn’t necessarily be interested in the people she introduced.
He Yu turned his gaze back to Wen Yuhuai, his look softening. “Speaking of which, I haven’t been there since I came back. Do you have time, Brother Wen? How about we go take a look together?”
Wen Yuhuai hadn’t been for a while either. He didn’t refuse and nodded. “Sure. Up to you. I can go anytime.”
“How about this afternoon? Let’s go right after we finish eating.”
Wen Yuhuai put down his bowl and nodded. “Okay.”
The two set off after finishing their meal. The resort wasn’t far from them, so they didn’t drive and walked over slowly.
With the New Year approaching, there weren’t many workers inside, only a few people in suits who looked like leaders coming for an inspection.
One of them was particularly tall and stood out like a crane among chickens. He was very eye-catching among the group of pot-bellied minor leaders.
Wen Yuhuai felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, so he looked a few more times. However, he didn’t want to run into that group, so as they were about to come over, he turned toward another direction.
Just then, He Yu called out to him from not far away: “Brother Wen.”
Wen Yuhuai gave a lazy response and walked toward him, unaware that the person surrounded by the crowd behind him suddenly stiffened.
A gaze with tangible intensity pierced straight through the dense flowers and trees to land on him.
