For no reason at all, seeing the cunning glint in Ren Yu's foxy eyes, Liu Chen suddenly felt he might be connected to that big shot from her previous life who bought a large number of shops in one go.
"You want to buy."
Ren Yu didn't ask, but stated it as a fact.
Liu Chen blinked. She found it hard to hide anything from clever people, but she didn't intend to hide it from Ren Yu anyway, as her money had been accounted for by Ren Yu.
It was profit from investment.
"Yes, I want to buy, but we'll see. I like the frozen food business. If I come back to C City after graduation, it's always better to have my own shop. Besides, I have no use for this much money."
As soon as Liu Chen finished speaking, she suddenly remembered that during her last meeting with Ren Yu, she had said she was going to Beijing to buy a house…
As expected, one lie always requires countless lies to cover it up. Even if she was telling the truth, it probably sounded like a string of lies to Ren Yu.
However, Ren Yu seemed to have forgotten, and even suggested:
"We can buy a few connected shops together then, and negotiate the price. The market is just starting out; it will definitely need buyers."
Liu Chen quickly nodded in agreement, "Okay! Then I'll save diligently for the next few months!"
After discussing the shops, they sat on the sofa, and the silent air filled the space between them again. Liu Chen pretended to be engrossed in the TV show, and in fact, she was. She hadn't seen the first half of the 2009 Year of the Ox Spring Festival Gala last night, as she had been shopping in the mall.
When she came back to her senses, she realized Ren Yu had already left the living room at some point.
Just then, Mi Zhuzhu and Lai Jielun also came from the dining room, arguing as they walked:
"Mi Zhuzhu, you're playing it all wrong. I could see through your trick at a glance. Look at me, how perfect is my magic trick!"
"Lai Jielun, get away from me. I don't want to watch this magic trick anymore!"
Liu Chen blinked, about to try and mediate when her peripheral vision caught sight of Ren Yu descending the stairs from upstairs, holding a thick stack of documents, study guides, and test papers.
Seeing the three people downstairs notice him, Ren Yu lifted the bundle of test papers and practice books tied with a strap and said in Liu Chen's direction:
"This is some of the study material I found. They're all score-boosting secrets and essentials from their respective schools. You can take a look."
Seeing the thick stack of test papers, almost as long as her forearm, Ren Mo, who had just emerged from the kitchen, also fell silent.
"Brother, it's not that serious. It's really not necessary. What did Sister Chen do to offend you? We're all family, so don't be so stingy, okay! Put these papers back, we're still family!"
Mi Zhuzhu, looking at the pile of test papers, also nodded silently.
"Family, all family."
It was Liu Chen, however, who looked at the forearm-thick stack of test papers with shining eyes. She had been worried that the test papers from school weren't challenging enough. When the teacher went over them, she usually only needed to listen for the last two sub-questions of the final big problem.
She walked forward, intending to take the practice books from Ren Yu on the stairs, but he dodged her with a sidestep.
Ren Yu carried the practice books down the stairs, then placed the stack on the coffee table, and said to Liu Chen, who was walking behind him, "I'll put them on the coffee table for you. You can try one first, and if you have any questions, you can ask me since I'm here."
He paused, then looked up at Ren Mo, the little girl named Zhuzhu, and Lai Jielun standing by the staircase pillar and said:
"If you want to do them too, you can join in."
The three who were named quickly shook their heads and slipped away with flimsy excuses.
Thus, only Ren Yu and Liu Chen were left in the living room again.
Ren Yu opened his laptop and placed it on the right side of the coffee table, while on the left was the stack of test papers tied with a strap.
Liu Chen pulled out a comprehensive science paper and, after a quick glance, couldn't help but sigh. Good heavens, the difficulty of the fill-in-the-blank questions here was equivalent to the last two big problems in the school's mock exams.
Time passed especially quickly while doing the papers. When Liu Chen looked up from the test, the living room floor was bathed in the warm, orange-yellow sunlight.
She rubbed her eyes and pushed the completed questions to Ren Yu for checking.
Ren Yu finally stopped his incessant typing on the keyboard, took off his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
A flicker of exhaustion crossed his usually calm face.
When he opened his eyes again, the fatigue had vanished, as if Liu Chen had just imagined it.
Ren Yu took the pen from Liu Chen's hand. For just a moment, a cool touch registered on his fingertips.
"I can see that your comprehensive science foundation is very solid, but look here, the question type has changed, and there's a trap…"
When Liu Fang and the others arrived with takeout from the restaurant, they saw Ren Yu in the living room, earnestly explaining a problem, with Liu Chen nodding along beside him.
Ren Yuanying looked at the scene with some frustration. It was New Year's Day, and he was making her goddaughter study? Chenchen had such a tough time in her third year of high school. She had finally gotten a break, only to encounter someone like her eldest son.
"Time to eat! Ren Yu, come here. I told you to play with your younger siblings, why are you two in the living room?"
Ren Yu rubbed his nose, looking exhausted, and said:
"I asked them if they wanted to do some problems, and they all ran away."
Liu Fang: "..." So only her Chenchen didn't run?
Ren Yuanying also felt a bit embarrassed to look at her sister-in-law, Fang Mei Zi, and continued to call out, "Alright, alright, call them over for dinner!"
After dinner, the adults prepared to play mahjong all night. The uncle, who had worked all day, called to ask his wife when she would be home, only to be answered by his aunt, Liu Fen, who was in the midst of a winning streak:
"I'll be back tomorrow. Remember to bring some food home on your way from work. Jiang Di will be back after a class reunion tonight. Ah! Three of bamboo! Self-drawn, pure one suit, three players!"
As she spoke, Liu Fen hung up the phone.
Meanwhile, Liu Chen was following Ren Yu on a walk along the roads in the residential area. Although it was called a residential area, Liu Chen felt it was more fitting to call it asphalt roads winding over several small hills.
By the roadside were large trees that had shed all their leaves. Without the cover of green foliage, the trunks and branches were exposed without concealment to the gaze of passersby.
Some of the withered bark on the tree trunks had even peeled off halfway, revealing the tender flesh beneath.
Liu Chen and Ren Yu walked under one dry branch after another.
They walked until they reached the highest point of the entire residential area, where there was a small bamboo grove, and within the grove, a small pavilion.
The two sat in the pavilion, facing the direction of C City's downtown.
At this moment, the world was in a bustling red dust, and you and I were by each other's side.