Chapter 128: Returning in the Night

Li Ying was back.

When she returned, she brought Yu Menglan along. It was only half a month away from the Lunar New Year, and Yu Menglan said she did not want to spend the holidays in Guangzhou and wanted to visit the countryside with her. She worked in finance at a company in Guangzhou, though things were not going particularly well for her. Li Ying, who had been her classmate, knew her competence in finance and secretly intended to poach her for the Great Snake King Company. Her desire to tag along for a trip played right into Li Ying's hands.

The weather was pleasant, with the winter sun shining warmly. However, after they left Guangzhou and passed Shaoguan, they had to start adding layers of clothing.

By the time they reached Shaoning City, the sun had already tilted to the west, and the air felt much more piercingly cold.

"Li Ying, with the weather this cold here, do you think it will snow?" Yu Menglan asked with high spirits. "I really like snow."

"There probably will be," Li Ying said while driving. "We are almost there."

"Is your heart beating really fast?" Yu Menglan teased mischievously. "You are about to see your little man. I am quite looking forward to it as well. What on earth is this little man like, to have our Princess Li Ying so infatuated?"

"Infatuated with your ghost!" Li Ying smiled charmingly. "Don't distract me from driving. My hands are already stiff."

In truth, Li Ying's heart was indeed beating faster. She wondered how Le'er was doing at home, and whether he had gotten entangled with Luo Yinxiang again. The damned fellow, always attracting bees and butterflies; and that cursed Luo Yinxiang, why did she have to be so utterly devoted to Le'er? Thinking of Le'er and Luo Yinxiang stirred a sour taste of jealousy in her heart.

Having this Luo Yinxiang by Le'er's side really was troublesome.

"The mountains here are so lush and green. Weren't trees in the mountains supposed to shed their leaves in winter? Why aren't the trees here shedding theirs?"

Gazing at the endless sea of green mountains, Yu Menglan lapsed into a bit of silliness. She could be extraordinarily foolish at times, often asking foolish questions.

"You silly Yu Menglan, haven't you seen any trees dropping their leaves?" Li Ying scolded. "Surely you've heard of evergreens? These trees that don't drop their leaves are evergreen trees."

"I'm not a botanist, how would I know about these things?"

Li Ying was left speechless. The sun had completely sunk below the horizon, and thick dusk rolled in from the edge of the sky. The car arrived at Youqiao Town. The road grew increasingly bumpy, causing Yu Menglan to knit her brows in discomfort.

"Good heavens, is it really in such a tiny place?"

"Of course it's not in Guangzhou city... We've arrived." As the car drove into the bamboo grove, Li Ying spotted the lights from the house. "Right up ahead."

As she spoke, her heart pounded even more violently. When she stopped the car, a yellow dog barked furiously and ran over. Yu Menglan did not dare to get out of the vehicle, but Li Ying opened the car door, and the dog rushed to her side, barking excitedly while wagging its tail like foxtail grass in the wind.

"A-Huang, where is Le'er?"

The yellow dog answered with barks, rubbing itself back and forth against her.

"Li Ying, it won't bite me, will it?"

"Get down here, I'm here." Seeing Yu Menglan's terrified expression, Li Ying giggled. "Once it gets familiar with you, it will be very affectionate."

Yu Menglan cautiously stepped out of the car, but the yellow dog paid her no attention, merely following closely behind Li Ying. Hearing the barking and footsteps, Luo Yinxiang assumed Le'er had returned. She opened the courtyard gate while calling out,

"Le'er, is that you back?"

"Yinxiang, it's me," Li Ying said as she stepped into the courtyard. "Is Le'er not home?"

"Sister Ying..." Luo Yinxiang cried out in surprise upon seeing Li Ying. "I'm so glad you're back. Come inside quickly, it's so cold outside."

When she caught sight of the other great beauty, she was even more startled. Seeing Luo Yinxiang stare in astonishment at Yu Menglan, Li Ying smiled and introduced them.

"So you are Luo Yinxiang?" Yu Menglan looked her up and down. "Not bad at all, very pretty."

As she spoke, she glanced at Li Ying. Li Ying had previously spoken to her about Luo Yinxiang and mentioned that there was a relationship between Le'er and Luo Yinxiang, which prompted this remark.

"I'm just a country girl, how could I possibly compare to Sister Lan's beauty?" Luo Yinxiang smiled shyly. "Come inside quickly, it's freezing out here."

Li Ying led Yu Menglan into the house.

"Where is Le'er?" Having not seen Le'er for so long, Li Ying asked with a frown, "Nothing has gone wrong, has it?"

"No." Luo Yinxiang failed to conceal her expression, her eyes turning slightly red. "Ever since you went back to Guangzhou, he hasn't slept at home. He's been sleeping at the village committee office."

Li Ying could not help being startled.

"Why? Did you two have a fight?"

"No." Luo Yinxiang looked somewhat embarrassed. "He's afraid I'll eat him up... He only comes home to eat meals, and as soon as he finishes, he runs off immediately, refusing to stay at home."

Luo Yinxiang's face flushed red.

"Oh... This guy... How could he act like this?"

Realizing what was going on, Li Ying could not help laughing.

Yu Menglan chuckled as well. There was no fire lit in the main room; afraid of wasting firewood, Luo Yinxiang only warmed herself by the fire in the kitchen.

"Sister Ying, should I go call Le'er back?"

"There's no need," Li Ying smiled. "Do us a favor and boil some water so we can take a bath first. After riding in a car for such a long distance, our bodies feel uncomfortably dirty."

"Alright." Luo Yinxiang was about to go boil the water when she suddenly remembered how cold the room was. "I'll set up a fire for you two first, otherwise it's terribly chilly."

Li Ying led Yu Menglan upstairs into the second-floor living room. The lights were turned on.

"Wow—" Yu Menglan gazed around the living room in amazement. "Li Ying... does the countryside even have houses this gorgeous?"

"How is it? Not any worse than your place in Guangzhou, right?"

"Oh... it's simply wonderful." Yu Menglan examined the furnishings in the living room. "Such exquisite wood carvings! Where did they come from? And all this space... If a living room this big were in Guangzhou, it would probably be worth millions... This is a country villa! I'm completely in love, this living room is mine now."

Just then, Luo Yinxiang carried up a brazier. The brazier first held some embers from the kitchen stove, topped with a layer of charcoal, and was already burning with a glowing red heat. The crimson flames reflected in the living room, instantly imbuing the freezing space with a sense of warmth.

"Thank you so much, Yinxiang."

"Do you even need to thank me for this?"

After Luo Yinxiang went back downstairs, the two women took off their outer garments, and Li Ying opened her bedroom door. Having not entered the room for many days, she felt a wave of affectionate familiarity. Yu Menglan stepped into the bedroom and nearly lost her footing in surprise. In Guangzhou, though considered a white-collar worker, she was merely a wage earner with little savings, living with her parents. She could never afford a home like Li Ying's, let alone a bedroom of this caliber.

"I'm not going back to Guangzhou, I'm going to live in this room," she said in a daze. "Good heavens, this is just too unfair."

"Alright," Li Ying replied, precisely waiting for those words. "If you don't go back, I'll build you another 'villa' just like this one, complete with a garden."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true."

By Guangzhou standards, a house like this could not yet be considered a true villa. However, once the bathroom and restroom facilities were upgraded, and the vegetable plot transformed into a flower garden filled with blooms and greenery, it would become an absolute country villa. In the countryside at this time, building such a house cost around one hundred thousand yuan. What Li Ying described was indeed her vision for the future; when senior staff arrived later, they would indeed need to be provided with high-end housing, and this style of country villa was perfectly suited for that purpose.

As long as the Great Snake King Company applied for it, obtaining the land to build houses should not be a problem either.

Li Ying brewed some tea, and the two chatted while drinking, Yu Menglan bubbling with excitement.

"It's just a pity there are too few men here worth pursuing for me, otherwise I would definitely stay here for good."

"Our Great Snake King Company will surely recruit senior staff in the future. Are you afraid there won't be any men worth your pursuit?"

"When is that going to be?"

Yu Menglan let out an exaggerated laugh.

"Are you really that impatient?"

"Hehe... Let's see how top-notch your little man turns out to be later. If he really is top-notch, you'd better prepare yourself," Yu Menglan smiled wickedly. "I don't care whether you're my friend or not, hahaha... As long as he's my type, I'll devour him, so you'd better watch out."

"You wouldn't dare!" Li Ying's expression shifted. "Still, if you can actually seduce him away, it would only prove I have no skill."

"You have that much confidence in your little man?"

"Didn't you see? Even when I wasn't here, he wouldn't even come home to sleep?"

Li Ying smiled triumphantly. The thought that Le'er went to stay at the village committee office just to avoid Luo Yinxiang brought her immense joy. No woman did not want her man to be loyal to her, and even though Li Ying viewed romantic relationships with a high degree of detachment, she could not completely shake off this basic psychology.

"That's just because a beauty like me hadn't appeared yet," Yu Menglan continued her mischievous teasing. "Just wait and see my methods, I'll make you cry your eyes out."

Luo Yinxiang called out from downstairs, prompting Li Ying to take Yu Menglan down to bathe. Yu Menglan went first, while Li Ying stayed in the kitchen to chat with Luo Yinxiang, inquiring about the progress of the construction site. Luo Yinxiang had all the data of the construction site at her fingertips, briefing her on the length of the constructed walls, the height of the buildings... She even reported the exact volume of gravel mined and earth excavated with crystal clarity.

Li Ying looked at Luo Yinxiang with a sense of gratification. Given Luo Yinxiang's talents, she naturally knew nothing about financial operations and could not manage the company's finance department. However, for handling concrete operational tasks, finding someone like her was exceedingly difficult, and she filled a vital role. Of course, Li Ying also knew that Luo Yinxiang's dedication to her work stemmed largely from her feelings for Le'er. This woman's infatuation with Le'er had reached an incomparable extreme.

Even when Le'er treated her this way, she harbored no complaints or regrets. Li Ying asked herself and knew she could never be infatuated with any man to this degree, not even with Le'er.

Yu Menglan emerged from her bath. Knowing it was cold here, both of them had brought large, thick cotton bathrobes.

"You can take your bath now, I'm going upstairs. It's still a bit chilly outside."

Thinking it over, Li Ying realized she would need to change clothes after bathing anyway to go pick up Le'er, so she decided it would be better to fetch him first and bathe afterward.

"Go on up then," she said, looking at Luo Yinxiang. "Yinxiang, let's go pick up Le'er first, we'll bathe when we get back."

"You're both going, leaving me all alone down here?"

"What are you afraid of? There are no ghosts here, and we have the yellow dog guarding the gate," Li Ying said as she walked outward. "We'll be back in ten minutes at most."

Li Ying drove with Luo Yinxiang and arrived at the village committee office shortly after. A light shone from a room on the second floor of the building, casting a person's silhouette against the window.

"Le'er is upstairs."

"Quiet now, don't make a sound, let's go give him a scare."

Li Ying parked the car, and the two stepped out on tiptoe, walking up the stairs. Li Ying took the lead, reached the door, and gently pushed it with her hand. The door was unlatched. With a sudden, forceful shove, the door swung wide open with a crash.

"Son of a bitch... Huh..."

Le'er was reading a book when the door abruptly burst open, and he assumed it was Tao Youneng dropping by again. Just as he started to hurl an insult, he caught sight of Li Ying's face and froze.