Chapter 76: Something's Off

Gu Jinghan shot a glance at her hair, then another at the tattoo peeking out from under her sleeve, and took in her flippant attitude.

Damn! Busted on the first try!

Qi Meili leaned against the car window: "Hey handsome? Dazzled by me? Want to add a friend~"

The window shot up in a hurry. Gu Jinghan didn't dare say a word, hit the gas, and peeled out!

Qi Meili watched him go, savoring the moment: "What a cold, handsome flower boy. That's my kind of love!"

Though... didn’t that guy look a little familiar?

Ah well! Being familiar is normal. Pretty faces always have something in common — unlike ugly people, who are ugly in a thousand bizarre and distinct ways.

She rode her bike back in high spirits, only to find He Huanhuan and Han Mo sitting obediently in the living room waiting for her.

Kids go quiet, they're up to something.

Sitting that still? Definitely suspicious.

She eyed them with suspicion: "You two look like you're cooking up something no good."

He Huanhuan smiled sweetly: "Meili, I want to eat something good."

She and Han Mo had just over thirty yuan left between them, and their phones were useless. They could only wait for Meili to throw them a bone.

After all, Meili had just come into a windfall of fifty thousand.

Hearing that, Qi Meili rolled her eyes: "That's all? Come on! Whatever you want, your big sister will buy it for you!"

She'd always been free with her money — it's just that she used to be too broke to show it.

A twenty-yuan insult fee had to be haggled down to 13.52.

But not anymore. She was rich now. Supporting her besties was a piece of cake!

She grabbed He Huanhuan and linked arms with her: "What do you want? Beef noodles or lamb soup noodles? I'll get you both!"

Old habits die hard when you've just come into money — she was all in billionaire mode, but her brain could only conjure cheap carbs.

He Huanhuan, on the other hand, had been a rich kid for a while and knew exactly how to spend money.

She crossed her arms, all smug: "Who eats that stuff? That's peasant food! I want Wenxiang!"

Now, malatang may sound humble and down-to-earth, but it's anything but cheap.

Potatoes that go for two yuan a pound, sliced thin and soaked in water, sell for one-fifty per slice.

Grab a few veggies, and your bowl easily hits thirty-plus.

More profitable than running with the mob!

But Qi Meili wrinkled her nose in disgust: "Wenxiang? That place got exposed!"

He Huanhuan was stunned: "When did that happen? How did I not hear about it?"

That was her favorite spot!

Qi Meili pulled out her phone and showed her. A video played with a stern news anchor reporting on Wenxiang's hygiene violations.

Qi Meili scoffed: "That's what you get for being such a lovestruck fool. You don't even have a phone to play with now. All you've got to look forward to is digging wild greens!"

He Huanhuan: ..........

It had only been a few days!

Had she already fallen off the face of the earth?

And her beloved Wenxiang had gotten shut down?

Qi Meili draped an arm around her and pulled her along: "Come on, let's go get some beef noodles. I'll spring for extra meat for you."

They found a small place on the roadside and each ordered a bowl of beef noodles.

Qi Meili asked Han Mo: "How long are you planning to crash here?"

Han Mo grabbed chopsticks for them: "Just a couple more days."

He Huanhuan gave him a puzzled look: "How do you know it's just a couple of days?"

They'd been together every day. He had no phone and no internet. How could he know that?

Han Mo smiled faintly: "Just a feeling."

So pretentious.

Inside the top-floor office of the Gu Corporation building, Gu Jingchen was on a call, his expression serious.

"You guessed right. Han Xuan is indeed transferring money out of the company accounts."

Gu Jingchen sat up straight: "Help me hold him off."

The voice on the other end shot up in pitch: "How can you ask that? If they find out, I'll get chewed out! That Diao Mao guy is..."

"Xu You seems to be coming back in the next few days, though I don't know the exact flight..."

The voice immediately sighed in defeat: "Diao Mao can chew me out all he wants! Helping a friend is what counts!"

The corner of Gu Jingchen's mouth lifted: "Thanks."

"Say, when's she getting back?"

"We'll talk about that later."

Five minutes later, the phone rang again.

Qi Ming, utterly confused, was on the other end: "Didn't you already finish blocking him? What do you still need from me?"

Gu Jingchen shot upright: "What are you talking about?"

Qi Ming stared at the status in his system, amazed: "Old Gu, you've got some skills. You actually got Diao Mao to bend the rules for you? How'd you manage that?"

He glanced at the office diagonally across from his, where a gleaming bald head sat calmly.

Diao Mao was notoriously hard to deal with. Old Gu really was a cunning fox. Impressive!

But Gu Jingchen didn't feel like explaining: "If there's nothing else, I'll hang up."

"Hey, hey, hey..."

Qi Ming quickly called out: "Uh, when's Xu You coming back? Which flight?"

Gu Jingchen's voice was full of surprise: "Who said she's coming back? News to me."

......

"Gu Jingchen! You son of a —"

After hanging up, Gu Jingchen sat in a grim silence.

He'd planned to give Han Mo a hand, only to find out Han Mo had already handled it himself.

So why wasn't he showing up yet?

What was he scheming?

He thought it over, then called a friend of his at the Land and Resources Bureau.

After some small talk, he cut straight to the point and asked what he wanted to know.

The friend gave him an answer quickly.

After the call ended, Gu Jingchen sat in his chair for a long time without speaking.

His long fingers tapped his knee again and again. Then he let out a light chuckle: "This Han Mo, seriously..."

Ah well. It wasn't a bad thing in the end. He'd let them play it out themselves.

Down on the third floor, the three of them were sitting on the living room sofa watching TV.

It was an awkward time of the afternoon — lots of ads, not much actual programming.

They flipped through channels endlessly until, somehow, they ended up watching local news.

Qi Meili leaned against He Huanhuan's shoulder and let out a long yawn: "This is so boring. How about we go tear up the town?"

Man, people are such jerks. Back when she didn't have to work, every day was a blast.

Now that she'd gotten that factory job, suddenly having time off didn't feel right anymore.

Serves her right!

She blinked, then clung to He Huanhuan's arm: "Come on, let's go out for a walk. I'm dying of boredom."

He Huanhuan also felt a bit too idle, so she nodded in agreement: "Alright."

She turned to Han Mo: "You coming with us?"

But Han Mo shook his head to refuse: "I'll watch some TV at home. You two go on without me."

Something was off.

Very off.

He Huanhuan followed Qi Meili out the door, then turned back in a flash and peeked through the peephole.

"What are you doing?"

Startled by her sudden move, Qi Meili leaned in and whispered.

He Huanhuan wished she could flatten herself against the door: "Don't you think Han Mo's acting weird today?"

Qi Meili was confused: "Weird how?"

Didn't he seem normal?

He Huanhuan gritted her teeth: "He won't come tear up the town with us."

......

Hopeless romantic.

Qi Meili grabbed her and dragged her away: "Let's go get some sun. I'm not letting you back inside until this lovesick nonsense is cured."

"No, really. Something's off about him..."

He Huanhuan tried to explain, but Qi Meili wasn't having it.

You hear about young people losing their minds, but you never hear about old geezers going wild. The man was ancient — what business did he have tearing up the town, anyway?