Chapter 29: World One [29] Part 2

“My birthday is today?” Jing Ke recalled the identity obtained during the trade, her eyes showing a trace of bewilderment.

Shang Siyu nodded emphatically. “It’s today. I didn’t remember wrong. When I saw your ID, I memorized it.”

“Does that mean… Little Yu, you were already paying close attention to me back then?” Jing Ke’s eyes brightened several degrees upon hearing this.

“Maybe,” Shang Siyu couldn’t recall why she did that back then, but she knew clearly that her reliance on Jing Ke had existed even before Jing Ke turned into a Human.

And after Jing Ke became a Human, that reliance only grew deeper, to the point where she was unwilling to part with it.

With only Jing Ke and Shang Siyu at home, and no need to worry about danger after drinking, the two were very unrestrained. At first, they clinked glasses face-to-face. Later, they sat together drinking, crossing arms to drink from each other’s cups.

As for the very end, naturally, it was one mouthful of wine shared between two people.

After getting drunk, Jing Ke was very obedient, but Shang Siyu became extraordinarily candid, saying whatever she wanted to, doing whatever she wanted to do.

After making Jing Ke put on the pinky ring she had given her, the two spent a truly wonderful anniversary.

Renovating a house is something that takes a great deal of time and energy. Once Jing Ke got busy, she completely forgot all about the protein content being three times that of beef.

Just the design proposal alone had them working with the designer for three months. During this time, they also went back to Mu’an County to stay for a while, referencing Mother Shang’s suggestions. After constant revisions until autumn arrived, the plan was finally settled.

After finalizing the plan, the subsequent construction was relatively simpler.

Jing Ke seemed leisurely, but ultimately, she was still the boss of a real estate company.

Especially after the first trial verdict for Xue Fan came out, Jing Ke had almost completely taken over Wanshen Real Estate’s assets. Along with that, Xue Fan’s fifteen percent ownership stake in Hongfei Mall was also acquired by Jing Ke at a relatively low price.

Jing Ke’s reason for doing this was simple: she wanted to ensure that Xue Fan had absolutely no chance to rise again, that he could only honestly spend his entire life in prison.

After smoothly taking over Wanshen Real Estate, finding a reliable construction team was effortless for Jing Ke. She just needed to have someone below recommend a dependable one.

The person in charge of the construction team seriously reviewed the design blueprints three times, finally stating it would require a year of construction time.

Slow work yields fine craftsmanship. Considering the villa might be lived in for several decades, neither Jing Ke nor Shang Siyu made things difficult for the construction team regarding the timeline, only demanding they complete the project with guaranteed quality and quantity.

Construction began in late autumn, so the completion time naturally fell in late autumn of the following year.

With no need to consider the budget, the construction crew used only the finest materials. After completion, airing it out a bit eliminated any potential pollution.

The villa’s renovation and hard furnishing could be handed over to the construction team, but the soft furnishing inside the villa required Jing Ke and Shang Siyu to slowly choose.

A sufficiently large bedroom needed a sufficiently large bed. If a two-meter bed wasn’t enough to roll around in, then they’d custom-order a two-and-a-half-meter one, the main principle being following their hearts’ desires.

The loquat and tangerine trees they’d initially agreed on—the two had gone to choose their favorites at the plant market right when completing the property ownership transfer, digging holes and planting them early on.

Over a year later, the originally small saplings had grown considerably taller. In terms of height alone, they were already about half a meter taller than the two of them.

Many things happened in that year-plus. New Life Technology’s market value surpassing one billion was just one relatively unremarkable event among them.

During that period, through Secretary Lou’s connections, New Life Technology also reached some cooperation agreements with the Provincial Government and was supported and protected as a local industrial enterprise.

The policy preference gave New Life Technology a huge boost. With the Provincial Government endorsing and promoting them, Hospital Doctors, when giving suggestions, would also mention New Life Technology a few times, instantly doubling the company’s user base.

The private customization sector was even more needless to say. Seeing the first batch of users become almost indistinguishable from ordinary people thanks to New Life Technology’s products, they came waving huge wads of cash.

The goal of recouping the investment—originally projected for three years—was exceeded in less than two. The smiles on the faces of the Investors and shareholders couldn’t have been brighter.

After becoming profitable at year-end, Shang Siyu’s own personal savings also swelled.

Realizing that she, having indulged in a life of comfort, could no longer perform fourteen-hour experiments daily, Shang Siyu abandoned the idea of running between the company and the lab. Instead, she chose to heavily invest money into the projects her academic advisor was responsible for.

Worth mentioning is that when New Life Technology’s products were strongly promoted by the government, the previous rumors regarding Professor Lin’s academic fraud were also widely clarified.

Some quick-reacting magazine media seized the opportunity to get interview rights, retracing the entire incident from start to finish, and in the end, fervently praising Professor Lin to the skies.

After people in the academic circle saw Professor Lin’s visibility and reputation suddenly rise, some academic oligarchs also began lowering themselves to approach Professor Lin, wanting her to become part of their faction.

But Professor Lin, who had been upright for over forty years, wouldn’t easily change her heart. If they came with genuine intent to discuss academics, she would sweep her doorstep clean to welcome them.

If they were seeking to form cliques and factions, then she was terribly sorry, Professor Lin would state she had no time—she was busy running experiments.

After finishing the villa’s soft furnishing, it was about time for New Year’s Day.

Taking advantage of everyone’s holiday, Shang Siyu scheduled the official move-in for the first. She invited all her close friends for a housewarming party, totaling about twenty people.

The relatively free Jing Ke drove to Mu’an County the day before, bringing Mother Shang back as well, the main theme being that the family should be complete and together.

Shang Siyu, on the day itself, acted as chauffeur, bringing her own advisor, Professor Lin, and two Senior Sisters home together.

With more people, the advantage of the villa’s large space became apparent—one could not feel the concept of crowdedness at all, only comfort and ease.

To satisfy different dietary preferences, Shang Siyu specially hired a master chef. Not just beef and lamb, but seafood and river fish were all dazzlingly arrayed.

The empty space in the villa’s yard wasn’t wasted either. A charcoal-burning barbecue grill stood in the middle, fully loaded. Whatever you wanted to eat, you could just put it on and grill it yourself, embodying the spirit of self-sufficiency and enjoying the fruits of your own labor.

“Little Yu, be honest with me… are you already off the singles market?” After filling her belly, Senior Sister Mei, who was always busy in the lab, draped her arm over her Junior Schoolmate’s shoulder as usual, lowering her voice to ask.

“If I’m not mistaken, you and that business partner of yours are together now, right?” Senior Sister Mei winked at Shang Siyu.

“Yes, we’ve been together for quite a while. Over a year now,” Shang Siyu said with a smile.

She had never hidden her relationship with Jing Ke from her friends, but because their time spent together had decreased, she had never formally announced anything, just letting things take their natural course.

If someone noticed, they noticed. If not, Shang Siyu wouldn’t rush over and give Jing Ke a passionate kiss in front of someone to prove she was taken.

“Over a year, and you managed to resist posting it on your Moments?” Senior Sister Mei expressed shock. “If I had such an amazing girlfriend, I wouldn’t say one post a day, but definitely one every three days.”

“Post on Moments?” Shang Siyu looked slightly stunned. She indeed seemed to have never posted anything on her Moments.

But when she went home with Jing Ke for the New Year last year, she did come clean to her mother, who had long since figured it out. Now, Jing Ke had already changed her form of address from ‘Auntie’ to ‘Mom.’

Right after that switch, the smile on her mother’s face couldn’t have been brighter.

“Yeah! Little Yu, you have no idea how popular you are now. Those junior students, after hearing you once worked on our project, are all trying every way to get your contact info.”

“You might not be in the lab anymore, but the number of people wanting to meet you and pursue you hasn’t decreased one bit,” Senior Sister Mei sighed. “If you posted more on Moments, the news that you’re taken would spread. That’d make those people give up.”

As she spoke, Senior Sister Mei couldn’t help but glance at Jing Ke, who was grilling meat. “Your girlfriend is probably the super popular type too. You have to remember to stake your claim often, otherwise, there will definitely be lots of people eyeing your girlfriend, wanting to loosen the soil around your flower pot!”

Shang Siyu saw this and smiled, her tone utterly confident. “The most they can do is covet. Jing Ke likes me very much, and she will always like me. She won’t accept anyone else.”

“Mmhmm? Junior Schoolmate Little Yu, you’re quite confident in your charms,” Senior Sister Mei raised an eyebrow. “Is this the confidence of having an established career?”

“I’m not confident in myself. I trust Jing Ke,” Shang Siyu said, looking over at Jing Ke. Less than two seconds later, she saw the other party look up as if sensing her gaze.

The moment their eyes met, Jing Ke’s previously expressionless face immediately broke into a brilliant smile. Following that, she picked up the already cooked skewers and jogged over towards Shang Siyu.

“These are the ones I just grilled. I smelled them, they’re very fragrant. Want a bite?” Jing Ke extended the skewers in her hand right in front of Shang Siyu, letting her pick freely.

Shang Siyu didn’t stand on ceremony. Under Senior Sister Mei’s gaze, she selected a skewer of pork belly that had still been sizzling with oil moments ago and took it.

“Careful, it’s hot. Blow on it,” Jing Ke reminded, her eyes as if only containing Shang Siyu alone, showing no intention of sharing the skewers with Senior Sister Mei.

Shang Siyu blew on it, gently biting off one piece and bringing it into her mouth. “Not bad, very tasty. Your grilling skills have improved a lot.”

Shang Siyu assessed. She blew on the remaining half-skewer and held it horizontally before Jing Ke’s mouth.

Jing Ke didn’t hesitate to open her mouth and bite down. While chewing, she asked, “Little Yu, what else do you want to eat? I’ll go grill it for you.”

“No rush. Let’s finish what’s in our hands first, then we’ll go grill together,” Shang Siyu said, briefly forgetting about Senior Sister Mei too. “I also prepared eggplant. I’ll grill one for you later.”

“Okay.” Jing Ke widened her amber eyes, agreeing with a smile full of delight.

Senior Sister Mei, made to feel like a total third wheel, couldn’t help but rub her nose, then promptly took three steps backwards.

No wonder her Junior Schoolmate was so confident. Who wouldn’t be mesmerized seeing that? If it were her, she’d also believe that Jing Ke would never, ever betray her!