Volume 12
Chapter 1: The Baby Bus
It was only when Lu Li was assigning rooms to Zhu Qiao that he realized: the house was still too small. There were no extra guest rooms left for Zhu Qiao. When he had bought the house, Lu Li hadn’t considered receiving guests. He didn’t particularly like having guests stay overnight, especially when there were so many female family members in the house. As a result, in this vast villa, besides the sofa in the tea room and living room, there was actually nowhere for Zhu Qiao to stay.
An Baili looked back at the still somewhat nervous Zhu Qiao, as if seeing the shadow of Chu Jingyi in her, and felt a sense of pity. “Why don’t you let her stay in the room you reserved for Jingyi for now?” The Silly Goose would certainly not refuse, but Lu Li already felt guilty toward her, so he waved his hand grandly. “Let Little Qiao sleep in my room.”
“Then where will you sleep?” Chen Jianing asked.
Lu Li glanced at Wen Hupo and said generously, “I’ll take turns sleeping in your rooms. I’ll just have to put up with it.”
The Little Tiger’s ears turned slightly red. Her ears were a little pointed, looking particularly exquisite. “I think you’re doing this on purpose.”
Wen Hupo sneered from the side. “He’s wanted to do this for a long time. It’s just that he had a little more shame before.”
Lu Li gave a dry laugh, a little embarrassed at being seen through, but also with a touch of greedy delight. Zhu Qiao, who had been listening to them talk, suddenly said, “Actually, I don’t take up much space when I sleep. I just need a little corner of the bed. You don’t have to specially move out, Mr. Producer.”
“No!” An Baili and Chen Jianing said in unison.
Wen Hupo sighed. “Little Qiao, there’s a difference between men and women. A woman can’t just be alone in a room with a man.” Hearing this foreigner, Hupo, speak of traditional Shenzhou cultural concepts was a little strange. Lu Li increasingly felt that Hupo was becoming more and more like a person from Shenzhou.
“But Mr. Producer is different, right…” Zhu Qiao was still defending in a small voice.
Chen Jianing’s tone was the most sour. “No. Lu Li is our… boyfriend. He can’t be too intimate with other girls.” She pronounced the plural “our” very lightly, her little thoughts completely exposed. Lu Li knew what the Little Tiger was thinking. She didn’t want to give up Lu Li, but she also didn’t want to follow him without any title, so she had been conflicted, temporarily staying here under the name of a business partner, and had not even told her family.
Zhu Qiao looked at Lu Li, then at Chen Jianing. “But… but…” But Mr. Producer is one of the people she trusts—although there are only three people she’s familiar with in total—so why can’t she be too close to Mr. Producer?
Zhu Qiao, who had long been isolated from human relationships, still couldn’t understand the reason behind it. She was also still unable to completely distinguish the boundary between a friend and a partner, so the little girl just said, “Oh,” and took it as a tacit agreement.
Lu Li quickly waved his hands. “Alright, alright, you guys go get busy. I’ll take Little Qiao to get familiar with the environment.” The Little Tiger’s words weren’t very pleasant. Lu Li was afraid that Zhu Qiao, who had just arrived, would feel wronged, so he found an excuse to lead her up to the bedroom.
He introduced the general layout of the house to Zhu Qiao and also explained the use of some electrical appliances. This little girl was actually using an electric blanket for the first time and fiddled with it excitedly for a long time. Watching Zhu Qiao’s cute appearance as she poked around the house, Lu Li couldn’t help but smile slightly. This feeling was really like suddenly having a naive younger sister. He had only ever been a younger brother, never an older one. This feeling of being an older brother was very strange.
Seeing a smudge on the edge of Zhu Qiao’s fair face, Lu Li found some newly bought clothes for her. “Little Qiao, the bathroom is right next to the bedroom. Go take a shower.”
“Okay~” Zhu Qiao answered foolishly.
After Zhu Qiao went to the bathroom next door, Lu Li finally had a moment to catch his breath. He had been drained by Zhu Xi all day yesterday, and today he had accompanied Zhu Qiao to buy daily necessities. He was already exhausted. He lay on the bed, took out his phone, and tapped on Zhu Xi’s avatar, hesitating whether to tell her about Zhu Qiao’s arrival. Zhu Xi would definitely not harm Zhu Qiao, but that woman was headstrong and might just do a bad thing with good intentions, and no amount of persuasion would stop her. But if he didn’t seek Zhu Xi’s help, how long could he hide Zhu Qiao on his own?
Although they had only been together for a short time, Lu Li could feel that Zhu Qiao trusted him one hundred percent. He didn’t know why this girl trusted him so much. Was it great wisdom appearing as foolishness, allowing her to see through his essence?
Lu Li rolled over in bed and suddenly heard a faint knocking sound from the wall, as if Zhu Qiao were giving him a secret signal from the bathroom next door. Lu Li sat up straight, pressed his ear to the wall, and listened carefully, finding that someone was indeed knocking on the bathroom wall.
Lu Li went to the bathroom door. Through the frosted glass, he could see a blurry, flesh-colored figure.
“Little Qiao, what’s wrong?”
“…How do I use this water heater… No matter how I press it, there’s only cold water…”
Lu Li was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected Zhu Qiao to not know how to use a water heater.
“The one at Sister Xi’s house isn’t this model… I’m sorry… am I too stupid…”
Lu Li asked, “Little Qiao, wrap yourself in a bath towel. I’m coming in now.”
“Okay, I’m wrapped.”
After getting Zhu Qiao’s response, Lu Li pushed the door open and saw the pitiful-looking Zhu Qiao standing under the showerhead. She had already taken off all her clothes and had a white bath towel wrapped around her body. Her fair, pinkish shoulders, smooth armpits, and the faintly visible full side-breasts and perfectly round, jade-pillar-like beautiful legs were all exposed. To Lu Li, this girl’s half-covered appearance was the most alluring. He silently repeated the word “sister” in his heart, forcing himself to discard all distracting thoughts.
After Lu Li had regained some of his composure and looked at Zhu Qiao again, he found that Zhu Qiao’s chestnut-colored hair was already dripping wet. He reached out to touch it; it was cold water. “Little Qiao, did you wash your hair with cold water?”
Zhu Qiao held the bath towel at her chest with one hand and put the other behind her back. “…I was afraid of troubling you, Mr. Producer, so I thought it would be fine to just wash it with cold water… But… it’s too cold… I’m sorry…”
It was winter right now. How could she wash her hair with cold water? Lu Li felt this girl, Zhu Qiao, was a bit too disconnected from society. “How did you used to take a shower?”
“Before, Grandma Zhu would fetch water with a wooden bucket, and then I would use a ladle to pour the water over myself. That counted as a shower,” Zhu Qiao said. “The one at Sister Xi’s house was all electronic screens. I-I’ve never seen one like yours, Mr. Producer…”
Lu Li smiled, alleviating the unease in Zhu Qiao’s heart. “The one at my place isn’t as high-end as Zhu Xi’s. It’s a small problem. I’ll teach you how to use it. Look, you turn it to the left for hot water. The further left you turn it, the hotter the water gets. Little Qiao, hold out your hand and test the water temperature.”
Hearing this, Zhu Qiao carefully extended the hand she had been holding behind her back. Lu Li aimed the showerhead at her fair and tender little hand. “How’s the water temperature? Does it need to be hotter or cooler?” Lu Li’s gentle and warm attitude finally put Zhu Qiao’s anxious heart at ease. She didn’t like to trouble others.
“It can, it can be a little hotter…”
Sure enough, do girls all use hotter water for their showers? Lu Li had originally thought this water temperature was just right, but he still raised the water temperature slightly.
“How about now?”
“Mhm… it’s much better now.” Unwittingly, Zhu Qiao had already moved very close to him, her full breasts faintly pressing against his arm. This girl, however, didn’t mind at all and nodded cheerfully at Lu Li. Lu Li thought, if Zhu Qiao is just pretending to be a pig to eat the tiger, then her skill level is simply too high. Even Zhu Xi would have to admit defeat.
The emotional debt on his shoulders was already enough. Any more and there would be an economic crisis. Lu Li slightly withdrew. “Then you can wash up by yourself. I’ll go out first, okay?”
Zhu Qiao suddenly grabbed him, her bright eyes looking at him with confusion. “Mr. Producer, can’t you help me wash?”
