Volume 14
Chapter 13: Eighty Years of a Long Life
Lu Li felt he was the earliest retiree among the children from the Low-Rent District. Retiring at eighteen—no, nineteen—should be something to be proud of. At this thought, Lu Li felt a little smug. As for Zhu Xi, she had always been unpredictable, one moment laughing, the next angry. Lu Li felt that when she got old, she definitely wouldn’t get Alzheimer’s.
After getting old… Lu Li’s mood suddenly dropped. If the Price couldn’t be resolved, could he accompany them until their hair turned white? The difficulties of reality could be overcome by human effort, but what about the incredible Price?
When Lu Li saw Zhu Xi again, it was in the afternoon. She had changed into a sharply tailored suit and stood in front of the Chu family mansion with sunglasses on, followed by a row of solemn attendants, looking murderous. When Lu Li went out to greet her, Zhu Qiao poked her head out from behind her sister, smiling like a fool. “Gege~” And behind Lu Li, the Silly Goose first cautiously sized up Zhu Xi, then curiously observed Zhu Qiao.
Just as Lu Li was about to briefly introduce them to each other, he heard Zhu Xi say coldly, “What? The Chu family sent you to greet me? You think you’re the master of the house?”
Zhu Xi’s temper seemed particularly long-lasting today. Lu Li generally advocated a “guerrilla tactic” with Zhu Xi, which was to avoid her when she was angry and advance when she was calm. So he didn’t bicker with Zhu Xi, just looked at the Fourteenth Princess with a grin. The emperor wasn’t anxious, but the little eunuch was. Zhu Qiao said in a small voice, “Sister Xi, don’t be angry at gege. He’s already worked very hard.”
Chu Jingyi didn’t care about Zhu Xi’s princess status at all. “This will be Lu Li’s home in the future!”
Zhu Xi took a deep breath, glanced at the two silly girls, and then looked at the smiling Lu Li, her anger rising. “You’ll all be sold by this scumbag man sooner or later. Little Qiao, you’re still smiling? Your fiancé has run off with someone else!”
Lu Li and the Silly Goose exchanged a look. He said, “I wouldn’t have the heart to sell her. Yibao, this is Zhu Xi’s biological sister, Zhu Qiao, and also the fiancée I told you about yesterday.” Last night, he and Yibao had spoken everything out. They had had a heart-to-heart talk, and the Silly Goose no longer had any insecure thoughts. At this moment, Lu Li’s unreserved introduction made Zhu Xi marvel. “Scumbag man, you have a way with women.”
Lu Li pretended not to hear Zhu Xi’s resentful words. He gave Zhu Xi a little nickname in his heart: “Little Resentful Wife.” He said to Chu Jingyi, “Yibao, you take Zhu Qiao to play. Zhu Xi and I are going to go see our grandpa.” Lu Li felt that Jingyi and Zhu Qiao were somewhat similar. They should have things to talk about. What was that saying again? Idiots attract… was that it?
After Chu Jingyi led the reluctant Zhu Qiao away, who kept looking back every three steps, Lu Li looked at Zhu Xi. “Little Resent—ah no, my dear, you look so dashing in this outfit today…” Zhu Xi snorted through her nose. “Who’s your dear! Don’t you touch me!” The attendants behind Zhu Xi silently slowed their steps, keeping their distance from their masters.
It would be foolish if Lu Li really didn’t touch her. He wrapped his arm around Zhu Xi’s waist and walked forward with her. “I was wrong last night. My phone battery isn’t very good. I forgot to charge it, and it automatically shut down.” Zhu Xi’s lips pulled down. “Scumbag man, do you think I’m a fool?”
“No.”
“Pah, you were clearly up to some dirty business with that girl last night.” Zhu Xi’s voice was kept low, but the resentment in her tone shot through the sky.
“You know, I’ve always been working hard for her…”
“I know. I also know you want to marry her. You don’t have to explain to me, nor do you have to apologize to me. You’re my brother-in-law. You should save your breath to coax Little Qiao in the future. When she’s older and understands, she might blame you.” After saying these words, Zhu Xi was startled and quickly closed her mouth, afraid that some more sour words would slip out.
She took a few deep breaths and told herself: Zhu Xi, you are a princess of Shenzhou, a person who will do great things in the future. You cannot get caught up in the sentiments of a little girl…
Lu Li grunted in agreement and let go of the pig trotter wrapped around Zhu Xi’s waist. This was because there were quite a few people coming from ahead. Lu Li, considering Chu Jingyi’s and Zhu Xi’s face, didn’t want to appear too frivolous. Zhu Xi glanced at him with a complicated expression, shifted half a step to the right, and kept her distance from Lu Li.
“After this… what?” Lu Li asked.
“What?” Zhu Xi didn’t hear him clearly.
“After this, what do you plan to do? The Yan Matriarch has already been sent away. No one is forcing you to take revenge. You and Zhu Youcheng have also reconciled. The crisis of the Yan family is also resolved now. What do you plan to do in the future?”
Zhu Xi’s eyes were dazed for a moment. “I want to…” She wanted to say she wanted to do great things. This was an idea that her grandmother had ingrained in her mind since she was a child. But what “great things” was she going to do? Lu Li was right. In just a few short months, all her life’s goals had been dissolved. For a moment, Zhu Xi couldn’t even find her way forward.
To just be content with silence and be a mascot princess? But how could she be content with that… Would a Zhu Xi who didn’t smile or cry, like a clay or wooden puppet, still be Zhu Xi?
“I don’t know.” Zhu Xi’s mood dropped. “Scumbag man, what about you? Now that you’ve gotten the beauty and found such a big backer in the Chu family, what do you plan to do?”
“Go home, open another company, and continue to make my games. Then live with the ones I love, and just muddle through life waiting to die like this… no, muddle through life waiting for the day the Price comes.” Lu Li shrugged. “I know I’m not very promising. I have such good resources but don’t know how to use them, and I’m not used to living a life of wealth and power. You don’t have to criticize me. I’ve already laughed at myself.”
Zhu Xi said dazedly, “Why do you always want to make games?”
Why did he want to make games? To Lu Li, the reason was so simple it was comical. At first, it was because he had heard in junior high that a classmate had stolen his grandfather’s medical money to top up in a game. At that time, Lu Li realized that in this era, entertainment was the most profitable business. Later, it was the inertia of his rebirth that made him walk down the old path. Thinking about it now, after he had earned his first pot of gold, he could have completely gone into investment. Although the major share would have been swallowed by the aristocratic families, at least he would have had no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life.
Of course, if not for games, he wouldn’t have been able to earn his first pot of gold, wouldn’t have been able to meet Hupo and Jingyi, and wouldn’t have been able to pay his university tuition. Now, Lu Li just wanted to follow his own heart and live out this life simply.
On the day he died of old age, he could proudly say that he had lived a carefree and free life. Lu Li thought idly, I should be the last one to die of old age. If I go too early, the girls will cry their hearts out. Let me be the last one to experience the most pain.
Seeing Lu Li not speaking, Zhu Xi thought he had something he couldn’t say. Little did she know that Lu Li was already thinking about his life eighty years from now.
Zhu Xi said, “Tonight, don’t stay at the Chu family’s. Come with me to the prison. I’ll find a death row inmate for you…”
Lu Li was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll listen to whatever you say.”
Hearing Lu Li’s reply, Zhu Xi’s expression suddenly softened a lot. She sighed, took a small step to the left, and moved closer to Lu Li. “You’re not going to hold me?”
“I’m afraid they’ll think it’s frivolous.”
“Are you going to hold me or not?”
Lu Li thought for a moment, then once again wrapped his arm around Zhu Xi’s thin waist. To his surprise, Zhu Xi leaned slightly on his shoulder, her delicate body relaxing a lot.
