Chapter 9: Number One in the World [9]

Sister Li was going home with her for the New Year? Real or fake?

Shu Heng’s mind was a muddled mess until Li Jianwei pulled her by the hand through the VIP channel for check-in and boarding. Only then did a trace of reassurance bubble up in her heart.

She had actually boarded the plane with Sister Li! She was really going home with her for the New Year! For real!

“Sister Li, let me book a hotel for you first.” Shu Heng suppressed her excited heart and spoke a bit haltingly as she pulled out her phone to pick a hotel. She completely ignored the fact that the plane hadn’t reached cruising altitude yet, and the in-flight WiFi wasn’t connected.

Li Jianwei didn’t stop her. She just watched as Shu Heng realized she couldn’t connect to the plane’s WiFi, silently put her phone away, and picked up a magazine to ease the awkwardness.

“I’m going home with you for the New Year, and you want me to stay in a hotel? Hmm?” Li Jianwei’s tone rose at the end as she leaned in to ask.

“No, it’s just that there’s no extra guest room at home.” Shu Heng’s back went rigid, and she didn’t even dare breathe too loudly. “If Sister doesn’t mind, you can sleep in my bed.”

Li Jianwei lowered her gaze to Shu Heng’s reddened ear outline. “Then where will you sleep?”

“I can sleep on the sofa or on the floor…” Shu Heng’s voice grew smaller and smaller. She seemed to realize her arrangement wasn’t quite right.

“I can sleep with Mom.” Shu Heng made one last desperate struggle.

Li Jianwei tried hard not to laugh, but the corners of her mouth still curved up involuntarily. “I’m going home with you for the New Year, not to take over your room.”

“Is your bed only 1.2 meters?”

Shu Heng shook her head. “It’s 1.5 meters.”

Shu Heng’s family conditions were average, but she had a mom who loved her very much, so her quality of life wasn’t low.

Li Jianwei leaned in slightly, her lips close to Shu Heng’s reddened ear, her tone intimate. “Shu Heng, do you mind if I take half your bed?”

“No, not at all. As long as Sister doesn’t mind, I have no objections.” Shu Heng swallowed, crumpling the edges of the magazine in her grip.

Shu Heng could clearly feel someone else’s breath sprinkling on her ear, making her heart race uncontrollably.

It was Li Jianwei’s breath, accompanied by the faint, elegant scent of her perfume.

If she turned her head right now, would she…

Li Jianwei slowly sat back up straight, no longer teasing the Little Cabbage whose ears were red enough to drip blood. “Then I’ll politely take over your room. As compensation, whenever you need it in the future, you can come stay at my place for a bit too.”

Shu Heng didn’t dare voice her agreement, only secretly cheering and rejoicing in her heart.

–

Shu Heng’s hometown was in a small county town. After getting off the plane, they still needed a two-hour bus ride.

Going home with Shu Heng for the New Year had been a spur-of-the-moment decision by Li Jianwei, which meant she couldn’t buy same-day tickets after landing.

Wasting a day wasn’t a smart move, so Li Jianwei headed straight to a nearby 4S dealership. Under Shu Heng’s shocked gaze, she bought a ready stock car for getting around and completed insurance, inspection, and license plate selection within two hours.

The only downside was that making the license plate took one working day, so they had to use a temporary plate in the meantime.

After leaving Shu Heng’s home address for the mailing, Li Jianwei drove the new car with Shu Heng toward their destination a hundred kilometers away.

“Sister Li, we could actually call a ride-share to take us back.” Shu Heng said belatedly, now that the car AC was blowing.

“That’s a good idea, but with all the visiting friends during New Year, having a car is more convenient.” Li Jianwei replied casually. “Besides, traffic is congested this time of year, and the risk of accidents is higher than usual. It’s safer to have the wheel in our own hands.”

Shu Heng thought it made perfect sense and quietly enjoyed the driving service from her top boss.

“Do you not have a driver’s license yet?” Li Jianwei asked, casually switching the car radio to a music channel.

Soothing music flowed from the speakers, breaking the slightly quiet atmosphere in the car.

Shu Heng shook her head honestly. “Not yet. I didn’t think about it in college.”

“Then get one while you’re not too busy. It’ll be much more convenient for school or business trips with a car.” Li Jianwei said. “You can use the company car then. Count it as an employee perk.”

Shu Heng nodded obediently. She wanted to say thanks, but felt plain words weren’t enough to express her gratitude.

Counting it up, her place to live was provided by Sister Li, her job was arranged by Sister Li, her grad school tuition was covered by Sister Li, and even Professor Gong Li had been introduced by Sister Li.

Damn, she’d asked for too much from Sister already! Her only payback was working for Sister—and it was a job with high pay!

The more she tallied it in her mind, the more Shu Heng felt she owed Li Jianwei a ton.

After the annoyance, she inevitably thought back to her first failed resignation. She’d actually been tricked by Wang Yuanfei, hadn’t kept the business card Sister gave her, and hadn’t firmly chosen Sister!

Damn it! If not for Wang Yuanfei, she definitely would’ve picked Zhizhu Technology when first looking for internships! Then she could’ve met Sister Li half a year earlier!

Shu Heng sank into her emotions, her mouth corners rising one moment, her brows furrowing the next, her face full of rich expressions. Even Li Jianwei, who was driving, couldn’t help but glance over.

Little Cabbage’s inner world was truly rich. Who knew what she was thinking.

–

Bathed in the sunset glow, Li Jianwei drove off the highway and into the small county town full of everyday life.

Unlike the high-rises of Sea City, there were hardly any tall buildings here. Looking out, it felt spacious and open, refreshing the mind.

But county towns had their small issues too—like the electric bike now blocking Li Jianwei’s car. The rider on the little scooter didn’t care about staying in the non-motorized lane at all, changing lanes whenever they felt like it.

“The local government has tried cracking down, but once the police pull back, old habits return in no time.” Shu Heng pursed her lips, trying to explain why this happened to avoid giving Li Jianwei a bad first impression of her hometown.

“Non-motorized vehicles taking lanes is tied to cars parking randomly too. It’s all interconnected, hard to fix from the root.”

Li Jianwei nodded in understanding and turned on her headlights to illuminate the road ahead. “Maybe the local government could introduce one of our company’s systems. Link it to the main road cameras for automated enforcement.”

“Of course, rational urban planning is necessary too. If needed, we have a system that auto-generates smart city upgrade plans.”

Once they got into professional topics, Shu Heng’s attention shifted quickly. “That’s a great idea, but we haven’t fully implemented smart government here yet. We’d need to start with building an integrated public service platform.”

“That’s not hard. If the leaders have the guts, a year is enough.” Li Jianwei lightly braked and stopped at the crosswalk waiting for the red light.

As the sunset faded, streetlights along the roads gradually lit up, dotting the small county town with under 500,000 residents.

3, 2, 1. After the light turned green, Li Jianwei released the brake.

Before she could hit the gas, an electric motorcycle sped from the left, seemingly trying to barrel through just as the light turned red.

Li Jianwei reacted fast and slammed the brakes in time. The car barely moved, only the front wheel crossing the white line.

But the driver in the next lane clearly wasn’t paying attention and had already pulled ahead by a car length.

Bang—

The electric motorcycle smashed into that car’s door. The helmeted rider flew off from the momentum.

The crashed bike then slammed into Li Jianwei’s car, shattering the front headlight and dragging her into the mess for no reason.