Bai Shasha rolled her eyes at him, "Why are you everywhere!" Li Si looked at the two bickering like children and couldn’t hold back her laughter.
"That doesn’t sound right, Bai Shasha. Counting today, this is only our second eting, isn’t it?" Jia Yuejing, dressed in a red suit and a pale blue shirt, casually sat down next to Bai Shasha without hesitation.
"What kind of person are you? Did anyone tell you to sit here?" Bai Shasha huffed angrily and moved to sit beside Li Si.
"Li Si, why are you two free to eat out today? Why haven’t I seen Yin Xian around?" Jia Yuejing adjusted his expression, setting aside his earlier playful deanor.
"Why would we be with him? That question of yours is off!" Li Si thought to herself that her relationship with Yin Xian hadn’t reached that stage yet.
Jia Yuejing froze for a mont, "No way, you don’t know yet?"
"Know what?" Li Si pressed, feeling even more confused.
"I really shouldn’t be the one spilling the beans, but since we bumped into each other today, I’ll let you in on it. Yin Xian is planning to partner with to open a construction company in North City! Initially, the location was set in Beijing, but for so reason, this guy got a crazy idea and switched it here! We’re all smart people, so I won’t need to say much more..."
Li Si’s face flushed subtly, "Maybe North City’s investnt environnt is better. Don’t jump to conclusions!"
"You’ll know the details when the ti cos! Ladies, today’s al is on —order whatever you like, no need to pay!"
"Really? Don’t tell this restaurant belongs to your family?" Bai Shasha still wasn’t convinced and questioned him skeptically.
"Why do you think I admire you, Bai Shasha? Smart as always! I own shares in this place—feel free to eat! No worries! I’ve got sothing to do, so I’ll head out first. Goodbye!" Jia Yuejing had been unable to suppress the joy in his heart ever since he saw Bai Shasha monts earlier. As he turned to wave goodbye, the corners of his mouth curved into a big grin. Yin Xian, buddy, aren’t I doing you a solid?
Bai Shasha: "..."
"Looks like I’m benefiting from you, Queen Shasha. Let interview you for a mont—how are you feeling right now? Thrilled? Excited?" Li Si had returned to her usual self, joking mischievously.
"Get lost! You still haven’t explained your question. What exactly was Yuejing talking about earlier?" Bai Shasha refused to let go of the unresolved issue, not letting herself be distracted.
"Ask ? I know even less than you! Last night, I ca ho, and as soon as I reached the third floor, I saw a shadow that nearly scared to death! Just as I was about to run downstairs, the shadow spoke—it turned out to be him. He said Aunt Han asked him to drop off a bracelet for before she left. After that, he left!" Li Si recalled in a daze, stripping away everything except his playful teasing about her childhood photos—whatever needed explaining had already been explained.
"That doesn’t add up—sothing’s definitely going on here. You, my friend, are attracting love luck! Honestly, Yin Xian seems alright. If it gets serious, just take the plunge! Your sis is rooting for you!"
"Oh, co on! This is all over the place—don’t listen to Yuejing’s nonsense! I think he was just playing with us! Nothing was wrong, but he made sothing out of nothing! Ah, the steak is here—if you’re not eating, I will! I’m starving, starving!" The waiter brought in plates one after another. Li Si grabbed her knife and fork, quickly sliced a piece, popped it into her mouth, and nodded secretly while chewing—it was really delicious!
"That actually makes so sense. This Yuejing is too sneaky. Let’s order more food—what do you say? Let’s take advantage of him!" Bai Shasha, fully agreeing, imdiately grabbed the nu and ordered a bunch more. The two left the restaurant just shy of leaning against the walls for support. Worth it—so, so worth it! But being overstuffed felt far from comfortable!
Although Li Si didn’t take Jia Yuejing’s words to heart, a tiny ripple stirred within her. Ever since her first encounter with Yin Xian, she’d admittedly had favorable impressions. Later interactions had slowly brought them closer too.
There weren’t romantic feelings—more like the sense of being friends. How to describe it? It was more than friendship but less than love. After all, she’d loved before—the blush-inducing, heart-racing, can’t-help-but-miss-them kind of emotions weren’t there. At least not yet.
Jia Yuejing, though, wasn’t as fortunate. After running through the business details with Yin Xian, he endured a non-human level of suffering. Who knows how many beers he had already drunk; his eyes were bloodshot. Suddenly, he realized—was he just poking his nose into soone else’s business for no reason? His wails echoed repeatedly!
On February 8th, Lunar New Year, Li Si squeezed into the wave of Spring Festival travelers in mid-January and booked a flight to Beijing to return ho.
At that mont, she stood out on the gifted terrace, surveying the high-rise surroundings. Beijing was definitely warr—you didn’t even need a thick jacket, and a light coat was enough.
The building she’d purchased was 32 stories high. The forr owner had fully renovated the apartnt, and Li Si really liked the style. Besides the terrace, she noticed another terrace across from hers—it seed well-decorated with tables, chairs, and plants. Li Si thought about the swing Beibei had shown her how to make. If possible, she’d like to spruce up her terrace a little. For now, though, flowers and plants were a no-go since she wouldn’t be living there often. Instead, installing so weatherproof wooden decking and a pavilion seed doable.
But for now, it was just an idea. As the Spring Festival approached, many workers had already gone ho early to celebrate, so she’d need to wait until after the holiday to hire a decoration company to handle it.
She took out four pieces of rough jade she’d stored away, hesitated, then put two back. Packing the remaining ones, she got changed and hailed a taxi to Pan Garden.
Her second visit to Pan Garden brought many thoughts. She recalled her last visit—during the sumr—when she’d just returned to this life. Back then, she’d only planned to buy so properties and beco a landlord waiting for the housing prices to soar. She’d grown a lot since then. Her mindset had changed profoundly—if given the chance, she wanted to help more people who were in need.
Treasure House felt lively, perhaps because Lunar New Year was approaching—many people were browsing around.
Li Si walked around the shop, picked up a few items, and asked about their prices. A little later, she headed to the backyard. The manager-like person she’d run into last ti wasn’t there—only a young man, possibly a clerk, was showing so custors a pile of raw jade stones.
"Miss, would you like to pick a stone? These are fresh, high-quality old mine materials from yesterday!" The young man looked to be in his twenties, with bright, intelligent eyes that exuded shrewdness.
"Sure, I’ll take a look!" Li Si casually stepped forward and began sifting through stones of various sizes. None gave her the sa feeling as the red jade she’d found last ti.
"Excuse , can stones purchased here be cut here?" Li Si asked softly.
The young man paused, scratching his head, "Probably? Miss, I’m new here and don’t know everything yet. Wait, I’ll go ask the boss for you!" With that, he quickly headed toward the front of the shop.
Li Si waited only a few minutes before the young man dashed back energetically, "Yes, you can. Do you want to cut them now?"
"Of course!" Li Si handed over one of the stones.
As the stonecutter’s saw buzzed away, the first slice revealed nothing but plain rock—no jade. Still unfazed, Li Si handed over another stone, but again, no jade erged.
"Still no luck, young lady. Your luck doesn’t seem too great!" comnted an older man who seed to have retired, observing from the side.
"Old man, do you think jade cos out with every cut? What nonsense! If it were that easy to find jade, it wouldn’t be called gambling on stones!" scoffed a burly man chewing on a toothpick, casting a dismissive glance their way.
"Young fellow, I wasn’t even talking to you!" The older man’s face showed visible displeasure.
"I’ve still got two stones left—let’s give them a try!" Taking advantage of the mont while retrieving the stones from her bag, Li Si discreetly replaced them with the pieces she’d stored away earlier.
One particular stone had an especially pleasant feel to it—what surprise would it bring her?
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