Chapter 100: Xiao Ruiqi
Chapter 100: Xiao Ruiqi
Not long after returning home, Yang Mi also came back. Tang Chen happily went up to hug her, then kissed her on the cheek, and said, “My wife is back! Your husband has cooked a meal for you.”
Yang Mi let him hold her and sit on the couch, though she seemed a bit down. He said with concern, “You’re not fully recovered yet. Who told you to cook?”
Tang Chen said it was no big deal. He noticed Yang Mi seemed to have something on her mind, so he asked, “My little treasure, what happened? You don’t look too happy.”
Yang Mi sighed, then lowered her head and said, “Tang Chen, Xiaoqing is leaving. I really don’t want her to go.”
Tang Chen was slightly stunned. Was Lu Xiaoqing really leaving? Last time she called him, he thought she was joking. So she really was leaving?
About Lu Xiaoqing, Tang Chen didn’t have any special feelings, he just thought she was a very unique girl. Now that she was really leaving, he felt a bit sad.
“Tang Chen, why are you spacing out? Ugh, I’m trying to talk to you seriously!” Yang Mi pouted her red lips, unhappy, and tried to get up from Tang Chen’s embrace.
“Sorry, sorry, don’t be mad.” Tang Chen wouldn’t let her leave. He quickly held her tightly, making her sit on his lap, and pretended not to know, saying, “Lu Xiaoqing is leaving? Where is she going? Why?”
Tang Chen didn’t dare say he already knew this news; otherwise, Yang Mi would surely be suspicious. Even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, for the sake of their happy life together, it was better to pretend he didn’t know.
Yang Mi snorted in a spoiled way, then continued, “Xiaoqing just told me today. She said her parents want her to go to the United States for better schooling. She’ll probably leave next week.” The more Yang Mi spoke, the sadder she became. Her little nose twitched as she said, “Tang Chen, I don’t want her to go, but there’s nothing I can do. At school, Xiaoqing and I are the closest. If she leaves, I won’t really have any friends.”
Tang Chen pinched her nose, held her tighter with affection, and said, “Alright, dear, if you really miss her, I’ll take you to the United States to visit her when we have time, okay? Besides, you still have me, don’t you?”
Yang Mi gave an affirmative sound, then looked at Tang Chen seriously and said, “Tang Chen, if you ever leave me one day, I’ll die.”
“Don’t say such nonsense!” Tang Chen put his finger on Yang Mi’s lips to stop her from talking, and said, “I won’t leave you. You’re not allowed to die either. We’ll be together forever, sticking close all the way to the ends of the earth. Understand, silly?”
Tang Chen’s deep affection moved Yang Mi deeply. Tears welled up in her eyes. She threw her little backpack on the floor, then hooked her arms around Tang Chen’s neck and whispered in his ear, “Tang Chen, I want it.”
Tang Chen’s little brother immediately pitched a tent. He laid her on the sofa and said, “I’m ready to pay the public dues.”
Yang Mi giggled, her face blushing as she said, “Let’s go to the room. There are condoms in the drawer. I won’t let you if you don’t wear one.”
“Whatever.” Tang Chen grinned, then picked Yang Mi up, tossed her shoes, socks, and top onto the floor, pulled off his own belt, and went upstairs.
Silence was better than words, and a sport beloved by both men and women began.
The following days remained as calm as usual. Tang Chen had gotten addicted to being lazy and didn’t go back to school. He just stayed at home. On Sundays, he went shopping with Yang Mi, and when he was home, he went out to show off and accept Missions.
However, the System’s Missions were becoming harder and harder to trigger. Almost a week passed, and only one Mission was triggered! And that Mission was to help a child retrieve a balloon stuck in a tree…
Today was Monday again. Tang Chen woke up at nine o’clock. Last night’s battle lasted four hours, so he was really tired. Of course, to prevent such frequent activity from making her pregnant, Yang Mi made Tang Chen wear a condom every time.
Ring ring!
The phone rang. Tang Chen picked up his Mobile Phone and saw it was a call from Boss Pang. He answered, “Hey, Old Pang, what’s up with Young Master?”
Boss Pang said on the other end, “Young Master Tang, last time we bought that piece of land to open a branch, right? We found a Construction Team, and construction starts today. I thought the first shovel for the foundation should be dug by you personally, so I wanted to invite you to come with me.”
Tang Chen agreed, then went out and took a taxi to Boss Pang’s Hotel. Why didn’t he have Boss Pang pick him up? Tang Chen was thinking that taking a taxi might lead to encountering some idiot causing trouble, but it turned out that after the taxi driver received five big red bills from Tang Chen, he treated Tang Chen like his own ancestor and dropped him off at Junyue.
Sure enough, in these times, if you have money, you’re the master.
The land they bought last time was in the southern suburbs. After a bumpy ride, they arrived at the construction site, where a large group of workers wearing hard hats were already waiting.
“Boss Pang.” The head of the Construction Team was a middle-aged man in his forties. He quickly came over to shake hands with Boss Pang, looking very polite.
Boss Pang didn’t avoid shaking his hand either and introduced, “Foreman Yang, let me introduce you. This is the boss of Junyue, Young Master Tang. Young Master Tang, this is Yang Hengmin, the foreman.”
Yang Hengmin quickly bowed and said, “Hello, hello, I’m Yang Hengmin.”
Tang Chen always respected the migrant workers who toiled under the hot sun, so he nodded and smiled, “Foreman Yang, you’ve worked hard.”
Boss Pang saw that they had met and asked Tang Chen, “Young Master Tang, should we start the ground-breaking ceremony now?”
Tang Chen gave an affirmative sound and said, “Let’s start now. Young Master has things to do this afternoon.”
Boss Pang nodded and said to Yang Hengmin, “Foreman Yang, get things ready.”
Yang Hengmin said yes, then shouted loudly, “Xiao Kuan, hurry up and bring the shovel prepared for the big boss, and tell everyone to get ready.”
“Coming!” A young man who looked about 25 or 26 years old and was smoking answered, then jogged over with the shovel and handed it to Yang Hengmin.
Yang Hengmin glared at him and scolded, “You dumb kid, why are you giving the shovel to me? Of course, it’s for the big boss, for Young Master Tang.”
Xiao Kuan grinned, then handed the shovel to Tang Chen. Tang Chen had a favorable impression of such simple and honest young men. He smiled, took the shovel, and said, “Brother, you’re pretty good. If you have time, you can come find me at Junyue.”
“Thank you, big boss! Thank you, big boss!” Xiao Kuan quickly shouted excitedly. Did this mean the big boss had taken a liking to him?
“Young Master Tang, this way.” Yang Hengmin gestured and led Tang Chen and the others to a patch of soft soil.
Tang Chen was about to start digging, but Yang Hengmin said, “Young Master Tang, could you wait a moment? In my hometown, there’s a custom: before breaking ground, we need to kill a chicken as an offering to heaven. What do you think?”
Tang Chen said oh, smiled casually, and said, “No problem, just hurry up.”
“Okay, okay.” Yang Hengmin said gratefully, then called out to a girl working nearby, “Ruiqi girl, bring a chicken over!”
“Coming!” The girl who was called had a somewhat loud voice. She wore somewhat dirty and old clothes, then carried a chicken over.
The girl looked about 22 years old, standing around 163 centimeters tall. She was at a youthful and pretty age, but she wore a pair of gray shoes that looked very old-fashioned, completely lacking the liveliness that other young girls usually had.
Her face looked quite mature, not ugly, but long-term exposure to the sun had made her skin rough and yellow, with many small freckles. Her eyes were sparkling, but her lips were somewhat thick. These features together gave her face a somewhat mismatched feeling.
“Uncle, I brought the chicken!” The girl was Xiao Ruiqi, and she spoke in a heavy, spicy-sounding Sichuan dialect. Xiao Ruiqi had followed this barely-related uncle to work as a laborer after graduating from high school. She was the only female worker in this Construction Team. Yang Hengmin took good care of his niece, only assigning her simple tasks.