"Good morning, everyone,"
Shen Lang walked over and greeted the group, who were chatting and laughing.
"Good morning—"
Everyone looked at Shen Lang and responded with smiles.
Upon hearing their replies, Shen Lang's gaze went first to Gu Qinghan. He smiled and asked, "Sister, did you sleep well last night?"
Shen Lang wanted to find out if the person he was looking for was indeed Gu Qinghan. As he asked, he kept a close eye on her, trying to catch every subtle reaction.
"Thank you for your concern, little brother. I slept very well last night."
Gu Qinghan looked at Shen Lang and smiled brightly. "For the past two years, I've been working overtime, at least until two or three in the morning every day. I've never gone to bed this early. This sleep was truly comfortable."
"Your schedule isn't healthy, Sister. You should rest earlier and not overwork yourself."
Seeing that Gu Qinghan didn't seem to be lying, Shen Lang smiled and replied.
Having confirmed that it wasn't Gu Qinghan, Shen Lang shifted his attention to Ye Shishi. He smiled and said, "Shishi, what about you? How did you sleep last night?"
Ye Shishi was bold and unrestrained, so Shen Lang suspected she was the one.
Thus, when he asked Ye Shishi, Shen Lang stared intently at her, not wanting to miss a single detail.
"I didn't sleep very well."
Ye Shishi yawned and replied, "What happened last night felt like a nightmare, so I didn't fall asleep until two in the morning."
"What?"
Hearing Ye Shishi's words, Shen Lang was slightly surprised. "You only fell asleep that late. Didn't you hear anything?"
"No."
Ye Shishi shook her head. "My room is on the third floor. It was very quiet up there, with no noise at all. What's wrong? Was there some commotion on the first floor?"
As she said this, Ye Shishi smirked wickedly. "Shen Lang, you weren't watching something late at night and your Bluetooth earbuds suddenly ran out of battery, making a sound, were you?"
"Oh, you rascal! I never would have guessed you were that kind of person. I really misjudged you."
"I..."
Hearing Ye Shishi's words, Shen Lang's face instantly turned red. He tried to defend himself, "Don't wrongly accuse me. I'm not that kind of person. Watching things? Can someone with a strong thirst for knowledge be said to be 'watching things'? It's called learning."
Then, Shen Lang launched into a string of phrases that no one understood, such as "I love learning" and "Learning brings me joy," filling the villa's living room with cheerful laughter.
Facing the laughter, Shen Lang was a bit bewildered. If it wasn't Gu Qinghan, and it wasn't Ye Shishi, could it be Wang Yuyan?
With this thought, Shen Lang looked at Wang Yuyan and smiled, "Yuyan, did you sleep well last night?"
"I slept very well. What's wrong?"
Hearing Shen Lang's question, Wang Yuyan's face bloomed like a flower. "After I got drunk, I returned to the villa and slept until dawn. I didn't even know how they got here."
Saying this, Wang Yuyan took a step forward, poked Shen Lang's chest with her slender middle finger, and asked in a playful yet sharp tone, "Brother Shen, do you want to explain why they are here?"
"Uh..."
Shen Lang hadn't expected that his attempt to probe Wang Yuyan would backfire, leading to him being questioned about a sensitive issue. His expression changed slightly, but he quickly composed himself and explained, "Sister and Shishi ran into some trouble last night, so I let them stay at the villa."
"Trouble?"
Wang Yuyan looked at Gu Qinghan and Ye Shishi and smiled playfully. "The director of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Martial Guard Bureau and the boss of Zhongzhou Bank? You ran into trouble? It seems your intelligence isn't all that impressive."
"You..."
Seeing Wang Yuyan's disdainful look, Ye Shishi trembled with anger.
Ye Shishi wanted to retort, but she realized that they had indeed been caught off guard last night due to insufficient precautions. The words caught in her throat.
"Hmph—"
Wang Yuyan snorted at Ye Shishi's silence. "When the times lack heroes, commoners rise to fame. Ye Shishi, for someone like you to achieve what you have at Zhongzhou Bank, it seems the younger generation of Zhongzhou is nothing special."
"In three months, at most three months, I will show you how insignificant your achievements are compared to mine."
With that, Wang Yuyan turned to Shen Lang, her arrogant and unrestrained face suddenly softening. "Big Brother Shen, I heard you're going to Shuzhong, right?"
Wang Yuyan was spirited and unrestrained, but in front of Yu Xiao, she would never call Shen Lang "husband."
This was because Wang Yuyan understood that Shen Lang didn't want to hurt Yu Xiao, and Wang Yuyan herself felt the same.
"Yes, I have some business in Shuzhong."
Shen Lang was surprised that Wang Yuyan already knew and replied.
"Oh, then I'll wait for you to come back."
Wang Yuyan glanced at the date on her phone and said thoughtfully.
"Okay—"
Shen Lang nodded and said, "I'll definitely be back soon."
After breakfast, Shen Lang handed the car keys to Gu Qinghan and asked her to drive Ye Shishi home.
Shen Lang, on the other hand, packed a few clothes and then called for a car, heading from the villa to Nanling Airport.
When Shen Lang arrived at the entrance of Nanling Airport, Shi Wuxie, dressed in white like snow and appearing like a celestial being, was already waiting.
"Good, you're punctual."
Seeing Shen Lang appear, Shi Wuxie showed a rare smile.
"An appointment, especially one with a beauty, should naturally be kept punctual."
Shen Lang looked at Shi Wuxie and smiled. "I'm very curious, where did you sleep last night?"
"For me, sleeping anywhere is fine. However, I prefer the deep mountains."
Shi Wuxie said, "Sleeping in the deep mountains, accompanied by thousands of birds, gives me a sense of security."
"That's a form of social anxiety,"
Shen Lang remarked. "Who sleeps in the deep mountains? We're not primitive people. You should step out of your world more and interact with outsiders, especially with good young men like me."
"Birds are gentle, but ultimately, they are not human. As humans, we should interact more with people."
"People?"
Shi Wuxie scoffed. "Birds are speechless beasts, but sometimes people are worse than these speechless beasts. Compared to interacting with people, I'd rather be with birds."
"Shen Lang, you don't need to say so much to me, nor do you need to consider me a friend. We are merely in a transaction."
Shi Wuxie stated calmly, "I let you all go at the Nanling execution ground. In return, you help me save someone. This is an equal transaction."
"After the transaction is complete, we will go our separate ways and never meet again in this lifetime."
"To live without meeting, like the stars Tai Wei and Can Shu, our life paths were never meant to overlap, were they?"
Hearing Shi Wuxie's words, Shen Lang was slightly startled. He knew she had a cold personality, but he hadn't expected her to be so indifferent.
It seemed Shen Lang needed to use warmth to melt her heart.