socalfunplaces Chapter 29 Camera
Chapter 29 Camera
Fu Congnan disliked bribery and even found basic social etiquette troublesome. Aside from his exception regarding Yu Xingge, he rarely sought anything out of others.
"Don't you like it?"
In his subconscious, Xingge had a clear sense of likes and dislikes and hated things that went against his conscience and principles.
"If you've always been a police officer, how will you bring down Gu Lezhi? And what help can you give me? As far as I know, he's always had quite a wide network of connections."
The two fell silent.
The sky darkened, a layer of milky white condensation clouded the windshield, and the dry wipers scraped against the glass with a hissing sound. The highway floated in the morning mist, the electronic display scrolling the red message "Visibility 200 meters." Beyond the protective netting along the mountainside, the rapeseed fields, their golden hue fading, lay indistinctly visible, the harvested straw stacks resembling countless crouching wild beasts.
Yu Xingge rolled down the car window, and the salty, fishy fog immediately swept away the false calm created by the air conditioning.
She had gotten a little emotional just now; she wasn't usually this rude to Cong Nan. She should have been more tolerant of him; he had helped her a lot, and those past incidents weren't his fault.
But the resentment still surged uncontrollably. Yes, he wasn't entirely innocent either. Because of that love letter, she couldn't forgive him; so many past events she wanted to erase destroyed not only her but also him.
"I'm sorry, Xiaoge, I will change."
Fu Congnan said this to her.
Do you need some comfort?
No!
"Don't work for him anymore. I'm worried about your safety if we find out."
No.
Yu Xingge closed her eyes and pretended to fall asleep.
By the time she returned to the law firm, it was already dark. Yu Xingge didn't want Fu Congnan to know her address, so she made an excuse that she needed to go back to work and asked him to take her to the Jinmen Building. Once she sat down at her desk, she realized there was nothing to do.
Although the real estate team hadn't assigned her any substantial cases since she joined the firm, keeping her on the fringes as an administrative assistant, she hadn't had much free time due to various reasons. She knew she was lucky; a cat that catches mice is a good cat, regardless of its color. Unfortunately, the only case she had now might be canceled by Han Chichi tomorrow, and she wondered if she should still put in the effort to work on it. Unbeknownst to her, Han Chichi was also making her final decision at that very moment.
Han Chichi stood in the kitchen, propping her phone on top of the refrigerator with the camera pointed at the counter. "Now I'll teach you how to make honey-marinated grapes, perfect for cooling down in summer." Fans' greetings flooded the screen, but Han Chichi's fingers, holding the grapes, trembled slightly. Ringo's laughter echoed from the living room, like a rusty nail piercing her ears.
Today is Liang Zan's birthday, and unlike usual, he brought Lin Qing home. Liang Zan has a pair of clear, almond-shaped eyes; when his pupils, black and white, look at you, it gives you the illusion that the whole world revolves around you. However, most of the time, he's too lazy to even look at you. They met through a blind date; how much could he possibly like you? This is how she comforted herself when admonishing herself not to get a divorce.
The mother-in-law brought over a fruit platter and said, "Chichi, after your live stream, tidy up the guest room. Xiaoqing will stay here tonight."
"Um."
Anyway, you don't want a divorce, Han Chichi thought to herself.
"Sister-in-law, Liang Zan wants some grapes. Oh, and no peels, okay? It would be even better if you could mix them with some yogurt." Ringo smiled broadly as she gave her this instruction, turning to look at Liang Zan. Liang Zan gave her a tender, affectionate look. Ringo smiled and lowered her head.
Sister-in-law is sister-in-law, why call her little sister-in-law?
"I don't want a divorce, I don't want a divorce," Han Chichi hypnotized herself.
"Oh my, Xiaoqin. I remember you and Liang Zan met in the first year of junior high school, right? Among his friends, you were the closest to him." Grandma Qiao Qian was still sighing, "Time flies, more than ten years have passed in the blink of an eye."
"Yes. We've known each other since sixth grade, but we were put in the same class in seventh grade."
Liang Zan and Lin Qing exchanged a smile.
First day of the new year? They wouldn't be... on the first day of the new year, would they? Han Chichi felt a chill. She had already prepared six dishes and a soup, and it was almost time to serve the rice. Lin Qing was busy running around carrying the food. Liang Zan's mother sincerely advised, "Qing, just sit down. Chichi's here. Don't be shy. Auntie watched you grow up; in my heart, you're the same as Xiao Zan. Why do you need to do this?" As she spoke, she turned towards the kitchen: "Chichi, isn't it ready yet? The other dishes at the birthday banquet are getting cold." Han Chichi glanced at the dining room; the steamed grouper's eyes were covered with a layer of white mist. Lin Qing and Liang Zan said something, and he smiled and dodged away.
You don't want a divorce, you don't want a divorce, you don't want a divorce. Han Chichi closed her eyes, out of sight, out of mind.
"Auntie, I'm free anyway. Sister Chichi's livestreaming, I'll peel grapes for her." Ringo strode over and squeezed behind the kitchen counter, the cologne on her making her nauseous. She stepped aside, turning the fill light to its lowest setting. Ringo had accidentally entered the frame when she walked over, so she adjusted the camera to focus only on the hands on the kitchen counter. The casserole was bubbling and steaming, and comments flooded the screen: "So handsome!" "Did a handsome guy just flash by?"
A hearty laugh came from the living room: "It's rare to see Xiao Zan in a suit. She looks so smart. She only wears this for her birthday. I still have the photos of her hosting that internet celebrity's wedding last year..." Lin Qing chimed in eagerly: "That's right. Brother Liang is now a golden brand in the wedding industry."
"I'm new here, who's Brother Liang?" "That's the top MC Liang Zan." "Are they a couple?" "Of course! Didn't you see the wedding ring on the blogger's hand? It's the same one as Liang Zan's."
Han Chichi sighed helplessly. It seemed today wasn't a good day for a live stream. She was about to apologize and turn off the microphone, promising to make it up to her fans tomorrow. Suddenly, Lin Qing moved closer to her, rolled up her sleeves, and started washing grapes. On her left wrist, she was wearing a watch from a wedding brand endorsed by Liang Zan.
The comments section suddenly exploded: "The handsome guy behind the blogger has a watch that looks familiar." "Is it the same model as Liang Zan's? I think the blogger has one too..." Before Han Chichi could react, "Chichi, come here for a second."
She dried her hands and walked out of the kitchen. Her mother-in-law, Yi Wan, pushed the medical report in front of her: "Go for a follow-up check of your fallopian tubes tomorrow. Xiao Zan has already made arrangements with Maria Hospital. Although Xiao Qin is also a doctor there, it was not easy to get an appointment. Don't forget again."
When Liang Zan heard his mother bring up the old topic again, he pretended to get up to answer the phone, and took a few steps to the balcony. His gentle voice, which seemed to be talking seriously, drifted in intermittently: "...The bride's bouquet should be lily of the valley, yes, the lily of the valley symbolizes the return of happiness..." Ha, that's hilarious. She always runs away when this topic comes up. What Attorney Yu said actually makes some sense. If they were divorced, she wouldn't need to listen to all this nonsense, would she?
"Are you even listening to me?" Seeing her distracted expression, Yi Wan's anger flared up. "You've been married for three years, and I've never been able to bring myself to say anything to you. You're not getting any younger. Your father and I only have this one son, and we're all waiting to hold our grandson. You can't avoid practicing medicine just because you're not feeling well."
"Mom," Han Chichi looked earnestly at her mother-in-law, "you know I'm live-streaming, right?"
A hint of unease flashed across Yi Wan's face: "What's wrong with live streaming? When will you stop live streaming? You're always doing useless things. You should hurry up and have a baby..."
"Mom," she said earnestly, "I can't do without him." Yi Wan's hand trembled, and the ginseng soup spilled onto the floor with a 'plop,' the oily stains gleaming. Liang Zan rushed over, "Han Chichi!" He had heard the last sentence and glared at her angrily, "What nonsense are you spouting?"
"Isn't that right? Did I forget to show you the backup photos I made last time? You think it's over just because I destroyed the backup of your hotel room photos with Ringo on the USB drive and tore them up?"
The air suddenly froze, and the range hood hummed. The glass bowl in Ringo's hand fell to the ground, and yogurt splashed onto his limited-edition sneakers.
"How did you know I took the USB drive? Did you go through my safe?" Liang Zan's neck flushed red. "Didn't we talk about it last time? I agreed to a divorce, but you had to keep it a secret. If it weren't for dealing with my family..."
"Yes, if it weren't for dealing with your family, you wouldn't have married me, and you wouldn't have brought him home to celebrate your birthday so openly."
"But didn't you say you didn't care?"
"I don't care if you cheat on me, but you openly brought someone home... Did you get the wrong impression that I didn't agree to a divorce last time, that you can just stomp on my face like that?"
Han Chichi spoke softly, but her voice was icy: "I didn't agree to the divorce because you wanted to divide my assets. Liang Zan, please get this straight. Did you go from being a rural headmaster to hosting a celebrity wedding? Were you the one who arranged it all? Was it your responsibility to support the family after the marriage? Is my inability to have children my problem? When things are fine, you're all smiles and friendly, but when something happens, you're busy making phone calls. So busy, are you not calling now?"
The comments section was flooded with messages: "Oh my god!" "The top MC Liang Zan is actually a...!" "It's not that big of a deal, but isn't this a marriage scam?" "Does anyone know who his childhood friend is? She's a doctor at the hospital." "I just heard that someone mentioned her name is Lin Qing, right?" "Quick, search her up!"
Ringo lunged forward to grab the phone, but accidentally stepped on a wet patch in the kitchen. Liang Zan reached out to pull her up, just like he had helped her up at their wedding.
Han Chichi turned to her mother-in-law: "And Mom, remember this. It's not that I didn't want to have a grandson, it's that your son is no good with women, he's impotent."
"Also," she said to Liang Zan's father and the others, who had remained silent and indifferent throughout, watching TV on the sofa, "this house is my personal property from before the marriage. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll let you stay here for one night. Please move out as soon as possible, and remember not to touch anything that doesn't belong to you, or you'll be receiving a lawyer's letter." Han Chichi took off her apron, revealing glistening honey grapes in a food storage container. She waved at the camera, her usual post-broadcast gesture: "Sorry for the commotion, everyone. Next time, I'll teach you how to preserve evidence while cooking. I'm in a good mood today, so I'll be giving away red envelopes to 100 fans. Remember to like, follow, and comment!"