CH 16

It was rather terrifying for someone of Liang Yu’s character to ask Xu Jingzhe to “bear with” his family. In fact, Xu Jingzhe was starting to regret coming along once he got into the car. Both of their luggage had been arranged by Liang Yu. The clothes had all been picked out by him. The reason for that was just in case the paparazzi started returning to work early. They needed to be prepared if they were photographed.

Xiao Luo had no complaints about Xu Jingzhe coming along. She even comforted him. “Our family gets along pretty well. The only issue is that it’s mostly girls. Mr. Xu can help balance out the numbers.” 

Xu Jingzhe didn’t seem to have very much to say other than polite agreement. He didn’t ask Xiao Luo why she knew so much for fear of offending the girl.

Yang Jierui had mentioned several of Liang Yu’s properties before, but he hadn’t mentioned that Liang Yu also had a villa in the suburbs of Beijing. Liang Yu said, “The house is in my mother’s name. I’m usually busy with work, so I don’t stay there often.”

Xu Jingzhe had heard Liang Yu say that he had a big family. He couldn’t help but be a little curious. “Do you have siblings?”

Liang Yu didn’t hide anything from him. “I have one older sister and two younger sisters.” 

Xu Jingzhe was stunned. Before he’d even asked about how old they were, Xiao Luo, who was sitting in the passenger seat, had already turned around. She smiled at him and said, “My legal name is Liang Luo. I’m kid number three. Remember Chen jie from the finance department? Her name is Liang Chen. She’s the oldest.”

“…” Xu Jingzhe reacted fairly quickly. He looked at Liang Yu. Then, he casually said, “So you’re kid number two?”

The veins on Liang Yu’s forehead bulged. “What do you mean ‘kid number two’? Can you speak properly?”

The suburbs of Beijing weren’t too far away. Plus, it was the holidays. Everyone was with their families, so the roads were empty. The drive didn’t take that long. The neighborhood that they were headed to was even more vast than Xu Jingzhe’s neighborhood. These single-family courtyards had gardens in both the front and the back. Although the occupancy rate wasn’t very high, the security was still quite reliable.

Xiao Luo got out of the car first to pay the driver. Liang Yu unloaded their luggage from the trunk one by one. Xu Jingzhe watched him from the side, wanting to help.

“Go inside with Xiao Luo,” Liang Yu urged. “I’ll head over in a minute.”

Xu Jingzhe asked, “Can you do it alone?”

Xiao Luo lazily said, “At home, my brother does all the work. Mr. Xu, come quickly. Everyone is looking forward to meeting you.” 

Xu Jingzhe didn’t understand why the atmosphere suddenly resembled that of a fanmeet. Liang Chen had been waiting at the door for a long time. She gave him a big smile when she saw him.

“Mr. Xu.” When Xu Jingzhe looked at her like this, Liang Chen actually looked the most like Liang Yu. They both had very strong brows and eyes. However, she was very gentle. She didn’t have the sharpness that Liang Yu did. “Happy new year. Welcome to our house.”

Xiao Luo and Liang Chen definitely knew about Xu Jingzhe and Liang Yu’s fake relationship, but they didn’t seem to mind. Rather, they both seemed to have a peculiar sense of affection towards him.

“Both our mom and our younger sister think that the two of you are in a relationship.” Liang Chen whispered to him right before he entered the door. “I hope you’ll be able to cooperate.” 

Xu Jingzhe gave her a look of understanding. Basically, he just needed to do some overtime. He was more than familiar with that.

Xiao Luo added, “Mr. Xu, don’t worry. You can just ask my brother for three times the usual salary. He’ll definitely give it to you.”

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This villa was very large. When Xu Jingzhe entered, he was completely stunned by the huge ink painting at the doorstep. It almost stretched all the way up to the ceiling. Liang Yu told him that it was a piece by a famous artist.

“Really?” Xu Jingzhe carefully reached out to touch it. “How much did it cost?”

Liang Yu gave him a strange look. “It’s obviously a fake. Do you really think I have that much money to blow on the real thing?”

“…” Xu Jingzhe was a little dumbfounded by his honesty. He took off his shoes. Then, he suddenly remembered one more thing. “But didn’t you buy that ¥90,000 vase?” 

“How is that the same?” Liang Yu said confidently. “I don’t want to lose face when I get things in front of outsiders.”

Xu Jingzhe: “…”

Liang Shu and Liang Yan were both sitting on the sofa in the living room. It was clear that the two of them were a little nervous. Liang Yan was still in school. She was in her second year of high school. She looked a lot younger than other girls her age. When Xu Jingzhe saw Liang Shu, he suddenly understood where Chen, Yu, Luo, and Yan got their good looks from.

Liang Yu introduced Xu Jingzhe to his mother. “This is Xu Jingzhe.” He paused. Then, he added, “My lover.” 

Liang Shu nodded and smiled. Xu Jingzhe returned the gesture. Liang Yu explained, “My mother’s hearing isn’t great. However, she usually wears hearing aids, so communication isn’t an issue.”

Xu Jingzhe caught a glimpse of the cochlear implant. He didn’t think too much of it. After a round of greetings, he apologized about not bringing a new year’s gift. Liang Shu told him that there was no need to be so formal. Finally, she asked him if he could sign an autograph.

Xu Jingzhe had no problem with giving her an autograph. He was just about to ask where she wanted him to sign when he noticed Liang Yan. She stood up and ran all the way to her room on the second floor. Then, she came back out after a while, her arms full of promotional materials.

Xu Jingzhe: “…” 

Liang Yu said calmly, “My sister’s a fan of yours. She’s the kind of fan that checks into your super topic 1825 days in a row.”

Liang Yan didn’t speak. She just kicked Liang Yu. As a result, her brother pressed her head down and started scolding her. “Who told you to kick me, huh? Say sorry.”

Xu Jingzhe hadn’t expected to spend his first day at Liang Yu’s house signing autographs. Liang Yan had collected tons of his endorsements, magazines, and even limited edition merchandise. It was quite obvious that the little girl cherished them a lot. She used a plastic sleeve to store all of it. There wasn’t even a single crease.

As he was signing autographs, Liang Yan sat right next to him, staring at both his pen and his face. 

“You’re prettier than my brother.” The little girl suddenly lowered her voice and secretively said, “This is our secret. Don’t tell him.”

Xu Jingzhe held back his laughter. He followed along and lowered his voice as well. “I won’t tell him.”

Liang Yan nodded solemnly. Then, she added, “Even though I can’t marry you, I’m super happy today.”

“?” Xu Jingzhe didn’t quite understand her logic. 

Liang Yan reminded him, “Move your arm up a little. Don’t press down on my poster.”

Xu Jingzhe: “…”

Liang Yan was satisfied. Her manner of speech was a little peculiar, but, strangely enough, people were still able to understand her. “My brother’s the best man in the world. You won’t suffer at all from marrying him.”

Xu Jingzhe said, conflicted, “… I haven’t married him yet.” 

Liang Yan: “You guys are definitely going to get married.” She pulled out her phone and showed Xu Jingzhe her account on Weibo.

“Have Liang Yu and Xu Jingzhe gotten married yet?” Every day, the user would send out a single post. “Not yet, but it’ll happen soon.”

Xu Jingzhe: “…”

Due to the sheer number of posters, Xu Jingzhe ended up spending two hours signing them all. Liang Yan looked like she was supervising him as he did his homework. Naturally, she was very satisfied with the result. For some reason, they were the only two left in the living room. The little girl wasn’t really paying attention to anything else. She was single-mindedly focused on tidying up her autographed posters. 

Xu Jingzhe wanted to help but was rejected.

“Don’t move,” Liang Yan said gravely. “What’ll I do if they’re damaged?”

Xu Jingzhe had no choice but to stay still. He asked Liang Yan if she knew where Liang Yu had gone.

“My brother has work to do.” She said, “He helps our mom with the vegetable garden.” 

Xu Jingzhe asked, “Is the vegetable garden in the back?”

Liang Yan nodded. She magnanimously said, “You can go there if you’d like.”

It wasn’t surprising for a single-family villa like this one to have a vegetable garden. Xu Jingzhe didn’t grow vegetables himself, but he knew a couple of female celebrities that had this kind of hobby. However, most of them gardened for fun, so, when he saw the huge vegetable field behind the villa, he almost thought that he had wandered into the wrong place.

Liang Yu had changed into a pair of bib overalls. He was wearing a pair of rain boots and a pair of gloves. There was a hoe stuck into the ground. 

Liang Shu was sitting in the grass not too far away. Xu Jingzhe noticed that there was a walking stick next to her chair.

Liang Chen and Liang Luo seemed to be arguing with Liang Yu. Their voices were rather loud. They were all speaking in dialect.

Liang Yu was the first to catch sight of Xu Jingzhe. He placed his index finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. Liang Chen and Liang Luo stopped talking. The two of them turned around as if nothing was wrong and greeted Xu Jingzhe with a smile.

“Yanzi’s taken her posters back,” Xu Jingzhe explained. “I came to see if there was anything I could help with.” 

Liang Chen smiled gently. “You’re here to relax. You can do whatever you want.”

Xu Jingzhe was considering whether or not he should help with the garden.

Xiao Luo said, “Why don’t the two of you go fishing? There’s a man-made fish pond nearby. It was made for entertainment.”

Liang Yu watched Xu Jingzhe for a while. He took one glove off with his hand and pulled the other off with his teeth. He said to Liang Chen, “You two can stop worrying about it. Mom, you should go back and take a nap. Help her inside.” 

Liang Shu worriedly glanced at her son. Then, she looked over at Xu Jingzhe. After glancing at him a bit, her mood seemed to improve, and she started smiling again. Liang Luo and Liang Chen obediently helped Liang Shu inside.

Liang Yu beckoned towards Xu Jingzhe. “Come here.” He started to assign tasks to him. “Loosen the soil here.”

The Author Has Something To Say:

Xu Jingzhe’s Holiday: 

Acting (Dedicated To Work)

Autographs (Cannot Press Down On The Poster)

Growing Vegetables (Loosen Soil)

Triple Salary Arrangement