No sooner had June begun than the temperature in Mingshan City had already soared to thirty-six or thirty-seven degrees Celsius.
The wind carried scorching particles as rough as grains of sand, the summer heat rolling in waves.
As soon as Yu Ning got off the plane, she received a call from her good friend. “You just resigned like that? You worked on that order for more than half a year and finally managed to land it, only to hand it over to that shameless bastard?”
Pushing her luggage cart toward the exit, Yu Ning’s red lips, coated in velvet lipstick, parted lightly. Her clear, leisurely voice was like silk steeped in moonlight.
“As if. You think I’d let him get something for nothing? I exposed his mistress situation. The whole company is laughing at him now.”
The person on the other end fell silent for a moment, then offered a sentence of admiration: “You’re seriously brave.” Then she felt indignant on her behalf. “You stayed at Shenjiao SHEERLV for seven or eight years and finally climbed to the position of deputy sales manager. You’re giving that up too?”
Stepping outside, Yu Ning was momentarily dazzled by the sun.
Oh. So it had already been eight years.
Right after graduating from university, she had joined Shenjiao, a cosmetics company, struggling and growing alongside it, step by step, until she became deputy sales manager.
Last week, her mother had fallen gravely ill and passed away. She had taken her first annual leave in eight years, and it had only been one week.
When she returned to the company yesterday, she learned that the color cosmetics series project she had worked on for nearly half a year, along with the contracts to set up counters in two major overseas department stores, had been signed under the sales manager’s name.
The peaches she had painstakingly grown had been plucked by someone else. She went over to question him on the spot.
At the time, the manager had even looked smug, telling her to calm down, saying she was only thirty, still young, and that there would be another project, and so on.
Could Yu Ning’s temper endure that?
She directly grabbed the two strands of hair on the manager’s head, then smashed her employee badge into his face. Along with that, her superior’s most beloved potted plant also met its demise, and she exposed the fact that he kept a mistress.
Just like that, she left the place where she had fought for eight long years.
But she did not regret it.
“Mm, I don’t want it anymore. It’s been so long. I should have a proper rest.”
She let out a long breath, took a pair of sunglasses from her bag, and put them on. Quite a few private cars came up to ask where she was going and whether she needed a ride.
She ignored them and continued speaking to the person on the phone. “All right, you go earn money properly. Maybe once I’ve squandered all my savings, I’ll have to rely on you to support me. Aiyoh, this sister of yours is about to stretch her legs and start living it up.”
The person on the other end rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you make good use of those female hooligan skills of yours and find a man in Mingshan City to marry?”
“Tsk, that’s actually a good idea. Don’t worry, I’ll work hard and strive to marry someone tall, rich, and handsome. But you’ll have to work hard to earn money too. I want a big red envelope.”
The person on the other end was speechless.
Yu Ning laughed and bragged with her for a couple more sentences before hanging up.
When she decided last night to come to Mingshan City, she had conveniently booked a homestay in Jidong Town on her phone.
It was called “Yichuan Fengyue.”
A river full of wind and moon, willows lining the embankment—where shall I wake from wine tonight?
Quite poetic and picturesque.
She imagined the owner was either a gentle, talented, extremely handsome man, or a pretty, soft, adorable beauty.
And judging from the pictures, the rooms and environment looked pretty good too.
She immediately chose that place. She added the owner on WeChat, and they said they would come pick her up today.
Mingshan City had no off-season for tourism. Because the scenery was beautiful, there were plenty of visitors all year round. At this moment, everywhere she looked was a sea of heads.
She was just about to call the owner on WeChat when her gaze suddenly fixed on a sign made from cardboard.
[Yichuan Fengyue, here to pick up customer Yu Ning.]
What attracted her was not entirely that simple, crude cardboard sign, but the man holding it.
The man was very tall, nearly one meter ninety, and among the crowd, he was especially eye-catching.
Especially since he had a buzz cut and wore a black tank top and shorts. The lines of muscle on his bronze arms were smooth and natural, his build strong and solid.
His face was not the kind of handsome, refined type she was familiar with. His brows and eyes were deep-set, his contours firm, his features three-dimensional.
Yo. A little rough around the edges, but not bad-looking.
Turns out the online claims that you could encounter handsome men in Mingshan City really weren’t false.
Yu Ning resisted the urge to whistle, lifted her brows, and walked toward him, stopping a meter away from him.
In the man’s hawk-like eyes was reflected the woman before him, dressed in a spaghetti-strap floral trailing dress and light-colored jeans. A large pair of sunglasses sat on her tall, pert nose, covering most of her fair, bright face.
Only her full red lips and small, delicate nose were visible.
He lowered his eyes slightly, his voice deep and hoarse. “Yu Ning?”
Mm, his voice was pretty good too.
Yu Ning smiled in satisfaction, gave a light response, then glanced at the cardboard sign in his hand and commented leisurely, “Nice handwriting. But this cardboard… where did it come from?”
It lowered the grade a little.
The man took the suitcase down from the luggage cart, turned, and walked ahead. “Grabbed it from the trunk.”
He had come into the city after five today to deliver fruit. Last night, he had forgotten to charge his phone, and by the afternoon it had run out of battery and shut off. Unfortunately, there was no data cable in the vehicle either.
Afraid that the guest would not be able to contact him, he had come up with this method.
Yu Ning followed him, thinking that this man was not only tall—his legs were long too, and he walked fast.
She did not have the habit of chasing after men. She did not want to chase him, nor could she be bothered to call him back.
Chen Chuan had walked forward for quite a distance before realizing she had not followed. He stopped and turned back, only to see the woman smiling with her brows and eyes, arms crossed over her chest, walking behind him at an unhurried pace.
When she came closer, he heard her suddenly ask a very familiar question. “Have you never had a girlfriend?”
Chen Chuan frowned and looked at her in confusion.
The wide sunglasses hid the teasing in her fox-like eyes. Her tone was light as well, carrying a trace of flirtation.
“You walk so fast. Don’t you know the first rule of dating is to keep the same pace as your girlfriend?”
This involved a personal matter, and Chen Chuan did not think he had any need to answer. He coldly withdrew his gaze and continued walking ahead.
Tsk. So he was a mute gourd too, impervious to persuasion or pressure.
Having spent so many years in sales, Yu Ning had long since developed skin as thick as iron cloth armor. Awkwardness and the like meant nothing in her eyes.
If he would not answer, then she would just ask another question.
“I haven’t asked how to address the owner yet.”
Only then did the man reply, though his tone remained neither warm nor cold. “Chen Chuan.”
Yu Ning was slightly startled and took off her sunglasses.
Oh, so the Chuan in Yichuan Fengyue was him.
She subconsciously sized up his tall figure. As for the gentle, talented, extremely handsome man she had imagined, he was not merely eight poles away—he was eighteen poles away.
But considering he was good-looking, she felt none of that mattered.
Chen Chuan noticed her gaze and looked back at her.
Yu Ning smiled. Her fair, pretty little face seemed even more radiant than the sun in the sky, golden beams falling into her upturned fox eyes, making them shine brightly.
“Sounds nice.” She deliberately paused for a few seconds before slowly adding, “I mean… the name of the homestay.”
Chen Chuan’s expression remained indifferent as he walked to the parking spot.
Yu Ning had originally wanted to tease him a little more, but when she saw that old, shabby truck, the smile on her face froze.
She looked in astonishment at the man calmly putting away her suitcase. “We’re riding in this?”
The new book is here. This story features a mature man and woman; they are not both virgins. The male and female leads may not be perfectly written as characters, and both will have flaws. Updates daily at midnight. Babies who like it can tap to favorite and poke the recommendation tickets. Thank you, babies, for your support. Let us begin the journey of a new chapter together~