Chapter 29: Buying a House
Drip, drip.
Drip, drip.
It was the sound of water droplets falling into the sink. The sound was crisp and clear, evoking endless thoughts. Lu Li watched as the water droplets slowly emerged from the faucet, elongated, and deformed, then suddenly transformed into a perfect sphere, plopping into the sink and disappearing. The dripping sound synced with the ticking of the clock, the passage of time taking on a concrete form, filling him with an inexplicable sense of unease.
“Honey, why are you taking so long to wash the dishes?” An Baili’s voice came. “Hurry up, let’s go look at houses!”
“Oh, oh, I’m almost done.” Lu Li snapped out of his daze. Even washing dishes made him think of Wen Hupo. He was truly obsessed.
Evening Collection was a huge success, selling over 500,000 copies in its first month and winning the Silver Award for Game of the Month on the Valve platform. As the game’s reach expanded, a second wave of sales was coming. There were even rumors that it would be nominated for the TGB Independent Game of the Year award, and at the very least, would win the Best Art award. Eternal Joy Studio had become quite famous, but there was little information about the team online. This was because Lu Li had been very careful about media exposure. The backgrounds of the team members were, after all, quite complicated, especially Chu Jingyi. He had to be cautious.
The soaring success of his game also led to a rapid increase in Lu Li’s personal assets. After providing proof of income to the bank and paying a hefty sum in value-added tax, Zou Yameng’s account now held nineteen million yuan – even with the bank’s withdrawal limits, Lu Li could access up to five million in cash at any time.
The Chinese had two inherent desires: to cultivate land and to buy property. With their newfound wealth, Lu Li and An Baili’s first thought was to move out of the low-rent district and buy a house in the city center. An Baili was urging him to choose their new home.
Lu Li finished washing the dishes, dried his hands, and naturally embraced An Baili, who was staring intently at her phone screen. “Li, the Chuanhai government has a talent recruitment program. If you own a local business and have over ten million yuan in savings in a local bank, you can buy a villa in Lianxin District at half price! You’re planning to start a company, aren’t you?”
Lianxin District was the affluent area of Chuanhai, with the best infrastructure and environment.
“Even half price would be ten million yuan? We’ve never lived so extravagantly, not even in our past lives.”
An Baili puffed out her cheeks. “This is different! In our past life, it was just the two of us. In this life, it’s not just us, right? What about Jingyi? What about Zou Yameng? What about Wen Hupo? We need to buy a bigger and better house… Ow, that hurts! Don’t knock on my head!”
“First, don’t call her Zou Yameng, it’s Sister Yameng. Second, Wen Hupo definitely won’t live with us.” Lu Li said righteously. “What kind of person do you think I am?”
The word “us” warmed An Baili’s heart. She wrapped her arms around Lu Li’s neck and gave him a sweet kiss. They cuddled for a while before remembering the matter of buying a house.
“Li, I checked carefully. The villas in Lianxin District have the most rooms, even more than Jingyi’s house. I think, with your tendency to attract girls, it’s better to buy a house with more rooms.” An Baili said languidly, nestled in his arms. “And I already asked Jingyi. She said she could ask her father to nominate you for the ‘Chuanhai Outstanding Young Entrepreneur’ title. That way, we can get a bigger discount on the house and pay less taxes every year.”
So he really has become an outstanding representative. Lu Li chuckled wryly and rubbed An Baili’s bottom. “Don’t trouble the Chu family anymore, I can handle our own affairs. It’s not worth asking for favors just for a small discount. And there’s no rush. We can buy a house after we turn eighteen next year. By then, who knows, maybe our assets will have doubled.”
An Baili kissed Lu Li on the cheek. “Whatever you say~”
With the serious matters settled, Lu Li felt a surge of desire. His hands started wandering. One arm wrapped around An Baili, his hand reaching over her shoulder and cupping her breast. The other hand slid down her flat stomach, gently teasing.
An Baili bit her lower lip, her eyes filled with desire. “I still have something to tell you, stop it…”
“Go ahead, it doesn’t bother me.” He pinched her nipple gently, rolling it between his fingers, and it hardened slightly. There were many signs of a woman’s arousal, but the hardening of her nipples was the most obvious.
“Mmm… Wen Hupo is actually going back to her country… She said she’s not coming back… Mmm…” An Baili gasped, her thighs tightening around Lu Li’s hand, stopping his movements.
“I know, she told me.”
“Are you really willing to let her go? I know you’ve had a crush on her for a long time… You bad boy…” Her face flushed, clearly aroused.
“I might have a crush on her, but she doesn’t care about me.” Lu Li gently traced her nipple with his fingernail, his other hand slipping away, leaving a trail of moisture.
“She, she doesn’t care about you? Mmm, slow down…”
“How can you say she cares about me?”
“How can you be so clueless… If she didn’t care about you, would she specifically ask you to participate in the sports meet? If she didn’t care about you, would she spend so much time with you in the activity classroom, talking nonsense? An Baili said coquettishly.
“…Does that mean she cares?”
“Of course it does!” An Baili bit Lu Li’s neck. “She’s such an aloof girl, why would she approach you if she didn’t care? She didn’t paint for anyone else, but she painted for you. She didn’t play the prince and princess with anyone else, but she played them with you. And that time at the amusement park, Jingyi told me too, if she didn’t like you, would she have held your hand?”
After An Baili pointed out these blatant truths, Lu Li realized that his connection with Wen Hupo was deeper than he had imagined.
“But she clearly said she doesn’t like me.” Lu Li didn’t need to pretend in front of An Baili. He asked sincerely, like he was seeking advice. Some things, girls understood best.
“You’re so stupid. She’s so proud, asking her to admit that she likes someone, especially a man who already has a girlfriend, is probably worse than killing her. Have you forgotten how she ran away last time? Oh… right, you didn’t know about that in your past life…”
Was that really the case?
Lu Li’s heart wavered.
“Silly Lu Li, since we have the chance to be reborn, don’t let any of us live with regrets, okay?” An Baili kissed Lu Li, silencing him. They embraced and fell onto the bed, and what followed was naturally a night of passion…
It was unclear why An Baili was speaking up for Wen Hupo, but Lu Li had finally made up his mind. He decided to try to convince Wen Hupo to stay one more time. But he didn’t expect that, from that day on, Wen Hupo would never return to school…
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