Chapter 155: If We Have One, We'll Raise It

It took Lu Fengzhou quite a while before he finally spoke, "Who knows."

Leaving the Liang family's company, they got straight into the car and headed directly for Lu Fengzhou's residence.

Qiao Jiu let out a couple of protesting murmurs, but after hesitating, she kept the rest of her words to herself.

When they arrived, the two of them went upstairs together. There was no one else in the apartment, but a meal had already been laid out on the dining table, presumably prepared by a cleaning service.

Qiao Jiu walked over and took a peek; everything on the table was to her taste.

She lightly touched one of the plates and found it still warm—the cleaner must have left not long ago.

Without standing on ceremony, Qiao Jiu went to wash her hands, brought over a bowl and chopsticks, and remarked, "It seems you calculated that I would come home with you today."

Lu Fengzhou walked toward the bedroom without a word.

Qiao Jiu sat down and began to eat on her own. A short while later, Lu Fengzhou came out having changed his clothes. "Staying here tonight?"

After a brief hesitation, Qiao Jiu gave an affirmative hum. "Tomorrow is Saturday anyway, and I don't have to work. Staying here is fine."

Lu Fengzhou came over and sat down, ladled a bowl of soup for Qiao Jiu, and casually asked, "Wu Zhigang is practically semi-retired. How did you end up meeting with him this afternoon?"

Qiao Jiu didn't know the reason either. They had called it client maintenance, but in the afternoon they hadn't talked about work at all; the conversation had been entirely about everyday family matters.

She said, "Wu Zhigang must be an old friend of the Liang family, and he's also very familiar with Ah Cheng. It's likely he just had some free time and came out to sit and chat."

Lu Fengzhou nodded. "I've met with him before. We originally had a cooperation to discuss, but he wasn't very enthusiastic later on, so the project was put on hold."

Qiao Jiu nodded. "I see."

Lu Fengzhou waited a moment before adding, "I heard that back when that old city district was being developed, Wu Zhigang made quite a tidy sum from it. Although he didn't secure the land parcel itself, he got involved in the subsequent real estate development."

As it happened, Qiao Jiu wanted to talk about this very topic, so she said, "My father made his first pot of gold from that piece of land too. Though I don't know the exact figure, he made a huge amount at the time. When Uncle Liu went to Shencheng to make his fortune, he probably relied on that money as well."

She continued, "If the middlemen made that much, I wonder how much compensation the people who were relocated back then received. It probably wasn't a small sum either."

Lu Fengzhou pressed his lips together and remained silent.

Though Qiao Jiu couldn't claim to understand him one hundred percent, she could read between the lines of such a reaction, which seemed to confirm the suspicion lingering in the back of her mind.

She wasn't stupid; she just usually didn't like using her brain. Over the past two days, however, her mind had become active, and combining that with the interconnected pieces of information, she felt her guess was pretty close to the truth.

The two of them didn't speak for the remainder of the meal, finishing it in silence.

Afterward, Qiao Jiu also went to the bedroom to change into comfortable clothes.

When she came out, Lu Fengzhou was nowhere to be seen; he must have gone to the study.

Hesitating for a moment, Qiao Jiu walked over. The study door was not fully closed, left slightly ajar.

Just as her hand brushed against the door handle, she heard Lu Fengzhou speaking inside on the phone. "It's on my desk. Organize it and have it sent over. I won't go to the company tomorrow."

Whatever the person on the other end said in response, he acknowledged with a couple of hums. "Alright, I know. Let's just drop this matter and consider it over. It wasn't a particularly important project anyway, so the impact is minimal."

Waiting until the call ended, Qiao Jiu tapped lightly on the door before pushing it open. "Working tonight? Why did you come in here?"

Stepping inside, she glanced around. There was a desk in the study covered in various documents—likely files Lu Fengzhou usually brought home.

Lu Fengzhou sat behind the desk and said, "There are a few things to take care of. If you're tired, go to sleep first."

Qiao Jiu cast a glance to the side. There was an entire wall of bookshelves, filled with a great number of books.

She asked, "May I read them?"

Lu Fengzhou didn't make a big deal of it. "Help yourself."

Qiao Jiu walked over, picked out a book, and curled up in a small single-person armchair in the corner of the study.

She hadn't been reading for very long when Lu Fengzhou's assistant called him, prompting him to stand up and walk out of the room.

Seizing the opportunity, Qiao Jiu hurried over to the desk and leafed through the documents. They appeared to be from previous projects. There wasn't enough time to read them thoroughly, so she only gave them a quick scan before hastily putting everything back in its place.

When Lu Fengzhou returned a short while later, he was holding a file.

Qiao Jiu was still curled up in the armchair, her gaze fixed on the book in her hands, though she spoke up, "I always used to think you were just busy for the sake of being busy, trying to avoid me. Now it looks like you really are busy."

Lu Fengzhou set the file down. "I am indeed busy, but there was also an element of avoiding you in there."

Qiao Jiu gave him a mild, indifferent look. "You really are honest."

Lu Fengzhou replied, "I don't want to lie to you."

Qiao Jiu put the book down, sat up straight, and faced him. "Then why aren't you avoiding me now?"

Lu Fengzhou didn't quite know how to answer that. In the past, he had resisted her and didn't want to see her; now, he wanted to be willful for once and follow his heart.

Turning his head toward her, Lu Fengzhou stared at her for a long time before saying, "Qiao Jiu, there are some things I cannot explain to you. It's true that I wronged you in the past, but I will make it up to you in the future."

Qiao Jiu almost laughed. She tilted her head, maintaining an expression of complete seriousness. "How will you make it up to me? Return the company to me? Give me back everything you took from my hands?"

Lu Fengzhou hesitated for a moment. "Remarry?"

He must be out of his mind.

Qiao Jiu had self-awareness; with her meager abilities, she certainly couldn't keep the company afloat. Remarrying him would just mean handing control back to him, putting her right back where she started.

She let out a soft huff. "Just admit you don't want to return it."

Lu Fengzhou withdrew his gaze and flipped through the document in his hands. "And then you dump me? Leaving me with neither person nor fortune?"

Qiao Jiu let out an amused hum, tinged with banter, "To let you experience what it felt like for me to lose both person and fortune back then."

Lu Fengzhou's hands paused slightly in turning the pages. He spoke as if talking to himself, yet also to Qiao Jiu, "So you still blame me."

Blame him? How could she not?

Qiao Jiu had always been petty. Whoever crossed her, no matter how much time passed, she would always look for a chance to exact revenge.

She used to love him, which was why she could let go of all the uncomfortable things he put her through without keeping score.

But her affection had been worn away by deception and attrition, leaving her with no more of that magnanimity.

Neither of them spoke for a while. After waiting a bit, Qiao Jiu shifted her position, resting her legs over the armrest of the sofa.

Her pajamas were still neatly fastened, yet for some reason, Lu Fengzhou could no longer sit still.

He slammed the file shut with a sharp thud, stood up, and walked over to her. "Shall we do something else?"

Qiao Jiu didn't catch his meaning at first. "What does doing something else have to do with me?"

Bending down, Lu Fengzhou scooped her up into his arms. "The two of us are going to do something else."

Since Qiao Jiu had chosen to stay the night, she had anticipated this sort of thing, and she did not refuse.

However, as Lu Fengzhou carried her toward the bedroom, she remarked, "I'm in my fertile window right now. Do you have any condoms here?"

Lu Fengzhou didn't have any; he never brought women home, so why would he keep such things around the house?

Yet his footsteps didn't stop. "If we have one, we'll have a baby."

Qiao Jiu let out a scoff. "I was just joking with you. Did you forget? There might be something wrong with your body. Have a baby? What kind of wishful thinking are you indulging in?"

Lu Fengzhou didn't argue with her. He carried her straight into the bedroom, laid her on the mattress, and pressed down over her.

Qiao Jiu raised her arms to wrap them around his neck. "Aren't you worried about your work?"

Lu Fengzhou kissed her. "Everything else comes after you."