Walking through the main door and into the living room, Lu Hongjun’s eyes were immediately drawn to the crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. It was very beautiful, and at a glance, he could tell it was quite valuable.
Steward Meng greeted him to sit down and then brought over a cup of health tea and a glass of juice: "Sir, do you have any preferences for lunch? I can have the chef prepare it now."
Lu Hongjun wanted something light: "Make me a bowl of vegetable noodles; I want to rest after eating."
Steward Meng gave a signal to the maid beside him and then led Lu Hongjun and Lu Ping to the guest rooms. Hearing that there was a room for each of them, Lu Hongjun said, "Pingping will sleep in the same room with me."
Steward Meng looked at Lu Ping and saw him nodding, so he didn’t say anything further.
The guest room was very spacious, with a 1.8-meter bed, equipped with a TV and air conditioning. Lu Jiaxin liked a minimalist style, so the entire house was furnished this way.
Once inside, Lu Hongjun noticed the view outside the window. The rooms on the first floor also had floor-to-ceiling windows, making it possible to clearly see outside.
Lu Hongjun saw a riot of colors outside and asked, "Whose garden is that?"
Steward Meng respectfully replied, "This garden also belongs to the owner. Sir, all the surrounding area has been purchased by the owner; it’s private property."
Looking at the brilliantly blooming flowers outside, after a while, Lu Hongjun asked, "Is this property Jiaxin’s or Nie Zhan’s?"
Steward Meng, knowing that the father-daughter relationship was not good and they hadn’t visited before, found the misunderstanding understandable: "This house belongs to the owner alone. Mr. Nie’s residence is at Shallow Bay, not far from here."
Lu Hongjun gave a silent nod, indicating he wanted a bath, which was Meng’s cue to leave.
Steward Meng didn’t leave but called Lu Ping into the bathroom to teach him how to use the appliances inside.
After explaining, Steward Meng pointed to a bamboo basket and said, "Young Master Ping, after you and sir finish bathing, put your clothes and towels in there, and the maid will come to get them."
Lu Ping said "Alright" twice in quick succession.
Being very considerate, Steward Meng closed the door when leaving. With the door shut, Lu Ping relaxed. The many people in his aunt’s house and all the unfamiliar things made him a bit nervous.
After bathing, Lu Hongjun and Lu Ping found the noodles ready. Per his request, it was chicken and vegetable noodles, served with cold marinated tomatoes, stewed beef, braised peanuts, and smashed cucumbers.
After taking a bite of the noodles, Lu Hongjun was very surprised and asked, "Where is the chef from?"
Steward Meng smiled and replied, "The chef’s ancestral home is the Forty-nine City, and because of a love for cooking, he became an apprentice to a master chef skilled in Beijing cuisine. He originally worked at a large restaurant, but was hired last year by the owner."
Working at a large restaurant with many apprentices was glamorous, but also tiring. Lu Jiaxin offered a high price, and the job only required him to cook for two people. Less work and more pay, and since he wanted a break, he accepted the offer.
The noodles suited Lu Hongjun’s palate very much, but his age and poorer digestion meant he was full after eating only two-thirds. Lu Ping, however, was at an age where he could eat a lot, finishing his bowl clean and putting away all the side dishes. Of course, the portions were small.
After the noodles, Lu Hongjun said to Pingping, "Come walk with me in the back garden."
The back garden of the mansion was big, with many kinds of flowers planted, but it wasn’t as nice as Shichahai Garden. Shichahai’s back garden had mountains, water, flowers, and grass, whereas here, there were just flowers, which felt a bit monotonous.
After walking for over ten minutes, Lu Hongjun felt a bit tired and asked Lu Ping to help him back to rest.
Lu Ping only left after he had fallen asleep. Not wanting to just sit and wait, he asked Steward Meng if there were any newspapers or magazines.
Steward Meng immediately knew he was bored and wanted to pass the time with reading. She said, "Young Master Ping, would you like to watch a movie? Some new good ones have come out recently."
"Watch a movie? Forget it, it’s too far, I won’t go," Lu Ping said. As they came over, he noticed that there weren’t many houses outside, so the cinema was likely far away.
Steward Meng understood the misunderstanding and explained that there was a cinema at the house, albeit a smaller version, not as large as a commercial theatre. When Lu Ping followed her to the downstairs cinema, he was speechless seeing a room that could hold seventy to eighty people.
At this point, Lu Ping had lost interest in watching a movie: "Steward Meng, can you guide me on a tour of this mansion?"
After touring the villa, Lu Ping discovered that aside from a home theatre, there was also a gym, an antique room, and a wine cellar inside. The mansion’s decor wasn’t luxurious, but it had a very high-end feel. However, what Lu Ping liked most was the ten or more luxury cars in the basement.
After asking Wang Lin, he learned that most of these luxury cars were Nie Zhan’s, with only five belonging to Lu Jiaxin: "Mr. Nie loves cars. Apart from the ones here, he has more than ten cars at home."
His own employer likes luxury watches and would always check out and buy the new models, which he once thought was quite extravagant. But upon finding out Nie Zhan likes collecting cars, he realized the watches aren’t too costly.
Seeing a silver sports car, Lu Ping asked if he could try it out.
The steward laughed and said, of course: "Just a moment while I arrange for a driver to take you out for a spin."
Lu Ping wanted to drive himself, but Steward Meng refused. The reason was simple: the road conditions here were more complex, and the traffic rules were different from those on the Mainland.
With age, comes less need for sleep, so after a little over an hour, Lu Hongjun awoke. Upon emerging, he discovered that Lu Jiaxin was back. Smiling, he said, "You’re so busy with work; having Pingping with me is enough. No need to come back on my account."
Lu Jiaxin said, "I returned to take you to the hospital for a full-body check-up."
Lu Hongjun was unwilling, explaining that he had already had a full check-up before being discharged, except for high blood pressure and sugar, everything was fine.
Lu Jiaxin said, "If you don’t want a check-up, then just try their rehabilitation training. Brother Gu previously couldn’t even stand up, yet after a year of training at Recuperate Hospital, he now walks as well as anyone."
Of course, Gu Wenfeng’s successful training was due in part to him being not yet forty and relatively young, and also because of his strong willpower, persisting through the pain.
"Are you not deceiving me?"
Lu Jiaxin unceremoniously said, "You think too much of yourself. Even if I left you alone, I wouldn’t waste time inventing stories to trick you. If you don’t want to go, there’s no pressure, as long as you don’t regret it."
Lu Ping stayed silent. Before coming to Hong Kong, Lu Jiaguang had instructed him not to get involved in matters between the father and daughter. His only task was to take care of Lu Hongjun and not concern himself with anything else.
After a moment of hesitation, Lu Hongjun said, "Then let’s go!"
At the hospital entrance, a doctor was there to welcome them and took Lu Hongjun for a check-up. Once the check-up was complete, Lu Hongjun began his rehabilitation training.
Although rehabilitation was exhausting, there were several times Lu Hongjun wanted to give up and slowly heal back in the Forty-nine City. However, the instructor patiently encouraged him and generously praised him, making Lu Hongjun feel capable once more.
An hour later, dragging his tired body, Lu Hongjun said, "Let’s go home."
On the verge of exhaustion, all he wanted now was to hurry back home and sleep. Sigh, hearing that Gu Wenfeng’s training was several times more painful than his own, he thought he definitely couldn’t have endured such hardships.