Lu Jiaxin came back, and as soon as Lu An saw her, he immediately said, "Auntie, Auntie, I checked out the cars in your garage. Can I take them for a spin?"
He wanted to drive those cars for fun, but the housekeeper didn’t agree. He had no choice but to ask his aunt.
Lu Jiaxin laughed and said, "Sure, but you can only drive on the small roads, not the main ones. Mainland licenses aren’t recognized here. If you get caught on the main road by the police, you’ll end up staying at the police station for a few days. You’ll be famous if word gets back home."
Lu An himself works for the Public Security Bureau, so if he got caught by Hong Kong police—even if it didn’t result in a criminal record—he’d still be laughed at back home. "Auntie, don’t worry, I’ll just drive around nearby and return shortly."
Lu Ping was also tempted, but he managed to restrain himself and didn’t tag along.
Lu Jiaxin cheerfully invited Sister-in-law Lu and the others to sit down: "Sister-in-law, the journey must have been tiring for you."
Sister-in-law Lu didn’t feel tired at all and smiled: "Jiaxin, thanks to you, I got to travel by plane."
It was her first time on a plane at such an age. She was very scared before boarding because the windows were closed and she couldn’t see outside, but taking off felt similar to being in a car. Once in the sky, she opened the window and saw everything surrounded by white clouds, which was a different feeling altogether.
Lu Jiaxin understood that one reason many people avoided flying was the cost. A flight could take away one or two months’ salary—who could afford that: "You’ll be flying often from now on."
Sister-in-law Lu didn’t dwell on the thought and said, "Jiaxin, your father is in the hospital. I want to visit him."
Lu Jiaxin didn’t refuse: "It’s getting late today. By the time we get to the hospital, it’ll be dark. Tomorrow morning after his rehabilitation exercises, we can go to the hotel to get familiar with the venue."
Sister-in-law Lu and Lu Shan had come straight to Hong Kong after landing, unlike Lu Jiaxin who had rested overnight in Peng City.
Lu Ping was, however, worried and told Lu Jiaxin that he wanted to rush back to the hospital: "Auntie, Grandpa might feel scared being alone in the hospital."
At Recuperate Hospital, most doctors and nurses spoke in Cantonese or English, with very few speaking Mandarin. Although he didn’t know Cantonese, Lu Ping had worked hard on his English and was capable of communicating with the doctors and nurses.
Lu Jiaxin thought he was worrying too much: "Don’t worry, the hospital assigns someone for overnight duty. If anything happens, they’ll call me immediately."
Dinner was a seafood feast. Many of the items on the table they hadn’t even heard of, let alone seen. While eating, Lu An praised, "Auntie, where do you get all these ingredients?"
This was a question Lu Jiaxin couldn’t answer: "Most of them are bought by the chef at the market, choosing the freshest ingredients, while a few are gifts from friends."
Friends like Feng Qinglei and Zong Shimeng would ask her if she wanted some good ingredients they had gotten. If she did, they’d send some over. Of course, friendships were reciprocal, and Lu Jiaxin would also give them things.
After dinner, Lu Ping told Lu Jiaxin he wanted to go to the hospital to stay with him. Naturally, Lu Jiaxin was happy to oblige such a filial child.
Lu An also wanted to go, but Lu Jiaxin turned him down: "Hospital regulations only allow one family member to stay overnight. If you’re concerned, you can go in the morning!"
Knowing that Lu Hongjun was quite conservative. After he arrived, even though he stayed in the hospital, Nie Zhan returned home and didn’t stay at Lu Residence. With only a few days until the engagement, once it’s official, they can live together openly.
After meals, Lu Jiaxin had the habit of taking a stroll to aid digestion, and today was no exception. Lu An didn’t join, saying he wanted to rest before going swimming with Lu Shan.
Moonlight spilled like water across the garden, draping the flowers in a silvery veil. Lu Jiaxin and Sister-in-law Lu strolled slowly along the small path.
Sister-in-law Lu asked, "Jiaxin, how many guests did the Nie family invite this time?"
Lu Jiaxin knew what she meant: "The Nie family invited twenty tables, and on my side, five tables. Since I didn’t want the engagement to be too grand, the Nie family only invited relatives and close friends. For the wedding, the Nie family would probably invite over fifty tables."
With the Nie family having twenty tables and theirs only five, it was a 4:1 ratio. For the wedding, it might be 10:1, which seemed excessively different.
Sister-in-law Lu understood her personality and gently asked: "Jiaxin, who are we inviting for our five tables?"
Lu Jiaxin, smiling, replied: "Some of my friends and the company’s top executives."
Not all executives were invited, at least they had to be general manager level or above. People like Susan, Xu Yue, Liang Weibo, and Tian Pengyu were all invited, but not those below.
Sister-in-law Lu regretted a bit: "If it were held in the Forty-nine City, we could have twenty tables too."
Lu Jiaxin wasn’t at all interested in having twenty tables in the Forty-nine City. It was clear that these guests were mostly Lu family members, Lu Hongjun’s friends, and past acquaintances. She knew the Lu family too well over the years, and she wasn’t familiar with most of Lu Hongjun’s friends and acquaintances.
Not wanting to continue on the subject, she changed topics, "Sister-in-law, since you’re here, after the engagement party, I’ll take you for a tour around Hong Kong."
Sister-in-law Lu smiled, Lu An even took a week off, with two days lost to travel, they could stay in Hong Kong for five days. Coming to Hong Kong once wasn’t easy, so she obviously wanted to look around and buy some things to take back. If she returned without any purchases, her colleagues and friends would call her foolish.
The next day after breakfast, Lu Jiaxin rested a bit before taking Sister-in-law Lu and the others to the hospital. When Lu Jiaxin returned last night, Lu An didn’t see this car in the villa. Now, seeing the car, he couldn’t help but touch it fondly: "Auntie, this car is too beautiful."
Lu Jiaxin smiled and said: "Not only is this car beautiful, but it’s also bulletproof."
Lu An’s expression immediately changed, looking alert: "Bulletproof, what’s the story? Auntie, is someone trying to harm you?"
Lu Jiaxin laughed: "No. It’s just that I was almost kidnapped once, so I ordered this bulletproof car. Lu An, you can only look at this car but not drive it."
This was something Lu Jiaguang and others knew, but the younger generation wasn’t aware. Lu An didn’t need to ask further: "Auntie, have all the kidnappers been caught?"
"Among the eight kidnappers, seven died, and the remaining one is in prison, sentenced to thirty years. When he gets out, he’ll be an old man."
Lu Shan thought to himself that having money in Hong Kong could be dangerous too.
Because everything had been arranged beforehand, when Lu Jiaxin and her group arrived at the hospital, Lu Hongjun had almost finished his rehabilitation exercises.
Lu Jiaxin planned for him to continue with the rehabilitation exercises the day after tomorrow, so she didn’t process the discharge paperwork, only asked Lu Hongjun to take a shower and change clothes. After that, Lu Jiaxin took them to the Peninsula Hotel.
After familiarizing herself with the venue, Sister-in-law Lu asked: "I heard your elder brother say Mr. Nie is planning to build a Peninsula Hotel in the Forty-nine City. Is it related to this one?"
Primarily because the Peninsula Hotel in the Forty-nine City belonged to Wansheng Real Estate, but this hotel didn’t, yet they had the same name.
Lu Jiaxin didn’t explain that the Peninsula Hotel in the Forty-nine City was a franchise, since laypeople might get confused; she vaguely mentioned that Nie Zhan was a significant shareholder in this hotel.
At this, Sister-in-law Lu didn’t ask any further questions.