As dusk fell, Luoyu drove Li Qiao back to the Li family villa.
In the living room, Li Guangming and his second brother Li Yan were chatting idly.
Li Qiao greeted them and headed directly to the third floor.
Li Yan watched her back and said sourly, "She goes to find Lao San as soon as she comes back, doesn’t even bother to chat with us first."
Li Guangming, craving a smoke, picked up a cigar from the table and stood up, snorting, "What do you have to talk about with Qiaoqiao? Don’t go looking for trouble."
Li Yan, inexplicably scolded: "..."
On the third floor, Li San was leaning against the corridor window, smoking.
He was still wearing a long black leather coat that reached his ankles, his legs crossed in front of him. He looked with a complex expression at the pink bedroom, smoking three cigarettes without calming down.
Li Qiao walked over unhurriedly, "Came back this afternoon?"
Li San paused in his smoking, sucked his cheek, and nodded, "Yeah, where are my things?"
"What things?" Li Qiao asked, puzzled, frowning as she followed his gaze, then fell silent.
Li San gazed at Li Qiao, then casually stubbed out his cigarette in a flower pot, "Are you pregnant?"
Li Qiao ’hmm-ed’ and strolled into the bedroom, glanced around, then covered half of her face with one hand, sighing silently, "I’ll go ask Mom..."
"It wasn’t you who did this?" Li San was taken aback; he thought Li Qiao had ’commandeered’ his bedroom, but it turned out to be his parents’ doing.
He just wanted to know where his guns and ammo from the bookcase and bedside table had gone.
Li Qiao shook her head with a wry smile, "Why would I mess with your room."
Li San licked his molars, glancing at her stomach, "Shaoyan’s pretty quick."
Li Qiao ignored him, looking around at the pink baby crib, pink rainbow pony, pink rug, and pink crystal chandelier...
The siblings went downstairs, and coincidentally ran into the bustling Duan Shuyuan at the stairway. With a serious face, Li San called, "Mom."
Duan Shuyuan, holding a small box of blueberries, exclaimed in surprise at the sight of Li San, "Why are you back?"
"Can’t I come back?" Li San’s handsome face darkened.
Duan Shuyuan handed the blueberries to Li Qiao with a smile, "Darling, have some blueberries, wild ones, very nutritious."
Then she looked at Li San again, "What do you mean can’t come back, this is your home, if you don’t come back where do you want to go?"
Li San’s temples throbbed, "Where’s my room?"
Duan Shuyuan suddenly ’ah-ed’ and laughed absentmindedly, "All the guest rooms are yours, choose whichever you like."
This home, might as well not come back to it.
Five minutes later, Li San strode out of the living room.
Li Qiao was leisurely eating blueberries, standing up to follow him.
At this moment, Duan Shuyan called after her with a padded jacket, "Qiaoqiao, it’s cold outside, put on a coat."
Li Yan, puzzled, looked out the French window at Li San walking by, "Where are they going?"
Duan Shuyuan, smoothing her hair, sat down, saying lightly, "To the warehouse."
Li Guangming suddenly remembered that they had converted a room into a nursery recently, likely occupying Lao San’s room.
He looked at Duan Shuyuan, pursing his lips, "Where did you put Lao San’s stuff?"
"Nowhere," Duan Shuyuan sipped her black tea, "There’s nothing important in his room, a bunch of shabby toy guns, I had people throw them in the warehouse."
Li Yan’s mouth twitched, Have you ever seen toy guns that can kill people?
At seven in the evening, Zong Yue came over to the Li family for dinner after work.
Duan Shuyuan glanced behind her a few times, "Xiao Yue, didn’t Ah Jun come back with you?"
Zong Yue took off her coat with a smile, "No, I came straight from the company, he might still be busy."
Duan Shuyuan frowned in displeasure, "All he knows is to work, doesn’t care about anything important."
"Shall I... give him a call?" Zong Yue tentatively asked.
Duan Shuyuan calmed herself and waved a hand, "No need, he said he’d come back, let’s not wait, start dinner."
Zong Yue said nothing, sipping her tea to hide the helplessness in her eyes.
Actually, she and Li Jun hadn’t seen each other for days.
He left early and returned late every day, and so did she.
They seemed to tacitly avoid each other, and he hadn’t been back to the master bedroom, always staying in the study.
Just then, the butler’s voice came from outside the hall, "Madam, Sir, the young master is back."
Li Qiao, nibbling on blueberries, also raised her head with a smile.
Shang Yu appeared in the living room, his silent yet powerful aura filling every corner.
Dressed in jet black, he stood tall and dashing, his handsome face wearing a faint smile.
The man walked to Li Qiao’s side, gently patting her head before raising his eyes to greet the Li Family couple.
The family moved to the dining room, with Zong Yue visibly burdened due to Li Jun’s absence, her smile somewhat forced.
Even after dinner, Li Jun didn’t show up.
Afterwards, Zong Yue took a fruit plate to the second floor, intending to give Li Qiao some fruit, but stopped in her tracks at the stairway.
In the sunroom’s lounge area, she saw two figures: Li Qiao and Shang Yu.
At this moment, Li Qiao’s chin rested on the man’s shoulder, her side profile exquisite and perfect, occasionally poking his cheek with her finger, saying something inaudible.
Meanwhile, Shang Yu sat upright, his rolled-up sleeve arm wrapped around her waist, his gaze gentle and tender.
Seeing this, Zong Yue couldn’t bear to interrupt.
She had envied them many times, and every time after that envy, a heart full of melancholy would follow.
Zong Yue thought, she probably would never truly experience what it’s like to be someone’s favorite and indulgence.
She glanced at the fruit plate, smiled, then turned to go downstairs.
Meanwhile, Li Qiao, unaware of the movements below the stairs, lightly poked Shang Yu’s handsome face, pouting, "Why did you freeze Luoyu’s bank cards?"
The man’s lips curled slightly, pinching her side waist, his voice filled with amusement, "Did she complain to you?"
"Not really," Li Qiao replied with a half-smile, "But... she reminds me every hour."
Shang Yu pursed his lips seriously, the smile in his eyes deepening, "Well done."
Li Qiao looked at him, at a loss for words.
The man tousled her hair, leaned down to peck her nose lightly, "Staying home tonight?"
"Sure," Li Qiao thought of something and gestured toward the third floor, "There’s a nursery upstairs, want to check it out?"
Shang Yu turned to glance up, raising his brows in agreement to her suggestion.
The two walked up the staircase side by side, Li Qiao tugging at his fingers, speaking softly, "Third brother said there’s a hidden compartment in the floor of his room, with a Desert Eagle inside, it wasn’t in the warehouse, so it might still be under the carpet."
Shang Yu raised an eyebrow, giving her a playful look, "Want to find it?"
"Forget it, too much trouble," Li Qiao thought for a moment, "Maybe later."