Huang Lixin let out a helpless sigh, "Do you think I’m heartless?"
Zhang Xiaoya rolled her eyes, "Isn’t it the truth?"
Huang Lixin: "Can we even outlive her? After all, we are the ones who will leave before her."
Huang Lixin: "What do you think Xiao Lei will do when the time comes?"
Huang Lixin: "Do you think Ho Zhen will become her support?"
Huang Lixin: "Or do you think Huang Jing will take care of Xiao Lei?"
Huang Lixin: "Don’t tell me that Xiao Lei’s children could take care of her in the future, we had two daughters, but who has taken care of us?"
Huang Lixin: "We don’t dare to expect much from Xiao Lei, it’s already good enough if she can take care of herself and not ask for money from us."
Huang Lixin: "As for Xiao Jing, she should make something of herself, but she’s already grown distant from us. A basic level of care might be expected, but don’t hope for anything more."
Huang Lixin: "Wife, if we run out of money, all we’ll have left is this apartment we live in now, and we still have a mortgage to pay."
Huang Lixin: "If one day we get sick, even though most of the medical expenses can be reimbursed, we’ll need to pay out of pocket if we want treatment to boost our strength."
Huang Lixin: "Since you’ve been gone, Xiao Lei gave me just a few calls, and every time she did, it was to ask for money."
Huang Lixin: "If she wasn’t out of money, I don’t think she would even call me."
Huang Lixin: "Xiao Jing calls me two or three times a week just to check on my well-being."
Huang Longxi used to think that Huang Jing was too indifferent, but now, he felt that it was really good, definitely better than Huang Lei who only ever called for money.
When Zhang Xiaoya heard that Huang Jing actually called Huang Lixin every week, she felt furious inside. She thought that that girl was the worst, taking advantage of her absence to start cozying up to Huang Lixin.
If it were not for her manipulations behind the scenes, how could Huang Lixin change his mind? No matter what, she had to secure the home front for Xiao Lei and couldn’t let Huang Jing steal Huang Lixin away to her side.
Zhang Xiaoya: "Old Huang, I feel our communication has been lacking a lot recently, and our relationship has gotten quite cold. We should make contact more often."
Zhang Xiaoya: "I’m coming back today, I’m heading to the station right now."
Forget it, I can’t wait until tomorrow, delaying even one more day, who knows what Huang Jing could be up to.
Huang Jing had no idea that because of a few words from Huang Lixin, Zhang Xiaoya would actually think she was speaking ill of Huang Lei in front of him.
If she knew, she would surely feel more than just wronged; was there a need for her to badmouth Huang Lei’s character?
As for why Huang Lixin thought poorly of Huang Lei, that was something to be asked about what Huang Lei had actually done to make him feel that way.
She had just come home from a shopping spree at the supermarket, and after settling the items, putting what needed to be refrigerated away, she took a shower and went straight to rest.
If it weren’t for the plan she had already made with Huang Lei, she really didn’t want to go out today, considering she had worked through the night yesterday.
Although she was a bit tired, the project was finally seeing the light of dawn. Just like in her previous life, once completed, Huang Jing was truly delighted. By mid-year, the news that her company would be building welfare housing would come out.
Then she would qualify to buy a house, which was an exhilarating thought.
Even though it would be just her, she still wanted to buy a three-bedroom house: one study, one dressing room, and one bedroom.
Even if cleaning might be a bit of trouble, she could hang up many things instead of having them crumpled together.
When she woke up again, it could be said that it was the phone’s ringing that woke her up.
Originally thinking she didn’t know who was calling, it couldn’t be Zhang Xiaoya, maybe it was Huang Lixin, after all, he hasn’t called her yet.
Turned out she didn’t expect it to be a call from Xia Ke, asking if she was awake yet and planning where to eat.
Huang Jing yawned: I’m easy, you decide.
In terms of eating, one has to trust Xia Ke’s choices. People in her group are mostly foodies, and she could say they’ve almost explored all the restaurants near the company.
Xia Ke indeed had a target: There’s a new Sichuan Province hot pot restaurant that opened nearby. The taste is good; we should try it.
Xia Ke gave a sound of agreement: That works, hot pot pairs well with winter, really nice.
Xia Ke: How about I give you an hour, meet at the community gate?
Huang Jing replied: Sure, no problem.
Huang Jing: I’ll get up, drink some water, then get ready and that’s it.
After hanging up, Huang Jing lingered in bed for a bit longer, then slowly got up, freshened up, applied some light makeup, took her small bag, and left the house.
When she arrived at the community gate, Xia Ke was also there, and they headed to the hot pot restaurant together. "Several colleagues said that restaurant is good, especially the crisp meat—it’s supposed to be delicious."
Huang Jing had never tried it, so of course she left all the ordering to Xia Ke, "I’ll wait for you to order."
"By the way, do you drink milk tea?" She didn’t like milk tea much, but Xia Ke was quite fond of it.
Xia Ke shook her head, holding Huang Jing’s hand, and strode forward, "No, my colleague said the plum juice at that restaurant is absolutely exceptional."
"It’s cooked fresh daily." Xia Ke was really surprised, "I didn’t expect the plum juice to be homemade."
Many places just mix ingredients from concentrates, "I’m really looking forward to it."
Wow, Gong Jiawen was truly astonished, "To think that the plum juice is homemade, that’s definitely something we can’t miss."
Gong Jiawen initially thought that since they were arriving early, there shouldn’t be too many people.
But when they entered the hot pot restaurant, they realized there were hardly any seats left. The good tables had all been snapped up, and what remained was either the innermost area, where the air was most stale, or near the entrance where the cold wind would blow in every time the door opened and closed.
The two looked at each other, "Let’s sit in the back."
Though the air wasn’t great there, it was at least better than being exposed to the Northwest wind, and with the constant flow of people, it felt like they couldn’t properly enjoy their meal.
Xia Ke knew what Huang Jing liked to eat and promptly ordered. After the waiter left, "Every table gets plum juice."
Gong Jiawen nodded, "Yeah, every table has it, seems like it must be good."
After a brief chat, Xia Ke asked about why Huang Lei was looking for Huang Jing today.
"I don’t know the specifics, showing off her house? Boasting that my parents gave all the money to her?"
"Oh, maybe also to show off her new bag that cost over ten thousand," Gong Jiawen said calmly, recounting the whole ordeal of Huang Lei finding her.
Xia Ke was really worried that Huang Lei would bully Huang Jing, but to her surprise, the girl didn’t lose out at all, and even managed to make Huang Lei quite angry.
Xia Ke poured plum juice for both herself and Gong Jiawen, "Not bad, you’ve made progress, good job."
Indeed, it had been quite satisfying to see that couple so angrily bested; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easy to outmaneuver Huang Lei.