Chapter 151: Pure Love 2.0 Version

Zhu Yuan gave him a "do you think I believe you" look, then grabbed Ji Xiang's hand and started to walk away.

Ji Xiang hurriedly finished her skewers and tossed the sticks into the trash can.

Enzo felt uneasy inside and quickly followed, "I'm telling the truth, I just had a craving for the hot pot here!"

His long legs, clad in military boots, took large and steady strides, catching up in just a few steps.

"I'm a bit worried about you, afraid there might be a stray fish from the Dong Family who wants to harm you. I really am on a few days' leave; back then, Young Master Sheng said I had divided loyalties and made me follow you, and now he doesn't even use me anymore."

This sounded unreliable at first, but after calming down, it held up to scrutiny; Enzo was quite satisfied with this answer of his.

Zhu Yuan stopped in her tracks and watched him quietly.

A sincere expression appeared on Enzo's face.

Yet inside, he was panicking, terrified that Zhu Yuan wouldn't believe him.

But Zhu Yuan didn't speak, which made him feel uneasy, and just when he thought she didn't believe him again, Zhu Yuan sighed, "Let's go."

"Go where?" Enzo was completely bewildered.

Zhu Yuan raised an eyebrow, "Didn't you say you had a craving for the hot pot here? It's just time for a meal, I'll take you two to eat."

Ji Xiang's eyes lit up with stars, and she nodded repeatedly.

Enzo let out a "ha": "Yes, yes, yes, I'm hungry, these few skewers really don't fill me up."

Arriving at the restaurant, the three entered a private room, and Zhu Yuan told them to scan the code and order for themselves, "Order whatever you want to eat, my treat."

Ji Xiang had been very afraid of Enzo at first because he looked too fierce, with a scar on his brow bone, but she hadn't expected that once he opened his mouth, he was a total dork, not scary at all.

She whispered: "Xiao Fengzheng got a big red envelope, she's very rich."

"Is that so?" Enzo feigned surprise, "Then we really must let Miss Zhu treat us well."

The nine-grid hot pot was brought up, and Ji Xiang shrieked with excitement.

Enzo cleared his throat and silently picked up the beer at his side, opening a bottle.

Forget it, go all out!

Zhu Yuan also took a bottle of beer; just as Enzo was about to say he would open it, Zhu Yuan held the glass bottle in one hand and chopsticks in the other, prying the cap off with a crisp and efficient motion.

Enzo awkwardly withdrew his hand; he should have realized Miss Zhu was no ordinary woman.

Zhu Yuan handed the beer bottle to Ji Xiang.

"Thank you." Ji Xiang smiled brightly.

Enzo frowned slightly and looked at Zhu Yuan, "Is she of age to be drinking?"

"I've been an adult for several months already." Ji Xiang refused to concede.

She picked up the beer bottle, raised it to the center of the table, and blurted out: "A toast to our host Xiao Fengzheng... um, congratulations to her on returning to singlehood!"

After these words were said, Zhu Yuan's hand stiffened, but a smile appeared on her face as she clinked glasses with the two of them.

After silently taking a sip of beer, Zhu Yuan raised her eyes to look at Enzo; Enzo's expression was as usual, so she figured this big oaf shouldn't be overthinking anything.

After the meal, Zhu Yuan asked Enzo if he had found a hotel to stay at yet.

"Not yet, I'll find one nearby in a moment." Enzo smiled, reached into his pocket, and suddenly his expression froze.

"What's wrong?" Ji Xiang became nervous as well.

Enzo frowned and clicked his tongue, then felt through his other pockets, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

Ji Xiang's breath caught in her throat, "Did you lose your ID card?"

"It seems so." Enzo said with annoyance, "I was too careless."

In the end, there was no other way, so Zhu Yuan took Enzo to her home; after all, there were still empty rooms at home.

Although Sheng Yu was despotic and overbearing, the people he brought up were of good character, and besides, Enzo had been following her for a while; he was right, they were friends.

"Miss Zhu, I'll only bother you for one night, I'll go apply for a temporary ID card tomorrow." Enzo promised repeatedly.

Zhu Yuan opened the front door; Enzo thought she would politely say it was no trouble and he could stay a few more days, but he didn't expect her to nod directly, "Okay."

As soon as they entered the house, several relatives were just preparing to leave; they greeted Zhu Yuan and then departed.

Zhu Qi had never seen Enzo before and stood up shakily, "Yuanyuan, who is this?"

Not wanting her grandfather to know that Enzo was Sheng Yu's Bodyguard, Zhu Yuan hurriedly said: "A friend from out of town, here in Yucheng for the New Year holidays."

Zhu Qi nodded in sudden realization, walked slowly toward Enzo, extended his hand, and said with a chuckle: "Welcome, welcome, tomorrow is New Year's Eve, just spend the New Year here at home."

Enzo's scalp tingled; even Young Master Sheng didn't get this kind of treatment, how could he dare to accept it?

He braced himself, shook Zhu Qi's aged and withered hand, and thanked him repeatedly.

As he let go and turned away, Zhu Qi frowned slightly; why were this young man's palms so rough?

The next day, New Year's Eve, Zhu Qi wrote a pair of spring couplets himself, and Enzo volunteered to help paste them on the front door.

After pasting the couplets, he took a photo and posted it to his social media: First time spending New Year's at a friend's house, this festive atmosphere is truly comforting!

After posting it, he cast the matter to the back of his mind, but when he realized what nonsense he had blathered, he hurriedly opened his social media and deleted the post.

However, a few minutes later, a message popped up on his WeChat.

Young Master Sheng: 【Screenshot】?

Everything went black before Enzo's eyes; he returned to his room, locked the door, knelt on the floor, and replied: Please listen to my explanation!

At dusk, a plane flying from Kyoto to Yucheng landed.

After finishing the New Year's Eve dinner, Zhu Qi gave each of the three children a red envelope and said kindly: "New Year's money from Grandpa."

Ji Xiang's eyes instantly turned red; she was so moved she made whimpering sounds, unable to speak.

Enzo was stunned; he was an orphan and had lived in relatives' homes by turns when he was young, never having received New Year's money before. Although he didn't show his emotions on his face like Ji Xiang, he let out a breath in the corner.

He had wanted to post on social media, but at the thought that Young Master Sheng would tear him to shreds, he held back.

Tonight, Yucheng had a branch venue for the Spring Festival Gala, with nightscape light shows, fireworks displays, and lantern festivals, making it exceptionally lively.

Zhu Qi wanted to watch the Gala at home and shooed the children out to play.

Enzo had gotten a car from somewhere, and he drove Zhu Yuan and Ji Xiang to the lantern festival near the branch venue.

……

Yuan Fengye knew that Sheng Yu and Zhu Yuan had separated, and he had found out that Sheng Yu had been working overtime at the company during this period; today was New Year's Eve, and the Sheng Group had let out for the holiday in the afternoon, so Sheng Yu was definitely not at the company.

Every previous New Year's Eve, the brothers would gather together to play mahjong or play games all night long.

This year, with Lu Huaizhan and Dong Shu missing, it was suddenly much quieter.

But it didn't matter; with him there, he would surely coax Sheng Yu into a good mood—it was just a woman, he could just find another one!

He took out his phone and dialed Sheng Yu's number, "Yu Ge, come out and hang out."

"No time." The man's voice on the other end of the line was indifferent, and he hung up the phone.

Sheng Yu stood under a tree hung with string lights; he was tall with long legs and a striking appearance, and since there were many people at the lantern festival, he attracted many gazes just by standing there.

He frowned slightly, walked to a stall, and glanced at the various masks laid out.

In front of a stall not far away, a soft and clear voice said, "I want this fox mask!"

The hand Sheng Yu reached out happened to pick up a fox mask.