Chapter 40: The Mansion

No matter how difficult the moment, one still has to face life with a (forced) smile.

Although Su Shiyi was also embarrassed, she had only inadvertently admired Xiao Yu’s good physique, and to be precise, it was just his upper body. In the age of internet information explosion, many male celebrities have openly shown their chest and abdominal muscles, and such a scene wouldn’t even be rated as restricted in movies, it could even be used as an official promotional photo.

After struggling for more than ten minutes, she slowly came to terms with it, while Qi Yude, who was still burying his head in his pillow, was suffering far more than she was.

How did it end up like this? He really had no mental preparation at all! The 230 suites were spread across four floors, and Su Shiyi’s and Qi Yude’s rooms were not on the same floor, so he didn’t have the real sense of “living in the same suite as a girl.”

It was just like being at home, like when you stay in a hotel with someone. After coming out of the gym, he wanted to grab a bottle of water from the fridge and ended up bumping into Su Shiyi.

Just yesterday, he was talking to his friends, confessing that he didn’t know how to interact with the girl he liked. His friends didn’t know the object of his affections was Su Shiyi and jokingly suggested that he take his shirt off and stand in front of her—surely no girl could resist that.

Qi Yude didn’t take such shameless remarks seriously, but reality was playing tricks on him, turning everything into reality.

Well, actually, he didn’t take his shirt off… but when he went back to his room, he looked in the mirror. That was almost worse than actually taking it off!

But Qi Yude was, after all, a nearly thirty-year-old adult man. Even though he felt awkward, he couldn’t stay holed up in his room forever. He changed into the loosest clothes and, gathering his courage, went back to the living room, where Lucy informed him that Su Shiyi was already planning to leave.

“If Mr. Qi wants to continue staying here, he can directly communicate with the hotel manager.”

Although the several thousand yuan per night for the room wasn’t much for Qi Yude, if Su Shiyi wasn’t here, there was no reason for him to stay.

“Where is Shiyi going?” Qi Yude could only ask, “Is she going to keep touring in Shanghai, or is she heading back to the capital? Actually, I…”

He wanted to say that as a freelancer, he could go wherever she went, but they weren’t at that point… Okay, Qi Yude thought dejectedly, maybe it’s more likely that he was the one harboring one-sided feelings.

If she really liked him, why didn’t she say goodbye in person before leaving, let alone take him along?

Lucy, being a smart assistant, would only interfere when there was no chance, but it seemed Mr. Qi still had hope.

With a polite business smile, she said, “I’m not sure about Miss Shiyi’s schedule. Maybe you can ask her yourself later?”

Although Qi Yude wasn’t satisfied with this obvious half-hearted response, his upbringing kept him from being hard on an assistant. Aside from his laptop, he didn’t have much to pack since his luggage was in the Jinshan District, he had asked the hotel manager to send over a change of clothes the previous night.

When Su Shiyi changed clothes and came out of her room again, Xiao Yu was sitting quietly on the couch waiting for her, hugging a square pillow. When their eyes met, Qi Yude’s face instantly turned red. First, he stared at her shoes, and then after some serious mental preparation, he suddenly raised his head and made eye contact with her.

What to do… it was kind of cute.

Su Shiyi inexplicably thought of the dog at home, though Xiao Yu’s size was far bigger than theirs. She could lift the little golden retriever in her arms, but she probably wouldn’t even be able to lift one of Qi Yude’s legs.

“…Where are you going? Back to the capital, or staying in Shanghai for a few more days?”

When talking to Lucy, he could directly call her “Shiyi,” but now that she was in front of him, he felt too shy to say it.

But Su Shiyi didn’t mind these little things, “The secretary arranged for my flight back to the capital tomorrow. Do you want me to take you with me?”

“Okay!” Qi Yude nodded immediately. Although just a second ago, he had no plans to go to the capital, now he did. “Will you be staying here tonight?”

“No,” Su Shiyi shook her head. “I have to stay at the ^[1]Sinan Mansion (思南公馆) is a well-known historic residential and cultural complex in Shanghai, China. Located in the Huangpu District, it consists of restored European-style villas that were … Continue readingSouth Garden of Sinan Mansion. My family wants me to go check in there.”

Sigh, she finally went out for a trip, and yet she still has to help her dad, Gu Lang, inspect properties. Being the child of the richest family is truly exhausting.

The South Garden of Sinan Mansion… the Gu family really lives up to its name.

Qi Yude looked at her with hopeful eyes, wishing Su Shiyi would take him along. After all, the South Garden was made up of standalone villas, so there must be more than one room, right?

Sure enough, Su Shiyi then asked, “Do you want to come along?”

Qi Yude’s mouth involuntarily curled into a wide smile. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love to.”

“It’s no trouble.” Su Shiyi smiled happily as well. “You don’t have to stay in the same villa as me. You can stay in the East Garden, we have a house there too. If anything’s wrong with the place, just let me know anytime.”

Not only could she entertain a guest, but it would also lighten her (and her assistant Lucy’s) workload. What a win-win!

Qi Yude: …

His fantasy of “cohabiting” with Su Shiyi was crushed. TAT

Damn, does the Gu family have so much money they don’t know what to do with it? Not only do they have properties in Sinan Mansion, but they’ve also got places in both the South and East Gardens!

Despite feeling a bit regretful, Qi Yude could only force a smile. “Okay, thank you. Next time I’m in Hong Kong, feel free to stay at my place. My family is really warm and welcoming.”

Su Shiyi sincerely replied, “Oh, that’d be too much trouble. My dad has so many properties in Hong Kong, and he’s even given me several.”

Qi Yude again: …

Mr. Gu, don’t you have any other hobbies? Why are you so obsessed with buying properties?

—

Once again, sitting in the same extended Lincoln, Qi Yude thought he’d made progress. After all, after finishing his line art last night, he’d been so excited he couldn’t sleep. He stayed up all night searching for tips on “how to interact with a girl you like,” “the top ten tricks to win a girl over,” and “how to exude charm in front of a girl.”

He got into the car full of confidence, only to be brought back to reality once the car started. Apart from Su Shiyi asking him what drink he wanted, they hadn’t exchanged a single word.

Qi Yude: How did it end up like this QAQ

As unwilling as he was to admit it, he had to face the fact that he was still inexperienced. But luckily, Su Shiyi was chatty.

She opened “My Little Island” on her tablet and showed him the interior design of a villa. Ever since Kevin gave her the upgraded feature to modify the original template, Su Shiyi had been bold in her designs, with no worries about anyone criticizing her for the mess she created.

As the client who paid the most generously in the industry, designers were very forgiving about little “harmless” mistakes.

—But this didn’t include putting so many slides in the villa, this would really drive them crazy.

Although Qi Yude was just an artist and didn’t understand professional interior design, who would install so many slide tracks in a house just to get from their room to any corner?

If it replaced the stairs and added an elevator, that might be doable, but the complexity of Su Shiyi’s design made Qi Yude initially think it was some kind of tunnel warfare…

Su Shiyi then brightly asked him, “What do you think? Isn’t it impressive? I definitely have a talent for interior design!”

Qi Yude: My conscience is being tested.jpg

“…It is indeed impressive.” He swallowed. “Well, of course, you have talent. How could you not?”

Although the design was a bit complicated, the way she had sorted out the chaotic starting points of the slide tracks without them colliding was pretty impressive.

As for the other interior design… well, let’s see if any industry experts can find a way to salvage it.

After receiving Qi Yude’s praise, Su Shiyi’s confidence grew even higher (?). She happily saved the design and sent it to Kevin, enthusiastically praising her assistant in front of Xiao Yu, saying that he could do anything and there was nothing he couldn’t handle.

Qi Yude originally felt sorry for Kevin, who had to receive this draft, but hearing Su Shiyi speak this way, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sour.

However, he quickly reassured himself that secretaries were very professional and wouldn’t develop personal feelings for their bosses. Despite this, Xiao Yu couldn’t shake the feeling of a little unease.

Then, he accidentally glanced at Su Shiyi’s phone. A notification from Lujiang popped up, and a contact named 【Xiao Jiang】 had sent her a voice message.

Su Shiyi seemed to care a lot about this message from Xiao Jiang. She put on her headphones to listen, and the expression she had before clicking on the message seemed to show a little joy and enjoyment?

Qi Yude: Although I don’t know why, I somehow feel even more anxious now…