Scorching Warm Water – Chapter 24

【Fine. Then I’ll treat you to every meal from now on, brother.】 Wen Yan conceded and replied.

This time, the other side sent a voice message—only two seconds long.

Wen Yan plugged in her earphones and listened.

It was him saying “Okay,” with a faint chuckle.

Wen Yan pursed her lips.

Yuan Ning: 【Between classes?】

Zhe Mu W: 【Yeah.】

Zhe Mu W: 【Brother, are you home yet?】

Yuan Ning: 【Just got in.】

As she was chatting with Fu Lanzhuo, Xiao Xinrui came back from the restroom and tugged at her sleeve. Wen Yan took off her earphones. “Yanyan, are you chatting with President Fu?”

Xiao Xinrui asked with great interest.

Wen Yan admitted: “Mm.”

“The sour stench of love, boohoo—when will it be my turn.”

As the two of them were talking, they heard a voice from behind: “Hey classmate, can I switch seats with you? Thanks!”

Half a minute later, someone poked Wen Yan’s back. She turned around.

Xiao Xinrui turned around with her.

It was Shao Tingyu, unexpectedly. His hair was dyed silver-gray, and he wore a star-shaped pendant necklace around his neck—handsome and spirited.

“Junior Wen, what a coincidence. I just realized we picked the same class.”

This politics instructor was Yan Hao—strict, yes, but he never took attendance. Shao Tingyu had skipped last week’s class; if he’d known Wen Yan was also taking Yan Hao’s class, he definitely wouldn’t have ditched.

“Mm, what a coincidence.” Wen Yan gave a faint, polite smile.

She only smiled that slightly—even if it looked a bit perfunctory—but to Shao Tingyu it was like taking a refreshing sip of soda.

She hadn’t left her hair down today; her jet-black hair was tied up, revealing her smooth, round forehead. Because of the way she was twisted around in her seat, her long hair draped down along her right ear and over her chest. Her clear eyes carried a hint of aloofness, yet also looked innocent.

“Here, something for you.” Shao Tingyu took a palm-sized wooden box out of his bag and handed it to her. “This one has a great flavor.”

He’d come to class tonight without books or pens—only some snacks. He’d spent the whole afternoon gaming at his off-campus apartment and forgotten dinner, so when he left, he’d just grabbed two boxes of chocolate from the shelf and stuffed them in his bag.

Right now, he simply wanted to share some good food with Wen Yan.

“What is this?” Wen Yan didn’t recognize the box in his hand, but beside her, Xiao Xinrui’s eyes went wide.

“Chocolate.” Shao Tingyu replied.

Wen Yan said: “Thanks, but I don’t really like chocolate much.”

“Ah, well—okay.” Just as Shao Tingyu finished speaking, a girl stood in the aisle and said to him: “Senior Shao, could you move aside? My seat is inside.”

Shao Tingyu had just switched to the seat on the very edge, and this girl seemed to have just come back from the restroom.

Shao Tingyu nodded, stood up from his seat with his broad frame, and stepped aside to let the girl in. At the same time, his phone rang in his pocket. He glanced at Wen Yan, then reached in and pulled it out.

Wen Yan and Xiao Xinrui both turned back around. Xiao Xinrui couldn’t help leaning toward Wen Yan: “How do you know Shao Tingyu, Yanyan? How many impressive people do you even know?!”

“He’s also in the student council—he’s the Minister of External Relations.”

“Ohhh right, I remember now—he’s in the student council with Jiang Luer and Jin Yang.”

“Is he also really popular at school?” Wen Yan asked.

Judging by Xiao Xinrui’s reaction, the answer was yes.

“Of course! His family is super wealthy too. That box of chocolate he tried to give you just now—that’s To’ak. That brand is ridiculously expensive, and they only produce limited quantities each year. That little box he had in his hand—that must be over five thousand yuan.”

Five-thousand-yuan chocolate.

Wen Yan was taken aback.

Xiao Xinrui continued: “He grew up with Jiang Luer and Jin Yang. There are three really famous handsome guys at Qinghua: one is Jin Yang—the cold, aloof big shot; another is Wei Ting—a total playboy and wild one; and the third is him—the Prince of Love Songs. He sings beautifully—he’s even released an album online.”

“The main thing is, he’s the most popular among the three with the girls at our school—because he’s not as cold as Jin Yang, and not as bad-boy as Wei Ting.”

Her phone buzzed twice again, but Wen Yan was distracted. She gave a vague “Mm” and said, “He is good-looking.”

Xiao Xinrui couldn’t help glancing at Wen Yan’s profile. She was just too pretty. Xiao Xinrui suddenly felt quite lucky—the goddess so many guys at school were pining after was actually her roommate. She got to see that beautiful face every day, even right after she’d just showered—something even Fu Lanzhuo hadn’t seen.

But she also felt envious—and just a tiny bit, a tiny bit jealous.

Wen Yan was pretty, smart, and had a great personality. Even without Fu Lanzhuo, there would be rich second-generation guys like Shao Tingyu fawning over her. Ah!! God was so unfair!!

…

On Wednesday and Thursday that week, Fu Lanzhuo also came to pick Wen Yan up in the afternoons to go out for dinner together. On Friday, he came at noon, because after having lunch with Wen Yan, he had to fly to the UK for a six-day business trip.

During those six days, Wen Yan kept in touch with Fu Lanzhuo through WeChat. No matter how busy he was, he set aside an hour every day to chat with her. Fu Lanzhuo was in London, which had an eight-hour time difference from Yancheng. When it was around eight or nine in the evening in Yancheng, it was noon in London—Fu Lanzhuo’s break time. Wen Yan would give him a fairly detailed rundown of what she’d done that day and what she’d eaten for her three meals. Fu Lanzhuo would respond patiently, while also sharing bits of his life in the UK with her.

On Friday morning, Fu Lanzhuo’s return flight landed in Yancheng. Wen Yan had classes in the morning, and by the time her last morning class ended, Fu Lanzhuo’s car had pulled into Qinghua.

Unlike previous times when Fu Lanzhuo drove himself, this time a middle-aged man was chauffeuring, and the car was another one Wen Yan hadn’t seen before—a double-R badge SUV.

For Fu Lanzhuo, luxury cars seemed to be like clothes—he could drive a different one without repeating too often.

With a third person present, Wen Yan felt a little uncomfortable as she got into the car.

“You don’t have any afternoon classes, right?” After helping Wen Yan into the car, Fu Lanzhuo was still standing by the door, one hand bracing the half-open door as he bent down to ask her.

Wen Yan looked up to meet his gaze: “Mm. I only have classes in the morning on Fridays.”

“Then how about coming with me to Mingcheng for a banquet?”

“What kind of banquet?”

“A private dinner.”

Wen Yan had nothing on Friday afternoon anyway—it was an easy yes. She agreed: “Okay.”

Fu Lanzhuo’s lips curved. He closed the car door and walked around to the other seat.

Wen Yan’s phone buzzed. She picked it up—it was a notification that a package had arrived at the pickup station. She’d just finished reading it when Fu Lanzhuo got into the car, so she put her phone away and turned her head.

“We’re heading to the airport now. Lunch will be on the plane. Are you hungry?” After closing the door, Fu Lanzhuo said to Wen Yan.

Wen Yan shook her head.

Even though she’d answered that way, Fu Lanzhuo leaned sideways and opened a black compartment behind the center armrest. Inside seemed to be a small fridge; as the lid lifted, a wisp of cold air escaped. It held two bottles of wine and a carton of yogurt.

Fu Lanzhuo took out the yogurt and handed it to Wen Yan: “Have some of this first.”

Mulberry flavor—her favorite.

She happened to be a little thirsty, so she said “Mm” and took it.

The driver up front had strong self-control, but he still couldn’t drive completely undistracted. The second time he glanced in the rearview mirror, he saw the exceptionally delicate and pretty young girl in the back seat struggling to twist open the cap of her yogurt bottle, and heard their usually cold and stern big boss say, “Let me,” take it, open it with ease, and hand it back to her.

Wen Yan took a sip and felt a pleasant jolt—tart and sweet, with a few soft, chewy bits of fruit pulp—very tasty.

She’d assumed they were heading to Capital Airport or Daxing Airport, but after an hour’s drive, they arrived at a private aviation apron.

Three helicopters and six airplanes were parked there, all bearing Yaoheng’s logo on their wings.

The black Cullinan drove straight to the center of the tarmac and stopped in front of a white airplane that looked like an eagle.

Through the car window, Wen Yan could see the aircraft’s cabin door was open. Beneath the boarding stairs, eight crew members were already standing by—the men tall and upright, the women elegant, all dressed in impeccably tailored uniforms. Their faces wore professional and courteous smiles, their postures textbook-perfect.

Before she could take it all in, Fu Lanzhuo had already gotten out and walked around to her side of the car, opening the door for her himself.

Wen Yan blinked, grabbed her backpack, and got out.

As she stepped out of the car, Fu Lanzhuo smoothly took her backpack from her and carried it himself.

The lead captain walked over, gave a slight bow to Fu Lanzhuo and Wen Yan: “President Fu, Miss Wen, good afternoon. Welcome aboard.” His voice was steady and firm: “The flight route and weather conditions have been confirmed—we’re ready for takeoff at any time.”

Fu Lanzhuo led Wen Yan up the stairs.

Stepping through the cabin door, Wen Yan saw the luxurious interior—dark blue cashmere carpet underfoot stretching all the way in. The further she walked, the more the view opened up. The portholes on both sides were wide, perfectly embedded in the cabin walls. By the windows were two leather sofas and four seats, with a dark ebony-wood table between them.

“Strictly speaking, we’re the only passengers, right?”

Wen Yan was still taking in everything inside the plane and couldn’t help asking.

Fu Lanzhuo smiled. “Mm.”

“This is Yaoheng’s corporate jet.”

Wen Yan remembered the first time she’d met Fu Lanzhuo—in the VIP lounge at Capital Airport. She turned to look at him: “Can it be used at other times too? Like when there’s no business travel?”

“Usually, yes—as long as the weather is good. And tonight’s banquet isn’t really business, though I didn’t turn it down.” Fu Lanzhuo was still holding Wen Yan’s backpack; his right hand rubbed the little plush bear dangling from it a couple of times.

“But brother, how come you were at Capital Airport that day and didn’t take a private plane?” Wen Yan asked him.

“That day was an exception. I was flying back from Switzerland. There was a problem with one of the private jet’s components—it didn’t pass the re-inspection—so I had to switch to a commercial flight at the last minute.”

It had been a rather serendipitous accident.

And then, for some reason he’d never done before, he’d agreed to his niece Jiang Luer’s invitation to treat her, and after wrapping up an impromptu meeting at the airport, he’d gone to Qinghua.

A flicker passed through Wen Yan’s eyes. She wondered—if Fu Lanzhuo’s private plane hadn’t had that issue that day, they might never have met.

A round object slowly rolled to her feet. At first, Wen Yan thought it was a ball, but then the round thing strangely extended its limbs and “stood” up—about the height of a five-year-old child, reaching up to Wen Yan’s waist.

Wen Yan could see it now—it was a robot.

It spoke first in German, but Fu Lanzhuo interrupted and told it to “switch to Chinese.” The robot gave an “oh” and its electronic voice switched to Chinese: “Hello there, big sister! I’m Amy, I’m six years old—nice to meet you!”

Its voice also mimicked a child’s—adorable and well-behaved. Wen Yan thought it was absolutely darling and reached up to pat the robot’s head. The shell was hard and a little cool to the touch.

“Ooh, big sister’s hand is so soft.” The robot’s electronic screen face displayed curved eyes and a smiling mouth. Half a second later, its eyes even turned into two beating red hearts.

“…” Wen Yan felt like she was being teased by this little robot.

As she pulled her hand back, the robot said: “Big sister, can you pat me one more time?”

Fu Lanzhuo tapped it: “Shut down.”

“Oh, okay, Master.”

The electronic screen face flickered once, then went dark completely, and the robot froze in place.