Just as he reached the entrance of the hotel, a surprised male voice rang out.
“Hey! Isn’t that Changfu? Old classmate! What a coincidence!”
Lu Changfu followed the voice and his brows furrowed slightly.
The person approaching was Yang Lifeng, one of his high school classmates. He was now a somewhat famous local influencer, making a decent living on short-video platforms by filming rural life and comedy skits. Apparently, he could earn several hundred thousand yuan a year.
He was wearing a fashionable designer down jacket, his hair carefully styled, and a brand-new BMW X5 was parked beside him.
Yang Lifeng had an exaggeratedly enthusiastic smile on his face as he hurried over. Without saying a word, he gave Lu Changfu a hug.
“Good grief! How long has it been? I heard you made a fortune in Guangzhou?”
However, his eyes quickly swept over Chen Lili beside Lu Changfu. A trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, along with… barely concealed jealousy.
Everyone in their old classmates’ circle knew that Lu Changfu wasn’t doing particularly well in Guangzhou. His salary was only a few thousand yuan a month.
So how had he found another such beautiful girlfriend?
Judging from her appearance and demeanor, she certainly didn’t seem like an ordinary woman.
“Lifeng, long time no see.” Lu Changfu greeted him indifferently, showing little enthusiasm.
“This is… your sister-in-law?” Yang Lifeng looked at Chen Lili, his smile becoming even brighter.
“Changfu, you’re something else! And you weren’t even going to introduce your old classmate?”
Chen Lili forced a smile but said nothing.
“She’s a friend,” Lu Changfu said briefly, without any intention of explaining further.
“Friend? That’s great, that’s great!” Yang Lifeng acted as though he hadn’t noticed Lu Changfu’s indifference and remained enthusiastic.
“Meeting by chance is better than making an appointment! I’ll organize a gathering tomorrow. There’s a newly opened hot spring resort in town, and the environment is pretty nice. We can soak in the hot springs, have a meal, and catch up! Bring your sister-in-law too!”
He deliberately smiled at Chen Lili again.
“Sister-in-law, you have to come!”
His eyes lingered on Chen Lili for several more seconds, carrying a certain scrutinizing and eager look.
Lu Changfu was very familiar with that look.
Back in high school, Yang Lifeng had tried to steal his girlfriend at the time. He had used exactly this kind of seemingly warm and sincere but actually manipulative behavior.
“We’ll see. I might not be free tomorrow,” Lu Changfu replied perfunctorily.
“Don’t be like that! I’ve already invited several of our old classmates! It’s settled! Tomorrow at two in the afternoon. We’ll meet at the entrance of the hot spring resort!”
Without giving Lu Changfu a chance to refuse, Yang Lifeng patted him on the shoulder, then winked at Chen Lili.
“Sister-in-law, see you tomorrow!”
With that, he walked confidently toward his BMW.
After the car drove away, only the cold wind remained outside the entrance.
Lu Changfu glanced at Chen Lili, whose expression had become even worse, and curled the corner of his mouth.
“See that? Your current ‘status’ attracts this kind of ‘concern’ from ‘old classmates.’”
He deliberately emphasized several of the words.
Chen Lili felt sick to her stomach.
She wasn’t only Lu Changfu’s “commodity” anymore. Now, she seemed to have become a “prize” that other people could compete for in their eyes.
“Let’s go home.”
Lu Changfu stopped looking at her and walked toward where the car was parked.
Chen Lili silently followed.
By the time they returned to the villa, it was already dark. The entire house was brightly lit and as warm as spring.
Hearing the door open, Song Liyuan ran out of the living room like a cheerful butterfly.
“Brother Lu, you’re back!”
She immediately threw herself into Lu Changfu’s arms and kissed him on the cheek. Only then did she seem to notice Chen Lili and put on a surprised expression.
“Oh? Who is this…?”
“Chen Lili, a former colleague,” Lu Changfu introduced her casually.
“We’re short of someone to help around the house. She happens to need a job to repay her debts, so I hired her as a live-in housekeeper to take care of things around the house.”
“A housekeeper?”
Song Liyuan’s eyes lit up. She looked Chen Lili up and down, and the smile on her face became even brighter, carrying a sense of superiority.
“Oh~ So you’re Sister Chen! Welcome, welcome! We’ll be counting on you to take care of the house from now on!”
She warmly took Chen Lili’s hand. It was cold to the touch.
“Sister Chen, don’t be shy. Make yourself at home here… Oh, no, I mean, treat this as your workplace! Brother Lu is a very good person. He won’t treat you unfairly!”
Hearing Song Liyuan call her “Sister Chen,” and seeing the undisguised pride and possessive attitude in her eyes, Chen Lili felt as though the last bit of dignity she had left had been stripped away.
She forced a stiff smile.
“Hello, Miss Song. I’ll do my best.”
Peng Jiali and Lu Jianguo also came over.
After hearing their son’s explanation, Peng Jiali felt that the situation was somewhat sudden. But seeing Chen Lili looking down submissively and dressed simply compared with Song Liyuan, she seemed to fit the image of someone working to repay a debt.
So she nodded.
“That’s fine too. The house is quite large, and your father and I are busy with the store. Sometimes we can’t keep up with everything. Lili… Miss Chen, right? We’ll have to trouble you with things like the kitchen and laundry from now on.”
“It’s what I should do, Auntie.”
Chen Lili lowered her head.
Lu Jianguo said nothing. He simply gave his son another thoughtful look. There was curiosity in his eyes, but in the end, he didn’t ask anything.
“Liyuan, take her to the room on the first floor and see if she needs anything.”
“Sure!”
Song Liyuan cheerfully agreed and led Chen Lili toward a room in the corner of the first floor.
Along the way, she continued talking.
“The room is a little small, but it’s quite clean, and it has its own bathroom… Oh, right, Sister Chen, Brother Lu likes light food. You need to cook porridge for breakfast and make soup in the evening…”
Her voice gradually faded into the distance.
Lu Changfu walked over to the living room sofa and sat down. Peng Jiali followed him and asked in a low voice:
“Changfu, what’s going on? Isn’t this girl the same one from last time…?”
“Mom, it’s a complicated business matter.”
Lu Changfu brushed it off casually.
“Her family is having financial difficulties and owes money. I’m helping her, and she’ll work to repay the debt. Once it’s paid off, we’re even. Don’t think too much about it. Just consider her another person helping around the house. I’ll also explain things to Liyuan.”
Peng Jiali was still skeptical, but seeing how calm her son looked, and remembering that the house really did need someone to take care of it—she used to handle everything herself whenever she had time, which was exhausting—she decided not to ask further.
Instead, she began talking about buying New Year supplies the next day.
Lu Changfu responded absentmindedly, but his eyes drifted toward the end of the first-floor hallway.
The door to the housekeeper’s room was closed.
Song Liyuan soon returned, wearing the smile of a victor. She nestled up beside him.
“Brother Lu, everything’s settled. She seems pretty obedient.”
“Mm.”
Lu Changfu patted her hand.
“From now on, you’ll have to pay more attention to things around the house. Keep an eye on her.”
“Don’t worry!”
Song Liyuan readily agreed, her eyes shining.
The status of the official girlfriend supervising the “housekeeper” made her extremely satisfied.
Night grew late.
The lights throughout the villa gradually went out.
In the master bedroom on the first floor, Song Liyuan snuggled beside Lu Changfu and quickly fell asleep, a smile still lingering at the corners of her mouth.
In the room on the first floor, the lights remained off.
Chen Lili curled up on the narrow single bed, lying awake with her eyes open as she stared at the blurry ceiling in the darkness.
Cold tears finally slipped silently down her cheeks, soaking the pillow.
The distance between upstairs and downstairs was only a dozen or so steps.
Yet it felt as though two completely different worlds lay between them.