When He Mu stepped out of the barbershop, her hair was freshly cut, and her bag now held a signed contract. She had successfully secured one tourist, leaving four spots remaining.
Next, He Mu went to the bank to open an account, instructing the system to deposit the bonus directly into her bank card. She had no desire to repeat the experience of having money transferred to her campus card again.
Her phone vibrated—a deposit notification had arrived. He Mu counted the four zeros at the end of the amount. It was the first time she had ever seen so much money, and she couldn’t help feeling a surge of excitement.
She immediately decided to clear her shopping cart on Pinduoduo, which was mostly filled with summer clothes for Zhao Meimei. But just as she was about to proceed with the payment, she abruptly stopped and canceled the order.
Her grandmother was no longer the same as before. Clothes suited for an elderly lady were no longer appropriate; she needed to find outfits fitting for someone in their thirties. However, she didn’t have time to browse Pinduoduo right now—she would do it later.
Then, He Mu bought a fruit basket and some nutritional supplements for the elderly, hopped onto her electric scooter, and headed to Golden Lake Community.
Upon arriving, she intended to call the phone number Zhao Meimei had given her but noticed a message from Su Miaomiao instead. From it, she learned that Su Mu and Lin Yi had both been in car accidents. While they were unharmed, their cars were totaled, so they wouldn’t be able to make it to Golden Lake Community anytime soon.
How unlucky did they have to be to get into accidents at the same time, especially when they weren’t even on the same road?
Just as He Mu was pondering this, a young man with a crew cut approached her. His neatly shaven head was so short that a faint shadow of stubble was visible, gleaming with a tough, resilient light under the sun.
In He Mu’s impression, such a standard crew cut usually meant one of two things: either someone had just been released from somewhere, or they had just been released from somewhere else—and the two places were worlds apart.
The young man stood tall and straight, his stride carrying a disciplined precision honed from marching in formation. The sharp, resolute glint in his eyes remained untouched by the mundanity of everyday life.
He Mu spoke first, smiling. “I’m He Mu. You must be Brother Zeng Keyu, right? My grandmother just spoke with Grandpa Zeng on the phone.”
Zeng Keyu replied, “Grandpa asked me to come out and meet you.”
During the New Year visits, Zeng Keyu had accompanied his grandfather to meet He Mu, but back then, she didn’t look like this. Now, having shed the naivety of a young girl, she was taller and more beautiful.
Zeng Keyu took the gifts from He Mu’s hands and said, “This way.”
He Mu followed Zeng Keyu into Golden Lake Community, winding their way to Building C, where they took the elevator up to the sixteenth floor. Throughout the journey, both remained silent.
Zeng Keyu was naturally quiet, while He Mu was busy thinking of what to say—how to leverage the Zeng family’s connections to recruit three more tourists.
She had already counted Zeng Keyu as one of the spots.
Meanwhile, Su Mu was irritably dealing with the traffic accident while also instructing his assistant to purchase a house in Golden Lake Community by the end of the day.
The assistant couldn’t help but think his boss had gone mad. Golden Lake Community was nowhere near the same tier as Su Mu’s current residence, Golden Land Gardens. Why would he suddenly take an interest in a budget community housing?
But orders were orders, and he had to carry them out.
Just as he was gathering the materials to proceed with the purchase and stepping out of the office, he suddenly felt dizzy. His vision went black, and he knew nothing more.
When the news reached Su Mu, he was utterly stunned.
A bad premonition dawned on him. He then called Lin Yi and received similarly unfortunate news—the same misfortune had struck him too.
Or perhaps it wasn’t that they were unlucky, but rather that what they were trying to do brought them bad luck, as if something in the unseen realm was preventing them from interfering with the normal course of events.
If it weren’t for He Mu, if it weren’t for the fact that the tourist was going to be born in Golden Lake Community, he and Lin Yi would never have thought about buying a house there.
Their actions were not permitted; if they forced interference, they would only bring misfortune upon themselves.
Having figured this out, Su Mu grew even more agitated. Were they just supposed to watch the opportunity slip away?
“Ding.”
The elevator doors opened, and He Mu and Zeng Keyu stepped out.
The layout here was two units per floor. Just as they reached the Zeng family’s doorstep, He Mu saw the neighbor next door come out to take out the trash.
Their eyes met, and He Mu was momentarily stunned.
“Lu Shiyan?”
Seeing He Mu, Lu Shiyan also seemed momentarily dazed. He said, “It seems your body has changed too.”
He Mu’s gaze involuntarily drifted downward. Su Miaomiao had said her brother’s underwear had burst, so what about Lu Shiyan…
Lu Shiyan was wearing his school uniform today. The loose uniform could easily conceal his body.
But today was Sunday, the rare monthly day off. Who would wear their school uniform? Lu Shiyan wasn’t the type of boy who loved studying so much he’d remain chaste for the school.
Unless Lu Shiyan had no other choice—he couldn’t find any clothes looser than the school uniform at the moment.
Under He Mu’s probing gaze, Lu Shiyan startled and hid behind the door, even hiding the black trash bag behind his back. “What are you staring at!”
If you looked closely, you’d notice Lu Shiyan’s ears had already turned red.
He Mu chuckled. “I wasn’t looking at anything. Don’t be so nervous.”
He paused, then added, “The second group is recruiting again. Are you interested in joining?”
“Sure, sign me up.”
With that, Lu Shiyan closed the door.
What a little rascal, getting all shy.
He Mu smiled as he withdrew his gaze. But when he turned to Zeng Keyu, he saw a probing look in Zeng Keyu’s eyes.
Zeng Keyu asked, “Are you close with the young master?”
He Mu countered, “Young master?”
What kind of young master was Lu Shiyan?
Zeng Keyu seemed to realize his wording was odd and explained, “Three years ago, when Lu Shiyan first moved here, he was picky about everything—wouldn’t eat this, wouldn’t accept that—as precious as a young master. I teased him and gave him that nickname.”
He Mu blinked, looking at Zeng Keyu’s handsome yet cold face. It was hard to believe he would give someone a playful nickname like a mischievous boy. But people are complex, with many facets.
Zeng Keyu might act aloof around him simply because they weren’t close and had no common topics.
Zeng Keyu opened the door and stepped inside, handing He Mu a pair of disposable slippers in the entryway. “He Mu, come in and sit for a while.”
He Mu nodded, bent down to change into the slippers, and noticed the shoes in the shoe cabinet were neatly arranged like soldiers standing at attention, but the sizes varied.
The same style of shoe, yet in different sizes—it looked strange no matter how you saw it.
Zeng Keyu noticed He Mu’s observation and said, “Sometimes when I’m not home, relatives come to take care of Grandpa.”
He Mu withdrew his gaze and smiled. “Grandpa Zeng must be very kind, to have so many young people caring for him.”
Taking care of the elderly is even harder than working on a construction site. Doing it well is “expected,” while doing it poorly is “unfilial.” There’s always someone ready to criticize.
Taking care of one’s own son or grandson is understandable, but when young relatives are willing to come and help—and not just one of them—who are you trying to fool?
“Haha, as expected of Zhao Jie’s granddaughter. Your eyes are sharp indeed. They aren’t relatives; they’re young men from the military taking care of this old bone of mine.”
An elderly voice came from the living room.
He Mu immediately walked into the living room and sweetly greeted, “Hello, Grandpa.”