Chapter 4 Lifelong member of the Association of Keeping a Secret Their relationship is just...

"You don't have to work so hard." Chen Che emphasized again, "Just pretend." "

?"

This was something Chi Leyou didn't expect.

The curse in her heart a second ago, a second later it was stuck in her chest, unable to go up or down.

Others are nice, but she is narrow-minded.

Chi Leyou slightly retracted her prejudice and slowed down her strength.

To be honest, the hourly wage for this job is very high. As

a salaried worker, she has to be worthy of the employer who pays the salary.

There was a struggle in her mind for a moment, and she quickly entered the immersive mode of brushing the pool.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish..."

The devilish sound entered her ears, and Chen Che complained: "Fool."

"Xiao Che." Du Yuanshan called him, "Come here."

Chi Leyou looked at the two people talking in the distance, and her ears received Chinese intermittently.

"Do you have enough money? Here's yours."

"Is that custom sports car coming soon?"

A black bank card and a wad of cash seemed to flash before his eyes, and Chi Leyou averted his gaze in time, crouching back down at the bottom of the pool.

Looking any further would be rude.

The rich sister was giving the little puppy pocket money.

"No thanks," Shen Che's voice drifted over, less teasing and more defiant.

Was he feeling embarrassed?

He was accompanying the rich sister, while Chi Leyou also cleaned the pool for her.

Earning money through skill, what's there to be ashamed of?

If the sister had forehead wrinkles, melasma, or cellulite, she would observe a minute's silence for the little puppy.

But the rich sister's were fragrant, soft, and crispy, like the decorated cakes of a pastry chef competing in a world-class competition.

It wasn't a loss at all!

A

huge loss—the worker's heart was willing but his strength was insufficient, his aching arms wanting to stop working.

Chi Leyou gritted his teeth and closed the lid of the equipment box.

The blue and yellow equipment box was hidden by a figure, and a heavily accented English voice rang out: "Yoyo, are you going to work next Tuesday?"

Chi Leyou, squatting on the ground, didn't look up: "I don't have time to work next week."

"Okay." The Mexican took out his phone, his eyes eagerly following her head. "Can I add your contact information?"

Chi Leyou still looked down, opened the lid again, and searched for something with work in hand: "I sent my phone in for repair."

"Oh..." He touched his hat awkwardly, his voice lowering a few notes.

Chen Che's eyes darted over, landing on the Mexican's brown skin, then on Chi Leyou's cheeks, two red flowers blooming from the hard work.

His heart raced, and a blurry image emerged in his mind: the golden waves rolling in the wheat fields, the threshers baring their fangs like monsters, the rice raining down, and the drying yard like a patchwork of golden cardboard.

A rosy-cheeked girl with pigtails tugged at his shirt, enthusiastically saying, "Brother Xiaoxi, there's an outdoor movie tonight. I'll treat you."

The evening breeze dried the sweat from her forehead, and Chen Che scoffed, "Fool! Outdoor movies are free anyway."

The Mexican noticed Chen Che's gaze and felt a chill in his heart.

This wasn't his first time seeing Chen Che. Previously, Liam had brought his team to clean the pool at Chen Che's friend's house.

That incident completely changed his impression of Asians.

When Chen Che was silent, he always made people uneasy. Beneath his gentle demeanor, he concealed a cold and distant air.

Chen Che's friend's villa was only worth a few million dollars, and the Mexican had cleaned the pools of much more luxurious villas. Such "rich families" only made him think reincarnation was a mystery.

But today, as he pulled into the heated driveway, the heavy snow a few days ago hadn't affected the palatial villa at all.

He knew Chen Che was no ordinary person.

This was no ordinary nobleman. He was refined, aloof, looking down on ordinary people like them from another dimension.

His eyes flickered, and Chen Che stopped looking at Chi Leyou, but he didn't spare her. He felt relieved after spewing a smear of mud: "There's actually a market for that silly roe deer."

"Hey, who are you scolding?" Du Yuanshan tugged at his sleeve, glancing at the Mexican's askew green hat. "Don't be racist." "

I'm racist?" Chen Che looked away, giving his mother a sidelong glance.

Du Yuanshan was observant. She didn't understand the broken English, but she could tell from the other person's body language and expressions: "That foreign guy wants to add the girl as his friend, right?"

"Liam," Chen Che called to the tall man behind the Mexican.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Du Yuanshan tugged at his hand. What was this brat doing?

Originally, Liam's wages were to be paid by bank transfer.

Unexpectedly, the employer paid them now.

Each of them received 500 foreign currency, based on their hours worked.

After working hard for half a day, the real money was in hand, and everyone counted the bills in front of the employer.

Chi Leyou took a stack of money, and felt the unusual thickness of it with his fingertips. From the corner of his eye, he saw several workers counting money back and forth. The Mexican even held the money high and looked at the head portrait in the dark print in the sunlight.

She tilted her head and cast a question mark.

Shen Che lowered his voice, and his Chinese sounded like a spy meeting: "Don't talk so much nonsense, go back and add some money and buy a new phone."

When paying wages, he took a few more foreign currencies, which was a simple thing to do.

The girl was only twenty years old, a student-like girl, with small arms and legs, working among a bunch of big men.

The work she did was the most tiring and dirty.

Compassion suddenly emerged. When he was overseas,

he would help his compatriots when he saw them. But he was not a philanthropist. There were a bunch of new Apple phones given by others in the warehouse, and he would not give them to a girl he met by chance.

That's barely two thousand RMB, enough to buy a used iPhone 14 on Facebook Market. He's kind, but not much.

Chi Leyou's five elements lack the metal element, so her unexpected wealth has overwhelmed her. "

That stack of money must have doubled, right?"

She clutched the money tightly, uttering a "Thank you."

Liam led the others away.

The cleaned pool was a strikingly azure blue.

Chi Leyou pulled her phone from the chest pocket of her overalls. Seeing this, Chen Che felt ripped off.

"My phone's not broken," she smiled sincerely. "Here, I'll return the extra money."

Her slender fingers grasped the hundred-dollar bill, a new, plastic note, perfectly folded. Sunlight filtered through the transparent maple leaf on the bill, casting a circular spot on the ground.

Chen Che refused to take it, asking, "Is that how you say no?"

The Mexican was clearly interested in her. She had no intention of developing a new "friendship"; she might as well get off the bus before leaving.

Chi Leyou remained silent.

"I'll give you the money back." She stretched her arm high, handing the bill to Chen Che.

"No thanks." Money given away couldn't be taken back, so he simply shoved his hands in his pockets.

He stood nonchalantly, his shoulders straight, like the world's best employer.

Unfortunately, that employer wasn't him. He had someone else behind him.

Chi Leyou, half stunned by the huge sum of money, tried to stay conscious. "Are you a spendthrift?"

The twenty-two-year-old boy shrugged, noncommittal.

Du Yuanshan, who had been absent for a long time, was enthusiastic. "Keep it. His money is Auntie's money. It's only natural for me to give a little pocket money to a kid."

The girl curled her lips, "Thank you, Sister."

"Hey!" Du Yuanshan's heart lit up. Since the child called her Sister, she changed her words. "This is some fruit and vegetable yogurt I made myself. Eat it on your way home."

She held a cup of yogurt, drizzled with a thick, purple and green sauce, topped with blueberries piled like a Mount Fuji.

It was a yogurt with a lot of toppings and a rather complex composition.

When visiting friends as children, the hospitable aunt would give each of them a bottle of AD calcium milk. Chi Leyou felt warm inside, and

Chen Che was also given a cup of yogurt.

Chi Leyou quietly observed him, his expression normal, thinking to herself, "It seems he often eats the loving yogurt made by the wealthy woman."

Ice Cube's face showed no sign of emotion.

As expected, love fades.

Du Yuanshan said, "Miss Chi, you've worked hard today."

Chi Leyou replied politely, "Sister, this is my job."

Du Yuanshan seemed embarrassed and hesitated, "...Can you please not tell your friends when you go back?"

Chi Leyou's mind raced, and she raised her palm and slammed it against her chest.

"Pah!"

It seemed as if she would passionately perform a stone-breaking chest-breaking act in the next moment.

The other two were stunned.

The girl said boldly, "Don't worry about my integrity!"

She pinched her fingers and stretched her lips horizontally, "I'm a lifetime member of the Secret Keeper's Association. During the Anti-Japanese War, the enemy would never pry a secret out of me!"

The wealthy woman didn't want anyone to know about her relationship with the little boy.

Their relationship existed only at night. She understands!

Du Yuanshan, taken aback by her, nodded hurriedly, "I'm not disbelieving you."

Her fans, both male and female, would scream with excitement upon seeing her, taking photos, signing autographs, shaking hands, and hugging. But

the girl before him was different.

Aside from praising her beauty, she didn't have any deeper emotions.

"Old Zheng, show me out," Du Yuanshan said to the housekeeper.

Chen Che heard Chi Leyou and Du Yuanshan say goodbye, and his gaze flickered towards her again. But he saw the girl's lips twitch, as if she were considering how to address him.

"Giveaway boy?"

or "Mr. So-and-so?" No, she didn't seem to know her own name.

A faint sense of anticipation welled up in his chest. Would she take this opportunity to ask for my name?

For a second, the speed slowed down by 0.5.

The girl didn't speak, but a smile curled at the corners of her lips, radiating across the few meters.

"Bye."

She turned, her steps brisk.

The setting sun cast a golden glow, the sky azure, the clouds sparse and soft.

And, finally, the pair of red rubber boots gradually receding from his sight.

Chen Che blinked, a vibrant world flooding his vision.

He paused for a moment, then took a step.

"Hey, what's your name?"

The girl stood a few dozen meters away, her words carried to him by the wind.

"Chi Leyou,"

she raised the yogurt in her hand.

Chen Che: "?"

Ate... huh?

So this was really her tricky way of rejecting a man?

The girl didn't move, her smile warm, gently shaking the yogurt cup.

Was she determined to make him drink it?

This was the first time in his life he'd proactively asked a girl her name, and she toasted him from afar?

Chen Che's face was filled with indescribable emotion.

Even worse, the girl across from him was like a patient hunter, waiting for her prey to fall into a trap.

Chen Che could only hold up his "Qin Ma Brand Intestinal Disorganization Yogurt" in the air.

The gentle shaking of it resembled a childish game played between two kids in the corner of the park.

"

Ms. Du, what's in your yogurt?" Chen Che leaned leisurely against the entrance to the villa's gym.

Inside, a female celebrity was grappling with a stair climber, desperately trying to shed nonexistent fat.

Du Yuanshan, breathing unsteadily and overheated, stammered, "Delicious...? You're smart, brave, and beautiful... Mommy made this!"

Bitter melon, celery, prunes, snow peas... fruits and vegetables so unlike each other, each displaying their own unique qualities within a tiny yogurt cup.

Chen Che, "Are you sure they're snow peas, not crotons?"

Du Yuanshan paused the stair climber and dabbed with a towel at her son's question. "Where can you buy crotons in this lousy place?! They're only available in China, okay?" Chen Che

leaned back, his neck tilted to the hallway, like a bamboo tree blown sideways by the wind. "Uncle Zheng, it's okay. You don't have to go to the emergency room. Just go to the bathroom."

Du Yuanshan realized that her son had made the yogurt for her, but he refused to drink it and had given it to the housekeeper.

"What do you mean, brat?"

Chen Che said, "I'll have Uncle Zheng test it for poison."

"..." The butler, his face etched with indescribable emotion, held onto his stomach and let out a final grumble. "This is what security brought... It should have been left by Miss Chi at the gate.

Oh, and there's also her note." With a swish, Chen Che thrust out his arm, snatching it before Du Yuanshan could.

Ignoring her protests, a certain food-guarding puppy made a beeline for his bedroom.

He locked the door.

The lead-gray sheets, the khaki interior, the gauze curtains filtered out the bright sunlight and blocked out the vibrant world.

The sticky note was small, its oversaturated fluorescent yellow like a seesaw in paradise. He sat down on it and lifted it high. The other side of the seesaw rose high, pointing directly to the icy blue sky outside the window. 

The room was so quiet that one could hear the rapid throbbing of blood. 

[Hey, I appreciate your kindness. I'm giving your money to Uncle Zheng. Working isn't easy. Don't spend your money carelessly. Save some for yourself, for emergencies. Best wishes.] Chen Che flipped to the back, and it was blank. 

No name. 

No contact information. 

What did she mean? Working is hard? Don't waste money? 

What kind of job is he doing? 

Is there such a thing as a "full-time son" in the world?