Chapter 43 Don't move yet.

It's autumn in Hong Kong, but the temperature is still close to 30 degrees. People on the bustling streets are suffering from the long summer's hurried pace. Two girls fan themselves as they squeeze into a tea restaurant on the corner to enjoy the air conditioning.

"What do you want to eat?"

"French toast, lemon T-shirt with ice, and a pineapple bun, don't be too dry."

"What about you?"

"Dry river, frozen milk."

The waiter took away the menu, and Zhao Manzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "After so many years, ordering food at a tea restaurant is still like taking a Cantonese test, I'm so nervous."

Li Ke laughed at her, "It's more like a stress interview, skills don't matter, the most challenging thing is the mentality."

The two were exhausted from looking at houses, so they sat down to relax. The advantage of such a tea restaurant is that the dishes are served quickly, and soon, all the ordered dishes were ready.

Li Ke first took a big sip of lemon tea, let out a sigh of relief, then went to cut the plate of peanut butter toast, "I've seen so many apartments today, is there any one I like? I think the ones in Fo Tan and Sha Tin Wai are both pretty good." "

The location is good, but it feels a bit noisy." Zhao Manzhi stirred the iced milk tea, "I actually like the last one I saw."

"The one near Tolo Harbour? You have to rent the whole apartment."

"Yeah." After renting the whole apartment, the budget would be at least 1.5 to 2 times the previous one. She could recruit roommates to share the cost, but Zhao Manzhi looked at the layout and found that it only had one bedroom and one living room. It was not easy to convert the living room into a room, so she would probably have to bear it herself.

"The decoration and facilities are new, the location is close, and it is quiet. The small balcony has an unobstructed sea view... but it has to be rented as a whole. There is nothing wrong with it." After analyzing it, Li Ke was also a little tempted, "Hey, it's not expensive, it's because we don't have money now." 

"In fact, the landlord also gave a big discount. The rent is 12,000 yuan. If you pay one deposit and three payments, you can get a discount of 10,000 yuan a month." She calculated her bank card balance very seriously, "It's not that I can't afford it." 

"Some people used to firmly say that the budget does not exceed 8,000 yuan, but now they think it's okay to increase it to more than 10,000 yuan." 

"That's because I haven't found the right one." 

Now, Zhao Manzhi thinks that this set in Tolo Harbour is suitable. She is like a fascination, and her mind is full of "renting it". 

When the agent opened the door, Zhao Manzhi felt a sense of belonging. The picture of life unfolded in front of her. Seeing every corner of the room, she could imagine what life here would be like in the future. 

The landlord is a sister from the mainland who came to Hong Kong to work hard. Hearing that she liked it so much, he was willing to rent it at a discount. However, such a good price has a short time limit. If the landlord has not made up his mind the day after tomorrow, he will contact the tenant again. 

Now every second counts. 

Seeing her persistence, Li Ke knew that the house was probably gone. "I can help you with other things, but I don't have much money left recently, about 5,000 or 6,000 yuan. If you need it, you can pay it back slowly." 

"No, no." They are still students, how could Zhao Manzhi not know that they are both stretched to the limit? Besides, Li Ke has always been generous. If he says he has no money, he really has no money. This 5,000 or 6,000 yuan is probably squeezed out of his teeth. 

She has not reached the point where she has no other choice. The last resort is to rent the house without consulting her. At most, she will be nagging from Ms. Ding. Although her parents do not encourage her to spend money recklessly, they can't bear to see her suffer, so they will be soft-hearted and send money to her. 

But the reason why Zhao Manzhi put it to the end of the road is, first, because she is used to reporting good news but not bad news and solving problems by herself, and second, she really thinks it is a bit troublesome to do so. It is too troublesome to explain the cause and effect to her parents, so it is better to bite her teeth and think of a solution first. 

In fact, the biggest problem at the moment is that she doesn't have that much cash flow on hand, but if it is spread out to each month, with internship salary and scholarship subsidies, the pressure is not particularly great. It's just that the rent, deposit, and agency fee must be settled at this time, so where the money comes from becomes a problem. 

Yes, salary. She is a employed person now. 

The next day at work, Zhao Manzhi deliberately kept a few documents to sign in person. 

At that time, the meeting had just ended, and Zhuang Youkai scolded several vice presidents of departments. Those who were waiting outside the president's office to report on their work did not dare to breathe. 

While Zhao Manzhi was serving tea, she was also beating her drum in her heart. 

When Mr. Zhuang is in a bad mood, you still want to dislike him, which is tantamount to pulling out the tiger's beard and courting death. 

"Didn't the Swiss merger go well? Why are you so angry?" 

"It was said that Director Liang opposed it, and he dragged a group of people to stand in line and pointed out a few flaws. These are fine, but they are nitpicking. In the end, the merger plan was voted through. President Zhuang didn't say anything, at most he was a little disgusted. Later, the Swiss offer suddenly increased by several points. After investigation, it was suspected that someone leaked our bottom price." 

No matter how many years of cooperation and alliance, the interests are bound tightly. After learning the bottom price, the other party found that his conditions were at a loss, and raised the price overnight, violating integrity. No wonder Zhuang Youkai was so angry. 

Compared with these, what is more chilling is that such a core project team led by him personally has a traitor. 

It was almost noon when the directors in front finished reporting their work. Zhao Manzhi held the documents and hesitated at the door for a long time before finally knocking. 

"Come in." 

"Boss, I have a few documents for you to sign." 

What reminded Zhuang Youkai of her identity earlier than her voice was her fragrance. The fresh scent of orange blossoms was like a glass of refreshing juice, refreshing. 

"Okay, put it there." 

Zhao Manzhi put the documents away as instructed, but did not leave immediately. She was clenching her hands and thinking about the draft. She was so nervous that she felt beads of sweat crawling down her back. 

Zhuang Youkai noticed her abnormality and looked up, "What's wrong?" 

"I have... an unwelcome request." 

"Go ahead." 

The tone was not very pleasant. 

Zhao Manzhi took a deep breath and planned to make a quick decision, "Can I advance you three months' salary? I need it urgently recently." 

"Three months?" It seemed that she had found a place to live. His eyes darkened and his tone was flat, "Why do you suddenly need such a large sum of money?" 

"I plan to move out and rent a house. I need to pay three months' rent at once." 

"Where?" 

"It's near Tolo Harbour." 

Zhuang Youkai raised his eyebrows silently, picked up the intercom, dialed the finance department directly, explained the situation, and nodded at her at the end, "Okay, I'll go to handle the formalities today and call you back soon." 

She jumped up and bowed deeply, "Thank you, boss!" 

"Wait a minute." Seeing that the person was about to leave, Zhuang Youkai called out, "Why did you think of moving out?" 

He paused and added, "I'm asking as a friend." 

"Oh, it's nothing big, I just have some small interpersonal relationship troubles, and I want to move out to have some peace and quiet." 

Zhuang Youkai didn't delve into this answer, and instead said, "When are you moving and need help, tell me." 

"It's okay, I can do it myself. I've troubled you to pay me in advance, I'd be embarrassed to trouble you again." 

"What's the matter? Just treat me to a meal. I saw someone say that friends have to bother each other, otherwise they will drift apart. Isn't that right?"

"…" How can a person who is so busy with all kinds of affairs have time to read these toxic chicken soup theories?

"Then it's settled. Tell me in advance when you're moving." Zhuang Youkai made the final decision, "Otherwise I reserve the right to take back the money at any time."

*

In the past, I learned the texts and memorized the great principles by heart. I thought that when I really grew up, I would become a moral model like the one in the books.

Who knew that later I would become a negative example of bending over backwards for a few pieces of silver.

Non-students were not allowed to go upstairs in the apartment, so Lu Qianning and the helpers had to wait downstairs and watch Zhao Manzhi carry down the large and small bags of pots and pans one by one, and then put them on the small truck.

After finishing all this, she sent the address to Lu Qianning, and he led the people to deliver it first, and then got on Zhuang Youkai's car.

Passing students looked sideways. With such a scene, those who didn't know would think that some young lady was moving.

"Okay." Zhao Manzhi sat in the passenger seat, panting, and took out a tissue to wipe the sweat. "I have set up Google Map navigation, or you can follow Uncle Ning's car."

Zhuang Youkai put his hands on the steering wheel, glanced at the map, and smiled helplessly, "You were still making excuses and saying you didn't need it a few days ago, but now you are so rude."

Zhao Manzhi muttered, "Who told you not to treat yourself as an outsider? As soon as I said I didn't need it, you threatened to pay me back. I should have known not to ask you for an advance."

"That's not a 'threat'."

She pouted, "Yes, threats don't need such a nice tone."

The car drove down the mountain path and passed through all kinds of students.

Zhao Manzhi was originally looking out the window in a daze, and suddenly saw a picture, and her heart was suddenly pulled.

Zhuang Youkai noticed that her originally relaxed body became tense, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Just now, Fang Ling and Chen Muchuan were waiting for the school bus together. At the end of the line, she saw Fang Ling carefully holding the boy's hand.

So the words she said with great care, the other party didn't take them to heart at all.

Forget it. From the day she decided to leave the dormitory, Fang Ling's affairs had nothing to do with her anymore. There was no need to torture herself for it.

The apartment was not far away, and it took only a while to get there.

Perhaps it was because moving things was really a physical job, or perhaps it was because she had not slept well in the hotel recently, Zhao Manzhi just wanted to close her eyes and rest for a while. When she opened her eyes again, she saw that the truck in front had already moved most of the things.

Zhuang Youkai was not in the car. He helped her adjust the air conditioner just right, and even changed the radio frequency to soothing light music. Zhao Manzhi took off the thin cashmere blanket on her body, rubbed her eyes, and stood up. She saw him talking on the phone on the side of the road, with a cigarette twisted between his fingers, but not lit.

But the cigarette butts on the trash can in the smoking corner still exposed the smoker's anxiety.

Was it the work of the traitor? Usually, it seemed rare to see Mr. Zhuang so irritated about work.

After knowing each other for so long, Zhao Manzhi knew that Zhuang Youkai actually didn't like smoking. He would only light up a cigarette when he was extremely tired or annoyed.

It is said that only those who trouble each other can become friends, but Zhao Manzhi seemed unable to help solve his troubles.

She sat up, adjusted her hairstyle and clothes in front of the mirror, and prepared to open the door and get out of the car.

Zhuang Youkai noticed her movement and came over, "Are you awake?"

"Have I slept for a long time?"

"Less than half an hour."

"Oh my God..." Zhao Manzhi really wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into, "You said I was moving, but I ended up sleeping in the car."

Like a primary school student who had done something wrong.

He raised his lips, "It's okay, Uncle Ning has almost moved, but the things haven't been unpacked for you, you have to put them away yourself." "

It's really too much trouble."

She pushed open the door, just took a step forward, and was suddenly hugged by him, and the whole person fell on the seat defenselessly.

Then, Zhuang Youkai covered her head with the wool blanket on her legs, leaned over and reminded her, "Don't move yet."

Zhao Manzhi was scared like a quail, and after a long time, she slowly said "um".

She didn't know what happened, but she was sure that the person in front of her was protecting her.

But in such a cramped space, the thin blanket blocked her sight. Mr. Zhuang's breath and voice enveloped her. Their breathing and heartbeats overlapped, and time seemed to have stopped. A few tens of seconds seemed long.

She heard him call Lu Qianning to tell her something. Not long after, the warmth covering her body withdrew, and the thin blanket was also taken off by him. "Did you get scared?"

Zhao Manzhi dared not breathe, her cheeks were red, and the tip of her small and straight nose was also covered with fine beads of sweat. "It's... okay."

Zhuang Youkai smiled, but this look was far from "okay".

"It seems that there was a paparazzi taking pictures just now."

"Paparazzi?!" Zhao Manzhi almost screamed out loud. She was about to curse that it was ridiculous, but when she remembered the identity of the person in front of her, she had to cover her mouth and lower her voice. "It's really the first time I have encountered this profession in my life..."

"It's okay, Uncle Ning has already gone to negotiate." He pointed sideways, "The machine was just there."

"On the tree?" In order to make news, he really did everything he could.

"Yeah." Zhuang Youkai was used to the media's cameras and had always been highly alert. He almost took a photo of Zhao Manzhi's face just now. If it really spread out, it was hard to imagine how much these people would affect the girl's life in order to dig up information. "You usually live alone, but you have to observe carefully."

But then again, Zhuang Youkai deliberately drove a less eye-catching car and kept his whereabouts extremely secret, but he was still able to follow here. I'm afraid he has already grasped some information.

The school is strict, and all the strangers need to register when entering and leaving, so I relaxed a little during this period and didn't deliberately avoid people. Now that I've moved out, the situation of being secretly photographed today will not happen only once, maybe it will happen again tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

Compared with prevention, it is more important to catch the person behind the scenes.

When Zhao Manzhi finished her makeup, the things had been moved, and she just had to wait for her to go upstairs to sort them out.

After what happened just now, both of them were a little scared. Zhuang Youkai asked Lu Qianning and the master to go back first, and after ensuring safety, he personally sent Zhao Manzhi back.

"I said I'd treat you to a meal, but after all this, it's hard to eat out."

Zhao Manzhi felt a little sorry. If she had to go to a highly private restaurant to make a reservation, she would be short of money, but she would have to face the problem of not being able to make a reservation. "If you don't mind, I 'll make something simple..."

Zhuang Youkai looked at her lazy appearance, "Can you cook?"

"Cooking instant noodles, does that count?"

Forget it, Zhao Manzhi. You couldn't even listen to this suggestion.

She bit her lip, "How about ordering takeout? Have you ever eaten takeout? It can also add to your life experience."

Just as she was about to open foodpanda, Zhuang Youkai spoke up, "Instant noodles are good, I don't mind."

After that, he pulled out a dining chair and sat down, looking righteous, "After all, for me, eating unpalatable fast food products can also add to my life experience."

"..."

Fifteen minutes later, it was Zhuang Youkai's turn to stare at the red turkey noodles.

Zhao Manzhi introduced very considerately, "I only added a little bit of hot sauce, and I also added milk to cook it for you. It's not spicy, but the color is dark."

"Did you do that on purpose?" Zhuang Youkai held the chopsticks and couldn't bring himself to eat, "You call this a little bit?"

"Yes, I added a whole packet." She thought for a moment and took out two cans of Sprite from the refrigerator, "If it's spicy, drink this, it will relieve the spiciness."

Zhuang Youkai stood still.

Zhao Manzhi said "Oh!" and volunteered to demonstrate, "What are you afraid of? It's really not spicy, and it gets more and more delicious as you eat it. If you don't believe me, just look at me."

She picked up a chopstick of noodles and slurped it into her mouth. Soon, her lips were visibly red.

"It's really not spicy?"

"It's not spicy."

Zhao Manzhi finally swallowed that mouthful and quickly opened the Sprite. It's strange. I never felt spicy when I ate turkey noodles before. I haven't eaten much in recent times. Has my level regressed so much?

She took two breaths to ease the spiciness, and pushed the bowl in front of Zhuang Youkai, "You try it too."

"Okay." Unable to persuade her, Zhuang Youkai took a chopstick and ate it very carefully. But it was indeed as she said, the milk cheese neutralized the spiciness, not as scary as it looked.

He chewed slowly, but still felt his throat burning, so he loosened his collar. Zhao Manzhi saw this scene, and laughed softly while drinking a drink.

As expected, people from Lingnan can only eat spicy food.

Zhuang Youkai ignored her and continued to eat at his own pace, eating a bowl of turkey noodles like a French feast. "By the way, when is your final?"

"Early December." Zhao Manzhi thought he was going to talk about working during the holidays, and explained, "Oh, if I calculate it based on the advance part-time monthly salary, I can work until the Chinese New Year. Anyway, the house is rented, so it would be a waste if I don't live in it."

"It's okay. The salary standard has taken your vacation into consideration from the beginning, so it won't affect it." He tapped the table lightly with his slender fingertips. "I'm going to Beijing at that time, and you can come with me on the business trip."

"I..."

"There is a subsidy."

"Okay!" Zhao Manzhi was penniless at the moment, and when she heard that there was money to be made, she naturally wouldn't refuse, not to mention...

when she went to Beijing, she could also take time to visit Chen Hang.

"Then it's settled, I'll ask Jeffery to put you on the schedule as well."

It was obviously a business matter, but he talked about it as if it was an important agreement. Zhao Manzhi didn't say anything. She picked up a little bit of noodles but didn't eat it. She asked indirectly, "I've never been on a business trip with Mr. Zhuang before. What do I need to do?"

Before she finished speaking, Zhuang Youkai tapped her head with a chopstick. "Still call me Mr. Zhuang?"

"Well, weren't we just talking about business?" At the moment, she was more concerned about this trip to Beijing. "Do I need to make any preparations in advance?"

"Nothing special, just the same as your usual work content. Oh, there may be a cocktail party. If you can't drink, don't force yourself."

"My alcohol tolerance is not that bad."

"Just look at you drinking twice and getting drunk both times. Isn't that bad?"

Zhao Manzhi curled her lips. "That's not called being drunk. You're still conscious."

"So, you're just drunk and crazy."

"..."

Zhuang Youkai saw her stirring the noodles back and forth. She didn't eat much, so he put down his chopsticks and pushed the bowl in front of him over. "If you can't eat spicy food, eat this."

"What about you?"

"I'll go back to Huanye to eat." He looked at his watch. There were more important things to deal with next. "Be safe at home and protect yourself when you go out recently."

"......Okay."

She stood up to see him off, but when she reached the door, he persuaded her to go back, "Don't be too nervous, the recent storm will be over, and it won't affect your life too much."

Zhao Manzhi chuckled, "You talk as if it's something shameful, but there's obviously nothing."

"Then you underestimate their ability to write stories based on pictures."

Zhuang Youkai still didn't ask her to see him off.

After watching him enter the elevator, Zhao Manzhi closed the door and looked back at her own home. Except for the two bowls of noodles on the table, there was no trace of today's thrilling experience.

But the scene in the car kept replaying in front of her eyes.

His smell, body temperature, and heartbeat had never been so close before, and she was blocked from view and held her breath. Like a stranded fish, she perched in his arms, breathing heavily to survive.

*

"Boss, the person ran too fast and we couldn't catch him. We are now checking his identity. But what is certain is that he followed us and found this community by accident. I have informed the security. If necessary, we can find a bodyguard to protect Mandy." "

Okay, contact him as soon as possible. If you want money, give it. The main thing is not to leak her information."

"Understood."

Zhuang Youkai turned the steering wheel and found that Lu Qianning had not hung up the phone yet. "Anything else?"

"Yes." The other party's voice became hesitant, "Ada wants to see you." "I

have work to do in the group, so I won't see you."

"I told her the same thing, but she said it was about Ah Lin, and it must be said in person."

"..." After thinking for a while, he said, "Where is she now?"

"Ms. He's home in Central, it's more hidden over there."

Ada also sat upright on her sofa, holding the water she poured half an hour ago in her hand, but she didn't drink a sip.

Half an hour ago, she was fidgeting since she learned that Zhuang Youkai agreed to meet her.

This is the last bargaining chip. If the other party also decides to give up, then the ending that awaits her can be imagined.

The doorbell rang, and Ada hurriedly tried to open the door, accidentally spilling water on herself. She had no time to take care of it. After seeing Zhuang Youkai's face from the door control, she opened it with confidence and reluctantly curled her lips, "Are you here? What would you like to drink?"

"No, I'll leave after I finish talking." Zhuang Youkai closed the door and took off his sunglasses, "You said it was about Brother Lin. Why did you suddenly figure it out and tell me today?"

Without waiting for anyone to answer, he glanced at Ada's flat belly and smiled, "It seems that the Zheng family does not recognize this child after all, and now there is no way out."

His official tone seemed to show that he did not have much patience to bargain with her. Ada was afraid that he would turn away in disappointment, so she had to put forward her conditions and bargaining chips as soon as possible. "The car was completely burned at the time, and there was no key evidence left. We could only treat it as an accident. But before the car accident, A-Lin actually had noticed something and asked me to call the insurance company to ask what the fault was. The other party mentioned whether it was a circuit modification."

She took a deep breath and said, "I have kept the recording. If you can get me out of the country safely, I will give it to you."