Wang Xueru nodded in agreement, as the seeds of divorce had long been planted in her heart—this incident was merely a catalyst.
She sized up Yang Hao before suddenly asking, “Do you have time later?”
“What’s the matter?”
Yang Hao asked in response.
“Uh, the range hood at home is still not working well, I was hoping you could take a look,” Wang Xueru said with a guilty conscience.
“I can do that, I have half an hour left in my personal training session.”
“I’ll be free after the session.”
Yang Hao didn’t notice Wang Xueru’s expression and readily agreed.
At that moment, Sun Xinyi came over: “Yang, let’s continue training.”
“OK!”
Yang Hao stood up, greeted Wang Xueru, and then went downstairs with Sun Xinyi.
“Yang, Yingying’s family has been pressuring her to get married, so she wasn’t in a good mood yesterday. She might have offended you, and I hope you’re not upset,” Sun Xinyi conveyed, a meal promised to her by Zhao Yingying for delivering this message.
She certainly didn’t want to give up on this newly single, affluent man and quickly devised a “restore image plan.”
First, she had her good friend Sun Xinyi put in a good word, and later she planned to come forward and apologize sincerely. Even if she couldn’t completely reverse her gold-digger image in Yang Hao’s eyes, at least she wanted him to change his opinion of her.
“Your friend is overthinking it; I didn’t take it to heart at all,” Yang Hao said with a laugh, shaking his head. He truly didn’t mind it, as the supposed matchmaking session the day before was more about giving face to the enthusiastic Mrs. Zhang.
In the past, when he was busier with deliveries, it was Mrs. Zhang who kept him informed about some kindergarten matters.
“As you know, I’ve just divorced, and I don’t plan to marry again anytime soon, or rather, I have absolutely no intention of remarrying!” Yang Hao spoke from the heart. His unsatisfactory marriage with Li Manshu had left him with a fear of marriage, a bit like the saying, ‘once bitten, twice shy.’
Especially now that he had his beloved daughter, his genes had been passed on.
As for the tradition of having a son to carry on the family line, he believed it was best to leave it to fate. In fact, three years ago when his hotpot restaurant wasn’t in trouble yet, he did consider having a second child, particularly with his parents pressuring him eagerly for a grandson.
The older generation’s mindset is often more traditional, with the belief that a family line without a male successor is broken.
However, as the mask incident escalated and the business of the hotpot restaurant plummeted, Yang Hao shelved the idea of having another child.
Sun Xinyi could understand Yang Hao’s feelings; coming out of a failed relationship surely needed time, and indeed, many people never recover in their lifetimes.
“Good morning, Yang.”
“You’re early as usual.”
When they reached the second floor, Meng Yuyu, who was chatting with a male trainer, immediately came over with a big smile.
Yang Hao had a strong impression of this charming female trainer. Just the day before when he was in the equipment area for a class, she was lifting weights nearby, occasionally making movements that provided him with quite a view.
But since he wasn’t that familiar with her, he simply responded casually.
“Yang, let’s go over there,” suggested Sun Xinyi, pointing to a corner of the equipment area, intentionally wanting to keep distance from Meng Yuyu, whose motives she instinctively mistrusted.
Sun Xinyi’s instincts were accurate. Even after they moved to the corner of the equipment area, Meng Yuyu followed them and began strength training, but her movements were more exaggerated than usual. Now and then she would stick out her buttocks or bend over, providing a view that most male customers paid for many sessions to catch a glimpse of.
And she positioned herself so Yang Hao couldn’t miss the view with just a glance, offering scenery that other male clients would have to pay for dozens of classes to see just occasionally.
Yang Hao was the type with strong family values; he never strayed after marriage, but as the owner of five hotpot restaurants, he also had his share of success. He had seen his fair share of women throwing themselves at him, and he understood Meng Yuyu’s little game well.
Indeed, a man with financial means was welcomed wherever he went!
Yang Hao didn’t delude himself that it was his looks that attracted her. If it were ten years ago, he might have considered that possibility. But now, his appearance was just average, better than most men his age but nothing exceptional.
Therefore, her flirtation was undoubtedly influenced by him purchasing a hundred personal training sessions for Sun Xinyi and giving her a Prada handbag.
However, he didn’t mind the side benefit of having something pleasant to look at during his workout. Yet after a while, it made him a bit restless. After all, he was a normal man, and he silently recalled his last card-playing session, which had been three months ago.
At that time, his relationship with Li Manshu was already strained, but needs were needs, and things just happened.
“Yang, shall we stop here for today? I brought you a fat-loss meal. Come find me in the lounge on the first floor after you shower,” Sun Xinyi said after completing the last set of exercises.
She had agreed to prepare Yang Hao’s fat-loss meals for the next month, starting today.
But now Yang Hao felt a bit troubled, because he had promised to help Wang Xueru.
“Yang, do you have something on after this?” Sun Xinyi asked, noticing the hesitation on his face.
“I just ran into a friend, and I need to step out for a bit. How about this, I’ll take the fat-loss meal with me to eat,” he offered.
“Oh, that’s fine too, then I’ll wait for you on the first floor,” Sun Xinyi replied, a little disappointed, because she knew that the friend Yang Hao mentioned was the woman he had spoken with earlier on the fourth floor. She had some memory of Wang Xueru, recognizing her as a regular customer at the gym, but one who only attended public classes.
“Yang, are you done working out?”
As Yang Hao was about to head to the locker room to shower and change, Zhao Yingying suddenly blocked his way.
“Yes.”
Yang Hao nodded slightly.
“Yang, I’m really sorry about last night. I personally am quite averse to the marriage pressure from my family, so I just wanted to go through the motions!”
“Do you have time later? I’d like to treat you to a meal.”
Zhao Yingying first offered a sincere apology and then took the initiative to make amends by offering to treat him.
“It’s no problem. I accepted because Mrs. Zhang was too enthusiastic to refuse.”
“Let’s find another time for lunch. I have plans with a friend in a bit.”
Yang Hao tactfully declined. For one thing, he really didn’t take last night’s incident to heart, and for another, he was genuinely uninterested in Zhao Yingying.
From the content of her conversation last night, it was highly possible she was another Li Manshu.
He definitely didn’t want to jump out of the frying pan into the fire!
“That’s fine, we can meet up some other time.”
Zhao Yingying still wore a smiling face, but inside she felt extremely disappointed. In her view, he hadn’t accepted the apology, and as for the prospect of meeting up some other time, that was just a formality.
Meng Yuyu, who was watching all this, slightly curled her lip. She knew Zhao Yingying, aware that the latter was Sun Xinyi’s close friend. Being of similar ilk, she could clearly see Zhao Yingying’s intentions.
However, it was quite obvious that Yang wasn’t interested in her.
But Zhao Yingying’s appearance was a wake-up call for Meng Yuyu. There were more monks than porridge – Yang Hao, the Tangseng, was now targeted by several demons. In this situation, she couldn’t use the same techniques she used on other men; she had to take the initiative and pull out all the stops.
First floor.
Sun Xinyi handed Yang Hao the insulated lunch box she had brought from home: “Yang, just bring the lunch box with you when you come tomorrow.”
“Sure, thanks!”
Yang Hao said, taking the lunch box. At that moment, Wang Xueru, who had an appointment with him, also came downstairs. Today she was dressed in a mature, yet chic style. She wore a wool plaid coat over tight jeans paired with knee-high leather boots, and her chestnut brown hair, cut at the neck, was tucked in slightly, giving her an air of gentle sophistication.
“Yang, shall we go?”
Wang Xueru said softly, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over Sun Xinyi, Zhao Yingying, and Yu Lili and Zhou Ling behind the reception desk.
When she came out of the elevator, she felt that the looks from these women all carried a hint of hostility, or rather, scrutiny.
However, she was a regular at the fitness center and had never encountered this before.
That is to say, the problem was with Yang Hao.
Could it be that all these women had a thing for this delivery guy?
That would be too absurd!
A thought flashed through Wang Xueru’s mind and was immediately dismissed by her.
After leaving the fitness center, Wang Xueru took out her car keys from her coat pocket and pressed a button. The lights on her parked BYD Dolphin at the entrance flashed immediately.
Now that electric cars are becoming more prevalent, a small car like the Dolphin is indeed very cost-effective for urban travel, provided that there’s a charging station at home.
Wang Xueru’s Dolphin had a range of 420KM, which was more than enough for picking up kids and doing the grocery shopping.
“Yang, get in the car.”
“I’ll return it to you after we’re done.”
Wang Xueru opened the door to signal Yang Hao. In her view, the delivery guy must have come by electric bike, and there was no need to use two modes of transportation to her house.
“Sure, okay.”
Yang Hao was quite familiar with Holiday International. Parking spaces at the entrance to the complex were very tight; he’d probably have no place to park if he drove himself, so taking a ride in Wang Xueru’s car directly into the garage was preferable.
Yang Hao opened the door and sat in the passenger’s side. With a height of 182cm and a weight of 189 pounds, the car was not very spacious for him. He adjusted the seat back and then felt a bit more comfortable.
Wang Xueru skillfully started the car and drove out of the fitness center’s parking lot.
About fifteen minutes later, the little Dolphin entered the underground garage of Holiday International.
Then Yang Hao followed Wang Xueru upstairs.
“Yang, thank you for your hard work.”
This time, Wang Xueru remembered to hand Yang Hao a bottle of mineral water first.
“I’ll see where the problem is…”
Yang Hao went to the kitchen as he was already familiar with the place, having been there once before.
He opened the uppermost cabinet to check the anti-siphon valve; there were no issues.
“Xueru, is there still smoke backing up?”
Yang Hao called out to the kitchen doorway, but got no reply.
As he wondered where she had gone, Wang Xueru suddenly appeared in his line of sight.
But Yang Hao was taken aback!
Wang Xueru had changed into a different outfit. She was now wearing a milk-white bodycon skirt. The material seemed like wool, which was quite suitable for the season, but the design was a little tricky. The chest area was hollowed out, revealing a glimpse of white, sparking endless imagination…
“Xueru, what is this?”
Yang Hao asked, trying to stay calm despite the peculiar atmosphere.
Wang Xueru’s cheeks were slightly flushed. She gently brushed back her hair and said coyly, “Yang, don’t you want revenge?”