"Yanran, your hotel should be fine soon. Just wait patiently,"
Ling Hanfeng took a sip of his drink, stopping himself there. At his level, he couldn't say too much.
Although it wasn't explicitly stated, Murong Yanran was extremely happy. His words gave her a much-needed boost of confidence.
The family meal was thoroughly enjoyed. Li Haochen, who usually had a low tolerance for alcohol, drank more than half a jin. By the time they left, he was staggering, completely dazed. It took Xie Baolian and Murong Yanran to support him to the car.
"Yanran, how about I go back with you? Will you be alright alone later?"
"Don't worry, Aunt Lian. If I can't manage, I'll just throw him in the yard to sleep and let the mosquitoes have their way, hehe!"
"That's a good idea. Let him learn his lesson for trying to be a hero when he can't hold his liquor, hahaha!"
"Then we'll be heading back."
"Ah... call me when you get back."
Xie Baolian returned to the living room and saw Ling Hanfeng drinking tea. She walked over and kicked him, "Hmph, it's all your fault."
"Uh..."
A few minutes later, Xie Baolian's slightly panicked voice echoed from the room, "Old Ling, have you seen my passbook?"
Ling Hanfeng walked in, his expression darkening as he saw the entire room ransacked. "What do you need the passbook for?"
"What are you asking so much for? Just find it for me quickly."
"You really are so flustered at this age, not changed a bit."
Ling Hanfeng walked to the wardrobe, opened a small drawer inside, and took out a small iron box. "Here, it's in here."
Xie Baolian snatched it and eagerly opened the passbook. "Oh my, only 300,000."
"Is 300,000 not much? What are you planning to buy?"
"Our son bought some land and is planning to build a house. I, this old mother, have to give him money."
"Last time I said I wanted to buy a watch for 8,000 yuan, and you nagged me endlessly. Now your son buys land, and you're emptying your savings. Ai... I have no status."
"Slap~"
Suddenly, Xie Baolian remembered something. She slapped the table, her eyes lighting up as she looked at Ling Hanfeng. Her tone and demeanor turned tender. "Husband..."
Ling Hanfeng knew immediately that nothing good would come of this and thought, "It's over, this is definitely trouble."
"Well, my dear wife, I just remembered I have some important documents that need to be handled. I'm going back to the municipal government. Don't wait up for me tonight, get some rest early."
As Ling Hanfeng took a few steps, he felt several killing gazes shot from behind him, making his steps heavy and causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
"Come here..."
Xie Baolian roared. Ling Hanfeng shivered and sheepishly scurried back to sit beside Xie Baolian. "Ahem, wife, I just remembered those documents aren't that important, I can handle them tomorrow, hehe!"
Xie Baolian gave him a sidelong glance, extended her palm in front of Ling Hanfeng, and said, "Hand it over."
"Hand... what?"
"Hehe, don't think I don't know, you secretly saved tens of thousands."
"What? I have tens of thousands? If I did, I would have bought that watch long ago." Ling Hanfeng, worthy of being the city's head, lied with a straight face, though his heart was in turmoil. He thought, "I hid it so well, how does she know? Is she trying to trick me?"
"Really none?"
"Of course not. Don't I give you all my annual bonuses? Where would I have saved money? There's really none."
"Oh..." Xie Baolian drawled, walked to the door, turned off the lights, and locked it.
"Uh, wife, why are you turning off the lights and locking the door... why?"
"We're an old couple, what else could we be doing? I miss you, hehe!"
Ling Hanfeng instantly rushed to the door and turned the lights back on. The light brought him some relief. "Look at my memory, I've been so busy lately my head is spinning. Wait a moment, let me look."
"Oh, take your time looking, I'm not in a hurry..." Xie Baolian moved a stool to the door, sat down, crossed her legs, and watched Ling Hanfeng with a smile.
"Ai..."
Ling Hanfeng sighed heavily and walked to the wardrobe. From the inner pocket of a garment in the middle, he took out two passbooks. One was for over twenty thousand, the other for over ten thousand. His eyes darted around as he thought, "If I hand over the one with over twenty thousand, she probably won't notice the other one is still here."
Ling Hanfeng still harbored a sliver of hope. He stole a glance at Xie Baolian and picked up the passbook for over ten thousand, intending to hide it.
"Oh dear, this air conditioner really needs to be replaced. It's so hot." Xie Baolian unbuttoned her shirt, taking off her clothes as she complained about the air conditioning.
Startled, Ling Hanfeng's hands trembled, and both passbooks fell to the floor. "It's over..."
"Yo, you've learned to hide your tracks, with two books." Xie Baolian walked over, picked up both passbooks, and looked at Ling Hanfeng with a smile.
Ling Hanfeng felt like crying. Looking at the two passbooks in Xie Baolian's hands, his heart was bleeding.
"Alright, stop being a disgruntled wife. I'll give you back your bonus when the year-end bonus comes."
"Really?"
"Take it or leave it."
"I'll take it, of course, hehe!"
"Come here!" Xie Baolian patted the side of the bed, gave him a knowing look, and said.
"..."
On the other side, in the car, the drunk Li Haochen was babbling incoherently, making Murong Yanran's stomach ache from laughter. Fortunately, there weren't many cars on the road that night, otherwise, it could have led to a car accident.
Half an hour later, she finally managed to drive the car back to the courtyard. By this time, Li Haochen was already fast asleep, his drool flowing all over the place.
Murong Yanran was so angry she felt like kicking Li Haochen a few times. "You brute, if you don't wash yourself clean tomorrow, I'll deal with you."
Li Haochen was tall and sturdy, and coupled with his drunkenness, Murong Yanran had to exert considerable effort to drag him into the room.
After taking off Li Haochen's shoes and socks and washing his face and hands with a warm towel, she looked at his somewhat cute sleeping posture and couldn't help but smile. "This guy, he even pouts cutely in his sleep."
Naturally, Murong Yanran wouldn't forget to record such a beautiful scene. She took out her phone and took countless photos. She even leaned in and kissed Li Haochen for a picture.
Looking at their intimate photos, Murong Yanran smiled sweetly and immediately set the picture as her screensaver.
After taking a bath, Murong Yanran didn't go back to her own room. She snuggled into Li Haochen's embrace, rested her head on his arm, hugged him from the side, kissed him, and then fell asleep blissfully.
"Uh, why is my arm so numb?"
The next day, when Li Haochen woke up, he found his entire right arm was numb. He worried for quite a while, thinking something was wrong with his health. Fortunately, the condition didn't last long, and he was relieved.
Murong Yanran had already returned to the hotel to work. The loving breakfast was kept warm in the pot. After breakfast, Li Haochen continued to the warehouse to replenish coconut fruits, as the four to five thousand picked yesterday were not enough for two days of business.
He arrived at the warehouse, locked the door, and took a stroll. Once he was sure it was safe, he entered the space.
He looked at the coconut trees he had picked first. They had already grown coconut fruits the size of a baby's fist. In another three months, he could harvest again. He was so happy, picking them while singing.