Qin Ningyi put aside his work today to personally direct the butler to clean the room. This commotion made Su Nianzhu smell something unusual.
Knowing that Huo Rou had taken An'an out of the hospital, Qin Ningyi wasn't overly anxious. No one around Xia Qingxue's residence had called him yet.
Just as the room was being decorated, An'an's call came through.
"Hello, An'an." Qin Ningyi was in a good mood. "Dad's place is all ready. Where are you now? I'll come pick you up right away."
"Dad..." An'an spoke with some hesitation. "Mom and I might not be coming back."
"Huh?" Qin Ningyi didn't understand what he meant.
"Mom just... just..."
"What happened?" Qin Ningyi rarely heard An'an speak so haltingly.
"Mom bought an apartment, right near the school. We have the key now and are heading to the apartment."
This time, Qin Ningyi was truly taken by surprise. Buying an apartment?
Looking at the room decorated entirely in藕粉色 (lotus root pink), he pinched his brow and asked carefully, "Where is it?"
"It seems to be called Meicheng Yunfu... An'an is crossing the road, watch the traffic." After saying the name of the complex, Huo Rou's voice could be heard. They were about to cross the road, and An'an hung up hastily.
Meicheng Yunfu? That sounds like a high-end residential complex the company developed a few years ago... And it's in a school district. Where did Huo Rou get the money to buy an apartment?
Countless questions flooded his mind. Qin Ningyi grabbed his car keys and hurried out. It should be a rented apartment...
As the roar of the car faded, Su Nianzhu picked up her phone and said to Qin Feiwan on the other end, "Your brother seems to really like An'an's mom. He's been fussing around at home all day. I passed by that room, it was all pink. Tsk, tsk, tsk, we'll have to get a good look at An'an's mom tonight."
Qin Feiwan on the other end also couldn't believe that her tough guy brother could decorate a pink room. It was terrifying. She wanted to see what An'an's mom looked like right away.
The property management office of Meicheng Yunfu.
"Did a resident named Huo Rou move in today?" Qin Ningyi sat at the desk, looking at the group of people standing before him and asking slowly.
After he arrived at the complex, An'an's call had gone unanswered. Qin's Group's properties came with their own property management services, so he had no choice but to come here and ask.
A tall, thin man standing in the corner heard this and immediately replied, "Mr. Qin, a Ms. Huo Rou just bought an apartment and came to our office for the handover."
"With a child?" Qin Ningyi asked again.
"Yes, yes. The child is particularly well-behaved and cute," the tall, thin man replied sheepishly, touching his head.
The atmosphere in the office suddenly turned tense. The manager at the head of the table began to sweat. He cautiously glanced at the air conditioner next to his desk. It wasn't turned off, was it? It was set to 20 degrees, why was he sweating?
Qin Ningyi got the unit number and walked out of the property management office. Just as he was heading towards Unit 1, An'an's call came in.
"Dad." Before An'an could speak, Qin Ningyi asked, "Are you at the new place?"
"No, Mom and I are out of the complex. We just went to see the new apartment, and it seems there's only a sofa and a bed inside. Mom said we should go pick out some daily necessities and appliances first."
"Why don't you try to persuade your mother to come home? The house is all ready," Qin Ningyi said to An'an as he got into his car.
"No need." Huo Rou's sweet voice answered him, but he detected her coldness.
This...
For the first time in his life, Qin Ningyi felt he had such a good temper. Although Huo Rou was cold, her voice was truly disarming.
"Where are you? I'll help," he said, backing down. After all, this was his son.
"No need." Huo Rou repeated the two words, followed by a "beep beep beep" from the busy signal as the call was hung up.
Qin Ningyi was now without direction, so he called Xiao Konglin. "Help me check for shops selling appliances and daily necessities around Meicheng Yunfu and send me the addresses."
"Mr. Qin, what are you planning to do? Buy a commercial property or acquire a company? That's a school district, worth its weight in gold. There wouldn't be such large appliance stores around here, would there?" Xiao Konglin was caught off guard by the request.
As the golden special assistant, capable of anything, he was unable to guess Qin Ningyi's intentions at this moment.
"Just check, quickly." Qin Ningyi didn't waste more words with him, a sense of frustration brewing within him for reasons unknown.
Xiao Konglin sent a bunch of coordinates. Qin Ningyi looked at the points on the map and considered the distances. He tentatively narrowed down three shops they might visit. He then called people to search the other locations while he drove to one of these three shops.
The first one was not there. The people sent to search the other ones also reported back with no findings. Just as he was about to head to the second shop he had analyzed, An'an's text message arrived.
The message contained only a coordinate address, with no other words. It was likely that An'an had gotten his phone back and sent him the location.
With a direction, it was much easier to find them. Qin Ningyi drove over and happened to catch Huo Rou and An'an as they walked into a store.
The store was crowded, seemingly busy with people stocking up.
When Qin Ningyi navigated through the crowd to Huo Rou's side, she was choosing pillows.
An'an was obediently pushing the cart by her side, with a somewhat fawning smile.
Huo Rou glanced at him, then at Qin Ningyi. She had nothing more to say. With a traitor inside, she no longer expected her whereabouts to remain secret.
"Why bother? There are so many places to live at home. If you don't want to live in the same building as me, you can live in An'an's aunt's building..."
"I said, I don't need it." Huo Rou walked forward, beckoning to An'an. "Let's go."
"Coming, coming! Mom, wait for me." An'an trotted along, pushing the cart. He didn't forget to wink at Qin Ningyi, signaling him to follow.
Sigh.
Qin Ningyi sighed inwardly and followed them.
"Mom..." An'an followed Huo Rou obediently, calling out to her softly.
A group of young men walked past, their voices not very loud, but they reached Qin Ningyi's ears.
"This sister is so young, and her child is already this old!"
"Hahaha, did you almost pull out your phone to add her as a friend just now?"
"Yeah, who knew!" the person said indignantly.
"Are you two getting along? Didn't you see her husband following behind? What if he heard you?"
"Beautiful ladies are for others to admire, can't we even chat about them?"
"You guys, keep it down. That sister seems to be speaking, her voice is so nice, so soft and cute!"
...
The soft and cute sister was currently holding a quilt and two sets of four-piece bedding in one hand. They weren't particularly heavy, but for a woman, these items should ideally be carried with both hands.