Chapter 289: Hilltop Villa
The agent shook his head and said, “This matter was personally ordered by Miss Xu. She’s the boss. Since she said so, as subordinates, we can only obey.”
The assistant frowned and said, “She may be the boss, but she’s just a young girl in her twenties. What does she know about the entertainment industry? If she changes decisions at the last minute like this, what if we offend those media studios? It’ll affect Mr. Song’s media resources…”
The suggestion to pre-buy publicity articles had originally been proposed by the assistant. So the agent wasn’t surprised by his strong opposition now — after all, if this had gone smoothly, it would have counted as the assistant’s achievement.
“Don’t even think about it anymore. In our company, no one is more important than the boss. You personally oversee this, and there can’t be any mistakes. Otherwise, both our jobs might be at risk,” the agent warned.
The assistant unwillingly nodded but, as soon as he returned to his hotel room, he immediately pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
“There’s been a change. They didn’t fall for it. Should we continue?” the assistant asked the person on the other end.
“How did they find out?”
Hearing this, the assistant felt a bit wronged. It sounded like the other person was blaming him, so he could only helplessly reply, “I don’t know who told Xu Yuyou about it. She usually doesn’t interfere with the agent’s work, but suddenly called it off. If you want me to continue, I’ll be exposed.”
“Forget it. Just do your job normally. This matter wasn’t going to have a huge impact on Song Zhibai anyway. It’s not worth getting exposed for it.”
Hearing this, the assistant immediately let out a sigh of relief and asked, “This wasn’t my fault though. You promised me money…”
The person on the other end replied impatiently, “Don’t worry, you’ll get every penny you were promised.”
Xu Yuyou had no idea that someone had already infiltrated her team. At this moment, she had moved into a hilltop villa in Harbor City that belonged to Lu Jingyao — and happened to run into a familiar face.
“Grandpa.”
Old Master Lu, just like the last time they met, was still busy farming. He cheerfully put down his small hoe and said, “Yuyou, you little rascal, you promised to visit me more often after last time. I waited and waited at home but you never came. Luckily, this old man is smart. If you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you!”
Hearing this, Xu Yuyou felt a little guilty. She had owed Old Master Lu a favor — thanks to him, she had found Gu Xueying’s half-brother in Jinling.
She had actually thought about visiting him again, but Lu Jingyao stopped her. According to him, his elders were so obsessed with marrying him off that he was afraid they would pressure Yuyou too much, making things difficult for her. So he purposely kept them apart.
As if proving Lu Jingyao’s point, Old Master Lu immediately said, “Yuyou, do you like this house? If you and Jingyao get engaged, I’ll give you this villa as a wedding gift.”
“Grandpa!” Lu Jingyao quickly stopped him, exasperated.
Old Master Lu glared at his grandson and said, “If I leave it to this blockhead, who knows how long I’ll have to wait to hold a great-grandchild? You’re not in a hurry, but I am!”
Lu Jingyao shielded Xu Yuyou and said, “If you keep talking like this, we’ll move out.”
Old Master Lu stomped his foot in anger.
Protected by Lu Jingyao, Xu Yuyou lowered her head and thought for a moment. She had been running around the world, putting her career first. Every time Lu Jingyao had tried to bring up marriage, she had brushed him off.
She had even overheard from Assistant Liu once that Lu Jingyao had planned an elaborate, romantic proposal — but canceled it because of her clear attitude at the time.
After almost two years of dating, Xu Yuyou understood deep down: she would have a hard time finding someone better suited for marriage than Lu Jingyao.
He was handsome, wealthy, and respected her. Aside from a few minor bumps early on in America, she really couldn’t find many faults with him.
And it wasn’t like she had no feelings for him.
Even though she loved the children at the orphanage, she knew they weren’t related to her by blood. Secretly, she hoped to have her own biological child one day — to watch them grow up.
Having been treated poorly by her own parents, she wanted to heal her childhood wounds by raising a child of her own.
While the grandfather and grandson were still arguing, Xu Yuyou suddenly poked her head out and said to Old Master Lu, “Grandpa, I don’t need a villa as a gift. I have enough houses. What I want is to eat your homegrown organic vegetables every day.”
Both of them froze.
Lu Jingyao’s eyes instantly lit up with joy. “You… You’re willing to marry me?”
But right after saying it, Lu Jingyao corrected himself, “No, don’t answer me now. I know girls want a romantic proposal. I want you to have that too.”
Xu Yuyou’s heart warmed.
Old Master Lu laughed and said, “No wonder I heard magpies chirping this morning — it’s a sign of good fortune!”
Xu Yuyou blushed and glanced at Lu Jingyao but didn’t say anything more.
At dinner, Old Master Lu insisted the villa’s butler bring out his prized wine.
“I’m so happy today — I must have a drink! My little money sink is finally sold off!” Old Master Lu said loudly.
Lu Jingyao, exasperated, stopped the butler. “Grandpa has high blood pressure. He can’t drink alcohol.”
The butler nodded with a smile.
Old Master Lu slapped the table in anger. “You brat, you dare control me now?! I don’t care, I’m drinking today!”
Lu Jingyao casually said, “I’ll call Auntie right now.”
Old Master Lu wasn’t afraid of anything — except his daughter, who looked and nagged just like his late wife. The thought made him immediately back down.
“Fine, fine, I’ll let it go this time. Butler, pour me a glass of grape juice,” Old Master Lu said, pouting.
After dinner, the butler led the way as Old Master Lu and Lu Jingyao accompanied Xu Yuyou to her guest room.
Although it was called a “guest room,” the villa was so large that even the guest rooms were suites, with full amenities.
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire Harbor City spread out before her.
“Yuyou, do you want to visit Jingyao’s study? He kept all his trophies there from when he was a kid,” Old Master Lu said eagerly, like a salesman trying to pitch his product.
Xu Yuyou glanced at the blushing Lu Jingyao. She hadn’t been too interested initially, but suddenly wanted to tease him. “Sure.”
Walking into the study, Xu Yuyou couldn’t help but be impressed. There were so many trophies and awards.
And there wasn’t a single “Most Improved Student” certificate — most of them were awards for math competitions.
Just as she was about to praise Lu Jingyao, her gaze landed on a large stone sitting off to the side. Her expression froze, and she said in disbelief:
“This stone looks like…”
