The house in Liren Garden wasn't big, its layout was somewhat similar to the one in the petrochemical family compound back home, which was one of the reasons Tan Jincheng liked it initially.
If nothing unexpected happened, his parents would likely come to live here often in the future, and having a house with a similar layout would make them feel more secure psychologically.
This was the previous consideration, but they were about to buy a villa, so this set seemed unnecessary now.
After lunch, Tan Jincheng led Gu Qingqing by the hand to the new house:
"Why didn't you come here to sleep yesterday? It's much safer here than at a hotel."
"You weren't home, it wasn't quite appropriate for me to come over,"
Gu Qingqing said softly.
It's not certain where it's safe.
"What does that matter? I was in a hurry to move in to make it convenient for you on weekends, saving you from commuting back and forth every day. Otherwise, living with Old Zhang, there'd be someone to talk to."
"I don't believe you."
"Let's see what else needs to be arranged. For the other secondary bedroom, I simply bought a bed and quilt. I left that one for you to decorate. You can come and stay on weekends or during winter and summer breaks if you have time."
"No, let your parents live here. If I come often during the winter and summer breaks, you can just rent me another apartment then."
"No need, I'm planning to buy another villa. My parents will live there, and this will be our little nest from now on."
Gu Qingqing's eyes flickered.
Clearly, the word 'nest' touched a nerve.
Tan Jincheng wasn't really keen on living with his parents long-term either, especially after getting married.
It was a bit uncomfortable; how good it would be to be free in their own small home.
"Come on, let's go take a look. If there's anything you want to add, I'll go with you to buy it this afternoon. I won't have much time later."
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Qin Siyu knocked on Zhang Xupeng's office door.
"Assistant Zhang, could you possibly give us a ride back to school?"
"Huh? Now?"
"Yes, Assistant Zhang, are you free now?"
"But Sister Gu isn't back yet? Aren't you going back together?"
Qin Siyu rolled her eyes at him upon hearing this:
"Are you stupid? Your boss is back, do you think it's still your turn?"
Zhang Xupeng was stunned by her words and only reacted a moment later, realizing that Qin Siyu was deliberately trying to get rid of Sister Gu; indeed, who wants a third wheel when dating?
The boss probably thought the same, just felt too awkward to say it.
Whatever, these two want to go back, so giving them a ride should be fine.
"Alright then, let's go. I'll take you back now, but I need to call our boss first."
With that, he took out his phone and dialed Tan Jincheng's number.
Qin Siyu originally wanted to stop him, but after thinking it over, she decided against it.
After all, Assistant Zhang had to listen to his boss.
A moment later, Zhang Xupeng hung up the phone and said with a smile to Qin Siyu:
"Let's go, I'll take you two back."
"What did your boss say?"
Qin Siyu asked, a little curious.
"Our boss said he understood,"
Zhang Xupeng chuckled.
Qin Siyu secretly clenched her fist.
It seemed she had guessed correctly.
In that case, they should quickly leave before Qingqing found out.
At this moment, Zhao Xianbo was still sitting in the Taobao office downstairs, his eyes occasionally glancing at the QQ lingerie interface on a computer, wanting to look but feeling a bit embarrassed.
He was only responsible for shooting menswear, and only knew the names of the menswear and womenswear Taobao stores.
He never expected there to be a store like this.
Could this kind of thing make money?
Wasn't Boss Tan embarrassed to open such a store?
"I'll show it to my roommates when I get back, hehe."
Zhao Xianbo secretly noted down the store name.
He had just discovered that the comments section of this store was quite interesting.
When Qin Siyu called him to leave, Zhao Xianbo came back to his senses and asked in a daze:
"Aren't we waiting for student Gu?"
Qin Siyu noticed his gaze just now and gave him a mischievous look.
Zhao Xianbo felt a bit embarrassed by her look, quickly stopped asking, and followed the two out.
Qin Siyu knew more than Zhao Xianbo.
She had long known about this store.
When she first heard about it, she even thought about taking on the clothing model job for this store.
But then Gu Qingqing told her, blushing, that it was QQ lingerie.
She was stunned at the time.
Luckily, she mentioned it privately to Gu Qingqing and didn't go directly to Boss Tan, otherwise it would have been too shameful.
As for where the models for that store were found, Qin Siyu had also curiously asked Gu Qingqing, but Gu Qingqing wouldn't tell her.
Who would be willing to take such pictures?
Could it be those involved in special professions?
Qin Siyu hadn't guessed wrong.
Tan Jincheng had indeed hired these people for the photos.
In those years, societal attitudes weren't that open.
Besides these people, probably only some special models would be willing to shoot.
The former were much more convenient than the latter.
No need to show faces, no need to lie down to work, and the pay was good.
Why wouldn't they shoot?
The photographers took many pictures at once; some were used for model display, some for shill comments in the review section, and then they hired online commenters to distribute them across various forums to drive external traffic.
When Gu Qingqing first took on this job, she felt terribly ashamed and privately complained about how Tan Jincheng came up with such a crazy idea.
However, seeing the continuously rising sales, she gradually got used to it.
It seemed that doing business was like this; the trade city had all kinds of goods, and Taobao seemed like an online trade city.
The difference was that Taobao focused on retail, and it seemed that any business that made money would find someone to do it.
When Gu Qingqing received Qin Siyu's message, she was having dinner with Tan Jincheng.
By then, Qin Siyu had already left Beicang.
To save her face, Qin Siyu made up an excuse that Zhang Xupeng needed to go to the city for something, so she hitched a ride back with him early and didn't have time to notify her.
In the afternoon, the two added some items to the house and bought some groceries to cook themselves.
The house was now officially 'opened for cooking'.
What surprised Gu Qingqing was that Tan Jincheng's claim of being a good cook was actually true! She had thought he was boasting at the time.
His chopping skills were almost as good as her mom's.
How could he not be good?
In his previous life, he and Zhang Xupeng had initially sold fast food.
While not necessarily delicious, his chopping skills and seasoning certainly wouldn't be too bad.
"Assistant Zhang is going to the city for something?"
At the dinner table, Gu Qingqing looked at Tan Jincheng and asked, puzzled.
"Oh, he called me this afternoon and said he needed to go to the city. You were there at the time, weren't you?"
Tan Jincheng said casually, picking up a piece of sea bass.
Taking people to Yongcheng University is also going to the city for business, right?
Old Zhang finally showed some discernment, well done!
Gu Qingqing pursed her lips and said nothing.
Seeing Gu Qingqing remain silent, Tan Jincheng tentatively asked:
"They both left, so why don't you stay here tonight? I'll take you back tomorrow morning."
Gu Qingqing still didn't speak.
Tan Jincheng didn't dare to press further.
The two, who had been chatting and laughing, suddenly fell silent, and a hint of awkwardness permeated the dinner table atmosphere.
Their relationship had developed rapidly so far, with a trip to Huangshan and a business trip to Yangcheng.
They had done almost everything except the final step, but it was precisely this last step that was the hardest to break through.
Qin Siyu and Zhao Xianbo slipped away early and even specifically asked Zhang Xupeng to give them a ride.
How could Tan Jincheng not understand their intentions?
So, he tacitly agreed to Qin Siyu's suggestion.
However, on the other hand, if these two followed Qingqing every weekend, it would indeed be annoying, especially since they both planned to join Shanchi Technology after graduation.
Tan Jincheng didn't want to get too close to them at this time.
Otherwise, if they really joined later, it would be difficult to manage subordinates.
Fortunately, these two were also sensible.
Hearing he was back, they knew to make an early escape.
After a period of silence, Gu Qingqing whispered:
"Then I'll sleep in the secondary bedroom tonight."
Her voice was too low, and Tan Jincheng didn't quite hear her clearly for a moment:
"What did you say?"
Gu Qingqing gave him an annoyed look:
"I said to take me home after dinner."
Tan Jincheng then understood the meaning of her previous words and said with a cheeky smile:
"Alright, alright, you sleep in the secondary bedroom. The sheets and duvet covers are all new and have been washed; no one has touched them except me."
Glancing at the grinning Tan Jincheng beside her, Gu Qingqing lightly cursed:
"You bad guy, don't think I don't know!"
Her cute expression made Tan Jincheng unable to resist leaning in and kissing her.
"Hey, aren't you disgusting? Your mouth is all greasy."
Gu Qingqing, caught off guard, quickly dodged.
"Hahaha."
At this moment, Tan Jincheng showed no trace of a billionaire's demeanor, looking exactly like a 20-year-old young man who had just received a beloved gift.
Watching the laughing Tan Jincheng, Gu Qingqing gave him an annoyed glare.
The night passed without a word, a fleeting spring breeze.
Just past six in the morning, Tan Jincheng unexpectedly woke up early.
Looking at the sleeping beauty beside him, he couldn't resist kissing her.
Gu Qingqing had indeed slept in the secondary bedroom last night.
Not only that, she had locked the door, but the shameless Tan Jincheng still managed to coax her into opening it.
A moment later, Gu Qingqing's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Tan Jincheng, who had been watching her, knew she was awake and was likely pretending to sleep.
Her hands under the quilt couldn't help but move restlessly.
"Ah, don't touch me."
"Call me Gege."
"Gege."
"That's more like it. Do you want to sleep a bit more?"
"What time is it?"
"Six forty. Do you have classes this morning? If not, sleep a bit longer."
"No, I have an 8 AM class today. I need to get up; it'll take over an hour to drive there."
With that, she tried to get up, but a soreness shot through her lower body.
In annoyance, Gu Qingqing couldn't help but punch Tan Jincheng a few times:
"Get out, I need to get dressed."
It's not like I haven't seen it before.
Alright, alright, I'll go out.
"Okay, good. I'll go prepare clean clothes for you, and run a bath."
After getting up, showering, and eating breakfast, it was already past 7:30.
An 8 AM class was definitely out of the question, but Gu Qingqing insisted that Tan Jincheng take her back.
Staying out two nights in Beicang over the weekend was already unacceptable, and if she didn't rush back today, who knew how her roommates would ridicule her.
Young lovers, flowing with charm, entwined in silken drapes on a spring night; their excited souls unaware they had come to an inn, their fervent spirits seemingly entering a celestial boat.
Cheeks flushed, secretly stained with rouge and sweat, pale faces mistakenly smudged with powder and oil.
Tossing and turning, unable to sleep, the rooster's crow broke the autumn's fifth watch.
(End of chapter)