Chapter 264
Chapter 264
"Last time Xiaocun came, she stayed in the guest room."
Mother Zhong also lowered her voice. "Maybe the girl is thin-skinned. She’s really pretty, but her eyesight isn’t great—how did she end up liking someone from our family?"
Mom Zhong rolled her eyes. "What do you mean ‘someone from our family’? Little Ning isn’t bad-looking either, she takes after me. Good figure, tall, and has a great personality—what’s wrong with her?"
"...But the other girl is even prettier, like a big celebrity. Where did Little Ning get such luck to meet her? She kept it well hidden, not a single hint slipped out. I didn’t notice at all."
Mother Zhong yawned. "If she doesn’t want to say, then let her be. Don’t be too enthusiastic either, or you might scare her. Sleep, sleep."
On the other side, Zhong Ning hadn’t realized at all that she had exposed herself.
She had already gotten used to sleeping with Xie Shiqing—how could she still think about sleeping separately? The thought had long been dug out of her mind.
"My mom, enthusiastic, haha." She laughed awkwardly twice. "You’re okay, right? It’s not easy to say you have amnesia, otherwise they’d make a huge fuss."
"Just say, say you’re from Xuzhou. Over here, the capital is Xuzhou."
Xie Shiqing smiled and nodded. "Alright, Xuzhou, I’ll remember it."
"As for Auntie… this is quite nice. I don’t feel uncomfortable."
"Get into the blankets first." Zhong Ning turned on the bedside lamp. She slept on a double bed, and there were two pillows on it. Usually, she stacked them up to lean against, but fortunately, there was no need to worry about lacking a pillow.
One quilt was big enough.
She piled the several throw pillows from the bed onto the computer chair. After Xie Shiqing lay down, she turned off the main light, leaving only the small bedside lamp glowing—dim and gentle, like a little moon.
"It still feels very magical." Zhong Ning pulled the blanket, lying face-to-face with her. "Suddenly sleeping in such a small room—will you feel unaccustomed?"
"With you here, everything is fine." Xie Shiqing’s brows and eyes softened. "And this is your home. How could I not get used to it? I’m happy before anything else."
"When I was little, I didn’t sleep here. Back then, our home had two bedrooms and a living room, and I shared a room with my sister. Later, our family got richer and richer, so we bought this place, and rented out the old one."
"The rent goes to my sister. She has to raise a child, so her expenses are quite high."
Zhong Ning tapped her head. "Right, tomorrow let’s go to the mall first and buy you some clothes. Otherwise, you don’t even have new clothes to change into."
"...But I don’t have that much money on hand. You might have to put up with it and wear something in the five-figure range first?"
"I’ll find a way to make money." Xie Shiqing’s gaze was serious. "Otherwise, the pressure on you will be too great. Just buy two sets of clothes to rotate is enough. Don’t spend too much."
"Spending money on you doesn’t feel like a waste to me," Zhong Ning said. "Besides, this is already far worse than your previous food, clothing, and living conditions. I also need to work hard to earn money."
"What makes money quickly…"
The two looked at each other and said in unison, "Stock trading."
After her experiences, Zhong Ning could now handle such matters with ease.
The two chatted a bit more about their future plans, then gradually fell asleep.
...
Xuzhou.
A butler who looked to be around sixty or seventy held a phone. "What? A report has been filed—the young lady has been found. Move out immediately!"
Not long after, several helicopters took off from the manor, heading south toward Wenjinzhou.
The next day.
The soundproofing at home wasn’t that good. The two parents had already tried their best to keep their voices low, even gesturing with their hands while talking, but the sounds of washing up and walking still woke Xie Shiqing.
Her hearing was sharp—she could catch even the faintest noise—so she often slept restlessly. It was an old problem, a mild case of neurasthenia.
As soon as she opened her eyes and turned over, Zhong Ning woke up as well, groggily wrapping her arms around her. "Did we wake you? Are you hungry? Do you want to eat breakfast first and then go back to sleep?"
"They’ll be heading out soon anyway, they don’t eat breakfast at home."
Xie Shiqing glanced at her phone. It was just past five o’clock—indeed quite early. "It’s fine, I’m not hungry yet."
Zhong Ning held her a bit tighter, kissed her hair, and gave a muffled hum.
Just as she had said, the rustling sounds outside quieted down, followed by the noises of putting on shoes and turning the doorknob.
But there was no sound of the door closing. Instead, faint voices could be heard.
Footsteps turned back again.
Knock knock knock.
Zhong Ning’s bedroom door was knocked on. "Little Ning? Little Ning? Wake up."
What was going on?
Zhong Ning opened her eyes and called out, "Mom, what’s wrong?"
Mom Zhong’s voice came through the door, not very clear, but the confusion and urgency in her tone couldn’t be hidden. "There’s a group of people outside the door. They seem to be looking for your friend. Come out and take a look."
The two sat up. Zhong Ning said, "Looking for you? Do you have some kind of status?"
Xie Shiqing frowned slightly. "Let’s get dressed first. We’ll know when we go out."
Because of the urgency, it only took a few minutes for them to get dressed and head out.
In the living room, seven or eight people in black suits were standing densely packed. Mom Zhong and Mother Zhong looked a bit at a loss, frantically signaling to Zhong Ning with their eyes.
From among the black suits, an elderly man stepped forward, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Miss, I’ve finally found you!"
Zhong Ning: …Huh??
Xie Shiqing: "...Looking for me?"
The old man wiped his tears and gestured behind him. "Miss has forgotten again, it’s alright. You’ll understand after watching this PPT."
Behind him, three men in black suits got to work—two pulled out a projection screen, while one took a projector out of a briefcase. After some adjustments, a video began to play.
At some point, the old man had produced a pair of glasses for himself and was now holding a short teaching pointer, tapping it against the screen.
"In this world, there is a kind of illness called periodic amnesia, and you suffer from this condition."
"Miss, your name is Xie Shiqing. You are the richest person in the world, 29 years old. Every three years, the illness flares up. At the same time, you also suffer from persecutory delusions, believing that we all intend to harm you, so you secretly run away on your own."