Chapter 463: Time Stands Still, I Have a Home Now

Under the heavy snowfall, Jizhou turned into a winter wonderland, adorned with red lanterns all over, enhancing the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

Feng Nanshu emerged from the bedroom, pacing back and forth in the living room.

Jizhou’s heating is excellent, especially in the small house where the temperature is kept very high. She wore a sweater paired with a short skirt and fleece-lined black stockings, busying herself with drinking water and brushing her teeth.

After tidying up, she watered the flowers on the balcony and opened the window slightly to admire the snowscape, her beautiful eyes reflecting the serene passage of time.

At this moment, Third Grandpa from the downstairs convenience store came out in his military coat to shovel snow.

Many early risers greeted him or offered him a cigarette, which made Third Grandpa feel quite respected.

While shoveling, he suddenly spotted the ‘little rich girl’ upstairs and began informing the passing neighbors.

“Look, that’s Jiang Qin’s wife.”

“Oh, the kid from Zhenghong’s family? I’ve always heard about her but never saw her in person.”

“I’ve seen her several times; she always comes calling for the Jiang’s and then buys a lollipop, which Jiang Qin restricts because he’s worried about her teeth.”

“Yo, this kid is quite strict with his wife.”

“Indeed.”

Third Grandpa and others chuckled along as they gradually cleared a path at the door.

Feng Nanshu watched for a while, her eyelashes fluttering, her eyes gleamed with contentment, akin to a silly cat basking in the sun on the balcony.

Time stands still, I have a home now…

The ‘little rich girl’ lingered by the window for a while before picking up a children’s sci-fi adventure book and heading to the nanny’s room to find her big teddy bear.

At that moment, Jiang Qin was dressed in thermal clothing, sitting at his computer desk, monitoring feedback from various branches.

How to put it? In four words: good news kept coming.

After strategizing for so long and mastering the terrain, a perfect combination was formed, hitting hard like a main character in a fantasy novel.

Like a protagonist hiding in the mountains, training relentlessly until developing an unbeatable technique, then descending to dominate.

What? Can’t dominate? Ha, nonsense, what was all my training for!

Amid this, Feng Nanshu was not noisy at all, she sneaked onto Jiang Qin’s small bed, pretending to read seriously while her fragrant, silky foot dangled in mid-air, distracting Jiang Qin.

“Feng Nanshu!”

“?”

“Why are you wearing black stockings at home? Have you been secretly chatting with Su Nai again?”

Feng Nanshu looked at him haughtily: “I always dress like this!”

Jiang Qin squinted: “Nonsense, you were wearing the floral cotton jacket and pants my mom bought you yesterday, and suddenly black stockings today. What exactly are you plotting?”

“Brother, you remembered wrong.”

“If you don’t tell the truth, I won’t take you to set off fireworks on New Year’s Eve. I’ll go alone.”

Feng Nanshu pouted slightly: “Brother, Su Nai is a bad person. She said if I dressed this way, you would hug me.”

“…”

Jiang Qin reached out his hand, and then his best friend got off the bed and straddled his legs, curling up in his arms.

Actually, the ‘little rich girl’ found it rather boring during Jiang’s busy work periods, but dared not disturb. Now, being embraced fully, she finally felt a bit of joy.

Jiang Qin closed the internal system, let go of the mouse, lifted her shapely little bottom slightly, then stared at her rosy lips, pondering for a long while before leaning in for a kiss.

Once kissed, the ‘little rich girl’ obediently closed her eyes, her hands resting on his shoulders slightly parted lips. She then began to pant, her body going limp instantly.

Jiang Qin sighed inwardly, wondering what the ‘little rich girl’ was made of, soft as boneless the moment she was kissed, having only two hands to support her, fearing she might fall, leaving no hands free for anything else.

Of course, a good morning kiss among friends is permissible, but nothing more. He thought this just to describe how soft his friend was now.

Just as people compliment someone’s beauty by saying ‘as beautiful as an angel’, he described his friend as melting upon a kiss to illustrate how unable she was to support herself.

“I’ll wear it tomorrow too…”

After a long moment, as their lips parted, Feng Nanshu murmured into his shoulder, as if all her strength had been drained by Jiang Qin.

Jiang Qin paused: “Wear what?”

“Black stockings.”

“Silly girl, you’re too addictive.”

Feng Nanshu wanted to argue that she wasn’t frivolous, but before she could, she was silenced by another kiss, then internally shouting ‘brother’ as she felt overwhelmingly cherished.

They kissed for a long time, and at one point she opened her eyes slightly, feeling as though she had risen slightly.

“Wanting to do what?”

Feng Nanshu, dazed by the kisses, took a while to recover, then looked down: “I want to check the spare phone…”

She had just finished speaking when she got a pat on the head, uttering an “Ah” sound and then behaved, laying on Jiang Qin’s chest, her feet swinging back and forth.

She used to be alone, even during New Year’s.

No neighbors, no red packets, no brother, no family heirlooms, couldn’t peck, nor hear the fireworks outside, and no one to acknowledge her family.

She never looked forward to the Spring Festival before, but now she hoped every day was the Spring Festival.

Downstairs, Third Grandpa was nice, the neighbor Mrs. Wu was nice, Aunt Caifeng was nice, Uncle Six and Aunt Six were nice… they all knew she belonged to Jiang Qin’s family.

Feng Nanshu tightened her embrace around his neck, gazing at the heirloom in her hand, her plump lips pouting slightly, her eyes sparkling.

“It’s almost New Year, ‘little rich girl’, and you’re a year older. Why are you still so clingy?”

“I’ll cling to you even when I’m old.”

“So childish.”

“Jiang Qin, I’m older than you. I’m the big sister.”

Jiang Qin held her tight, thinking to himself that black stockings were one thing, but adding ‘big sister’ was another layer of enticing allure.

Black stockings and big sister, who could resist that?

Jiang Qin pushed the keyboard away, thinking it was time to clear his mind after being so tense and then took Feng Nanshu out for breakfast. Noting the nice weather, they strolled around the community garden.

Many elderly were basking in the sun downstairs, all staring at them with smiley faces.

“Jiang Qin taking his wife for a walk?”

“When are you getting married? We’re waiting to celebrate.”

Feng Nanshu was thrilled and then, seeing Jiang Qin looking at her, instantly turned aloof again.

Jiang Qin smacked his lips: “Has the bad person aged?”

“…”

The next morning, as the peak period for the Lunar New Year goods festival approached, the workload for group-buying increased, and daily sales surged.

During this period, the demand for household goods was high. After a while, as year-end bonuses and New Year’s money were distributed, it was expected that the sales of electronics would skyrocket.

To manage the two different consumer stages, each purchase made before the New Year earned points, which could be used as discount coupons after the New Year.

In this manner, from before to after the New Year, the market was dominated by group-buying.

Though points are common in later times, they proved very useful in this period, ensuring that the online channels remained exceedingly popular.

“Currently, the market feedback is very positive. Our branch managers need to keep a close watch.”

“Also, after the New Year, Xu Kaixuan will go to Shanghai to familiarize himself with the operations. Sun Zhi, keep half of your team and take the other half to expand in Kyoto.”

“Wen Jinrui, I need the annual financial reports from all major strategic brands. Send them to my email.”

“Xu Yu, organize the financial statements from Zhihu from 2008 to the present, along with the financial statements for the second half of this year’s group-buying.”

“…”

Jiang Qin finished a morning teleconference with managers at various levels, then heard the bustling sounds from the street, including calls from vendors, the bursts of firecrackers, and various promotional cars.

This was an annual inner-city festival, which had been held yearly but was later banned by law as Jizhou earned its title of ‘civilized city’.

Jiang Qin got out of bed, poured a glass of water from the kitchen, and while drinking, went to knock on Feng Nanshu’s door.

“Get up, ‘little rich girl’, the sun is shining on your little tiger.”

After knocking once and hearing no reply, Jiang Qin coughed: “Then I’m coming in, don’t blame me if I see something I shouldn’t.”

Just as he spoke, he noticed a note stuck on the door.

“Jiang Qin, I’ve taken Nanshu out shopping. We’ll eat lunch outside and probably return in the afternoon. Breakfast is on the table, heat it up yourself.”

“Knowing you’d come knocking on Nanshu’s door as soon as you get up, I stuck this here in case you missed it.”

“Oh, and when you have time, clean up the dog bed.”

“???????”

Jiang Qin peeled off the note and felt a sudden suffocation.

What did it mean that he’d come knocking on Feng Nanshu’s door as soon as he got up? Was this how his parents saw him? This was slander.

First of all, that was originally his room.

Secondly, as the head of the house, and Feng Nanshu being a guest, asking how she slept was merely polite!

Feeling the deep malice of the world upon waking, Jiang Qin lamented how his honorable actions seemed like those of a nobleman, yet to others, he appeared a creep. Was there no justice?

Jiang Qin heated some leftovers in the kitchen, ate a few bites, then heard a knock at the door.

It was Guo Zihang and Yang Shuan, bringing, as usual, a box of roasted chicken and half a salt pond sheep.

“Uncle, where’s my aunt?”

“She went shopping with my mom.”

“No wonder you look like a left-behind child.”

“Is that polite?”