The moment he stepped inside, the aroma of cooked food washed over Wang Zhuo, making his appetite instantly surge.

Cold noodles were simply unreliable; half a bowl was digested and gone in less than an hour. Coupled with the slight warm-up from beating up the security guard and those two young thugs, Wang Zhuo’s hunger was now fiercely active.

Guan Yingying placed a pair of slippers before his feet and asked with a smile, "Did you sort everything out? What happened next?"

"Sort what out?" Wang Zhuo spread his hands and managed a wry smile. "It dissolved into chaos. I called Secretary Xiao and passed it along to him."

"Huh?" Guan Yingying blinked in surprise. "Although this isn't a small matter, it shouldn't warrant involving him, should it?"

Wang Zhuo shook his head. "Heh, it’s a long story. Let’s talk while we eat."

The two settled down in the dining room. Guan Yingying brought over the soup she had kept warm on the stove, and lifted the covers off the dishes on the table; the food was still pleasantly warm.

"Next time you wait for me, don't spread the dishes out so much. Piling them together keeps them warmer better," Wang Zhuo said with a playful grin, using his chopsticks to push the scrambled eggs with yellow chives into a small mound, demonstrating for Guan Yingying.

"Hmph, as if I'm eager to wait for you," Guan Yingying shot him a look without much enthusiasm.

They began to eat. As Wang Zhuo ate, he recounted the entire incident in detail.

"This General Manager Qin must be from the former Municipal Party Secretary's faction."

After listening, Guan Yingying immediately delivered a sharp analysis. "If he were Qin Xue’s man, he would have found someone to intercede on your behalf. Daming Group is a city-owned enterprise; by rights, he should be closer to the municipal government. But instead, he was recording you and baiting you into admitting a connection with Qin Xue—he wanted evidence of you leveraging borrowed power."

"He wasn't trying to harm Qin Xue, just trying to secure his own position. The former secretary's reassignment was a sidelining move in disguise. Without that backer, and having offended you, he fears Qin Xue will use this chance to make an example of him, killing one to warn a hundred."

Hearing her analysis, Wang Zhuo sincerely raised his thumb, praising, "Brilliant, truly brilliant. Sister, after your breakdown, I understand everything. It seems this Qin Xiangrong has run straight into the muzzle of the gun this time; his fate is sealed."

"No," Guan Yingying mused. "My analysis suggests that if he offers a pledge of allegiance, Qin Xue might just spare him and put him to use."

Wang Zhuo was slightly stunned. After considering it, he pointed at his own nose with a look of mixed amusement and bewilderment. "Are you saying, because of me?"

"Exactly. Because of Shengshi Wangchao, you've been too high-profile lately. If you cause Qin Xiangrong to fall this time as well, the public perception will be unfavorable to him. He is still the acting secretary; stability trumps everything else. He shouldn't do anything so unwise."

"Sister, you are incredibly talented!" Wang Zhuo agreed with her view, laughing heartily, then winked mischievously as he teased, "What merit do I, Wang Zhuo, possess to have such a virtuous helper? I must have accumulated great merit in a past life."

"Dare to talk nonsense again and get out!" Guan Yingying raised her chopsticks, making a show of striking him.

Wang Zhuo smirked, looking her up and down. Guan Yingying maintained a cool demeanor for a moment before she couldn't help herself, her thoughts involuntarily drifting back to that embarrassing incident the other day, and a blush swiftly bloomed from behind her ears, staining both cheeks.

Winking provocatively, Wang Zhuo asked, "What brand of blush is that? How can it change color?"

Smack, smack, smack! Guan Yingying leaped up from her seat and started wildly striking Wang Zhuo’s head with her chopsticks. Wang Zhuo yelped in mock pain, using his arm to shield his head while continuing his nonsense.

Unintentionally, Guan Yingying’s chopsticks were snatched away by Wang Zhuo. She lunged forward, resorting to her fists, but after just a few light blows, Wang Zhuo caught her around the waist, lifting her feet involuntarily off the ground. Startled by the sudden weightlessness, she let out a sharp scream.

"Don't let growing up lead to growing lonely, plant my clover in your field of dreams..."

Wang Zhuo's phone rang at that moment, and the duo’s roughhousing instantly ceased. Wang Zhuo gently set Guan Yingying back down, picked up the phone, and saw it was Xiao Wanjun calling.

He glanced at Guan Yingying, answered the call, and began speaking with Xiao Wanjun. Meanwhile, Guan Yingying stood staring into space, having missed the entire conversation.

This ringtone was an excerpt from the Little Tigers' most classic song, "Love"—the melody simple, the rhythm brisk, and the lyrics devoid of overly flowery language, yet it allowed anyone who heard it to savor a deep, genuine affection.

The older you get, the lonelier you are; string our hearts together; let youth be our companion. For a moment, Guan Yingying felt a little lost. What exactly was love?

When Wang Zhuo finished his call, Guan Yingying was already in the kitchen washing dishes. Only his bowl remained on the table, containing nothing but the leftover rice he hadn't finished, and two small pieces of thornless saury meat that Guan Yingying must have placed in there.

Feeling incredibly thoughtful, Wang Zhuo downed the contents in two swift gulps and carried his bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen.

"What did Secretary Xiao say?" Guan Yingying asked distractedly while meticulously scrubbing the dishes.

Wang Zhuo smiled. "He wasn't too detailed, but it was clear from his tone that the handling will likely be just as you suggested."

"Oh, that’s good then," Guan Yingying nodded slightly.

"I worked up a sweat. Can I borrow your bathtub?" Wang Zhuo asked, putting on a charmingly shameless face to get closer.

He expected a punch or a sharp "Get lost," but instead, Guan Yingying merely turned her face to look at him and asked with a half-smile, "If you dirty my bathtub, how am I supposed to use it later?"

Wang Zhuo quickly thumped his chest. "I'll scrub it clean for you after I use it, guaranteed to be as clean as new!"

Waving a dismissive hand, she sent him off to bathe happily. A trace of a wry smile touched Guan Yingying's lips. The bathtub could be scrubbed clean after use, but what about other things?

...

Jin'an Residential Area was supposed to be exclusively for relocated residents, but Li Huifeng had altered the blueprints, making the spacing between buildings slightly irregular, while adding two extra commercial buildings for external sale.

The apartment Guan Shichen bought was one of these commercial units, meaning its bathroom was significantly larger than those in the relocated units, leaving ample room for modern renovation.

When Guan Yingying first moved in, the bathroom featured an all-in-one frosted glass shower stall, similar to the one in Wang Zhuo's home. But upon seeing the generous space, and recalling the bubble baths often featured in dramas, she had the shower stall removed and replaced with a large Jacuzzi tub.

This was the main reason Wang Zhuo wanted to borrow the tub. Despite his current status, he was still fundamentally a small-time upstart; he hadn't seen or experienced many high-end luxuries. He had been eyeing this Jacuzzi on his previous two visits but never found the opportunity. Having sweated from a fight today, and with no one else around, the tub came to mind again.

The tub's outer diameter was nearly two meters, square in shape, containing a heart-shaped basin inside. The sharp point of the heart faced one corner of the square, while the opposite empty space was fashioned into a small recess for bath products.

Each of the heart's two raised lobes had underwater structures designed for sitting or reclining. When sitting, one could easily reach the nearby toiletries; when lying down, the head could rest comfortably above the waterline.

A major feature of this tub was that because of the two raised sections forming the heart shape, it was explicitly designated as a double tub...

"Yingying! The water temperature is perfect, so comfortable! Why don't you come in for a soak?"

The bubbling water jetted out from small holes around the tub's perimeter, hitting the skin with moderate force and continuously changing angle, creating a massage effect.

Wang Zhuo shouted, then remembered that soundproofing in this building might not be great, and if the neighbors heard, it would be quite improper.

The hot springs of Taoyuan Village excelled in their raw, natural, and unrestrained quality, whereas using this high-tech modern tub offered an entirely different sensation. Temperature, water flow, and spray patterns were all controllable. Although it couldn't compare to the feeling of complete immersion in nature that a hot spring provided, it held its own unique charm and felt quite good.

He extended a foot and pressed the underwater switch; the tub immediately engaged at full power, turning all the water into a surging current like a small torrent.

Wang Zhuo rolled around comfortably, held his breath underwater for a moment, and as he sat up, he saw Guan Yingying standing at the bathroom doorway wrapped in a towel, just turning back to close the door.

Is she... really coming in to soak with him?

Wang Zhuo stared blankly as she walked over, stepped onto the platform before the tub, squatted down first to test the water temperature, then turned sideways and stepped in.

Then, she flicked her right hand, pulling down a large towel hanging on the adjacent wall, and with a flick of her wrist, covered Wang Zhuo’s face with it.

By the time Wang Zhuo brushed the large towel aside, she had already removed the towel wrapped around her and settled into the water. Wang Zhuo could only look on with a mix of laughter and tears, realizing she had played a small trick: she wasn't naked, but wearing a bikini swimsuit!

"You—you, this isn't fair," Wang Zhuo pointed at her and said indignantly. "I’m bare, but why do you get to wear a swimsuit?"

Guan Yingying raised an eyebrow and snorted, "My place, my rules."

"Fine, your rules," Wang Zhuo grabbed the large towel, pushed it under the water, and used it to cover his private parts.

Seeing he was getting shy, Guan Yingying chuckled lightly. "You don't need to cover up; it's not like I haven't seen it before."

And I haven't seen yours either, Wang Zhuo muttered under his breath, pulling the towel that the waves had washed away back into place, deliberately tucking one corner beneath his rear.

"I need to ask you something," she said, looking directly at Wang Zhuo's face.

Wang Zhuo grinned, trying to ease the suddenly serious atmosphere. "Ask away. Why so formal?"

"How many women have you been with?"

Why ask that? Wang Zhuo immediately scratched his head, about to fumble through a thousand excuses, when he heard Guan Yingying add slyly, "Think carefully before you answer. Don't forget, I have quite a few compromising things on you."

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