The day off after ending a period of intense work is simply the most wonderful time in the world.
That night, Xu Yanxia enjoyed a good sleep-in. The next day, after getting up, washing, and changing her clothes, she followed Lu Jingming, who came to pick her up, and switched into tourist mode.
Since they had an appointment at noon to go to their local teammate Xiaoxian's house for dim sum with Ye Shu, Xiaozhen, and a few others, they didn't choose a famous local teahouse for breakfast. Instead, they went to taste the special snacks in the old city.
The dumpling noodles in a large bowl of rich broth were savory and chewy, the bite-sized sesame clay oven rolls were golden and crispy, plus freshly ground soy milk and pan-fried dumplings that were crispy on the bottom and juicy inside...
If their stomachs hadn't been completely full, the two of them could have easily kept eating all morning without stopping.
Today's main activity was a city walk. After filling their stomachs, the young couple strolled all the way to visit the famous Slender West Lake.
After walking for a while, a three-story octagonal pavilion with a dome appeared in the middle of the road.
Lu Jingming was just about to open his mouth to introduce it when Xu Yanxia took the initiative and said, Is this the Wenchang Pavilion?
Huh?
He was a little surprised. How did you know?
Xu Yanxia replied, Isn't this the landmark of Yangzhou? It's been famous from ancient times to the present.
That's right,
Lu Jingming nodded and said, It seems Director Xu has done her homework very well. But there is a secret you definitely don't know.
Xu Yanxia immediately asked him curiously, What secret?
He said, Walking around the Wenchang Pavilion three times brings good luck.
Really?
Xu Yanxia laughed with a look of disbelief.
Lu Jingming, however, looked serious. Of course it's true. My grandfather has been telling me this since I was a child. Anyway, every time us kids come back, we line up to walk around it, and our luck has been pretty good.
Oh?
Xu Yanxia immediately said, Then I want to walk around it too!
Saying that, she took his hand and walked over.
As she had said, this Wenchang Pavilion was a famous local landmark. Besides the antique architecture itself, the surroundings were decorated with flowers of various colors, looking very beautiful.
After the two of them held hands and dutifully walked three circles, Xu Yanxia took out her phone to take a selfie of the two of them.
Of course, as agreed last time, this time Lu Jingming was responsible for holding the phone, and she was in the back.
That's more like it,
When the photo was taken, she scrolled through her phone and couldn't help but sigh, My face looks much smaller this way.
Yeah,
Lu Jingming deliberately teased her from the side, I'm not that petty, it doesn't matter if your face is a bit bigger.
What are you talking about!
Xu Yanxia lightly smacked him. She was just laughing when she saw an older lady, who was also a tourist, approach them and ask, Excuse me, are you CEO Lu... and Xiao Xia?
Yes,
Xu Yanxia and Lu Jingming nodded to her together.
She felt a little surprised inwardly.
You see, whenever they went out before, she was always the first to be recognized. This was the very first time Lu Jingming was recognized first.
Especially since the other party was an older lady.
That's wonderful!
As soon as the words fell, the lady hurriedly smiled and said, I just saw the news about you this morning, and I didn't expect to see the real people right now!
Saying that, she even called out to her traveling companions, saying, Come quickly and look, this is the smart and beautiful girl from today's news and her boyfriend!!!
Really?!!
Is it really Xiao Xia and CEO Lu?!!
Then five or six ladies nearby swarmed toward them together. Some even took out their phones to check against the news on the spot. After confirming they hadn't mistaken them, they enthusiastically greeted them, saying, It really is you two, this is great!!!
Xiao Xia, it's been so hard for you! Growing up in such a difficult environment and turning out so outstanding, we support you two hundred percent!
That's right, Xiao Xia, you did nothing wrong in this matter. Just don't easily bow down to those bad people! President Lu is also great!!! Protecting his girlfriend like this, your Lu Corporation deserves to make money!!!
Wishing you two a happy ending soon, remember to hand out wedding candies when you get married!!!
...
The ladies all had enthusiastic and straightforward personalities. After expressing their support, they formed a circle to take a group photo with them, offered a few more words of encouragement, and then said their goodbyes.
Watching the ladies walk away, Xu Yanxia was quite shocked. Is this matter really that popular? Even the aunties know about it?
You see, most of her fans were young people around her age. This was the first time she had encountered older ladies of this age group expressing their support for her so enthusiastically.
Lu Jingming was much more calm and told her, From last night until now, it has been in the top five of the social news rankings. But everyone is supporting you, don't worry.
Really? Let me take a look right now.
Forgive her, but ever since she saw that long post turning black into white while recording the show yesterday, she had felt sick to her stomach, and from that moment on, she had deliberately avoided looking at the news.
Hearing Lu Jingming say this now, she quickly opened the news app on her phone.
And there it was, on the social news rankings, the hashtag about that case was indeed sitting in the top five.
Clicking it open again, it was no longer yesterday's false reports, but various detailed introductions about the case.
There were even several video clips, including how Lin Hengnan disguised himself as a Peony Hotel employee on the road the day of the incident, and how he sneaked in carrying that bucket of concentrated hydrochloric acid.
There was even footage of his journey illegally obtaining the concentrated hydrochloric acid from a small local chemical plant and bringing it all the way home.
Of course, there was also the most important clip: the moment Lin Hengnan threw the liquid at her and Lu Jingming stood up to shield her.
To be honest, even though so much time had passed since the incident, seeing it again still filled her with lingering fear.
And the netizens, now knowing the truth, were all condemning Lin Hengnan's viciousness, furiously scolding the people who had previously written fabricated posts to distort the facts.
Naturally, everyone was also praising her bravery and Lu Jingming's deep affection for her.
Some netizens also discovered through the recording of her phone call with Professor Zhou that day that her father was a martyr, and subsequently dug up the news of his sacrifice from back then.
This, in turn, drew many sighs of emotion from the netizens.
...
"Baby,"
Probably afraid she would be upset, Lu Jingming gently pulled her into his arms and tried to comfort her. "The internet is like this. When something gains traction, it's inevitable that people will dig up other information..."
This was exactly why, when that fabricated post first tried to trend, he chose to suppress it and was unwilling to make the details of the case public.
Because Father Xu's premature sacrifice was a wound for the Xu family. Every time it was mentioned, it forced them to relive the pain, which was actually very cruel.
"It's okay."
Xu Yanxia actually smiled and said, "My father's sacrifice is a fact. Even if it's not mentioned, it always exists in our hearts. If he knew that one day he would be known by so many people, he would probably be very happy."
As she spoke, she exited the news interface.
Unexpectedly, before she could put her phone in her pocket, a call suddenly came in.
It was from her sister-in-law, Luo Jiajia.
Xu Yanxia quickly answered. Just as she called out "Sister-in-law," she heard Luo Jiajia ask on the other end, "Xiao Xia, have you finished recording your program?"
"The first few episodes are temporarily finished. We're resting today," Xu Yanxia said.
"That's good,"
Luo Jiajia said. "We've been busy with the store opening these past few days and only just saw the news. Are you alright? That guy surnamed Lin is so disgusting, and to think people were actually helping him stir up trouble. It's simply too much!"
"I'm fine,"
Xu Yanxia said. "There are always people with no bottom line just to attract attention. It's fine, we've already sued them, so don't worry."
Saying that, she then asked in passing, "How are you guys doing? The store is having its soft opening tomorrow, is everything going smoothly?"
Ever since the National Day holiday ended, she had been constantly busy. Now it was already the end of the month, and after nearly a month of preparation, the first store of their Xu Family Teppanyaki was having its soft opening tomorrow.
"Everything is going smoothly, don't worry!"
Her sister-in-law said, then gave her a surprise. "By the way, Grandpa and Grandma are also coming to Rong City the day after tomorrow to see our opening!"
"Grandpa and Grandma are coming too?" Xu Yanxia immediately looked surprised.
"Yes!"
Luo Jiajia said with a laugh on the phone. "The major affairs at home are all settled, and the two elders have been worried about our new store in the big city. They've been asking your aunt and your brother about it lately, so your brother and aunt talked it over and decided to just bring them over to take a look. It'll make them happy too!"
"That's wonderful!"
Xu Yanxia also became happy. "They've never been to Rong City before. It just so happens that it's getting cold back in our hometown, so it'll be good for them to come here and warm up."
"That's what we thought too."
Luo Jiajia then asked her, "When are you coming back? Can you make it in time for our official opening this weekend?"
"Definitely."
Xu Yanxia said, "I'll be there tonight, don't worry."
Hanging up the phone happily, Lu Jingming quickly asked her, "Grandpa and Grandma are coming to Rong City?"
"Yes,"
She nodded with a smile. "Inviting them to come see our new store."
Especially at a time when her father's sacrifice was being brought up again, having them close by would give her more peace of mind.
"That's great."
Lu Jingming also smiled and said, "Then we'll go pick up Grandpa and Grandma together the day after tomorrow."
"Okay."
Xu Yanxia put her phone back into her pocket, then took his hand and continued walking forward.
