After Going Bankrupt, I Got Clung To By A Canary Omega - Chapter 5

After Tang Lin left, Fu Qingli carefully washed the tea set.

Shen Chaomu stepped in with light, cheerful steps.

She bit into a sesame stick, her pink cheeks puffing slightly as she chewed and spoke. “What did you and Tang-Tang talk about? Why did she look a little dazed and soulless?”

Fu Qingli wiped the tea table dry. “More or less that she painstakingly chose a Liu Adou, wanted to be the regent, then discovered the other party might be Wu Zetian. But in truth, the other party only wants to be Zhu Youxiao and do some carpentry.”

Shen Chaomu frowned. “What messy Adou, carpentry, whatever?”

Fu Qingli gave a soft laugh and lifted her eyes, just about to ask whether Shen Chaomu had somehow slipped through the net of compulsory education.

But when she met Shen Chaomu’s clear eyes, Fu Qingli suddenly reacted. The smile on her face vanished instantly, and her gaze darkened.

She still was not used to it.

This was no longer the world she knew.

Thinking of that photo, Fu Qingli reminded herself that she absolutely could not make that kind of mistake again.

Ignoring people again. Starting to act all deep and mysterious again. Shen Chaomu curled her lips.

“I’m hungry. Are you cooking tonight?”

Fu Qingli could not help saying, “Shen Chaomu, is my head too big, or is my neck too thick?”

After walking the dog earlier had used up too much energy, Shen Chaomu was already hungry. She bit into the sesame stick again and began carefully sizing up Fu Qingli’s head.

“Your head isn’t big. Actually, I feel like it’s even a little on the small side. But don’t worry. Science has proven that head size doesn’t represent intelligence.”

Then her gaze slid down to Fu Qingli’s neck.

“Your neck is quite pretty. Long and slender. It’s just a little red. You should put on more sunscreen. I can recommend a few brands to you.”

Fu Qingli felt that she was the fool here. After the negotiations and clashes at noon, she clearly knew that Shen Chaomu’s train of thought was somewhat bizarre, yet she had still spoken indirectly.

“I’m not cooking tonight. Suit yourself!”

Fu Qingli gathered up the documents on the table, then began considering how to gather enough investment funds.

Thinking of the egg fried rice at noon, Shen Chaomu licked her lips, feeling a little regretful, and took a big bite of the sesame stick.

Looks like she could only order takeout tonight.

The crunching of chewing sounded right by her ear. Fu Qingli lifted her head, just about to directly ask her to leave, when her gaze suddenly swept across the floor.

Sunlight shone in. Sesame seeds and sugar crumbs, large and small, gleamed faintly, not to mention the area where Shen Chaomu was standing.

She was eating while one-handedly scrolling on her phone, sesame seeds and sugar crumbs rustling down in front of her.

Fu Qingli felt her eyes hurt.

A golden retriever’s head slipped through the crack in the door, peeking around, then suddenly charged inside, its plump body knocking the door wide open.

It lowered its head and sniffed the floor, its tongue swiftly licking up the white, sweet grains of sugar.

Behind it, a winding trail of black muddy paw prints stretched across the floor.

Shen Chaomu was scrolling through the takeout page on her phone and had just lifted her head, about to ask Fu Qingli what she wanted to eat.

Seeing Fu Qingli’s expression, she said in surprise, “Fu Qingli, not only is your neck even redder, your face looks like char siu too.”

“Shen Chaomu, get the dog out of here. Clean up the crumbs and paw prints on the floor, and go wash the plate in the kitchen…”

“Woof, woof, woof, woof…”

The sudden thunderous barking made the golden retriever’s body tremble. Its toothpick legs, compared to its belly, failed to support its hippopotamus-like body. All four limbs slipped and it sprawled on the ground, its paws scrambling and drawing streak after streak across the glossy milky-white marble.

After finally struggling to stand steady, the golden retriever lifted its head and opened its mouth, directly cursing Fu Qingli out.

Yet as it barked, it backed away, burrowing under Shen Chaomu’s skirt.

Shen Chaomu had shown great foresight and covered her ears as soon as she heard the beginning.

If she did not hear it, then it meant the other person had not said it.

Dragging the cowardly Jinzi with her, she turned and left.

In the bathroom.

Shen Chaomu scrubbed Jinzi’s paws. Looking at its reluctant yet helpless, dispirited appearance, she could not resist tugging its ear.

Fine streams of warm water sprayed from the showerhead, occasionally striking the glass partition, sounding very much like rain.

As Shen Chaomu scrubbed and lathered, she muttered.

“Fu Qingli is like a completely different person. You’d better not provoke her.”

“Do you think she’s been possessed by a ghost? How could someone change this much? Before, I thought she was thick-skinned and a little annoying. Now…”

“To be honest, I feel a little scared of her.”

“Our family hierarchy might have to be rearranged from now on. We don’t have a choice. We’re living under someone else’s roof.”

“Once the research institute has results, and once I film a little and save up some money, we’ll go traveling. You’re almost one year old already, and I still haven’t taken you out to see the world.”

Jinzi, lying on its side and occupying more than half the shower area, opened its mouth in a yawn. Its eyelids drooped heavily, covering its pupils until only a sliver of white remained.

Shen Chaomu caught sight of its silly, cute look that seemed almost like an intentional eye roll, and the corners of her mouth rose out of her control. A soft, warm smile rippled through her eyes.

Her entire person carried a bit of sweet, childish innocence, hiding a childlike slyness.

In the next second, a small, light, fluffy cluster of white foam was flicked gently from her fair fingertip, landing accurately on the sleepy dog’s wet, round nose.

Jinzi was so sleepy it did not even lift its eyelids. The muscles around its nostrils moved, and its breathing grew louder, as if it wanted to blow the foam away with its breath.

Seeing the foam carried off by the air current, Shen Chaomu was unwilling to accept defeat and dipped another blob from the basin.

Just as she was about to repeat the same trick, her finger was caught off guard and sank into a patch of scorching heat.

The tip of her finger was lightly ground by canine teeth.

As if disliking the taste of body wash, a soft tongue licked it again and again, then simply held her finger in place and stopped moving.

Shen Chaomu had been caught in a trap without warning. She froze at first, and just as she was about to pull her finger out, the pad of her finger was held hostage by canine teeth again. She could not help feeling both angry and amused.

“Have you grown smarter too, just like Fu Qingli?”

“Did the two of you secretly drink something behind my back?”

“Six Nuclear Bombs?”

After washing Jinzi, Shen Chaomu checked the time and decided she should order takeout first, then go upstairs to clean.

Ideally, she would wait until Fu Qingli went out before doing it.

She felt that if Fu Qingli watched her, even if she mopped the floor a hundred times, Fu Qingli could still use a magnifying glass to find dog hair.

And make her mop it again.

It would be even better if Fu Qingli quickly joined a production crew. Other than coming back on time to rest around Shen Chaomu’s fixed heat periods, she was rarely seen at other times. When it came to filming attitude, this person was still quite dedicated.

Shen Chaomu’s heat had just passed last week, so there was no short-term pressure.

While fantasizing, she skillfully opened the takeout app, found a restaurant she had bookmarked, and scrolled through the page. Shen Chaomu chose Hong Kong-style char siu rice.

Before placing the order, after hesitating again and again, Shen Chaomu still added one more portion.

She would consider it coaxing Fu Qingli out of her anger.

Just as she was about to tap the order button, the page suddenly started spinning, then went blank.

The internet was actually disconnected.

For the convenience of gaming, she had always used Wi-Fi. It was fast and satisfying.

She could only connect to her phone’s mobile data first and place the order. Later, she would have the property management come take a look.

She went downstairs and found cleaning tools in the storage room.

Shen Chaomu stepped carefully and lightly up the stairs, standing outside the tea room and listening for a long while.

Feeling that no one was there, and that Fu Qingli had probably been angered away by her, Shen Chaomu carried the dripping mop and cautiously walked in.

The sunset’s afterglow slanted through the floor-to-ceiling windows and fell across the floor, spreading into a warm, melting orange glow.

Shen Chaomu turned on the light.

The broad, open space was instantly visible in full.

The floor was bright and clean as new, completely spotless.

As if, that afternoon, she had never eaten anything here.

As if Jinzi had never caused trouble here either.

Only the spot where she was now standing dripped and pattered, as if rain had fallen.

Shen Chaomu put away the mop, found a dry, clean rag instead, checked the soles of her shoes, then crouched down and carefully wiped dry the trail of water marks she had left behind.

In the end, she turned to examine it from three or four different angles before finally straightening up, tidying the tools away, and going downstairs to return them to the storage room.

The gray tones of dusk gradually deepened. The glittering golden light on the lake surface faded rapidly, turning into dark silver-gray ripples. A peregrine falcon cried out as it swept past, probably full and returning to its nest.

Shen Chaomu sat on the hanging chair in the yard, swaying back and forth, her thoughts slowly surging.

She actually could not quite remember whether Fu Qingli had also been like this over the past few months, as if she had mysophobia and could not tolerate any mess.

In her memory, Fu Qingli had never done any chores herself.

But previously, Aunt Liu had been there. Aunt Liu was capable and hardworking, meticulous in her work, and handled everything properly.

Even if Fu Qingli needed something, she only had to move her mouth.

However, the part where she lost her temper was still the same.

Shen Chaomu had run into it once. It seemed that the vehicle barrier at the neighborhood gate had risen too slowly. Fu Qingli’s car had been going too fast and scraped against it directly. When she got home, the phone call still had not ended, and she was scolding the property security guard for dereliction of duty.

Her voice had been so loud that Shen Chaomu had heard it while playing games in her room.

But it did seem a little different.

This time, Shen Chaomu had been lazy and did not want to clean up, wanting to leave it for Aunt Liu to do when she came to work.

She was in the wrong.

Shen Chaomu bit her lip.

Fortunately, she had ordered an extra meal. If Fu Qingli came back, she would give it to her. Fu Qingli should understand what that meant.

In the past, Shen Chaomu had always only ordered takeout for herself. She had never ordered for Fu Qingli before.

From afar, Shen Chaomu saw the property management shuttle.

The property fees at East Lake Villa should be very expensive. Before Shen Chaomu became an adult, the place she had lived was not bad either, but her family had hired people to manage it themselves.

Here, however, whenever there was a need, property management would basically handle it, even including utilities, garden and plant maintenance, facility repairs…

That was why it could be so peaceful and quiet. In this huge villa, there were only the three of them.

Shen Chaomu liked this kind of quiet.

Shen Chaomu accepted the takeout from the property staff and thanked them. Then, remembering that the internet had been disconnected, she mentioned it.

The property security guard who came happened to be the one who had accepted the flowers from Fu Qingli. When Fu Qingli left the neighborhood earlier, she had also asked her about nearby auto repair shops.

“The internet was disconnected at Miss Fu’s request. She said there was no need for it.”

The corners of Shen Chaomu’s mouth, which had just been lifted, instantly drooped. Her whole body seemed to start radiating cold air.

The security guard felt somewhat confused, but she still could not help mentioning, “Miss Shen, there’s really no need to disconnect the internet. East Lake Villa’s Wi-Fi speed is first-rate, even faster than internet cafés outside. Mobile data can’t compare at all. You don’t need to worry about radiation affecting the dog’s intelligence.”

“I…”

Shen Chaomu clenched her fists. She wanted to curse someone out, but no words came to mind.

Fu Qingli had better not come back tonight. Otherwise, Shen Chaomu was afraid she would not be able to hold back from committing violence.

Seeing that Shen Chaomu’s expression was off, the security guard felt as if she had said something wrong and quickly took her leave.

Shen Chaomu called her back, took a beautifully packaged meal box from the takeout bag, and handed it to her.

“I accidentally ordered an extra portion. If you don’t mind, you can try it. Hong Kong-style char siu. It’s pretty good.”

The security guard hurriedly thanked her.

Shen Chaomu waved her hand and said that Fu Qingli had misunderstood what she meant.

Here was what had happened: recently, Fu Qingli’s gland had been aging prematurely, her pheromone concentration was low, and even marking had become difficult and weak. She had bought all kinds of messy treatment devices, and Shen Chaomu was worried they had radiation, so she would not let Fu Qingli use them.

The security guard could not control herself and sucked in a sharp breath. Her neck and head kept leaning back, putting distance between them to show that she had not heard anything.

She must have stepped out with the wrong foot today. Although East Lake Property Management had very strong professional ethics, and because the homeowners here were either rich or powerful, it was inevitable that they would occasionally passively learn certain things while working, she truly did not know how to handle the current situation.

The security guard swore solemnly, “Miss Shen, don’t worry. East Lake Property Management’s rules are very strict. You and Miss Fu are both public figures. We absolutely put confidentiality first and will protect this as if it were a national security secret. No fourth person will ever know about this.”

Shen Chaomu said, “That’s really not necessary. Just help me restore the Wi-Fi tonight.”

Watching the property sightseeing cart get driven like a supercar by the security guard, Shen Chaomu could not hold back and burst out laughing.