half-baked life

"Are these all artificial plants?"

Jiang He tentatively touched the nandina at hand and a fern with pink-purple leaves next to it. She was surprised to find that they were both alive.

She couldn't help but get closer and take a closer look. Not only did she smell the unique fresh smell of moist soil, she also heard the sound of water flowing from the irrigation system, and even discovered a few LED light strips half-hidden and half-revealed among the branches and leaves.

"...It's a bit too exaggerated." Jiang He sighed from the bottom of his heart.

"It's okay, this is just the beginning. Next is the moment to witness the miracle!"

Like a magician making his debut, Gu Xia winked at Jiang He mysteriously.

He was very stylish, but he was also nervous. Jiang He could notice that the palms of his hands were sweating slightly as he held them.

Even if Jiang Hedang makes up her mind, she will definitely support her for a while, even if she is "suggesting good ideas" and being disappointed, she will use her whole life's "acting skills" to show absolutely true ecstasy.

But when Jiang He saw the large co-working space behind the green wall, she realized that she was worrying too much, because she didn't need to "act" even a little bit!

If you want to criticize the 5-meter-wide green background wall just now, you can say that "although the visual impact is first-class, its practicality is questionable", but the office space in front of you actually has both.

Gu Xia retained the biggest advantage of the warehouse, its openness, and carried it forward.

He did not use actual walls to divide the space, but used floors of different materials and colors, as well as office furniture to visually separate the space.

Green plants are still the main element of decoration, and there is green everywhere you look, even blank walls are not visible.

Plant landscaping on the ground can be seen everywhere. Even the long conference table has an exquisite moss micro-landscape. There are also several large hydroponic green bananas hanging next to it. There is a small sign hanging on it that reads "Here No greening!"

"Don't worry, these green plants are maintained daily by dedicated personnel, two to three times a week, including fertilizing and removing insects. You don't need to worry about it."

Gu Xia picked up the green plant maintenance agreement placed on the low table aside and handed it to Jiang He, "If there is anything you don't like, you can also communicate with Misen Horticulture to make adjustments."

After he finished speaking, he paused and glanced around quickly, "By the way, the door should be replaced this weekend. However, the exterior wall renovation will be later, and the approval will probably be next week or the week after... …I’m thinking about adding some spray painting or something, Jiang He, what style do you like?”

"...How many nights did you stay up to decorate this place?"

Jiang He's right leg hurt so much that she couldn't stand any longer. She leaned on the back of the off-white sofa next to her and looked at Gu Xia and asked.

"Fortunately, Xiaoqi is keeping an eye on most of them. I just take a look occasionally and make final checks. Besides, SUM's first offline experience store is about to be renovated. I'm just here to follow you. Try your hand here."

Gu Xia shrugged nonchalantly, not mentioning that he flew to four cities in three days just to select a suitable gardening company.

He worked so hard, but his purpose was extremely simple. He just wanted to make Jiang He happy and satisfied. Naturally, he had no intention of taking credit for his misfortune.

"Xiao Qi, have you seen this? This is the purest form of 'dog licking', or the kind of 'dog licking' that is free from vulgar taste!" Li Mingchu commented on this.

Gu Xia was busy selecting the types of green plants needed in the office at that time, and had no time to talk to him. The assistant couldn't listen anymore.

"What do you mean by 'licking the dog'? This is love! Love means not asking for anything in return. Love means sincerely wanting the other person to be happy."

"You don't ask for anything in return? How about doing charity here?"

Li Mingchu seriously suspected that Gu Xia had given his assistant ecstasy, "You are so young, don't believe this. What kind of 'love' is this? This... isn't this just pure PUA!"

"Brother Li, you don't understand at all. Have you ever really liked someone? Have you ever fallen in love with anyone?"

Li Mingchu, who was always kicked, had no way to refute the assistant's murderous intentions. The assistant looked at him like this and shook his head sympathetically, "You will understand then."

"Tell me first, do you like it?"

Gu Xia wrapped his hands around Jiang He's waist. With a strong effort, he actually carried her directly to the standing desk next to him. After he confirmed that Jiang He was sitting firmly, he placed his hands on both sides of her hip bones. He asked, raising an eyebrow at her angrily.

"I like it, I really like it." Jiang He put his hand around Gu Xia's neck, looked into his bright eyes, and nodded seriously.

She was about to ask Gu Xia why she used so many green plants for decoration, but suddenly she remembered that Gu Xia had asked her what her requirements were for office decoration.

"More green plants, fewer partitions, everything else doesn't matter." Jiang He remembered saying this casually at the time.

Jiang He inexplicably remembered her first experience using ChatGPT. She just entered a few keywords at random, and within 2 minutes, ChatGPT generated a paper for her with almost no faults.

But Gu Xia is not an AI. Jiang He simply can't imagine the amount of energy and effort required to change a warehouse into what it is now.

No wonder the dark circles under Gu Xia's eyes have not faded much during this period. She thought he was busy designing a home suitable for the elderly. Now it seems that at least half of the dark circles under his eyes must be "attributed" to this office.

"Thank you Gu Xia, really. It must have cost a lot of money to make it like this. Remember to send me the details of the decoration, and I will ask the finance department to pay you."

As Jiang He spoke, he used his fingers to pick up the side strap of Gu Xia's overalls that had fallen down, and gently tugged twice, "Brothers still know how to settle the score!"

"You're going to 'settle the score' with me? Okay, then we'll settle the score."

Gu Xia's nose wrinkled slightly. Looking at his expression, it was clear that he had wanted to "settlement the accounts" for a long time. "When I first joined Jieping Bath Assistance, I offered to give you 50 in sponsorship fees. What did you say as a deposit? Soon Return it to me... let’s not discuss this for now, let’s focus on the next issue, the public relations crisis between me and Meiyi Home Furnishing, you have helped me so much, I want to give you money, do you remember what you said?"

Jiang He tried hard to recall, but couldn't remember anything.

"You said, 'With a little effort, talking about money hurts feelings'!" These are your exact words. Now, you actually want to give me money? Jiang He, you are humiliating me! Gu Xia said, "filled with righteous indignation."

"...Okay." Jiang He accepted Gu Xia's "accusation" calmly, "Do you need me to apologize, Boss Gu?"

"Of course! I need you to apologize to me very sincerely and solemnly now!" Gu Xia said while tapping her mouth several times quickly.

"No problem. Tell me, what do you want to eat?"

Jiang He deliberately misunderstood Gu Xia's meaning. Gu Xia immediately hit Jiang He's forehead with his head several times angrily. Taking advantage of her pain, he held her face with both hands and kissed her hard again and again until she was so happy. Then he let her go with satisfaction.

"I have no restrictions, I can eat anything."

"Then...let's have barbecue. I know there's a really delicious barbecue restaurant. It's over there in the old city. It's a little out of the way. It takes an hour to drive there. Does that matter?"

"Of course, let's go now!" Gu Xia said, and actually picked up Jiang He again. He strode out of the warehouse. When Jiang He saw this, he immediately started struggling, "What are you doing? Put me down quickly! "

"Your right leg is injured, right?" With just one sentence, Gu Xia made Jiang He forget to continue struggling.

"How do you know?" Jiang He specially wore trousers today, covering everything up.

She was originally worried about being discovered by Jiang Xiaoping, but Jiang Xiaoping had a big quarrel with Zhang Jiefang early in the morning, and Jiang He was a blessing in disguise. "You were limping when you first walked."

In fact, when he was helping to bathe in the morning, Gu Xia noticed that Jiang He's walking posture was a bit wrong. It was quite unnatural, but it wasn't very obvious. It wasn't until he led Jiang He all the way from the parking lot just now that he was completely sure. Her right leg was feeling weak and must have been injured.

"Let me see." Gu Xia requested.

"If there's anything good to see, I just... bumped into it accidentally." Jiang He refused.

"If you don't show me, I will carry you from here to the car." Gu Xia threatened with narrowed eyes.

It was just after 6 o'clock, the time for shift change in the industrial park, and the road outside was crowded with people.

"Okay, okay, let me show you." Jiang He immediately compromised.

At her strong request, Gu Xia reluctantly placed Jiang He on the single sofa next to him, but he refused to sit down and squatted at Jiang He's feet helplessly.

"It's nothing actually. It just looks a little scary."

Jiang He rolled up his trouser legs while giving Gu Xia some psychological support. Even so, the large black bruise that took up almost half of Jiang He's calf still frightened Gu Xia.

He lowered his head, and Jiang He couldn't see his face, but the carefully stretched out fingers and the weak force on the edge of the bruise made Jiang He realize that Gu Xia was really worried about him.

"...It hurts a lot." Gu Xia's tone was affirmative.

"Fortunately, you won't feel anything if you don't touch it... Okay, okay, let's stop being pretentious."

Jiang He raised his hand and rubbed Gu Xia's hair vigorously. "Can you go? I'm really hungry."

"Okay." Jiang He was originally worried that Gu Xia would cry and complain for a long time, but he didn't expect that he agreed very happily.

On the way to the parking lot, Gu Xia walked obviously much slower, and even reached out to help her.

Naturally, Gu Xia was driving the car.

"I'm going to buy some medicine." However, not far out of the industrial park, Gu Xia stopped. He ran to the nearby pharmacy, bought several ointments and sprays for reducing swelling and blood stasis, and carefully applied Jiang He's It was applied and sprayed on the bruises.

"Don't worry, I asked the people at the pharmacy and they said these medicines can be used at the same time."

As Gu Xia spoke, he held Jiang He's calf and massaged it in circles. After he finished massaging, he took out the baby warmer and put it on the outside of his pants. He said that a hot compress would better promote the absorption of the medicine.

Jiang He smelled the strange and complex smell of medicine in the carriage, watched Gu Xia put away the ointment and spray, and waited for him to say the words "Let me treat you well", or "You will definitely not find anyone who treats you better than me." A better person" and the like.

Yan Su has always done this.

He always listed every little thing he did to Jiang He clearly and clearly, just like writing a weekly work report.

According to him, it was because these things contained his strong love for Jiang He and needed Jiang He to know clearly.

But Gu Xia just stuffed the medicine into the armrest box and continued driving.

As if nothing happened, he chatted with Jiang He, but he soon noticed that Jiang He was a little distracted.

"What's wrong? Are your legs uncomfortable?" Gu Xia immediately asked with concern.

"...It's nothing. I was just wondering why you didn't..."take credit" from me?"

"Huh? Apply the medicine? Isn't this what I should do? I'm your boyfriend, a real one!"

Gu Xia pointed at herself with her thumb. It was natural. Jiang He took a deep breath subconsciously, so hard that his shoulders rose slightly.

Gu Xia's words confused her. Her relationship with Yan Su was not like this, nor was the intimate behavior pattern she understood.

When a person is kind to another person, doesn't he expect the other person to give corresponding or even more feedback in return?
It's like depositing money in a bank and getting it back with interest.

This is what grandma taught her when she was a child, "No one in this world will be nice to us for no reason. They always want to do something for some reason. So, if others treat He'er well, He'er must return it. We both Don’t take advantage of others and don’t owe them any favors.”

"When I grow up, I will definitely be good to my grandma, very, very good." Jiang He still remembered what he said at the time.

"Grandma is different from them. Grandma is willing to be good to He'er. When He'er grows up, be good to your mother, okay?"

"No!" Jiang He refused very simply, which naturally made his grandma groan and sigh.

Even Lao'er's kindness to her was in exchange for her kindness to Jiang Xiaoping, but what Gu Xia was doing now was clearly not the case. Jiang He really couldn't understand.

"...Jiang He? Jiang He! What are you thinking about?"

Gu Xia's voice interrupted Jiang He's thoughts that he couldn't understand at all. She was even a little lucky, because she felt like her brain was stuck and burned by this bug she had never seen before.

"I'm thinking about something, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I just want to ask you how to get off the elevated highway in a while. Please help me navigate."

"No need for navigation, just drive forward for about... 3.5 kilometers, then get off the elevated highway, turn right after two more traffic lights, and go straight to Jiayuguan Road."

Jiang He was obviously very familiar with where she was going, and she gave instructions neatly without even stumbling.

"Jiayuguan Road?" Gu Xia repeated in surprise. This was the only way he would go back to his barbecue restaurant.

He licked his lips calmly, "Are we going to...'Xiao Xia Kebab Shop'?"

"You also know this shop! Isn't it delicious? Especially the pork ribs grilled by 'Takeshi Kaneshiro' himself, they are simply the best in the world!"

Jiang He looked at Gu Xia with eyes as bright as a handful of silver. She even sipped her saliva subconsciously.

Jiang He called his father's nickname so carelessly in front of him. Gu Xia felt indescribably ashamed, but also a little excited because of this wonderful fate.

He couldn't wait to see what Jiang He's reaction would be when he found out that "Xiao Xia Kebab Shop" was opened by his parents.

Gu Xia always felt that the location of his barbecue restaurant was difficult to find. It was just a winding alley. Every time he rode a motorcycle, he would get dizzy while turning, but Jiang He was so familiar with the road.