Be reborn and be happy to the fullest

When Han Renyi returned home to see Han Er, and the two father and son had a conversation about Li Shuo, Xu Yike also entered Shuoguo Manor and knocked on the door of the side hall on the first floor.

Upon hearing the word "Come in" from inside, Xu Yike pushed open the door and entered. She saw Li Shuo sitting at a small desk facing the garden outside, with drinks and pastries on a side table to his right, and Zhang Yuyan standing beside the side table serving him.

Sigh, Zhang Yuyan isn't much prettier than me. In fact, I'm the campus belle of Fudan University. What about her? She's just a saleswoman. What makes her qualified to be the housekeeper at Shuoguo Manor?
Seeing this scene, Xu Yike felt a pang of sorrow in her heart:
She was a campus belle at Fudan University, a talented writer, and she even gave Choi Yoon-jung, the SK princess who was studying at Fudan University, to Li Shuo. She always felt that what she had done for Li Shuo was enough to make her the most favored woman, or at least one of them.

However, when Li Shuo went to South Korea, he didn't take her with him, as she had previously gone there on a business trip. As a result, she hadn't seen Li Shuo for a long time—well, she hadn't even seen him, so naturally there was no possibility of him being favored.

"Boss, I'm home."

After entering the room, Xu Yike composed herself and bowed her head to report.

"Yike, why are you so reserved? Come, sit here..."

Li Shuo chuckled and waved to her. Seeing him point to her thigh, Xu Yike instantly felt inexplicably happy, and her lips unconsciously parted in a smile. As she walked over, she said, "Boss hasn't come to see me for so long, of course I wouldn't dare to have any other expectations, so I have to keep a proper attitude in front of you..."

"Now? No need to put on airs anymore?"

Li Shuo pinched her pointed chin, teasing her while thinking to himself: Xu Yike, as the campus belle of Fudan University, is truly beautiful and charming. The key is that she has always been very bold, so she has an aura of seductive charm that is quite lethal to men.

However, there are always trade-offs: Xu Yike's carefree and capable nature stems from her extensive past experiences, which makes her naturally less appealing to Li Shuo than those goldfish who "sacrifice their first blood."

However, if Xu Yike continues to demonstrate exceptional competence and becomes valuable to Li Shuo in other ways, then she will naturally receive his favor.

"Hehe, as long as Boss still likes me, I'll do anything he asks..."

"Come here, give me a kiss..."

"Boom~"

Standing behind Li Shuo, Zhang Yuyan was not surprised at all. Even when Xu Yike was hugging and kissing Li Shuo, she lowered the curtain of the side French window: the garden outside was occasionally visited by gardeners, and it would not be good for those servants to see a corner of the Heavenly Palace.

But Zhang Yuyan misunderstood this time. Li Shuo had been back in Lenghai for three days. During these three days, he had been working non-stop. Although he could not attend three to five events a day as often as before and had tasted nearly ten abalones, he had not been able to rest. He had an average of two to three battles every day. Moreover, there was a very heavy person to deal with in the evening, so he had to save enough energy to deal with him.

Patting Xu Yike's head to help her straighten up, Li Shuo steered the conversation to a more serious topic: "In your opinion, is Han Renyi ready yet?"

Before sending Xu Yike to see Han Renyi, Li Shuo had naturally informed her of his thoughts and purpose.

Xu Yike thought for a moment and said, "Han Renyi is just an ordinary person, and he's already reached retirement age. He doesn't have much desire to fight. When I first met him, I could tell that he had already given in..."

"Later, I closely monitored the movements of Hualebao and discovered that Han Renyi had started posting comments on Weibo supporting X and engaging in a war of words with Zhang Yi. By then, Han Renyi was completely out of trouble, so near the end of the workday, I approached him and revealed my purpose for the first time..."

Li Shuo nodded and then asked, "So what about Han Er? Do you think he'll take the bait?"

This time, Xu Yi was unsure. She shook her head decisively and said, "I've never met Han Er. I've only heard that he's famous, has a stubborn temper, and seems not easily influenced by outsiders, especially not easily bowing to the powerful and wealthy... This is the public's inherent impression of him, so he shouldn't be so easily persuaded, right?"

Li Shuo smiled and shook his head: "No, Han Er may not yield to the powerful figures from other regions, but he will definitely react quickly when he sees my olive branch..."

Xu Yike blinked: "Why?"

"Because he still needs to make a living in the cold sea after all..."

Along with Li Shuo's smile, Zhang Yuyan leaned forward from behind, placed the tablet in front of them, and reported, "Boss, Han Er retweeted the Weibo post from Hualebao titled 'Adapted Songs Are Also Originals'..."

Xu Yike looked at it carefully and said in a low voice, "He just forwarded it, he didn't comment..."

In other words, no opinion was expressed.

Li Shuo snapped his fingers and praised, "As expected of one of the Four Young Masters, he's quite clever. Although he'll most likely side with Shuoguo, you only sent him a message through Han Renyi, and he hasn't even met me yet. So, it's natural for him to be a little reserved..."

Xu Yike stood up: "I'm going to see him now!"

"No rush, let him keep his composure for now. Don't forget, I've prepared three 'set meals' for Han Renyi!"

In the plan that Li Shuo gave to Xu Yike, Han Renyi would be treated with both kindness and coercion three times, but only two of those times were carried out today.

Xu Yike's eyes lit up, and she said, "Okay, I'll go prepare for the third round of pressure now!"

……

As dusk approached, Li Qinghe drove up in an inconspicuous seven-seater Mercedes-Benz van. Li Shuo changed into a low-key outfit, wearing sunglasses and a hat, and got into the car. The Mercedes-Benz then drove smoothly to a magnificent building.

Even Li Shuo, looking at the building's facade that seemed to have been painted with gold, was still quite surprised and exclaimed, "Why would someone as low-key as Xiao Mi think of buying a house here?"

Li Qinghe, sitting in the front row, knew that his boss was speaking from experience, and chimed in at the opportune moment: "Is this place very famous? I only learned that Lenghai has such a luxurious residential community after receiving information from Secretary Zhang before bringing you here. Besides, such a luxurious community should have excellent security and privacy..."

That's right. These days, luxury homes are only just going on sale. How would ordinary people know what a palace or a prime location like Tomson Riviera is?

With this thought in mind, Li Shuo felt relieved. He chuckled and chatted casually, "This place is called Tomson Riviera. It's an ultra-luxury residential complex that was advertised as costing 1 yuan per square meter when it opened. Moreover, the smallest unit here is 488 square meters, and there are many large mansions of over 20 square meters. So, a house here, well, the starting price is at least 1 million yuan..."

"What? So expensive!" Li Qinghe clicked his tongue in amazement.

"Is it expensive? That's for ordinary wealthy people. As for Yang Xiaomi, it's because of the rumors that she lives here that Tomson Riviera was able to claim a sky-high price of 200,000 yuan per square meter on its opening day! So, what price do you think the developer would offer Yang Xiaomi?"

"Um, I really don't know..." "I'm curious too, I'll ask for you later..."

"Okay, thank you, Boss..."

During their conversation, the Mercedes-Benz van was stopped at the security booth. Fortunately, Li Qinghe had countless experiences entering and exiting upscale residential areas, and he immediately and firmly told the security guard that he was the driver and the person behind him was a VIP. Meanwhile, Li Shuo also called Yang Xiaomi, who cheerfully replied, "Wait a moment, I'll call the security booth..."

Everything was normal until the security guard received a phone call and saluted Li Shuo in the back row from outside:
"Hello, esteemed Tomson Riviera resident, welcome home!"

……

"Welcome, esteemed scholar, to our new home!"

The car entered smoothly and parked directly in the garage. Xu Xiaosa was already standing at the garage entrance, spreading her arms to Li Shuo.

Li Shuo smiled and pulled her into his arms, saying as they walked, "How come I didn't know I had become a homeowner in Tomson Riviera?"

Xu Xiaosa teased, "Of course you don't know, this was bought for you by our big star to make our idol happy..."

"Wow, if it were the Tomson Riviera mansion that Yang Xiaomi gave me, I'd be happy to spend every day with her..."

Xu Xiaosa didn't understand the meaning of the sentence structure, but just took it literally and laughed, "Xiao Mi would like you to spend every day with her, but it's not very likely that you can spend every day with her..."

Li Shuo chuckled and asked what exactly was going on. Xu Xiaosa then whispered the explanation.

The security guard referred to Li Shuo as the owner because Yang Xiaomi had registered the property under both her and Li Shuo's names.

This is a way to deal with special situations, such as celebrities protecting their privacy or needing to obtain a place in a good school district. Yang Xiaomi is naturally the former. The fact that she can live here has already advertised Tomson Riviera to the wealthy. The reason for confusing the names on the property certificate is to prevent followers and people from the middle and lower classes from knowing that she lives here.

In short, the complex thoughts contained in just one name on a property certificate are enough to fill a book!
Li Shuo naturally didn't care about that. While listening, he had Xu Xiaosa lead him into the elevator. It was a single-family elevator that went directly to Xiao Mi's new home, so when the elevator stopped and Li Shuo stepped out, he saw Yang Xiao Mi standing in front of him. He grinned and said:

"Sister Mi, you've already used my name, yet you only kept such a tiny share of the property? If word gets out, people will think I'm stingy, that I kept a portion for myself when the house was supposed to be a gift to you!"

This is the first time the two have met since Yang Xiaomi served Li Shuo with her best friend Xu Xiaosa. Although Yang Xiaomi has a lot of things to do, for a man and woman who have just had intimate relations, the time that has passed is really too long!

Therefore, Yang Xiaomi didn't inform Li Shuo about moving to a new house; instead, she "hinted" at her best friend Xu Xiaosa. Because Xu Xiaosa was closer to Li Shuo, she directly told him, "Xiaomi bought a new house, come over tonight..."

"Huh? What?"

Faced with Li Shuo's seemingly nonchalant and joking words, Yang Xiaomi was both bewildered and angry. She gritted her teeth and thought: How dare this guy pretend nothing happened? After you and I... he actually went to the capital to see Li Shaohong, who was trying to control me, and attended her banquet. Moreover, he didn't say a single word to me throughout the whole process!
Are you still my boyfriend?

Just as Yang Xiaomi was about to say this, Li Shuo looked around and clicked his tongue, saying, "This place is quite spacious..."

Yang Xiaomi rolled her eyes and said coldly, "Each apartment in Tomson Riviera has a private elevator, so the corridors and entryways are all private spaces. The large space here is to leave room for future renovations!"

"Oh I got it!"

Li Shuo glanced at her, naturally sensing Yang Xiaomi's "hurry up and comfort me, can't you see I'm angry" emotional state. However, he thought, "Woman, you've already put the house in my name, do you still need to be comforted?"

He stepped forward, passed through the decorative automatic glass doors, and entered the living room: "Tsk, there's no decoration at all here? The living room only has one sofa?"

Seeing the awkward atmosphere between the two, Xu Xiaosa smiled and leaned in, saying, "This was a gift from the developer... The house Xiao Mi bought is actually pretty much the same as a bare-bones house, just with some basic renovations. Brother Shuo, this is a great opportunity for you to show your appreciation!"

Yang Xiaomi pouted: "Xiao Sa, what kind of terrible idea is this! I'm not satisfied with any of the developer's interior design styles, how can I let someone else decorate for me!"

"Tch, Brother Shuo isn't a developer. What he can give you, no one else can, right..."

As her best friend, Xu Xiaosa knew exactly how to manipulate Yang Xiaomi. She wasn't lacking in career or wealth, but her love life had been compromised by Li Shuo, and it hadn't been filled yet. So, Xu Xiaosa started making lewd jokes in her conversations...

Yang Xiaomi understood instantly, and just as she was feeling both embarrassed and angry, Li Shuo chimed in again: "Yes, I guarantee I'll make Sister Mi satisfied!"

"Pah, what do you have that could possibly satisfy me! No, I'm not satisfied with anything about you..."

"Haha, really? Oh, Sister Mi, I've missed you so much! I've been dreaming about my dear Mi Mi almost every night while I'm away on this business trip..."

Li Shuo's timing in interjecting was perfect, so with just one sentence, he broke the extremely tense atmosphere. Yang Xiaomi, her defenses broken, felt both ashamed and angry, but she could no longer maintain a cold demeanor...

"Go to hell! I don't believe it! I've only heard that you went to Beijing to sleep with socialites and school beauties, and even became a promising emerging creative artist. Wow, what a big name you are!"

"Hehe, others may not know, but Sister Mi, do you think you don't know my abilities?"

"Tch, what kind of talent are you referring to..."

"Why are you blushing, Sister Mi? I was naturally referring to the song 'The Offering of Love' that I gave you..."

What they say is far more serious than what they actually do...

Couples who hadn't seen each other for a long time quickly became inseparable as they chatted...

After an unknown amount of time, the brand-new yet empty mansion bore numerous traces of human habitation, which also allowed Li Shuo to gain a deeper understanding of the place:
In Tomson Riviera's luxury residences, there are almost no unfurnished apartments. Yang Xiaomi's unit was simply a result of the developer leaving her ample space for personalized customization. In reality, places like the bathroom, yoga room, and media room were meticulously furnished... (End of Chapter)