Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Jiang Luoluo Exposes Her Ambition
Stepping out of the airport, Chu Mingcheng felt an indescribable sensation in his heart.
There was a sense of unfamiliarity with this newly arrived city, as well as an anticipation and curiosity about what kind of city it was.
From what he knew online, he was only aware that the place boasted beautiful scenery, perfect for vacations.
As a Special Economic Zone, Xia City’s urban construction must be far superior to that of Wen City.
After all, one was the beloved son of a rich family, and the other was the wild child of a nanny’s household; there was no basis for comparison.
After surveying his surroundings for a moment, he noticed that the local environment was very well greened and the roads were spacious.
...
Chu Mingcheng found a shady spot, sat on his suitcase, and then made a video call to Jiang Luoluo.
In a clean and tidy room that was decorated in a very girlish fashion, a sudden video call ringtone broke the silence.
The bed sheets humped up discontentedly and rolled around a bit before settling next to the bedside table.
Then, a fair arm stretched out from under the covers, picking up the ringing phone.
“Hello~”
She answered the phone groggily, her lazy and muddled voice filled with naïve charm.
Chu Mingcheng raised an eyebrow, that voice was a bit tickling, wasn’t it!
Wait, was Jiang Luoluo still sleeping in?
He was making a video call, wasn’t he?
Chu Mingcheng fell silent for a second, then quietly pressed the end call button. He was not that kind of person!
Well, actually, the room was quite dark, he wouldn’t have been able to see much anyway.
Jiang Luoluo’s dormant brain seemed to kick into gear; with no response after quite some time, she became puzzled and opened her eyes to check the screen.
When she saw that the call was from Chu Mingcheng, she became a bit more alert.
Thinking he must need something, she hurriedly called back.
She sat up, turned on the light, and didn’t notice that she had made a video call in return.
Therefore, as soon as Chu Mingcheng answered the phone, he caught a glimpse of the unhidden dominant nature of Jiang Luoluo, even her pajamas couldn’t cover it.
“Ah~”
Jiang Luoluo let out a startled cry and hastily hung up the video call, finally noticing her appearance on the screen.
But her shriek was not because her well-hidden career ambitions had been exposed, but because she saw her drowsy, unwashed face!
Chu Mingcheng watched the hung-up call and the message she sent asking him to wait, then pocketed his phone and silently waited.
He guessed that it would take Jiang Luoluo at least ten minutes to get ready; just washing her face and tying up her messy hair would probably take that long.
As for going barefaced, she didn’t care about that; it wasn’t like he hadn’t seen it before.
In the bathroom, Jiang Luoluo was washing her face, just as Chu Mingcheng had imagined.
She dried the water droplets off her face and, looking at her somewhat rosy cheeks in the mirror, took a few deep breaths to calm her fluster and slight annoyance.
After combing and tying up her hair, Jiang Luoluo returned to her room and made another call to him.
He answered the call again and, seeing the barefaced but still lovely Jiang Luoluo on the screen, Chu Mingcheng couldn’t help but let out a mischievous smile, “I’m in Xia City right now, on my way to your place!”
“Eh!!!”
Jiang Luoluo was about to ask what he needed, but received such news instead. For a moment, her mind crashed and she was rendered speechless.
Seeing her gaping in bewilderment, Chu Mingcheng couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Jiang Luoluo then realized she had been played, and said with an embarrassed annoyance, “What on earth are you calling me so early in the morning for?”
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“Take a look, where am I?” Instead of continuing the tease, Chu Mingcheng shared a view of his surroundings.
Jiang Luoluo visited the airport several times a year; not to mention recent times when she had been there twice, so how could she not recognize the vicinity of the airport?
Her face filled with astonishment, “You really came to Xia City!”
“Yep, I’m at the airport right now!”
“Wait for me, I’ll be there shortly!”
“No need to pick me up, I’ll wait for you at the museum near your house.”
“Okay then, it’s almost noon anyway. I’ll take you to lunch when I get there.”
Jiang Luoluo hung up the phone and quickly ran to her walk-in closet to look for clothes.
The thought of Chu Mingcheng coming had caught her off guard, and she felt a mix of surprise and joy; she couldn’t precisely define her feelings but was exceptionally happy.
Meanwhile, at the airport, Chu Mingcheng hailed a taxi headed for the city center.
Letting Jiang Luoluo know he was at the airport was really to give her time to prepare; it wasn’t quite appropriate for a man to show up unannounced at a girl’s place for the first time.
Sitting in the cab, with nothing else to do, he casually began looking up rental listings in Si Ming District.
Jiang Luoluo lived around there, an area with many attractions, including Xiamen University and Gulang Island, perfectly suitable for her to shoot videos.
Thus, there was no reason for him to rent a place in another district, though the rent might be a little high here, his earning ability was more than capable of covering it.
After browsing online, Chu Mingcheng discovered that the starting price here was one thousand five hundred, whether it be a single room in a high-rise or a two-bedroom in an old neighborhood; that was the minimum starting price.
However, the rooms and their decor looked pretty nice; he’d still need to take his time to visit and see for himself.
Arriving near the museum, Chu Mingcheng got out of the taxi and looked around, when he heard Jiang Luoluo’s voice from behind.
“Ah Cheng, over here!”
He turned around, and his eyes lit up immediately.
Weather in Xiamen is also very hot, with nine months of the year being summer, and today’s temperature still fits for short sleeves.
Today, Jiang Luoluo actually styled her hair into two braids hanging in front of her, wearing a duckbill cap on her head.
She wore a white cartoon T-shirt with denim shorts on the bottom, revealing her long, straight, and fair thighs directly to the air.
On her feet were a pair of white sneakers, looking both youthful and pretty.
This style was the first time Chu Mingcheng had seen it, giving him the illusion that the girl in front of him was only eighteen years old and himself an old uncle.
But according to his age, being called an uncle was quite normal.
Jiang Luoluo, however, saw his reaction and secretly laughed in her heart, quite pleased with her outfit for the day.
“Let’s go, I’ll take you out for food!”
“Oh, are you staying at a hotel or at my place?”
Chu Mingcheng was taken aback. Was there such a good thing?
“Cough cough… Staying in a hotel might be a bit of a waste of money, and saving that money to buy you tasty food doesn’t seem too bad, huh!”
Jiang Luoluo nodded repeatedly, seeming to agree with his words. But the next second, she made a troubled expression, “Ah, I suddenly forgot, my place has only one bedroom—the other has been turned into a dance studio.”
“Looks like you’ll have to stay at a hotel after all. Sorry, but it looks like we can’t save that money.”
Chu Mingcheng said very seriously, “It’s okay, one bedroom is just fine, we can just draw a ’38th Parallel’!”
“Scram!”
“I can sleep on the sofa, too!”
“Pfft~” Jiang Luoluo finally couldn’t hold back a laugh, she playfully smacked Chu Mingcheng’s shoulder and said haughtily, “Keep dreaming, go stay at your hotel!”
Chu Mingcheng wasn’t offended by the rejection; they were just joking around.
Afterward, he followed Jiang Luoluo to a Q3. The price of this car seemed to be around three hundred thousand, depending on the configuration.
It seems this girl was living quite a nice life, at least better than his by a lot.
“Come on, I’ll take you to try one of Xia City’s must-have specialties—Shacha noodles!”
“Shacha noodles?” Chu Mingcheng raised an eyebrow in curiosity. What’s that, tea mixed with noodles?
How do you eat these two combined?
Jiang Luoluo knew his confusion, but just laughed without explaining and drove to Lakefront Fourth Street, where a restaurant had particularly good flavors.
After parking at their destination, they went into a noodle shop that was doing quite good business.
Upon entering, Chu Mingcheng immediately noticed a row of gold certification plaques on the wall.
Titles such as “Fusheng Famous Snacks,” “Fusheng Gold Medal Time-Honored Brand,” and “Xia City’s Famous Restaurant” and so on.
Chu Mingcheng was quite shocked by the prestige of the shop.
For Shacha noodles, you pick your own ingredients: pork liver, pork kidneys, duck blood, shrimp, squid, pork intestines, and so forth, with over a dozen toppings to choose from.
They both picked out their ingredients and found a place to sit facing each other.
What surprised Chu Mingcheng was that just two minutes after they sat down, the noodles were already served—it was that fast.
Jiang Luoluo looked at him and asked, “Take a taste, does it suit your palate?”
Chu Mingcheng stirred the noodles with his chopsticks, noticing the abundant ingredients and the soup’s bright red color. He then took a sip of the broth with a spoon.
Smacking his lips, he found the soup had a mixture of flavors—salty, umami, spicy—but it was very much to his taste.
“Hmm, not bad, quite delicious!”
“Glad you like it!” Jiang Luoluo, seeing his satisfaction, gave a sweet smile and began to enjoy her own noodles.
Chu Mingcheng finished his bowl of noodles quite quickly, still with plenty of toppings left, so he added another serving of noodles before he was full.
On the way back, Jiang Luoluo drove the car, simultaneously planning the next places to visit.
“Ah Cheng, how many days are you staying in Xia City? I’ll plan how to take you around.”
“Staying until the end of the year, going back home!”
“Huh?” Jiang Luoluo was baffled; staying until the end of the year meant at least two more months, right?
Chu Mingcheng found her bewildered look cute but still told her the truth, no longer teasing her.
“I’ve discussed with my family and decided to develop my career in Xia City. The new boat will also be launched here, so I’m planning to rent a place near your home. We’ll be neighbors from now on!”
“Neighbors, huh!” Jiang Luoluo, once she realized what he meant, had her lips curve up, clearly in a very happy mood.
She didn’t know whether Chu Mingcheng’s choice to develop in Xia City had anything to do with her, and she didn’t dare to flatter herself by guessing, but she couldn’t help thinking along those lines.
After all, Qiongzhou Lucheng is close to the archipelago, and fish resources seem to be much better compared to Xia City.
It was hard for her not to speculate about Chu Mingcheng’s choice to be here.
It took her a long while to push those wild thoughts to the back of her mind.
“So what you mean is, you want to rent a place near my home?”
“You’re my only friend here, I gotta cling to your ‘long legs’, right?”
Jiang Luoluo looked down at her own long legs, agreeing with Chu Mingcheng.
“Alright, you’ve just returned from Xisha and must be tired. Rest well this afternoon. I’m free in the afternoon too, so I’ll help you look for a place. By the way, how big of a place do you want to rent, and what’s your budget?”
Thinking about the rental prices he had seen online, Chu Mingcheng said, “A one-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, preferably fully furnished. Something around three thousand a month!”
“Oh, and the most important thing is that it has to be quiet. I’m particularly sensitive to noise.”