Chapter 44 Going Home
After Chen Mo put clothes on Xu Hongdou, he opened the trunk and took out a big bag.

"Let's go." Chen Mo said.

"Yeah." Xu Hongdou nodded.

The two got on the elevator together.

Xu Hongdou accidentally saw the pattern on the packaging box inside Chen Mo's bag.

"What is this?" Xu Hongdou had some guesses in her mind, but she still asked.

"Lucky cat." Chen Mo raised the bag in his hand.

"You really bought it?" Xu Hongdou was a little surprised.

"Of course, in case you can't eat." Chen Mo said with a smile.

"I was joking." Xu Hongdou said.

"But I'm serious." Chen Mo looked at Xu Hongdou and said.

Xu Hongdou pursed her lips when she heard that.

What are you serious about? You can't be buying a lucky cat, right?
"Come over for dinner later?" Chen Mo asked tentatively.

"No." Xu Hongdou refused.

"Ding~~" the elevator arrived.

"Thank you for your clothes." Xu Hongdou took off her coat and returned it to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo took the coat, feeling the remaining warmth, and his desire to have dinner together was rekindled.

"Think about it again?" Chen Mo asked again.

"Not considering it for now." Xu Hongdou shook her head.

Chen Mo looked at Xu Hongdou's determined expression and could only say helplessly, "Okay then."

"See you tomorrow." Xu Hongdou said.

"See you tomorrow." Chen Mo said.

The two said goodbye and went into their own rooms.

As soon as Chen Mo returned to the house, he started preparing dinner.

Chen Mo first took out the ingredients from the refrigerator and prepared to make sweet and sour spare ribs:
Put the spare ribs in cooking wine and cold water and bring to a boil. Blanch them and skim off the foam. Then remove them and wash them with warm water.

Of course, there are also people who directly soak it in water to draw out the blood, and then fry or deep-fry it in oil, depending on personal habit.

Add oil to the pan, stir-fry scallion, ginger, star anise and peppercorns until fragrant. Add appropriate amount of rock sugar and fry until it turns slightly yellow. Do not stir-fry until the sugar color appears, otherwise it will taste bitter.

Then add the ribs and stir-fry evenly, add soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and boiling water to cover the ribs, then add some salt and dark soy sauce to adjust the color. When the water boils, turn to low heat, open the lid and cook over high heat until the sauce is reduced, serve on a plate, and sprinkle with some sesame seeds.

A dish of sweet and sour spare ribs is ready.

While the spareribs were cooking over low heat, Chen Mo also fried some assorted shrimps:
Green peas, corn kernels, ham, yam, and finally shrimps are blanched in water one by one.

Heat the oil again, add onion, ginger and garlic slices, stir-fry, add salt, sugar, pepper and other seasonings, and finally thicken with water starch. You can add some scallion oil to enhance the flavor when serving.

A colorful, fragrant and delicious assorted shrimp is ready.

Finally, have a bowl of pre-cooked white rice.

Let’s not talk about the taste, but the appearance is really good.

Chen Mo took out his cell phone to take a picture, found the angle, and also took out the fill light from yesterday. He took an alluring photo and sent it to Xu Hongdou.

At this time, Xu Hongdou had just received a takeaway and was eating a slightly cold pizza. When she saw the message from Chen Mo, she opened it and read:
A photo of two delicious dishes on a table that are beautifully presented and look tempting and delicious.

Looking at the photo, Xu Hongdou suddenly felt that the pizza in her hand no longer tasted good.

Xu Hongdou was cursing Chen Mo for being shameless in her heart when she saw another message from Chen Mo:
We sincerely invite people who are interested in food to join us online, with all-inclusive services.

Seeing this, Xu Hongdou raised her eyebrows and couldn't help but click on the photo again to take a look.

When Xu Hongdou was thinking about how to respond, she suddenly noticed that behind the two dishes, there was a soft and cute lucky cat serving as the background.

Xu Hongdou couldn't help but use two fingers to zoom in on the photo, looking closely at the lucky cat in the photo, then looked up at the lucky cat on her own cabinet, muttering to herself, "It seems the one next door is better looking."

The lucky cat on the cabinet maintained its signature smile, but sad tears were flowing in its heart.

Who did it offend? Can it be more obvious that it loves the new and hates the old?

But Xu Hongdou still refused:

"Thank you for the invitation. The takeaway just arrived and I'm eating it now."

When Chen Mo saw Xu Hongdou's message, he frowned slightly and muttered, "So soon?"

After thinking for a while, Chen Mo asked again:
"What did you order?"

Xu Hongdou: Pizza.

Chen Mo: It’s strange, but when I looked at the food on the table, I suddenly wanted to eat pizza.

Chen Mo: I wonder if we can exchange and share food?
Xu Hongdou looked at Chen Mo's clumsy words, smiled and replied:
"How can there be such a coincidence in the world?"

Chen Mo: It’s just such a coincidence.

Xu Hongdou: Haha, keep this for lying to the little girl.

Chen Mo: I’m lying right now.

Chen Mo: I wonder if this girl would be willing to do me the honor.

Xu Hongdou took a big bite of pizza and replied:
"I don't want to."

After replying this sentence, Xu Hongdou put the flip phone on the table and muttered:

"I just said I wouldn't go, and now you say you want to go. How embarrassing for me."

Chen Mo next door saw the message and shook his head helplessly and put down his phone, "Well, no hope, let's eat."

Chen Mo picked up the chopsticks and added a piece of pork ribs. It tasted very good, but he felt it was tasteless in his heart.

In the next few days, Chen Mo completed the production of several songs in the company, and waited at the entrance of the hotel where Xu Hongdou worked at about the same time every day.

Time quickly came to Friday.

Xu Hongdou had just finished handing over her shift and was packing up her things in the storage room. Chen Mo had also sent a text message and was on his way over.

"Hey, Hongdou, I heard you have a boyfriend?"

Xu Hongdou's colleague Zhong Xueyao suddenly came over and asked with a gossipy look on her face.

"No, who told you that?" Xu Hongdou looked at Zhong Xueyao strangely.

"Not yet. Then who picks you up from get off work every day?" Zhong Xueyao asked with an auntie smile.

"How did you know?"

"Someone has been picking you up every day these days, and everyone knows about it."

"Just ordinary friends." Xu Hongdou said while shaking her head while packing her things.

"Would an ordinary friend wait for you to get off work every day?" Zhong Xueyao didn't believe it.

"He just happened to be on his way, and we got off work at about the same time, so he didn't wait for me," said Xu Hongdou.

"I haven't been waiting for you specifically. I wait for you at the hotel entrance for more than ten or twenty minutes every day. Do you mean I'm not waiting for you specifically?" Zhong Xueyao had an "I know" expression on her face.

"What did you say, ten or twenty minutes?" Xu Hongdou looked at Zhong Xueyao with some surprise when she heard that.

"Yes, everyone who came in and out saw it." Zhong Xueyao said, "And weren't we delayed for a while when we were handing over the shift yesterday? They waited for you for at least half an hour."

"Huh? We took over yesterday. How do you know how long he waited?" Xu Hongdou asked with a frown.

"I heard it from Liu Guangyu this morning." Zhong Xueyao explained.

"Liu Guangyu?" Xu Hongdou asked in confusion. "Didn't you notice that Liu Guangyu hasn't bothered you much in the past two days?" Zhong Xueyao said.

Everyone in the Housekeeping Department knew that Liu Guangyu wanted to pursue Xu Hongdou.

"Really?" Xu Hongdou thought about it, but had no impression.

"Of course, hasn't Liu Guangyu always been paying attention to you?" Zhong Xueyao said.

"So he knew that someone had been picking you up from get off work these past few days, and he kept an eye on it."

"This morning, someone teased Liu Guangyu about why he hadn't made any moves in the past few days, and asked if he had given up pursuing you, so he mentioned this."

"You didn't see how sour his tone was and how his expression looked like he was heartbroken."

Zhong Xueyao described the situation vividly with gestures, demonstrating the professional qualities of an outstanding officer of the women's intelligence organization at the entrance of her hometown village.

Xu Hongdou looked at Zhong Xueyao's mysterious expression and her low but excited voice, and couldn't help but feel in her heart that Zhong Xueyao really had the demeanor of a leader of the gossip party and the style of a general of the melon-eating party.

Zhong Xueyao, who leads the hotel's melon-eating party and gossip party, is nicknamed "Eight Aunties". Any rumors and news in the hotel, any slightest movement, will not escape her ears.

"I'll go first." Xu Hongdou shook her head, afraid that Chen Mo would wait too long, so she picked up her bag and said.

"Hey, Hongdou, is the person waiting for you your boyfriend?" Zhong Xueyao asked hurriedly.

"If you say so, then so be it." Xu Hongdou waved her hand, turned around and left.

Xu Hongdou didn't want to explain it so clearly to people who were not related to her.

What's more, with Zhong Xueyao's talkative mouth, if there is any news, by tomorrow morning, all the colleagues in the housekeeping department will know it, and within three days, colleagues in other departments will also know it.

And Xu Hongdou didn’t know what to say.

Say yes? Obviously not yet.

If she said no, would Liu Guangyu bother her again after he found out?

Just let others guess. It seems that this is not the first time she has used Chen Mo as a shield.

The last time was just a few days ago, at the hotel entrance on Valentine's Day.

And with Chen Mo's appearance, Xu Hongdou doesn't have to worry about any unpleasant rumors.

"What do you mean if I say yes, it is yes? How can what I say count? Isn't this making things difficult for me?" Zhong Xueyao muttered, looking at Xu Hongdou's back.

"Or is this a test of my professionalism?"

After Zhong Xueyao tidied up her appearance, she also walked out.

Seeing Zhong Xueyao, Liu Guangyu came over immediately from a distance.

"So, does Hongdou have a boyfriend?"

Liu Guangyu still held out hope, maybe the person who picked up Xu Hongdou was just one of her relatives, a cousin or something like that.

Liu Guangyu's words in the morning were deliberately spoken for Zhong Xueyao to hear. He knew that with Zhong Xueyao's gossip, she would definitely find out the truth.

"Hmm" Zhong Xueyao pondered for a moment.

"Is it true or not? Please tell me now." Liu Guangyu was a little anxious. He thought Zhong Xueyao was deliberately not telling him, so he promised directly, "I'll treat you to a meal."

Zhong Xueyao's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Of course, tell me quickly." Liu Guangyu urged.

"More than friends, but less than lovers." Zhong Xueyao gave her own judgment as a frontline news reporter.

It has to be said that Zhong Xueyao, who is at the forefront of the crowd, has a pretty good eye. She can extract useful information and make accurate judgments from Xu Hongdou's sporadic words and expressions and tones.

There is nothing special about it, it’s just familiar to the eyes and ears.

In fact, I have seen and heard a lot.

So even if these were rumors she heard from others, Zhong Xueyao could, based on her usual habit of adding fuel to the fire and working backwards, guess the truth almost exactly.

This is also the reason why Zhong Xueyao can be called "gossip girl" instead of "gossip woman", gossipy but not outrageous.

Zhong Xueyao boasts that she is "professional" and does not make unfounded guesses or talk nonsense.

Moreover, she only spreads some harmless entertainment news, and never spreads other people's privacy and pain points.

After all, working in the high-end hotel service industry, Zhong Xueyao knew well what she could and could not say.

Therefore, Zhong Xueyao is quite popular. Everyone knows that she is a gossiper, so they are naturally more careful when talking to her, but at the same time they also look forward to hearing some gossip about other people from her.

According to Zhong Xueyao herself, she was satisfying her curiosity within a reasonable range and burning her gossip spirit.

"Really? So I still have a chance?" Liu Guangyu said with some surprise when he heard Zhong Xueyao's words.

"No, I don't think you have a chance." Zhong Xueyao shook her head.

"Why?" Liu Guangyu was puzzled.

"You have made no progress until your competitors show up," said Zhong Xueyao.

"Now everyone is almost at the finish line, but you are still at the starting point."

"I don't understand, where do you get your confidence from?" Zhong Xueyao asked puzzledly.

"Why am I still at the starting point?" Liu Guangyu was dissatisfied.

"Look, you've been colleagues since you met Hongdou. Now, you've been working together for three years, right?" Zhong Xueyao asked.

"It's been almost four years." said Liu Guangyu.

"Four years." Zhong Xueyao nodded: "Four years ago you were colleagues, four years later you are still colleagues, and now you are not even friends."

"How come we are not friends anymore?" Liu Guangyu retorted.

"Have you ever had any interactions outside of work?" Zhong Xueyao asked.

"Of course" Liu Guangyu wanted to say yes, but after thinking about it carefully, he realized that there really wasn't.

"You see." Zhong Xueyao had an expression of as expected.

"That's because I had a girlfriend before, and we broke up last year." Liu Guangyu made an excuse for himself.

That’s right, he had a girlfriend before, so how could he have any interactions with Xu Hongdou outside of work? He abides by the moral ethics of a man, okay?

"Although I don't know what the person who picks Hongdou up from get off work looks like, but since you are so concerned about her, you must know, right?" Zhong Xueyao asked.

Liu Guangyu had the opportunity to see Chen Mo's appearance a few days ago. He was indeed taller and more handsome than him. He also remembered that Chen Mo drove the Land Rover Range Rover with the Beijing A license plate, but he only said vaguely:
"It's just so-so, it's OK."

When Zhong Xueyao heard Liu Guangyu's tone, she knew that he was also guilty. You can't even find faults with your love rival, and you don't even know what your own advantages are. How can you compete with him?

"In fact, Hongdou has not been interested in you for so long. No matter whether they are possible or not, I think it is impossible for you." Zhong Xueyao sighed.

"You" Liu Guangyu blushed and turned away.

"Hey, didn't you treat me to dinner as promised?" Zhong Xueyao shouted hurriedly.

"I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning." Liu Guangyu said without turning his head.

"Hey, who's treating me to dinner and breakfast?!" Zhong Xueyao was speechless.

Looking at Liu Guangyu's receding back, Zhong Xueyao curled her lips and muttered, "You deserve not to be able to pursue Hongdou. I wouldn't look down on you if I were you."

As Xu Hongdou walked out of the hotel, she saw a familiar car flashing its hazard lights not far away. Chen Mo was standing next to the car, waving at her with a smile on his face. The setting sun cast a warm halo on Chen Mo.

Xu Hongdou looked at the man waiting for her to get off work in the sunset not far away. She didn't know why, but after only a few days, she seemed to have gotten used to this scene.

"Xu Hongdou, what are you standing there for? Go home." Chen Mo saw Xu Hongdou standing there motionless and shouted with a smile.

"Hey, here I come." Xu Hongdou responded with a smile and walked towards Chen Mo.

Xu Hongdou knew what she was used to. She was used to someone waiting for her after get off work and picking her up to go home together.

　Asking for a monthly ticket!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)