An 80s female translator was spoiled rotten by a rough and jealous man.

Chapter 233, June 6.29 – July 7.1
“Something is definitely amiss. If things go too smoothly, it might be…” Huo Qingshan frowned. “Qian Xue wouldn’t expose her weakness so easily.”

Lu Feng also fell into deep thought. "So you mean to say that this intelligence is fake?"

After a long silence, Huo Qingshan slowly shook his head, his expression still serious. "The intelligence is true, but the person who gave us the intelligence may not fully understand Qian Xue."

Sleeping in the same bed but dreaming different dreams, each harboring their own ulterior motives—this is the best example of this

Everyone has a weakness. Xu Penggang's weakness lay in his "unwise use of people." Keeping someone like Chen Biao, who was more trouble than he was worth, around and entrusting him with important responsibilities only ensured his downfall. He was overly suspicious and therefore placed excessive importance on loyalty. However, his subordinates were loyal but lacked ability, which was foolish. In this line of work, being foolish is tantamount to suicide.

He was wise all his life, but failed because of a moment of foolishness.

Qian Xue's weakness lies in her ruthlessness, but not ruthlessness enough. She lacks humanity, yet retains a sliver of maternal instinct. This is the kind of weakness that arises when something approaches extremes but doesn't quite reach them. She is extremely cruel and decisive towards most people, easily incurring hatred. Yet, beneath her prickly exterior lies a small, vulnerable side; she can only pray that this "little tail" will never be discovered, or she will inevitably be dragged to hell.

Since this intriguing address and date were able to reach Lu Feng's hands, it's highly likely that it wasn't just a rumor; someone close to him was probably trying to use him as a tool to kill someone.

On the other hand, the reason they have been able to stand in that position for so many years without wavering must be because they all have extraordinary abilities.

Xu Peng was cautious and deep-thinking enough that Red Fox was once on the verge of death, and he almost escaped with his life.

As for Qian Xue's extraordinary qualities?

There is still much to be explored. She has been living abroad for years, her whereabouts kept secret, and there have been few direct confrontations; therefore, Lu Feng and his group know very little about her.

This is precisely Huo Qingshan and Lu Feng's weakness: they don't understand their opponent well enough. As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." But if one only sees things through a fog or a narrow window, even the wisest person cannot guarantee absolute success.

Huo Qingshan knew all too well that this pursuit was his best opportunity, perhaps even his only one. Missing this chance wasn't just a matter of waiting another year; it meant he would never have another chance.

Not to be missed.

No smart person would fall into the same trap twice, let alone Qian Xue.

……

June 29th, afternoon, Wangfujing Department Store.

Hu Shulan took her daughter, who usually stays at home all day except for work, out shopping. Meng Youyou's 22nd birthday is in a couple of days.

Meng Youyou was born on the first day of July, which happened to be the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Before her birth, the Meng family did not know whether Hu Shulan was carrying a boy or a girl. But this did not stop Meng Weiguang from naming his beloved grandson while waiting outside the delivery room—Meng Jiandang. He said that this name was orthodox, and that it sounded like a good young man with a solid political background, which would put people at ease and ensure his future development.

The result was a girl, so Meng Weiguang didn't insist on the name anymore. In the end, Hu Shulan gave her the name "Youyou".

As is customary, except for the years Meng Youyou studied in the United States, as long as she stayed with her parents, Hu Shulan would buy her a new outfit every year in advance. On her birthday, as long as there was no particularly important work, Meng Zhengping would make time to cook a meal for his daughter to celebrate her birthday.

The same is true this year.

At the entrance on the first floor are two heavy, double wooden doors, exuding an antique charm. Stepping inside, the hall boasts a three-story-high ceiling, with neatly arranged circular white LED lights illuminating the gray-white terrazzo floor. The walls are uniformly painted a light blue, while the wooden counters are pristine white, creating a consistent and sophisticated ambiance.

Looking up, a striking bright red banner hangs in the center – “Serve the People”.

The first floor mainly sells daily necessities, while further inside is the food area, where the aroma of Daoxiangcun pastries is particularly strong.

As Hu Shulan passed through this area, she casually said to Meng Youyou, "After we finish buying our clothes, let's come here and buy some chestnut pastries from Daoxiangcun to take back. Your father is really craving them."

Meng Youyou nodded gently, subconsciously echoing, "Okay." But then she suddenly remembered when they were still in Nanyu Town, lying in bed together, dreaming about the future. He had asked her about her family's preferences, and was thinking about what to buy when they returned to the capital together in a couple of days to visit them, hoping to give them something they would like.

She told him about everything: her father liked to eat chestnut pastries from Daoxiangcun, her mother liked to listen to foreign vinyl records, and her grandmother liked to wear silk clothes and scarves...

Back then, neither of them got impatient. The speaker talked on and on, as if he had endless things to say, while the listener listened intently, as if he had taken everything to heart.

Those once incredibly sweet moments have now become poison coated in honey. What's more profound than being unable to forget is being unable to think about it; what's more agonizing than being unable to think about it is being afraid to think about it.

No matter how hard Meng Youyou tried to avoid anything related to him, the memories were like a festering sore deep inside her body, impossible to remove. When it wasn't acting up, it was fine, but if she accidentally touched it, it would hurt like hell.

The second floor is the clothing and footwear section, where a colorful array of vibrant colors and trendy styles greets the eye.

The girls in the capital are at the forefront of fashion. Among the modern women who brushed past her and Hu Shulan, some had big wavy perms, some had dyed their hair ash brown, and some even had dyed it bright red.

Couples would naturally hold hands while strolling through the streets, and no one would cast strange glances. Summer clothing was light and thin, and exposing arms and legs was commonplace. Moreover, she had just seen a boy of about fifteen or sixteen wearing a short-sleeved tracksuit with the Adidas logo printed on it.

To be honest, this had a significant impact on Meng Youyou's understanding of the world. Although Meng Youyou had been in the capital for more than three months, she was almost always going back and forth between two places every day. Her workplace had dress code requirements, and it was only early summer.

Today, she truly understands what it means for a city to lead the trend of an era.

The capital city was the first place where the spring breeze of reform and opening up blew in. New ideas, new products, and new things poured in like a tide. Due to the developed economy and convenient transportation, people had more channels to accept new things. Whenever a fashionable style appeared on television or in magazines, it was not far from that people would wear it and walk on the streets of the capital.

She spent half a year in that small town on the southwestern border. Most of the people she encountered on the street were dressed in gray cloth and blue clothes, with a monotonous color scheme and conservative style. Not to mention, finding a man and a woman with even the slightest physical contact in the crowd was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

This sense of separation is like using two keys to open the doors to different worlds. It's as if Li Hongzhang, dressed in a yellow jacket, red-tasseled hat, white cloth shoes, and with a long braid, suddenly stumbled into New York City in 1896. Gentlemen in suits, with neat short hair, shiny leather shoes, and leather briefcases, hurried past him. The streets were filled with towering steel forests. He looked up at the slowly ascending and descending elevators—ancient and modern, closed and prosperous, backward and advanced, conservative and open. Huge differences in economy, thought, habits, and culture collided with a bang, making one mistakenly think that time and space had been misplaced. In reality, this was the same era without a doubt.

Hu Shulan shook her daughter's arm, "Youyou." Meng Youyou then came to her senses and immediately asked, "What?"

“I said,” Hu Shulan pointed to the graceful back of a young girl who had just walked past them. The back of her top was surprisingly revealing, a low-cut design. She whispered to her, “I think that girl’s hairstyle is quite nice. It’s chestnut brown, the color isn’t too striking, but it looks very stylish. The curls aren’t exaggerated either, so it doesn’t make her look too mature.”

I think it suits you really well. How about we go to the hair salon and get a hairstyle like that after we buy the clothes?

Without much thought, Meng Youyou stammered, "Okay."