The growth system comes at the age of 30

Chapter 225 Keeping a Mistress in a Golden House (5.2K)

Since learning that Chen Jingle's mother would be returning on the 30th, Li Beixing has not dared to delay for a moment.

After cleaning up all traces of his existence, he began looking for a suitable place for Chen Jingle to use as a calligraphy and painting studio.

After all, the sooner she moves in, the sooner she can kiss and hug Chen Jingle in the studio without any worries about running into either set of parents.

Therefore, he showed even more concern than Chen Jingle.

She doesn't need to go looking for this herself; she can just pay an agent and then make the final decision and sign the contract.

Money can really solve many problems.

For Li Beixing, this amount of money was nothing; the key was to be quick and appropriate, and not to be sloppy!

With cash on hand, the intermediary quickly sent word that several plans were delivered to Li Beixing's phone that very night.

Chen Jingle himself doesn't have high requirements; he just wants a quiet and clean place, and he doesn't mind if it's a little remote or small.

Li Beixing basically agreed, but it couldn't be too small. Even if it was just a temporary workspace, it still couldn't be too rudimentary or casual.

Too big is also not good, otherwise it will appear too empty.

The most important thing in a relationship is to create a warm and cozy atmosphere.

Therefore, after reviewing the property listings sent by the agent, she immediately eliminated two, while the remaining two seemed acceptable. However, she would have to see them in person to know for sure.

I arranged to go on-site to investigate with Chen Jingle the next day.

Although Li Beixing requested that this matter be handled by her, Chen Jingle's opinion should still be respected.

"How to say?"

After watching both sets, Li Beixing asked.

Chen Jingle thought carefully: "Let's choose the one in front. The lighting and the surrounding environment are better."

The apartment he was referring to was a 56-square-meter unit on the fifth floor of a commercial office building. It was relatively new and only required a few simple furnishings; it didn't need much renovation, which perfectly matched his expectations.

Li Beixing nodded: "I think so too."

And so, the location of the studio was decided.

The specific address is in Lane 11, Dongfeng North Road, in the middle section of Huancheng North Road, near the southwest direction of Gougongzhang Park, not far from Li Beixing's home, less than three kilometers away.

It wasn't that Li Beixing had any ulterior motives or deliberately chose a place close to his home; it was purely coincidental.

On the contrary, living too close is not a good thing; who knows if you'll run into someone you know when you go out?

Chen Jingle didn't care about this.

He valued the quiet environment, fresh air, and absence of messy factories, and noted that many culture-related companies in the vicinity had set up their offices here.

After signing the lease agreement, he moved his drawing board and calligraphy and painting tools from home over.

There aren't many things; I only picked things that are easy to carry. I'll leave the bulky items at home to avoid having to move them around.

Li Beixing then helped him add two 80x200 long tables specifically for writing and painting, two solid wood cabinets, and also set up a simple rest area with a sofa and a small coffee table, separated from the creative area by an elegant Chinese screen.

In this way, a calligraphy and painting studio was simply set up.

Quite efficient!

Moreover, Li Beixing's aesthetic sense is excellent; even Chen Jingle couldn't find any fault with it.

This studio is not open to the public; it is only used for Chen Jingle's daily work and to facilitate their meetings without being disturbed by outsiders.

It's like a paradise on earth.

"How's it going? Is it okay?"

Li Beixing looked at him with a smile, as if seeking praise.

"Very good, thank you for your hard work." Chen Jingle patted her head and gave her a kiss to express his appreciation.

I'll definitely need to add some more things later, like bonsai and wall decorations. Right now, it's just in its initial stages and looks a bit monotonous.

He can make bonsai and hanging ornaments himself.

Bring a potted plant from home, or buy some other plants to trim yourself. Hanging decorations is even simpler; your own calligraphy and paintings are the best decorations.

Also.

If he really intends to turn this place into a studio, he is considering whether to expand his business further and turn it into an art processing center.

He has some new ideas these past two days.

I just don't know how it will be implemented in practice, because I haven't started learning it yet.

You can't blame him for doing things haphazardly. After all, with the system's help, his biggest advantage is that he can quickly learn all kinds of knowledge and skills, and can go from zero to mastery in just a few days.

Presumably, anyone with that ability would make a similar choice.

It's not difficult to go from novice to expert, but it's not so easy to go from expert to master.

Chen Jingle would naturally be more inclined to learn new knowledge and skills.

Unless it's something like calligraphy or painting that I use to make a living, I won't continue to study it in depth.

……

"Isn't this sofa a bit too big? But it's really comfortable to sit on," Chen Jingle asked.

He was already quite satisfied with the layout of the creative area, but the most amazing part was actually the small rest area.

It may also be related to the fact that he has never experienced a high-end sofa since he was a child. After all, most homes in Lingnan have mahogany sofas, which are very hard.

Of course, Li Beixing wouldn't say that this sofa was more expensive than everything else in the room combined.

She just smiled and squinted: "It's not that big, is it? This is already the small size. The main feature of the sailboat sofa is its comfort. When you're tired from work, you can lie down on it directly, or even use it as a small bed to sleep."

This sofa is not only convenient for Chen Jingle, but also for her.

She definitely won't come here to see Chen Jingle write calligraphy and paint in the future, so the rest area becomes especially important.

It's reasonable to buy a more expensive sofa.

"Sailboat sofa? That's a strange name. It feels more like a bed than a boat."

Chen Jingle sat on it and tried out all sorts of positions, finding it so comfortable that he didn't want to get off.

It's not just a small bed, it's big enough for both of them to lie down on at the same time.

Compared to the mahogany sofa at home, it's like night and day.

Just as he was lost in thought, he suddenly noticed that Li Beixing had moved next to him at some point and was leaning down to look at him.

Well, Chen Jingle didn't even need to think; he knew exactly what she was going to do next.

Teacher Li remains as proactive as ever, indulging in this kissing game without ever getting tired of it.

Fortunately, both sides exercised restraint.

Holding Li Beixing, who was lying on his chest, Chen Jingle suddenly thought of something funny: "Does this count as me being kept as a mistress?"

Li Beixing couldn't help but chuckle: "What kind of golden house is this? It's just a small studio. It's not exactly a shabby place, but it's not much better. Maybe I'll buy you a big villa someday."

"A big villa? Sure, I'll be waiting."

Chen Jing chuckled and didn't take it seriously.

He was just saying it; how could he expect Li Beixing to buy him a villa?

On the contrary, he should work hard to make money. If he wants to buy a house in the future, he should try to buy a villa, or even a small one. At least he can't let Li Beixing's quality of life drop too much with him, otherwise he might not be able to hold his head up in front of his parents-in-law.

Li Beixing blinked, not telling him that she now owned a villa, bought by her parents as her marital home, where she could move in anytime for their future family.

I'm suddenly really looking forward to moving in together. What will his reaction be?
Laugh to death.

……

Time flies by.

Today is the 30th, the last day of November, which is also a Saturday.

Li Beixing spent almost the entire day here.

Chen Jingle's mother is returning tonight, and starting tomorrow, she won't be coming here again for a while.

Unless she feels the time is right and is mentally prepared, she will not visit in a formal capacity.

therefore,

Chen Jingle prepared an exceptionally lavish dinner for the three of them, and they ate heartily.

Chen Qiyun was unsure whether to be happy or disappointed.

She had long accepted Li Beixing as her sister-in-law. Although he was a bit strict at times, he was mostly very gentle. He would bring her all sorts of delicious snacks at school and take time to check and tutor her homework after school.

She was just as attentive as Chen Jingle.

The thought that I would only be able to see Li Beixing at school in the future, and that I could only call her "teacher" and not "sister-in-law" or "Sister Beixing" made me feel a little uncomfortable.

There was no time to feel sorry for Li Beixing, as her aunt was returning tonight, and she herself didn't know if she would be able to come over for dinner again tomorrow.

The thought of never being able to eat Chen Jingle's cooking again, and only being able to eat the simple meals made by her grandmother and mother, is heartbreaking.

It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality!

Compared to Chen Jingle's cooking, Grandma and Mom's cooking was really not presentable.

Actually, Li Beixing wasn't as sad as Chen Qiyun thought, because the studio was already prepared, and Chen Jingle would be working there in the future, so they would have plenty of time together.

If she wants to eat food cooked by Chen Jingle, Chen Jingle will naturally bring it to her or cook it separately.

It's not much different from before.

Only Chen Qiyun was kept in the dark.

If you had to point out a difference, it would probably be that the studio wasn't as warm and comfortable as Chen Jingle's home. After dinner, Li Beixing, as usual, sent Chen Qiyun to her room to do her homework, then cuddled Chen Jingle and played a sticky game.

"Speaking of which, I haven't asked you yet what kind of person your mother is."

Li Beixing put his arm around Chen Jingle's and asked hesitantly, "Can you tell me about it?"

Chen Jingle tilted her head back and thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "She was a very ordinary Chinese rural woman, not very educated, a bit clumsy, and a bit talkative, but kind-hearted. She was always amiable to everyone and rarely had any disputes or conflicts with anyone. She wasn't tall, but she was very beautiful when she was young."

Li Beixing visualized a general image in his mind, which calmed him down considerably.

A future mother-in-law like this shouldn't be difficult to get along with, right?
She didn't want Chen Jingle to be caught in the middle and put in a difficult position.

Having roughly guessed Li Beixing's thoughts, Chen Jingle smiled at her and said, "There are photos, do you want to see them?"

“Great!” Li Beixing’s eyes lit up immediately.

In a sense, this is another sign that the two have grown closer.

"Wait a moment, I'll go get the photo album."

Chen Jingle got up and went to her parents' room to rummage through drawers and cabinets. She quickly returned with a thick photo album.

The family wasn't well-off in the past, so they didn't have many photos, but my mother still tried her best to collect and save some. Even so, in the past thirty years, their family has less than fifty photos in total.

There's only one photo of my mother when she was young, taken while she was holding me as an infant. She had long hair and looked about 70% like the actress Wong Cho-han.

This is why his father fell in love with his mother at first sight during their blind date.

Of course, his dad is no slouch either.

While our parents' generation didn't care about houses or cars when it came to love, they didn't disregard looks.

“Look, this is my mom when she was young,” Chen Jingle said with a smile, flipping through the photo album and pointing to the first picture.

"You're so pretty!" Li Beixing exclaimed in surprise, but upon seeing the tiny Chen Jingle, she couldn't help but laugh. "So this is what you looked like as a child? You don't look like him at all. You were even wearing open-crotch pants, haha!"

Chen Jingle was speechless: "If someone is about the same age at one as they are at thirty, then they're a monster."

Li Beixing flipped through their family photo album with great interest. Although it wasn't as numerous or as exquisite as her own, the changes were more apparent.

It can be said that I witnessed the changes in Chen Jingle's family over the past few decades.

Seeing the changes in his parents' faces and figures, he felt a deep sense of emotion, admiration, and gratitude.

After all, they were the ones who gave birth to Chen Jingle.

The last photo in the album seems to have been taken a couple of years ago. It's a family portrait, with many people in it besides Chen Jingle's family of three. Chen Qiyun is also in it, looking like a little kid.

"Are these your grandparents, uncles, and aunts?"

“Yes, and two younger aunts too. This photo was taken the year I graduated from university, which is quite a long time ago,” Chen Jingle replied.

Li Beixing closed the photo album with a sense of lingering satisfaction.

She wondered when her photo with Chen Jingle would finally appear on the screen.
……

Li Beixing drove away.

For her, today was another fruitful day.

Chen Qiyun sighed, picked up her schoolbag, and went home.

Chen Jingle chuckled to himself.

Why are you sighing at such a young age? It's not like we'll never have a chance to meet again.

After tidying up quickly, I was about to close the door, go upstairs to take a shower and read a book, and then come down to open the door when my mom returned.

He received the message from his mother that she had set off from the provincial capital at 5:30 pm. At a normal speed, she should be back around 10 pm, provided there is no traffic.

If the driver is used to driving fast, he might be back by 9:30.

This is probably the case.

Therefore, there's no rush; we can just wait patiently.

Time flew by in the midst of his busy schedule, and at 9:30 p.m., Chen Jingle finally received a message from his mother:

"We've already returned to Jiangbei and are about to get off the highway."

Chen Jingle immediately perked up and quickly went downstairs to open the door.

Because his home is not far from the highway exit, it's almost just a short drive away.

really!

He went downstairs, turned on the lights, and opened the door to heat up the food. A short while later, a green-plated car appeared outside the yard. After it stopped, his mother's familiar figure got out of the car, and the slightly chubby rideshare driver also got out to help take the luggage out of the trunk.

There was quite a lot of stuff: a large suitcase, a red plastic bucket full of things, and a bulging black backpack.

Chen Jingle quickly stepped forward to help with the luggage, taking the suitcase and black backpack, and thanking the driver.

This weight is nothing to him, who has been exercising for more than two months.

After seeing the ride-sharing driver off, I closed the courtyard gate.

Liu Yuehua finally breathed a sigh of relief; such a long-distance bus journey was far from comfortable for her.

But as she looked up at her baby, she sensed something was off.

I don't remember my own child being this tall.

I couldn't help but ask, "Ah Zai, have you grown taller than before?"

"Yeah, it's probably a second growth spurt. I've grown to 1.8 meters tall now. I just measured him yesterday." Chen Jingle nodded with a smile.

Liu Yuehua suddenly realized.

No wonder something seemed off; her son used to be just over 1.7 meters tall, but now he's almost half a head taller.

Of course, she was very happy about this.

Because nowadays, many girls require their boyfriends to be 1.8 meters tall, even though 1.7 meters is not considered short for most people in Lingnan.

It's better to be tall than short, because she is a bit short, only 1.55 meters tall, while Chen Jingle's father is almost 1.8 meters tall.

Now her son has grown to 1.8 meters tall, which is normal.

Although it's a bit strange to still be growing at 30, there are precedents for it.

Besides, aren't all those who successfully lose weight through exercise completely transformed?

I immediately accepted this explanation.

"He's become more handsome too," Liu Yuehua said earnestly after carefully examining him.

And he looks much stronger than before, which shows that he exercises regularly.

Chen Jing chuckled: "Go to bed early and get up early, and keep exercising. You'll naturally see changes."

My mom hasn't changed much; at least she doesn't look very tired, which means her previous workload was indeed manageable.

Liu Yuehua looked at her son, who had almost changed completely, but she didn't feel too strange. No matter how she looked at him, he was definitely her son. He just had better features than before and still inherited the best features from both her and the child's father.

For example, the three courts and five eyes.

I felt mostly happy.

As for his appearance, I was already surprised after watching videos of Chen Jingle being interviewed by others, so I wasn't particularly surprised this time.

The changes are indeed quite obvious compared to before, which makes me feel a bit emotional.

"Mom, let's eat first. I saved some food for you," Chen Jingle said, changing the subject.

"Good~"

Liu Yuehua was indeed hungry. She gets carsick and didn't dare to eat too much before getting on the bus, so she only ate a little something in the afternoon and was starving by now.

However, when Chen Jingle brought the heated food to the table, Liu Yuehua was stunned.

The food was far more plentiful than she had imagined.

"You specially prepared so much food today?" Liu Yuehua was surprised and touched.

"Well, that's only part of the reason. Also, a friend came over, and Chen Qiyun was there, so I made a little extra. But I had set aside some beforehand, so it wasn't leftovers."

Chen Jingle smiled sheepishly.

Liu Yuehua, however, remained cheerful: "It's okay, it's all the same."

What surprised her even more was yet to come.

These dishes not only smelled delicious, but the moment they tasted them, you could feel the difference.

"This food tastes... Ah Zai, when did you learn to cook? It tastes even better than what our restaurant's head chef makes!"

Liu Yuehua was truly shocked.

The restaurant where she worked, while not a star-rated establishment, was at least a mid-range restaurant, and the head chef's salary was quite high.

I never expected my little one to have such a talent for craftsmanship.

I haven't heard Zai Zai mention this to them.

Chen Jingle just smiled and said, "I learned to make it because I was bored at home. I'll cook for the family from now on."

"Great, great! From now on, Mom will just enjoy a life of luxury."

Liu Yuehua, who was initially feeling confused and lost about suddenly losing her job as she approached retirement, instantly forgot about those negative emotions after returning home and eating the hot meal prepared by her son.

She works hard so that her children can have a better life in the future, right?

Now it seems there's nothing for her to worry about.

Her son is very promising!
Hmm, if only I were a little more ambitious, I could find someone and get married sooner!
(End of this chapter)