The school beauty is aloof? Whatever, she has a younger sister.

Chapter 160 Want to live in a villa?
The city lights gradually filled the streets, and the morning breeze carried a slight chill.

Zhang Beifang and Mei Yinglan had just finished their night shift and were driving home.

In the passenger seat, Mei Yinglan, wrapped in a coat, leaned back and yawned, looking quite tired.

"Honey," Zhang Beifang said, glancing at her sideways as he gripped the steering wheel, "My bonus this month isn't small. How about we go buy that bag you had your eye on last time at the end of the month?"

"It's too expensive. With that money, we'd be better off enrolling our son in a one-on-one math tutoring class," Mei Yinglan said with her eyes half-closed.

Zhang Beifang glanced at it and smiled: "Wife, let's buy a bag instead. Our son is not as important as you."

Mei Yinglan: "Getting our son into a good university is more important than anything else."

While waiting at a red light, Zhang Beifang shook his head: "If you enroll him in tutoring classes, won't that take up his weekend time? It might actually make him rebellious."

"What do you mean by taking up weekend time?" Mei Yinglan raised an eyebrow. "Look around these days, which high school student doesn't attend tutoring classes? If they don't study, how can they outperform others?"

Zhang Beifang coughed lightly and chuckled, "Our son is different; he has a private tutor now."

"Huh? A private coach?"

“Don’t you know? Our son often goes to Teacher Liu’s house. Last time I asked him where he was going, and he said that Teacher Liu was giving him private math tutoring.”

"Oh, right, there's also Miss Chu, the one who was hospitalized for gastroenteritis last time. She's pretty and gets good grades, and I heard she's tutoring our son in math too."

Mei Yinglan's eyes narrowed slightly: "Your son told you all this? How come I didn't know anything about it?"

"If you are more understanding of your son, he will be able to talk to you."

Mei Yinglan's gaze slowly shifted to Zhang Beifang, her tone low and gloomy: "Consideration? I remember when you were in school, you always went to Xu Qing's house, always saying it was for tutoring. But I didn't see your grades improve much."

“Our son is just like you; I don’t believe he’s really studying.”

Zhang Beifang: "..."

He stared at the green light that had just turned on ahead, coughed lightly, and quickly changed the subject: "By the way, honey, Xu Qing came back yesterday. I had our son pick her up from the airport."

"She's back? Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Mei Yinglan raised an eyebrow.

"Xu Qing told me at the last minute. I was busy at the time and thought I would talk to her later... but I got so busy that I forgot."

"You sent our son to pick her up?" Mei Yinglan raised an eyebrow.

"Um... Honey, Xu Qing has always been very good to our son. And you know she has no sense of direction. She just got off the plane, so it's not a big deal for our son to pick her up, right?"

"You remember it quite clearly." Mei Yinglan crossed her arms and glanced at him sideways.

Zhang Beifang coughed lightly and turned to look at her: "Wife, Xu Qing already has a daughter. We're just ordinary friends. I love you wholeheartedly, heaven and earth can bear witness."

Mei Yinglan snorted coldly: "Focus on driving and watch the road ahead. And let me remind you, Xixi is not her biological daughter, she is an adopted daughter."

The carriage fell silent, with only the navigation prompts and the low hum of the engine remaining.

Zhang Beifang subconsciously gripped the steering wheel tighter and didn't reply.

Mei Yinglan leaned back in her seat, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "By the way, has Xixi returned to China?"

As she spoke, the image of that petite and adorable girl appeared in her mind.

In Mei Yinglan's memory, Xu Ranxi was still a junior high school student with a ponytail and wearing a school uniform.

Although she had always been somewhat wary of Xu Qing, and it was even unclear whether it was hostility or a grudge from the past, Mei Yinglan genuinely liked Xu Ranxi.

When he was little, that girl not only helped her son learn English quickly, but she was also very pretty, and her way of speaking and behaving was just like her when she was young.

Zhang Beifang then spoke up: "It seems that Xixi is not going back to China for the time being."

"Xu Qing said she wants to finish her courses in the US this semester and come back during winter break. I guess it will be after New Year's Day."

"Oh?" Mei Yinglan narrowed her eyes and smiled slightly. "You seem to know quite a lot."

Zhang Beifang paused for a moment, realizing something was wrong, but it was too late to stop talking.

Mei Yinglan turned her head to the side: "You and Xu Qing talked a lot, didn't you? You didn't tell me a single word about these things."

Zhang Beifang's lips twitched, and he gripped the steering wheel tighter: "Honey, the road conditions aren't great. I'll focus on driving and won't be distracted by chatting with you..."

Mei Yinglan glanced at him, then nestled into her seat and closed her eyes to rest.

A dozen minutes later, the car turned into the Sunshine Residential Complex. The couple went upstairs, and as soon as they opened the door, they smelled a familiar perfume scent wafting towards them.

The living room lights were on, and Xu Qing was sitting on the sofa with a suitcase beside her.

"Yinglan, the North, it's been a long time." Xu Qing stood up and smiled gently.

Mei Yinglan was taken aback: "...Xu Qing?"

Zhang Beifang put down what he was holding, slightly taken aback: "What are you doing at my house?" "I stayed at your house last night. Mu Chen picked me up to stay here."

“My house has been uninhabited for a long time and is covered in dust. I’ve booked a cleaning service to come at 10 o’clock today. I’ll go back as soon as I’m done and won’t bother you for too long.”

Mei Yinglan listened, her brows furrowing slightly, but she remained silent. Her gaze met Zhang Beifang's, who awkwardly scratched his cheek and then whispered to Mei Yinglan, "Wife, it's alright to stay one night. Besides, it was our son who suggested it."

Mei Yinglan didn't say anything, she just hung up her coat.

Xu Qing seemed to sense something, her gentle smile unchanged, as she reached out and picked up an orange and black packaging bag from the sofa.

She walked up to Mei Yinglan and handed it to her, saying, "Yinglan, this is what I bought for you in France. I knew you would like it when I saw it."

Before Mei Yinglan could speak, Zhang Beifang leaned over to look at the two packaging bags.

He squinted and read out the letters on the orange packaging bag word by word: "H...E...R...M...S...Hermes?"

Then he looked at the black bag: "CH...A...N...E...L...Chanel? One Hermès and one Chanel?"

Xu Qing smiled gently: "Yes, one is a Hermes handkerchief, the color suits Yinglan very well. The other is a Chanel bag, it will look very good on Yinglan."

"These are just small gifts, a token of our appreciation. Thank you for taking care of Xixi in the past."

Zhang Beifang clicked his tongue: "Little thing? These two together... must be worth at least five figures, right?"

Mei Yinglan stood still, her gaze somewhat silent.

Seeing that she didn't react, Zhang Beifang immediately reached out and took the gift from Xu Qing's hand.

"Although it's very valuable, I'll accept it on behalf of my wife. Thank you."

As Zhang Beifang spoke, he secretly winked at Mei Yinglan.

“Northern, you…” Mei Yinglan hesitated, “We can’t accept it, it’s too precious…”

Zhang Beifang waved his hand: "Xu Qing probably spent a long time choosing before buying it. It would be awkward for us to keep refusing. Just take it, since she brought it back anyway."

After saying that, he patted Mei Yinglan on the shoulder.

Mei Yinglan was silent for a few seconds, then said nothing more and walked towards the kitchen: "I'll cook some porridge and make some breakfast. Xu Qing, you probably haven't eaten yet, right? Let's eat together."

Xu Qing smiled gently: "Thank you for your trouble, Ying Lan."

The living room was quiet for two seconds.

Zhang Beifang leaned closer to Xu Qing and lowered his voice: "Hey, what about mine?"

Xu Qing turned her head to the side: "Huh? What?"

"What about my gift?" Zhang Beifang raised an eyebrow. "You can't be biased, can you?"

Xu Qing: "You didn't, and I wasn't prepared."

"..."

"How old are you? Still begging like a child?" She smiled, her voice soft and gentle.

Zhang Beifang pursed his lips helplessly: "Fine, fine, no gift is no gift. I'm in a good mood."

He carried the two elegant bags toward the bedroom, turning back as he went to ask, "How much did these two cost? They must have cost tens of thousands, right?"

Xu Qing walked to the sofa and replied casually, "A little over ten thousand."

"?"

Zhang Beifang paused, almost losing his grip on the bag.

Seeing his reaction, Xu Qing smiled slightly: "Take it, Yinglan deserves it."

Hearing this, Zhang Beifang suddenly felt that he wasn't carrying two bags, but two huge gold bricks.

Just as he was about to continue walking inside, Xu Qing suddenly added, "By the way, Northern, although I didn't buy you a gift, I can give you some other compensation."

She glanced around the living room, a smile playing on her lips, and said, "I think the Shouhong Villa is quite nice. Why don't you and Yinglan consider moving there?"

Zhang Beifang was stunned. Just then, Mei Yinglan came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands.

"What are you two talking about?"

Zhang Beifang looked at his wife and scratched his head: "Wife, would you like to live in a villa?"

"what?"

……

(End of this chapter)