Hu Lei woke up late after a long evening with Zhong Feng and the former Murong Fai, who insisted on being called Hu Fai with immediate effect. She admired his fortitude and hoped that he would have an easier life after moving away from the toxic Murong family.
Zhong Feng had already left for work to deal with some issues in the office, so Hu Lei had breakfast with Fai who also woke up late. The likable Hu Fai seemed to delight the staff, so they served him with a lot of happiness. Hu Lei could feel herself losing her number one spot.
After hanging out with her little brother and showing him around the villa, she had to leave. She had not forgotten her appointment with Lu Liang. She wanted to sort out everything as soon as possible so that Fai would not have to go through a painful experience again. Based on what Zhong Feng had told her, he had been extremely miserable with that cheap fake grandfather.
When she left Area 99, she planned on going directly to the old house. However, she remembered that she had left some critical documents in her Westend apartment. So, she had the driver drop her off first at the place.
After mulling for a while, she decided to take her motorcycle. She did not want to deal with a driver in case the meeting with Lu Liang made her angry.
When she arrived at the house, she found that Lu Liang had not arrived. However, old Butler Bai was on his way out of the home. When he saw the young lady, he was surprised. It had been a couple of years since she had come and left without warning.
"Miss Hu, what are you doing here?" he smiled.
Hu Lei was also shocked to see him. She did not know that he had been still taking care of the property. In a petty part of her, she felt sad because she had been hoping that the house was in disrepair due to lack of care. That would force Lu Liang to spend a lot of money.
"I came for a short visit. How is it that you are still taking care of this old house?" She asked after parking her motorcycle.
"Your father did not tell you? He set up an automatic payment for my salary years ago along with funds for general maintenance so that I can keep working even if he was out of touch. How is he these days?" The old man asked with interest.
Hu Lei lost her bright expression. "He passed away."
Old Bai felt bad for mentioning the matter. "I am sorry. He was a good man."
Hu Lei nodded. "Yes, he was."
"Are you going to come and live here now that you are back?" The old man looked at her expectantly.
Hu Lei felt inexplicable guilt. "No, I am actually giving it to Lu Liang."
"Your mother? Why?" There was a hint of anger.
Hu Lei understood his feelings because he had probably known about their family. But she also did not like to be questioned and second-guessed. "It was a house which belonged to my father and her. I believe that he would want her to have it."
Even though her father and mother had divorced, she knew that he still had good feelings towards her. Once in a while, he would reminisce about her and even tell her some anecdotes about their life a long time ago. In spite of what happened between them, he had loved her.
Old Bai could see that she did not want to talk about the matter, so he did not pursue the topic.
Hu Lei sighed. "Look, you don't have to work here anymore. I will handle your severance when it is convenient. I have not had time to deal with all the issues with my father's passing. Meanwhile, the payments will probably not stop, so you should be fine."
Old Bai had always been loyal to her father, so she would not treat him poorly. She had just been delaying dealing with the legal and financial stuff involved in her father's death. It was partially because she could not face it, but also because she planned to pass on most of the things to her brother.
The old butler sighed. "Alright." There was nothing else to say.
"Thank you for taking care of this place for all these years." It was heartfelt gratitude.
After they parted ways, Hu lei walked around the house. She tried to remember her happy times in the house, but she could not. There were flickers of listening to her mother and father quarrel about her. That incident made her connect the dots to her memory of those people in a 'Global Volunteer Doctors' van who took her when she was a child.
Her head started to ache as she felt some memories shake loose in her mind. She felt some recollections of her time with those people coming back to her. Unlike the time in that lab in Antarctica, these ones were interested in understanding the mind. They had poked and prodded their brains endlessly until so many of the other children had gone crazy and died.
The memories of that horrific time caused her to shrink back from her own mind, and the darkness crawled closer into her core. When it would have taken over, the loud clacking of high heeled shoes caused her to awaken from her stupor.
She descended the stairs and found Lu Liang already in the house.
��This place is quite nice for an abandoned house." Lu Liang declared while looking it over.
"I would not think you appreciate it after living in a grand castle." Hu Lei raised a brow at her.
"This is a house I chose myself. I took a lot of factors into consideration before settling on it." The woman seemed to fall into her memories for a moment.
"Oh, is there jade buried beneath it?"
"Perhaps…" Lu Liang laughed in an uncharacteristic manner.
Hu Lei rolled her eyes. "Let's just sign the documents and move on with our lives."
The two of them sat down at the dining table which they had seldom shared and started looking over the documents. Both were was meticulous in checking the legal forms. After all, they did not trust each other.
Once they finalised the 'transaction', they sighed in relief.
"All that you need to do is to file the document in the government office, and you don't need to worry that I will snatch it back." Hu Lei said with irony.
Lu Liang looked around the house and sighed. "You have always wondered why I have never been close to you, right?"
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