A life of financial freedom

The night was slightly cool, and the Oriental Pearl Tower lit up with bright lights.

Zhong Tingyue, arm in arm with Chu Fang, strolled leisurely.

"Sir, Madam, may I take a photo of you?" A woman with a camera approached and said softly, "Sorry for the intrusion, but you two look so well-matched, like lovers from several lifetimes..."

Zhong Tingyue's lips curved into a smile: "No problem."

Chu Fang naturally agreed.

Upon receiving their consent, the woman began taking photos. To capture beautiful pictures, Zhong Tingyue specifically changed angles several times.

After the shoot, the woman displayed the photos, which showed Chu Fang and Zhong Tingyue together. Zhong Tingyue's eyes were narrowed into slits with laughter. She then asked the woman to send the photos to her.

"You're a great photographer."

The woman said modestly, "You're just very photogenic."

After the photos were taken, Chu Fang and Zhong Tingyue left.

The woman flipped through the photos she had just taken and was surprised to find that when Chu Fang and Zhong Tingyue were photographed, their eyes were slightly tilted, both glancing at each other. Every picture had it, a subconscious reaction, seemingly innate.

The woman saw in them something precious that modern people often lacked: love.

She gazed at the disappearing backs of Chu Fang and Zhong Tingyue, sighing with emotion, "What a beautiful love..."

... ...

"Are you very satisfied?"

Leaving the photographer, Zhong Tingyue focused on their joint photo, looking at it over and over, a faint smile on her pretty face.

"Hehe..."

Chu Fang turned his head, gazing at her face like a carefully carved piece of jade, warm and lustrous, and said, "You seem..."

"Seem what?" Zhong Tingyue tilted her swan-like neck.

"You seem to have changed a lot."

From the moment she left the detention center, Chu Fang had noticed a big change in his wife. Her face was always filled with a smile. She used to smile too, but only when facing a few close friends and relatives; otherwise, she was always indifferent. But just now, facing that photographer, Zhong Tingyue was still smiling.

"Is that bad?"

"Yes, it is."

"Why?"

"I just like your attitude of being cold to outsiders but passionately fiery to those on the inside."

That contrast is just too exciting.

"Get lost," Zhong Tingyue lightly punched his chest.

The two sat on a roadside bench, looking ahead, silent.

"You sit here, I'll go buy two bottles of water," Chu Fang suddenly said.

"No," Zhong Tingyue held his arm tightly.

"I'm thirsty."

"Take me with you," Zhong Tingyue's bright eyes sparkled.

Chu Fang smiled, "It's just buying water, let's go."

Ms. Zhong's beautiful face rippled with happiness: "Mr. Chu, you're so nice."

"... ..."

After buying the water, the two strolled home.

"Woof..." As soon as they got home, the tabby cat jumped into Zhong Tingyue's arms, meowing.

These days, the tabby cat believed that its owner's disappearance was inseparable from Chu Fang, and fought with him day and night.

"Good girl, Mommy's back."

Zhong Tingyue looked around, the usual ordinary scenes and things felt incredibly precious today.

"Let's go." After entering the house, Zhong Tingyue pulled Chu Fang towards the bedroom.

"What are you doing?"

"Pulling!"

"... ..."

Late at night, the breathing in the bedroom subsided, Zhong Tingyue lay in Chu Fang's arms, and the sound of heartbeats seemed to be heard in the room.

"It's so good..."

Chu Fang: "What's good?"

"It's so good to be alive, it's so good to be home, it's so good to be with Mr. Chu..." Zhong Tingyue turned over, looking down at Chu Fang from above, "Mr. Chu."

"Yeah."

"When I was kidnapped, what were you thinking?"

"I wanted to kill Ye Zhijie."

"Have you ever killed anyone? Stop bragging."

"I haven't killed anyone, but I've killed pigs."

At night, the two chatted, talking about many things, their respective feelings, their experiences in the detention center... until dawn, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next day, before dawn, they were awakened by phone calls from both Shu Du and the Central Plains.

You can't wrap fire with paper, and the news of Zhong Tingyue's incident finally reached the ears of both sets of elders.

Chu Fang found it strange. No one knew that Zhong Tingyue had entered the detention center for those few days, so how did they find out as soon as she got out?

He investigated and was instantly speechless.

Yesterday, when he went to pick up Zhong Tingyue, his sister-in-law took a photo at the detention center, posted it on WeChat Moments, and captioned it: This is not my dark history, but the road I came from!

The moment Gao Ruoyun saw it, she was triggered, thinking that her little daughter had committed a heinous crime and was locked up in the detention center.

Under Gao Ruoyun's repeated pressure, Zhong Rou had no choice but to 'sacrifice a friend rather than herself' and sold out Zhong Tingyue.

"I'm fine..."

"I'm the victim, and the killing was self-defense."

"I just spent a few days in the detention center, I don't have any problems, and I didn't even leave a criminal record, it won't affect your grandchildren taking the civil service exam."

"... ..."

Zhong Tingyue sat on the bed, tossing her long hair, explaining to her parents.

Chu Fang got up, brushing his teeth while replying to messages from Chu's mother.

[Solo Player in Love: Don't worry, everything's fine.]

[A Little Fairy: !!!]

[A Little Fairy: You finally replied.]

[A Little Fairy: What exactly is going on?]

Then Chu Fang told the whole story, Zhong Tingyue was kidnapped, killed Ye Zhijie, and entered the prison...

[A Little Fairy: Oh...]

[A Little Fairy: I told you that bad woman is a jinx, didn't you believe me? Do you believe it now?]

[Solo Player in Love: Mom, please don't use the words 'jinx' so often in the future.]

[A Little Fairy: I insist on saying it!]

[A Little Fairy: Proud.JPG]

[Solo Player in Love: Zhong Tingyue has a life in her hands.]

Chu's mother, who was far away in Shu Du, was stunned in place, and then jumped up.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no..."

"That bad woman is cruel and ruthless, and she even dares to kill people. If she enters my Chu family, what if she doesn't like me and wants to kill me?"

"Mommy, I'm so scared."

"What should I do?"

At this moment, Chu's mother was like an ant on a hot pot, pacing back and forth.

"Should I apologize to the bad woman?"

"No, as a mother-in-law, how can I apologize to my daughter-in-law? That's not reasonable, and I have no face."

Chu's father looked at his wife's anxious appearance and shook his head with a smile.

Because of this, Chu's mother would be anxious for a long time.

... ...

Today's breakfast was sparerib and scallop congee, a thick, snow-white, piping hot congee. The spareribs and scallops provided excellent nutrition, not only delicious but also with the delicate texture of the congee. The spareribs neutralized the blandness of the congee, simply a delicacy of the world.

At the dinner table, Zhong Rou looked timidly at Zhong Tingyue: "Sister~~~"

"Get to school," Zhong Tingyue said coldly.

"Okay."

Zhong Rou instantly breathed a sigh of relief.

She knew her older sister. Speaking in such a tone meant that she would no longer pursue the matter of her posting on WeChat Moments.

She dropped her bowl and left home in an instant.

After eating and washing the dishes, the two went to the studio as before.

When they arrived at the studio, many members stood in rows, applauding to welcome Zhong Tingyue back.

"Sister Zhong, welcome home," Jiang Wenzhen said with a smile.

A smile appeared on Zhong Tingyue's pretty face: "Thank you, everyone."

Life seemed to be back on track, Zhong Tingyue entered her work mode, while Chu Fang began to enter his fish-touching mode, lying on his workstation playing on the computer.

When it was lunchtime, Chu Fang casually said: "Ms. Zhong, tonight I'm going to drink with Rong Shunji and Wen Xiangbing, you go home by yourself."

"Ah?" Zhong Tingyue was eating, stunned when she heard this, and then objected, "You're not allowed to go."

"Why?" Chu Fang was also a little surprised.

Zhong Tingyue had never stopped him from gathering with his friends before, so why was her attitude different this time?

"... ...Anyway, you're just not allowed to go."

Zhong Tingyue didn't say the answer either.

"Alright," Chu Fang didn't ask any more questions.

"I'll go with you," Zhong Tingyue also changed her statement.

"Okay."

After eating and returning to the studio, Chu Fang carefully observed Zhong Tingyue. He suddenly realized that Zhong Tingyue looked at his position every less than a minute. Seeing that he was still sitting at his workstation, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, seeming much more at ease.

"Strange..." Chu Fang touched his chin.

Zhong Tingyue was a workaholic, once immersed in her work, she rarely paid attention to external things, just like when she was kidnapped by Ye Zhijie, she was working in the taxi at the time and didn't notice that the taxi had deviated from the location at all.

But now there was such a change, it was very strange.