Plunder-Chapter 200 The life-saving benefactor
After dinner, the two returned to their room.
Zhou Jin’an suddenly had an emergency video conference.
"I’m going for a walk."
Qiao En pointed towards the door and said to Zhou Jin’an.
He had just entered the conference room and hurriedly muted the sound to approach Qiao En, "Just stay by my side, the meeting will be over soon, and I’ll take you for a walk afterwards."
Qiao En knew that Zhou Jin’an was a workaholic, and this spontaneous trip was probably causing delays in his work.
"I ate a bit too much tonight, I want to take a walk to digest, I won’t go far, just outside in the garden, you can come find me when you’re done."
The mountain villa had a matching garden, lush with plants, a pavilion, and a pond, from Zhou Jin’an’s perspective, one could see the entirety of the garden.
"Then don’t go too far, I’ll come out to join you after the meeting," Zhou Jin’an responded.
"Okay."
Qiao En left the room.
The breeze in the garden was gentle, with pavilions and terraces, all very quaint.
In the distance were the rolling Yun Mountains, showing a mysterious aura under the night sky, with the villa lit up brightly, tranquil and pleasant.
This place was far from Rong City, free from the city’s noise and strife.
Here, one could temporarily find true peace.
Qiao En liked it here.
She sat alone in the pavilion for a while, Zhou Jin’an was still busy.
Qiao En got up and walked along the path, wanting to see the whole original layout of the villa.
Walking on, she unwittingly left the villa grounds.
Outside the villa, there was a different world.
In front of the gate was a lake that seemed endless, the lotus flowers in full bloom, with a gentle breeze causing them to sway gently.
Qiao En walked along the lakeside, suddenly feeling inspired to pick a lotus flower for Zhou Jin’an.
She carefully approached the water’s edge, reaching for the closest flower.
Just as her fingertips touched the lotus, a voice suddenly rang from behind.
"Catch the thief!"
The voice was not loud, as if it was meant to tease Qiao En.
But it truly frightened her.
Her feet slipped, and she fell into the lake.
Qiao En couldn’t swim, floundering in the water.
"Splash."
A figure swept by, and then someone dived into the lake, grabbed Qiao En’s arm, and dragged her towards the shore.
She was quickly pulled out to safety.
Her clothes were completely soaked, a shoe lost somewhere; Qiao En held a lotus flower clumsily in hand.
"Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to scare you, I was just..."
The man was also drenched, explaining while scratching his head.
Then, noticing Qiao En was missing a shoe, he dove back into the lake to find it.
When he reappeared before Qiao En, she was surprised to discover that this man was the stranger who had saved her life back in Gu Yuan.
"It’s you?"
Since their last encounter in Gu Yuan, they had not seen each other again.
Qiao En didn’t even know his name.
At that moment, her eyes were filled with surprise.
He quickly recognized Qiao En as well, "Are you Xu Yayun?"
He still remembered Qiao En’s name.
"How come you’re here?"
"I... am on vacation," Qiao En said, glancing towards the mountain villa and lowering her voice.
"And you? What are you doing here?"
She changed the subject.
The man pointed towards the vast bloom of lotus flowers, "I’m a filmmaker, scouting locations for a movie I’m planning to shoot. There’s a scene involving lotus flowers, and I heard that Yun Mountain has the most beautiful lotuses, so I came here. I didn’t expect to run into you at all."
Zhou Chucheng exuded a strong artistic vibe, his gaze lingering on the lotus flowers as he spoke with Qiao En.
"I never had the chance to say thank you, thank you for saving my life that day," Qiao En expressed her gratitude.
Zhou Chucheng smiled lightly, "No need to thank me, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it."
He had an easygoing personality.
The two stood there chatting for a while, Zhou Chucheng squatting down and then leaping up at intervals, visually absorbing the beauty of the lotuses.
"It’s a pity, I brought my crew here, wanting to capture the beauty of Yun Mountain, but I heard that the villa was booked out, not allowing outsiders to enter or leave; it seems I can only wait here," he said, turning back to look at the mountain villa with a look of regret.
"You want to film in the mountain villa?"
Qiao En asked.
Zhou Chucheng nodded, "Taking shots from the villa, we can capture the full view of Yun Mountain."
A drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring.
Zhou Chucheng had saved her life, and Qiao En wanted to repay him.
Her heart warmed, "If you need help, I can assist you."
"Really?"
Zhou Chucheng’s eyes sparkled, "If that’s possible, it would be wonderful. The filming crew will arrive tomorrow. If I can get into the villa to shoot Yun Mountain’s nightscape, I could finish this project on time."
"Let’s exchange WeChat contacts, once I get it done I’ll message you."
Qiao En offered proactively.
Zhou Chucheng immediately added Qiao En on WeChat.
He had business to attend to, so after saying goodbye to Qiao En, he hurried off.
After several steps, he turned back and called out to Qiao En.
"Xu Yayun, I’m truly happy to see you again!"
He carried a strong youthful presence.
Pure and intense.
He was entirely different from the men Qiao En encountered in her life.
Those men were either from officialdom or the business world, each one cunning and calculative, with their minds full of profit and loss considerations.
The arrival of Zhou Chucheng gave Qiao En a different feeling.
He was doing the work he loved, immersing himself wholeheartedly without regard to gains or losses.
In this way, he resembled who we once were, full of ideals, only that as time passed, we lost ourselves.
Qiao En took a deep breath and walked back to the villa the way she came.
Just as she reached the entrance, she bumped into Zhou Jin’an.
He was walking briskly, anxiously heading out while looking around.
Since Qiao En didn’t bring her phone when she left, he couldn’t contact her.
"I’m right here."
Qiao En waved to Zhou Jin’an.
Hearing her voice, he jogged over to her.
Seeing that she was drenched, Zhou Jin’an immediately grew anxious.
"Did you fall into the water? Are you injured?"
He knelt down to check Qiao En’s legs.
She had scratched her calf on some water plants when she fell in.
Without a word, he tried to carry Qiao En back to the house, but she quickly stopped him.
"It’s nothing serious, I just slipped in by accident,"
Qiao En said softly, like a child who had made a mistake.
"Here, a lotus flower for you."
Even though she was soaked, she had still managed to pick the flower.
She was drenched, but the flower was intact.
At that moment, she looked up at Zhou Jin’an, her face beaming with smiles, her gaze clear and direct.
He looked back at Qiao En with deep-set eyes, took the flower, and affectionately tousled her hair.
"I’m a man, what man needs flowers from a woman? This is too dangerous, you are not allowed to pick flowers alone again, understand?"
Zhou Jin’an warned her sternly.
"I understand," Qiao En obediently agreed.
She hooked her arm through Zhou Jin’an’s and tentatively suggested, "Let’s go back tomorrow."
They’d only arrived at Yun Mountain a few hours ago, and now Qiao En was suddenly insisting on returning, which made Zhou Jin’an suspicious.
"What’s the matter? Do you miss mom? I’ve spoken to her, she’s already back in Gu Yuan, everything is fine, there’s no need to worry. En’en, didn’t we agree? We came here to relax. I promise you, I’ll take care of work and spend quality time with you," Zhou Jin’an reassured her.
Qiao En planned to help Zhou Chucheng, but she couldn’t tell Zhou Jin’an about it.
He was a man, and even though Zhou Chucheng had saved her life, Zhou Jin’an would still be jealous and overthink things.
To avoid unwanted trouble, Qiao En decided to keep it a secret.
"I don’t like this villa."
Qiao En hung her head low, lying.
This villa offered the most beautiful view of Yun Mountain, overlooking the entire night scene. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
Staying here allowed them the luxury of undisturbed tranquility.
Zhou Jin’an’s eyes deepened, but he didn’t press further.
"Fine, we’ll change to a different place tomorrow. Tonight, you’ll have to put up with staying here one more night, alright?"
Qiao En nodded vigorously, "Alright."
That very night, Zhou Jin’an ordered his people to look for another place to stay.
Early the next morning, just as everyone was about to move, Zhou Chucheng suddenly appeared with the filming crew.
