68: Chapter 68 The First Special New Year's Gift

On the morning of Lunar New Year's Eve, the streets were much quieter.

Most shops were closing one after another today; those heading back to their hometowns or villages were already on their way.

The Chinese people place great importance on the Spring Festival, and the vast majority of people stop all work starting tonight to reunite with their families.

However, there were still many workers who had to stand their last post properly, even on this day.

After all, today is not a statutory public holiday.

In the past, the best result Zhao Xiaoshuai could hope for on this day was just getting off work on time.

Some colleagues who lived far away could use going home as an excuse to take half a day or even a full day off in advance.

But as a local in Chuncheng, it was very difficult for him to get time off; most of the time, he ended up having to handle the tasks left unattended because those in charge had taken leave to go home.

Thinking back, he felt a bit wistful, but now none of this had anything to do with him, and he didn't even have the leisure to guess who the poor sucker on duty this year would be.

He was on his way to Ling Rui's home.

Because Ling Rui had previously informed Zhao Xiaoshuai that she would be going on vacation with her family during the New Year and wouldn't return until the eighth day of the lunar month.

At the time, Ling Rui had an expression of asking for his opinion, as if to say that if her master didn't agree, she wouldn't go home for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Zhao Xiaoshuai "generously" granted her the vacation, and as her master, he would even give her a New Year's gift in advance.

He arrived at Ling Rui's home early in the morning as usual, and she was fast asleep as always, showing no signs of waking up.

It must be said that Little White Dog is a truly excellent shopping platform; they sell everything, and the delivery speed is top-notch.

The two small gifts he ordered a few days ago had already arrived.

One was a set called "Marionette".

It was generally divided into two parts: upper and lower.

The upper part consisted of two delicate little clips, connected by silver chains that led up to a necklace-style collar.

This way, even if her neck was exposed in her daily attire, it wouldn't look too out of place.

He tested it with his fingers; the tension of the clips reached a level where it would cause pain without causing injury, so it seemed to have been carefully designed.

This way, as long as it was taken off when sleeping, there shouldn't be any issues with wearing it for long periods.

The lower part goes without saying; it was just a belt plus a trivial little item.

The other small gift was a remote-controlled, silent little toy.

By downloading, one could obtain both master and slave apps, allowing him to issue some commands from the master account to the slave account.

The slave account in Ling Rui's hand would then relay the commands to the little toy close by.

Thus, even if they were half a world apart, Zhao Xiaoshuai could interact with her in real-time, giving her the sense of happiness that her master was always with her.

He personally helped her place the little toy where it belonged; only then was this New Year's gift considered delivered.

He took out Ling Rui's phone, unlocked it with face recognition, installed the app for her, and then opened his own phone to test it out.

The response was basically lag-free, there were no obstacles in operation, and the silent effect was indeed well-done.

"You don't even wake up from this; later, I must test just how soundly you can sleep."

When leaving, on a whim, he pulled up Bai Feng's Weixun to see if he could take revenge on her ex-husband once more.

As a result, he discovered that he had been deleted and blocked by her.

"Was I treated as a tool, used and then discarded?" Zhao Xiaoshuai chuckled a little.

But thinking about it, it was understandable; in Bai Feng's eyes, Zhao Xiaoshuai was just an ordinary delivery man.

They met by chance, and because of the betrayal of their respective partners, they had a unified goal of revenge.

When this revenge was completed, she would naturally start her new life and sever ties with everything from the past.

After all, Bai Feng came from a wealthy family; even though she was now a divorced mother, based on her looks and background, she could definitely be described as a top-tier young married woman.

With her conditions, finding a young and strong male companion again would naturally not be difficult.

Although it was a pity, Zhao Xiaoshuai didn't mind; he was well-fed every day now, so being hungry for a few days occasionally didn't matter.

Arriving at iSport, it was the same boring daily routine of watching Tao lose weight, playing in the water, and catching fish.

With the strengthening of various organs, he could feel that losing weight was becoming easier and easier.

Estimating by the current speed, even with the binge eating and drinking during the New Year, he should be able to completely finish the task in another four or five days.

He didn't look fat anymore; if one had to describe him, it would only be with the word "sturdy".

However, in order to get the system's attribute rewards, he still had to work hard for a few more days.

Through this period of exercise, he had become somewhat accustomed to fitness; by exercising his body appropriately every day, his whole spirit had improved a lot.

The high strength attribute also caused visible muscle outlines to appear all over his body, and the eight-pack abs on his abdomen were vaguely taking shape.

Coupled with the significant improvement in his skin quality, the change in his overall image and temperament meant Zhao Xiaoshuai had completely shed the negative evaluations from when Chu Ziqing broke up with him.

"Handsome, you're really living up to your name lately."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; I think you've added a filter. Anyway, I still feel I have a lot of room for improvement."

Meng Yawen naturally accepted the term "lover" and asked instead:

"My mother has been discharged from the hospital. On the third day of the New Year, I'd like to invite you over for a home-cooked meal to thank you again for saving her life. Can you come?"

This reason was truly reasonable and hard to refuse.

Zhao Xiaoshuai understood that this time it was highly likely that things would be completely laid out; Meng's parents definitely wanted to confirm the relationship between their daughter and him.

He took a look at Meng Yawen's current affection level, 433 (Adoration).

Recently, after Meng Yawen broke through to Adoration, the growth of her affection level had become easy again; even without specifically trying to woo her, it had increased by nearly thirty points.

Although there was still a lot of room for growth, it was barely enough.

However, before "meeting the parents," he had to first handle Meng Yawen herself and reach a consensus with her.

Their relationship would be completely determined at that time.

Zhao Xiaoshuai had only prepared two choices for her and left no room for maneuver.

Although he had gradually developed some feelings for Meng Yawen recently, he was not going to stop there at this moment.

"Sure, I'll look forward to tasting Chef Meng Yawen's cooking then."

Hearing Zhao Xiaoshuai's affirmative answer, Meng Yawen's anxious heart settled, and she immediately replied embarrassedly:

"I don't know how to cook; at most, I can wash the rice and make some rice."

Zhao Xiaoshuai wasn't surprised; times had changed, and there were more boys who knew how to cook than girls.

"Actually, you could learn cooking from Xinyi. Don't look down on her because she's young; her skills are much better than the average cook."

Meng Yawen's eyes dimmed slightly, but then she immediately became full of fighting spirit again. "I'll definitely do that when I have the chance. We'll see each other after the New Year."

Zhao Xiaoshuai pulled her over for one last parting kiss before letting her go.

Sitting in the car, he fell into deep thought for a moment.

Tonight, he could no longer avoid it; he had to provide some level of explanation to his parents.