26: I will never love again.

"Finally back."

The gates of the Courtyard House opened slowly as Li Xiuwu drove in.

The air was fresh, with a comfortable and sweet scent. The Spirit Gathering Array had been active for over half a year, making the courtyard even more pleasant.

"This Courtyard House of yours is truly magical. After a whole day in the car, I was exhausted, but as soon as I stepped in, I felt comfortable all over, and my fatigue has mostly vanished." Liu Xiaoli got out of the car, took a deep breath, and stretched.

Little Lion dashed out of the car and frolicked in the Courtyard House. Its senses were more acute, and its reaction was somewhat like a cat smelling catnip.

"It's quite late today. Auntie and Xixi should stay for a night before heading back." Li Xiuwu invited the mother and daughter to stay over.

"Okay!" Liu Yifei clapped her hands; she also felt exceptionally comfortable here.

She turned to see her hesitant mother and hugged her arm, acting spoiled.

"Mommy, we're so tired after sitting in the car all day, and we'd still have to tidy up if we went home."

"Alright, I'll go check the kitchen and make something to eat." Liu Xiaoli stroked Liu Yifei's hair.

"Let's just order a meal; there are no ingredients at home." Li Xiuwu took out his phone... After dinner, inside the West Wing, Liu Yifei was rolling around on the bed.

"Look at you, what do you look like?" Liu Xiaoli was tidying up the clothes and began to scold Liu Yifei when she saw her acting like a young child.

"Mom, it's so comfortable. There's clearly no heating in the room, yet I don't feel cold at all." Liu Yifei sat up, feeling that the Courtyard House was very magical.

"Mom, let's buy a Courtyard House to live in too."

"Perhaps there's something special about this Courtyard House." Liu Xiaoli showed a thoughtful expression.

She had lived in a Courtyard House before, and it definitely didn't have this kind of effect.

This courtyard was right on the edge of the Second Ring Road, yet the noise from the Second Ring Road couldn't be heard in the backyard.

In summer, the air was fresh, which could be attributed to the abundance of plants. But in Beijing's winter, sandstorms and smog were constant. If the overall environment had poor air quality, how could it be any better inside the Courtyard House?

Now that the weather in Beijing was already very cold, she felt that it was very pleasant inside the Courtyard House, without the stifling feeling of the outside.

Liu Xiaoli couldn't figure it out; perhaps it was the unique location of this Courtyard House.

"Let's buy one and try it out," Liu Xiaoli finally said.

The mother and daughter lay in bed talking, and before long, they both fell asleep.

Early morning.

The chirping of birds woke everyone up.

"So comfortable." Liu Xiaoli woke up feeling refreshed.

She suddenly paused. Now that she was over thirty, how long had it been since she had slept so comfortably?

She suffered from slight insomnia and woke up easily at night, yet last night she hadn't felt any anxiety about falling asleep and had slept soundly all night.

"Maybe I was just too tired yesterday," she thought.

Checking the time, Liu Xiaoli got dressed and came out to wash up.

"Xiuwu, what are you doing?" She saw Li Xiuwu standing under the crabapple tree, looking up at the eaves.

"Good morning, Auntie." Li Xiuwu turned around and greeted Liu Xiaoli.

Liu Xiaoli nodded and walked over. "What are you looking at?"

"The swallows under the eaves actually didn't fly south for the winter." Li Xiuwu pointed at the wooden birdhouse he had prepared for them. Two swallows were perched at the entrance of the nest, looking at them.

"Really?" Liu Xiaoli also looked at the two swallows in surprise.

"They eat insects, right? How do they find food?"

"It's probably not easy to find food; the two of them are starving." Li Xiuwu had just asked them.

The air in the Courtyard House was too comfortable, making them ignore the time to fly south. By the time they thought about leaving, they found it was too late.

During this period, they had been eating irregularly and had consumed a lot of grain to stave off hunger.

"I'll go to the Flower and Bird Market in a couple of days and buy some insects for these two silly birds to eat."

"Auntie, wash up first. I'll go buy some breakfast."

"I'll make some," Liu Xiaoli said instinctively.

"There's nothing in the kitchen." After Li Xiuwu finished speaking, he put on his down jacket and left the Courtyard House through the front door.

In the winter of the West Sea, the leaves had all fallen, making it look very desolate.

There were some elderly people exercising in Huanhai Park.

By the time he returned, Liu Yifei had only just gotten up, and her hair was still a mess.

"Whoa, where did this little crazy girl come from?" Li Xiuwu feigned surprise.

"You're the little crazy girl!" Liu Yifei turned and saw Li Xiuwu, giving him a dissatisfied glare.

"I told you to get up earlier. Look at you, not lady-like at all." Liu Xiaoli came out of the kitchen; she had boiled a pot of water.

"Mom, you're picking on me too." Liu Yifei felt like the two of them were teaming up to bully her and that she won't love them anymore.

"Go wash up quickly." Liu Xiaoli didn't coddle her and scolded her again.

"Humph." Liu Yifei walked away huffily.

After breakfast, the car to pick up Liu Yifei and her mother arrived.

Walking out of the Courtyard House, they suddenly felt a cold wind blowing.

"So cold." Liu Yifei instinctively pulled her down jacket tighter.

"It is quite cold," Liu Xiaoli said. Hearing this made the difference between the inside and outside of the Courtyard House even more apparent.

"We're heading back now. Call me if anything happens; Auntie has some connections in Beijing." Liu Xiaoli had already started considering Li Xiuwu as part of her inner circle, unlike the mere politeness of before.

"Alright, Auntie. If I run into any trouble, I'll definitely bother you." Li Xiuwu agreed with a smile.

"Goodbye, big dummy." Liu Yifei stuck her tongue out at him.

"Goodbye, little dummy." Li Xiuwu retorted and waved at her.

After seeing the mother and daughter off, he contacted Wang Jinsong.

"You don't need to come to class anymore; the school has prohibited students from entering and leaving," Wang Jinsong said.

Cases of an epidemic had appeared in Beijing. Although strict controls hadn't been implemented yet, preliminary restrictions were placed on some universities.

"Alright, Teacher."

He called several of his companies to check on the situation.

"President Li, we have completed agency negotiations for several games. As per your requirements, we've secured independent operating rights for the mainland and are currently undergoing localization. The project is progressing very quickly."

On the phone, Qiu Wanjun's tone was very happy, and it was clear that the progress was indeed good.

With the Loyalty Aura, Comprehension Aura, and others in place, the company staff were each performing at 150% of their capacity.

"Proceed according to the situation. Make sure the company benefits are good and resolve everyone's worries." Li Xiuwu said after learning about the progress.

"Tell everyone to do a good job. I'll head over in a few days to give out bonuses."

"Alright, Mr. Li. You can rest easy with me at the company," Qiu Wanjun assured him.

He then made a call to Chi Yufeng.

"Mr. Li, our game development progress is a bit faster than expected."

Chi Yufeng also reported good news to Li Xiuwu. The development speed of Perfect World was much faster than he had anticipated, with everyone's inspiration constantly bursting forth and solving many difficult problems.

"I'll head over in a few days to give out bonuses." Li Xiuwu nodded. It seemed that this Faction Aura had a significant impact on the company, providing a great advantage in research and development.

After hanging up the phone, he couldn't help but fall into deeper thought.

Since the existence of these auras had such a large impact, could he do more things?

For example, starting a project for a Lithography Machine?