Xia Chujian suddenly thought of the duplex suite across the hall...
Before she left, it was still under renovation.
Could it be finished? So, besides renovating the inside, they even built a rooftop sky garden beach? If they're so rich, why not buy a house in that fancy, fully furnished neighborhood next door?
Xia Chujian muttered to herself, full of doubts.
The Team's Flying Vehicle quickly landed on the roof of the old apartment building.
The group jumped out of the Flying Vehicle.
Suddenly, a large black dog rushed out from the staircase inside the Glass Greenhouse, barking wildly at them through the glass wall.
The sound was incredibly loud.
And the dog looked particularly ferocious.
It was about half a person tall, with thin, long legs, but a very large head that didn't look like a dog's head at all, but rather a bull's head.
It bared its teeth at the five of them, revealing huge, white, interlocking canines, with large drops of saliva dripping down, looking like it wanted to eat them alive.
Xia Chujian instinctively flipped her wrist, a pistol appearing in her palm, aimed at the dog's forehead.
If that dog dared to break through the glass wall and rush out, she would shoot it dead!
However, she didn't get the chance, because soon, a middle-aged woman appeared from the staircase of the Glass Greenhouse and grabbed the dog's leash.
The big dog whimpered as it was pulled back, immediately prostrating on the ground, becoming docile.
Xia Chujian still held her gun, aiming in the dog's direction, but her gaze shifted to the middle-aged woman.
This woman looked very gentle, her black hair tied up in a bun behind her head.
She was wearing obviously casual winter clothes, with a generous and well-fitting style, giving off a low-key laziness and elegance.
Xia Chujian also noticed that the woman was wearing embroidered shoes with black soles and red flowers.
They were probably indoor slippers.
The middle-aged woman turned on a communicator and said, "I'm sorry, did we scare you? We just moved in today and aren't familiar with the place yet. Are you residents of this building?"
Xia Chujian: "..."
Could this be her new neighbor?
The awesome people who almost sealed off the only elevator in the building for their renovation?
Judging by this, they really weren't short of money.
The only question was, why would people like this squeeze into their backward, old neighborhood?
Xia Chujian slowly put away her gun, and said calmly, "Hello, I'm a resident here, and these are my friends. They're here to celebrate New Year's Eve with me."
The middle-aged woman said "Oh," and curved her eyebrows, smiling, "I see, then I won't disturb you..."
She was about to turn and go downstairs when Xia Chujian stopped her.
"Excuse me, Madam, we need to go downstairs. Could you please open your glass door and let us through?"
The Glass Greenhouse had enclosed the only staircase leading downstairs from the roof.
The middle-aged woman also turned back in surprise, looking at her and saying, "...But this is my home, and we're not familiar with each other. How can I open the door and let you into my house?"
Xia Chujian smiled, pointing to the staircase enclosed by the Glass Greenhouse and saying, "But the only staircase on the roof is enclosed by you. If I don't go through that door, how can I get down?"
The woman smiled good-naturedly, saying softly, "Forgive me, I can't help you. This is my home now, and I don't know you, so I can't let you use this door."
"Then how do I get downstairs?"
"However you came up, that's how you go down..." The middle-aged woman glanced at the small Flying Vehicle parked behind them, as if to say, why not just fly down in the Flying Vehicle and then take the elevator up?
Xia Chujian wasn't buying it.
She didn't draw her gun, but instead reached to her waist, pulled out a Tactical Dagger, and said, "Neighbor, the rooftop is a public space, and every resident in this building has the right to use it. It's not something you can claim ownership of just by enclosing it with a few pieces of glass."
As she spoke, she flicked her finger, and the blade of the dagger flashed.
She pointed the dagger at the glass wall of the Glass Greenhouse and said, "Either you open the door, or I'll make a door here myself."
She used the dagger to trace a rectangle, about the height of a person, on the glass wall.
The middle-aged woman's expression changed. She wanted to say something, but held back and said, "Please wait a moment, I'll go ask the owner of this place."
Xia Chujian raised her eyebrows. "You're not the owner?"
"...How could I be the owner? I'm just a servant here." The middle-aged woman still smiled amiably.
The smile seemed to be tattooed on her face.
Before long, the woman's figure reappeared at the stairwell. She pressed a remote control, and two panes of glass on the glass wall slid open, revealing a doorway.
As expected, it's easier to see King Yama than deal with a minor devil.
Xia Chujian waved to her teammates. "Come on, let's go down this way."
Ye Shijie, Li Fu, Song Mingqian, and Ping Qiong silently entered the Glass Greenhouse one by one.
Xia Chujian was the last to enter.
After she entered, the glass door of the Glass Greenhouse closed automatically.
Xia Chujian said, "You have to give me one of these remote controls. I usually go to the rooftop. I can't ask you for a remote control to open the door every time."
Even with the middle-aged woman's good temper, she was getting annoyed by Xia Chujian's demands.
The smile disappeared from her face, and she said blandly, "This belongs to my master; I can't make the decision."
"Then find someone who can make the decision to talk to. Otherwise, I'll just open the door myself in the future." Xia Chujian shook the dagger in her hand.
This time, the threat finally got through to the middle-aged woman.
Her lips moved, her gaze focused, staring at the dagger for a while.
But neither Xia Chujian nor the four people in front of her showed any change in expression.
The middle-aged woman's expression changed slightly, becoming respectful. "Okay, I'll go ask the master right away."
She turned and went downstairs.
Ye Shijie and the other four followed her into the stairwell.
Xia Chujian glanced at the black dog lying by the pool.
The black dog bared its teeth at her.
Xia Chujian withdrew her gaze, thinking that the difference between dogs might be even greater than the difference between humans and dogs.
Her Small Si Xi was the cutest, almost like a different species.
She followed them into the stairwell.
There was an L-shaped staircase leading down.
Turning the corner of the L, you could see a door, which was the entrance to her opposite neighbor's duplex.
Continuing down from the corner led to the top floor corridor.
Xia Chujian's home was on the south side of this corridor.
Ye Shijie and the others had been here before and quickly arrived at Xia Chujian's door, ringing the doorbell.
Xia Yuanfang saw Xia Chujian and her "colleagues" on the monitor at the door and immediately came to open it.
The temperature in the outside corridor was very low, so as soon as the door opened, they could feel a wave of heat coming out.
Ye Shijie, Li Fu, Song Mingqian, and Ping Qiong said respectfully, "Happy New Year, Xia Gugu!"
Xia Yuanfang smiled. "Come in, don't be so polite, you're too much of an outsider."
...
Almost at the same moment, Zong Ruoan returned to his top-floor duplex apartment in Mulan City.
He couldn't be bothered to turn on the lights; the room was pitch black.
Walking over to the sofa and sitting down, Zong Ruoan let out a long sigh.
At this moment, he just wanted to be alone.
Not long after, his Quantum Optical Brain's notification tone sounded.
He looked down and saw it was a video call request from his mother, Tantai Jinyu, the Grand Princess of the Imperial Royal Family, whose word was law.
Zong Ruoan initially didn't want to answer, but considering it was New Year's Eve and he wasn't planning on going home, he still accepted the call.
Tantai Jinyu's beautiful and mature face appeared before him.
She should be getting on in years, but she maintained herself very well, looking at most in her early thirties. No one could tell she was almost sixty.
"Ruo'an, are you really not coming home for the New Year this year?" Tantai Jinyu asked with concern. "You've lost weight. Have you been very busy lately?"
Zong Ruoan perked up and smiled, "Too busy, there are some things that haven't been finished, so I won't be going back this year. I'll come home when my work here is done."
He was planning on not going back for the entire New Year holiday.
Tantai Jinyu carefully observed her son's expression. She had to admit, now that her child was grown, she couldn't discern his true thoughts.
She could only tell that he was a bit tired, but his mood seemed alright, and he didn't have a depressed or uneasy look.
But Tantai Jinyu absolutely didn't believe that Zong Ruoan wasn't coming home just because he was busy with work.
In the entire Beichen Empire, who would dare make Tantai Jinyu's son work overtime on New Year's Eve?!
They must not want to live.
So there was only one reason: her son himself didn't want to go home for New Year's Eve, nor did he want to go home for the New Year.
Tantai Jinyu didn't expose Zong Ruoan's true thoughts, and said with a smile, "It's okay if you don't come back. Anyway, I've already had someone send you New Year's Eve dinner. — What time is it there now?"
Zong Ruoan was speechless, "... It's only three in the afternoon, who eats New Year's Eve dinner so early?"
"Three in the afternoon and it's already so dark?" Tantai Jinyu raised an eyebrow. "What kind of place is Guiyuan Star? The time is very different from our Shaofu Star."
Zong Ruoan said, "The temperature on Guiyuan Star is abnormal this year, especially in Mulan City, which is several degrees colder than in previous years."
"How so?"
"It's said that in the past, the winter here was at most minus twenty degrees Celsius. But now, a high of minus twenty degrees is considered good. As soon as the sun goes down, the temperature plummets, and it can go as low as minus eighty degrees. — I've heard that these days, inside and outside the city, there are dead humans and Humanoids everywhere."
Tantai Jinyu frowned and said, "Ruo'an, don't say such things during the New Year, it's bad luck."
Zong Ruoan: "..."
He said softly, "I'm sorry, I won't say it anymore. By the way, Mom, who is sending me New Year's Eve dinner? When will they arrive? Do I need to pick them up?"
Tantai Jinyu shook her head with a smile, "Of course you don't need to pick them up. I said I'm sending it to you, which means it will be delivered to your doorstep."
Zong Ruoan: "... What good food is there? I'm just one person, I can't eat that much."
"Whether it's our Zong Family or the Royal Family, New Year's Eve dinners have regulations. Even if you can't finish it, it still has to be laid out."
As Tantai Jinyu spoke, she looked at the New Year's Eve dinner menu in front of her and said, "Eight cold dishes, eight hot dishes, eight steamed dishes, plus four soups and four staple foods, a total of thirty-two dishes, which is already the most economical."
Zong Ruoan thought to himself, he couldn't finish so many dishes even if he ate them for a week.
However, his gaze drifted to the low and dilapidated neighborhood outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
It was brightly lit and decorated quite nicely.
The building with the most beautiful light show was the one where Xia Chujian lived.
Zong Ruoan suddenly didn't want to spend New Year's Eve alone.
The second update is at 1 p.m.
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