Meng Xici, who never played games, received a console this weekend, or rather, a handheld console.
It was from Sang Miao.
Same model and different color from the one Ji Zhuoran had been playing recently.
He’d seen Ji Zhuoran and a few other classmates playing for hours on end,
with some games showing hundreds of hours logged.
Meng Xici still felt that gaming was a huge time sink.
Maybe he’d give it a try if he ever got the chance…
However, right now, looking at the person in front of him, who, early in the morning,
had just dragged a big suitcase out of an elevator she rarely used,
it looked like she was going on a long trip.
Meng Xici couldn’t help but ask Sang Miao, “…Where are you going?”
It was Monday, still very early, and there was still half an hour before school started.
It was definitely unusual for her to be up so early.
Recently, the development work had gotten on track,
and the company had gradually hired several new members for the art team.
Sang Miao had started working regular hours.
So, since she had time today, she packed some clothes and daily necessities to take over to Henning Residence,
in case she worked late and didn’t feel like coming back.
Sang Miao explained, “The workplace is a bit far.
If I end up working too late, I won’t come back here to stay.”
“Oh.” Meng Xici had thought she was going on a long trip.
Staying near the office because of late hours was normal;
his dad did that all the time.
“Uh, do you want help packing?”
he asked instinctively, then remembered he had to go to school soon.
Sang Miao now felt that aside from sometimes being a little mouthy with her,
he was actually a pretty obedient kid.
She smiled and said,
“No need. I’m just taking some clothes and toiletries over.”
Meng Xici nodded.
Then something occurred to him and he asked, “You’re living there alone?”
Sang Miao remembered Meng Peizhi had mentioned he didn’t stay there often and answered casually, “Sort of.”
She pointed to the gaming console placed to the side and said,
“Don’t get addicted, alright?
And you’re not allowed to bring it to school.
Otherwise, your dad will scold me for corrupting you.”
She thought about it , he was supposed to be a good student,
diligent and full of positive energy.
If he suddenly got addicted to games and started neglecting his studies,
it would feel like a massive crime…
Meng Xici muttered, “…He wouldn’t scold you.”
If anyone’s getting scolded, it’d probably be him, right?
“What did you say?”
Sang Miao hadn’t heard clearly.
“I said,” Meng Xici replied seriously,
“my dad never scolds you.”
Sang Miao wondered could it be that sometimes his silent aura was scarier than actually yelling?
Then she noticed the instrument Meng Xici had been holding earlier on the sofa,
took a look at it, and commented, “That looks pretty nice.”
Meng Xici looked over.
He’d just been trying to tune it.
A few days ago, he had received the bass that Meng Peizhi had promised him.
As Sang Miao had said, it was indeed a beautiful instrument.
But along with the surprise came a bit of doubt.
The instrument didn’t look new, it had a bit of a vintage feel.
He instinctively wondered if it could be his dad’s?
He quickly dismissed that guess.
It probably wasn’t.
He’d never heard that his dad could play this.
For as long as he could remember, Meng Peizhi had always been a composed, introverted,
and a refined businessman in his eyes.
He just couldn’t imagine it.
And he had never seen anything like it at their home in Gangcheng,
so it probably wasn’t something from his dad’s past.
Maybe his dad got it from somewhere, an antique-level instrument?
That was quite likely.
After all, the family did have a fair number of collectible antiques.
Meng Xici took a photo and searched online, and sure enough, he found relevant information.
This bass was a model from nearly twenty years ago.
It was indeed expensive, and its design was unique.
He was only learning the basics, did he need such a high-end instrument for that…?
Meng Xici suddenly felt maybe he ought to take this more seriously.
…
Before leaving the apartment,
Sang Miao played with Simba and Youyou for a bit before heading out.
People always said cats were independent by nature, but at least Youyou wasn’t.
It was a clingy little thing.
Lately, she had been going out almost every day,
and Youyou was getting a bit upset about that.
So, whenever it was convenient, she’d take it with her.
But not today.
To someone packing for a move,
it was just a little troublemaker.
Sang Miao first went to Henning Residence to drop off her luggage.
Henning Residence was the top-tier apartment complex in that area.
Its building was a landmark and one of the tallest in the city.
Each apartment occupied an entire floor with one elevator leading to one unit,
making the number of units very limited and hard to come by.
The large floor-to-ceiling glass walls on all sides gave the apartment stunning views,
allowing one to take in nearly the entire cityscape at a glance.
Before coming over, she had already given Meng Peizhi a heads-up.
After entering the passcode, she went in directly.
After dropping off her suitcase,
she took a proper look around and finally chose an unoccupied bedroom that was neither too big nor too small.
“Not too big nor too small”
was a relative term actually, the apartment was very spacious.
This bedroom had a layout similar to the ones in the villa:
a walk-in closet, a private bathroom, and a small study.
It was just slightly smaller than the suite back at the villa,
but more than enough for occasional overnight stays due to work.
Most importantly, it didn’t require rent!
While checking out the rooms just now,
she had accidentally opened Meng Peizhi’s bedroom.
It wasn’t locked.
She took a glance, though the room was as clean and tidy as a hotel suite,
some of the items showed signs of someone living there.
So she backed out.
There weren’t any full-time housekeepers stationed here,
but there was a built-in concierge service,
and requests could be made as needed.
That was pretty convenient.
Sang Miao made the bed, arranged her clothes in the walk-in closet,
and then went to the bathroom to set up her toiletries.
She hadn’t brought much.
Even after everything was put away,
it still didn’t look like anyone was living there.
After tidying up, Sang Miao didn’t linger.
She drove straight to the company.
On the way, she sent a message to Meng Peizhi,
telling him she had already moved her things over and picked a south-facing room.
Meng Peizhi might have been busy—he replied with a simple “okay” after a while.
Sang Miao left early today, so she still arrived at the company in the morning.
Sang Yichen had hired a professional manager to handle the daily operations of the company,
which allowed Sang Miao to focus on game development.
Currently, there were five people in the art team, three in the special effects team,
and two in the writing team.
Since they needed to jump straight into development, only experienced staff were hired for now.
Adding the finance and admin staff, the total number was in the teens.
They filled up most of the studio, though there was still a shortage of manpower,
and recruitment was ongoing.
Sometimes Sang Miao worked here, and when meetings or discussions were needed,
she’d head over to the Xinghe Studio side.
The new assistant’s name was Fu Xinyu girl who had just graduated not long ago.
But she was steady in her work, had an outstanding academic record, and showed no signs of being a newcomer to the workforce.
Sang Miao gently said to her, “Let the others know ;
we’ll have a meeting with Xinghe in an hour.”
Fu Xinyu: “Okay.”
She immediately went to the conference room to prepare the video equipment.
The meeting was mainly to discuss several large maps whose styles had already been decided,
in a video call with the Xinghe team.
For creative work, frequent discussions and revisions were routine.
Today’s meeting was mainly about making some functional adjustments and design tweaks based on the gameplay.
Sang Miao had a feeling she’d be working late and sure enough,
it was past nine by the time she finished.
Too tired to take a car all the way back, she went straight to the apartment at Henning Residence.
It was less than a ten-minute drive, and she’d be able to get home, shower, and lie down.
Alright then;
she now fully understood why Meng Peizhi rarely went home or came back late.
Running an entire group of companies wasn’t something you could just walk away from whenever you wanted.
When she returned to the apartment, she was the only one there.
It had been less than half a year since she came to the Meng family,
yet it felt like she hadn’t lived alone in a long time.
Although all this busyness went against her dream of a “lying flat” lifestyle,
the sense of achievement and satisfaction from work made up for it.
Still, that didn’t stop her from completely shutting off the moment she got back,
not wanting to think about work at all.
Sang Miao slumped into the couch, letting herself relax.
The apartment was on the top floor, and from the window, she could see the city’s nightscape.
As she looked out, she thought
once she made enough money, she’d buy an apartment nearby too.
Sang Miao didn’t lounge on the couch for too long.
Even though she was alone now, she didn’t dare get too comfortable
what if Meng Peizhi came back suddenly?
She got up and went back to her room, took a relaxing bath, and went to bed earlier than usual.
When she woke up the next morning, she was still the only one in the apartment.
She wasn’t sure if Meng Peizhi had come home during the night.
At least before she fell asleep and after she woke up, she hadn’t seen him.
After washing up, Sang Miao spent a little time picking out clothes.
As the boss, she couldn’t dress as casually as she would at home.
The clothes she’d brought over were more work-appropriate.
But she didn’t bother with makeup unless necessary.
Most days at the company, she didn’t wear any.
Only when she looked especially tired would she put on a bit of foundation and lip color.
Once she was ready, she headed out.
Breakfast could be prepared by herself or arranged in advance through the concierge,
but Sang Miao chose to grab something outside.
That week, she stayed at the apartment for three days,
and didn’t return to the villa on Monday and Wednesday.
Each of those nights, Meng Peizhi messaged her to ask if she was staying at Henning Residence.
He always texted late probably just getting off work and arriving back at the villa,
hearing from Shao Ying that she hadn’t come home, and checking in to make sure she was safe.
On Thursday, she returned to the apartment around ten o’clock at night.
After showering and changing into loungewear, she suddenly felt a little hungry.
At that hour, she didn’t want to go out for late-night food.
Ordering delivery or having something brought up by the concierge would take too long.
Thankfully, she’d had the foresight to stock some instant noodles.
For a long time, Sang Miao had both loved and hated instant noodles.
They helped her survive, but when they were all she could afford,
she’d have to eat them even if she felt like throwing up.
Still, since moving back, she hadn’t eaten any.
Now that it had been a while, she actually kind of missed them.
And here, there were so many varieties to choose from—she could rotate through different flavors for ages without getting bored.
Back then, she had to cook them differently every time,
adding this or that to make each meal taste a little unique.
Today though, she just boiled some water and poured it in.
Quick and done.
After pouring the water, Sang Miao carried the noodles to the dining table,
sat down and waited with nothing else to do.
Time passed slowly.
A few minutes later, just as the noodles were ready and she was about to dig in,
The front door clicked open with the sound of a key turning.