Can't Take My Eyes Off You

C 266-267

It was not a small sum of money!

And what was he thinking, bringing his daughter along to a dinner? Perhaps he wanted her to be a stepmom to his daughter?

Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!

Fortunately, they were talking on the phone. If Jiang Yao could see Lu Xingzhi's face right now, she would be utterly terrified.

"Return the money to him immediately! However much you borrowed, return him with twice the amount!" Lu Xingzhi was enraged. "I will not allow you to use anyone else's money from now on!"

"Eight hundred thousand dollars," Jiang Yao said. "I will pass you his bank account details, you can send him the money directly."

Jiang Yao knew better. Eight hundred thousand dollars doubled amounted to over a million dollars. She would not do it even if she had gone insane.

"I know you are well-off, but this is not how you are supposed to spend your money." Jiang Yao had no idea how jealous Lu Xingzhi was right now. She thought that he was also appreciative of Huang Chengjing's assistance, just like her.

At a loss for words, Lu Xingzhi could not tell her how jealous that made him feel. His own wife was using another man's money to do the thing she wanted to do the most!

It took some time, but he finally calmed down.

Suddenly, he said, "Why don't I transfer all of my money over to your account? This way, you can access it whenever you need them. Even when I am not around, you do not have to go and ask for help."

"What?!" Jiang Yao was caught off guard. Yes, they were married, but it never crossed her mind to take control of her husband's finances.

Hearing this, she could assume that Lu Xingzhi had a lot of cash in the bank.

"It is decided then." Lu Xingzhi continued, "I still have reports to make, I will talk to you later."

"Wait! Hold on a second!" Jiang Yao cried out. "What about you? What are you going to do when you want to spend money?"

"I do not really have the need to spend when I am here in the platoon." He realized, right after speaking, that he had to run errands from time to time. It made no sense for him to not hold on to some cash. "Just send me a monthly allowance then."

Running a business together with Liang Yueze, Lu Xingzhi got used to waiting for the year-end dividends. He planned to ask Liang Yueze to send all the money to Jiang Yao's account instead, saving him some trouble.

Jiang Yao understood that this meant that Lu Xingzhi trusted her completely. He was not at all bothered that Jiang Yao might claim all the money as hers and leave him.

The burden of his trust was heavy, but Jiang Yao was happy to be the one to hold it.

"Alright! Your monthly allowance is ten dollars, for your phone bill, so you can call me every night." Jiang Yao laughed and started joking with Lu Xingzhi.

"Whatever you say, dear," Lu Xingzhi replied.

The reports could wait, he wanted to stay on the line longer.

"Did you buy the plane tickets to Jin City for National Day?"

"I did! I bought an afternoon ticket, departing at one o'clock on the thirtieth." Jiang Yao could feel his eagerness and longing through the phone. "You have to pick me up then! If not, I am leaving with the first guy I see!"

"Tsk!" Lu Xingzhi exhaled. "Not a chance!"

Jiang Yao's mood improved by a mile after hanging up the phone, and not a moment later, another call came through from someone who was in charge in the bank, confirming the transfer. She received a text message soon after that, and opening it, she counted the number of zeroes in the transaction amount, her eyes growing wider and wider at each one as she froze on the spot.

Knowing the fact that Lu Xingzhi was rich and was not one to be short on money was one thing, but seeing it was another. She never would have imagined that he could be this rich. It was no wonder he could be so arrogant, easily stating that he could pay double the amount to Huang Chengjing. He certainly did have the capability and capital to do so, and probably more.

The days leading to National Day seemed to crawl by slowly, but also came particularly fast at the same time.

On the morning of the 30th, morning classes ended at 10.40am. Jiang Yao only returned to the dormitory to retrieve her luggage that she had packed earlier that morning, before heading toward the airport.

After three hours of flight time, the aircraft passed a sea of clouds and started its slow descent toward the ground. Watching as the unfamiliar city grew bigger and bigger under her feet from a small black dot in the distance, Jiang Yao's excitement inside her heart also expanded in the same line.

Disembarking from the plane, Jiang Yao ran all the way while carrying her luggage. Once she reached the exit, she spotted the man in military uniform who was looking for her in the direction she had come from.

"Xingzhi!" Even though they were only apart for half a month, it felt like an entire century to Jiang Yao.

She did not know if Lu Xingzhi had seen her or not, but she shouted in excitement the moment she recognized his person. Following her shout, she bounded toward said man.

"Be careful, don't run so fast!" Lu Xingzhi reprimanded lightly as he watched the figure rushing toward him like a gust of wind, his feet moving to meet her halfway.

With one arm, he grabbed the woman who had rushed at him, helping to steady her. With the other arm, he quickly took over the burden that she held in her own hand which was threatening her balance.

"How old are you? Still behaving like a child, there are so many people here and you're still not afraid of falling!" Lu Xingzhi continued to reprimand her recklessness in hushed tones as he adjusted his grip on her luggage.

Seeing her pursed lips at his scolding, he let go of her and patted her head. Using the same hand, he took her hand in his, and said, "Come on, my car is parked outside."

Jiang Yao hummed in agreement as she scratched the tip of her nose. Lu Xingzhi's reaction and greetings were slightly cold, she thought to herself.

She thought that he would open both his arms for her to fall into, and embrace her tightly. Even if he would not say the things she expected or hoped for, he could have at least embraced her.

All he did was open his mouth only to reprimand her actions, and then took her hand and lead her away.

Although Jin City was just another city, it was still a northern city that was several times more developed than Nanjiang City. The temperature in Jin City was also several times colder than Nanjiang City. As soon as they stepped out of the airport, Jiang Yao shivered at the chilly wind that was blowing.

There were many people coming and going at the entrance of the airport, and many of them were like Jiang Yao, who had come from the south to enjoy the cooler winds.

Lu Xingzhi glanced at Jiang Yao from the corner of his eyes, and his gaze switched to his own military uniform on him. Feeling somewhat helpless at the situation, he instead hurriedly opened the passenger seat door and ushered her in as he said, "I told you to dress warmer because the temperature here is lower than the south side, it seems that you just don't listen."

Having said that, he closed the door with a snap and entered the other side. He then leaned over to strap the safety belt over Jiang Yao, helping to settle her in.

A fire had already been ignited ever since Jiang Yao was met with Lu Xingzhi's nonchalant attitude in the airport. Listening to his continuous nagging, she raised her hand and pushed him away forcefully and said in a raised voice, "Lu Xingzhi, we haven't seen each other for a month, and all you have are complaints about me!?"