"Honey, come and help me carry this bonsai outside to get some sunshine."
Now Xiang Yuanyuan goes to the pub or B&B every day, and the rest of the time she spends arranging various potted plants at home.
"Coming, coming~"
Du Ruo put down the information in his hand and slapped the little clouded leopard that was lying on him.
"Honey, where do you want to put it?"
Du Ruo came to Xiang Yuanyuan, looked at the yellowing pine potted plant, and asked.
It's strange to say, it's okay for Xiang Yuanyuan to raise small animals, but it's just as difficult to take care of potted plants. The more carefully you look after them, the faster the plants die. Du Ruo didn't dare to say or ask.
"Just put it outside. This pine tree pot is so hard to take care of. It's so annoying. I water it every day and it still turns yellow."
Xiang Yuanyuan frowned, then with a "click" she cut off the yellowed branches, turning the originally beautiful Welcoming Pine into a flat-headed tree.
"I just want to ask, is there a possibility that you watered too much?"
Du Ruo couldn't bear to watch Xiang Yuanyuan's "clicking" sounds.
"Do you think I want to water the plants every day? It's a hassle every day."
Xiang Yuanyuan put her hands on her hips, pouted and said something in a somewhat unpleasant tone.
"I'm just offering suggestions."
Du Ruo's voice became softer. After he finished speaking, he picked up the potted plant with one hand and walked outside.
"Hmph, if this plate dies again, I'll replace it with a cactus."
Xiang Yuanyuan followed behind, still feeling a little unconvinced.
"as long as you are happy!"
Du Ruo placed the potted plant on the balcony and placed it side by side with other potted plants. The other ten or so potted plants were all cacti.
Some of them were still listless and looked like they were about to die.
"Meow~~"
The little clouded leopard came over, stretched, and then in front of Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan, it stuck its butt out towards the pine tree, with its tail raised high, and then it peed on the pine tree.
"╭(╯^╰)╮Hmph! Do you see now why we have to water the trees every day? You!!... Stop peeing on the pine tree. It must be your urine that burned the tree to death. If you weren't still useful, I would have to send you back to your mother."
Seeing this scene, Xiang Yuanyuan put her hands back on her waist after she had just put them down. After the clouded leopard finished peeing, she pointed at the clouded leopard's head with her fingers and gave it a lecture, but she couldn't bear to hit it, so she just pointed and criticized it at most.
After educating it, he came over with a kettle to flush away the clouded leopard's urine.
"..."
Du Ruo was speechless when he saw this scene. This was a vicious circle. The pine tree potted plant deserved to die.
But there is nothing we can do about it. The clouded leopard is a wild animal after all. Marking its territory is its instinct. It has not been domesticated like a cat. It is already amazing that it is well-behaved and doesn't bite people at home.
"Guests are coming. I'll go prepare some tea."
Du Ruo saw that Xiang Yuanyuan was angry, and at that moment he noticed a car driving towards his new home, so he found a way to escape.
I don’t know if it’s because of the pregnancy or because she doesn’t drink, but Xiang Yuanyuan has become much more irritable. But since she is the eldest in the family, Du Ruo can only go along with her.
"Meow~~"
The little clouded leopard who was being pointed at saw Du Ruo go to the room and immediately followed her without even looking at Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Hmph! I'll deal with you later."
Xiang Yuanyuan took the water pipe, turned the water flow to the thinnest, and carefully flushed the urine left by the little clouded leopard on the pine tree.
After a while, a nanny car drove out of the yard.
"Just drive right in."
Du Ruo was standing on the first floor. Seeing that the vehicle was about to stop, he simply shouted.
Du Ruo's voice was not loud, but it was clearly heard by the driver.
The driver glanced back.
"Then drive in."
Wu Jing said something while sitting in the back seat, and then the car entered the yard and drove inside.
"Is the big star done with his work?"
Du Ruo took two steps forward and said something jokingly when he saw Wu Jing and Long Zhirou opening the door and getting out of the car.
"Hehe, I'm finally done with my work. This is a great place with a nice environment and beautiful scenery. This is a housewarming gift as a make-up."
Wu Jing got out of the car and looked around, praising the environment here and handing over the gift in his hand.
"Please go upstairs. Miss Zhirou, you've come just in time. Yuanyuan has been talking about you for a long time."
Du Ruo smiled and took the gifts from Wu Jing, a bonsai money tree and a few bottles of good wine.
"Brother Du, congratulations."
Long Zhirou also presented her gift, and mostly congratulated Du Ruo and Xiang Yuanyuan on having a baby.
Long Zhirou knew about this, but Wu Jing didn't.
"Thank you, thank you. By the way, you guys should stay for lunch today. The navy sent us a lot of dried fish they dried themselves a few days ago. It's just right for drinking today."
Du Ruo greeted the two of them. After all, they were one of his few friends, and Du Ruo did not have the demeanor of a so-called master.
There's no need for that, and that's not how you treat your friends.
"Oh? That's great. I originally came here to drink, but I didn't expect there would be good food to go with the wine."
When Wu Jing heard that it was the navy that dried the fish, he became more interested. There are many fishermen in the navy, and they don’t have many opportunities to dry fish, so the fish they dry must be delicious. Besides, what if they don’t taste good? With this bonus, how can the ones dried by the navy not taste good?
"Haha, you don't know. We've delivered a lot of them. Two trucks were delivered a few days ago, and the yard is full."
Walking on the stairs, Du Ruo answered with a smile, it has been a long time since a friend came over to sit and chat, so Du Ruo seemed particularly happy.
Even Yang Chenguang has been coming less frequently recently as he has been busy making money through live streaming.
"Meow~~"
As soon as he reached the second floor, the clouded leopard came running over. With one leap, its sharp claws hooked Du Ruo's pants and clothes, and finally squatted on Du Ruo's shoulders. A tail almost as long as its body kept swinging on Du Ruo's back, and it also looked at Long Zhirou beside it.
"Oh~~ When did your family get a cat? This cat??? Is this a leopard cat?"
Wu Jing was startled by the sudden appearance of the clouded leopard. At first he thought it was just a cat, but after taking a look, he found something wrong. After all, no one's cat is so fierce and leopard-like. But he didn't think much about it and thought it was just a leopard cat.
"It's a clouded leopard that was sent here by its mother. It should be about eight months old, so we're keeping it for the time being."
Du Ruo touched the clouded leopard and explained with a smile.
"Wow, this is a clouded leopard. Can clouded leopards be raised artificially?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Jing couldn't help but look at the clouded leopard. This was a purely wild clouded leopard, the kind that even many zoos didn't have.
"It's definitely impossible to raise one artificially, but we watched this clouded leopard grow up, and we couldn't drive it away, so we kept it. By the way, husband, do we need to apply for permission to keep it?"
At this time Xiang Yuanyuan came out and looked at the clouded leopard with some doting. Even though she usually pointed fingers at the clouded leopard, she never really beat it every time the clouded leopard got into trouble.
"Well, I'll ask someone to get a certificate when the time comes, and by the way, ask someone to invite an expert to take a look and ask whether I need to get vaccinated or not."
Du Ruo nodded. He really didn't care about it, but Xiang Yuanyuan's words reminded him.
Xiang Yuanyuan often comes into contact with clouded leopards, and she is pregnant now, so it would be safer to have someone check her out to avoid the risk of the virus scratching Xiang Yuanyuan.
"Sister Yuanyuan~~"
Long Zhirou immediately became happy when she saw Xiang Yuanyuan.
"The tea is ready, you guys chat, Zhirou, let's go upstairs, I'll show you some potted plants I have on the third floor."
Xiang Yuanyuan took Long Zhirou upstairs. Women have a lot to talk about, and they haven't seen each other for such a long time, so they have endless topics to talk about.
Du Ruo and Wu Jing were drinking tea and chatting on the second-floor balcony.
"You don't look well. Have you finished filming the movie? If you have, you'd better get more rest."
Du Ruo poured Wu Jing a cup of tea and then started a conversation.
"My health has always been like this. Fortunately, the filming of the movie has been completed. As for rest, I guess there will be no more movies this year. There are still many things to do in the later stage."
Wu Jing sighed. Du Ruo didn't ask any more questions, nor did he talk about anything related to the movie. The two chatted casually.
We talked mostly about family, martial arts, and some interesting things in the entertainment industry.
The two stayed for lunch at noon, and then they had some drinks.
As they drank, they inevitably started talking more, and Long Zhirou also shared a lot of interesting things that happened during the filming.
He also expressed his gratitude to Du Ruo and Wu Jing many times.
After drinking at the table, Wu Jing and Long Zhirou both had rosy faces. Then they went back to the second floor together. This time they didn't drink tea, but continued to drink wine, but not so fast, and slowly.
Du Ruo knew that Wu Jing was coming and hadn't said he was leaving yet, so he must have something to say, but he didn't take the initiative to bring it up and waited for the other party to speak.
"Boss Du, actually, I came here this time with a mission."
After drinking two cups, Wu Jing took the initiative to speak and explained the purpose of his visit.
"Well, you said."
Du Ruo was not surprised, just curious.
"Hey, you see, we have finished filming this movie. Now all that's left is post-production, but the promotion has to start too. Do you have time to help with the promotion?"
Wu Jing rubbed his hands. He had invited Du Ruo in the first place with the intention of taking advantage of Du Ruo's fame at that time.
Although he is quite famous, it is definitely a good idea to promote movies more. Besides, the people who watch his movies are older, while Du Ruo is different. His movies are watched by people of all ages, so it is understandable to invite Du Ruo to participate in the promotion.
"Publicity, this is not appropriate."
Hearing this, Du Ruo couldn't help but frown. If it were in the past, he might still be interested, but this time the commotion in the United States was a bit too big, and it would be inappropriate to hype it up further. Besides, Du Ruo didn't care so much about these things now.
What's more, Du Ruo has also experienced the disadvantages of being famous, and now he just wants some peace and quiet.
"Is that so?"
Wu Jing frowned a little, but Du Ruo was different from the others. The two of them had no contract, and Du Ruo had never made any promises. Moreover, Du Ruo was just there for a guest appearance, so it would be inappropriate to mention too much.
"Actually, Brother Du can go. Movie promotions definitely require participating in various variety shows. Brother Du can choose a few variety shows he likes and just treat it as a trip to relax. And there are some variety shows that Sister Yuanyuan can also go to."
Long Zhirou chimed in, saying that this was the reason why Wu Jing brought her along today. There were some things that Wu Jing couldn't say, but she could.
Moreover, she no longer called him Boss Du as she did before, but called him Brother Du. Given her relationship with Xiang Yuanyuan, there was nothing wrong with her calling him that.
When Xiang Yuanyuan heard this, she couldn't help but look at Du Ruo. Hearing Long Zhirou say this, she was really looking forward to it.
"Inappropriate."
This time, Du Ruo ignored Xiang Yuanyuan's expectations and shook his head without agreeing.
"That……"
Long Zhirou wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Du Ruo.
"Excuse me, we have guests. Please wait for a moment and drive in directly."
Du Ruo smiled apologetically at Long Zhirou. Almost as soon as he finished speaking, a military vehicle slowly drove towards the yard, and Du Ruo said something in a low voice.
After Du Ruo finished speaking, the door that was originally half-open moved and opened completely, allowing the car to enter the yard completely.
"You guys come up on your own, I won't answer it."
Du Ruo's voice was heard again, and then Fox and Tiger were seen getting off the military vehicle. The two of them did not waste any time. After hearing what Du Ruo said, they went straight into the house with things in their hands and went up to the second floor.
"I'm sorry, I had guests at home, so I didn't go down to greet them. Would you like a drink?"
Du Ruo still stood up to welcome them, and then asked them if they wanted to drink.
"Sorry, I have to carry out my mission, so forget about drinking."
After the fox sat down, he still forced a smile. As for the tiger, he didn't say anything and just sat quietly aside. However, he couldn't help but keep looking at Du Ruo.
Seeing that the two men didn't want to drink, Xiang Yuanyuan got up and went to the side to make tea.
"Coming this time?"
Du Ruo was a little curious. When the fox came over a few days ago, apart from bringing some information, he didn't say anything else and didn't even enter the house.
Unexpectedly, it came back not long after, and brought the tiger with it.
"This time, I came here on behalf of the chief to deliver some things to Mr. Du."
After the fox finished speaking, the tiger took out a long box and placed it in front of Du Ruo.
"Last time I noticed that Mr. Du's sword was a little damaged, so I asked the military industry to use the best alloy to make a similar long sword. The sword has been sharpened. I wonder if Mr. Du likes it."
The fox opened the box and revealed a long sword shining with cold light.
Everyone at the table looked over with curiosity. This sword was similar in style to the Tang sword, and had a simple and ancient shape. It was in no way inferior to the Tang sword handle that Brother Quan had given.
Du Ruo stretched out his hand and took the sword. It was much lighter than he had imagined, even lighter than the handle of the Tang sword.
When Du Ruo saw the sword blade flashing with a cold light, he couldn't help but want to see how sharp it was. He simply held the sword in one hand and then slashed it hard with the other hand.
"..."
The others were not too surprised. They knew Du Ruo very well and knew that he was not a reckless person. However, when they saw that Du Ruo's palm was intact with only a white mark, they could not help but be speechless.
If everyone hadn't heard what the fox had just said, that this sword was made of the best military materials, they would have doubted whether the sword had really been sharpened.
Then Du Ruo grabbed the hilt of the sword with one hand and the tip of the sword with the other and bent it with a little force.
I saw that the long sword in Du Ruo's hand was like a piece of paper, and was bent into various shapes by Du Ruo.
"Yes, this sword is really good. My previous sword was cracked by a missile, and I was thinking about repairing it. I'm so grateful for the thoughtfulness of the master. Please thank him on my behalf."
A smile appeared on Du Ruo's face. This sword was much better than Tang Jian, both in sharpness and toughness.
"As long as you like it."
When the fox saw that Du Ruo liked it, a smile appeared on his face.
"You guys are here for more than just this, right?"
Du Ruo put the sword back into the box. He didn't have such high requirements for the sword. It could be said that as long as he had one, it would be enough. Even if he didn't have the Tang sword, even a wooden sword could still be used to kill enemies or control swords.
"There is a serious matter. After the last incident, when the higher-ups negotiated with the United States, they put forward a condition, which was to ask the other party to hand over some people controlled by the other party's company.
In the morning, we received a batch of ashes. Because it has something to do with you, we came here to ask you about it. What do you think? "
Because of the presence of two outsiders, Wu Jing and Long Zhirou, Fox spoke more tactfully.
"Zhang Aimin's?"
When Du Ruo heard this, he immediately understood. The last time he went to the United States, there was only one acquaintance there. Apart from Zhang Aimin, he really couldn't think of whose ashes would be sent over.
Hearing Du Ruo mention this name, Xiang Yuanyuan couldn't help but look over curiously.
She had heard it from Du Ruo, and she knew the whole story. Du Ruo also told her how Zhang Aimin finally transformed into a giant ape, which made her feel envious.
"Yes, we originally asked the United States to hand over the body, but they only handed over the ashes in the end."
The fox nodded affirmatively.
"He has no relatives anymore, so leave his ashes to me."
Du Ruo could understand the United States' actions. The other party was simply afraid that if the body was handed over, something would be discovered about it, so they just burned it.
But Du Ruo didn't ask for anything anymore, at least he could let the other party return home.
"Okay, shall I bring it over?"
The fox was not surprised. In fact, today he came here just to do Du Ruo a favor. As for whether Du Ruo accepted it or not, it didn’t matter. They just needed to show their sincerity.
After all, Du Ruo has nothing missing now.
"Could you please send it directly to Longquan?"
Du Ruo glanced at Xiang Yuanyuan and decided not to keep her ashes at home.
"Sure, we'll arrange a plane to take it there. Just give me a call when the time comes and I'll arrange for someone to take it there for you."
The fox did not refuse. He did his best to do a favor. These were just small things.
(End of this chapter)
