Han Xiaolv murmured softly.
But knowing Lu Xue's temper, she silently took out the remaining ingredients from the fridge and started to process them deftly.
Mu Yuze stood aside, feeling a bit awkward.
Amid the lively laughter and chatter of the two girls, he seemed like an intruder with a discordant style, mostly playing the role of a silent statue.
Lu Xue and Han Xiaolv were chatting merrily. In the end, they got so excited that they polished off another four bottles of beer in one go.
Han Xiaolv was gnawing on a skewer when her voice suddenly turned dejected.
"Alas, I hope that by next year, I won't have to deal with such weird clients anymore..."
"Huh?"
"I hope that by then I'll have expanded my online store. Orders will pour in like a stream, and I won't even have time to ship them! I'll hire a dozen or so employees and just give orders from behind..."
Thinking of this, Han Xiaolv felt a glimmer of hope in her life.
Lu Xue nodded beside her. She finished off a bottle of beer in one gulp and declared boldly, "No problem. I'll invest in your store then! Let's aim for tens of millions in annual sales!"
Han Xiaolv's eyes lit up. She slapped the table and said, "You said it! You can't go back on your word!"
The yard was filled with laughter again. The two girls chatted quickly and, under the influence of alcohol, were a bit tipsy. It was like they were having a wild and unrestrained graduation party.
Mu Yuze sat alone on the side. He couldn't find a chance to butt in throughout.
At the same time, there was a hint of doubt in his heart.
Under what circumstances did Lu Xue, who seemed to have always grown up in the countryside, become friends with Han Xiaolv?
How could she so brazenly say that she would invest just now? Was it really because she was drunk under the influence of alcohol, or was there some other unknown reason...
All these doubts churned in Mu Yuze's heart, but in the end, he wisely chose to keep his mouth shut.
Because the two girls had finished a whole row of beer. Then they hugged each other and cried, and started singing at the top of their lungs.
Although there was no karaoke equipment in the yard, it didn't stop Lu Xue and Han Xiaolv from performing.
They sang from "Love You Till I Die" all the way to "Waiting for You for a Millennium". Their voices fluctuated, spanning countless musical scales. Their voices could be either masculine or feminine, and finally managed to draw a look of shock on Mu Yuze's face.
By around twelve o'clock at night, the racket in the yard finally ended.
After the two girls had vented their drunken madness, they silently hugged each other and went into the house to sleep.
Mu Yuze had come here originally to talk to Lu Xue, but seeing her in such a state of confusion, he could only sigh silently in his heart.
It seemed better to wait until tomorrow to say what he wanted to say.
He settled the two girls down, making sure they were each in a separate bedroom, lying neatly, and there were no dangerous knives around for them to grab if they suddenly woke up in the middle of the night.
After doing all this, he went to the yard to clean up the mess.
He piled up the empty beer glasses, bamboo skewers, and the remaining trash together. He also dismantled the barbecue grill by himself and patiently wiped the pots, bowls, and other utensils.
While doing these things, he had a moment of daze.
Just this morning, he was still in the pure - white and minimalist top - floor office, worrying about the list for the upcoming art exhibition.
But by night, in this remote village hundreds of kilometers away from the city center, he seemed to have transformed into an ordinary villager. In front of the village was a muddy mountain - winding road, and behind it were rolling mountains. Looking up, the stars were bright, and a galaxy lay quietly across the sky.
There was no noisy neon lights or bustling nightlife here. Everything in this small village was extremely quiet. The chirping of cicadas could be heard from afar and near, and there were occasional barks of dogs. Every household had fallen into silence.
When he looked up, the stars were extraordinarily clear.
If someone who knew him showed up here at this moment, they would probably be shocked.
No one would have thought that the young master of the Mu family group would be doing ordinary household chores by himself on the mottled stone steps under the cold night.
Mu Yuze let out a bitter laugh, not knowing exactly how he felt.
But he vaguely felt that Lu Xue living in this yard was not as miserable as they had initially thought.
Even a subtle thought occurred to him. He had the idea of escaping from his fast - paced life and retiring to this small village.
"I must be crazy... It seems the work pressure has been too great recently," Mu Yuze thought, trying to find some humor in the situation.
In the quiet yard, he was busy back and forth alone.
After finishing all the work in the yard, he sat on the steps. Still a bit worried, he went back into the house to tuck an extra quilt on Lu Xue.
He walked around the house and only found an old cabinet. When he opened it, there were several damp and yellowed quilts inside.