Chapter 422: Daily Life in the Villa

That evening, they had an outdoor barbecue in the courtyard. Red wine paired with tender, juicy grilled meat was truly one of life’s great pleasures.

After dinner, Lin Yanwan took Shen Ying for a stroll around the villa. They had originally wanted to swim in the pool, but since neither of them had a swimsuit, they had to give up the idea.

“Godmother, you’re not going back tonight, are you? I have plenty of rooms here, enough for everyone to have their own,” Jiang Xia said with a smile.

Li Weiya hesitated for a moment before nodding. She had driven over, but since she had just drunk some red wine, she couldn’t drive anymore. Besides, tomorrow was the weekend, so she could rest.

“Ah Xia, when are your parents and your mother-in-law arriving?”

“Their flight is on July 14th, so in a few days.”

“Once they arrive, you should spend more time with them. Don’t worry about the company,” Li Weiya said.

“Okay, I know.”

Qitian Company had developed to a point where it no longer needed Jiang Xia’s constant supervision. Its organizational structure was quite complete, with all departments cooperating closely. This allowed him to focus more of his time on creating animations.

After resting for a bit post-dinner, Jiang Xia called Wang Ming over to soak in the nearby pool. Since they were both guys, it didn’t matter that they didn’t have swim trunks. Plus, there was no fear of being exposed in a private pool.

Wearing their boxers, they slowly waded into the pool. The chilly water made them both shiver instinctively, but after they got used to it, it no longer felt cold.

Wang Ming doggy-paddled in the pool while Jiang Xia floated on his back, closing his eyes and breathing out slowly.

“Haaaah… Old Jiang, this pool of yours is amazing.” After swimming a lap, Wang Ming felt exhausted and copied Jiang Xia, floating on his back as well.

Jiang Xia smiled faintly. “If you like it, you should bring Shen Ying over often in the future. It’s summer—how can you not go swimming?”

“That’s what I was thinking. Public pools are too dirty. It’s much more comfortable here,” Old Wang said with a sigh.

‘This is the life of the rich. Ordinary people who want to swim in the summer can only go to public swimming pools, where the water is changed infrequently and who knows what kind of nasty fluids are in there. But here, the water is changed every day, so there’s no need to worry about hygiene at all.’

A short while later, the two girls slowly wandered back from outside. Seeing the two figures floating quietly in the pool, they found it inexplicably funny.

Lin Yanwan took off her shoes, dipped her bare, jade-like feet into the pool, and then scooped up some water to splash at the two guys.

“Yingying, you come dip your feet too,” she called out, waving her over.

Shen Ying’s face flushed as she glanced at Wang Ming a few times. Although she had been living at his place for a long time, they were both somewhat conservative; they would always get fully dressed in the bathroom after showering.

As a result, even though they had been dating for so long, this was the first time Shen Ying had ever seen Wang Ming wearing only his boxers.

He was tall and thin, without much muscle on his frame. Perhaps from playing basketball frequently in the past, he once had faint abs, but now that he sat in the office drawing all day, they had merged into a single block.

His body wasn’t perfect, but she liked it just the way it was.

“Hey, hey, girl, snap out of it! Still staring?” Lin Yanwan teased, scooping up water with her hands and splashing her.

Shen Ying blushed slightly and quickly averted her gaze, sitting down next to her best friend. She copied her, taking off her shoes and socks and dipping her feet into the pool water.

“Mmm, this feels so nice and cool.”

“Tomorrow, let’s go buy swimsuits together. Then we can soak in the pool while the weather’s hot.”

“Okay!”

Lin Yanwan suddenly leaned close to Shen Ying’s ear and whispered, “Yingying, how far have you and your blockhead gotten? Kissing? Or have you… you know, already explored the origins of life?”

Hearing her best friend bring up such a risqué topic right away, Shen Ying’s face turned beet red. She stammered, “N-No, we’ve… we’ve only kissed.”

“Tsk, tsk. I didn’t realize Old Wang was such a gentleman.”

‘Unlike Jiang Xia,’ she thought. ‘In our past life, after we moved in together, he behaved for less than half a month before he tricked me into bed with all his sweet talk.’

“His mom is here, so he wouldn’t dare try anything,” Shen Ying said, sneaking another glance at Wang Ming with a faint smile in her eyes. He really did respect her and never forced her to do anything she didn’t want to.

“Hey, beautiful ladies, want to come in for a dip? It’s cooler than just soaking your feet,” Jiang Xia said with a smile as he paddled over.

Beside him, Wang Ming looked at Shen Ying with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

“No way. We’ll talk after I buy a swimsuit tomorrow.”

Lin Yanwan refused without a second thought. Her clothes would definitely become see-through if they got wet.

‘Speaking of which, girls are so strange,’ he thought. ‘Normally, they’d be shy if someone saw them in a bikini, but at a pool or the beach, they don’t feel embarrassed at all.’

‘It’s the same now. This is our own private pool, so is there really a difference between going in with regular underwear versus a swimsuit?’

Jiang Xia really didn’t get it, especially since some swimsuits looked even more risqué.

“Kids, come have some fruit.”

As the group was laughing and chatting, Li Weiya came out of the house pushing a cart. It was laden with a platter of fruit and pitchers of juice—a magnificent spread.

Jiang Xia climbed out of the pool, his soaking wet boxers dripping water everywhere, but he paid it no mind. He grabbed a pre-cut slice of watermelon and started munching on it.

“Godmother, I seriously suggest you guys buy a villa here too, and soon. Otherwise, the housing prices are just going to go up,” he said earnestly.

Li Weiya’s gaze shifted between her son and Shen Ying. The experience at Jiang Xia’s villa today had been wonderful, and renting long-term wasn’t a sustainable solution. Most importantly, since they had decided to stay in the Imperial Capital for good, it was time to consider the issue of buying a house.

Besides, her son would need it when he and Yingying got married, wouldn’t he?