48 Hours a Day

Chapter 976: Present

Xu Qian never expected her boyfriend, Qiu Ming, to return to New Shanghai 0297 so much earlier than the planned date.

The email that she received was sent by Qiu Ming. He told her that he would arrive at her place in twenty minutes. With her boyfriend’s sudden visit, Xu Qian hurriedly asked the housework robot to clean up the house and pack all the morning’s unfinished food. After throwing them away, she rushed to the dressing table as fast as she could. She then started to put on some makeup and tried several sets of clothes. Finally, she chose a very humble-looking dress, one that vaguely outlined her figure.

After changing, her bracelet reminded her that a visitor had requested to enter the apartment. Immediately, Xu Qian authorized it. Speaking of which, this was Qiu Ming’s first time stepping into Xu Qian’s apartment since he fell in love with her a long time ago. Qiu Ming had always wanted to visit her apartment, but she deliberately controlled the relationship’s progress to ensure he wouldn’t abandon her after realizing how easy it was to capture her heart. Hence, Qiu Ming was never allowed to step into her apartment. At most, he was only allowed to drop her off in front.

But this time, Qiu Ming had deliberately rushed back from earth ahead of time to meet her. The first thing he did when he stepped off the spaceship was to look for her. So, Xu Qian thought it would be inappropriate to reject him this time.

Besides, a lot of things had happened to her while he was gone. She needed a shoulder to lean on. So Xu Qian was overjoyed when she heard that Qiu Ming was coming to meet her. For the first time ever, her boyfriend would be allowed to set foot into her apartment.

She then turned on the projection and flipped to a movie channel. After that, she messed up her hair a little. Coupled with her light makeup, she looked like she had just woken up. As soon as she sat down on the sofa, the door was opened.

A handsome, middle-aged man who had gotten a little plump walked in.

“You are here.” Xu Qian stood up, walked to the man, gently helped him take off his coat, and hung it on the hanger.

Qiu Ming, in return, took out a box of chocolates and handed it to Xu Qian. “I brought you a present.”

Xu Qian was a little disappointed when she saw chocolate. However, the disappointment only lasted for split seconds in her eyes. After that, she put on a happy look and said, “How do you know that I like chocolate?”

“Don’t all girls like chocolate? All the chocolates from this shop are handmade. Open it and give it a go,” Qiu Ming offered.

So Xu Qian opened up the outer packaging and opened the chocolate box.

And lo and behold, a diamond-studded lady’s watch lay inside.

Overwhelmed with excitement, Xu Qian covered her mouth with one hand. “Oh god! Is this Patek Philippe’s retro model? It costs at least one million credits!”

“No matter how expensive the watch is, it can never be compared to you.” Qiu Ming picked up the watch from the chocolate box as he spoke and put it on Xu Qian’s wrist.

“This is too expensive.”

Xu Qian was flattered.

“For my future wife, I don’t think so.” Qiu Ming put the watch on Xu Qian’s wrist and kissed her. He then went to the sofa, sat down, and loosened his tie.

“What would you like to drink,” Xu Qian asked.

“Oh, water is fine,” Qiu Ming said. He then looked around Xu Qian’s apartment again before asking, “Do you live here?”

Xu Qian did not ask the housework robot to help. Instead, she poured the water for Qiu Ming personally and fetched him the water cup. “Are you looking down on the place where the poor people live?”

“That’s not what I mean. I wanted to say it’s very warm and fuzzy here.” Qiu Ming took the water and drank it all in one go. “It’s just the place is kinda small. There is no swimming pool, no home cinema, no nanny room.”

“I don’t live on the fourth level!” Xu Qian pretended to be angry and shoved Qiu Ming a little.

To which, the latter smiled. “So when do you plan to say yes to my proposal and move to the fourth level to live with me? I’ve asked my servants to get your room ready. My villa needs a hostess.”

“Why are you so desperate for me to move in with you? What do you really need? A hostess or a maid to help you warm your bed?”

“To be honest, I need both.” Qiu Ming said, reached out, and held Xu Qian’s waist.

“Behave yourself…”

Xu Qian slapped her boyfriend’s hand.

“I am behaving myself. You are the one who isn’t. I thought we have come to an agreement?” Qiu Ming sat upright. “You told me that you would announce that you were getting married soon during the livestream last night and quit this job afterward. However, when I watched your livestream last night, you didn’t say a word about it. And a few nasty guys were calling my future wife their wife.”

“I…” Xu Qian paused, “I need some time. Well, after all, I have been in this line for so long. It’s hard for me to quit just like that.”

“Why not? I told you that after you retire, I will take good care of you,” Qiu Ming said as he grabbed a handful of melon seeds and fed them to the hamster on the table. “Is this your pet? I never heard you saying anything about it?”

“Damn it. Can’t you give me a little more time? You are not the only one who has a career…” Xu Qian couldn’t tell him that Zhang Heng’s remarks had actually made her hesitate her choices. That was why she did not announce that she was going to retire during the livestream last night.

“Of course, you can have a career. But didn’t you mention that there are still a lot of things to prepare before the wedding? For example, who you want to invite, the venue, the wedding dress… You said you might not have time to do livestreams anymore.”

“Did I… say that?” Xu Qian squeezed out a smile.

“Yeah, I remember it clearly. Just two days ago. Did you forget?”

“No. I’ll pour you another glass of water,” Xu Qian replied as she picked up the glass and headed to the kitchen. Sticking it under the water dispenser, she pressed the hot water button and folded her arms.

Xu Qian now wished she never followed Zhang Heng to the first level yesterday. If that were the case, she would’ve gladly accepted the new watch Qiu Ming bought her, lying happily in his arms instead of getting paranoid.

“Did something happen?”

Qiu Ming’s voice suddenly came from behind, and it gave Xu Qian a huge shock. She had to hold onto the stove behind her to prevent herself from falling to the ground.

“Are you okay? Am I hallucinating, or… you seem a little weird today.”

Qiu Ming frowned.

“I’m fine. I just didn’t expect you to come into the kitchen.”

“Oh, it’s because I just remembered something. In the afternoon, there is an opera performance in the Blue Theatre. I’ve reserved two seats, so we can go and watch it together. Are you okay with it?”

“I’m fine.” Xu Qian handed the cup of hot water to Qiu Ming and said, “We can go and watch the opera performance together.”

“Very good. And what do you plan to eat at noon? Why not go to the last French restaurant that we went to have our lunch? The foie gras is not bad,” Qiu Ming said. “Additionally, I’ve also prepared another gift for you.”