Chapter 78 Initial Small Success

  A small wish was fulfilled, and with a happy heart, she sat on the swing, enjoying this moment of satisfaction.

  After Zhi Xinan left, there were only three men left in the room. Zou Ze was also drawn into the drinking game between the two of them, but since he got drunk last time and implicated Zhi Xinan, he warned himself never to get drunk again. So when things started to get out of control, he slipped away.

  As soon as she walked onto the balcony, she saw Ji Xin sitting quietly on the swing, her eyes closed and leaning comfortably against the back of the chair. Her white skirt was gently blowing in the wind, and a few strands of hair were floating around her ears. The scene looked like a perfect painting.

  Zou Ze stood stupidly at the door, staring intently at her, not daring to move forward, fearing that if he disturbed himself, this beautiful picture would disappear.

  But Ji Xin'an seemed to feel the gaze behind her, opened her eyes, and carelessly turned around to see Zou Ze. She smiled lightly. "How did you also come out? Weren't they supposed to have you accompany them for drinks?" Ji Xin'an saw that Zou Ze had drunk a bit too much, standing there dazedly staring at her, his eyes burning with an intensity she hadn't seen before.

  "They're having a drinking contest inside, if I stay any longer I'll get drunk along with them." As soon as Ji Xin'an spoke, Zou Ze felt like he had walked out of the painting and found his previous loss of composure amusing. He came over to Ji Xin'an's side and sat down on the swing as well.

  "How does it feel here? Does it have a sense of a paradise on earth?" Ji Xin'an moved to the side and continued swinging the swing, with a somewhat showy tone.

  "It's really beautiful, this name is indeed not misnamed. I only now realize that a house can be lived in like this. An An, you're really amazing, to have turned such a large mountain villa into this. I'm more and more admiring of you." In Zou Ze's eyes, there was no lack of envy, but even more was admiration.

  "It's actually Song Ge and Zheng Fei who deserve the credit. Song Ge ran around to get this land at such a low price, which gave us extra funds to work on this project. And then there was Zheng Fei, who has great management skills and pays attention to details. From the overall construction of the villa to the design layout, everything was carefully considered by him before implementation. It can be said that today's success is largely due to their efforts." Although she had just been bragging about it herself, when Zou Ze attributed all these achievements to her, she felt a bit uncomfortable.

  "But this plan was originally proposed by you, and even Song Ge said that he admired you very much." Zou Ze turned around to look at her, his eyes shining brightly.

  "My role in this was just the initial proposal, if it weren't for those two, it would have remained an empty idea, so don't praise me anymore." Ji Xin'an smiled, not expecting that with just one mention, he would get even more enthusiastic.

  "Who said that, as far as I know, many things here were designed by you, especially this room, all came from your hands. It made me want to stay here and not leave." Zou Ze still remembers the surprise he felt when he saw those strange things at that time.

  "You're welcome to stay as long as you want, it's no problem at all. Especially after I'm gone, this place will be yours." Ji Xin'an didn't bring up that topic again, afraid that if he continued to brag, he wouldn't know what to say anymore.

  Zou Ze's heart suddenly cooled down, "An An, are you really sure you want to leave this place? You already have your own company and everything here. Look at how much effort you put into building this 'utopia', it's right in front of you now, can you bear to leave?"

  "I have to go, although I already have my own business now, but I still want to achieve my dreams. This year, I've been involved in the construction of the mountain villa, just wanting to do something through my own efforts. At least after I leave, when you come here again, you'll occasionally remember me." Ji Xin'an felt a little reluctant and also brought some sadness.

  Zou Ze turned to look at Ji Xin An, who looked a bit downcast. Thinking that they would soon be in their third year of high school, which meant they would have to separate, he felt a pang in his heart. "An An, there's something I want to say to you, but I'm afraid if I don't say it now, I'll lose my chance forever."

  "Zou Ze, I know what you want to say, but I really don't want to talk about this now. Besides, in a year we'll be going our separate ways anyway, so what's the point of talking about it now?" Ji Xin'an raised her head, the pain from that broken relationship still lingering, although it had faded with time and was rarely mentioned anymore. But that didn't mean she was ready to accept another relationship.

  "You've always known I liked you, but you never gave me a chance. Now give me one and let's try it out, even if it's just for this year before we part ways again, I'll be satisfied." Zou Ze suddenly thought of Yao Wenhuo now, although he had broken up with Ji Xin'an, he still felt jealous of him, after all they had been together before, while he himself didn't even have such an opportunity.

  "But what's the use of trying, falling in love and then what? We'll just end up parting ways. Loving someone and leaving them, it hurts too much. I don't want to feel that again, so even if I know it will hurt, why try? Let's just be friends instead. Lovers can't withstand the test of time and distance, but friends can. Years later when we meet again, our friendship won't change." Ji Xin An calmly rejected him, since she knew they would eventually separate, there was no point in being together, she had made that mistake once before and didn't want to make it again.

  "It seems I've lost even the last bit of hope." Zou Ze let out a bitter laugh, actually he had already guessed this ending, it's just that he wasn't willing to accept it so he said it out loud.

  "Zou Ze, you will always be my best friend." Ji Xin'an looked at the uncomfortable Zou Ze and felt uneasy too, but she didn't change her mind. If she really agreed to him and they ended up parting ways in the end, it would only bring more pain to both of them.

  "It seems like we can only be friends after all." Zou Ze sighed helplessly.

  When the two returned to the room, Song Jiangliang and Zheng Fei were completely drunk, and they even started playing music and dancing with their arms around each other, looking as ridiculous as possible.

  Ji Xin'an and Zou Ze busily exerted themselves to separate the two, helped them tidy up a bit, and then put them on the bed. After the two fell onto the bed, they slept like dead pigs.

  "These two people, who claimed to be giving me a room, ended up occupying it on the first day of business." Ji Xin'an looked at the two high-level managers, who usually had an air of authority when dealing with their subordinates, but tonight they were jumping and laughing like children. He couldn't help but feel amused, thinking that they must have been under too much pressure for a long time, and today's successful opening had finally allowed them to relax.

  Zou Ze also smiled and said, "If there was a video camera just now, recording them to blackmail them, it would definitely be successful."

  Ji Xin'an thought for a moment and smiled, "Especially Song Ge, he must not believe that's really him."

  Two people looked at each other and smiled.

  "I'll send you home, the two of them can handle the service staff." Zou Ze saw that it was already quite late and they wouldn't be needed here anymore, so he pulled her out.

  Ji Xin'an nodded and instructed the waiter, then left with Zou Ze together.

  Afterwards, Ji Xin'an never came here again. After all, she didn't understand business at all, and another reason was that she was afraid of running into Jiang Rui-bin there.

  For the rest of the summer vacation, Ji Xin'an couldn't stay at home idle, but instead went to continue practicing shooting.

  In a year's time, Ji Xin'an had spent an unknown amount of bullets, just as Li Hao said, gunmen are fed with bullets, and now Ji Xin'an is somewhat like him.

  Whether it's physical coordination or action reaction, it has improved a lot. Every time the moving target comes out, I can basically quickly fire my gun, although not every shot is a bullseye, but every shot can hit the target now.

  This score is also considered good here.

  Li Hao has seen all her efforts over the past year, and every progress she makes is accompanied by joy. He is very satisfied with her current achievements.

  "An An, if you weren't going to take the military academy exam, I really wish you would enlist now and become a soldier. At that time, I will definitely make you my subordinate." Watching Ji Xin'an's bullets miss their target again, Li Hao couldn't help but applaud.

  "Coach Li, don't praise me anymore. Compared to you, my skills are just trivial." Getting praised by such a master made her feel happy, but she still had some self-awareness - her marksmanship was far from being a master's.

  "You don't have to be humble, you're really good. As a girl, becoming a good shooter requires more effort and hardship than men due to physical limitations. You haven't become complacent because of your talent, but instead made even more efforts than others. This is more important than anything else. I hope you can keep it up." Li Hao looked at Ji Xin'an, who was still not satisfied with her achievements, and thought even more highly of her in his heart. It's a good thing to have high expectations for oneself.

  "But there are also many female soldiers in the army, and their physical fitness may not be as good as mine, yet they can still become sharpshooters." Ji Xin'an felt that she should be able to do better.

  "You're still young, don't compare yourself to them. You're still growing and can't overexert yourself, so there's no need to rush. With your current efforts, when you grow up, you'll definitely be better than them." Li Hao comforted her with a smile.

  "Thank you, instructor." Ji Xin'an smiled and regained his confidence after hearing his words.

  "Don't thank me, just keep trying." Li Hao smiled and handed her the bullets he had brought over.

  Ji Xin'an nodded and continued practicing.