Meet him at 3 o'clock

  Dai Lian followed Granny Yuan into the house, and the heat on her body was immediately cooled down by the air conditioner. Secretary Zou's home remained unchanged, with a sofa and decorative cabinet in the living room, and several tall stools around the sofa were placed with some potted landscapes of cypress and palm trees.

  The screen in the living room is a set of bookshelves. Behind the bookshelves is a study, and through the open door, you can see that the study has many calligraphic works hanging on the walls, with varying lengths and widths. On the long table, there is an inkstone as large as a face basin, and next to it stands a pen holder half the height of a person, suspending various writing brushes, with the longest one over two feet in length.

  Secretary Zou loves calligraphy, this is a well-known fact.

  "Come, come, have some watermelon to relieve the summer heat." Aunt Zhang brought up a plate of iced watermelon and glanced at her, using her apron to wipe her hands as she walked into the kitchen. "Xiao Xiao, why don't you stay for lunch? I've cooked your portion."

  "Not possible, Xiao Shao has to rush back, there are still some things in the office." Xiao Zong finished eating the watermelon in his hand and immediately stood up, randomly grabbed two paper towels, wiped his mouth while walking, "Thanks for Zhang Ayi's kindness this time, next time I'll come again to eat for free."

  Walked to the door, turned back and smiled lightly at Dai Lin, then changed into shoes and flashed away.

  Yuan Nainai sighed: "Dai Lin, don't you remember Xiao Xiang? You met three years ago."

  She pinched the cool watermelon in her left hand, never taking a bite, and slightly lowered her head: "I don't remember."

  The old lady sighed again, grasped her right hand and wrapped it in her palm: "Child, three years ago for your father's affairs, Aunt Yuan and Uncle Zou have been feeling guilty for not being able to help, so they hope you can live with us and let Aunt Yuan take care of you."

  She gently lifted her head and pulled her hand out of the old lady's: "Grandma Yuan, I want to take a bath."

  "Alright, alright, go take a bath first, then come eat." The old lady smiled kindly and beckoned Zhang Ayi to come over. "Yerong, quickly go prepare some clean clothes for Daiyun, tidy up the room too. Ah, we'll have dinner later."

  Aunt Zhang took off her apron and walked over, helping her pick up the old travel bag. "Miss Su, follow Aunt Zhang to the second floor, the room and bathroom are both on the second floor."

  "Good."

  Aunt Zhang opened the small room closest to the bathroom for her, put the travel bag on the floor and asked: "You are the daughter of Su Jinfeng, the mayor of Su City?"

  She didn't lower her head, looking at the disdain in Aunt Zhang's eyes, and said: "Su Jinfeng is my father, and I am his daughter Su Daiyun." In those years when Father was in power, Aunt Zhang patted her head and praised her for being beautiful, saying that she could be a star in the future. Now Aunt Zhang was still the same Aunt Zhang, but she was no longer the same person, she didn't become a star, instead she went to prison.

  "Heh heh." Zhang Ayi's dry face twitched, and she let out a cold snort before turning to go downstairs. "Old lady, Secretary Zou will be back soon, Night Fragrance should get dinner ready."

  "Wait until Daiwen finishes her bath."

  She gently closed the door and leaned against it, looking at this twenty-square-meter room. It turned out that this was the taste of living under someone else's roof.

  Aunt Zhang brought her a set of moon-white pure cotton long skirt, V-neck, waist-gathering, sleeveless, which was a brand new dress. She put it on, splashed some cold water on her face, and gently wiped off the water droplets with a towel. Her eyebrows were thin and long like green willows, slightly domineering, her phoenix eyes were calm as a dry well, no longer sparkling, her lips were pale white. It was a face pasted on like paper.

  "Dai Lin, come down quickly and have dinner, your Uncle Zhou is back." The old lady's voice rang out from downstairs.

  She softly hummed, put down the towel and walked out of the bathroom, her heart racing. After serving time in prison, she didn't know how to face familiar people from her past, nor did she want to see that kind of gaze from Zhang Ayi again.

  "Rui Zhe, it's not easy to get you to come here, so you have to give me some face and stay for a meal." The calm voice of Secretary Zou came from downstairs, walking towards the door while laughing: "General Teng, you're busy with work every day, handling thousands of things. Next time I invite you, it'll be harder than ascending to heaven! It's not just that I'm the secretary of Jin City Committee, even if it were a high-ranking official in Beijing, they wouldn't be able to get you to come."

  Her heart skipped a beat, and her feet couldn't move anymore. Had Tian Rui Zhe also arrived?

  " Dai Lin?" The old lady called out in her direction, gesturing for her to come down: "Dinner's ready, quickly sit down next to Granny Yuan."

  She grasped the handrail of the stairs, drew back her foot, and thought about going back upstairs. Then she took a deep breath and slowly walked down instead.

  Four people were sitting around the dinner table, Zou Bo and Yang Ayi, Lao Taitai, and Teng Rui Zhe. At first glance, she saw that man with a crisp shirt, more mature and handsome, exuding an aura of success. She thought she would flee in panic, not daring to look straight into his deep eyes, but instead, she calmly walked over and called out, "Zou Bo, Yang Ayi".

  Zou Secretary and his wife nodded slightly towards her, inviting her to take a seat.

  "Dai Lin, you just stay here at Uncle's place and don't worry about other things, Uncle has arranged everything for you." Secretary Zou said slowly, putting down his chopsticks and looking at her across the table. "Don't be restrained here, treat it as your own home, if you need anything, let Zhang Ayi go buy it."

  "Thank you, Uncle Zou." She could only say this sentence.

  Hong Rui Zhe gazed at her, his eyes flashing with a hint of surprise at first, then recovering calmness, and shifted his gaze away.

  She ate with a taste like chewing wax. When cleaning up, she helped Zhang Ayi take the bowls and plates to the kitchen. Zhang Ayi glanced at her sideways and said coldly: "Miss Su is now a guest, how dare Zhang Ayi let you do these things! Go to the living room to play cards with Old Lady and Secretary instead, go quickly." The aunt pushed her out of the kitchen, her eyebrows raised high, sharp and bitter.

  "I've gotten Miss Su's hands dirty, the secretary will scold me for being lazy and getting paid without doing my job! These rough and dirty tasks are left to me, a lowly servant. I'll wash my hands clean in a moment, then I'll attend to you, the mayor's daughter!"

  She walked out of the kitchen with difficulty.

  The old lady was originally smiling and chatting with Teng Rui Zhe, but seeing that she was always avoiding him, she said: "Dai Lin, you must be tired. If you're tired, go back to your room and rest first, this little face of yours is so pale it's heart-wrenching."

  Everyone's eyes turned to her, and she became more and more embarrassed, not daring to look at anyone, lowering her head and quietly going upstairs. She was an outsider, living under someone else's roof, this place wasn't even her home.

  "Rui Zhe, why don't you eat dinner first before leaving? Let's go to the study room." Secretary Zou spoke again, his thick voice filled with appreciation for this junior, "Xiao He gets out of class at 3:30 and can be home by 4. She said she has some questions to ask you."

  She didn't hear the words below, walked into the second-floor bathroom, took out the clothes she had changed from the laundry basket, applied soap, and squatted on the ground to wash. This Bohemian long skirt was bought by her three years ago, the skirt was as long as her ankle, with small purple flowers printed on it, fresh and elegant. Originally, there was also a white woven bag with a lining, but unfortunately, it was thrown away on the road on the day of detention, and no one knew who picked it up.

  She didn't used to like wearing such long skirts and dressing up so elegantly, buying this dress was purely for the sake of letting Teng Rui Zhe see that she could also be as beautiful as Ye Su Su in a flowing long skirt. After the arson case occurred, Teng Rui Zhe suddenly became very cold, no longer scolding her, no longer furious, but instead took her to a deep mountain and old forest, saying he was taking her to a good place.

  She thought that Teng Rui Zhe had started to dislike Ye Su Su's ugly appearance and finally liked her, happily following him. Who knew, it was a kind of humiliation more unbearable than beating and scolding. It wasn't until half a year later that she realized Teng Rui Zhe had really planned to ruin her that night, because she had made him intolerable.

  She grasped the long skirt tightly, then rested her head on her knees and slowly let go of the skirt. The soapy water splashed out with a gurgle.

  Three years ago she was pretending to be elegant and refined, but three years later, she really fell in love with such long skirts, and fell in love with such a simple and subtle life.

  After drying the clothes, she mopped the floor of the bathroom and walked back to her room to tidy up. The space of over ten square meters emitted a faint musty smell, with poor air circulation, which was obviously a storage room before. Fortunately, there were wardrobes, beds, desks, and everything else that should be there.

  Her luggage was simple, two sets of old clothes, a water cup and a diary. After tidying up, she opened the window, sat in front of the desk, spread out her diary, and wrote "Found home today". The handwriting was no longer bold and cursive, but neat and humble.

  She gazed at it, her fingertips stroking the six characters, and for a moment she was dazed. In fact, life after prison is bewildering, she no longer yearns for her father's embrace, mother's smiling face, or Rui Zhe's stingy love, because these are unattainable, and even if she had served time in prison, she still couldn't get them.

  Understood, also lost expectation. So, will she still have a home? No, she won't.

  A sharp cramp in her abdomen, a wetness below, she woke up with a start from her daze. She hastily took out two sanitary pads from her bag and rushed into the bathroom. The dark blood had already seeped onto her light-colored skirt, like a poppy blooming.