Chapter 172: It’s Just That Unfair
Chapter 172: It’s Just That Unfair
The little woman had originally felt a bit warm and cozy as Eric smoothed her hair. But the moment she heard those words, she immediately pouted. “Bah, not at all. I think you were just talking nonsense to fool people. I didn’t understand much anyway. Resources, acquisitions, industry maps, and all that messy stuff.”
Eric clutched his chest in an injured manner. “You’ve really wounded my pride. Looks like I’ll have to teach you a proper lesson later.”
“Mmm…” Aniston lowered her head, her face flushing slightly, then suddenly raised it again. “You’re not allowed to do that again. Otherwise, I won’t let you off.”
“Hm? Do what?” Eric was momentarily confused.
“You… you’re doing it on purpose.” The little woman stomped her foot, taking Eric’s expression as him pretending to be stupid. Angrily, she let go of Eric’s arm and walked several steps ahead.
Seeing the perky curves wrapped in the long dress ahead of him, Eric finally realized what she meant. With a wicked smile, he quickly caught up in a few strides and slapped her elastic little rear. “Alright, don’t be angry. I really didn’t remember just now.”
“Ah…” The little woman, caught off guard, jumped aside like a startled rabbit. She covered herself and quickly glanced around. Only after seeing that there were no pedestrians nearby did she let out a breath of relief, then glared at Eric. “You… hooligan.”
Eric smiled and stepped forward, reaching out to pull the little woman into his arms. He pinched the soft flesh at her waist, leaned over, and kissed her hard on the cheek before moving close to her ear and whispering, “There’ll be even more hooligan things later.”
“Hmph!” The little woman wanted to break free from Eric again, but after being teased by him several times in a row, she no longer had the strength to resist and obediently let Eric hold her in his arms.
The valet soon drove Eric’s car over. After handing over a tip, Eric and Aniston got into the car.
“Are we going to my place?” the little woman asked softly after Eric started the car.
“Of course.” Eric turned the steering wheel and drove onto the road. Thinking of what had happened a few months earlier, he could not help laughing. “Drew must already be back by now. Or do you want to go to my place again and spar with that girl?”
“Hmph!” The little woman instantly turned her head away in anger. After a while, she suddenly thought of something and turned back. “Eric, how’s your house in Malibu coming along?”
“Including the renovation, it still needs another two or three months. But being able to move in by the end of the year would already be good. Maybe we can throw a party at the ocean-view villa for Christmas,” Eric answered while watching the road ahead.
The mansion in Malibu, modeled after the super ocean-view villa from his memory of Iron Man, had already been under construction for more than half a year. But American construction efficiency was so low it was outrageous, nowhere near the efficiency Eric had seen in his previous life, where dozens of floors could rise from the ground in barely ten days. Of course, if the mansion really were built in ten days, Eric would not dare live in it either.
At first, Eric would still take the initiative to ask Frank Gehry about the construction progress. But after two or three months, he lost much of his interest in asking and only regularly received progress reports from Frank Gehry’s firm, while comforting himself with excuses like slow work produced fine craftsmanship.
After hearing Eric’s answer, the little woman asked quietly, “Then… will Drew move in too?”
Eric’s thumb tapped twice on the steering wheel before he said, “You know, Jennie, Drew is only fourteen. She’s still a child. Whether legally or emotionally, I can’t let her live outside alone right now. At the very least, I’ll have to wait until she’s sixteen before she can move out.”
Aniston wrinkled her little nose and snorted unwillingly. “What part of her looks like a little girl?”
“Heh, she really doesn’t look much like one. But many things are just like that. Drew is a public figure, so those so-called child protection organizations will always pay more attention to her. If I let her move out now, those people would definitely become dissatisfied.”
“Hmph. Why wasn’t that little… little brat born in a slum, then? That way no one would care about these things.”
“That’s right,” Eric sighed. “The world is just that unfair. Overall, America still belongs to the elites, and its education is also elite education. This country only guarantees the excellence of the very top group of people. As for what happens to children at the bottom of society, who cares? Even if they drop out at eleven or twelve and have children at thirteen or fourteen, very few people would pay attention. Drew is different. She has already climbed to the upper levels of this pyramid, so she is destined to enjoy the benefits that upper-level elites can enjoy. Being watched by child protection organizations is also one form of that benefit.”
The little woman leaned one hand against the car window and pouted at Eric. “Fine. Congratulations, you succeeded again. You always have a million ways to change the subject. Hmph, don’t think I don’t notice. I’m just too lazy to argue with you.”
“You were the one who changed the subject this time,” Eric said with a smile.
“It was you!”
“Alright, it was me.” Eric did not intend to argue with the little woman and continued, “The Malibu house is very big, Jennie. You can move in too when the time comes.”
“It’s either me or her. If she’s there, I’m not. You decide.”
Eric lightly tapped the steering wheel. “Then forget it.”
“Ugh… you bastard! You’re always so biased!” The little woman widened her eyes and glared at Eric, her gaze drifting around as though looking for somewhere to bite.
Eric glanced at her expression and quickly warned her, “Hey, don’t mess around. I’m driving.”
Just as he spoke, Eric suddenly felt his Motorola mobile phone ring. He quickly stopped the car by the roadside and picked up the call. Drew’s excited voice came through the receiver. Eric glanced at the little woman beside him, quickly pushed the door open, got out, and ran beneath the streetlamp by the roadside before continuing the conversation.
Aniston looked at Eric’s careful expression and felt both angry and somewhat… fine, he still cared about her feelings. The little woman comforted herself this way.
A moment later, Eric returned to the car, closed the door, and started the engine.
“What was it?” After the car drove for a while, Aniston still could not hold back and asked.
Eric shook his head. “No idea. The little girl was acting mysterious and insisted I go back, saying she had good news to tell me. Forget it. Ignore her. I’ll ask tomorrow. Let’s go to your place first.”
“Mmm…” Aniston pinched the hem of her dress. After a while, she said, “How about… how about you go back and take a look? Maybe it’s something important.”