My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 284: A Misunderstanding in the Boudoir

As they were drinking, a stunningly beautiful woman walked into the tavern and immediately asked, "Xu Huizhen, are there any seats left?"

When Xu Huizhen saw that it was Chen Xueru, she smiled and said, "There are no seats left. If you want to sit, you can squeeze into Zhang Lei's table. You and Uncle Niu can make do."

Chen Xueru glanced at Zhang Lei and Uncle Niu's table, then smiled and nodded, "Alright. Bring me a pot of wine and a few side dishes."

Zhang Lei stood up and greeted her, "Boss Xue Ru."

Chen Xueru walked over with a smile: "Brother Zhang Lei, it's so soon we meet again."

Old Niu noticed that the two knew each other and asked curiously, "Xue Ru, do you know Zhang Lei too?"

Chen Xueru raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course! Zhang Lei brought his wives to my shop to buy clothes, he's very generous."

Upon hearing this, Old Niu's eyes widened, and he looked at Zhang Lei with a more inquisitive gaze: Wives? It seems this young man is no ordinary person.

Helpless, Zhang Lei could only briefly explain his situation, glaring at Chen Xueru in the process. After listening, Uncle Niu smiled and said, "I see."

Zhang Lei added, "My wife, Lou Xiao'e, and Xue Ru have known each other for a long time."

After chatting for a while, Zhang Lei suddenly remembered that Master Niu was quite knowledgeable about antiques, and that he still had a lot of supplies in his space, so he took the initiative to ask, "Master Niu, you must be quite knowledgeable about antiques and calligraphy and paintings, right?"

Master Niu was taken aback: "Young man, are you interested in this?"

Zhang Lei nodded: "I do have some ideas, but I'm not an expert, so I'd like to ask Master Niu for his opinion."

Chen Xueru immediately interjected, "Zhang Lei, you've come to the right person! Everyone around here knows that Master Niu can tell the real antique from the fake at a glance!"

Uncle Niu waved his hand modestly and said, "I'm not that amazing. I just have a lot of experience from seeing so many things."

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Brother Niu, I'm in the purchasing business and I have some supplies on hand. If you're interested, we can chat privately sometime."

Old Niu's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Really?"

Zhang Lei nodded: "Really, but the quantity isn't much."

Niu Ye leaned closer to Zhang Lei and lowered his voice: "Okay! Let's talk privately sometime."

The two agreed on a time, and Chen Xueru, who was standing to the side, was full of curiosity as she watched the two acting mysteriously. However, Zhang Lei seemed to be avoiding her, which made Chen Xueru feel a little uncomfortable.

Soon, the two finished their drinks, and Zhang Lei was already quite tipsy, his head spinning. Seeing this, Chen Xueru smiled and suggested, "Zhang Lei, you shouldn't ride your bicycle like that. Come sit in my shop, have some water to sober up, and then you can leave."

Zhang Lei thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay."

Following Chen Xueru to her silk shop, Zhang Lei discovered that behind the shop was a two-story building, and the backyard was Chen Xueru's residence. As they went upstairs, Zhang Lei looked at the door and realized—this was Chen Xueru's bedroom—and immediately felt a little embarrassed.

Chen Xueru noticed his embarrassment and teased, "What? Now you know how to be embarrassed?"

Zhang Lei cursed "devil" inwardly, but still obediently sat on the sofa. Before long, he drifted off to sleep.

In a blur, Zhang Lei seemed to see a beautiful woman changing clothes. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, and when he looked closely, he exclaimed in surprise.

"what!"

Chen Xueru also shouted. Zhang Lei quickly turned his face away, stammering, "I...I didn't see anything, I really didn't see anything!"

Chen Xueru was also extremely embarrassed. She had accidentally spilled coffee on her clothes while drinking it. She had intended to change, but seeing Zhang Lei fast asleep on the sofa, she assumed he wouldn't wake up anytime soon and didn't think much of it. Who knew that as soon as she took off her clothes, Zhang Lei woke up and saw her completely naked.

Chen Xueru hurriedly put on her clothes, and Zhang Lei slowly turned his face away, his face full of embarrassment.

Chen Xueru was both embarrassed and angry, and questioned, "What did you see?"

Zhang Lei quickly explained, "I...I didn't see anything, I didn't see anything at all, I didn't see a white expanse..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xueru became even angrier: "You bastard, you're taking advantage of me!"

Zhang Lei hurriedly defended himself: "Don't accuse me wrongly! How was I supposed to see this scene as soon as I opened my eyes! Besides, why would you change clothes in front of other people?"

Zhang Lei's words left Chen Xueru speechless for a moment, unsure how to refute them.

At this moment, Zhang Lei glanced at the sky outside the window; it was already getting late. He quickly got up and said, "I'll go back now and come find you another day."

Watching Zhang Lei hurriedly run downstairs, Chen Xueru stomped her feet in anger, cursing inwardly: That bastard, he took advantage and ran away! But then she thought about Zhang Lei's appearance just now, and her cheeks couldn't help but turn red.

Zhang Lei ran away from Chen Xueru's house in a panic, running all the way to the alley entrance, where he leaned against the wall, panting heavily, his heart pounding.

The scene just now was incredibly embarrassing. He had only taken a nap on the sofa, and when he opened his eyes, he was caught red-handed changing clothes by Chen Xueru. He slapped his forehead in annoyance and turned to go to the silk shop to get his bicycle, but after only two turns, he realized he was completely lost—this area of ​​alleys was a maze of lanes, and he rarely came here, so he couldn't tell which way was which at all.

As he looked around for directions, he caught a glimpse of a person peeking out of a courtyard gate not far away. The person's eyes were furtive, and they kept glancing left and right, as if they were wary of something.

Zhang Lei's heart tightened immediately. He quietly hid in a corner next to the wall and crouched down to observe. The house looked like a traditional courtyard house with one entrance. The gate was ajar, and the courtyard was quiet, without a single person in sight. He first cautiously scanned his surroundings to make sure no one was paying attention before he leaped into the courtyard with a somersault.

Upon landing, Zhang Lei immediately began a thorough search. The courtyard was simply furnished and covered in a layer of dust. The door to the main house was open, and when he went inside, he saw that the table was piled with empty wine bottles, sunflower seed shells, and leftover snack wrappers, a messy place that clearly belonged to a man living alone and hadn't been cleaned in a long time.

He frowned, wondering to himself: Was he being too sensitive? After all, that guy hadn't seemed unusual at all. But just as he continued to scan the entire room with his senses, he suddenly froze—a gun had appeared in his senses!

"Holy crap! There really is a gun!" Zhang Lei was startled and immediately rushed into the inner room to search. Soon, he dragged out a heavy wooden box from under the bed, and the moment he opened it, he was completely stunned.

There was a radio inside! And a stack of codebooks! This was definitely an enemy spy hideout!

Zhang Lei didn't dare to delay and searched the house thoroughly again, only to find another surprise: a box neatly stacked with 10 large yellow croakers and 20 small yellow croakers, their golden color dazzling; in addition, there was more than 2000 yuan in cash, as well as a pile of receipts whose purpose was unclear.

Following the principle of "never leaving empty-handed," Zhang Lei packed the gold, cash, and receipts into his personal storage space. After a moment's thought, he put the radio, pistol, and wooden crate back as they were. Before leaving, he deliberately jammed the pistol—it was a potential hazard to keep; he'd better disable it first.