Chapter 689: The Princess

Li Xiao watched her wearing slippers, still in her pajamas, and furrowed his handsome brows. He replied to her question with another: "You'll catch a cold dressed like this. Go back and get dressed first; I'll wait for you."

"I'm fine." Qiu Keying stared at Li Xiao. "I'm asking you a question. You didn't send a single message all morning, and then you suddenly just showed up?"

"That's what makes it a surprise!" Li Xiao said.

Qiu Keying was completely won over, a shy and blissful expression instantly appearing on her face.

"Be good, go back and change your clothes first. I'll wait for you. I'm taking you out for something delicious today."

Upon hearing this, Qiu Keying took the initiative to reach out and grab Li Xiao's hand, pulling him toward the house. "Then you come inside with me, too. It's too cold out here."

"Is that convenient?"

"Of course. My mom knows it's you, and it's not like you don't know my dad."

The Qiu family villa was not like some modern, luxurious villa architecture; it was a renovated old-fashioned Western-style house with many years of history. The entire villa estate exuded a profound sense of heritage, especially wrapped in the winter snow, which added a unique charm.

There were few such old-fashioned Western-style houses left in the center of Longcheng, and those that remained well-preserved were all exorbitantly priced and rarely on the market.

The Qiu family's strength could be glimpsed from this.

Once inside the villa, Qiu Mu immediately came to greet them. "It's cold, isn't it? I told you to get dressed properly, but you wouldn't listen."

Only after saying this did she lift her eyes to look at Li Xiao. Qiu Mu revealed a gentle smile. "You must be Li Xiao, right?"

"Hello, Auntie. I am Li Xiao." Li Xiao also greeted her very politely.

Qiu Mu nodded while quickly looking Li Xiao over, and then a look of satisfaction overflowed in her eyes. "Come inside and warm up."

Li Xiao changed his shoes and walked into the living room, only to discover that Qiu Hong was home.

"Li Xiao is here." Qiu Hong was sitting on the living room sofa reading a newspaper. Seeing Li Xiao, he spoke up to greet him first.

Li Xiao hurriedly said with a respectful attitude, "Hello, Uncle Qiu. You didn't go to the group today?"

"It's rare to have a free morning. I'll be heading over in a while."

"Li Xiao, don't pay attention to them, come upstairs with me." Qiu Keying grabbed Li Xiao's hand, saying she was going to take him upstairs.

Li Xiao, however, stood where he was, unmoving. "Keying, you go on up. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to go up."

"What's inappropriate about it? We aren't doing anything!" Qiu Keying tugged at him again. "Let's go!"

Li Xiao hesitated for a moment, and seeing that neither Qiu Hong nor his wife said anything, he followed Qiu Keying upstairs.

Not until the two of them disappeared around the corner of the stairs did Qiu Mu look at her husband and ask cautiously, "Bringing a boy into her own room the first time he comes to the house—is that okay?"

Qiu Hong, however, laughed indifferently. "Don't worry, Keying has a sense of propriety, and Li Xiao even more so. Besides, even if something were to happen, so what? Our daughter is already an adult. Isn't it normal for them to date, hold hands, and kiss and hug? Back in our day, we were in the small woods..."

"Oh, why are you suddenly talking about that!" Qiu Mu gave her husband a coquettish glare, annoyed. "Shameless! That was ages ago, why are you still bringing it up!"

"I just meant that we were about the same age as our daughter back then, and we were relatively more conservative at that time."

Qiu Mu sat down on the sofa, her eyes occasionally darting upstairs. "This is my first time seeing Li Xiao. His appearance is indeed quite good."

"When our daughter is dating, we as parents should interfere less. Whether he's good or not isn't important; what's important is that our daughter likes him."

"You just spoil her!"

This was Li Xiao's first time in the bedroom of a girl his own age. As soon as he entered, a fragrant scent wafted into his nostrils.

Before his eyes were large areas of pink, red, purple, and blue, like a Disney princess's room.

"Make yourself at home, I'm going to wash up and change."

Qiu Keying dropped this sentence and went straight into the washroom inside the bedroom, which was connected to her walk-in closet. It was large and gorgeous, and the entire space was exceptionally dreamy.

On the floor to the side was a giraffe ornament, which was actually a stool one could sit on. Li Xiao confirmed it could hold his weight and then sat down on the giraffe's back.

He looked around at everything that was so dreamlike, as if these things before him were enough to reflect Qiu Keying's entire personality and preferences.

A feeling of disgust instantly surged from the bottom of Li Xiao's heart. He withdrew his gaze and lowered his eyes slightly, concealing the emotion in his gaze.

At the same time, Shen Ci was also sitting in a princess's bedroom.

"Honey, how is this one?"

"And this one, paired with that little 'Chanel' jacket from earlier, and then matched with the Hermes bag you gave me for the New Year—isn't it a great match?"

"Oh, right, I also bought a pair of 'DIOR' shoes. They're especially good-looking. I'll put them on for you to see."

Gu Lianxing was like a colorful butterfly, turning the walk-in closet into a mess, showing Shen Ci over a dozen outfits like a fashion show.

Shen Ci felt dizzy watching and hurriedly called a halt. "Big sister, it's someone else's birthday, not yours. Qiu Ya is getting married..."

"Tsk!" Gu Lianxing glared. "So what? Me dressing up beautifully isn't that also giving my friend face? Besides, I've seen this kind of scene too many times. No one will care whose big day it is; everyone will be trying their hardest to show themselves off. I know these plastic sisters of mine all too well."

Shen Ci shook her head helplessly. "How much longer are you going to be busy? I really need to go find Gao Zhan."

"You're going to the hospital?"

"I'm going to his place," Shen Ci said earnestly.

Gu Lianxing immediately rolled her eyes. "Big sister, it's still morning. Do you two have any sense of shame? Catching him while he's resting and doing it day and night?"

"You're too nosy." Shen Ci stood up as she spoke, ready to leave. As she left, she didn't forget to remind her: "You have your 'Go-Kart' beginner's license exam this afternoon, don't forget."

"Wait a second." Gu Lianxing grabbed Shen Ci and also reminded her: "Yuanyuan said you have to go, too."

Yuanyuan was the friend whose birthday Lianxing was about to celebrate. Because of Lianxing, Shen Ci had met the other party a few times and could be considered acquaintances, but definitely not close.

The other party had noticed Shen Ci's impressive financial situation and that was why she had taken the initiative to add her as a friend. Shen Ci knew this in her heart.

"I'm not even close with her. If I go, don't I have to prepare a gift for her?" Shen Ci didn't really want to go.

"I'll prepare the gift for you. Just come to keep me company." Gu Lianxing shook her hand, looking pleading.

Shen Ci sighed slightly and finally nodded.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Qiu Keying was sitting in Li Xiao's car, looking down and fiddling with her phone. After a long while, she looked up at Li Xiao and said, "Li Xiao, my friend has a birthday in two days. Can you accompany me?"

Li Xiao looked straight ahead and asked casually upon hearing this, "Is it a guy or a girl?"

Qiu Keying couldn't help but laugh when she heard Li Xiao ask that. "Of course it's a girl. I wouldn't go if it were a guy." ===== CHAPTER 690 =====