Chapter 101: She looks more appealing when asleep

Returning to the city at noon was a bit rushed, and the group had lunch in the members' service area of the golf club.

Xia Xi ate the staff meal together with the other golf club employees, not in the same area as Xu Yanfeng and his group.

In the private room, Ling Yan sipped fine red wine and deliberately brought up Xia Xi: "That little ball boy, why wasn't he called over to eat with us? After all, he's also a schoolmate of Ah Feng."

Her female friend chimed in: "After all, we're not that close either; maybe she's not used to it."

Fu Li sensed something, didn't interject, and lightly shook his head with a smile.

Xu Yanfeng was about to drive soon, hadn't touched a drop of alcohol, silently filled his stomach, pressed his mouth with a napkin, and said: "You take your time eating; I'm heading back to school first—I have an assignment due this afternoon."

"Ah Feng…" Ling Yan hastily put down her highball glass, stood up, and was about to follow him.

Another voice followed closely, Fu Li's: "Wait a moment, I'll ride back in your car."

Xu Yanfeng stopped, turned to look at him, and asked: "You're also going back to school?"

Fu Li: "Mm."

Compared to Xu Yanfeng, who mostly lives on campus and occasionally stays in an off‑campus apartment, Fu Li has never spent a night at school; no matter how busy, he returns home, being quite pampered. Today being the weekend, he should rightly be going home.

Xu Yanfeng didn't ask further, sat back down to wait for him, and fiddled with the car keys.

Ling Yan wasn't in such a hurry either; she leisurely poked at her vegetable salad on a white porcelain plate with a fork, smiled at Xu Yanfeng, and said: "May I also ride back in your car later? The driver has something to do and took the car away."

Xu Yanfeng didn't say yes or no: "I plan to take the expressway; is that on your way?"

Ling Yan choked on a mouthful of vegetables and had nothing to say. If they took the expressway, it would be near Nan Da, bypassing her home; the remaining distance would either require her to take a taxi herself or have Xu Yanfeng give her an extra ride.

She didn't dare think of the latter, since Xu Yanfeng had just said he was rushing back to finish his assignment.

"Then forget it." Ling Yan pulled her lips slightly in disappointment, "I'll just take Feifei's car back."

After the meal, everyone got into their own cars and went to different places.

The Mercedes-Benz drove out of the golf club's gate, and the two people in the car noticed a tall, slender figure standing by the roadside, wearing a simple white sports outfit, a Klein blue sports bag slung over one shoulder, holding a phone and looking down, occasionally glancing at the wide asphalt ahead to see if any taxis were passing.

Fu Li, sitting in the passenger seat, rubbed his fingertips and said: "It's not easy to get a taxi around here."

Xu Yanfeng remained unmoved.

The last time he gave Xia Xi a ride was because it was night, pouring rain, and there was no one around, considering a female student's safety. Now it's bright daylight, there's no safety hazard, at most just a bit longer wait.

Xu Yanfeng didn't reduce speed, drove past Xia Xi, turned on the signal, and veered right.

Xia Xi turned her head, recognized the car as Xu Yanfeng's, raised her eyebrows, and acted before thinking, waving her arms to hail the vehicle.

Xu Yanfeng pretended not to see her, steered onto the main road, was about to accelerate, but Xia Xi stepped in front of the car; he frowned, had to brake, and Xia Xi went to the driver's side window and tapped lightly with her fingers.

The window rolled down, revealing Xu Yanfeng's sharp‑angled profile; the sunlight glared, he wore sunglasses, and looked even more aloof than usual.

Xia Xi bent down, brought her face close, and asked: "Are you heading back to school?"

Xu Yanfeng wanted to deny it, but the person beside him spoke first: "Yeah."

"Perfect, I also need to go back to school." Xia Xi gripped the lower edge of the car window with both hands, her face pleading, "It's hard to get a taxi here; could you give me a ride, senior?"

Someone behind honked, because Xu Yanfeng's car stopped here and blocked the road.

Behind the sunglasses, his brows and eyes sank; Xu Yanfeng didn't want to be an inconsiderate driver, tilted his head, and told Xia Xi: "Get in."

Xia Xi didn't hesitate; the instant his words landed, she stepped back, opened the door, and slipped into the seat, a triumphant smile on her face: "Senior, I'm settled; let's go."

Xu Yanfeng silently muttered 'nemesis' in his heart and started the car.

Fu Li clenched his right hand into a hollow fist, pressed it to his lips to stifle laughter—truly rare, Xu Yanfeng actually being handled like this. In his view, it wouldn't be long before this cold‑faced, cold‑hearted good brother of his would be completely wrapped around someone's finger. After Xia Xi got in the car, she counted the cash in the envelope from her part‑time job; she was a temporary ball boy, paid hourly, today being a day off, her wage was higher than on workdays—two hundred per hour—and having spent the morning playing with the young masters and misses, she walked away with six hundred, and had also agreed with Xu Yanfeng to eat together, killing two birds with one stone.

This trip was worth it.

Xia Xi gleefully stuffed the money into her bag, wanted to talk to Xu Yanfeng, tilted her head, and saw the male passenger in the front seat dozing with eyes closed; she could only suppress her urge to speak and quietly accompanied Xu Yanfeng.

Actually she was also quite sleepy, but if both people in the car slept, it would be unfriendly and unsafe for the driver.

Xia Xi held back for a while, but couldn't suppress the urge to speak; she leaned forward, gripped the back of the front seat, and kept her voice low: "Xu Yanfeng, you promised to have breakfast with me next Thursday, you won't go back on it, will you?"

Xu Yanfeng: "If you bring it up again, I might actually change my mind."

Xia Xi covered her mouth, the exposed eyes bulging; he would use that threat to deal with her.

She removed her hand from her mouth and spoke again: "Can I choose not to eat in the cafeteria? Let's go out to eat."

"Whatever you like."

Xia Xi secretly delighted, taking advantage of Xu Yanfeng being more amenable now, she pressed further: "Then how should we set a concrete time and place?" She feigned worry, scratching her head, trying to lure the fish: "Why not take my WeChat off your blacklist?"

Xu Yanfeng didn't reply.

After a moment's thought, framing it as being for his benefit, she said: "Making plans for a meal without good communication easily leads to mix‑ups; if you can't reach me and I can't reach you, wouldn't we both waste our time? Senior, you're so busy, you surely don't want to spend time waiting for someone, right? I'm doing this for your sake, not my own."

She really talked a lot, her mouth suffering for it. Xu Yanfeng suggested: "If you're not sleepy, just go to sleep; stop talking."

Xia Xi: "?"

"If you're not sleepy, just go to sleep…"

"What kind of talk is that?"

At the moment he spoke, Xu Yanfeng realized he'd been foolish, his thoughts disrupted by Xia Xi's incessant chatter. He coughed once and corrected himself: "I mean, if you're sleepy, just go to sleep."

"I'm not sleepy," Xia Xi whispered, "so do you want to add my WeChat or not?"

Xu Yanfeng straightened his face and said coldly: "Don't disturb the driver while he's driving."

"Oh."

"Next Thursday at eight in the morning, wait for me at the school gate." Xu Yanfeng said.

"Oh."

Xia Xi's feelings were a mix of joy and sorrow—happy that Xu Yanfeng hadn't backed out, sad that… he simply wouldn't add her WeChat.

Realizing no amount of persuasion would make Xu Yanfeng relent on adding her WeChat, Xia Xi gave up, released her grip on the seatback, and sat back down honestly.

The facilities in Xu Yanfeng's car had been modified; the seats were very comfortable. After entering the expressway, there was little noise inside or out, and the person who had just claimed not to be sleepy began to battle her eyelids, which soon ceased fighting.

Xia Xi tilted her head slightly, leaned against the seat, and fell asleep, a few strands of hair drifting onto her cheeks.

After a while with no sound, Xu Yanfeng slightly lifted his eyes, glanced in the rearview mirror, and saw that her sleeping face was much more tranquil, more endearing than when she was awake.

Fu Li suddenly spoke: "Don't keep looking at the rearview mirror; we're on the highway—pay attention to the road."

Xu Yanfeng shifted his gaze to the road ahead: "You're awake."

"I wasn't asleep." Fu Li sat up a bit, rubbed his forehead, and said with a chuckle, "If I didn't pretend to sleep, how could I give you two space to talk? I can't just jump out of the car."

Xu Yanfeng recalled something and took the chance to settle accounts with Fu Li: "Why did you tell Xia Xi that I asked you to go help her out of the siege?"

(End of chapter)