Chapter 18

Lu Mingji first sent Zhao Lei to the designated subway station; when getting off, Zhao Lei, fearing they would argue, hesitated for three seconds, poked Lu Mingji's shoulder, and when he turned his head, she found it hard to speak, stammering: "Um, you... speak properly, there's nothing we can't get over."

Although Xia Xi was the one who made the mistake, she is Xia Xi's friend; compared to the unfamiliar Lu Mingji, she naturally chose to side with Xia Xi and speak well of her.

Sigh... what on earth is all this?

She needed to turn back and have a good talk with Xia Xi; after all, they had been dormmates for several years, and she couldn't just watch her sink deeper into trouble.

Lu Mingji suppressed a smile, as if he had taken her words to heart, and replied seriously: "I know."

"All right, all right." Zhao Lei waved her hand, "I'm leaving, I won't disturb you."

"Be careful, and send me a message when you get home." Xia Xi lowered the car window and reminded her.

The car started moving again, leaving only the two of them inside; no need to pretend to be a couple anymore, Lu Mingji smiled: "Your friend is really looking out for you, afraid I'll lose my temper with you."

Xia Xi, however, couldn't smile, resting her elbow on the window sill and her fingers against her forehead.

Lu Mingji glanced at her, tapped the steering wheel a few times with his fingertips, looking as if he wanted to speak but held back.

Xia Xi noticed, fluttered her eyelashes, sighed, and said: "Just ask what you want to ask; keeping it bottled up isn't your style."

They had been old friends for years; hearing Xia Xi say that, Lu Mingji no longer dwelled on it and asked bluntly: "Is Xu Yanfeng the father of the child?"

Xia Xi had anticipated that she would ask about her and Xu Yanfeng, but she didn't expect him to be so direct, leaving her unsure how to respond.

Her silence exactly indicated the problem; Lu Mingji understood the bounds, didn't press further on that issue, and appropriately changed the subject: "When do you plan to go to the office to report? You've been back almost a month, right?"

Xia Xi returned to the country in mid-August, and up to today it's indeed almost a month. During this month, she was busy looking for housing, picking a kindergarten for her child, helping her sister prepare her wedding, bringing her mother and grandmother over to settle... truly she had no free time at all.

Fortunately, everything is now on track; it's time to consider work matters.

Xia Xi immediately gave him a precise answer: "I'll go back to work once this vacation ends."

Lu Mingji calculated: the Mid-Autumn holiday only has tomorrow left as the final day, meaning she'll go to the company the day after tomorrow. He raised his eyebrows, showing a capitalist's grin: "Looking forward to Xia Gong's return."

Xia Xi looked at him, rarely managing a smile: "Don't make too big a fuss; keep it as before—you handle company management, I handle the designs, I don't like being too showy."

Lu Mingji disagreed with her: "Xia Xi, stop being so Versailles; don't you realize your very presence is already quite conspicuous?"

Graduated from a prestigious school, beautiful appearance, strong ability, having two kids at a young age, life and career steadily rising—no wonder many envy her. The two words "low-key" don't suit her.

Xia Xi tilted her head: "Versailles? What does that mean? I only know the Palace of Versailles; I once took the kids to visit it."

Lu Mingji paused, somewhat speechless: "You should go online more when you have time; you're really behind the times."

Xia Xi: "……"

Liang Yuan seemed to have said something similar; it seems she really does spend too little time online.

*Xu Yanfeng told Ling Yan he still had something to do, which isn't really an excuse; after leaving Prosperous Courtyard Hotel, he didn't go home but had the driver take the car to Four Seasons Star Sea.

In the luxurious private room he had reserved, it was lively; Tang Yizhou, Fu Li, and Luojinnan were inside playing cards.

On holiday, these people who usually work themselves to death also relaxed, cigarettes dangling from the corners of their mouths, eyes narrowed, chatting while figuring out how to play their cards.

When Xu Yanfeng pushed the door and entered, he was hit by a wave of smoke that made him frown outright.

Although he also smokes, his addiction isn't strong; he can't compare to those old heavy smokers.

"Yo, our Xu Er also came—just right, we're missing one for a mahjong game; let's not play cards, let's play mahjong instead." Tang Yizhou pinched the cigarette on his lips with two fingers, took it off, exhaled a thick cloud-like smoke ring, and tapped the ash into the ashtray's edge.

Xu Yanfeng ignored him, sank into the sofa, leaned his head back against the backrest, and pressed his fingers to his temples.

He looked like he was in a bad mood.

Fu Li flicked the cards in her hand, turned around, put one hand on the chair's back, and asked Xu Yanfeng: "Did you get dissed by Xia Xi?"

Luojinnan: "No need to ask; it's obvious at a glance."

As he would say, that woman Xia Xi is quite formidable; she bewitched Xu Er so that he couldn't forget her for six years, and whenever she appears, she can disrupt his peaceful life—she's got tactics.

Among the three, only Tang Yizhou didn't understand: "What do you mean? Are he and Xia Xi still entangled?" Fu Li raised her chin, half-smiling: "Ask him, why ask me?"

Tang Yizhou jumped up, shouting at Xu Yanfeng with frustration: "Xu Er, you weren't supposed to take care of that woman?! Where's your iron-blooded tactics in the mall, your ruthlessness? You can't even handle a woman?"

A woman with no power, influence, or backing—dealing with her is hardly a challenge.

Xu Yanfeng surely isn't still clinging to the laughable fantasy that Xia Xi's child is really his, is he?

Absolutely outrageous! Tang Yizhou pointed at his nose, insisting on scolding him awake: "I've told you how many times—Xia Xi that woman is a master of tricks! Didn't you learn all those moves she used to chase you back then? You're nearly thirty; you shouldn't still fall for it."

Seeing Xu Yanfeng close his eyes like an old monk entering meditation, Tang Yizhou nodded and decided to play his trump card: "Okay, setting that aside, when she was talking with you, she rolled into bed with another man—you're not telling me you can just let that go."

Or are you not even a man?

Xu Yanfeng finally reacted; he opened his eyes, gazing deeply at Tang Yizhou.

Tang Yizhou shuddered at his gaze, feeling that the next second he might kill to silence him.

After a long while, Xu Yanfeng slowly spoke, uttering a statement—whether he was trying to convince Tang Yizhou or himself: "She merely made a mistake any man could make."

Tang Yizhou gaped, left speechless by his words.

What kind of lovesick brain would say something like that? Even a zombie opening his skull would shake its head in disappointment and walk away, spitting: "Pah!" After a while, Tang Yizhou really had nothing to say, and gave Xu Yanfeng a thumb and pinky sign: "6."

Even an old lady wouldn't need to help you to be convinced.

Tang Yizhou finally gave him another warning: "Don't forget, she also bore a child for another man."

Xu Yanfeng couldn't take in his words; he had his own idea: "We haven't done a paternity test, so it's not necessarily another man's child—it might be mine."

Tang Yizhou: "Why don't you do it?"

Xu Yanfeng: "I haven't found the chance."

Tang Yizhou: "Then what are you unhappy about tonight?"

Xu Yanfeng: "She has a boyfriend now, and it's not Zhou Du—it's her boss."

Tang Yizhou: "???"

Quite the companion, all the buffs are stacked.

Friend, you mean that woman not only cheated and dumped you back then, bore a child for another man, and now that she's returned she's dating again—and it's not the man she originally cheated with?

In that case, you still want to pick up where you left off with her? "Xu Yanfeng." Tang Yizhou truly felt a darkness before his eyes; he solemnly shouted his name, paused two seconds, and with utmost sincerity asked: "What kind of despicable person are you?"

Luojinnan couldn't hold back a "pfft" laugh.

Tang Yizhou glared at him: "You're not even helping to persuade, and you're still laughing?"

Xu Yanfeng found it noisy, got up and left directly.

By the time he got home it was already late; Xu Yanfeng turned on the light, looked at the empty house, felt somewhat numb, and while changing shoes in the entryway his gaze fell on the package on the wooden cabinet.

It had been sitting there for days, never opened; he didn't recall buying anything online.

Xu Yanfeng found a utility knife, slit open the package, and several garishly decorated books tumbled out—the books Luojinnan had tossed at him that day at Four Seasons Star Sea: titles like 'Mistakenly Flirting with the Iceberg CEO: Fiery Bride, Don't Run,' 'Aristocratic Contract Marriage: Forced Pampering for 100 Days,' and 'Obsessive Tycoon's Long‑Laid Scheme: Pure‑Hearted Maiden Within Reach.'

Just looking at the titles, they're not exactly wholesome.

Xu Yanfeng idly flipped open one, only to have his eyes caught by the scenes of forcible seizure inside.

You can do that???

Xu Er, snap out of it! Romance novels aren't meant as instructional guides!

Xu Er: I can't take any of it in at all┓(`)┏

(End of chapter)