Chapter 222: Are you sure you want to do this?

Zhou Du arrived at the place and only then learned that Xia Xi had summoned only him, without Liang Yuan. He pulled out a chair and sat down; even over the phone he had sensed her voice was off, and seeing her in person confirmed it.

Her complexion was poor, she lacked energy, listless.

Zhou Du dropped his frivolous attitude, sat upright, stared at Xia Xi for a long time without hearing her speak, then he began: "Speak up—what trouble have you run into? If I can fix it, I'll do it without hesitation."

Xia Xi's gaze was deep, she stared at him for a while, then exhaled: "Let's order first."

She chose a small stir-fry place that she, Zhou Du, and Liang Yuan had eaten at before; the dishes were almost never misses and went well with rice.

Zhou Du propped his leg up, flipping through the menu, joking: "That's not fair—last time there was a meal with Xu Yanfeng, we went to a high-end restaurant, but now it's my turn and you pick a small stir-fry place?"

Xia Xi wasn't in the mood to joke, sipping the free plum tea, she pointed across the street: "There's a high-end Western restaurant over there—want to go? Just nod and we'll switch places right away."

"No." Zhou Du waved him off: "I like this just fine."

He ordered shredded chicken, boiled meat slices, stir-fried kidney, ginger-scallion beef strips, and finally added plain boiled cabbage, then passed the menu to Xia Xi.

Xia Xi glanced at it and added two vegetable dishes.

When the dishes arrived, Zhou Du ate a couple bites, then asked: "What's going on? If you don't tell me, I can't enjoy my meal—I've got a knot in my chest."

Xia Xi hadn't touched her chopsticks, just sipping the plum tea: "You eat first."

Zhou Du ate with his rice until he was about seventy percent full, then Xia Xi began: "This matter can only be handled by you. Besides you, I can't think of anyone else."

Zhou Du was choked by the pickled pepper, Xia Xi noticed and poured him a full glass of plum tea from the bottle. He gulped a few mouthfuls to dull the spice: "I'd like to hear what matter absolutely requires me."

Xia Xi pressed her lips, thinking how to broach the subject with him.

To ask Zhou Du for help, first she definitely couldn't keep it from him, but explaining the whole thing was too troublesome—like a tangled mess of threads, she couldn't find the end.

"Hey, miss, when did you become so hesitant? You're killing me." Zhou Du pulled out a tissue, wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Since you said no one but me can help, I'll definitely get it done."

Xia Xi clenched her fingers and, in one breath, recounted everything that had happened at home and the talk Xu Yanfeng's father had with her. She kept her wording brief because she didn't want to dwell on the details.

The private booth fell silent for a few seconds; Zhou Du jumped up in shock, his thigh hitting the underside of the table, feeling nothing, he just stared at Xia Xi, his look somewhat fierce—purely from astonishment.

Xia Xi anticipated his reaction, her face blank: "That's how it is. Zhou Du, I need you to cooperate with me and see this act through. I don't trust anyone else."

Zhou Du's face shifted through shades; his first concern wasn't the acting but why she hadn't told him sooner about such a big matter: "Do you still see me as a brother? If something happened at home, why didn't you say anything?"

Xia Xi tugged his sleeve to make him sit, lightly lifted her lips to show a lackluster smile: "Telling you just adds one more person to the worry."

"I… I can…" Zhou Du's bold words got stuck in his throat; what could he do? It seemed he couldn't help her at all.

His parents ran a small business, the family was decently off—though compared to ordinary households it was still inferior to Xia Xi's, so he couldn't possibly come up with a sum of money to help her solve the problem.

Zhou Du slumped and wiped his face.

Xia Xi said nothing, her eyes calm as she looked at him, as if saying, "Look, I'm right—faced with such a huge upheaval, few people have the ability to settle it."

She had no other choice.

Zhou Du fell silent for a long time, unable to understand her choice, propping his hands on his thighs, twisting his neck to look at her: "What are you thinking? Why not tell Xu Yanfeng? He's your boyfriend; he should be the one to confront his father. Why… why would you listen to that old coot just because he came to you?"

Xia Xi shook her head: "You don't understand…"

"I don't understand." Zhou Du cut her off, his tone a bit urgent: "That's exactly why I'm asking you."

"Have you considered what would happen if he confronted his father?" From yesterday to today, Xia Xi had thought a lot, breaking down every detail: "If he wins the confrontation, sure, we could stay together, but his father would be furious, cut off relations, his mother would be sickened to the point of illness and bedridden—what would he become? What would I become? By then, could we still be together? It looks like a win but is actually a total loss. Most importantly, my family's affairs wouldn't be properly settled. Xiao Xuan is still lying in the hospital; you don't know how foolish she is—she lied to me on the phone, saying she was home, pretending nothing was wrong, just so I wouldn't find out she was hospitalized. She's struggling to breathe yet forces herself to endure, just to keep me from noticing. And there's the workers' compensation; if it's not resolved soon, the household won't have peace. I forgot, there's also the family of the person my father killed in an accident. Zhou Du, I truly have no other option."

Xia Xi lowered her head, her hands clasped against her forehead, shoulders trembling slightly.

"When things first went wrong, Xu Yanfeng was on a business trip abroad, very busy. On one hand I didn't want to distract him with worry; on the other, my strong-willed nature made me think I could handle it, so there was no need to add to his troubles." Xia Xi swallowed, her voice paused, trembling: "But bad things kept coming one after another; I realized I couldn't hold out, and when I tried to ask him for help, the chairman got to me first."

Zhou Du understood everything, understood her choice.

In this world, there aren't that many win‑win paths; usually you have to give up something to gain something.

She could refuse this path, but Xu Yanfeng's father has already intervened, making it hard for her and Xu Yanfeng to continue smoothly; it would be better to let go, which could bring peace to her family.

Let go, then let go—but is it necessary to do it this way?

Zhou Du asked her: "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Xia Xi slowly lifted her head; her eyes were red but dry—she had cried too much, and now every step was according to her plan; she felt she had no right to cry. She smiled, yet it was uglier than tears, bitter-edged: "I asked the chairman the same question, and he told me, money isn't that easy to earn."

Zhou Du's face turned black as he spat out a vulgar curse.

Xia Xi kept smiling.

Zhou Du found it hard to watch: "Don't smile."

Xia Xi lowered her head; in the past, when she asked Zhou Du for help, she never stood on ceremony—she just told him straight out, sometimes even threatening him: "If you don't help, try it, and we won't be friends anymore."

Now she adopted a pleading tone: "Help me."

Zhou Du scratched his head, wondering what else he could do; she called him brother. He couldn't refuse—if his sister could live to this age, she'd be like Xia Xi. This is his sister.

"Fine, I agree." Zhou Du said, letting out a series of sighs: "I really… sigh… I won't get beaten up by Xu Yanfeng, will I?"

Xia Xi couldn't answer him. She didn't even dare imagine that scene; the mere thought made her heart ache to the point of breathlessness, her head throbbing with sharp pain.

Zhou Du muttered to himself: "I roughly know what that chairman, whom I've never met, is thinking—nothing more than the belief that if Xu Yanfeng personally sees you rolling around with another man, he'll lose all interest in you, never think of you again, eliminating future trouble. Damn, these merchants are masters of psychological warfare, knowing just how to strike where it hurts. I'd guess that after you do this, Xu Yanfeng will hate you to death."

Xia Xi cupped the cup, her finger joints whitening from the pressure.

If possible, she would not wish to part peacefully.