Ning Xi always made a point of touching the faint blue-purple bruise at the corner of his eye in front of Lu Zhengting, as if using his actions to convey his deep accusation. From the day he met Lu Zhengting, or rather from their first confrontation, he knew Lu Zhengting liked to hit people in the face.
Jiang Mingxiu walked out of the room and was momentarily startled when she saw Ning Xi's eye. She hadn't paid much attention to his face last night, and the sight now genuinely surprised her.
The usual breakfast was laid out on the table. Since Jiang Mingxiu was very health-conscious, Chen Ma always took that into account when preparing the morning meal. Once everything was set, Lu Zhengting put down his newspaper and cast a casual glance at Ning Xi.
Ning Xi raised an eyebrow. Suddenly, especially when he saw Ke Yaru descending the stairs in neat attire, he was completely stunned, as if he had never expected to see her here.
He narrowed his eyes, a hint of shrewdness gleaming through the slits. Ke Yaru, sensing his gaze, calmly chose to sit in the empty seat next to Jiang Mingxiu, her demeanor elegant and composed.
During the meal, the impatience on Lu Zhengting's face sent a chill through everyone nearby. Ning Xi thought to himself that the only person who could emotionally affect Lu Zhengting so far was Xia Yan.
Ke Yaru kept her mouth shut, and the table fell into a heavy silence. Xiao Han nudged Ning Xi's arm, pulling his hand to make him lean down, and whispered in his ear, "Little Third Uncle, can you take me to find Sister Yan?"
"Little Third Uncle? Xiao Han! Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" Ning Xi's face darkened. Xiao Han always added "little" before their names, a habit he had been trying to correct from the start, but...
Xiao Han still said it smoothly.
"Unless you take me to find Sister Yan, I'll keep calling you that."
"Kid, you know how to threaten people now? Tell me, who taught you that?"
"Are you going to help or not?"
Xiao Han had been kept under house arrest by Jiang Mingxiu on the pretext of needing rest after his injury, just to stop him from seeing Xia Yan. Lately, he was getting desperate. By the time Lu Zhengting came home, Xiao Han was usually asleep, and when he woke up, Lu Zhengting was already gone.
Seeing Xiao Han's pitiful expression, Ning Xi felt a mischievous urge and smirked. "I don't think I want to help you."
"Then I won't call you Little Third Uncle anymore. I'll just call you Little Third."
At that, Ning Xi stared at Xiao Han, torn between laughter and tears. What kind of nicknames were these?
"Besides Little Third, I can call you Little Third Son. And I'll tell Uncle Ning Dong that you're bullying me!"
"Stop, you little ancestor. You're such a handful." Ning Xi knew that although Ning Dong had a rugged exterior and heart, he was also very fond of the clever Xiao Han.
Xiao Han shrugged. "It depends on how you behave."
Smug! Ning Xi grumbled inwardly. Xiao Han hadn't learned anything from Lu Zhengting except for that sharp wit, and he had picked up six-tenths of it.
"Xiao Ning, when did you get to Jiang City? I had no idea," Jiang Mingxiu said, stopping after eating only eighty percent full. She put down her chopsticks and glanced at Ning Xi lightly.
Hearing this, Ning Xi immediately straightened up and replied seriously, "Auntie, I've been busy lately. I didn't expect our meeting to turn out like this."
Jiang Mingxiu smiled. "How is the old man doing lately?"
"He's in great shape—eats well, sleeps well, and has plenty of energy."
Jiang Mingxiu's expression shifted slightly when she mentioned the old man. She paused, as if recalling something, and then said slowly, "Come to think of it, it's been a long time since I visited him."
"My old man often brings up you and Uncle in front of us."
Jiang Mingxiu nodded. Just then, Lu Zhengting coughed a few times. Ning Xi discreetly shifted his gaze to Lu Zhengting, as if asking what was wrong, but only got a cold glare in return.
Seeing this, Ning Xi grinned and decided not to get angry with Lu Zhengting, who seemed ready to explode at any moment.
After breakfast, Lu Zhengting had to go to the company. Even though Ke Yaru lived in the same villa, they never commuted together, let alone had Lu Zhengting drive her to work.
Ning Xi said goodbye to Jiang Mingxiu and promptly got into the passenger seat. As he sat in the car, his gaze happened to meet Ke Yaru's, who was standing at the door. Seeing her look at Lu Zhengting with undisguised affection surprised him a bit.
Lu Zhengting got into the car as if nothing was wrong, his expression natural, as if he hadn't been affected by Ning Xi all morning. He started the engine, his movements smooth and effortless.
But Ning Xi never envied him, because he himself was a skilled driver, an old hand with good technique.
"Hey, where are you going? Are you planning to drop me off at the villa first?"
"Did I say I was taking you?" Lu Zhengting said without any expression, not even furrowing his brow.
Ning Xi was furious. "Then why didn't you say something when I got in the car?"
"Didn't feel like talking."
"You're the boss, you call the shots." As Ning Xi finished speaking, he raised his hand to cover his eye again, as if accusing Lu Zhengting of his misdeed.
Lu Zhengting calmly glanced at Ning Xi, then suddenly accelerated without even opening his mouth. The abrupt move caught Ning Xi off guard, and he instinctively grabbed the overhead handle.
"Damn it, are you trying to kill me?"
Lu Zhengting didn't respond, just swung the steering wheel, sending Ning Xi tilting to one side, fuming with anger.
The car stopped safely at the entrance of the Lu Group building. Before Lu Zhengting even got out, someone stepped forward to open the door, one hand shielding the top, showing great respect. Ning Xi recognized him as Lu Zhengting's new assistant.
The only downside, in Ning Xi's opinion, was that this new assistant was a man!
Left far behind by Lu Zhengting, Ning Xi cupped his chin, looking thoughtful.
The person following closely behind was someone Ning Xi didn't want to see: Ke Yaru.
Ning Xi glanced at Ke Yaru and muttered, "Persistent as a ghost." Ke Yaru seemed to hear him, her expression flickering slightly as she passed by him, leaving behind a single sentence: "Right back at you."
Hearing this, Ning Xi's mouth twitched. He decided not to argue with a woman.
In the end, he didn't enter the Lu Group because he suddenly received an urgent call requiring his immediate attention.
Lu Zhengting didn't bother checking if Ning Xi was following. As soon as the assistant entered the elevator with him, he began reporting on recent work and schedule arrangements.
Earlier, the Lu Group had officially signed a five-year contract with a foreign company, but recently the other party seemed to have second thoughts. This matter was more urgent than others, and Lu Zhengting needed to fly over immediately to negotiate.
It was a last-minute business trip. Lu Zhengting sat in a black leather chair, his hands resting on the armrests, tapping lightly with his fingers without making a sound.
He was debating whether to tell Xia Yan about the trip. The memory of slapping her yesterday was still vivid in his mind—her shock turning to disbelief, then to a calm that unsettled him.
There was no shouting, no retaliation. She just looked at him quietly, and after a long silence, her first words were for him to leave immediately, saying she didn't want to see him.
Those words echoed in his ears like a thorn, piercing him every time he thought of them.
He hesitated for a long time before finally dialing Xia Yan's number, only to find it was off. Frustrated, he called again, but got the same result—a mechanical voice repeating the same message.
A minute before boarding, he sent her a text message, informing her of his itinerary.
In his mind, maybe giving each other some space would let the matter blow over. He never imagined there would be so many consequences, leaving him rushing back too late to stop them.
******
Xia Yan holed up in her apartment, refusing to see anyone. She turned off her phone and didn't turn it back on for days. During that time, she felt completely cut off from the world, her heart calm, her expression blank, as if nothing had happened. But it was precisely this demeanor that made her seem even more off.
Zhan Meng, having been asked by Xia Yan for a rare favor, didn't want to let her down. So when she found a clue, she immediately called Xia Yan. Unable to reach her, she came to Xia Yan's apartment to find her.
The doorbell rang incessantly, but Xia Yan acted as if she didn't hear it. When she heard Zhan Meng shouting outside, she frowned. Soon, the neighbor's voice joined in, apparently arguing with Zhan Meng.
Reluctantly, she got up from the sofa and walked to the entrance, turning the doorknob. Her sudden appearance startled both Zhan Meng and the neighbor.
"Miss Xia, so you are home! I haven't seen you around lately and thought you were away," the neighbor said.
Xia Yan nodded at her, forcing a faint smile.
Zhan Meng snapped back to reality and smiled at the neighbor. "See, ma'am? Now you have nothing to say."
Earlier, when Zhan Meng was shouting outside, she had drawn the neighbor out. When the neighbor claimed Xia Yan wasn't home, Zhan Meng didn't believe it. Why? Just intuition.
Her spot-on female intuition told her Xia Yan was definitely inside.
"You look so delicate and gentle, but your voice is louder than mine—I'm honestly impressed."
"Ma'am, I think you should trust what you see. What you hear, you can pretend never happened," Zhan Meng said with a smile.