"What are you doing here?" Xia Yan stared at Xia Siyue, who had suddenly appeared, her expression sour.
"Does it matter to you where I go? What's the matter? Don't tell me Lu Zhengting is inside?" Xia Siyue looked down at Xia Yan with a cold smirk.
"Since it doesn't matter to you, then you're not welcome here."
"Xia Yan, you!" Xia Siyue snorted, her gaze condescending. "Weren't you saying you're with Lu Zhengting? Where is he now?"
"..."
"Don't think I don't know anything. I'm telling you, don't you dare use Lu Zhengting's name to scare Dad. I'm taking what you have, no matter what."
Xia Siyue smiled at Xia Yan, her eyes slowly drifting to her freshly done nails. The vivid red gleamed brilliantly under the dim yellow light of the hallway. Seeing Xia Yan still so composed, she grew irritated and, without a second thought, shoved her aside and strode straight into the house.
"And who do we have here? Oh, it's you..." Xia Siyue raised an eyebrow, casting a meaningful glance at Lin Xujia, whose eyes were glazed, her voice dripping with amusement.
Xia Yan, angered, stepped in front of Xia Siyue. "What exactly are you trying to do here?"
"I'm not trying to do anything. I just happened to pass by downstairs and remembered you live here, so I thought I'd drop by." Xia Siyue scanned the room's layout, then turned to glare at Xia Yan. "I just didn't expect to witness such sisterly devotion here."
Lin Xujia still had two streaks of tears on her face. She was slumped over the table, listening to Xia Siyue's words, her brow furrowing as a sense of dread crept in. After a long silence from Xia Yan, she used the alcohol as an excuse to suddenly stand up from her chair, wobbling as she tried to move toward Xia Yan.
"Xiao Jia..."
Xia Siyue curled her lips, watching Xia Yan's worried expression, and let out a derisive laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
At that, Xia Siyue glanced at the time, tilted her head with an ambiguous smile, and said leisurely, "Chengfeng must be tired of waiting."
Xia Yan didn't dwell on Xia Siyue's motives for coming today, nor did she notice Lin Xujia's change. She watched Xia Siyue leave with unclear intentions, frowned slightly, and refocused on Lin Xujia.
"Xiao Jia, don't drink anymore. Rest on the sofa for a bit, and I'll tidy up the room."
"No, I want to go home. I want to go home."
"How can you go home in this state?"
"No, home, home..." Lin Xujia kept repeating the word "home." Xia Yan crouched by the edge of the sofa, thinking for a while, her mind flashing back to the last time she drove Lu Zhengting's car—a scene full of thrills and chills.
Unable to persuade Lin Xujia, a sudden idea struck Xia Yan, and she decisively called Ye Yunchen.
For Ye Yunchen, receiving a call from Xia Yan was undoubtedly a joyful thing. But when he understood her intention over the phone, his voice instantly carried a hint of sadness.
Ye Yunchen came, and he came quickly. When Xia Yan helped Lin Xujia downstairs and saw Ye Yunchen's car parked by the roadside, she quickened her pace.
"Brother Ye, I'm sorry to trouble you to make a special trip."
"It's fine, I'll take her back first." Ye Yunchen knew full well that Xia Yan had done this on purpose, but he didn't intend to call her out on it. He just went along with her words, gently laying Lin Xujia flat in the back seat. He stared at Xia Yan for a long time, and in the end, all the words he wanted to say turned into a bitter smile.
Xia Yan was momentarily stunned, then pretended not to notice, waved goodbye, and went straight back into the apartment complex.
Lin Xujia squinted slightly, watching Ye Yunchen's back. At that moment, she couldn't help but feel a surge of jealousy. Or perhaps, in that instant, the guilt she felt toward Xia Yan vanished completely. She resented Xia Yan for being liked by Ye Yunchen. No, maybe from the moment she started liking Ye Yunchen, Xia Yan's very existence had become her greatest threat.
Only when Xia Yan's figure disappeared from sight did Ye Yunchen withdraw his gaze and return to the car. As he fastened Lin Xujia's seatbelt, he clearly sensed her tension, which made him frown. He quickly straightened up, focusing his eyes straight ahead.
Xia Yan listlessly returned to her apartment. Xia Siyue's inexplicable provocation, Lin Xujia's sudden tearful outburst, and the fleeting sadness she had caught in Ye Yunchen's eyes—all of it weighed on her. She lay listlessly on the sofa, half-opening her eyes to scan the untouched hotpot on the table and the few unopened bottles of alcohol on the carpet, letting out a sigh.
A wave of drowsiness hit her. Xia Yan forced herself to stay awake, slowly rubbing her eyes before getting up and sluggishly starting to clean up. When the doorbell suddenly rang, she couldn't help but frown. Could it be Xia Siyue coming back?
The doorbell rang for a long time, so long that Xia Yan thought the person knocking must have lost patience. But then, less than half a second later, it rang again. She had no choice but to open the door, and was stunned to see that the persistent ringer was Lu Zhengting.
Without waiting for her to speak, Lu Zhengting walked familiarly into the living room, casually surveying the mess. He frowned slightly, picked a spot he deemed acceptable to sit, and lifted his eyes to fix his gaze on Xia Yan, who had followed him in.
"Hotpot?"
"Can't one person eat hotpot?"
Lu Zhengting glanced at Xia Yan. The food on the table was almost untouched, but there were some bottles of alcohol nearby. He eyed them and said leisurely, "Perfect timing. I'm hungry."
Xia Yan thought for a moment, holding back the retort on her lips. She silently arranged the things she had just tidied back into place. "I'm full. If you're hungry, help yourself."
Sensing Lu Zhengting's ambiguous gaze, Xia Yan pondered for a moment and said faintly, "Don't tell me you don't know how to eat hotpot?"
At that, Lu Zhengting's expression shifted dramatically. But Xia Yan, as if on purpose, quickly added before he could speak, "Really don't know how? Then I'll do it, and you can learn by watching."
With that, she lowered her head, secretly smirking. The man watching her knew she was teasing him, and his stern face instantly turned into a mix of amusement and exasperation. Probably only Xia Yan dared to mock him like this.
When Xia Yan saw that Lu Zhengting had eaten his fill, she was about to kick him out. But instead, he leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes, and looked like a lord who was tired and needed to rest. Seeing this, Xia Yan shot him a fierce, murderous glare.
"Eat and drink for free, and now you want to sleep here too?"
"..."
"Hey, Lu Zhengting, say something. I'm telling you, don't think pretending to sleep will make me let you stay here tonight."
"..."
"Lu Zhengting, how can you be so shameless? It doesn't suit your status, you know? Get up and go home to sleep." Xia Yan stomped her feet a few times on the spot, but the man on the sofa still didn't react.
Heartbreaking!
Xia Yan stared at him, almost boring a hole through him with her eyes. In the end, she resignedly cleaned up the mess. She bet Lu Zhengting was faking sleep, so she deliberately made as much noise as possible while tidying up. But even after she finished, he still hadn't woken up.
******
Given Lin Xujia's tolerance for alcohol, a couple of bottles of beer were nothing. But now, she had to pretend to be drunk in front of Ye Yunchen. The night was deep, and the cars on the road were thinning out. As they passed through Jiangcheng's busiest night street, Lin Xujia leaned her head against the car window, catching a glimpse of Ye Yunchen's gaze sweeping over. She then spoke with a melancholic tone.
"Brother Ye..."
Lin Xujia softly called his name but paused for a long time without continuing. Ye Yunchen couldn't help but ask, "What is it?"
"The person you like is Xia Yan, right?"
"Yes."
Hearing Ye Yunchen's unhesitating answer, Lin Xujia's heart clenched. She lifted her head, took a deep breath, and forced a smile. "You know I like you too, right? So you still choose to be this cruel to me."
As her words fell, the air in the car seemed to freeze. Lin Xujia brushed her hair back and added, "Is this the special treatment between liking and being liked?"
Because you like Xia Yan, no matter what she says or does, you tolerate it all. And because you don't like me, you can't even be bothered to make up a lie to reject me.
Lin Xujia lowered her head, crying softly, then suddenly demanded, "Even if Xia Yan doesn't like you, you'd still like her?"
"..." Ye Yunchen paused for a moment, then said vaguely, "I believe she will come to like me."
Lin Xujia was stunned.
"Xia Yan has someone she likes."
"Don't you want to know who it is?"
At this, the usually gentle Ye Yunchen seemed to change expression in an instant, but quickly regained his composure. If Lin Xujia hadn't been watching him closely, she might have missed it. She had really thought he was that confident...
What Ye Yunchen didn't want to know, Lin Xujia was determined to tell him.
"You probably don't know that Xia Yan and Lu Zhengting are acquainted. You also don't know that when Yang Jinkuan came to cause trouble at the Xia family, it was Lu Zhengting who stepped in to help resolve it. You don't know that Xia Yan often goes to Lu Zhengting's place. You don't know..."
"Shut up!"
"Xia Yan has long fallen for Lu Zhengting. In her heart, you're just a friend."
"I said shut up!" Ye Yunchen suddenly raised his voice, slamming his hands hard against the steering wheel, his eyes fixed straight ahead in anger.
When he had dinner with Xia Yan and ran into Lu Zhengting last time, he had already sensed something was off. Though he hadn't asked Xia Yan, he had his suspicions. Now, confirmed by Lin Xujia, a sense of wariness and defensiveness toward Lu Zhengting arose in him.
Lin Xujia was startled, staring blankly at Ye Yunchen's grim face, not daring to breathe.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
"Why?" Lin Xujia stared at Ye Yunchen, her voice filled with anger and confusion.