Chapter 29: We Slept Together

Xu Si'an made no attempt to lower his voice, his tone playful. "Which one do you want?"

"Top or bottom?"

"It's not convenient here. Why don't we go to the restroom?"

A sharp *slap* echoed through the cabin, drawing the attention of both Xu Shiran and Shen Zhiwei.

Shen Zhiwei covered her mouth in shock. "Miss Qiao, how could you hit someone?"

The sound had been Qiao Xu slapping Xu Si'an across the mouth. She hadn't used much force, but the acoustics of the cabin amplified it.

Qiao Xu wished she could jump out of the plane. Xu Si'an pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. "It’s just some intimacy between me and my girlfriend. What business is it of yours? You have such a loose tongue."

Shen Zhiwei’s face turned deathly pale, tears welling up in her eyes, trembling on the verge of falling.

"Xu Si'an, who are you talking to?"

"Apologize to Weiwei."

Xu Si'an whispered to Qiao Xu, "Next time you want to hit me, just tell me. I’ll hit myself; don’t hurt your own hand."

Qiao Xu awkwardly pulled her hand away. "Stop being so lewd."

"I have even lewder things in mind. Want to try?"

Qiao Xu gritted her teeth. "I’m resigning the moment we get back, and I’ll borrow money to pay the breach-of-contract penalty."

Having found his weak spot, Xu Si'an didn't dare to run his mouth any further. He turned to shield Qiao Xu, sneering, "I’m talking to whoever interrupts me. You have no manners or breeding. What are you even supposed to be, interfering in my business with my woman?"

"Xu Si'an!"

Xu Shiran’s temper finally flared. Abandoning his usual composure, he roared.

Shen Zhiwei quickly grabbed Xu Shiran’s hand. "Brother Shiran, don’t be angry. It was my fault for speaking out of turn."

"I’ll say it one more time: apologize to Weiwei."

Xu Si'an put on his headphones to return to his work, making sure to put a pair on Qiao Xu as well before covering her with his suit jacket.

"You got up early. Get some sleep."

Not wanting to be part of the war, Qiao Xu closed her eyes. Perhaps because of the early start, she drifted off.

When she woke up, the clouds outside were dense, looking like cotton candy. She suddenly lost her fear, opened the window shutter, and used her phone to take a few photos.

The headphones were removed by someone, and Xu Si'an’s lips brushed against her ear. "Not afraid anymore?"

The plane hit a patch of turbulence, and Qiao Xu lost her grip on her phone, which fell to the floor.

Xu Si'an pinched her cheek. "Scaredy-cat. If there’s an accident, I’ll die with you. You won’t be alone."

Qiao Xu retrieved her phone and glared at him. "Quit with the bad omens."

During meal service, Xu Si'an went to the restroom.

Shen Zhiwei suddenly spoke up. "Miss Qiao, don’t you want to know what happened to Si'an four years ago?"

"Or perhaps, what happened between him and me?"

When Qiao Xu looked up, she noticed Xu Shiran was also gone.

No wonder Shen Zhiwei was so emboldened.

"I don’t want to know."

Shen Zhiwei chuckled, fiddling with her nails. "We slept together four years ago. He was very rough with me."

Qiao Xu’s chopsticks paused mid-air. "Is that so? He’s always been rather reckless."

It wasn't that she wanted to provoke her, but someone was shoving filth right into her mouth.

Shen Zhiwei’s tone grew more smug. "He even said that night that he was very satisfied, and he didn't stop for the entire night."

Qiao Xu scoffed, tilting her head to look at Shen Zhiwei. "Really? Then Miss Shen must have quite a lot of stamina to not have fainted from exhaustion all night."

"It seems you have plenty of experience to keep him satisfied."

"Unlike me; when I’m with him, he’s the one who serves me."

Shen Zhiwei’s face shifted through a spectrum of colors, her smile gradually twisting.

"Do you think just because Si'an likes you, you can walk through the doors of the Xu family?"

"Mother will never agree to a low-class, poverty-stricken wretch like you..."

Qiao Xu put down her phone and fixed an icy gaze on Shen Zhiwei. The latter swallowed the rest of her words under Qiao Xu's stare. She had seen this look just a while ago—the same one she wore when she slapped her.

"I have never cared for the Xu family’s doors. You’re the only one who treats them like a treasure; to me, it’s no different than a garbage dump."

Xu Si'an, holding a small box of washed strawberries, raised his lips in a smile upon hearing "garbage dump."

As for the man beside him—it didn't matter. He had been sullen for the entire trip.

"Not hungry? Better eat something?" Xu Si'an placed the strawberries on Qiao Xu’s tray.

"There are strawberries on the plane?"

The man picked one up and fed the tip of the strawberry into her mouth.

"I bought them. Are they sweet?"

Qiao Xu bit off half and nodded.

Before boarding, he had handed a bag to the staff; it turned out to be strawberries.

Qiao Xu watched as he popped the remaining half into his own mouth.

Xu Si'an raised an eyebrow. "They really are sweet, especially since you’ve tasted them."

Qiao Xu: "Can you be normal for once?"

"Normal?"

"Fine."

The next second, Qiao Xu really wanted to smash the window and throw him out.

What was he doing?

He was feeding her strawberries right in front of his older brother and the woman who had been coveting him for years...

Xu Si'an pecked her lips and chuckled softly. "How’s that?"

Qiao Xu kept her head down, chewing the strawberry, not wanting to engage with the rogue.

She knew this man was incapable of being serious.

Because she had successfully shut everyone down, Qiao Xu’s appetite improved, and she finished half her meal.

Xu Si'an saw her put down her chopsticks. "Done? Do you have the appetite of a bird?"

"Eat a few more bites."

Qiao Xu pushed the tray away. "No, I'm full."

Xu Si'an didn't force her; the food on the plane was indeed not very good.

When the plane landed at Los Angeles International Airport, Xu Shiran stopped Xu Si'an. "Xiao An."

Qiao Xu: "I’m going to get the luggage."

She didn't want to participate in these smoke-filled wars. She meant what she said on the plane; she had never considered marrying into the Xu family.

"Xiao An, Mother has been looking for..."

"You can marry as many as you want. You’re the heir to the Xu family. There are plenty of people who don't care about a title. You can sleep with this one today and that one tomorrow."

Xu Shiran’s face turned livid. "What kind of talk is that?"

"Human talk."

Xu Si'an looked at Shen Zhiwei with cold, ruthless eyes. "The matter of you throwing away my dog won't be settled just because Qiao Xu slapped you."

Shen Zhiwei acted aggrieved. "The dog was trying to..."

"Save those words for the lawyer." Xu Si'an sneered. "Shen Zhiwei, I will make sure every single thing you did to Qiao Xu is accounted for."

Qiao Xu followed the signs toward the baggage claim area.

But despite following the signs, she couldn't find their baggage carousel. Xu Si'an was right; she was hopeless at navigating airports.

After circling twice, she asked a staff member and was told there was another baggage claim area, so she followed the signs again.

After picking up his luggage, Xu Si'an called Qiao Xu.

"Where are you?"

Qiao Xu looked at her surroundings. "I’m at..."

Her battery died?

She was truly defeated. Qiao Xu felt hopeless; how did all these terrible things happen at once?

Xu Si'an, dragging two suitcases, was also feeling irritable. It was all Xu Shiran’s fault for stopping him to spout nonsense.

Xu Si'an called for his pickup driver to take the luggage while he went to find Qiao Xu.

Qiao Xu didn't know where Xu Si'an was, and she couldn't find a power bank to charge her phone.

Her eyes were red, like a child lost from their family.