TFS | Chapter 15

As soon as Xu Linruan came over, he grabbed her hand at once and squeezed it tightly, as if he was afraid she would run off. He asked Xu Linruan, “Are you very familiar with him? You even want to go out for a stroll together?”

He was still a little bothered by it. His girlfriend would not even be close with him, yet she actually wanted to go have fun with another man, which made him feel like there was a green tinge over his head.

But he was also afraid of causing a misunderstanding. He knew what kind of person Xu Linruan was, and she would definitely look down on Xu Zhou. After all, he was more handsome than Xu Zhou, and that bit of confidence he still had.

Besides, they had not met all that many times. At most, it was only the identity of a good buddy’s girlfriend, and there was nothing else between them.

He was worried Xu Linruan would be unhappy if he kept meddling in her business, so he did not dare say much. He could only ask a couple of indirect questions.

Xu Linruan’s brows lifted slightly. Before she could speak,

Xu Zhou on the side could not sit still anymore. “How familiar we are, don’t you know? Wasn’t I here to see you? I just said hello to her… does that even count as a problem?” Xu Zhou really felt helpless. His good buddy had a one-track mind, and was he maybe really putting his heart on this woman.

Qi Yue could not help rolling his eyes at him, though he did believe what he said. Still, he did not want to bother with him anymore. He thought Qi Yue did not know this guy had come to enjoy the show, and even brought someone he hated along. It was simply annoying.

He was not polite to him either, and directly issued the order to leave. “Then now that you’ve seen enough, get lost. We still have to eat.”

They were not arguing anymore now, they had just moved on to driving people away.

Xu Zhou was utterly speechless. He stared hard at the pair, thinking that this guy was the textbook definition of ungrateful. How good had they been before? They had grown up together, their bond deep enough to share a pair of split-crotch pants. Now that this beast had a girlfriend, he did not want his brother anymore. That was truly cold-hearted.

Before he had even finished complaining, he heard Xu Linruan tease Qi Yue from over there. “Alright now, why are you always keeping such a straight face? You’re so good-looking, you should smile more. I still like it best when you smile.” As she spoke, her hand even brushed his face, her tone gentle to the extreme.

The young master, who had been puffed up like a blowfish, instantly deflated, and the color on both sides of his cheeks slowly turned red.

Qi Yue looked up at Xu Linruan, thinking what bad habit did this person have? She always liked touching and patting at him. If no one else was around, fine, but there was an outsider here too. Did she not know how to rein herself in?

There was an awkward flush on his face. He grabbed her wrist at once. “Y-you… don’t keep doing that. There’s still someone else here. Later, okay?”

Xu Linruan deliberately teased him with bad intent, her tone carrying a trace of regret. “So you don’t like this? Fine, then. I won’t touch you again in the future.”

Qi Yue hated himself for running his mouth. One sentence had blocked off all his future benefits. In a panic, he grabbed her hand and pressed it against his face. “That’s not what I meant. If you like it, then just touch me.”

After all, the young master did not know what shame was. Or perhaps his shame only appeared when facing his girlfriend. He had to go and feed his good buddy dog food right in front of him, leaving the watcher feeling slightly stuck in the throat.

Even Jiang Mian, standing nearby, was forcibly made to watch the young master’s lightning-fast change of expression. He had just been arguing with her a second ago, and the next he was acting spoiled toward another woman. Did this person have no sense of decorum at all?

Jiang Mian also felt a little wronged. She had come to visit him on behalf of their classmates out of kindness, and even if he did not appreciate it, did he really have to kick her out? She could have ignored the way he had bullied people before, so why was he still being so petty!

And as a grown man, did he not feel embarrassed acting spoiled in public? She was blushing just from watching. It was really… Jiang Mian could not help sneaking another glance at that human-looking face, and anyway, she just felt rather depressed.

Xu Linruan soothed him with a few words, and Qi Yue could not very well slap her face by refusing, so with a sour expression he let the two of them stay for lunch, telling them to leave after they had eaten.

…………

After lunch ended, Qi Yue also did not want to go back to his room and lie down anymore. He had probably been lying around for several days, and his whole body had gone soft and sore. He was not in pain now, but he still needed some more recovery time.

Qi Yue had someone help him out to the garden for some fresh air.

Xu Linruan could not be bothered to follow, so she stayed in the house to read. She was absorbed in it when a faint voice suddenly sounded behind her. “Qi Yue is waiting for you in the garden. Aren’t you going to go keep him company?”

Xu Zhou could be considered the strategist type in their little group. His brain was not exactly stupid either. Qi Yue that guy had fallen into the game of love and could not see clearly, but he could see it plainly. The girl in front of him clearly did not have much affection for him.

“Huh, you’re still not gone yet?”

Xu Linruan smiled at him. This guy was pretty careful, and his brain was smart too, no wonder he had been an important supporting male character who later fought the male lead for the female lead.

The young man looked at her coolly, faint impatience hidden in his eyes. “I can tell you don’t have much feelings for Qi Yue. What are you staying with him for? Don’t tell me it’s for money? Or because you think playing with people is fun?”

Xu Linruan lowered her head, and the smile on her face faded a little. “So you guys also know that playing with people isn’t fun? Then why were you all so happy when you used me as a betting chip?”

Just because she was the female supporting character?

Xu Linruan thought it was funny. This group of second-generation rich kids had grown up with privileges and never suffered much hardship. Their personalities were even more flamboyant to the extreme, and no matter what mistake they made, they could settle it with their family background. In their eyes, it was fine to toy with other people’s feelings, but if someone else toyed with theirs, that was not okay.

What kind of logic was that?

Xu Linruan could not help thinking of the female supporting character’s ending in the original novel. The young master’s starting point had been as flashy as could be, and Xu Linruan’s ending had been as miserable as could be. Although that girl was not exactly a good person either, and had done some truly obnoxious things, they had been the ones to provoke her first, had they not?

It was just that she was playing her cards a little more skillfully now, having gotten hold of the young master who had originally wanted to dump her, coaxing him until he was dizzy and spinning around her finger, which was why the current situation was not so terrible.

She leaned back a little, the expression on her face as gentle as ever. “You’re angry? Then you can also tell Qi Yue to hurry up and dump me. Otherwise, the one who gets dumped will be him, you know.” Her final syllable was dragged out lazily.

Apart from surprise, Xu Zhou also felt disgusted. His expression looked like he had swallowed a fly. He opened his mouth to argue, but could not find the words, and in the end he just felt stifled.

The matter of the bet had indeed been their fault, but now that guy was clearly already sunk in. Even if it was a little too much, was this woman not just leaning on Qi Yue’s feelings to talk back so hard? If Qi Yue stopped liking her, let’s see if she could still be so arrogant!

He also did not really dare explain this matter to Qi Yue clearly. The key was that guy was too stubborn, and even more pigheaded. Whether or not he would believe him was one thing, but he was probably still tangled up over the betting matter until now, not knowing that the other side had already seen through him completely.

How was this even supposed to be played?

Xu Zhou had a headache and felt that this was getting seriously troublesome.

But then he thought about it again and decided there was no need to worry. He had been brothers with Qi Yue for so many years, so he still knew a thing or two about his personality. That guy had three-minute heat for people and things alike, and the thing he liked today might be the thing he did not like tomorrow.

Maybe once Xu Linruan really got her hands on him, Qi Yue would end up getting tired of her again. After all, this kind of thing had happened before.