TFS | Chapter 36

Xu Linruan had discovered another one of the young master’s few strengths, he was obedient. Sure, some of his behavior was dog-like, but it was undeniable that he still had a lot of room for improvement.

As for going abroad, that also existed in the original plot. It just wasn’t because the young master had risen to the challenge and grown up, but because his grades were terrible, so his family packed him off overseas. For that, the young master had been furious for quite a while and fought with his family for a long time.

Xu Linruan sat casually in the chair. Her ink-black hair hung in sparse strands over her shoulders. She slowly bit down on her straw and stared at the boy in front of her without blinking.

Qi Xiaoyue felt all itchy under her gaze, and before he knew it, he leaned closer. “Why do you keep staring at me? It’s kind of embarrassing, you know?”

Xu Linruan was honestly impressed by how shameless he was. This guy could feel embarrassed? His skin was clearly thicker than city walls.

The boy’s gaze was a little hot. His eyes landed on the girl’s rosy lips. Seeing that she didn’t speak, he tried leaning in a little more, then asked with a blush and a hesitant look, “Do you… want it again? We just kissed a moment ago.”

He couldn’t help coughing once. The furtive glances he shot over were actually pretty shy. Even the young master was a little troubled. His girlfriend always wanted kisses, and he really had no choice, did he? He could only try his best to satisfy her requests.

After hesitating for a second, he was just about to lean in when someone slapped him away. The young master covered his face and retreated pitifully.

He glanced at his girlfriend’s cold expression and thought, so that look wasn’t permission? How disappointing!

Xu Linruan rolled her eyes at him. Who exactly was the one always wanting it? This guy who was constantly trying to take advantage of her was clingy to the extreme.

…………

The weekend date ended, and they returned to campus life. There were still half a month left until the college entrance exam.

During that time, the boy had been busy with the procedures for going abroad. Even though he was swamped dealing with all sorts of exams, the number of times he bothered her hadn’t decreased at all. Whenever he had free time, he would take her to his private turf to meet that group of rowdy friends.

He said that once he went abroad, if anything happened that he couldn’t solve, she could ask his good brothers for help. Xu Linruan had seen them, and they were all boys around eighteen or nineteen. There wasn’t any obstacle in getting along with them.

After that, some of the boys who had initially not thought very highly of her gradually changed their attitude. Of course, there were also those who had disliked her from the start, who thought she was a scheming, manipulative eyesore. Even if they were polite to her on the surface, behind her back they still had that same mocking attitude.

One of them still stubbornly tried to persuade Qi Yue to think carefully. Although he hadn’t said it in front of her, one could guess even with a toe that it was nothing more than her being fake and pretentious, that they weren’t a good match, and so on.

Xu Linruan didn’t care in the slightest. She just liked seeing people hate her and still being unable to do anything to her. Better yet if it pissed that little bitch off to death.

Their relationship was as incompatible as fire and water, but Qi Yue actually felt relieved. Before going abroad, he called over his buddy and gave him a long, serious reminder. “I need to ask you to do me a favor. You know I’m leaving the country soon, and after that I definitely won’t be able to keep track of things back home. Help me watch her. If anyone bullies Ruanruan, you need to help her bully them back.”

He emphasized especially, “Most importantly, keep an eye on her. Don’t let any other dogs get near her, especially that guy called Xu Canyang. Got it?”

Xu Zhou’s face twitched. The game in his hand instantly lost all appeal. “What kind of joke is this, young master? You want me to take care of Xu Linruan? Don’t you know I hate scheming women the most?”

“Precisely because you hate her is why I’m daring to hand her over to you. If you liked her, I wouldn’t be at ease.”

The young master wasn’t stupid. He’d seen plenty of brother-steals-girlfriend plots on TV. His girlfriend was so pretty, and so outstanding, it was only natural that people would have bad intentions. Since Xu Zhou and Ruanruan didn’t get along, that was exactly why he felt more reassured.

Qi Xiaoyue thought he was incredibly smart. Then he turned around and saw Xu Zhou looking completely unenthused, so the young master frowned and continued, “Also, haven’t you been coveting my racing car for ages? If you agree to help me, I’ll give you that car. How about it?”

Xu Zhou looked up in shock. “Holy shit, you’re serious?”

Qi Yue just glanced at him. “What else? My girlfriend is way more important than a car. Someone like you, a single dog who’s never really dated anyone, would never understand in this lifetime. Anyway, I don’t care, the car is yours, but you still have to take good care of Ruanruan for me.”

Xu Zhou was speechless inside. He thought that once this guy left, he’d definitely “take good care” of his girlfriend for him. This shameless bastard actually had the nerve to ask for help and then insult him with a human-stem-and-animal-gibberish attack? Did he not want to save face?

In the end, the matter was settled just like that.

The young master used both threats and inducements, forcibly getting him to agree to the request.

With that side handled, Qi Yue was satisfied. Then he skipped over to his girlfriend to act spoiled, show off, and beg for praise.

Xu Linruan looked at the head that had squeezed itself over. She reached out and pinched this guy’s delicate, harmless-looking face. The feel was pretty good, and she was satisfied. “Mm, you mean Xu Zhou? Have him look after me occasionally? Isn’t he always unfriendly toward me?”

The main character’s good brother wasn’t someone easy to fool. She still remembered how he’d come looking for trouble with her more than once.

“That’s not how you put it. Do you not even look at who your boyfriend is? If I make a move, what can’t I accomplish? So, Ruanruan, don’t you think I’m especially amazing now? Aren’t you just about to love me to death?”

The young man thumped his chest and lifted his chin proudly as he showed off, looking like a little rooster that had just won a fight, extremely smug.

Loving him to death, no. Being disgusted by him, yes.

But who couldn’t talk sweetly? Especially when facing such a sincere and passionate boy, Xu Linruan held his face and very smoothly patted him down. “Yes, you’re the most amazing. Your skin is also the thickest.”

Qi Xiaoyue grinned. He automatically filtered out the last sentence. He usually only heard the words he liked. “Then if I’m this amazing, do you want to reward me?”

Xu Linruan raised a brow. “Then what reward do you want?”

The young master coughed twice and leaned his head over with a blush. “This… um… saying it out loud would ruin the point. Anyway, just give me something you think is okay. I’m not picky.”

So Xu Linruan very much gave him face and kissed his cheek. The young master still wasn’t satisfied even after covering the spot she’d kissed. He clung to her and acted up to the fullest. “No, not enough, I want more, more, I still want…”

Xu Linruan looked at him with what could only be described as the gaze one used for a disabled idiot, then slapped at the big face that kept leaning closer. “Be serious, Qi Xiaoyue.”

Her boyfriend let out a very aggrieved “oh,” then sat there obediently and didn’t move. Even if he didn’t move, however, his presence was still incredibly strong, especially that tactile, vine-like gaze, almost entirely unreserved as it stuck to her.

…………

The closer it got to the day he had to leave, the more the young master wanted to stay with her. Several times, he looked at her with a hesitant, unspoken expression.

Xu Linruan guessed he wanted to persuade her to leave with him, but once the words reached his lips, he didn’t dare say them. After all, this guy wasn’t stupid either, and he knew that this was impossible, so he didn’t even bring it up afterward.

A while later, all of Qi Xiaoyue’s going-abroad procedures were finally complete, and the departure date was set for Saturday, right after the college entrance exam ended.

In the airport lobby, only two people came to see him off. One was the good brother he’d grown up with, and the other was his beloved girlfriend.

Xu Zhou’s mouth twitched. He felt like he was just a tool, clearly called over to help carry luggage.

It was one thing for this guy to be all affectionate with his girlfriend right in front of him, but he even thought Xu Zhou was an eyesore and not self-aware enough. That ungrateful look of his was so shameless he wasn’t afraid of being struck by lightning.

The two of them finally finished clinging to each other.

The time was almost up, and Qi Xiaoyue boarded the plane. Although he was extremely reluctant to leave, this was a decision he’d made himself. No matter how upset he was, he wouldn’t regret it. The boy leaned against the window and looked at the scene outside. Even though he knew he couldn’t see anything, he still refused to look away.

…………

After seeing him off, Xu Linruan also prepared to leave.

Xu Zhou beside her suddenly reached out and stopped her. Smiling, he leaned closer. “Xu Linruan, your skills are really something. You’ve got him wrapped around your finger. First he apologizes and admits his mistakes, then he goes abroad to train himself, and now, for your sake, he even gave away the racing car he likes. Tell me, aren’t you pretty impressive?”

He thought Qi Yue was some lovestruck idiot with bad judgment, which was why he couldn’t see Xu Linruan’s scheming nature. A girl like that, besides being good-looking, was also not to be underestimated in how she played with people’s hearts.

The boy narrowed his eyes and said in a half-threatening, half-scaring tone, “But don’t worry. Since I already promised Qi Yue that I’d take good care of you, I definitely won’t go back on my word. Xu Linruan, you’d better be careful. Don’t let me catch any dirt on you. If you dare do anything that wrongs that guy, I absolutely won’t let you off.”

Looking at the mocking, disgusted eyes on the other side, Xu Linruan couldn’t help laughing. She wasn’t the kind of girl who would swallow being bullied and just hold it in. This guy wanting to throw his weight around in front of her was a little too funny.

She slightly lifted her head. The hair tucked behind her ear slipped loosely down onto her shoulder blades. Xu Linruan gave him a bright smile. “Are you jealous?”

The boy in front of her looked a little strange.

“Jealous? What are you talking about?” Xu Zhou seemed not to understand her train of thought. His black eyes looked at her contemptuously. “What do I have to be jealous of?”

Xu Linruan walked a step closer, narrowing the distance between them quite a bit.

“Mm, there seems to be a saying like that. It says that immature boys, when they meet a girl they like, often like to gain presence by bullying the girl, hoping to attract her attention.”

She tilted her head and smiled gently at him. “If that’s the case, then your habit of running to me every now and then to make yourself noticed must mean you really like me, right?”

Fuck, what the hell?

Xu Zhou’s narrowed eyes instantly widened. He suspected there was something wrong with his ears.

What kind of joke was this? How could he possibly like a woman like Xu Linruan, fake and pretentious as she was?

The boy was so furious he couldn’t even speak.

He had thought Qi Yue’s face was already thick enough, but he hadn’t expected his girlfriend’s skin to be even thicker. Compared like this, he didn’t even feel like scolding Qi Yue for being shameless anymore.

“Mm? Why aren’t you talking anymore?” Xu Linruan’s expression remained natural as she crossed her arms and continued, “Could it be that I hit on your secret thoughts, so you’re too embarrassed to deny it?”