TFS | Chapter 43

“Is that so? Then who do you like? Do you need your brother to teach you a thing or two?” Qi Xiaoyue hooked up the corners of his mouth and glanced at the girlfriend sitting beside him before asking lightly.

Xu Linruan gave him a calm look. “Why are you looking at me?” This mess wasn’t her doing. It was his own problem. Was he going to blame her for it too?

The guy immediately flashed her a brilliant smile, hooking a finger around her pinky as he casually spread dog food around. “Because you’re pretty. My taste is so good. If I’d only realized it later, wouldn’t you have been stolen by someone else?”

Xu Linruan stuffed a piece of steak into his mouth. “Can’t food even堵 your mouth?”

“It can’t, it can’t. You’d need something else to堵 it.” He shamelessly hinted at a certain place. Anyway, she was his girlfriend, so what was wrong with him openly being a pervert?

After saying that, he seemed to remember something and looked innocently in Xu Zhou’s direction. “Right, what did you just say? I don’t think I was paying attention.”

Xu Zhou smiled, lifted his glass and gave it a little swirl, then slowly took a sip of wine. “Nothing much. I just think this kind of thing is better kept secret. I’m afraid if I say it, she’ll be shocked.”

“Oh…”

The person across from him was distracted, his head tilted slightly as if he’d heard a joke, completely unconcerned. “Then keep it secret, I’m too lazy to know anyway.”

He reached out and picked up a piece of sashimi, placing it in his girlfriend’s plate. “Here, this tastes pretty good. Try it…”

“She doesn’t really like that.”

Qi Yue’s chopsticks paused. His gaze suddenly turned sharp as he stared straight at the man speaking across from him, as if the two of them would start fighting the next second.

Xu Linruan wasn’t that stupid. Did Xu Zhou think she was? To provoke him so openly, was he assuming he mattered more than this guy in her heart?

She glanced at her boyfriend, then calmly picked up the sashimi he had given her and tasted it unhurriedly. After that, she smiled at him. “It’s not that I don’t like it, it just depends on who I’m eating with. Mm… it tastes pretty good. I haven’t tried it before. We can come again next time.”

Her boyfriend was satisfied at once, grinning so hard his teeth showed. Being defended by his girlfriend felt just too wonderful. He knew it, Ruanuan couldn’t bear to see him wronged. He loved her to death.

Xu Linruan looked at his silly grin and silently averted her eyes. Probably, aside from her, no one else would be interested in this idiot.

After dinner, she went to the bathroom to wash her hands.

After she left, the man who had been lounging lazily in his chair suddenly straightened up. His expression changed too. He tugged at his tie, looking annoyed, and stared darkly at Xu Zhou in front of him. “You like Ruanuan?”

“Yes, I like her.” Xu Zhou didn’t deny it. Compared with before, this guy had grown a lot.

“So you want to steal her from me?”

Qi Yue curled his lips, idly fiddling with the utensils on the table, his posture loose and careless.

“You should know, a big reason we became friends was because we had the same interests and hobbies. The things you hate, I hate too. And the people and things you like, there’s a very good chance I’ll like them too.”

“Actually, I don’t think I’m stealing her from you. You disappeared for so long, and you’ve only been together for a few months. But I’ve stayed with her for five years. With that much time, do you really think nothing can change?”

That was always Xu Zhou’s most confident point. Even as a friend, he had years more companionship than him. The period of time Qi Yue had missed was what he should have been most worried about.

Qi Yue suddenly laughed. His exquisite features relaxed, and he lazily brushed his black hair back from his forehead. In the blink of an eye, his expression changed, his voice turning dark and cold. “So what? Now that I’m back, do you think you still have a chance to get close to her?”

“That’s not for you to decide, Qi Yue.” Afraid the provocation wasn’t enough, Xu Zhou kept smiling as he said, “Maybe you don’t know this, but during the time you were gone, I was the one by her side. We ate together, started school together. I spent her birthdays with her, was there for her graduation, and much more…”

“You never took part in any of that, so do you really think you can still be like before, trust her without reserve, and stay with her?”

Playing with people’s hearts, Xu Zhou had always been an expert. He might not like studying, but that didn’t mean he was stupid. On the contrary, he was very smart, and he knew exactly how to hit someone where it hurt.

It had to be said, he really did hit Qi Yue’s sore spot.

With a snap, the utensil in his hand broke.

Pain shot through his palm.

Qi Yue stood up and looked down at the man before him, contempt surfacing in his eyes. “You said that very nicely, but so what? Using my name to get close to Ruanuan, Xu Zhou, have you forgotten that without me, she wouldn’t even deign to look at you?”

Xu Zhou didn’t argue this time. What needed to be said had already been said. He lifted his head and looked at him.

The two were deadlocked, neither willing to yield.

Qi Yue saw his girlfriend’s figure appear around the corner.

He restrained his aura, stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her waist. Xu Linruan didn’t refuse, she just felt that something about this guy was off. He was tense all over, and she had no idea where that anger was coming from.

She was led home by him.

Neither of them spoke the whole way. The atmosphere was weird, and she couldn’t tell what on earth this guy was angry about again.

The moment the door opened, he suddenly went crazy. He lifted her into his arms, hooked one foot around the door, shut it with practiced ease, and before she could react, carried her inside and threw her onto the big bed.

Just as she was puzzled, he pressed down on her fiercely, his eyes dark and heavy, his gaze on her full of wolf-like desire. While he was biting her, that hand didn’t stop either, forcefully yanking at his tie, his movements so practiced they were outrageous.

Xu Linruan rolled away, only to be dragged back. She tried to hide again, but he bound her hands with a strap. Now she had nowhere to run. He still wouldn’t give up, forcing her legs apart as he pressed them down.

“What are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell, Ruanuan?” He leaned down over her, his posture domineering. He liked her, so he was used to suppressing his own momentum in front of her.

But that didn’t mean he was really weak, especially when it came to men and women. He liked being teased by her because he treated that as part of the fun between lovers. But now it was different. He had realized he wasn’t her only one, and that their relationship wasn’t fair.

He wasn’t that stupid. Her repeated rejections were clearly signs that she didn’t like him. Things normal couples would do, she refused to do with him.

He was willing to give her time to adjust. After all, he had disappeared for so long, so it was normal that she couldn’t accept it all at once. But what Xu Zhou said in the restaurant today had made him furious, until he couldn’t hold himself back.

“Why won’t you be willing, hm?”

Qi Yue pinned her legs down, one hand holding both of her wrists high above her head. The expression on his face was hard to read, but seeing that she was still calm and rational only made him… irritated.

He wanted to break her composure, make her lose that calm, strip away that lofty look of hers. Mess up her clothes, leave his marks on her, change everything about her because of him.

Xu Linruan slightly tipped her face up to look at him, suddenly feeling a little strange. She didn’t hate her boyfriend showing his true colors at all. On the contrary, she thought he was cuter now.

“Be willing to do what?”

“Heh, you really don’t know?” Qi Yue stared at her. That long finger began unhurriedly unbuttoning his shirt. But he was too rushed and had no patience, so he simply ripped it open with force.

“Do you think it’s fun to toy with me, Xu Linruan? Is it because I like you that you’re acting this brazen? You go out to eat with Xu Zhou, go out to play with him. Don’t you know I’d be jealous, that I’d be angry, when you do those things with another man?”

That pair of black eyes flickered with icy light. Qi Yue felt like he couldn’t take it anymore. Her attitude toward him had always been whatever, something that could be taken or left. She didn’t like him at all. When she was interested, she’d tease him a little, and even if there wasn’t him, there would be someone else.

Xu Linruan tilted her head. “But weren’t these things what you asked him to do?”

“Yeah, I asked him to do them. I was too stupid, thought I could trust you. But what about you, did you ever really like me?”

Xu Linruan paused, then looked into those beautiful eyes. “Why do you think I don’t like you?”

Why?

Wasn’t that obvious?

He wasn’t stupid. He could see it. If you truly liked someone, how could you have the mind to accept another man’s invitations?

Qi Yue gave a soft scoff. A self-mocking look appeared in his eyes, and then he suddenly lowered his head. In a voice that was half threatening and half cold, he leaned close to her ear and said, “If you like me, then do me. For something like this, it should be pretty easy to prove, right?”

His cold demeanor looked very domineering, but if one ignored his slightly red ears, Xu Linruan would believe his words even more.

She leaned against the pillow and found a more comfortable position, showing no sense of crisis at all from being restrained. Instead, she couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you? But can you?”

Qi Yue’s expression stiffened. He took a deep breath and forced down the rage inside him. “If you don’t try, how would you know I can’t?”

So the Xu Linruan lying on the bed gave him a meaningful look. She glanced downward, looking all too composed, and the words she said were practically enough to anger someone to death. “It’s not like I haven’t tried before. Three minutes, after all.”

“Xu Linruan, are you looking for death?”

Qi Yue gripped her wrist in a fury, practically wanting to bite her to death. “When have I ever been three minutes? That day I just lacked experience, and also… don’t try to change the subject. It’s always like this. Are you just relying on the fact that other people like you, so you’re this arrogant?”

She was really going to infuriate him to death!

Qi Yue flipped over and sat up. The urge to teach her a lesson had gradually faded too. He felt like he was probably done for.

No matter what she felt about him, whether she liked him or was just playing with him, he thought he probably couldn’t hurt her against her will.

Xu Linruan saw him turn his back to her and watched him for a while before sitting up too. “How much do you like me?”

Qi Yue turned his head and glanced at her, his tone icy and laced with mockery. “Heh, you really can’t tell?”

Xu Linruan felt like laughing a little. She took the initiative to wrap her arms around his neck, her tone full of tenderness. “Since you like me that much, why were you willing to hand me over to someone else to take care of? Aren’t you afraid I’ll be stolen away?”

“What do you mean by that?”

This guy was probably really not very smart. Even after she had made it so obvious, he was still acting like a fool. So Xu Linruan leaned in and kissed his forehead. “It means you’re really too stupid, Qi Xiaoyue. Can’t you feel that I like you?”

Qi Yue let out a low breath. His face showed a taunting, unbelieving expression. One hand circled her waist and yanked her hard into his arms, his tone dark and menacing. “You still want to coax me? Do you really think I’m an idiot?”

“Mm, fine. If you don’t believe me, then forget it.” She pressed her forehead against his, her fingers resting on his shoulder, and softly said another sentence. “But do you think, with my personality, if I really hated someone, would I have waited for him for that long?”