TFS | Chapter 45

On a weekday morning, Xu Linruan woke up early.

After she finished washing up, a disgruntled-looking guy behind her got up and sat on the bed, staring at her with a gaze full of pent-up desire. That kind of tentacle-like stare was impossible to ignore. “Where are you going?”

He must have stopped bothering to hide his true nature. Right now, he was completely unguarded about his possessiveness, watching her with burning eyes, practically wanting to stick to her every second of every minute.

Xu Linruan was facing away from him, tugging the zipper of her dress closed with one hand behind her back. Hearing his question, she turned around on instinct. Her long black hair had slipped forward over one side of her chest. “What’s wrong? I’m going to work.”

Qi Yue felt his nose itch again. Every move his girlfriend made seemed like she was trying to seduce him. He got up and walked over, took the zipper from her hand, and fastened it for her.

After finishing, he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her from behind, speaking in a very willful tone. “You’re off work, nothing’s wrong, anyway I can support you too.”

He was still angry. She had only just come back and she was already going to work. Was work really more important than him? It wasn’t like he couldn’t make a living. Even if he didn’t work, he could still support her, okay?

“Is work more important than me? You’re this focused on it. I’ll give you money, you stay with me, isn’t that fine?”

Xu Linruan was an expert at coaxing people. She took a shirt from the closet and put it on slowly. “Well, how could work compare to you? Of course you’re more important. But I have a meeting this afternoon. Be good, and I’ll make it up to you next time, okay?”

“…”

Qi Yue’s ears were a little red. Thinking of what happened last night, he couldn’t help but force his tone. “Do I look like someone who cares about that little bit of compensation?”

As soon as he said that, his gaze unconsciously fell to a spot below his girlfriend’s neck. The scene froze, and his breathing instantly quickened a little. “It has to be double, and you have to be the one to initiate it.” His voice dropped very low on the last sentence.

He knew it would be like this. This guy had always been very proactive when it came to fighting for benefits.

Xu Linruan finished packing her things and prepared to leave. As she turned around, she heard Qi Yue say to her, “I’ll pick you up this afternoon.” As for the morning, he still had some things to settle.

“Okay.” He heard his girlfriend answer, and then she opened the door and left.

Qi Yue stood on the balcony watching her back gradually disappear. He took out his phone and called one of his underlings, his tone lazy. “She’s gone out. Keep an eye on her and see who she contacts, especially men.”

The person on the other end answered, and Qi Yue hung up.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. One hand rested lightly on the balcony rail. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe she liked him. It was just that the little bit of liking was still too little. For him, it was nowhere near enough.

He thought he was truly too greedy. Before he had ever fallen for her, he had thought that even a tiny bit of liking would be enough. But now that she liked him back, he still felt it was never enough. Too little. He wanted her eyes to be entirely on him, her heart and mind full of him, able to look only at him and no one else.

Tch, he really was too greedy.

Qi Yue pressed his lips together in a smile, unable to stop himself from imagining the scene of seeing her after work.

But before that, he still had some things to handle.

Qi Yue turned back into the room. First he roughly tidied the bed, and while he was at it, he threw away the clothes ruined last night, then went to take a shower.

When he came out, he had changed into a black shirt that made his features look even more refined. Especially when he wasn’t speaking, he gave off an unapproachable air, unlike the way he had deliberately restrained his presence in front of her.

He tied his tie in front of the mirror, his long fingers idly adjusting the collar, buttoning it up one by one with leisurely slowness, his posture loose and languid.

Only after he finished tidying himself up did he turn and leave.

Qi Yue looked completely casual. After all, they had been brothers for so many years. It was better to settle this as early as possible.

They had agreed on a time to meet, and there weren’t many people around in the morning. Qi Yue walked over, gave him a bland glance, then pulled out a chair and sat down.

Xu Zhou casually checked his watch, his tone familiar. “You came very early.”

“You weren’t late either.” Qi Yue narrowed his eyes. He could have come even earlier, but he had been clinging to his girlfriend and making trouble for a while, which was why he was a little late. But why would he tell someone else about something between a couple?

“You seemed very angry after going back yesterday afternoon. Did you and Xu Linruan have a fight? Or did you… make things difficult for her?”

Xu Zhou paused. He actually understood Qi Yue quite well, and knew this guy had a strong possessive streak, especially when it came to matters of love. When he was angry, he could easily lose his rationality.

“Make things difficult?” Qi Yue suddenly let out a soft laugh, then raised a brow as if in confusion, his tone disdainful. “Don’t you think you’re sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong? What does she have to do with you? Xu Zhou, don’t forget, we’re a couple. She’s my girlfriend now.”

Xu Zhou frowned. “So what?”

“So, you couldn’t possibly not know what couples do, right?”

Qi Yue lowered his head and smiled a little, as if he had remembered something pleasant. His fingers tapped lightly on the tabletop as he said viciously, “Oh, right, you don’t have a girlfriend. You probably don’t know. Since we were once brothers, how about I tell you?”

He tilted his head, deliberately trying to provoke him. “We kiss, we hug, and then we go to bed. She’ll kiss me first, she’ll say sweet things to me, and no matter what I want, no matter how many times, she’ll give it to me.”

Hearing those words, Xu Zhou’s expression instantly turned ugly.

Qi Yue was very satisfied to see the other man’s face change, and went on cheerfully. “And soon, we’ll get married. After that, we’ll have one or two children, one who looks like her and one who looks like me…”

“Mm, Xu Zhou, you should know all this, right?”

It had to be said that Xu Zhou really was provoked by such blatant words. Even the calm expression on his face nearly cracked, and he clenched his fingers so tightly that he almost punched him.

He tugged at the tie around his collar, then picked up a drink from the table and took a sip. After a brief pause, he looked up at him and said, “You really have changed a lot, Qi Yue. You’re not the same as before.”

Qi Yue unconsciously raised a brow. “Is that so? Ruanruan said that too. She said other parts of me are different now too.”

His meaning was obvious. As for what those other parts were, it was up to the other man to imagine. Anyway, in terms of both pissing people off and having a thick skin, the young master was definitely outstanding.

Before, he hadn’t been sure how Ruanruan felt about him, so he had held himself back. But now that the two of them were officially together, he had nothing to worry about.

Because other than him, Ruanruan would never have another chance to fall for anyone else.

Qi Yue stared at him, his gaze suddenly turning mocking. “Give it up, Xu Zhou. For the sake of our years growing up together, I’ll warn you one last time. If you keep bothering her, I don’t mind dealing with you myself. You should know that when I say something, I mean it.”

After saying that, he picked up the red wine on the table and drained it in one go. He couldn’t be bothered to keep dragging this out. With a sharp click, he set the glass back down on the table, his attitude utterly dismissive, then stood up and left.

Having dealt a blow to his love rival, Qi Yue was in a very good mood now. He realized that he really was becoming more and more unable to live without Ruanruan. It had only been a few hours since they last saw each other, and he already wanted to fly straight over to find her.

The corner of Qi Yue’s lips curved. He called Xu Linruan. “Ruanruan, can I come to the hospital to find you?”

Xu Linruan asked casually, “What’s wrong?”

The young master leaned back against the glass wall, lowering his head slightly. “I met Xu Zhou this morning. He told me some things about you, said your relationship was unusual. I got very angry, so I argued with him a little. Now I’m very worried, worried that you might be angry…”

Qi Yue wasn’t stupid. He wanted to reveal his true nature in front of her, but being strong all the time would only make her feel like he was trying too hard to control her. Only by occasionally playing the victim and being a little obedient could he let her know that he was also very “fragile.”

“What did you two talk about?” Xu Linruan leaned back in her chair, feeling that things definitely weren’t this simple. She didn’t know where he had learned this trick from, but the few lines he had just said were absolutely dripping with tea.

“Can’t I tell you when I get there?”

Xu Linruan tilted her head and replied, “Fine. Then come over.”

So Qi Yue happily headed to the hospital. He was there to assert his presence. Xu Linruan’s coworkers all knew Xu Zhou, but they didn’t know him, and that made him very unhappy. Wasn’t he the legitimate boyfriend of Ruanruan?

When it came to winning people over, this guy was pretty good too. It wasn’t enough that he came, he even brought a whole pile of gifts and food. Xu Linruan watched helplessly as he greeted her coworkers, his attitude even more enthusiastic than hers.

A few coworkers who had received gifts gathered around her and complained, “Dr. Xu, how could you do this? You have such a beautiful kept man and you didn’t bring him over to let us see him sooner. Look how thoughtful he is, bringing so many gifts…”

“Exactly, exactly. Speaking of which, isn’t this the man who came to the hospital looking for you last time?”

“He’s so handsome. Dr. Xu, does he have any siblings? Could you introduce us?”

…

The gift offensive instantly won over a lot of people’s hearts, and on top of that, this guy was good-looking, sweet-talking, and excellent at praising people, so he quickly earned unanimous approval from the many nurse ladies.

After handing out the gifts, Qi Yue was ready to shoo people away. He had finally come to spend some time bonding with his wife, so why were these people without any sense of tact still lingering here?

So he clapped his hands and made a prayer-like gesture with an obedient look on his face. “Everyone, I haven’t seen Ruanruan for a long time. She’s busy with work every day and doesn’t have much time to spend with me. Could you ladies give us a little time alone so she can stay and keep me company?”

“Oh, so that’s how it is…”

“Then you two keep talking.”

The crowd that had accepted his gifts didn’t feel right lingering any longer after hearing that.

Xu Linruan just watched him work his way through the whole thing and thought that this brat was truly shameless. He called the nurses “older sisters” one after another until they were blushing and their hearts were racing, and then they all nodded and left. As they went out the door, they even remembered to close it for him.

What a talented young man!