Chapter 9 Xiao Sheng, Give Me Your Blessings!

• It wasn’t right listening in to other people’s conversations. But I couldn’t control my curiosity. I remained standing by the door.
• I heard Xiao Shi say.
• “You’re doing well with Xiao Sheng too.”
• “That’s right. We’re very happy together.”
• “That’s good,” Xiao Shi said in her typical cool voice.
• I heard that she treated everyone like that. Maybe it was this cool attitude of hers that had made her so irresistible to Xi Qingchuan, the devil who made other women weep.
• “When are you getting married? I’ll make sure to be there to give my blessings.”
• “I’ll let you know when it happens.”
• Their conversation was tame and civil. It hurt, listening to them talking like that.
• I was about to make my escape when I heard Xi Qingchuan’s voice.
• “Xiao Sheng.”
• I froze. How did he know I was eavesdropping at the door?
• I had no choice but to step away from the door. The couple was standing next to Xiao Shi’s window, one a handsome man and the other a beautiful woman—a visually pleasing sight.
• Xi Qingchuan beckoned me over. When I approached him, he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. Without any warning at all, he pecked me on the lips, then smiled slyly.
• “What have you been up to? I came upstairs when I couldn’t find you.”
• “I see how your search brought you to my sister’s room,” I gave him a false smile.
• “I bumped into Xiao Shi, so we chatted for a bit.”
• He kissed me briefly on the lips again. If not for the pinch I had given him secretly, he might have genuinely considered prolonging the kiss.
• Xiao Shi stood just across us, watching us. She appeared unaffected.
• “I have something to tell Xiao Shi. Xi Qingchuan, leave us.”
• Xiao Shi was the only person in the whole of Hua City who would dare give orders to Xi Qingchuan.
• She was really something, behaving like she hadn’t done anything wrong when she had been the one who had dumped Xi Qingchuan.
• I didn’t expect Xi Qingchuan to really loosen his arm around my waist, turn away and leave the room.
• Xiao Shi sat down in front of me. She was extremely fair. Her skin was like smooth ivory under the white light.
• She was like a white lotus floating in the middle of a lake. In full blossom and beautiful, yet beyond reach.
• But nowadays, “white lotus” had become a form of insult.
• “Xiao Sheng,” she said, pursing her lips slightly. “I went looking at the address you’d given me. There was no such person there.”
• “Oh,” I said, disappointed. I looked at Xiao Shi stupidly.
• “I went to the college that you mentioned and asked around. There’s no such student as well. Are you sure he’s in England?”
• “I’m sure. He told me before he left. He even wrote me a letter.”
• “But I checked every student record in the college. He’s never attended school there. I can’t say for sure that he’s definitely not in England, but he’s definitely not at the college that he told you he was attending.”
• I looked down. My hands clutched at the hems of my skirt.
• “Xiao Sheng, you’re married now. Why are you still looking for him?”
• “I won’t stay married forever,” I muttered to myself. I wasn’t sure if Xiao Shi heard that.
• “Are things between you and Xi Qingchuan going well?”
• Probably not. We had barely spoken to each other for the past sex months. Then our relationship suddenly advanced at a freakish speed within a single day yesterday.
• I sat desolately on the sofa for a moment before getting to my feet.
• “Thank you, Xiao Shi. I’ll make a move now.”
• I had just turned around when Xiao Shi shouted my name.
• “Xiao Sheng.”
• “Hmm?” I turned back. “What is it?”
• “Xi Qingchuan is a complicated man. He’s not what he seems…” Xiao Shi appeared to be struggling with her words. It was a rare sight.
• I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.
• “When he’s friendly towards you, it’s not because he genuinely wants to know you, and when he’s nice to you, it’s not because he truly has your interests at heart.” She stood up and walked over towards me.
• I didn’t really understand what she was trying to say. I frowned and stared at her.
• Xiao Shi and I didn’t really speak to one another. She kept her distance and usually only nodded in greeting when she saw me. She never spoke to me. When I had found out that she was in England, I had asked her for help in locating a person out of desperation.
• What she had just said had been sudden and unexpected. I had no idea what she was trying to tell me.
• But I could tell that Xi Qingchuan’s earlier actions had had an effect on her.
• Xiao Shi was not as unfeeling towards Xi Qingchuan as she portrayed herself to be. Perhaps it wasn’t unreasonable to think that she was still in love with Xi Qingchuan?
• Why had she broken up with him them?
• I couldn’t understand what was going on and had no intentions of trying to find out. I smiled at Xiao Shi, then left her room.
• Her eyes never left me. I could feel her gaze on my back.
• I was too upset to care. He hadn’t contacted me for so many years, and I’ve just discovered he wasn’t even in England in the first place. But he had told me then that he was going to England.
• Xiao Shi came to send us off when we left. Bai Yu stood next to us. As the four of us stood together, I suddenly realized that I was in a truly bizarre four-way relationship.
• Actually, no, I shouldn’t be included in this. I wasn’t involved at all. I was only implicated because Xi Qingchuan had dragged me into this mess.
• I barely spoke on the way back, gnawing on my nails during the trip home. I remained listless when we arrived back at the Xi residence.
• I entered my room, my head bowed, and bumped head first into Xi Qingchuan’s chest. He was blocking the doorway to my bedroom.
• “What do you want?”
• “Are you upset because you can’t find your lover?”
• He had his arm leaning against the doorframe and his head resting against his arm. His smiling face was asking to be punched.
• “You eavesdropped on the conversation I had with Xiao Shi?”
• Who could’ve guessed that Xi Qingchuan had such nasty habits?
• “Weren’t you listening into my conversation with Xiao Shi too?”
• He finally dropped his arm and let me pass.
• I entered my room.
• “It’s none of your business.”
• He suddenly grabbed my elbow. His fingers pressed hard into a nerve, sending a sudden aching numbness down my arm.
• “Stop, it hurts,” I said as I struggled.
• “Xiao Sheng, don’t even think about playing around with other men while you are still my wife,” he said, with a menacing tone in his voice.
• “I just asked Xiao Shi to help me find out where he is now.”
• “If you’re not intending to have an affair with him, why are you looking for him? What are you going to do when you find him?” He suddenly released his hold on me. I stumbled and almost fell. “I don’t care who you’re looking for. You can do whatever you want with whichever man you want after we’re divorced.”
• He slammed the door shut as he left. From the looks of it, he probably wasn’t going to torment me tonight.
• He probably wasn’t angry because I was looking for Ni Yizhou. He was in a bad mood because Xiao Shi was giving him the cold shoulder.
• I was filled with regret. Why had I been so easily persuaded by my father and had gotten myself involved in this mess?
• I received a video call from Qiao Yi. She had cut her hair. It had been short in the first place, now it was even shorter.
• She was outside and looked very excited.
• “Xiao Sheng, do you know? Sen just proposed.”
• “What? Who’s Sen?” I was still stuck in a depressed funk after failing to find out Ni Yizhou’s whereabouts.
• “Sen! We met each other in the gay bar last night!”
• Ah, I remembered now. That very handsome looking young man.
• But wait, were my ears playing tricks on me?
• “He proposed?”
• “Yes, and I said yes.”
• “Are you out of your mind? What did he think you were when you said yes? A man or a woman?”
• “That’s hardly relevant. One’s sex doesn’t matter when it comes to true love. As long as he loves me, he shouldn’t care whether I am a man or a woman.”
• “Are you crazy. Qiao Yi, listen to me…”
• “You have to give me your blessings!” Qiao Yi hung up before I was done speaking.
• She was doing it again. She always acted like a fool when it came to love.
• I couldn’t help but feel that something wasn’t right at all!