Chapter 20
She just wanted to sleep, but the other party was bent on tormenting her. They engaged in a tug-of-war all night, and in the end, she gained the upper hand.
But Fu Bei’s subsequent actions crossed the line a bit, though not excessively. Qiao Xi lay there languidly, giving no response but not rejecting either. When she felt comfortable, she would hug Fu Bei’s back, like dangling a piece of candy in front of her—letting her have a taste when she was in a good mood.
Her behavior was overly heartless; it was hard to say who was tormenting whom.
Fu Bei knew exactly what was on her mind and didn’t delve into it. Holding her in her arms, she brushed her thin lips against Qiao Xi’s temple and whispered, “I’m going on a business trip in two days to City S for an exchange seminar.”
Qiao Xi responded indifferently, “Mmh.”
She genuinely didn’t care at all. Perhaps finding it annoying, she turned on her side and wrapped herself tighter in the thin quilt, practically covering her head to show her impatience. She enjoyed Fu Bei’s service but wasn’t willing to actually do anything. When she ran out of energy, she just lay there limply, too lazy to even lift her eyelids.
The night was deep. Outside the window, it was pitch black, and inside, it was quiet. Fu Bei simply held her, taking one of her hands and kneading it meticulously, a rare moment of tenderness. Qiao Xi felt ticklish and took the opportunity to pull her hand away, arching her back to prevent Fu Bei from pressing close. But before long, a cool hand stroked the hibiscus tattoo on her lower back, lightly, almost imperceptibly, as if caressing the flower petals.
Her drowsiness was instantly dispelled, but Qiao Xi still pretended not to feel anything, remaining motionless as a mountain.
The cool touch gradually moved, reaching the bottom of the flower stem, and soon, further down…
The moon appeared from behind thick clouds, casting watery moonlight onto the window and spilling onto the bed. She kept her eyes closed, her hand resting on the soft pillow.
Fu Bei pressed closer, lowering her voice to a whisper, like an intimate murmur, “Qiao Xi…”
But Qiao Xi made no sound, not saying a word.
In the silence of the middle of the night, she fell asleep not long after. Vaguely, she felt the person hugging her from behind and seeming to say something, but she didn’t hear it clearly.
Qiao Xi slept soundly that night. Fu Bei left at dawn. There were over a dozen missed calls on her phone, all from Liang Yuzhi and Father Fu. During the day, Qijing Street was bustling, traffic flowing like water and pedestrians crowding the streets. The sun climbed out from the high-rise buildings in the east, and the mist shrouding Jiang City gradually dissipated.
For the next two days, everything returned to normal.
Fu Bei really went on a business trip, gone for several days.
Qiao Xi went back to the compound once and ran right into Zhou Meihe at home. It was approaching dinner time, and Zhou Meihe almost wore her dissatisfaction on her face. It seemed she was unhappy that Qiao Xi came home at this time—more precisely, Qiao Jianliang was coming home for dinner, and she didn’t want the father and daughter to meet.
Qiao Xi had originally planned to grab her things and leave, but seeing Zhou Meihe’s attitude, she decided to cause trouble on purpose. She simply didn’t leave and stayed for dinner.
Zhou Meihe could barely maintain her expression, asking with a fake smile, “So free today? Not busy at the shop?”
Qiao Xi replied provocatively, “Never busy any day. Just came back to keep my dad company when I had time.”
The smile on Zhou Meihe’s face almost cracked, but she couldn’t flare up in front of the helpers and had to pretend to be kind and considerate. Since it was the weekend, her stepbrother was also home. He didn’t seem to welcome Qiao Xi’s return, not even offering a smile.
The helpers at home had changed several times. The new auntie didn’t know Qiao Xi but knew Qiao Jianliang had a biological daughter and that the son at home was a stepson. They all spoke and acted very smoothly, trying to stay neutral and not offend either side.
Zhou Meihe was so angry she could barely contain herself.
Those who treat stepchildren as their own are always the minority. If it’s not flesh of their own flesh, they won’t feel the same heartache. Human hearts are biased; Zhou Meihe was like this, and so was Qiao Jianliang. The current Qiao family members had no affection for each other to begin with, and faced with substantial family assets, it was even harder to get along. It was impossible for them to be close like a real family.
Qiao Xi never expected to get along with the mother and son. She stayed in her room until dinner was served. Her room was still the same; only she and Qiao Jianliang had the keys. The layout remained unchanged, and it was cleaned regularly, spotless. From the window, she could see the Fu family’s house opposite.
Without the old lady, the Fu house was even more deserted than the Qiao house, lacking any sign of life. Even if people walked through the courtyard occasionally, there was no vitality, like a cage that eats people.
Qiao Jianliang didn’t get home until nearly seven. Seeing Qiao Xi there, he was grinning from ear to ear, the difference in his treatment of Qiao Xi and Zhou Lin immense.
Zhou Meihe didn’t explode, but her face darkened uncontrollably several times. She was still relatively calm, smiling as she served Qiao Jianliang food, and asked Qiao Xi softly, “Do you want to stay at home for a few days? Your dad talks about you every now and then, missing you. Since you’re relatively free, stay for a few days to rest. Your brother happens to be on break; you two siblings can get together, maybe go out and play.”
Her words sounded nice, implying both openly and secretly that she was the mistress of the Qiao household.
If she were truly kind-hearted, Qiao Xi would never look for trouble. But she wasn’t. Picking up some food with her chopsticks, Qiao Xi gave no face at all and said, “Summer vacation is so long; haven’t you signed Zhou Lin up for any classes? I remember Zhou Lin is in the international class and should be applying for university next year. Have you found a school yet?”
The school Zhou Lin attended was also Jiang City International. The international class was naturally for those going abroad to study, but those who could go abroad weren’t necessarily top students. Zhou Lin’s grades weren’t much better than Qiao Xi’s back then; Qiao Xi had just chosen to stay in the country for her studies.
Studying abroad would cost the Qiao family’s money. If his grades weren’t outstanding, it wasn’t something a few hundred thousand could solve. If Zhou Meihe didn’t speak nicely, Qiao Xi would poke at the mother and son’s sore spot.
Sure enough, Zhou Lin’s face changed instantly.
Qiao Jianliang was caught in the middle, finding it hard to act. After a long while, he looked at Qiao Xi disapprovingly and said, “Let’s eat first. Talk after eating.”
Only then did Zhou Meihe’s expression improve.
Qiao Xi ate on her own. When Qiao Jianliang served her food, she held out her bowl to receive it.
Zhou Lin suddenly mentioned that he had participated in a provincial competition a while ago and won an award.
Actually, it was a team competition, and he didn’t contribute much. It was all thanks to Zhou Meihe using connections to squeeze him in. Zhou Meihe was a teacher with a wide network, so it was an easy task.
Qiao Jianliang liked hearing about such face-giving things and praised him with a smile, “Study hard. Once you go abroad next year, work harder and strive for greater heights.”
“I definitely won’t disappoint you,” Zhou Lin said, his attitude obedient and sincere. He continued talking about his studies, and as he spoke, he casually and tactfully mentioned the reward Qiao Jianliang had given him.
Qiao Xi picked up a shrimp kernel into her bowl, feeling a lump in her throat, and served herself a bowl of soup.
Parked in the Qiao family’s garage was a convertible Bugatti Veyron. The flashy, trendy model suited neither Qiao Jianliang nor the people’s teacher Zhou Meihe. It was obvious who it was bought for. Qiao Xi had seen it long ago, just pretending not to.
Zhou Lin wasn’t even eighteen this year and didn’t have a driver’s license. Buying him a sports car was a bit too early.
Qiao Xi still didn’t stay at home. Zhou Meihe pretended to ask her to stay, saying all the nice things. Qiao Xi turned her head to look at her and replied compliantly, “Then when I’m free in a while, I’ll come back and stay for half a month.”
Zhou Meihe was stunned, while Qiao Jianliang chuckled happily.
“Okay, coming back to stay is good. There’s someone at home to take care of you,” Qiao Jianliang said, personally seeing her to the car.
The Zhou mother and son knew better than to follow, leaving space for the father and daughter to be alone.
“I’m leaving. You go back,” Qiao Xi said, opening the car door and looking back.
Qiao Jianliang wasn’t blind; he had long sensed the undercurrents at the dinner table but couldn’t point them out at home. He moved his lips awkwardly, finally calling out to Qiao Xi, saying helplessly, “Don’t take it to heart.”
Divorced families were basically like this. Both mom and dad would build new families, and eventually, one person would be left over. Qiao Xi bent over to get into the car, started the engine, looked at him, and said calmly, “I didn’t. Why would I?”
Qiao Jianliang hesitated, then said after a moment, “There’s a lot going on at the company recently. I’ll come see you when I’m free.”
Qiao Xi gave a hum of acknowledgment and drove away.
From the compound to Qijing Street, the road was mostly deserted, with few people and cars, feeling empty.
The wind picked up at night. Getting out of the car, her hair was blown into a mess. She hugged her arms and walked upstairs. After nine o’clock, most of the houses in the complex were lit up. There were families walking together outside, and others chatting at home watching TV—all lively and warm.
The long street was bright with lights, illuminated as if it were day.
