Chapter 1081: Do You Like Him?
“Is that nice?” Xia Ling was a little concerned. “Won’t he get angry?”
Xia Yu said tenderly, “Brother Pei will understand.” She looked closely at her sister before asking suggestively, “Are you… too attached to him to move out?”
“Why would I be?” Xia Ling refuted the claim immediately and went quiet. She’d spent most of her time living in school over the past few years, and Pei Ziheng was caught up in his work matters as well, so the two of them spent fairly little time together. But each time she slept by his side—albeit with a screen in between them—she’d be overcome with a sense of security, almost as if nothing in the world could scare her.
But after what had happened, would she still be able to sleep by his side in peace?
Her body began warming up again as she struggled to wipe that memory clean, but the scenes in the bathroom continued to flash before her eyes. She trembled a little, possibly from the trauma.
Xia Yu’s voice got deeper as she asked gently, “Sister, do you like him?”
“Like?” Xia Ling was a bit caught off guard.
“Yes,” Xia Yu continued. “What sort of feelings do you have towards him? I heard that many guys are chasing you in the training camp, is this the sort of feeling you have for Brother Ziheng too?”
“Is that… love?” Xia Ling mumbled to herself in a daze. She’d never really thought about the question. From the day he brought her home, the feelings she had for him were of admiration, respect, reliance… and these feelings had only gotten deeper over the years. She didn’t even know exactly what she was feeling for him now.
“Why would I fall for him?” Subconsciously, she began fiddling with the bangle on her left hand. It was an exquisite silver bangle, a gift he’d given her the year he brought her home. On the inside circle of the bangle were the words “Standing By You” engraved, and now it seemed somewhat like a lover’s promise. On that thought, she blushed yet again.
Xia Yu clenched her jaw a little and hurriedly disrupted her train of thought. “That’s right, how could you possibly fall for him? What you have towards him is grat.i.tude, the love that you feel is just a false sense. Sister, Brother Ziheng is our benefactor, our guardian, it’d be wrong for you to be with him. Try out a relations.h.i.+p instead and forget about tonight, it was all just an accident.”
Xia Ling hesitated before nodding her head.
Xia Yu was right, it was just an accident, she shouldn’t be thinking too much.
But how was it possible not to think of it? She lay beside her sister on the soft and comfy bed, appreciating the freshness of the sheets. But the moment she closed her eyes, scenes from the bathroom filled her mind again. He was so fierce, he didn’t even care if she was hurting. And at the same time, he was so gentle, draping a towel over her after she had fallen… his eyes, his lips, his deeply concealed desire…
She warmed up in her cheeks again. After a night of tossing and turning and attempts at counting sheep, she still didn’t sleep a wink.
The following day, she got off the bed groggily and got ready to wash up.
Xia Yu grabbed her arm softly. “Sister, sleep in for a bit. Just rest well in my room today. I’ll get breakfast for you from downstairs so you won’t have to run the risk of b.u.mping into Brother Ziheng and feeling awkward.”
Xia Ling blushed again and bit her lower lip. “Alright.”
Indeed, she really did not want to see him right now. She had no idea how to face him when there were conflicting voices in her head—one telling her to hate him, the other getting her to miss him…
She was so confused now. With a pillow over her head, she forced herself to sleep.
Xia Yu specially picked her best outfit and dressed up conscientiously before heading down.
At the buffet restaurant downstairs, Pei Ziheng was already seated alone at a table by the window. Xia Yu brought her tray of food over and sat opposite him with a smile. “Brother Ziheng.”
Pei Ziheng glanced at her and appeared a little unhappy that she was taking that seat. But he remained silent.
“Brother Ziheng is up really early,” Xia Yu said. “Are you very busy today too?”
Pei Ziheng asked, “Where’s your sister?”
Xia Yu was slightly taken aback.
“She slept over in your room last night. Why are you down for breakfast without her?”
Xia Yu was even more stunned now. “You knew that she slept over in my room last night?”
Pei Ziheng did not respond. He had lost control last night and did it on her. He was worried about her when she left the room on her own and got Chu Chen to follow up on her situation. Only after Chu Chen confirmed that she had gone into Xia Yu’s room did he feel relieved.
Xia Yu felt pressured by his stare and quietly said, “Umm, Sister did sleep over in my room last night. She cried a lot and didn’t get a good night’s sleep, so she’s not awake yet.”
“She cried?” Pei Ziheng frowned slightly.
“Yup,” Xia Yu lowered her head and fiddled with the food on her plate. “I don’t know what went on, and she refused to tell me. She just held me and sobbed. I’ve never seen her this upset before.”
His eyes darkened.
So, she hated him this much? After taking her leave, she even sobbed so hard?
His mind was in a mess as he asked, “She really didn’t say anything?”
Xia Yu shook her head and thought for a while before saying, “I wanted to help her back to her room. After all, it was more s.p.a.cious and comfortable for resting, but she refused. She said something about being afraid and hating it, and feeling disgusted… I didn’t quite get her—ah!”
Before she even finished what she had to say, Pei Ziheng had slammed his gla.s.s onto the table loudly.
Xia Yu went pale as she watched him leave, but a while later, a devious grin crept up at the corners of her lips. She took some snacks and pastries up to the room for Xia Ling and said, “Brother Ziheng still seems angry about last night. Sister, I think you’d better avoid him for a while.”
Xia Ling was apprehensive. “Will he hate me?”
Xia Yu shook her head solemnly. “I’m not sure about that. When I was hospitalized, I heard some people saying that rich people like Brother Ziheng have so many girls going after them. They’d use means and ways, like luring them… ah, Sister, I didn’t mean you…” Xia Yu looked at Xia Ling apologetically, like she had been too carried away by her thoughts. “Brother Ziheng and the rest have seen enough of such people, they’re pretty averse towards them.”
“I’m really not like that!” Xia Ling got anxious.
“I know, but Brother Ziheng doesn’t.” Xia Ling advised her kindly. “Which is why you have to prove your innocence to him. Over the next few days, keep your distance and boundary from Brother Ziheng and don’t appear before him. Only then will he believe that it was all an accident.”