Chapter 300 - 300 Unexpected
300 Unexpected
Lu Lin’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re saying… Xixi has taken a fancy to that brat?”
Zheng Huai quickly pulled Lu Lin back into his office. “Lower your voice!”
Lu Lin furrowed his brows, his words solemn, “That won’t do. Xixi hasn’t even been properly introduced to the Lu family yet. What if she is abducted? I don’t know what family that boy is from and whether he is a suitable match for our Xixi. No! Zheng Huai, we must dig into that brat’s background.”
Zheng Huai unscrewed the cap of his thermal flask and spoke as if he were a monk in deep meditation, “You don’t need to worry about that. His family is quite well-off.”
Lu Lin rounded on Zheng Huai, demanding, “You knew about him and kept it from me?”
“You never asked,” Zheng Huai answered innocently. “How would I know what goes on in your head?”
Lu Lin s.n.a.t.c.hed the thermal flask from Zheng Huai’s hands, snarling, “Drink, drink, drink! Is that all you know how to do? You infuriate me!”
Lu Lin slammed the flask on Zheng Huai’s desk and left.
As for Shen Xi, she had been led away by Guan Lei past throngs of students casting probing looks in their direction. It made her feel uncomfortable, and she tried prying herself free from Guan Lei’s grasp on several occasions. However, Guan Lei held fast, refusing to let go.
“Guan Lei,” Shen Xi whispered, “Let go of me. It’s not good for others to see us like this.”
Guan Lei suddenly stopped, causing Shen Xi to b.u.mp into Guan Lei’s back. Tears p.r.i.c.kled her eyes as she worked through the pain.
Guan Lei noticed Shen Xi’s unshed tears, and his cold, hard features melted, replaced with a fl.u.s.tered flush. Helplessly, he wiped away Shen Xi’s tears and murmured, “How is it? Does it still hurt? Don’t cry…”
Shen Xi tried her best not to cry, but her tears were alive, falling like raindrops on an early summer’s day. She could do nothing to stop them.
“I’m sorry! It’s my fault.” Guan Lei blamed himself for Shen Xi’s pain. If he had not stopped suddenly out of anger, Shen Xi would not have crashed into him.
Shen Xi rubbed her nose, wondering what Guan Lei was made of. Why was his back so hard it resembled a brick wall?
Guan Lei continued to fuss over Shen Xi, and slowly the pain lessened.
Shen Xi tried to keep her voice as even as possible, yet it still sounded nasally in her ears. “I’m fine.”
By this time, Guan Lei’s face was no longer as dark as before. “What happened earlier? You looked so angry,” Shen Xi said.
Guan Lei’s mind drifted to the incident involving the school forums and ground his teeth. “I’m still angry. I’ve been with you longer than the two of them, but people are harping left and right to say I don’t stand a chance with you. How can I not be angry?”
A second of stunned silence gave way to uncontrollable laughter. “You’re angry because you thought you did not have a chance with me?”
Shen Xi’s apparent frivolity annoyed Guan Lei, and he responded indignantly, “Why shouldn’t I be angry? That person spreading gossip online is so unprofessional! We’ve already kissed, so why can’t we be considered a thing?”
Shen Xi covered Guan Lei’s mouth in shock, looking around like a thief wary of being caught. “Shush! Lower your voice. What if someone hears you? That time in the observation room was an accident!”
“And that time at the club?” Guan Lei blurted out.
Shen Xi looked at Guan Lei in shock. “Weren’t you drunk that day?”
‘Not good, I’ve been exposed!’ Guan Lei thought. If he said he wasn’t drunk, would Xixi think he was pretending to be drunk to take advantage of her? “I-I was drunk at that time, but I still remember some things,” he said.
Shen Xi had not had the time to test how much Guan Lei remembered their day at the club or the kiss that ensued. To have it brought up suddenly caught Shen Xi flatfooted, leaving her a blushing mess.
However, when she recalled the incident with Guan Lei and Li Jin, she asked, “Then do you remember what you did to Li Jin? The two of you were so close to each other at the time. I thought you were…”
Shen Xi did not finish her sentence, but Guan Lei knew what she was about to say.
In his drunken haze, he had smelled a certain fragrance which caused him to return to his senses.
Guan Lei quickly explained, “No, it’s not what you think. I was a little drunk at that time and lost my balance. That was why I was so close to Li Jin. Please don’t misunderstand.”
Shen Xi accepted the explanation with a nod. “I suppose that incident at the club was also an accident.”
Guan Lei did not know what to say. How could he explain the distance between himself and Li Jin if he was not drunk? Since he had already said as much, he would contradict himself if he disagreed with Shen Xi’s a.s.sessment.
He was caught between a rock and a hard place. He desperately wanted to take his relationship with Shen Xi to the next level, but why was he always lacking just that little bit?