Chapter 411: On Your Side, For Sure
By the time Xia Xibei and Qiao Yanjue finished their meal and got home, it was almost 11 o’clock at night.
“I’ll give you a ma.s.sage, okay?” Qiao Yanjue hadn’t forgotten.
Xia Xibei was speechless, “No need!”
“What, you don’t trust my techniques?” Qiao Yanjue looked serious.
“It’s not because of that…”
“Then I’ll do it!” Qiao Yanjue seated himself on the couch and patted the seat beside him, “Come sit here, I’ll help you.”
“Hmm…”
“You’ve helped ma.s.sage me so many times before, I should do it at least once for you too, right?” Qiao Yanjue put on a righteous look.
“Alright then,” Xia Xibei agreed at last.
She sat opposite to him, then stretched one of her legs out towards him and said, “Ma.s.sage down this vein then.”
“No problem.”
Qiao Yanjue cast his eyes down, concealing his emotions.
He embraced Xia Xibei’s leg and placed his right hand over her calf.
The tender touch of her skin made his heart skip a beat, and he felt as if electric currents were coursing through him.
“Ah!” The warm, rough touch of his palm made Xia Xibei feel a bit numb and sore, and she nearly withdrew her leg.
“Don’t move.”
Qiao Yanjue pulled himself back from the reverie, and his expression went back to normal.
While ma.s.saging her leg, he asked her about the filming today.
“Was it smooth?”
“I’ll say so.”
Now that her attention had been diverted, Xia Xibei started talking about her day, “I don’t know when it will air, at least two weeks from now I guess. I still have to go for filming later.”
“Did anything special happen?”
“Special things… I’m not sure if this can be considered special.”
“Oh? Wanna tell me about it?”
“It’s just…” Xia Xibei came to a sudden stop and stared at Qiao Yanjue for a moment.
“What’s wrong?”
“If… If I ever get into a conflict with your friend, what would you do?” Xia Xibei was wearing a somber look.
“I’ll be on your side, for sure,” Qiao Yanjue blurted out without the slightest hesitation.
But it left Xia Xibei speechless, “You trust me that much?”
“Yes,” Qiao Yanjue nodded decisively. “Of course I trust you. It’s not like there’s anyone else that can compare to you.”
“But your friend might not trust me.”
“Then he’s not my friend anymore.”
“Huh?”
“Don’t worry, my friends are all great people,” Qiao Yanjue laughed softly, his low, deep voice tingling her ears. “If they don’t trust my decision, I won’t be friends with them either.”
Xia Xibei felt her breath caught in her throat. Something didn’t feel quite right.
“Hey, hey, ma.s.sage this part. Use some force!”
Qiao Yanjue paused a bit, then shook his head and added force like she instructed.
“Then… What if it’s someone in your family?” Xia Xibei asked again, hesitant.
Xia Qinghan was Qiao Haoming’s fiancée, and Qiao Haoming was Qiao Yanjue’s nephew. Thus, the relation between Xia Qinghan and Qiao Yanjue wasn’t distant either.
She was unsure whose side he would take.
Friends could be changed anytime, but family relations weren’t always easy to untie.
“I’ll be on your side, of course!”
Again, Qiao Yanjue replied without hesitation.
Upon meeting Xia Xibei’s doubtful gaze, he laughed, “I think I haven’t told you about my family, have I?”
“No…” Xia Xibei shook her head after a brief moment of pondering.
“I’m the youngest child in my family. My oldest brother, my second older brother, and my third older sister don’t share the same mother with me,” Qiao Yanjue said, switching to the other leg.
“So, your relations.h.i.+p with them…?”
“So we don’t get along well. Not at all.”
At that point, the look on his face turned sorrowful, “In fact, apart from my parents and Sister Hong, I don’t have any other close relatives. They are as good as strangers to me.”