The morning breeze brushed past the wind chimes outside the window.
Amidst the tinkling sound, Jiang Xiao gradually came back to his senses, and a gentle smile immediately spread across his face.
“Xi’er, tell me. I’m listening, but the Chicken Soup should be drunk while it’s hot. Let’s finish the soup first.”
Jiang Xiao blew on the Chicken Soup in the spoon a few more times before offering it to Song Qiuyu’s lips once again.
Song Qiuyu glanced at Jiang Xiao, then pressed her lips to the spoon, letting him feed her.
Her body was perfectly capable of moving on its own, but it seemed that during this period of being cared for, she had developed a sense of laziness.
Compared to moving herself, she already enjoyed this current state much more.
In just four days of care, both her body and mind had become more dependent on Jiang Xiao.
The fact that she already harbored feelings of love for Jiang Xiao had likely been exposed long ago.
It was as if she had resigned herself to fate; she didn’t really want to escape this matter anymore. She wanted to just be together smoothly and peacefully.
Even if they didn’t become a Boyfriend and Girlfriend, or a husband and wife, they could still get along very well like this.
Yet, what a selfish thought that was!
Song Qiuyu mocked herself in her heart. If she had encountered such a Bad Woman in the past, she would never have given her a single bit of courtesy.
After finishing the soup, Song Qiuyu took a shallow breath, discarded all distracting thoughts, and looked at Jiang Xiao.
However, at the moment their eyes met, her heart was caught off guard, pounding as if struck several times by a club—panicked and chaotic.
Perhaps the feeling of liking Jiang Xiao could no longer be hidden, let alone suppressed.
However, all the information online said the same thing: only when a White Tiger is with an Azure Dragon can they both be satisfied and find happiness!
Although those ignorant netizens always talked about things like, “Who could refuse a White Tiger Girlfriend?” the reality of encountering one was like meeting a yandere psycho. People would be too busy running away because their very marrow would truly be sucked dry!
Imagine the fear of having a Girlfriend who pestered you to “pay your taxes” every single day, even if you didn’t get home from overtime until one in the morning, staring you down and demanding a huge amount!
So, even if it went against her true thoughts, she had to explain the gravity of the situation to Jiang Xiao!
Jiang Xiao put the spoon back into the empty Bowl and listened patiently to her explanation. After hearing it, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
“If I’m not an Azure Dragon, it won’t work?” Jiang Xiao asked in a low voice.
“Yes.”
Song Qiuyu nodded and said with a serious expression, “Only an Azure Dragon can give me what I want, but Jiang Xiao is not.” Since Jiang Xiao was not an Azure Dragon, no matter how excellent a real Azure Dragon might be, she wouldn’t even spare them a glance!
Jiang Xiao remained silent.
“Fine, I admit that I previously snuck into your Bed to confirm it!” Song Qiuyu gritted her teeth and confessed.
“Hmm?” Jiang Xiao seemed stunned.
“You heard me right. I said, on the first night you slept on the floor, I waited until you were dead asleep and crawled into your Bed in the middle of the night!” Song Qiuyu leaned closer to Jiang Xiao, lowering her voice for fear that the walls had ears.
“Ah…” Jiang Xiao was stunned again.
He remembered now; something like that had happened that night.
Specifically, Xi’er had let out a mysterious sigh afterward…
Men had very strong pride regarding certain things. He didn’t want to be hated by the person he liked at all.
Little Jiang Xiao: I haven’t been hated at all.
“I’ve helped you bathe many times before and accidentally seen it, but even so, I still wanted to confirm it again!”
How could Song Qiuyu not know how strong a man’s pride was? She followed up by subconsciously trying to protect it, saying, “But don’t worry. To be honest, I think you are really good. You’re great everywhere!”
“I’m also no longer satisfied with being your Friend. I want to try being your Girlfriend!”
By the time she reached this point, she couldn’t help but be flushed with embarrassment.
Her beautiful almond-shaped eyes were misty, revealing a determination and seriousness that anyone could see.
“Because whether it’s platonic or physical, as long as I’m with you, I think it would feel pretty good. Besides, I’d be the one getting a huge bargain!”
“…”
Jiang Xiao was momentarily dazed.
“Your body is exactly what I want most right now. Every part of it, I like it all.” Song Qiuyu emphasized once more.
The wind chimes were still swaying incessantly, and Jiang Xiao’s heartbeat was also continuously accelerating.
First, she said it wouldn’t work if he wasn’t an Azure Dragon. Then she went all out to show her love for him. What exactly was Xi’er trying to express?
He was suddenly confused and didn’t quite understand. He just stared at her lips, and a sudden impulse surged in his heart.
He wanted to kiss her.
“I have indeed imagined what it would be like with you in Bed countless times.”
The more she spoke, the more Song Qiuyu’s feeling of shame soared to its peak. Her eyes narrowed, and the mist in them suddenly broke, shattering into crystalline tears.
“I really can’t hate it at all; in fact, I like you very much.”
The last four words were spoken with a pause between each, full of bashfulness, squeezed out from between her teeth with all her might.
Jiang Xiao’s pupils vibrated violently.
These words, which came from Xi’er’s true revelation of feelings, seemed to overlap with some of the words Xi’er had used to deceive him five years ago, like a confession that spanned across time and space.
In these three years, Xi’er had changed, yet it seemed she hadn’t changed at all.
Jiang Xiao imagined it; behind Xi’er’s previous explicit flirtations, she might have been scratching her head and thinking as hard as she could.
But her not-so-clever brain eventually just followed her heart, clumsily imagining an image of an ideal partner…
It was precisely this kind of “fishing” method that had hooked him completely, hooking him for Six Years.
However, it seemed Xi’er was saying these things now just to soothe him and prevent him from feeling too disappointed.
“So,” Jiang Xiao said in a deep voice, slowly opening his mouth, “you clearly want to do this and that with me, but still… if I’m not an Azure Dragon, it won’t work?”
“Right!”
Song Qiuyu sniffled. her messy brain cleared for a moment. She clenched her hands and took a deep breath.
“But are you really okay with that?” Jiang Xiao followed up immediately.
“What could be wrong with me…?” Song Qiuyu looked away guiltily. Instead of an objection or some other remark, he was actually worrying about her situation?
She couldn’t deny that she would likely have problems.
In all probability, for many nights to come, she would be so lonely that she would cry.
She would think of Jiang Xiao no matter what she was doing, even hallucinating about Jiang Xiao liking another woman and being so happy with her that they forgot the world existed.
But compared to bringing more trouble to Jiang Xiao and his family, or having the situation from The Dream where she suddenly changed back into a boy and threw everyone’s lives into chaos…
Having only herself crying was already very good.
Jiang Xiao looked at her and didn’t speak.
Was there a way, like how she hooked him back then, to hook her so completely that she stayed hooked for a lifetime?
With that look that clearly suggested she would cry later and break apart all by herself, anyone with a heart of stone would find it unbearable to hear such words.
After repeated reflection and consideration, he finally gave a cold laugh and said, “So, Xi’er, you’re telling me now that we can’t even be friends anymore, is that it?”
“No! I didn’t mean that!” Song Qiuyu immediately protested.
“But you’ve already made such a blunt confession of love to me.” Jiang Xiao’s gaze darkened slightly, and he deliberately narrowed his eyes, putting on a fierce look as if he were going to devour her.
“Xi’er, sometimes you are really far too naive. We can’t go back to how we were before. Do you understand?”
As soon as these words were spoken, Song Qiuyu’s eyes widened. Like a small animal sensing danger through biological instinct, she immediately stood up to escape.
However, Jiang Xiao was faster. He grabbed her Hand and pulled her back, pressing her somewhat forcefully against the edge of the table.
“Xi’er, from this moment on, we are no longer friends.” Jiang Xiao looked directly into her eyes, not allowing her to dodge.
No longer friends…
Song Qiuyu’s pupils dilated instantly. If they weren’t friends and weren’t lovers, then what was their relationship supposed to be now?
“Naturally, it’s a simple relationship between a man and a woman.” Jiang Xiao took her Hand, closed his eyes, and with a face full of devotion, kissed her fingertips.
“Um, so?” Feeling the touch and temperature of Jiang Xiao’s lips, Song Qiuyu’s fingertips curled slightly, and a surge of heat rushed from deep within her body.
“As a man, I am going to start pursuing you fair and square!”
“?”
“Since we are no longer friends, I don’t need to consider the etiquette of friendship anymore.”
“…”
“It’s right to be afraid, because I can do whatever I want from now on.”
“Don’t let my words go in one ear and out the other!” Song Qiuyu was terrified.
What did he mean by saying he could do whatever he wanted from now on? Did this guy Haki Xiao actually listen to a word she said? She had made it so clear; why was he still thinking about pursuing her!
“Xi’er, do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this day?” Jiang Xiao seemed to have not heard her at all, continuing solemnly, “Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu almost fainted on the spot.
“I really didn’t expect that friendship would be the biggest obstacle between us. Being stuck in the middle of it was really uncomfortable.” Jiang Xiao laughed. “Now it’s fine. I can finally pursue you officially.”
Song Qiuyu rolled her eyes, preparing to pass out.
“Xi’er!” Jiang Xiao was prepared. He pulled her into his arms.
“Ugh…” The sudden embrace jolted Song Qiuyu awake.
“You can’t faint now. We still have to go film. Leave your Snow Woman Makeup to me today!” Jiang Xiao smoothed her hair.
Hearing this, Song Qiuyu was speechless. She felt as though saying anything else was useless because Jiang Xiao simply wasn’t listening!
Forget it, forget it. He could do whatever he wanted. If they really stayed together, he would be the one suffering the loss!
Song Qiuyu and Shen Xi would never suffer a loss!
Feeling the person in his arms stop struggling, Jiang Xiao just closed his eyes, held her tighter, and continued to stroke her head.
His Xi’er was far too insecure, but it didn’t matter. Jiang Xiao would give her as much security as she needed until the void in her heart was completely filled.
***
The clothing style for the promotional video character, the Snow Woman, was quite complex.
Song Qiuyu flipped the Snow Woman clothes over and over, fiddling with them for a long time and looking things up online before she figured out how to put them on.
She kicked off her warm Slippers and took off her clothes one by one. After her body was basically naked, she seemed to remember something as an afterthought and turned to look at the person beside her.
This guy! He had actually been staring the whole time!
“Do you need my help?” Jiang Xiao moved his gaze from that body, which was as beautiful as a painting, and looked at Song Qiuyu’s clean and obedient face.
“……”
Song Qiuyu subconsciously shook her head, but then changed her mind and quickly nodded.
“This outfit is too complicated. Help me, Jiang Xiao.”
“Okay!” Jiang Xiao nodded and immediately stepped forward.
After studying the clothes for a bit, he began to help her put them on.
The overall color of the outfit was light blue. There were many strands and strips of cloth. Fortunately, although it looked thin, it was actually quite warm once it was on.
“Whew…”
Stomping her bare Foot on the floor a few times, it felt a bit cold. Song Qiuyu recalled the character settings for the Snow Woman. Although being barefoot wasn’t strictly mandatory, a Snow Woman stepping barefoot on ice and Snow gave the character the look she was supposed to have.
However, it was already this cold just standing on the floor; she couldn’t imagine how cold it would be to step on actual Snow.
At that moment, there were two “ding-ling” sounds, like the noise of bells colliding.
She followed the sound and saw Jiang Xiao picking up a Red String Bell from the floor. He looked at her with curiosity.
“Oh, Party A gave that to me. They said it would be a great regret if the bare Foot didn’t have a Red String Bell, so they gave it to me and wanted me to wear it.”
She said this while hurriedly looking away. Thinking of The Dream from that night, she swallowed nervously.
She didn’t want to connect the two things, but this Red String Bell really did look somewhat similar to the one in her dream. It was also a fiery red string with six small golden bells on it.
“I was thinking, is the camera going to be zoomed in on your feet the whole time?” Jiang Xiao frowned.
“Then you’d have to stand in the Snow the whole time. How cold would that be? You’ve only just recovered from being sick.”
“It shouldn’t be that bad, right? At most, it’ll be a few more shots, long shots and close-ups…” Song Qiuyu pursed her lips, wanting to complain yet also wanting to laugh.
She really didn’t know what to say about Jiang Xiao anymore.
“Is that so?” Jiang Xiao walked over with the Red String Bell and then squatted down in front of her.
“What are you doing?”
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