Chapter 46 Concealment

With Li Ke joining, everything progressed much faster. By the end of the year, Xie Sheng had already chosen a location for his third bar in the provincial capital.

Pu Xia was surprised by how quickly they acted, but by chance, she learned that these were just preliminary plans, and that letting Xie Sheng open a bar was just a business exercise in Li Ke's plan.

Seeing his enthusiasm and how much he cared about nurturing Xie Sheng, Pu Xia suddenly understood why Pu Ming had packed him up and left him with Xie Sheng.

Xie Sheng became extremely busy, devoting all his time to these matters, and spending most of the week in the provincial capital.

As a result, they saw each other much less often. However, thinking that this was the hardship they had to endure on their way to the future, neither of them complained and both silently endured it.

During the week, they were busy with their own things, trying to make time for each other on the weekend. As a result, Pu Xia's life at school became simpler and more focused, until one day after school, someone stopped her.

An unexpected person, Qingling.

Pu Xia raised an eyebrow as she looked at Qing Ling, who had dyed her hair back to black. The arrogant and domineering air about her had vanished, and she looked much less energetic.

"I thought we had settled our accounts last time."

Qingling's face showed a slightly distorted expression, as if she was making a decision. Then she took two quick steps toward Puxia, trying to close the distance between them. But before she got close, Ajie blocked Puxia's way.

"Qingling, what are you doing? Have you forgotten what happened last time?!"

"Ah Jie, I'm not going to do anything. Look, I didn't bring anyone with me. I just want to talk to Pu Xia."

"What's there for us to talk about?" Pu Xia said bluntly, arms crossed, as she looked at Qing Ling, who was trying to push A Jie away.

Qingling's eyes were filled with resentment, but her tone was pleading. "Puxia, I know we had a lot of unpleasantness because of some misunderstandings before, but we resolved it last time, didn't we?... Could you ask Sheng-ge to release my uncle?"

Pu Xia looked at her calmly, "He can do whatever he wants, I won't help you."

Qingling already felt humiliated enough by asking Pu Xia for help, but being rejected so directly made her furious.

"Stop pretending to be uninvolved, you bitch! ...I know, you're the one who got Sheng-ge to mess with us because I said you two are siblings, otherwise, otherwise why would he...I wasn't wrong, you two are abnormal, disgusting, no siblings are like you...Ugh!"

Before Qingling could finish speaking, A-Jie covered her mouth and growled at the woman who was acting like a madwoman, "Shut up!"

Pu Xia's face turned cold, and she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She tried her best to suppress the involuntary trembling of her body. "What did you say?"

"Ugh!!"

"Ah Jie, let her go." Pu Xia's dark and deep eyes were fixed on Qing Ling, making it impossible to see his emotions.

This time, she walked up to Qingling herself and asked, "What were you saying just now?"

You're disgusting!

"Who did you tell about this?"

"Everyone knows now! You disgusting brother and sister!"

"Slap!" Pu Xia, expressionless, slapped Qing Ling across the face with precision and force. "Answer my questions. If you say anything more, I'll slap you again."

The next question is, what does it mean for everyone to know?

Even last time, Pu Xia was never as terrifying as he is today.

She exuded an extremely dangerous aura, her eyes silently fixed on Qingling, revealing no emotion, yet radiating an intense sense of oppression.

Qingling was instinctively scared and tried to back away, but Pu Xia grabbed her chin with his thumb and forefinger. "You haven't finished speaking, why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"...I posted it in the school group chat. But then nobody believed me, so I stopped posting it." Qingling's voice trembled, tinged with tears.

She was desperate and grasping at straws; her home had been turned upside down this month. But now it seems she shouldn't have come; Pu Xia is too dangerous.

"When did this happen?" Pu Xia's cold voice pulled people back to reality.

"last month."

Pu Xia glanced at A-Jie and saw him subconsciously tilt his head to the side, so he roughly knew what was going on.

She released her grip, lowered her eyes to look at Qingling, and warned, "Watch your mouth. I don't care what's going on with you now, but I guarantee that if something similar happens again, you'll be in a much worse situation than you are now."

Looking at the arrogant Pu Xia, Qingling inexplicably thought of Xie Sheng, and a sharp pang of heartache instantly struck her.

She had brought this humiliation upon herself today, and thinking about it, she felt she couldn't stay a second longer.

She forcefully shook off Pu Xia's hand and nearly fled.

Ah Jie: "Should we try to get it back?"

Pu Xia: "When exactly did she say that happened?"

A-Jie: ...

He shouldn't have switched shifts with Dapeng today. The matter of the newly opened store in Liucheng is a bit troublesome, but it's much more comfortable than being caught between Puxia and Xiesheng.

Ah Jie: "Sister Xia...Brother Sheng told me not to say."

Pu Xia: "I already know about this. What's the use of telling me not to talk about it?"

Ah Jie thought about it again and realized that it did seem to be true.

After hesitating for a while, he told Pu Xia everything about how Qingling had spread the rumor that they were siblings and how Xie Sheng had dealt with it.

As he spoke, he kept glancing at Pu Xia's face. Seeing that she seemed normal, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

-

On Friday, Xie Sheng dragged his tired body back to Lushan.

These days, Li Ke has taken him to meet a lot of people, and he stays out very late every day. Sometimes he can't make it back in time and just sleeps in the hotel, so he hasn't been home much.

He didn't like outsiders entering this place that belonged to him and Pu Xia, so he had to clean the house himself after it had been deserted for a week, since his Xia Xia was coming tomorrow.

But he was stunned as soon as he opened the door. All the lights in the house were on, and the air was filled with the delicious aroma of food.

He quickly changed his shoes and walked briskly to the living room, looking towards the dining room. The food was ready, but no one was there.

As he stood there in a daze, a voice came from behind him, "Brother, you're back."

Xie Sheng turned around and saw Pu Xia walking out of the room, wearing the matching couple's bathrobes they had bought together. They were fluffy and looked very warm. Her long, silver-gray hair was tied up, revealing the beautiful curve of her neck.

All the fatigue vanished at that moment. Xie Sheng walked over and hugged her tightly, his body seemingly letting out a comfortable sigh as strength slowly flowed back into his body.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Pu Xia asked, puzzled, but still reached out and put her arms around his neck.

"I'm charging."

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his voice muffled. Compared to the prickly and itchy feeling of her stiff hair brushing against his face, Pu Xia couldn't help but laugh. "Shouldn't we eat to recharge? Come and try my cooking."

Xie Sheng released her, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "You did this?"

"Yeah, you thought I ordered from a restaurant?"

"You've learned to cook! You're amazing, baby." He put his arm around Pu Xia and walked towards the dining room.

I must say, it looks really good.

Color, aroma, and taste—at least the color and aroma are all present.

Pu Xia ran to the kitchen to get rice, brought it to Xie Sheng, then picked up a big chopstick and put it in Xie Sheng's bowl. She looked at him with bright eyes and ate a big mouthful of rice and vegetables.

"How was it? How was it?"

Xie Sheng's mouth was full, his eyes were wide open, and he didn't speak for a long time. After a while, he gave Pu Xia a thumbs up, swallowed hard, and said, "Baby, is there any water?"

"I'll go pour it for you."

When the water arrived, Xie Sheng quickly gulped down a few mouthfuls, then took another big mouthful of vegetables and rice.

Pu Xia laughed, "Brother, have you been eating too little lately?"

"Nothing tastes as good as what my darling makes."

"Really? Then eat more." As she spoke, Pu Xia rested her chin on her hand and put another large chopstick of food into his bowl.

Xie Sheng's gaze froze for a moment.

"What's wrong, brother?"

"Honey, aren't you going to eat?"

"I've already eaten. I've been working out lately, so I had a salad for dinner. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just asking." With that, Xie Sheng picked up his rice bowl, glanced at the table, and as if he had made up his mind, began to devour the food on the table like a whirlwind.

When the bowl was finally empty, Xie Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. He then took a big gulp of water and carried the plate to the kitchen.

Just then, Pu Xia's calm voice came from behind him, "Brother is really good at lying."

Xie Sheng froze.

"Or is it that brother has a disordered sense of taste?"

The girl's teasing voice made Xie Sheng turn around abruptly.

He was almost laughing in anger. He had initially thought Pu Xia was a novice and didn't know how to cook, but now it seemed she had deliberately put in so much salt to mess with him.

He sneered and grabbed her chin. "You need to be taught a lesson, don't you?"

Pu Xia stared at him without flinching, "Why did Qingling keep it a secret from me that she posted our relationship in the group chat?"

It was as if a bucket of water had been poured over him from head to toe, and Xie Sheng's arrogance immediately vanished.

He was the first to look away, feeling guilty. "...You knew?"

________

Next, please enjoy Brother Sheng's special skill—instant cowardice.

This week's progress (3/4).

First, I'll finish this week's tasks, then I'll add an extra chapter. Two stars make me smile, two chapters make me cry.