When Ruan Qing'an woke up again, she was lying on the hotel bed, wrapped tightly in a white quilt, as if afraid that she would catch a cold in the middle of the night. However, due to a hangover, Ruan Qing'an still had a splitting headache and struggled to sit up.

Just then, Song Xijun walked in from outside, carrying breakfast in his hand. He sat down on the edge of the bed and asked, "Are you feeling better?"

"Thank goodness—"

Ruan Qing'an had barely finished speaking when he sneezed. He awkwardly wiped his nose with a tissue, his nose bright red and looking pitiful, which made Song Xijun chuckle.

He gently stroked Ruan Qing'an's nose: "Be gentle, if you rub it a few more times I think your nose is so painful you don't want it anymore, right?"

"No way..."

Ruan Qing'an pouted and replied irritably.

Song Xijun chuckled and handed over the breakfast in her hand, saying, "It's probably because you caught a chill last night that you caught a cold. There's nothing we can do. Even though it's summer, you still have to be careful to keep warm."

Ruan Qing'an answered vaguely while biting into her steamed bun, and her phone in her bag started vibrating. She subconsciously picked it up and glanced at it. Sure enough, it was Xia Hua calling. She could see that there were already countless messages.

Her headache worsened, and Song Xijun reached out to massage Ruan Qing'an's head. His dark eyes held unreadable emotions, but his low, husky voice was as gentle and indulgent as ever: "See?"

Watching Ruan Qing'an open the message interface, Song Xijun, with her back to her, grew increasingly dark in her eyes, the deepest shade of dark green as dangerous as a wild beast lurking in the night.

If you're not careful, you'll swallow your prey whole.

While looking at her phone, Ruan Qing'an said, "My mom called me back home, saying she has something to say to me."

"Then you should go back. After all, running away from home isn't a good thing. Even though I can keep an eye on you while you're out, I can't guarantee your safety. Besides, there have been many cases of things happening in hotels these days..."

Song Xijun gently persuaded, "Besides, Ruan Ruan, you have a cold now. To be honest, I'm really worried about you."

Although she knew that Song Xijun was trying to persuade her to go back so earnestly in order to test her, Ruan Qing'an still pretended to play along: "But they simply cannot accept you."

"It's alright. As long as you can persevere, that's enough for me. Besides, Uncle Ruan and Aunt Xia are your parents. We can't avoid them, and you can't possibly never see them again in your life, can you?"

"I'm afraid it's because we grew up together, and they never imagined I would kidnap their daughter, which is why they said those things. Let's go back and sort this out, okay?"

That makes a lot of sense.

If Ruan Qing'an hadn't known how ruthless Song Xijun was, she would have been fooled by his seemingly perfect boyfriend persona.

But Ruan Qingan composed himself, as if he had been persuaded, and nodded: "You're right, you blockhead."

Having reached a consensus, the two exchanged a smile.

037, who witnessed the whole thing: Are they putting on an act again?

After checking out of the hotel, Nguyen Thanh An and Song Xijun returned to their upscale apartment complex in the city center. When Nguyen Thanh An knocked on the door, Xia Hua and Nguyen Cheng Zhi were anxiously waiting on the sofa.

They did go out to search, but couldn't find any trace of Ruan Qing'an, so they were forced to wait.

Upon hearing the knock, Xia Hua immediately stood up to open the door. As soon as she opened it, she saw Ruan Qing'an and Song Xijun behind her. The next moment, she burst into tears.

"Ruan Ruan, you've finally decided to come back."

Xia Hua was almost in tears when she looked at Ruan Qing'an, but when she turned to Song Xijun, she looked at him like he was a demon: "If you hadn't bewitched Ruan Ruan, how could she have run away from home?!"

"Song Xijun, you're a jinx! It's no wonder your family had a fire back then, killing both your parents. I think you're the one who brought them to their deaths! Now that we've taken you in, not only are you ungrateful, but you're also trying to bewitch my daughter like a heartless wretch!"

Xia Hua cursed Song Xijun with extremely harsh words, wishing she could curse her to death. Ruan Qing'an stopped her, saying, "Mom, can you calm down?"

"Ruan Ruan, come in with me first."

Xia Hua reached out and tugged at Ruan Qing'an, saying to Ruan Chengzhi, "Close the door. We can't let that ingrate Song Xijun in. He's nothing but a menace!"

"Mom, speak more politely, don't be so foul-mouthed."

"Ruan Ruan, you—"

Xia Hua was pushed away by Ruan Qing'an. She looked at Ruan Qing'an in disbelief, while Ruan Chengzhi quickly helped Xia Hua up: "I've already said it, she's been fooled by Song Xijun and doesn't know who truly loves her!"

Seeing that even with Ruan Qing'an's return, the situation was still in chaos, Song Xijun narrowed his dark eyes slightly. Just as he was about to speak, Ruan Qing'an preemptively struck.

She stopped Xia Hua and interrupted, "Alright, alright, can we talk for a bit? I know you don't want Song Xijun to come in, so I'll have him leave first, and let me say a few words to him."

Upon hearing this, Xia Hua's tantrum finally subsided. She glanced warily at Song Xijun: "It's not impossible, but Ruan Ruan, you must come back, otherwise, otherwise—"

"Otherwise, we'll say that Song Xijun tried to abduct you, and we'll call the police. Let's see if this matter can still be resolved!"

Ruan Chengzhi immediately responded with a threatening remark.

Ruan Qingan had no choice but to nod.

After the door closed again, the hallway finally quieted down. Ruan Qing'an looked at the person behind her who had been silent all along, and the next moment she hugged Song Xijun tightly.

You can faintly hear banging on the door from behind it.

The couple must have seen it through the peephole...

But Ruan Qing'an couldn't care less about that; he just held Song Xijun tightly, saying, "I'm sorry, you blockhead, I... I have to handle this properly. I want to be with you, and I don't want them to treat you like this, or even..."

Even, as mentioned before, to take advantage of you...

Sensing the unease in the person in his arms, Song Xijun sighed, stretched out his long arm, wrapped it around Ruan Qing'an's waist, patted her back, and comforted her by pressing his hand against her neck.

"Don't worry about me, I know you'll choose me."

His voice was gentle: "Alright, alright, you go home first. I'll find a hotel to stay in. I'll wait for you to come find me, Ruan Ruan."

"Okay!"

Ruan Qingan finally cheered up, tiptoed and kissed Song Xijun on the corner of her mouth before going into the house.

Only after Ruan Qing'an's figure was blocked by the door, and Xia Hua and Ruan Chengzhi's disgusted gazes were also blocked, Song Xijun leaned against the wall, raised her hand to cover half of her face, and chuckled softly.

They looked like hideous demons crawling out of hell.

His dark eyes stared at the earpiece attached to the bug in his other palm, and he murmured, "If you don't choose me, then just destroy all your other options."

This is indeed a test...

Even if it was just a test, Song Xijun wouldn't allow her to leave.

Meanwhile, Ruan Qing'an, who had just entered the living room, looked at Ruan Chengzhi and Xia Hua in front of him, his hand sliding through the outer layer of his clothes pocket, smiling radiantly, yet seemingly oblivious to everything.

At this moment, Xia Hua stepped forward and took Ruan Qing'an's hand.

“Ruan Ruan, I have to tell you what happened back then, so you can understand that you can’t be with Song Xijun.”