Chapter 25 Indulging Your Arrogance "Let's book a room tonight."
Xie Qingci felt a nameless tension as she walked out of the Liang family mansion.
This was their third real date, and their first after they got their marriage certificate.
The first two times, she felt a slight flutter in her heart when she received his message, and the dates were relaxed and comfortable. She didn't know what was wrong with her this time.
Liang Jingzhuo's car was parked in front of the mansion. This was the first time Lu Li had met Xie Qingci. When he saw her walking out of the mansion garden, he was stunned for a moment before he reacted and opened the back door for her.
Xie Qingci walked to the car, thanked him softly, and bowed before getting into the car.
As the car door opened, a sweet fragrance wafted in from outside. Liang Jingzhuo turned his head to look, and his gaze immediately froze.
Xie Qingci changed out of the white dress she wore when she got her marriage certificate that morning. She wore a pearly pink fishtail dress, her hair was styled in a high bun, her neck was slender and beautiful, and her makeup was light and gentle.
As he looked over, she had already settled into her seat.
A light skirt draped over a sturdy leather chair, revealing slender and beautiful ankles, with a pair of French silver strappy high heels on her feet.
Noticing his gaze, she turned to look at him, her beautiful, round eyes meeting his, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Liang Jingzhuo withdrew his inappropriate gaze and praised, "Very beautiful."
He had never been on a date with a girl before, but he knew that her dressing up was a sign of respect for the date, and that giving her a sincere compliment was a way of returning that respect.
Ms. Zhou bought this dress. Xie Qingci doesn't usually wear it to class. The weather on Hong Kong Island is milder than in Beijing, so she packed it with her when she packed her luggage.
The main thing is to pay attention to the matching of clothes. She usually wears sneakers and white sneakers, and her wardrobe is mostly casual clothes. There are very few shoes that can match these kinds of clothes.
The straightforward compliment made her cheeks flush slightly, and she smiled and replied, "Thank you."
Liang Jingzhuo didn't look at her again, as if deliberately avoiding the fact that he kept his gaze fixed on her, and responded with a simple "Mm".
-
Dinner was held in Tsim Sha Tsui, at a rooftop restaurant near Harbour City, where you could see the Victoria Harbour night view as night fell.
Tomorrow is a holiday, so the roads were more congested than usual today. I was stuck in the tunnel for a long time.
Looking out the car window at the traffic jam that was even worse than in Jingzhao, Xie Qingci took out her phone and sent a message to Ke Meng and Duan Siyu: "You guys said you couldn't think of any place more congested than Jingzhao, but I encountered one today."
After sending it, I immediately took a picture with my phone and sent it over.
The car windows were dark, and it was inside a tunnel, so the light wasn't very bright, but you could still vaguely see the traffic flowing from one end to the other outside the car, with scarlet taillights shining brightly.
Within half a minute, the two replied to each other in the group chat, but their focus was not on the car outside the window, but on a blurry silhouette reflected in the car window.
Ke Meng: [Is that your husband?]
Duan Siyu: [Is that even a question? Who else could it be?]
Xie Qingci paused for a moment and clicked on the photo she had just taken.
The dim environment enhanced the mirror-like effect of the car windows. Liang Jingzhuo sat on the other side, looking down at his phone. The light from the phone screen fell on his face, making his profile the only slightly clear image in the dim environment.
Its undulating silhouette, even from just a glimpse, exudes a serious and austere aura.
Ke Meng sent another message: "Is there any chance to invite President Liang to our school's coconut chicken? I have a business plan I'd like to discuss with him."
Duan Siyu saw through her scheme in a second: "[A business plan to sell Aci's WeChat account at a stall after graduation? Just say you want to see her in person, do you think Aci wouldn't let you?]"
When his little scheme was exposed, Ke Meng continued righteously: "Who said that? I just wanted to see the fairy and her husband together, that's all."
Duan Siyu sneered: "Then let Aci post a photo of herself and her husband, the same one."
Ke Meng thought for a moment and sent a message: "It's not impossible."
Xie Qingci held her phone for a long while, pondering, then said, "I don't have any photos of me with him."
We've barely met, and the only photo we have together is one taken by Aunt Zhuang before we got our marriage certificate today, but I haven't sent it to her yet.
Ke Meng: [You two happen to be together, this was filmed on location.]
It's quite interesting that the two of them, who have already obtained their marriage certificate, don't even have a decent photo together.
Xie Qingci held her phone and slowly turned her head to look at it.
Liang Jingzhuo was reviewing a document that he hadn't finished reviewing before leaving get off work when he felt the gaze on him and turned to look.
With a calm expression, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Xie Qingci held up her phone and waved it, "Can we take a group photo?"
As she spoke, her palms, gripping the edge of the phone, were sweaty, and her heartbeat quickened.
Because he was checking his phone in the dim light, Liang Jingzhuo's eyelids drooped slightly instinctively, but he slowly opened them upon hearing this.
He glanced at the phone in her hand, paused for two seconds, nodded, and replied, "Okay."
Xie Qingci pointed to the camera and moved closer to him. There were various armrests and boxes in between, and the distance between them was not very close. Liang Jingzhuo turned his head slightly and entered her frame.
Before pressing the shutter button, she asked, "So, should I take the picture?"
"Um."
The ambient light was insufficient, so I pressed the shutter button for a while, waiting for the night mode to take the picture.
A group chat message suddenly popped up at the top of the page.
The two assumed that Xie Qingci had silently rejected their request, so they naturally moved on to the next topic.
Duan Siyu: [By the way, Aci, He Yi came over to give you flowers a few days ago, but we told him you weren't home.]
Xie Qingci only told Ke Meng and Duan Siyu about her marriage. They weren't sure if she planned to tell her classmates, so they just said that Xie Qingci currently has a boyfriend.
Duan Siyu: [I also told him you have a boyfriend. He was really shocked, I don't know what he was shocked about.]
Could a fairy possibly lack men?
That's definitely impossible. What's wrong with having a boyfriend?
The message came into view unexpectedly. Xie Qingci was stunned for a moment. The imaging had already ended, and she put her phone away.
But Liang Jingzhuo had already seen it.
"Xie Qingci." A deep voice sounded from beside me.
She turned her head to look over, "Hmm?"
Liang Jingzhuo looked at her and earnestly corrected her: "We are a legally married couple, not boyfriend and girlfriend."
These two identities are fundamentally different.
Xie Qingci: "...I know."
She put down her phone and said seriously, "I did tell them, but they were probably worried that I didn't intend to tell anyone, so they came up with this excuse for me."
"Excuse?"
No, there's a reason.
"..."
Liang Jingzhuo looked at her without saying a word, and the atmosphere fell into a moment of silence. Lu Li glanced at the rearview mirror and, with great insight, raised the partition.
Hsieh Ching-Tzu solemnly promised, "I will explain it clearly."
Although their marriage was purely based on mutual benefit, she understood that maintaining the purity of her relationships with men during the marriage was the most basic respect she could show to each other.
Liang Jingzhuo hummed in response, turned his head back, and said nothing more.
Just when Xie Qingci thought the topic was over, a voice suddenly came from beside her: "The male classmate who bought your painting that day?"
She paused for a moment before connecting the dots and realized she was referring to He Yi.
She nodded, "Yes..."
Liang Jingzhuo nodded and simply said, "Okay."
OK?
What should I do?
Xie Qingci wasn't sure what he meant by that. "Actually, it's not what you think. I'm not familiar with him."
Liang Jingzhuo disliked arguing with people for too long on any one issue. Upon hearing this, he frowned slightly and turned to look at her: "Are you taking his side?"
?
Xie Qingci just wanted to explain, and was speechless for a moment, but she could sense the change in his emotions, though she didn't know why he had suddenly become so emotional.
He straightened his posture and explained, "No, I just didn't want you to misunderstand."
After she finished speaking, she paused for two seconds, "You said we are husband and wife, so we need to explain things clearly and not let misunderstandings or being misunderstood be unfounded."
Her gaze was sincere and direct, and Liang Jingzhuo felt as if something was stuck in his throat. After a few seconds, the wrinkles between his brows disappeared, and he softly replied, "Okay."
-
The car finally arrived at the restaurant at a snail's pace. Lu Li parked the car in the parking lot, and Xie Qingci and Liang Jingzhuo got out.
The restaurant operates on a reservation system, so the number of diners isn't particularly high. When I took the elevator upstairs, there were almost no people with me.
Xie Qingci stood against the elevator wall, her gaze secretly observing the shadow on the metal door in front of her.
Liang Jingzhuo stood tall and straight, neither speaking nor looking at his phone.
She recalled that just moments ago in the car, as she sent the group photo, she also announced the devastating news: "[Liang Jingzhuo saw your message.]"
Ke Meng and Duan Siyu were on high alert. [Are you angry?]
She replied: "I'm not sure, but she's not talking to me anymore."
Ke Meng offered her advice: "Then try to appease her. It's true, if someone were pursuing my wife, I'd be jealous too. Unfortunately, I can't grow up to be a real man."
Xie Qingci: "..."
She thought Liang Jingzhuo wouldn't be jealous, but she still accepted the suggestion. However, she didn't know how to coax him.
"Be a little coquettish, call him 'husband,' speak in a sweet voice, and say you love him the most." Master Ke said.
"..."
What kind of rubbish advice is this?
Xie Qingci felt a surge of excitement and decided to find a solution herself.
The elevator car slowly ascended, the floor display scrolling continuously. She called out his name: "Liang Jingzhuo".
The person next to her turned to look at her, their expression not too bad, and asked, "What's wrong?"
Thinking about what she was going to say next, Xie Qingci's face involuntarily flushed. "Actually, you are the most handsome man I have ever met."
The unexpected praise startled Liang Jingzhuo, who looked at her with a puzzled and inquisitive gaze.
Xie Qingci felt a chill run down her spine from the stare, but she forced herself to remain calm and continued, "I quite like your looks."
In the morning, Uncle Zhong asked her if Liang Jingzhuo was the type of man she liked, but she didn't answer directly.
There was a two-second silence before Liang Jingzhuo spoke, "Is this your reason for marrying me?"
Xie Qingci blinked. "Yes?"
In this situation, saying that you were attracted by his personal charm is more like flattery, isn't it?
As soon as the words fell, a crack appeared on the cold, stern face of the person in front of him, and he gave a very faint laugh.
Then, the topic was directly changed: "Do you have any requirements for the hotel's facilities and services?"
The topic changed so quickly that Xie Qingci didn't react in time. "A hotel?"
He looked at her and nodded: "We won't go back to the Liang family mansion tonight."
Xie Qingci was about to ask why.
The person next to him spoke up, his voice deep and strong, saying, "We'll get a room tonight and stay outside."
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Author's note: Worked overtime [doge emoji] Here's an extra chapter!
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