Chapter 108: The Return of an Old Friend
What words could possibly describe Bai Feifei's current gaze...? First of all, it was undeniably a riot of color, a veritable "dazzling display." Green, white, red, purple—all sorts of flowers seemed to bloom on Bai Feifei's face. The scenery in her eyes shifted several times in an instant, and a thousand words must have been swirling within her heart. But so what? Did she think she could simply say what she wanted to say?
Of course, that wouldn't do. So she maintained her pitiful, delicate expression, like a flower in spring, her eyes filled with tears. No amount of hatred could hide her vulnerability. As a result, her anger and shame burned ever brighter, yet she still had to whisper her thanks to Xie Huailing, her eyes brimming with gratitude.
...He was moved to tears as he thanked Xie Huai for his kindness.
She'd miscalculated; it seemed she couldn't keep up the act. Seeing this person's increasingly gentle smile, which could easily be interpreted as a provocation, Bai Feifei nearly bit her teeth to pieces.
Zhu Qiqi's puzzled gaze shifted, looking at the frail and trembling Bai Feifei, and then at Xie Huailing, who was comparable to Man Ting Fang. She felt completely bewildered, as if she had been drenched in a fog. She asked Xie Huailing, "Do you know her?"
Otherwise, it doesn't make sense why she's laughing. Ever since Zhu Qiqi met Xie Huailing, she'd never seen her smile even once. Later, when she met Sha Man and the others, she assumed it was just the typical demeanor of the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion, and that she rarely smiled except for Yang Wuxie. So why is it that today, upon seeing a pitiful orphan girl, Xie Huailing is smiling?
Faced with her question, Xie Huailing tried to suppress her smile and put it back down. Then, she turned to Zhu Qiqi and offered to explain.
Bai Feifei realized that some people are just naturally bad at speaking, especially at such a good time, and she didn't know what kind of stories they would tell her. But since she was already sitting there, she could only leave it to fate, and for a moment she felt even more resentful.
Xie Huailing did not disappoint Bai Feifei, saying, "I recognize her, of course I recognize her, what a coincidence. I met this girl in Bianjing City. She was selling herself at the street corner to bury her father, and I couldn't bear it, so I gave her some money to find a good family. I never expected to see her here again today. She's really a pitiful person. By the way, I wonder how your search for a husband is going?"
Bai Feifei took a deep breath, her voice strained out: "...Thank you...thank you for your concern, but I am just an orphan, and no man is willing to treat me sincerely. Where can I find a husband? Finally, someone was willing to marry me properly, but unexpectedly..." She choked up at the right moment, "...sold me to this place."
Zhu Qiqi believed it to be true and stopped thinking about it. She became even angrier and said, "These damned human traffickers should all be arrested and beheaded by the government!"
She looked at Bai Feifei again and saw her with tears streaming down her face. She felt even more sorry for her and said, "What's your name? I'll give you some more money. Go and settle down properly."
Bai Feifei, outwardly tearful but inwardly cursing with unspeakable filth, sobbed twice more under Xie Huailing's gaze. It must be said that, in terms of mental fortitude, she truly deserved to achieve great things: "Miss, you saved me, so my life is naturally yours. Please don't send me away; I will repay you with my life!"
After saying this, she was about to kneel down and kowtow to Zhu Qiqi when Xie Huailing, who was in the background, turned his head away, seemingly still reciting her words. Bai Feifei clenched her fists, and her trembling finally showed some genuine emotion—she was furious.
Zhu Qiqi quickly caught her, preventing her from actually kneeling down, and asked in bewilderment, "I told you to go and be properly settled, why do you insist on being my servant? And..."
Sometimes it really is said that Zhu Qiqi is the best against all masters. She went to see Xie Huailing, and then said to Bai Feifei, "The money to save you was borrowed by me. To be precise, she saved you twice. You should go and repay her kindness. Huailing, what are your plans?"
With this unexpected help, Xie Huailing turned her head back, covered her lips with her hand, and tasted the growing killing intent in Bai Feifei's eyes before saying, "There's nothing wrong with that. Then repay me by being my slave, like a maid or something. But you didn't get paid for the first two months, you don't mind, do you?"
Bai Feifei now hated Zhu Qiqi as well, and really wanted to tie them up and whip them, but on the surface she had to be grateful and say, "Whether it's a monthly salary or not, how could I care? I will serve you well!"
She emphasized the word "good".
Feeling great about the good deed she had done, Zhu Qiqi thought about how she could help Xie Huailing and Bai Feifei become master and servant. She was quite proud of her act of bravery and decided to do more, saying, "By the way, that human trafficker is still outside. If I had known, I wouldn't have given him the IOU. I would have just knocked him out. It's not too late now."
Zhu Qiqi rushed out in a flurry of activity, and as soon as she stepped outside the wooden door, Bai Feifei's tearful expression immediately changed.
Faster than the blink of an eye, her frail hands, which had been loosely supporting her at her sides, forcefully grabbed Xie Huailing's collar, forcing him to bend over. Her face held a ruthless expression as if she wanted to devour him alive, and she cursed, "You—"
Before she could finish her tirade, her string of profanities abruptly stopped. She released Xie Huailing and buried her face in her hands, weeping again. Zhu Qiqi had returned and said to Xie Huailing, "I'll pay you back the money later, okay?"
Xie Huailing chuckled and twitched her shoulders twice at Bai Feifei, whose expression had changed drastically, as if she really couldn't hold it in anymore. Zhu Qiqi couldn't see her expression, but she felt something was off: "What's wrong with you? Why are you laughing again?"
Xie Huailing replied, "I thought of something happy."
"What about the money?"
"As long as you don't forget to pay it back later, it's fine. Just go ahead and make sure no one gets away."
This time, Zhu Qiqi really left. Xie Huailing squatted down, clutching her stomach, and looked Bai Feifei in the eye, meeting her gaze that seemed to want to dig a hole through her.
She was still quite pleased with herself, thinking that this was probably the most innocent person the human trafficker had ever been in decades of work. But when she opened her mouth and saw the tear stains on Bai Feifei's face, a laugh came out first, and she buried her head again. It was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.
Bai Feifei flew into a rage, grabbed her by the collar and pulled her over. This person actually had the nerve to explain: "I'm sorry, I've received strict training, and I don't usually laugh."
"You just want to say I'm funny today, right?" Bai Feifei gritted her teeth, her embarrassment and anger overwhelming her original intentions, which were revealed in her every move. "I should have just torn that face off, so you wouldn't have come here to make me unhappy today!"
Xie Huailing, quick-witted and composed, said, "What are you talking about? Shouldn't you be doing your research before you act? It seems like the same thing happened last time, Feifei, you just rushed straight into my hands."
Bai Feifei, already on the verge of exploding, was further enraged by this bucket of oil: "How was I supposed to know you'd come with Zhu Qiqi? And you, dare you say you didn't come here on purpose to tease me and make fun of me?"
"I'm really not."
Xie Huailing avoided answering whether he was intentionally teasing or just looking for fun, and only answered the first part, saying, "That's really unfair to me, it hurts my feelings so much. I haven't been watching you all year round, Feifei, how could I not know you were here, and still having designs on Zhu Qiqi? I'm really innocent."
Bai Feifei sneered: "Isn't it good that I've wronged you? How often can you be innocent and how often can you be wronged? I'm letting you off easy!"
As she spoke, her anger did not subside at all. While others were overjoyed at their long-awaited reunion, she only wanted Xie Huailing to have his seventh day memorial service immediately so that she could be overjoyed. Then she reached out to her side.
She didn't touch anything, except for the veil Xie Huailing had thrown down. Bai Feifei looked around again. The small room was newly bought by the human traffickers for their business, and it was fairly clean. No one had slept in it yet. Her gaze fell on the straw pillow on the bed, and then, before Xie Huailing could react, she grabbed the pillow.
Xie Huailing's expression changed drastically: "Hey, wait a minute, this isn't a good idea, hey..."
Not giving this person a chance to speak, knowing that letting her speak would only lead to her own regret, Bai Feifei began her one-sided pillow fight.
The blows weren't exactly heavy, but Xie Huailing was chased all over the house, the two of them running and chasing each other, circling around the room. However, this person was no match for her; in her panic, she could only flee like a petal fluttering in the wind. If she was determined, she wouldn't let her escape.
"You want to find me a husband, is that it? You want to sell yourself to bury your father, is that it? Your whole family is the one looking for a husband!"
"Feifei, what are you saying? I don't have a whole family either, so I can't be arranged into a ghost marriage. It's better to repay your great kindness by serving you like a cow or a horse—ouch, ouch, ouch!"
"I'll make you choke if it hurts!"
Finally, Xie Huailing, looking like he was ready to die, lay down on the bed and started panting. Bai Feifei finally felt relieved and lay down on the other side of the bed as well, the two of them standing side by side.
Bai Feifei said, "I'll kill you sooner or later."
Xie Huailing said, "I'm so touched that you've been thinking about me all day long."
Bai Feifei was too lazy to curse anymore. She kicked her, and her chest started to hurt. At this point, she laughed angrily, "I can't argue with you. Just wait and see when I find the time to settle the score with you. You can't hide behind Su Mengzhen here."
Xie Huailing didn't seem to care much, and said, "So you didn't think about me at all? I'm going to be heartbroken. I've been through so much lately, so many trials and tribulations. Shi Guanyin even said she wanted to kill me. Aren't you worried at all?"
"What are you worried about? Are you worried she's courting death?" Bai Feifei sneered, but her expression had relaxed considerably. She lay back on the bed, closed her eyes, and said, "They're all courting death. Those who oppose you are all overestimating themselves. Shi Guanyin is courting death, and so is Liufenbantang."
Xie Huailing recognized that this was a compliment, and snorted without saying anything.
The two lay there, as if they had returned to that snowy field, where there was nothing to scheme about, no conspiracies or motives. But that page had clearly been turned; winter had gone far, far away. They might still be inseparable, but the snow was indeed gone.
Once it's gone, it can never be brought back.
Bai Feifei opened her eyes, her voice sinking with her posture, deep into her chest, where a misty haze hung in the air: "I shouldn't have seen you at this time."
Xie Huailing said, "We shouldn't have met at this time."
Bai Feifei said, "But we met at this time."
Xie Huailing said, "That means we're working on the same thing, or on the same person."
Bai Feifei added, "There couldn't be anything more unfortunate than this."
That's true.
But there was no need to mention or emphasize the unknown things that followed. She knew that Bai Feifei was thinking the same things as her, and that their choices were aligned, so these words lost their value before they were even spoken.
The sun was still hanging outside, but time was running out.
Xie Huailing then asked, "So, are we doing this for the same thing, or for the same person?"
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