The man smiled slightly and raised his hand to approach her.
Song Mai looked completely bewildered.
Warm fingertips landed on her lips, and Song Mai's mind exploded.
[Is he... going to kiss me?]
Song Mai's face turned bright red, and with nowhere to hide her gaze, she could only look directly at him.
A hint of amusement flashed in the man's eyes as his fingertips traced across Song Mai's lips, finally landing on the corner of her mouth.
Song Mai's heart skipped a beat, and her eyes trembled as well.
The man chuckled and showed her on his fingertip, where a grain of rice lay.
Song Mai's face turned completely red, and only then did she understand what he meant by "use it".
[Oh my god! What was I thinking just now?!]
Song Mai wanted to slap herself twice.
Chu Xing, seemingly on purpose, feigned ignorance and asked:
"Are you feeling unwell? Why is your face so red?"
"Cough cough... No, nothing."
Song Mai quickly turned her head to the side, avoiding the man's gaze.
Seeing how shy she was, Chu Xing stopped teasing her and instead asked, "What happened today?"
Why do you ask that?
Song Mai raised an eyebrow in surprise; she remembered that she hadn't said anything.
“You rarely ask me if I’m free after get off work. I think you must be busy. In the future, just tell me if you’re busy. Don’t feel like you’re bothering me. I’m your husband, and I will definitely do my best to help you.”
Song Mai pursed her lips and remained silent.
After a long pause, he finally raised his head and said, "This is a matter between my parents and me. If you have nothing else to do, I can ask you to help me, but if you have your own things to do, of course, your own matters should take precedence."
She spoke earnestly, her eyes filled with sincerity.
But the man's face turned cold, and his gaze toward Song Mai was icy.
"You still want to be so particular with me? I thought you knew how I felt, and that even if I didn't say it, you should have been able to feel it."
Upon hearing this, Song Mai was taken aback and looked at the man with some surprise.
Is he... confessing his feelings to me?
Song Mai was not unaware of his feelings. She had heard his words while she was unconscious last time and could feel his kindness towards her.
He just didn't know that she had heard him, and he had never confessed his feelings to her face to face, nor had he ever formally established a relationship with her. So even though she knew, she didn't know what their relationship was.
Are they lovers, husband and wife, or a contractual couple?
She didn't want to think about these issues and couldn't face them. So even though their interactions were clearly different from before, she still didn't know what it meant and could only try to appear as natural as possible by sticking to their old ways of getting along.
Her eyes flickered, and an unknown emotion seemed to be flowing in her eyes.
"I……"
However, the man put down his chopsticks before he could finish speaking.
"I'm done eating. Leave the dishes behind and I'll wash them."
After saying that, the man went straight upstairs without giving Song Mai a chance to reply.
The study door was closed, and the man was completely out of sight.
After silently finishing the last two mouthfuls of rice in her bowl, Song Mai took the bowl and chopsticks and went to the kitchen.
He wouldn't let her wash the dishes, but she didn't really intend not to.
Chu Xing leaned back in his chair in the study, his gaze darker than the twilight outside the window. He thought things were different between them now; at least he had feelings for her, and she did too.
Even though they didn't explicitly confess their feelings, they both tacitly accepted the relationship.
He believes that adults can understand each other even without saying it outright.
But she didn't seem to think the same way he did.
After washing the dishes, Song Mai stood at the door of the study, hesitated for a long time, and prepared to talk to him about this matter face to face.
Since he has already made it clear, she has no reason to hide anything.
Since you like each other, why not be honest and clarify things, properly establish the relationship, and then define what kind of relationship it should be?
She had just raised her hand to knock on the door when her phone vibrated in her pocket.
Song Mai took out her phone and saw that it was none other than her mother. She quickly went back to her room to answer the phone, and soon she heard her mother crying on the other end:
“Maizi, they’re here again! They say they’ve already contacted a buyer, and if we don’t give them the money soon, Xiaohao will be sold to the mountains. What should we do? Will calling the police really help? They don’t know we’ve called the police yet. If they do, will they harm Xiaohao…”
The sound of Song's mother sobbing came through the receiver, sounding rather mournful in the empty room.
Song Mai patiently reassured them, "Don't worry, you must keep Liu Weiqiang and the others calm. Tell them that we are trying our best to raise money. I will urge the police again to see if we can get Liu Weiqiang to agree to let us see Xiao Hao first, at least to confirm Xiao Hao's safety and find out where he is being held."
"Okay, okay, I understand. I'll go tell him right away."
After hanging up the phone, Song Mai wearily pinched the bridge of her nose, her worries still lingering.
No one knows where Liu Weiqiang lives, nor does anyone know where Xiao Hao is being held. Even if the police search by reviewing surveillance footage, it will still take time.
A day has already passed, leaving only two days. It's certain that we won't be able to raise the money, and even if we did, we wouldn't give it to them. We can only rely on the police to see if they can find Xiao Hao and rescue him within these two days.
After thinking it over, Song Mai finally knocked on Chu Xing's door.
The man sat at his desk, glancing up at her with an expression so indifferent that it was impossible to discern his emotions.
"What's up?"
There's something I'd like to discuss with you.
After describing the situation in detail, Song Mai asked, "What do you think?"
The man capped his pen, pondered for a moment, and then said:
“It’s right to call the police, but we can’t rely on them alone. They will investigate, but they can only do so discreetly. After all, we can’t let Liu Weiqiang find out, otherwise the effectiveness of our investigation will be affected. Time is limited, so we need to think of other ways to assist.”
Song Mai nodded. She had thought of that too, which was why she came to ask him if he had any good suggestions.
The man glanced at her.
Need help?
Since he had already gone to such lengths at the dinner table, it wouldn't be appropriate for her not to ask for his help. Besides, she needed his help anyway. Chu Xing possessed a decisiveness and courage that she lacked, and his solutions were often quite effective.
"need."
The ice in the man's eyes seemed to melt a little.
"We'll meet with Liu Weiqiang tomorrow night and tell him that we've prepared half the money, but we need to meet him first to confirm the hostage's safety before we're willing to give him the other half."
Upon hearing this, Song Mai nodded.
She couldn't come up with two million, but she could manage to scrape together one million.
"And then?" Song Mai asked.
The man suddenly looked at her: "Do you believe me?"
"certainly."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
