"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come downstairs at this time..."
Xue Xiaodie's voice trembled, and her wide, peach-blossom eyes were filled with tears. Under the lights of the elevator and hallway, those shimmering tears looked helpless and pitiful.
Xia Xiaobing felt a little sorry for him and subconsciously pushed Lu Zhe, but didn't push him away.
Lu Zhe still held her tightly.
In an instant, without any eye contact or verbal exchange, Xia Xiaobing understood his meaning—rather than going to great lengths to explain to Xue Xiaodie, it would be better to let the girl see the situation clearly at this moment, withdraw from the situation, and stop pestering her.
Xia Xiaobing's feelings suddenly became quite complicated. Lu Zhe's determination was so strong, which was beyond her expectations and an unexpected surprise. But Xia Xiaobing's desperate and sad eyes also made her feel pity and even a little guilty.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Xue Xiaodie murmured, squatted down to pick up her phone, and when she stood up again, she had already turned around, covered her face and ran away.
Xia Xiaobing could imagine that when the poor girl returned to her room where she was all alone, she would lock herself in and cry for a long time. Perhaps, she wouldn't be able to cry enough all night?
Putting herself in that situation, Xia Xiaobing felt that if she had witnessed that scene, she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.
The elevator doors closed, blocking out the girl's silhouette and footsteps.
It went up another level.
The elevator doors opened again, and Lu Zhe pulled Xia Xiaobing out.
“I don’t want to do anything unnecessary tonight,” he said softly as he took a step. “Can I sit here alone in peace and quiet?”
Xia Xiaobing could hear the deep weariness in his voice.
She could easily understand this, after all, not long ago Lu Zhe was still struggling with his feelings for three girls. And today, this scene in front of Xue Xiaodie meant that Xue Xiaodie and Tang Qi would definitely leave him—the two girls lived together and had a good relationship, and Xue Xiaodie would most likely tell Tang Qi about today's unexpected encounter.
Xia Xiaobing's tone became gentler than ever before: "It's okay, let's calm down. We all need to adjust our emotions."
Lu Zhe nodded silently. By then, he had arrived at the door, unlocked the fingerprint lock, and pushed the door open to enter.
He didn't even change out of his slippers before stepping through the entryway and onto the sofa in the living room. He then slumped back onto the sofa.
Xia Xiaobing sat down on the sofa next to him and silently watched him.
After a while, the mature woman asked softly, "Are you feeling a little mentally exhausted?"
Lu Zhe lay there and sighed, "I want to ask for leave tomorrow."
Xia Xiaobing: "No problem."
Lu Zhe: "I'd like to take two days off to find a new place and move."
Hearing this, Xia Xiaobing immediately understood. Indeed, after Xue Xiaodie and Tang Qi found out about this, she naturally couldn't continue living with them. And this place, being right upstairs from Tang Qi's house, was clearly inappropriate.
So Xia Xiaobing tentatively asked, "How about moving to my place? Not here, I mean the house I bought."
Lu Zhe shook his head helplessly: "To be honest, I still want to live alone."
Living alone, in Xia Xiaobing's opinion, was certainly not as good as having him live with her, but it was at least much better than having him live with two rivals. Besides, given what had just happened today, she felt she could understand Lu Zhe's complicated and heavy feelings at this moment.
Xia Xiaobing nodded: "Then take two days off and find a good place to stay. But where are you spending the night tonight? Do you want to come to my place?"
Lu Zhe remained silent for a while, then said in a low voice, "I'll go pack my things later and then stay at a hotel for the night. I'm sorry, but right now I really just want to be alone..."
Xia Xiaobing moved closer to him. Then, she reached out and gently stroked his forehead.
"It's okay, then just be alone for a while."
————
Lu Zhe stayed in Xia Xiaobing's rented apartment for more than an hour, then went down one floor and entered Tang Qi's house.
Miss Tang has returned from school and is currently sitting on the sofa, playing games as usual. Judging from her focused expression, she is clearly unaware of what happened tonight.
Lu Zhe stood next to the large television screen and asked as calmly as possible, "Have you seen Xiao Die?"
Tang Qi pressed the pause button: "She should be drawing in her room. Do you need to see her?"
Lu Zhe nodded: "When I was working overtime, I encountered a problem that I need to discuss with her."
"Oh, then go find her in her room."
After Tang Qi finished speaking, she continued playing the game.
Lu Zhe turned around and walked to Xue Xiaodie's bedroom door, then knocked.
"Please come in."
Xue Xiaodie's voice came from inside the door, her tone calm and her emotions unreadable.
As he pushed open the door, Lu Zhe couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Although the plan for tonight was Xue Xiaodie's own suggestion, Lu Zhe still felt that this was going too far.
But when Lu Zhe went inside, he found Xue Xiaodie indeed hunched over her computer and drawing tablet, drawing intently. He closed the door and walked over.
When Lu Zhe came up behind the girl and saw what was on the screen, he was completely stunned.
What Xue Xiaodie is drawing at this moment is comparable to the content of a doujinshi (comic book).
The picture shows a large bed with two girls and a boy. The boy's hairstyle and build are almost identical to Lu Zhe's, but because of the anime art style, it's not easy to match him with a real person's face. But Lu Zhe felt that Xue Xiaodie was definitely drawing himself.
The two girls in the painting are a beautiful, mature woman with a rebellious spirit, and a petite, adorable girl with twin ponytails. The mature woman is lying on the bed, while the girl is lying on the bed looking back at the boy.
Whether it was the boys or the two girls, their clothes were rather... In short, the whole scene was quite inappropriate for children.
Even more terrifying, a girl was sitting on a chair next to the large bed. The girl had her hair in a princess braid and wore glasses, but her hands and feet were bound, leaving her helplessly sitting there.
The girl with glasses had tears in her eyes and a humiliated expression, yet also a strange flush on her face.
When he looked at the file name displayed on the software - "The Wife's Front of the Wife" - Lu Zhe was dumbfounded.
Xue Xiaodie wasn't wearing headphones, so she could hear him enter the bedroom, but she didn't stop painting. The scene she was painting was already quite perfect, enough to make one's eyes water, but she was still refining the details, especially the wrinkles on the sheets caused by the three people's movements.
Lu Zhe asked in a trembling voice, "What are you doing?"
Xue Xiaodie said quietly, "Making the best of a bad situation..."
Lu Zhe: "No, please be normal, I'm scared."
————
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