GOR
Seeing Chen Xiaolian getting up, Yu Jiajia immediately got up as well. Then, with her head lowered, she followed him as he walked out from the room.
Chen Xiaolian pushed open the adjacent door to reveal a lounge. In addition to having a few sofas, it also had several wine cabinets placed on the side and a small refrigerator.
Seeing Yu Jiajia seating herself down, Chen Xiaolian moved to sit down on the sofa positioned opposite her. “Come, let’s have a talk.”
“I… want something to drink.” Yu Jiajia gingerly looked at Chen Xiaolian and asked in a hushed tone, “Can I?”
“All right.” Chen Xiaolian nodded. Getting up, he walked toward the wine cabinet and gave it a glance. “The only beverages we have are cola and mineral water. Which one do you want?”
“No… wine?”
“… … …” Chen Xiaolian hesitated for a moment before nodding his head. Pulling out two wine glasses, he filled them up with ice cubes from the refrigerator before pouring half a glass’ worth of whiskey into each. Then, he returned to the sofa and handed one of them over to Yu Jiajia. “Drink slowly. It’s very strong.”
Accepting the wine glass, Yu Jiajia then raised it up and downed the whiskey completely. After that, she shook the glass, causing the ice cubes in the glass to clink about before handing it back to Chen Xiaolian. “I want more.”
Chen Xiaolian stared blankly at the glass that Yu Jiajia was handing over. There was a slightly flabbergasted look on his face.
The wine glass was not particularly large. After having filled it with ice cubes, the half a glass worth of whiskey that he poured into the glass was not exactly a lot for a single person. However, Yu Jiajia had downed it all in one gulp. It was just like a drunkard who had had years of experience in drinking alcohol.
“Your… … alcohol tolerance is so good?” Chen Xiaolian gave a wry smile.
“I have never drunk wine before.” Yu Jiajia shook her head. “But I did hear that if you can make yourself drunk, you can lessen many worries.”
Chen Xiaolian remained seated on the sofa. Seeing that, Yu Jiajia chose to stand up and walk toward the wine cabinet herself. She casually picked a bottle of wine and filled her glass with it.
Chen Xiaolian inspected the bottle. Fortunately, the one she picked was a bottle of red wine.
After sitting down on the sofa once more, Yu Jiajia no longer gulped down all the wine. Instead, she sipped the wine little by little.
“Now, there are only the two of us here. What do you want to talk about?” Chen Xiaolian decided not to care too much about it. At any rate, those who have never drank wine before will have to experience the discomfort for the first time.
There was already a slight blush on Yu Jiajia’s face. She had had a long day. Additionally, she had not eaten anything since waking up in the morning. Due to her empty stomach, she ended up doubling her rate of drinking.
Only after taking another two mouthfuls did she put down the wine glass. Looking right at Chen Xiaolian, she took a deep breath. “The things you said… … are they true? Your girlfriend has always been Qiao Qiao. It was never me?”
“Never.” Chen Xiaolian replied frankly. “We… … we are acquainted. However, that is all.”
“Even friends… … are we not even friends?” Yu Jiajia whispered.
“I suppose… … we can be considered as friends.” Chen Xiaolian considered it for a bit before settling on a more considerate answer.
“Then… … what about these?!” Yu Jiajia pulled out her mobile phone from her pocket. Accessing the photo album, she raised it to show Chen Xiaolian the screen before flipping the images one by one. “Are these all fake as well?!”
“Yes.” Chen Xiaolian merely gave them a brief glance before nodding his head. “They are all fake.”
Within the photo album were pictures of both Yu Jiajia and Chen Xiaolian. In every one of them, the two appeared to be very intimate.
Yu Jiajia stared intently at Chen Xiaolian, who did not evade her gaze. Instead, Chen Xiaolian looked right back at her.
“Fine.” Yu Jiajia and Chen Xiaolian stared at each other for a moment. Slowly, Yu Jiajia lowered her head.
The gaze that Chen Xiaolian had given her was one of clarity. There was no intimacy in it. Even more so, he did not even try to evade her gaze.
“If we are just ordinary friends…” Yu Jiajia took another big mouthful from the wine glass. “Then… … can you tell me what our real relationship is like?”
“All right.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. He began talking about how he became acquainted with Yu Jiajia and continued describing the events leading up to the present.
Yu Jiajia stood up and walked toward the wine cabinet. This time, she brought the bottle of red wine back and placed it on the coffee table, beside her wine glass.
Chen Xiaolian did not go into the details and simply made a passing comment about certain events. For example, there was the matter of Yu Jiajia finding him, asking him for a place to stay. Chen Xiaolian did not bother going too deep into how Yu Jiajia had been acting like a Big Miss as she was asking for a place to stay.
“So… … the day Roddy and the others brought you back, that is the day everything was modified by the ‘system’ that you all keep talking about, is that right?” After Chen Xiaolian was finished, Yu Jiajia took another big mouthful of wine. “I have always thought it weird. Why did you seemingly become a different person that day? It turns out, the one who changed was not you. It was me…”
“Don’t drink so much. You are already a little drunk.”
“I want to keep drinking.” Yu Jiajia shook her head. “Since you were never my boyfriend, why do you care what I do?”
Chen Xiaolian sighed. “Fine. You now know everything. I hope, after returning, you can tell your father that you want to stay.”
“Why?” Yu Jiajia put down the bottle of wine, her figure leaning limply on the sofa. There was a faraway look in her eyes as she looked at Chen Xiaolian. “Why should I stay?”
“The two guilds that were killed off just now may not be all of them. Your father is Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s representative in the secular world. If there are more Awakened guilds who know of this, you two will continue to be in danger.” Chen Xiaolian leaned his body forward as he stared at Yu Jiajia. “Were it not for me and Qiao Qiao, they would have successfully obtained what they wanted.”
“Isn’t it… … just death? I… … am not afraid of death!” Yu Jiajia had begun fumbling for words. However, she continued to reach for the bottle of wine.
Chen Xiaolian’s brows furrowed. He grabbed the bottle of wine and placed it down beside his feet. “Do you think that death is the worst thing that can happen to you?”
“What else?” Yu Jiajia pouted. Then, she got up and attempted to reach across the coffee table for the bottle of wine. However, Chen Xiaolian pressed her hand down on the table.
“What else?” Chen Xiaolian sneered at Yu Jiajia. “A group of men wants to get some information from your father and they just happen to have you in their grasp. Do you really not know what that group of men can do?”
He deliberately emphasized the word ‘men’.
Despite her drunk state, Yu Jiajia was still able to discern what Chen Xiaolian meant. She fell silent.
“From now on, you are not allowed to drink anymore. Listen to me.” Chen Xiaolian shifted the wine bottle farther away. “Your father’s sense of self-esteem is very strong. Given the present situation, it will be very hard for him to willingly stay behind. However, as long as you are willing to speak up, he will not have any reason to refuse. Remember, your decision will determine the fates of two people, you and your father.”
“Stay here… … and spend every day looking at you and her… … in an intimate relationship?” Yu Jiajia was silent for a moment, a desolate smile on her face. “Xiaolian, do you know how much pain that will bring me?”
Suddenly, Yu Jiajia got up. She walked around the coffee table to stand before Chen Xiaolian.
“You are my boyfriend! It doesn’t matter where these memories came from! In my memories, you are my boyfriend!” After coming to stand before Chen Xiaolian, Yu Jiajia sat down on the coffee table. Her pair of teary eyes stared at Chen Xiaolian. “Even if I know all those things, I still cannot change my memories! If I am to suddenly tell you that the love between you and Qiao Qiao have never existed and that she is another guy’s girlfriend and that you have to spend every day looking at her being intimate with that other guy, you… … can you do it, Xiaolian?!”
Chen Xiaolian sighed. There was a bitter smile on his face.
Yu Jiajia’s words… … they weren’t wrong in the slightest.
If he were in her shoes, he probably couldn’t do it.
Yu Jiajia continued staring at Chen Xiaolian. Despite the agitation in her voice earlier, the tenderness within her eyes were gradually spilling out. Her face was gradually moving closer.
Chen Xiaolian quickly got up from the sofa. He moved to the side, avoiding Yu Jiajia’s incoming lips. “Stop it, Yu Jiajia.”
“Just one, all right? Xiaolian…” Yu Jiajia pleaded sadly. “Let me kiss you one more time, just like in the past…”
“There is no one more time.” Chen Xiaolian frowned and said solemnly, “I have never kissed you before and I never will. We are just friends.”
“We did. I remember, we did…” Yu Jiajia shook her head softly, the sadness in her eyes pulsating outwards. She spread open her arms as she attempted to embrace Chen Xiaolian. “On the beach, the lakeside, the foot of the snowy mountain… … we kissed so many times…”
“Enough!” Chen Xiaolian’s face turned livid and he shouted out, stopping Yu Jiajia from continuing.
He had wanted to soften the atmosphere so that Yu Jiajia can relax as he attempted to persuade her. Thus, he had not stopped her from drinking.
Unexpectedly, Yu Jiajia’s alcohol tolerance was very bad. After getting drunk, she ended up losing control of herself.
“Just once… … just let me kiss you once and I will stay. All right, Xiaolian…” Yu Jiajia staggered as she moved toward Chen Xiaolian, the faraway look in her eyes growing. “I really love you, Xiaolian…”
“Come out!” Chen Xiaolian knitted his brows. He thought about pushing Yu Jiajia away, but hesitated for a moment. Next, he retracted his hand and summoned the three Four-eyed War Cats.
After getting summoned out, the Four-eyed War Cats did not assume their full War Forms. Instead, they only expanded up to a length of half a metre before leaping up to press Yu Jiajia down on the sofa.
“Stay down.” Chen Xiaolian’s face was dark as he turned around to move out of the room, ignoring Yu Jiajia, who was struggling on the sofa.
As Yu Jiajia was presently drunk, Chen Xiaolian decided to simply not talk to her. At any rate, since both she and Qiao Yifeng were not Awakened ones, it would not be too difficult to force them to stay. If it came down to it, he and Qiao Qiao could simply choose to not appear before them.
No matter how much Qiao Yifeng came to hate him, it would be better than letting the two of them die.
It was too dangerous for them to be outside right now. Thus, he could only have them stay at the resort for the time being. Hopefully, they could find the remaining members of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild sooner and send Qiao Yifeng and Yu Jiajia over to them.
“Xia Xiaolei, Qimu Xi, come here. Bring Qiao Yifeng and Yu Jiajia away.” Chen Xiaolian pushed open the door and had just only spoken up through the guild channel when he heard Roddy shout out anxiously, “Xiaolian! We have intruders on the island!”
