Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The tension in the car intensified at her words.
His cold and sullen look stunned her for a moment.
“Ji Ziming, you promised that you won’t get mad at me!”
After holding herself back for so long, she finally blurted this out.
“Ke ke. When did I promise that?” He chuckled humorlessly.
“Y-You, rascal!” She glared at him furiously. “You clearly said that you won’t get angry at me! If you didn’t, why would I tell you so much?”
“That’s your choice; I didn’t promise you anything.” He was a lot calmer now after his outburst earlier.
“All right, then. I will just adapt – adapt to learning all that stuff I completely don’t see any use for! I will also adapt to those teachers and their wonderful attitude! I’m really grateful to you for hiring those professionals to teach me useless things!” She firmly pressed her lips together after she had expressed her discontent.
This annoying person! This annoying person is really annoying!
“…” The man, who still had a bit of resentment in him, softened when he saw how wronged she felt.
“They… aren’t treating you well?” He glanced at her briefly.
Without further thought, she replied sarcastically, “They are really good to me, or else I won’t adapt so well, right?!”
“… Don’t speak out of rage.” The look in her eyes made his anger ebb away.
He, for the first time in his life, reflected on himself.
Actually… this foolish woman’s words were not overboard. She did not know what he had done for her, so when he expressed his anger at her, it was only fair for her to feel wronged.
“What did I say out of rage? I confided to you as a friend, but what about you? You suddenly got angry at me!” She glared at him with her round eyes, her voice filling with grievances.
When he saw her finally looking at him, some of the weight on his shoulders was lifted.
“Those teachers aren’t treating you well?” His voice had a gentle quality he himself did not notice.
“Mhm! Totally not! Everyone is so cold and noble and treats me like a child. How would I have a good time learning from them?!” Furious, she could not care less whether she angered the man with her shout or not.
What she did not know was, at this moment, the way they quarreled resembled a lovers’ spat, and it was even the kind of ‘altercation’ that could torture a bachelor.
Instead of her words surprising him, they only made his eyes deepen in color.
A long while later, he finally spoke.
“If you’re still not used to it, then you can take a break tomorrow.”
“Ah?” She was about to be overwhelmed by the injustice she felt, but his next words effectively doused her fury.
“You are letting me take a break? I don’t have to receive a lesson tomorrow?” she asked tentatively.
“Mhm,” he faintly hummed.
“Oh, oh…” She nodded slowly while trying to wrap her head around his words; her initial fury subsided substantially.
He glanced at her and then wordlessly stepped on the gas to continue their journey to her home.
They did not speak for the rest of the ride.
Of the two, one kept his focus on the road and another immersed herself in the scenery outside the window.
Besides the sound of their breathing, silence reigned in the car.
Suddenly, amid this silence, an upbeat tone rang.
Pei Ge, who was staring blankly outside the window, jumped at the ringing of her phone.
“Who is it?”
She took out the phone from her bag.
When she saw the caller ID displayed on the screen, she was so shocked she screamed, “X-Xiaoyu?!”
She looked at her phone’s screen in disbelief and then answered the call in a hurry.
Ji Ziming glanced at her when he heard her exclamation. From the look on her face, he could tell that this call meant a lot to her.
“Hello, Xiaoyu!” She practically yelled at the phone the moment the call connected.
“Hi, Ge Ge…” Her best friend’s voice indeed came through the phone.
Her tears started falling upon hearing Tang Xiaoyu’s voice.
She did not wait for the latter to finish speaking and just reprimanded while gripping the phone tightly.
“Tang Xiaoyu! You still know how to contact me?! Are you still my friend?! You! You are really too much! Do you know how worried I have been these few days?! You are really too much…”
Her words broke into intermittent sobs.
“Ge Ge, I am so, so sorry… I-I… I am too much. Don’t cry; don’t cry…” Over the phone, her outburst seemed to have shocked her best friend as the latter rushed to comfort her.
“Xiaoyu, I’m telling you; if you don’t give me a good explanation, we will end our friendship here!” She wept as she spoke.
Although it was less than three weeks, in that short period of time, many things had happened that almost made her fall apart.
First, her mother was misdiagnosed with gastric cancer.
Second, her best friend had gone missing.
Third, that contract with this man was made.
Each of these was a huge matter that required much attention.
Therefore, in this time, she was really… very exhausted.
“Xiaoyu, you are too much…” Her words were punctuated by her cries.
Alas, before she could finish her speech, the connection was cut off.
Du, du, du…
