With rigidity overtaking his eyes, Li Yuan curled his lips sarcastically as he wheeled himself away. It was like Fu Qingxuan was not even there.
“Hey.” Anxious, Fu Qingxuan cried out again.
“Young Master Fu, is this the manners of the Fu family? Should I request your second brother to teach you some basic speech etiquette?” Li Yuan’s eyes grew profound while his cold voice bore a hint of taunt.
Fu Qingxuan clenched his fists. What was with the rules? Though, he had to admit, he was being rude. Instead of talking back, he resumed his usual cool-headed demeanor before strangers. “Mr. Li, may I know if Uncle Jin Yu’s around?”
Li Yuan replied, “No.”
Fu Qingxuan may be gritting his teeth in his mind, but he did not reflect it in his speech. “Thank you.”
The man did it on purpose!
Those rules did not seem to exist when Meanie and Uncle Jin Yu were around. Yet here they were, with just the two of them, and suddenly Li Yuan insisted on going by the book. Meanie should see him now. All that gentleness and kindness bullsh*t was merely a façade Li Yuan put in front of her. He was two-faced!
“You’re welcome,” Li Yuan answered.
“What about Meanie!” Fu Qingxuan swiftly changed the form of address, “Where’s Shen Xi?”
Mrs. Shen mentioned she had something to take care of. What else could she be doing other than hanging out with that b*stard, Li Yuan? However, Li Yuan came out to the courtyard by himself. So where did he ditch Meanie to?
“I don’t know.” Li Yuan did not ignore him for a change.
Nevertheless, the living room door was suddenly open, and out came a girl yawning with bleary eyes. Following the sight of Li Yuan, her eyes promptly lit up and she purred, “Brother.”
Having just woken up, her voice was languidly raspy, sweet, and soft. Her hair was a mess, and her expression listless. Aww, what a cutie pie!
Li Yuan, “…”
Fu Qingxuan gave Li Yuan the evil eye. Oh, if only looks could kill. B*stard! Lying through his teeth, huh? Fu Qingxuan wondered if Shen Xi was kidnapped to stay the night at Li Yuan’s place.
Li Yuan smiled. “Have you eaten?”
Shen Xi shook her head. “No. Why hadn’t my mom called me? What time is it?”
She got up really early in the morning to drive Chu Ying to the airport. At her return, she came by here looking for Toffeecito and decided then to cuddle up on the sofa to catch some sleep. She lost track of time dozing off.
Li Yuan said, “Your mom’s home. Do you want to have lunch here or at home?”
Still not fully conscious, Shen Xi furrowed her brows in deep ponder.
Up on the wall, Fu Qingxuan was fuming through his eyes. F*ck! Was he invisible to them? Could they not see him? He cleared his throat loudly.
Shen Xi then turned to glance at the wall and saw that it was Fu Qingxuan. “Why are you at my house?”
Fu Qingxuan hissed through gritted teeth. “Where did you sleep?”
She was so trusting to run off and fall asleep in someone else’s house. What if Li Yuan, the b*stard, gave in to his urges and had his way with her?
Hold on.
She probably wished Li Yuan made a pass at her!
Yet, Fu Qingxuan always got himself in this sort of situation. He should stay out of it, but he was afraid and mad that she would be taken advantage of.
“Here.” Shen Xi looked back and pointed at the living room sofa. Kneading her shoulder muscles, she moaned to Li Yuan, “Brother, the sofa’s a little hard. My back’s sore sleeping on it.”
Li Yuan had already made his way over to her. He softly spoke, “Once you have the time, we can look around the furniture store and pick what you like.”
Fu Qingxuan was infuriated to the point of speechlessness. Meanie was deliberately doing it. Was this the point of his question? Was he asking her about the sofa?
He wanted to ask why she was sleeping at Li Yuan’s place. It was not like there was nowhere to sleep in that big home of hers. Could she not be the least bit wary?
“Give me a massage.” Sniffling, Shen Xi looked at him with a pout.
Li Yuan uttered, “Lie down here.”
Shen Xi could not care less about Fu Qingxuan. She jogged to lie down on the sofa and rested her chin on the pillow while smiling like an idiot.
Fu Qingxuan gnashed his teeth and observed her acting like a puppy – wagging her tail and running off. How he wished he could grab her tail and drag her back.
Was Meanie that into Li Yuan? So much so she put all her shields down before him? To the extent that she had no principles? Did she know how flirty she looked just now?
He wanted to yell her name out loud but decided to hold it in. Fu Qingxuan was a man of his word when he promised not to let Mr. and Mrs. Shen know.
“Xuan, what are you doing up there?” Shangguan Yanqiu finally noticed her son was missing. While Yun Jinping and Granny Yu were busy in the kitchen, she came out for a look and found her son standing high against the wall.
“I’m looking for Toffeecito.” Fu Qingxuan then got down. “Mom, Toffeecito went next door. I’ll go find it.”
Shangguan Yanqiu retorted, “Is the neighbor home?”
It took everything in Fu Qingxuan to utter the word. “Yes.”
Shangguan Yanqiu frowned at his receding figure. Why did she get a feeling that he was not looking for Toffeecito but looking for a fight?
The door was locked.
Fu Qingxuan was tempted to kick the door because only by getting physical could he unleash his fury. Still, his well-bred manners prevented him from doing so despite seething with rage. He pressed on the doorbell.
Soon, the door opened.
Stepping into the house, Fu Qingxuan could clearly see Li Yuan giving Shen Xi the full massage service in the living room. It only fueled Fu Qingxuan’s temper. Taking advantage! Li Yuan was blatantly taking advantage!
Meanie was enjoying herself!
“I’ll be right home.” Hearing his footsteps, Shen Xi spoke, “Is my mom home?”
Fu Qingxuan bottled up his growing anger and solemnly said, “Mrs. Shen wants you home.”
Shen Xi acknowledged before tilting her head at Li Yuan. “Brother, I best get going.”
Li Yuan nodded. “Sure.”
As Shen Xi sat up and put on her shoes, she groaned, “When will Uncle Jin Yu be back?”
Uncle Jin Yu went chasing down the leads Li Yuan found. Now that it had been more than ten days, she had no idea when to expect his return.
Li Yuan replied, “In a few days.”
Shen Xi asked, “Was he able to track down the lead?”
Li Yuan shook his head. “It was a dead-end, but he wanted to stay for a few more days since it’s nice there.”
Picking up that they were talking about Jin Yu, Fu Qingxuan perked his ears up. However, he was not able to make out anything by their conversation about leads and whatnot.
Shen Xi sighed.
Li Yuan lamented, “Not everyone is as lucky as your brother.”
And nobody was as lucky as him to cross paths with the person he was seeking. Fate brought her to him.
Fu Qingxuan got an inkling at last. Without a second thought, he inquired, “Is Uncle Jin Yu looking for somebody?”
He had not known Uncle Jin Yu for long. Apart from his interests and hobbies, Fu Qingxuan was in the dark about his identity and family.
