Just after seeing Yan Luo off, Chen Yuyang turned around and saw Ling Xi push open the door and walk in, without even knocking.
Watching the girl slowly enter, for some reason, Chen Yuyang felt no surprise in his heart.
“Shimei, you’re here.”
Chen Yuyang asked casually.
“Shixiong…” Ling Xi responded softly, walked over, and sat down at the table across from Chen Yuyang.
She held her hands nervously, resting them on her knees.
“What’s wrong? You look troubled.”
Chen Yuyang glanced at the girl’s lowered brows and asked.
Ling Xi shook her head hurriedly.
“No, nothing… it’s just… I haven’t seen Shixiong for so long, so I… wanted to come see you.”
Even so, the girl’s face carried a forced tension, and her eyes dodged, unable to meet the youth’s gaze.
Chen Yuyang smiled slightly and said nothing.
‘I already know about her feelings for me,’ he thought.
‘We just haven’t confessed yet.’
“I… sitting here, it won’t disturb you, will it, Shixiong?”
Ling Xi paused, then asked cautiously.
Chen Yuyang was both amused and exasperated by her careful demeanor.
He quickly replied, “Sit wherever you like, Shimei. If you want, you can stay here as long as you want.”
Ling Xi nodded, lowered her head, and didn’t speak for a long time.
The room was filled only with the sound of Chen Yuyang turning pages unhurriedly.
After a while, Ling Xi secretly raised her eyes to observe Chen Yuyang.
Looking at him, she felt her heart beat faster, and her palms began to sweat.
In her hand, she was still clutching that small medicine bottle.
“Just now… Yan Luo came to see you, didn’t she?”
Finally, Ling Xi couldn’t help but break the silence in a low voice.
“Yes.”
Chen Yuyang didn’t look up and answered truthfully.
“What did she want from you?”
Ling Xi raised her voice slightly.
“She asked me to help her with something.”
“What kind of something?”
Ling Xi pressed on, leaning forward slightly.
“Uh… it’s kind of a family matter for her.”
Chen Yuyang thought for a moment and replied somewhat vaguely.
‘I can’t exactly tell Shimei that the girl asked me to marry into her family and have a son.’
“Shixiong agreed to her, didn’t you? I saw her leave looking really happy.”
Ling Xi muttered, not hiding her jealousy, and immediately pouted.
Only then did Chen Yuyang lift his head and glance at the girl.
He answered helplessly, “I did agree. Her grandfather helped me before, and I owed him a favor. I’m repaying it now.”
Ling Xi was taken aback for a moment, then felt considerably relieved.
‘So that’s the reason. It’s not what I thought…’ she mused.
‘Shixiong is considering such big-picture matters… Compared to him, I’m just suspicious over small things. It makes me seem petty.’
Thinking this, Ling Xi felt a pang of guilt and lowered her head.
As she looked down, she saw the small medicine bottle in her palm.
Its surface was already damp from her grip.
Biting her lip, as if she had made up her mind, Ling Xi looked up at Chen Yuyang again.
“Shixiong, did anything special happen during your recent training trip? I want to hear about it.”
“Nothing really special…”
Chen Yuyang put down his book and smiled wryly.
“I want to hear it!”
Ling Xi immediately insisted.
Chen Yuyang couldn’t say no to her, so he narrated what had happened during that time in a straightforward manner.
Of course, he appropriately omitted the parts that weren’t suitable.
Although Chen Yuyang thought these experiences weren’t anything special, Ling Xi listened with extraordinary focus.
Seeing this, Chen Yuyang thought to himself, ‘Maybe this girl isn’t really interested in those things. She just wants to hear me talk…’
Watching the girl’s focused eyes, seeing his own reflection wrapped in infatuation within those beautiful irises…
Before he knew it, Chen Yuyang stopped speaking.
Their eyes met.
The air seemed to freeze.
After a long moment, Ling Xi realized Chen Yuyang was staring at her.
Her face flushed bright red, and she hastily looked away, her heart pounding wildly.
“Wh-what is it, Shixiong… Aren’t you… continuing?” the girl stammered.
“I’m a little thirsty.”
Chen Yuyang withdrew his gaze, smiled, and made an excuse on the spot.
Hearing this, Ling Xi reacted strongly.
She quickly stood up.
“I-I’ll go get you some water!”
“No need…”
Chen Yuyang tried to stop her, but Ling Xi had already hurried out the door.
Soon, she prepared a pot of hot tea.
But on her way back carrying the teapot, she hesitated again.
Ling Xi paused, staring at the steaming tea in the pot, then looked down at the small medicine bottle.
She swallowed nervously, her throat bobbing.
‘Should I… add it?’
‘If I do, there’s no turning back…’
‘Can I really do something this despicable to Shixiong?’ Ling Xi hesitated.
But unbidden, the image of Chen Yuyang being intimate with other women while she could only watch from the sidelines flashed through her mind…
The thought of other women taking him away from her made her heart ache as if stabbed by needles.
As if possessed, Ling Xi twisted open the bottle cap, poured out a pill, and dropped it into the teapot.
The pill dissolved instantly upon contact with the water, leaving no strange odor.
Ling Xi carried the teapot, took a deep breath to calm her racing heart, and walked back into the room with hesitant steps.
“Sh-Shixiong, here’s the water.”
Ling Xi felt her hands trembling slightly as she held the teapot.
Still, she quickly poured a cup of water for Chen Yuyang.
Chen Yuyang took the cup and drank the tea in one gulp without a second thought.
Seeing this, Ling Xi felt her heart clench as if by a hand.
Her face reddened so much it seemed ready to bleed.
‘He drank it so quickly… I haven’t even mentally prepared myself. I’ve missed my chance to regret it. But… there’s really no room for regret now.’
Ling Xi bit her lower lip, her head bowed, her eyes filled with nervousness and a hint of barely perceptible… anticipation.
“What’s wrong, Shimei? You’re acting really strange today.”
Chen Yuyang set down the empty cup and looked at the girl with her head lowered, unable to suppress his curiosity.
“I-I’m fine, Shixiong. I just…” Ling Xi opened her mouth, trying to come up with a reason, but her clumsy tongue couldn’t form a coherent explanation.
Meanwhile, outside the house.
Gu Qiushui was hiding behind a bush, secretly observing everything inside.
When she saw through the window that Chen Yuyang had drunk the tea, she nearly jumped for joy.
‘Great! Yuyang drank it! Now I just wait for his… reaction, then I’ll charge in and stop everything…’
“What ‘reaction’? Qiushui, what are you skulking around here for?”
But just as Gu Qiushui was anticipating the next development, a slightly stern voice suddenly came from behind her, startling her so much she jumped.
Gu Qiushui whipped her head around and saw Su Chunshuang standing behind her with her arms crossed.
Su Chunshuang’s brows were slightly furrowed as she looked at her suspiciously.
“What kind of trouble are you up to now?”
Su Chunshuang took a few steps closer, her gaze sharp.
“I-I’m not doing anything…” Gu Qiushui’s eyes darted away, and she started stammering.
“Never mind. You seem pretty free.”
Su Chunshuang didn’t ask further and said directly, “I happen to need to go into town to buy some furniture for the junior sisters. You’re coming with me.”
“Th-this… isn’t a good idea, Senior Sister! I-I have things to do…”
Gu Qiushui panicked upon hearing this.
‘I’m still waiting to make a grand entrance! If I leave now, how can I be the key figure?’
“What important things could you possibly have?”
Su Chunshuang rolled her eyes at the youth and snorted.
“You’re just peeping on the junior brother here. Less talk, come with me now. Otherwise, I won’t go easy on you!”
Saying this, Su Chunshuang snorted impatiently and shook her fist as if ready to hit.
Seeing this, Gu Qiushui, despite being extremely unwilling, didn’t dare talk back to this senior sister.
She could only lower her head and reluctantly follow behind Su Chunshuang.
After walking a few steps, Gu Qiushui looked back longingly at the window of that house.
‘My plan is completely ruined…’ she lamented.
‘It looks like Ling Xi will get lucky after all. Damn it…’
‘Well… if it’s Ling Xi… I guess I can accept it. At least the profits stay within the family. It’s better than having some random woman snatch him away.’
The room remained very quiet.
Ling Xi kept her head down, fidgeting with her fingers, waiting for the medicine to take effect.
Seeing that she kept silent, just staring at him, Chen Yuyang didn’t initiate any conversation.
He silently continued reading.
Time passed minute by minute.
‘This isn’t right… It’s been so long, why hasn’t it worked yet!’
Ling Xi’s heart began to pound nervously.
‘Did the medicine expire? Or maybe the dosage wasn’t enough?’
Thinking this, she secretly glanced at Chen Yuyang.
He was focused on his book, his expression calm.
“Shixiong, have some tea.”
Biting the bullet, Ling Xi picked up the teapot again and filled Chen Yuyang’s empty cup.
Chen Yuyang lifted the cup and looked at Ling Xi, a strange glint in his eyes, but he didn’t refuse.
“What’s with you today, being so diligent?”
Putting down the cup, Chen Yuyang looked at the girl suspiciously, then suddenly frowned and drew out his tone.
“Could it be…”
Hearing this, Ling Xi’s heart jumped into her throat.
Her face paled.
‘Did Shixiong find out?’
Chen Yuyang continued, “You… you must have something you want to ask me, right?”
Ling Xi was stunned, feeling as if all strength had been drained from her body.
She slumped back, breaking out in a cold sweat on her back.
‘He wasn’t suspecting I drugged him…’
Ling Xi quickly nodded and agreed, “Ah, yes, yes! I d-do have something to ask of you, Shixiong!”
“Just say it straight. You don’t need to hem and haw with your shixiong.”
Chen Yuyang looked at her seriously.
“I’m not an unreasonable person.”
Ling Xi lowered her head, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes.
Her mind raced, but she couldn’t think of a single excuse.
‘I can’t exactly say I want to ask Shixiong to sleep with me, can I?’
“It’s actually… actually nothing too serious… It’s just… just…”
The girl stuttered, feeling the youth’s gaze on her, which only made her more nervous.
Her mind went blank.
“Just what?”
Ling Xi steeled her nerve and said, “Th-this… I’ll tell you later! For now, Shixiong, please drink your tea and read.”
With that, Ling Xi poured Chen Yuyang another cup of hot tea.
Looking at her like this, Chen Yuyang shook his head helplessly, took the cup, and continued drinking.
“You, girl… forget it…”
The youth didn’t press further, drinking his tea and continuing to read.