With a face like she was about to cry, Ning Xi sat down obediently, like a student in class.
Lu Tingxiao rested his head in one hand. "Are you that scared of me?"
A late night Lu Tingxiao was much more unreserved than the daytime Lu Tingxiao, so he was even more dangerous.
Ning Xi shook her head like a rattle, but then nodded her head. "You’re a king. Who wouldn’t be afraid of you?"
Lu Tingxiao swirled the water in his glass, and said faintly, "So because other people are afraid of me, you are afraid of me? Then, all the other women want to marry me, but why don’t you?"
This question nearly scared Ning Xi into falling off her chair. She thought she had already dodged this bullet during the day, but she was just too naïve.
This question made her feel like a thousand knives were directed at her. How was she supposed to answer it?
Ning Xi raised a shaking hand. "Before I answer this question, can I ask a question first?"
Lu Tingxiao nodded. "Sure."
"Why me? Is it because Little Treasure is reliant on me? I think this is only temporary; wait until his emotions settle down, and it’ll be fine. Even if he is always going to be like this, you don’t need to… you don’t need to force yourself…" Ning Xi earnestly advised and persuaded.
Lu Tingxiao lowered the glass in his hand and lifted his eyes to meet hers. "Miss Ning, I believe that I explained very clearly in the beginning: because you saved Little Treasure, I decided that I would repay you with my body."
This kind of explanation is so weird, it blinds me. There’s no way I could accept this, alright? Ning Xi howled in her heart.
Ning Xi felt that she couldn’t possibly get through to him if they persisted in this vein, so she could only put on an apologetic face and say, "Mister Lu, I really appreciate your intention, but I’m not a person who wants to get married, so…"
Lu Tingxiao furrowed his brow. "So you only want to sleep with me? And you don’t want to marry me?"
"That’s right… pah! No, no, no… I don’t mean it like that!" Ning Xi was ready to just kneel before him. Can you not say such horrifying things?
"How regretful, I only accept sexual relationships with marriage as a prerequisite."
"Who would believe that…" Ning Xi could not help saying. Didn’t you have a child outside of marriage?
Lu Tingxiao looked out the window with a slightly absent-minded expression. "Little Treasure was an accident. Even I don’t know who the mother is."
"…" Why did this sound so bad?
"Is it because you mind that I have a son?" Lu Tingxiao abruptly asked.
"Impossible!" Like Lu Tingxiao had said, if you cut open the brain of every woman who lived in the city, you would know they all wanted to be Little Treasure’s stepmother. How could she mind such a thing!
"Then why?"
Seeing his expression, she knew that Lu Tingxiao would not let her go until she answered the question.
Ning Xi raised her head and let out a deep breath. "Mister Lu, marriage isn’t a game. Whether it’s to repay me or for any other reason, we should at least get to know each other. Do you know what kind of person I am? Do you know my past?"
"The one I want to marry is the present you. Your past has nothing to do with me." Of course this would be Lu Tingxiao’s answer. It was as tyrannical and overbearing as it could possibly be.
Ning Xi’s expression turned frosty. "Except to me, my past is a part of me. I can’t cut out that part of me to marry you. Mister Lu, there is no point in being together with someone who follows different principles. I sincerely advise that you take back your ridiculous offer."
Her statement was followed by a cold silence.
Right when Ning Xi thought the other party was so furious from shame he was about to fly into a rage, Lu Tingxiao opened his mouth and calmly said, "I understand."
Ning Xi relaxed, and replied, "I’m going to bed then. Good night."
"Good night."
The man stared at her seemingly fragile silhouette, his gaze unfathomable like the ocean; the only thing unchanged was the boiling heat at the bottom of the sea.
The next morning, Ning Xi was awakened by a low male voice coming from the living room.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Lu Tingxiao lowered his phone, and asked in a gentle tone, "Did I wake you?"
Ning Xi stared at the man in front of her, her eyes wide like copper bells.
Lu Tingxiao wasn’t wearing a shirt, so when she opened the door, the first thing she saw was his bare skin. The impact was too much.
She rubbed her nose. Thankfully, she hadn’t embarrassed herself.
Lu Tingxiao didn’t seem to have noticed her strange behavior, and calmly picked his shirt up from the sofa. As he buttoned it on, he said, "There’s an emergency at work, I have to go. I’ll have to trouble you to go wake Little Treasure up."
"Oh, okay!" Ning Xi nodded and quickly went to do so.
But she didn’t have to; when she turned around, she saw a soft and cute little Pikachu standing in the doorway. His eyes were staring intently at his father, Lu Tingxiao, and he appeared displeased.
"Little Treasure, go change your clothes," Lu Tingxiao ordered this son as he put on his coat.
The reply he received was the loud bang of the bedroom door being slammed shut.
Ever so merciless.
Lu Tingxiao: "…"
Ning Xi: "…"
Lu Tingxiao went to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. He looked at Ning Xi. "Do you have the key?"
Ning Xi awkwardly shook her head. "I do have one, but the key is also inside the room!"
Lu Tingxiao pinched the skin between his eyebrows, and said in a cold, unfathomable tone, "I’ll give you three minutes. If you don’t come out, don’t think you’ll ever get to come here again."
Three minutes later, there was still no sound or motion behind the door.
"Get out here! If you’re waiting for me to force you out, I won’t be as nice as I am right now!"
There was still no movement.
That Little Treasure was really not giving his father any face.
Watching from the sidelines, Ning Xi wanted to laugh, but didn’t dare to. "I have work later, but it’s no big deal if Little Treasure stays to play for a while."
Lu Tingxiao’s expression was irritated and displeased as he took out his phone to make a call.
Ning Xi took a sneaky peek, and saw that he was calling a psychiatrist. She was at a loss for words. Wasn’t it too extreme to call a psychiatrist for such a small matter like this?
Ning Xi coughed as she urged, "How about letting me try?"
Lu Tingxiao hesitated slightly before nodding.
Ning Xi pressed against the door and used a gentle, soothing voice. "Little Treasure, Auntie has to go to work so I can’t take care of you. Follow your father home first, okay?"
There was still no sound from inside.
"How about this, we can exchange phone numbers so we can instantly contact each other? We can even video chat!"
Sounds of footsteps approached the other side of the door.
"If Auntie is late, the director will yell at me, our director is really mean. Auntie is so pitiful… wu…"
The door unlocked with a kachi sound and then opened.
Lu Tingxiao, who was already prepared to fight a long war, felt that he was dreaming. He stared at the woman standing beside him with bewilderment.
With just three statements, she had managed to coax Little Treasure into obediently coming out by himself.
If only he had known her when Little Treasure had locked himself in the attic the last time this happened. His entire family of four, all the butlers and servants, the psychiatrist, even a negotiation expert who had been hired as a last resort, had all been useless despite spending an entire afternoon trying to talk him out of the attic. In the end, they broke the door down and the little kid ignored everyone for a whole month.
Ning Xi of course didn’t know about any of this, and only thought the child was really obedient despite his tragic air. She picked Little Treasure up. Seeing his depressed expression, she was unwilling to scold him, and praised him instead. "Little Treasure is so obedient. Thanks, darling!"
Little Treasure appeared happier with the praise, and he silently gave her a note. On the paper, there was a string of numbers.
Ning Xi accepted the note. "Ah, is this your phone number? Alright, I’ll save it, and when I’m not busy, I will definitely give you a call!"
Lu Tingxiao felt it a bit strange; Little Treasure didn’t have a cellphone, so what phone number did he give her?
Using his height to his advantage, he looked at the note. That was his phone number.
You really are my son!
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