Chapter 10: Give Him A Slap

Xi Xingye walked over and gently ran his fingers along the carvings on the gate. The craftmanship was insanely complex. After it was damaged last time, he had search everywhere for someone to fix it. But this kind of technique had long been lost.

And yet Shen Qingci had actually…

His chest felt stuffed with a strange feeling he couldn’t quite explain. He hadn’t expected her to go this far. Now, he was completely convinced: She really is in love with me!

“No need to thank me.” Shen Qingci casually put her tools away. “Wouldn’t want someone staying up all night, crying over a door.”

The thank-you was already at the tip of Xi Xingye’s tongue, but he choked it back instantly. That warmth he felt earlier turned into embarrassment and irritation.

“Shen! Qing! Ci! Who’s crying? Say that again!”

Sister Zhang only heard an angry roar from the storage room before two dark shadows whooshed past her eyes. She froze in disbelief. The Young Madam was in front, and the Young Master was…chasing her? What on earth was going on?!

Shen Qingci suddenly stopped when she saw the wedding dress in Sister Zhang’s hands. Xi Xingye, right behind her, didn’t notice the sudden stop. Just as he about to crash into her, she shoved a palm out, catching him right in the face.

Bam!

His nose hit her palm. His eyes watered immediately from the sharp, stinging pain.

“Shen Qingci!” he screamed through his fingers, his eyes red and blurry.

“Shut up! Eight hundred ducks wouldn’t be as loud as you.” Shen Qingci snapped, ignoring him to look at the wedding dress.

Sister Zhang glanced between the two. “Young Madam, why don’t you try on the dress?”

“No need. This dress is for an important day.” Shen Qingci’s voice was cold.

Tomorrow would be showtime. This would be her armor.

She noticed the silence. The man who had been hollering just a second ago was not eerily quiet.

She looked at him. “Why are you blushing?”

“I’m not blushing! Stop making things up!” Xi Xingye walked out. At the door, he paused then turned back. “Look, it might seem ungrateful to say this now, but get this straight: fixing my gate won’t change anything. Don’t get all sappy on me. I’m not a man you can win over than easily.”

He left. A heavy silence fell over the room again.

Shen Qingci turned to Sister Zhang, “Is he always this delusional?”

“Pretty much…I mean, Young Master just has a very…unique personality. Ha ha ha…” Sister Zhang let out a nervous laugh and made a quick exit.

Xi Xingye slammed the car door shut. This was it. His last night of freedom. Tomorrow, the whole world would know he was a married man. Before that label stuck, he was going to go wild with a bachelor party.

He began calling his friends one by one.

But…

“Brother Xi, listen. I’d love to hang out, but my pig is about to give birth. I need to help. Gotta go!”

“Brother Xi, my dad just bought a new mine and I’m literally underground digging for coal. Hello? Can you hear me? The signal is terrible…I’m hanging up…”

By the time he reached the Entertainment Center, not a single one of his “bros” had shown up.

His face went dark, storming inside to snag a passing waiter by the collar.

“Where are you going?”

The waiter’s legs turned to jelly. He leaned against the wall, barely able to stand. “N-nowhere. Young Master Xi…I-I just need to use the bathroom.”

“Bathroom?” Xi Xingye scoffed, shoving the man. “Where are they? Take me to them. Now!”

“Y..yes, Young Master! Right away!” The waiter looked like he was about to burst into tears but he didn’t dare to refuse. He slowly led the way until Xi Xingye slightly kicked him.

“Move it!”

The moment they reached the VIP suite, the waiter ran away for his life.

Xi Xingye pushed the door open to find Xu Zijie alone in the VIP suite, clutching a microphone and pouring his heart into a emtional song.

As the song ended, Xu Zijie heard a slow clap coming from behind. He looked around, realizing he was the only one left in the room.

He turned to find Xi Xingye standing in the doorway, smiling as he continued to clap.

Xu Zijie jumped. The microphone slipped from his hand and hit the floor, making a loud burst of noise through the speakers.

“Brother Xi…” Xu swallowed hard, instinctively backing away. “W..what are you doing here?”

‘Those bastards!’ He cursed his friends in his mind for abandoning him. Avoiding Xi Xingye’s peircing gaze, he hunched his shoulders, “Look, Brother Xi. I…really have to go home. I need to read novels to my grandma.”

The next second, Xi Xingye’s fist was already flying toward him.

“Ahh! Brother Xi, I was wrong!” Xu Zijie raised both hands in front of his face and begged. “Brother Xi, Brother Xi! Please let me go! If Sister-in-law finds out I’m with you out late, I’m definitely dead.”

The fist stopped just inches from his face.

Xu Zijie cautiously lifted his head and saw Xi Xingye staring at him with a terrifying expression. He shut his eyes and shouted like he was risking it all, “Brother Xi, I really can’t keep you here! Your wife will literally beat me to death!”

Getting on Xi Xingye’s bad side was a headache. Getting on Shen Qingci’s bad side was a death sentence.

Xi Xingye kicked a chair across the room, fuming. Just as his anger was about to boil, Sister Zhang called.

“Young Master…” On the other end, she looked at Sheng Qingci nervously and lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s 11:30PM. Please come home now. Don’t make the Young Madam angry.”

“I’m not coming back! Not even if you kill me!” Xi Xingye hung up. His chest was full of pent-up frustration.

He had just sat down when his phone buzzed again. It was a text from Uncle Liang, the butler.

[Young Master, it’s now 11:37PM. You have exactly 23 minutes until the curfew. If you’re not back by midnight, I can’t guarantee your safety. Please come home quickly.]

Xi Xingye’s face darkened even more.

Is everyone in this city crazy? Did that woman seriously buy them all off?

His phone buzzed again. He opened the message, ready to snap at whoever was bothering him.

It was a video from Sister Zhang.

In the video, Shen Qingci was “working out”in the courtyard, swinging a massive machete nearly half a meter long like it was a toy. A wooden post in front of her was nearly shaved down to bark.

“Holy sh*t!” Xi Xingye couldn’t help cursing as he stood up. He took a few steps forward.

Xu Zijie flinched and immediately covered his face, thinking another punch was coming. But nothing happened. He peeked through the cracks of his fingers, only to find Xi Xingye lost in a daze of “deep thought.”

Xi Xingye gritted his teeth. “You guys really think I’m afraid of her? Let me tell you, I just have a rule about not hitting women. Otherwise, she wouldn’t stand a chance! She thinks she can force me home on time? Please. Ha!”

He checked his watch. Then, without another word, he sprinted out of the club.

---

At 11:59:59, Xi Xingye stepped through the front door, unwillingly. He was proud of himself.

Sure, I’m back. But I’m back at the very last possible second!

As he passed the living room sofa, he caught sight of someone lying there and suddenly paused.

“No class at all,” he muttered. Yet, he found himself leaning down, his glass-like eyes narrowing as he studied Shen Qingci’s face.

Dark strands of hair fell across her small face. A straight nose. Soft pink lips.

For a second, Shen Qingci actually looked harmless. Beautiful, even, like a porcelain doll. Quiet, almost…well-behaved.

Well-behaved my *ss.

Xi Xingye snapped back to reality and straightened his back. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the pot of cat grass by the window. An idea popped into his head.

He casually plucked a strand. A slow, evil smile appeared on his lips. He scrouched closer, getting ready to poke her pale skin.

This will itch like hell. Let’s see how tough you are now. Think you’re the boss? Setting a curfew for me? Let’s see about that.

The cat grass went straight into Shen Qingci’s nose.

A split second later, her cold eyes snapped open.

An ambush?!

Smack!

A powerful slap sent Xi Xingye spinning around twice before crashing into a vase and falling to the ground.

Xi Xingye pushed himself up, his mouth hanging wide open as he clutched his burning cheek in pure disbelief. His lips trembled. His fingers trembled. He pointed at Shen Qingci through the air, struggling to find his voice.

“You…you-you-you…!”