Chapter 133: Chapter 30: Xia Xiqing’s Change

"Okay."

Xia Xiqing was meeting such a passionate and overly familiar stranger for the first time. However, because of Zhang Yan, and since she didn’t harbor any ill will toward Sister Mei anyway, she agreed without hesitation.

The two great beauties held their phones and exchanged greetings.

Huamei: "Hi~"

Evening Breeze Xixi: "Hello."

After a while, Xia Xiqing added another message: "What are you having for dinner?"

Looking at the young woman sitting right next to her, who had held back for a long time only to send such a message, Li Huamei couldn’t hold it in anymore. PFFT! She burst out laughing.

***

After the gathering ended and everyone dispersed, the young driver drove Zhang Yan’s Guoya to the front of Hongmei Cottage.

"A friend wanted to take it for a spin, and he just returned it," Zhang Yan explained as he sat in the backseat of his luxury car with the beautiful woman.

Xia Xiqing, however, had no intention of delving into this matter. She continued to press her initial question. "Where are my clothes?"

"Relax. I’ll give them to you when you get out."

Xia Xiqing felt helpless, but at this point, she wasn’t as anxious as she had been at the beginning. As she deepened her understanding of Zhang Yan, she was gradually building trust in him. Now, even with her intimate clothing in his possession, she didn’t seem to have too extreme a reaction.

Zhang Yan naturally noticed this subtle change in Xia Xiqing. Although this was different from what he had initially envisioned, it could still be considered a development in a good direction.

"Senior Sister Xia, what did you talk about with Sister Mei when you went out just now? Your mood seems to have improved a lot."

Speaking of this, Xia Xiqing seemed a little embarrassed. "It’s a secret."

Seeing her like this, Zhang Yan was a bit curious, but he didn’t press the matter. Instead, he changed the subject. "Senior Sister Xia, do you think Huo Shaoqi genuinely likes Sister Mei?"

"No."

"Then do you think my current approach is wrong? Should I have just helped Sister Mei reject Huo Shaoqi outright?"

"...I think you handled it quite well."

"Senior Sister Xia approves of my approach? I’m quite happy about that."

"Outright rejection might not necessarily be a good thing for Sister Mei. Life shouldn’t be forever stuck in the past. I think you’re absolutely right."

Zhang Yan seemed to have inadvertently touched upon Xia Xiqing’s past. However, the car had already arrived at the downstairs of her residential complex, so he had no choice but to pause the conversation.

Xia Xiqing stood gracefully in front of the car, her expression no longer as cold as before. "The food today was very good, and I had a great time. Thank you."

Faced with Xia Xiqing’s epic surge in word count, Zhang Yan was still a bit unaccustomed to it. Nevertheless, he stopped her just in time as she was about to leave. "Senior Sister Xia, don’t you want your clothes?"

Xia Xiqing turned back at his words. This time, finally seeing that Zhang Yan was no longer empty-handed, she walked back and took the bag from his hands. "I’ll wash it and return it to you."

"I’ve already sent it to a premium dry cleaner to be washed."

"...Then I’ll give it back to you right now."

"You don’t want it because it’s a gift from me?"

"No."

"Then is it because you hate me?"

"No to that, either."

"Then why is it?"

"Because..." As soon as she opened her mouth, Xia Xiqing realized that she didn’t know the answer either. Like Sister Mei, wasn’t she also constantly bound by the past, making choices based purely on habit? Remembering that Sister Mei had already made up her mind to change herself, a glint flashed in her eyes.

"It’s because of the ’reason.’ You giving it to me—what do you want to get from me?"

"You’re overthinking things. Isn’t it perfectly normal for friends to give each other small gifts?"

"All gifts come with an ulterior motive. Not to mention, this dress can hardly be considered a ’small gift.’"

Although he didn’t know why Xia Xiqing was so obsessed with having a reason, Zhang Yan had prepared one for her early on.

"If you insist on a reason, this dress is actually a thank-you gift."

"For yesterday’s banquet? I only helped out a little. The meal you treated me to already makes us even. Giving me this dress on top of that is really disproportionate."

"Senior Sister Xia, whether it’s proportionate or not isn’t up to you to decide, but me! Do you think my reputation isn’t worth a mere hundred thousand-yuan dress?"

"That’s not what I meant."

Seeing that Xia Xiqing was starting to waver, Zhang Yan pressed his advantage.

"Senior Sister Xia, you really did me a huge favor that day. What you said just now is actually correct; this dress isn’t proportionate to the friendship you showed by helping me.

"If you’re not satisfied, I can actually consider giving you a car or a house..."

"That’s not what I meant! This dress is more than enough..."

Zhang Yan smiled faintly. The skylight effect was truly a useful psychological tool. When you feel a room is too dark and want to open a skylight, people might disagree. But if you propose tearing off the roof entirely, everyone will suggest that you’d be better off just opening a skylight. Of course, Zhang Yan throwing out the unrealistic ideas of a car and a house had another layer of meaning: to test her. He now knew that Xia Xiqing was in the midst of a massive financial crisis. So, faced with this easily accessible and urgently needed wealth, what would she do?

The result of the test was quite good.

"Then it’s settled. This evening dress is yours."

Seeing Zhang Yan’s teasing gaze, Xia Xiqing finally realized that she had fallen for his "scheme." Surprisingly, though, the feeling didn’t seem too bad.

"Mhm."

Watching Xia Xiqing’s retreating back, Zhang Yan called out to her again. "Senior Sister Xia, wait a moment."

Being stopped again, Xia Xiqing seemed to think of something and became a little flustered. "I haven’t cleaned up my place. It’s very messy, so it’s not suitable for you to come up."

Looking at her, Zhang Yan could roughly guess the situation. He didn’t actually have any intention of insisting on going upstairs anyway. Although the progress between the two of them was pretty good, it hadn’t reached that stage yet. Even if he really did go upstairs, they would truly only be sitting around. So why should he bother with all that trouble?

He walked closer to Xia Xiqing and, seemingly casually, reached out to brush away a speck of dust that had somehow landed on her upper chest. This was already a very intimate area, but Xia Xiqing didn’t subconsciously flinch away. From their first meeting—where she would take a step back the moment Zhang Yan got slightly closer—to now, where she had gradually gotten used to a certain degree of intimacy, this was the result of Zhang Yan’s hard work over this period.

"If you ever encounter any difficulties, I hope you remember that you still have me, your friend, to ask for help.

"Even if you’re too embarrassed to ask, then please at least remember that worldly possessions aren’t important, even if it’s this evening dress I just gave you."

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

As if a secret in her heart had been seen through, Xia Xiqing guiltily rubbed her fingers together and averted her gaze.

Zhang Yan smiled and didn’t press her any further. He turned around, got into the car to leave, and casually tapped [No] on the system interface. Just now, he had unexpectedly triggered the activation conditions for the Secret-peeking Hand. It seemed that exposing her own predicament was truly an unacceptable thing for Xia Xiqing. Perhaps, this carried her final shred of self-esteem.

***

Meanwhile, in an unnamed small secret room, two young men sat across from each other, occasionally taking light sips of whiskey. Aside from the occasional crisp clinking of ice against glass, only the unique timbre of a voice recording echoed in the small space.

Zhang Yan: "Hey, I don’t pay attention to those things. They’re not something I cared about in the first place."

Huo Shaoqi: "Haha, true, that’s just your personality, brother!"

Zhang Yan: "Brother Huo, do you think we can beat Si Mingxin?"

Huo Shaoqi: "Goes without saying, it’s a guaranteed win!"

***

Si Mingxin quietly listened to the recording on loop. He would often rewind a sentence to listen to it repeatedly, and he would also suddenly ask Huo Shaoqi about Zhang Yan’s expressions and demeanor at the time.

"Mhm. Shaoqi, you’ve done me a huge favor again this time."

"Of course I put my heart and soul into doing what Brother Xin asks of me. Don’t even mention favors!"

"If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll be making a move against Si Mingzhan soon. Once I secure the position of heir, the future of Meng City’s business world will be written by us together!"

"Following Brother Xin, I’m completely at ease!"

CLINK. The two lightly clinked their glasses, as if celebrating a victory in advance.

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