Long Tianze came back from upstairs. Seeing how Jin Qingyan was repeatedly looking towards An Xiaoning's direction, he knew that he had found out.
Leaning against the bar counter, he exclaimed, "Your wife is right there, and you still dare to bring this woman here? Do you have a death wish?"
Upon hearing that, Chi Rui'er immediately scanned her surroundings, but there were too many people so she could not find An Xiaoning.
"What is she doing here?"
"We met by accident and had a meal together, so we dropped by here after that."
Jin Qingyan started walking towards An Xiaoning, with Long Tianze and Chi Rui'er following behind.
An Xiaoning did not move an inch. Seeing him walk towards her, she maintained her composure. In truth, she was actually thinking of how to teach him a lesson tonight.
With that thought in mind, an opportunity came at that moment.
Gu Beicheng was calling her.
"Boss, that fellow is calling again!"
Hearing this ringtone straight-up made Chi Rui'er burst out into laughter.
An Xiaoning slid her phone to answer. She took a more comfortable posture, with both legs resting on the coffee table and her body leaning on the sofa. Her voice was soft and sweet like melting honey.
"Hello."
On the other end, Gu Beicheng was slightly in shock. A mere "Hello" made him sense that An Xiaoning was behaving unusually.
"You're sick?"
An Xiaoning resisted the urge to revert to her normal attitude and continued, "What do you want to say at this time?"
"Why is it so noisy at your end, are you at a bar?"
"Umm, at 'Night Spirit' — want to come over for a drink?"
"What a coincidence, I'm passing by. Give me a moment." After he hung up, An Xiaoning reached out to raise the wine glass. Acting like she had never seen Jin Qingyan and Chi Rui'er, her attitude was so carefree that Jin Qingyan could not help but wanted to ask: was she so blind that she hadn't seen him?
"Who was that?" Jin Qingyan asked as he sat down beside her.
An Xiaoning smirked. "Want to know?"
Jin Qingyan saw that smirk and felt slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps that was because he noticed how that smile faded quickly from her face.
"It's late now, go home."
An Xiaoning acted like she didn't hear him. She turned her back on him and held onto Mei Yangyang.
Jin Qingyan knew what An Xiaoning was feeling. Although she pretended to be cool about it on the surface, she was really angry.
It was the kind of anger that had been contained inside for a long time, one that would simply explode at a specific point.
Chi Rui'er just stood there before finally sitting down on the sofa, not saying a word. She was like an innocent victim who was out of the picture.
Eventually, it was the masculine voice of a man that broke the temporary silence.
Gu Beicheng did not sit down directly. He stood behind the sofa An Xiaoning was sitting on, then bent over and asked in a low voice, "I called you because I had something to talk to you about, but it seems like now's not the time for that. Why does this feel like a crime scene?"
His voice contained a tinge of a sneer. It was rather obvious — his gaze was on An Xiaoning the whole time, not even for a second was it spared on Chi Rui'er.
"Get in the car if you have something to say." She stood up, supporting a drunk Mei Yangyang out as she left.
Hearing her words, Jin Qingyan's face changed.
But An Xiaoning was not about to consider his reputation, feelings, or even what he would think.
When they reached the car, An Xiaoning sat in the driver's seat and turned to face Gu Beicheng who was seated beside her. "You really have something to tell me?"
"No, I just thought of calling you at night. I said that just now as an excuse to get you out." Gu Beicheng felt increasingly that this woman was a mystery to him. It made him more curious to find out what kind of person she was and know more about her.
An Xiaoning leaned back slightly. "What virtues does Chi Rui'er have?"
"Not sure. Because I've never bothered to study her, I think it's a waste of time. That's why I broke up with her. But one thing's for sure, she's nothing compared to you." This was spoken from Gu Beicheng's heart, even though he'd only known An Xiaoning briefly and didn't completely understand what kind of person she was.
An Xiaoning turned and flashed a flat smile. "Which area can't she be compared to me, I want to know."
"Looks — you're more good-looking than her."
"That's true, my beauty is universally recognized."
Gu Beicheng raised his eyebrows. "And you're more capable than her. Although she doesn't look too bad, she's like a fragile vase. But you, you're different. If you weren't married, I'd marry you into my household as my first wife and then marry a dozen other wives. You can reign over the harem."
"No thanks." An Xiaoning burst out laughing. "Marry a dozen other wives? You'd be dead meat already."
"Oh, no — you're the only one for me. As for the other wives, they are your slaves. You can order them around to serve you."
Visualizing this scenario drove An Xiaoning onto the verge of laughter again. She looked out of the car window and remarked slowly, "I can tell others' fortunes but I can't tell my own — nor Jin Qingyan's. If I can see how my life would turn out in the future, I'd act according to how things are fated to happen."
He caressed her head and responded, "It's late. Go back earlier to rest. I'm leaving."
"Umm."
Gu Beicheng got off the car and headed towards his own car.
An Xiaoning, on the other hand, had to send Mei Yangyang home before returning to her house.
Jin Qingyang took a short rest on the sofa. Hearing some noises, he spoke in his cold voice, "You still know to come back?"
The only reason he was sitting there was to wait for her.
An Xiaoning bent down to change her shoes, completely ignoring him. She was like that when she was angry, refusing to speak a word to him.
Jin Qingyan stood up, cursing under his breath, "Damn it."
He followed behind closely, only to realize that the bedroom door had been locked from the inside. When he returned with the key to open it, the handle seemed to have been grasped tightly from the inside to prevent one from opening the door.
Jin Qingyan exerted all his strength to kick the door. "Open it!"
An Xiaoning acted like she did not hear it. After a while, hearing the commotion from downstairs, she loosened her grip and started changing into her pajamas.
When the door suddenly opened, Jin Qingyan, who was standing at the doorway, was incensed. "An Xiaoning, how dare you. You dare to lock me outside?"
"Other than killing you, what else would I not dare to do?" An Xiaoning cast him a side-glance. "Jin Qingyan, let's sleep separately tonight. You go and sleep in the guest room."
"I refuse to, I'll sleep right here." He went forward, boldly sitting right next to her.
"Alright then, I'll sleep in the guest room." She went to the dressing room to take a set of clothes and stormed out, slamming the door shut.
Jin Qingyan pushed back the covers and lay down, but he just couldn't seem to fall asleep no matter what. He tossed about over and over again and only fell asleep eventually when it was very late.
Actually, An Xiaoning was unable to sleep that night too. She went in and out of sleep until it was daylight. When the alarm ringtone reminded her that it was Jin Qingyan's birthday, she turned it off and went out without even eating breakfast, instead grabbing a bite at a breakfast shop before going to the clothing store.