“Mm, fine then. For Miss Liu’s sake, I won’t pursue it further. But I hope from now on, you stay away from my girlfriend, understand?” Qin Xiao lectured patiently, “Since you’re already married, and Miss Liu is such a good person, you shouldn’t be fooling around outside. Don’t you think she deserves better?”
Chu Feng was seething with rage.
As the Divine Doctor Dragon Emperor of the Dragon King Hall, he was actually being lectured by a brat five or six years younger than him.
And the worst part was—he couldn’t say anything back. Especially when he noticed Liu Shiyu’s expression, which clearly showed agreement.
That made him feel even more humiliated.
[Ding! The protagonist’s mindset has been affected. Fate Points -200.]
Qin Xiao chuckled, then said, “Alright, since it’s settled, we’ll leave it at that. See you next time, maybe.”
Without sparing Xia Shiya another glance, he turned and left the hotel.
Xia Shiya felt extremely awkward, especially seeing Liu Shiyu frowning at her, as if she really were the third party. She wished she could disappear on the spot. Chu Feng wanted to say something to comfort her, but with Liu Shiyu still present, he didn’t dare say much.
“Shiya, don’t worry. If anything happens, I’ll help you.”
Xia Shiya glanced at him, and her impression of Chu Feng dropped sharply. She swore this was the most humiliating moment of her life.
She had actually developed feelings for a married man and had even been misled by him. Especially now, even if she and Qin Xiao weren’t officially together, something had still happened between them. Now it felt like she’d done something utterly shameful.
She didn’t want to say another word to Chu Feng. In fact, she didn’t even want to see him again.
[Ding! Xia Shiya’s impression of Chu Feng has plummeted. Protagonist’s Fate Points -230.]
After stepping outside and seeing that Qin Xiao was nowhere in sight, Xia Shiya felt a wave of grievance in her heart. Even if she had a little affection left for Chu Feng, she hadn’t done anything wrong, nor had she had any improper thoughts. She didn’t understand how things had come to this.
Just as she was feeling down, she saw Qin Xiao’s car approaching from the corner of her eye, and her mood lightened a bit.
The car pulled up to the curb.
Xia Shiya thought Qin Xiao would ask her to get in, but when she stood still, the car door shut right in front of her.
Panicked, she ran over to the car, forced back her grievance, and looked inside at Qin Xiao. But he didn’t react at all, making her feel even more wronged. He was ignoring her—wasn’t she the one who had been hurt the most?
Still, Qin Xiao’s attitude made her hesitant to say anything more. She opened the door and got in.
Xia Shiya felt even more aggrieved. You stopped the car in front of me—wasn’t that an invitation?
Qin Xiao looked at her and said, “Miss Xia, if you like someone else, you should’ve said so earlier. Do you enjoy playing with my feelings?”
“I didn’t!” Xia Shiya shook her head quickly. She had never thought of that. Although she didn’t like Qin Xiao romantically, she had never intended to toy with his emotions. And wasn’t it Qin Xiao who had pressured her first? Why was she being accused now?
Still, thinking back to how she had just agreed to his conditions and this happened right after, she could understand why he was angry.
Holding back her grievance, Xia Shiya said, “I didn’t expect to run into him, and I don’t have any special relationship with him. We’re just high school classmates!”
“Really?” Qin Xiao asked blankly.
Xia Shiya nodded firmly. “Of course. Besides that, there’s absolutely nothing between us!”
If she had still held onto some feelings from high school before, this incident had completely wiped them away. She was barely keeping from being disgusted with Chu Feng now. How could there be any affection left?
Qin Xiao saw this and smiled to himself. Sure, he wanted to take the female lead, but how he did it was another matter.
He wasn’t going to act like Qin Lin and try to win her over with gentleness—that would only get him labeled a simp. And even if not, the most it would earn was gratitude, not love. Gratitude was never long-lasting. Once someone got used to it, they’d become numb to it.
While the driver was on the road, Qin Xiao suddenly pulled her into his arms.
Startled, Xia Shiya said, “Qin Xiao, what are you doing?!”
Qin Xiao sneered, “What do you think? You just agreed to be my girlfriend, and within ten minutes you caused a scene like that. I’ve changed my mind!”
“You…” Xia Shiya felt even more wronged. She hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. Something felt off—like she’d been played from the very beginning. And now she had no room to argue. Qin Xiao’s attitude had changed so openly, yet she had no grounds to resist.
Now that Qin Xiao was angry, his tone was much harsher than before. If she didn’t give in, he’d have no reason to help her.
Thinking about this, Xia Shiya felt even more helpless.
Qin Xiao saw her reaction, and the corners of his lips curled upward. He wasn’t the least bit worried about Xia Shiya refusing. After all, she was now disgusted with the protagonist and had no feelings for anyone else. Naturally, her resistance had weakened.
Not to mention, when someone needed comfort, they often sought the nearest hand.
Xia Shiya bit her lip. “Don’t, Qin Xiao. Don’t go too far…”
Qin Xiao’s face darkened. “Miss Xia, the one going too far is you. You agreed to be with me, but now you’re thinking of backing out. I’ve liked you so much and tried so hard for you, yet this is how you repay me. I’m very angry right now—furious!”
Xia Shiya was fuming inside.
Liked her so much?
She hadn’t felt any of that at all. But even though she thought that way, she had no rebuttal. Qin Xiao had cornered her from the start. And although he’d taken advantage of her vulnerability, he hadn’t forced her to do anything truly excessive.
She eased the strength pressing against his hand but still warned him cautiously, “What do you want? I’m telling you, don’t go too far. I’ll agree to everything else.”
Seeing she wasn’t resisting much anymore, Qin Xiao knew she was close to giving in. He lifted her chin and kissed her.
Xia Shiya’s eyes widened in shock, her mind going blank. She never imagined her first kiss would be taken like this.
It wasn’t until quite a while later, when she started running out of breath, that she slowly regained her senses.
She glared at Qin Xiao, her face flushed, then pushed him away and shouted angrily, “Qin Xiao, you went too far! You actually…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, mortified and furious, and pushed him away.
Blushing furiously, she warned, “Qin Xiao, that’s enough. If you push me any further, I absolutely won’t go along with it!”
Qin Xiao nodded, “Mm, I get it.”
Seeing him back off, Xia Shiya finally let out a sigh of relief and felt a bit more balanced inside. This should mean Qin Xiao wasn’t angry anymore, right?
As for why she gave in, even she didn’t know. Maybe it was because of the emotional strain, her mother’s urgent situation, and the pressure from the Director of Student Affairs.
Compared to all that, Qin Xiao’s coercion somehow seemed easier to accept.
The car pulled up in front of Xia Shiya’s home, and Qin Xiao got out to accompany her to the door.
Seeing this, Xia Shiya felt a little better. At least Qin Xiao cared about her enough to walk her to the door.
Her tone softened. “You can drop me off here. I can go back in by myself.”
Qin Xiao gave her a sideways glance. “What are you thinking? You think I’m not coming in?”
Hearing that, Xia Shiya had a bad feeling. He wasn’t really planning to do something, was he?
With suspicion in her heart, she warned, “Qin Xiao, you’d better behave. Even if I agreed to be your girlfriend, that doesn’t mean you can…”
She didn’t finish the sentence, her face turning even redder.
After all, they had only just established their relationship—how long had it even been? And now Qin Xiao wanted to skip straight to the final step?
Qin Xiao saw her guarded expression and didn’t push too hard. His tone softened. “Relax. I’m not that impatient. I won’t go too far.”