Ning Che joyfully opened the pastry box, only to find that it had two layers, with only two pastries per layer, four in total.
She stared at them earnestly for a moment, then turned her head to ask Xie Yuqi, “Do Uncle and Auntie have any?”
Xie Yuqi didn’t react immediately, looking at her with a bewildered expression.
Ning Che clarified, “Do your mom and dad have any?”
Xie Yuqi replied, “They don’t care for sweets. You eat them.”
Ning Che let out an “oh,” staring at the box as she fell into thought.
A moment later, she closed the box again, ran over to Xie Yuqi’s side, and whispered right into her ear, “Baby, is it okay if I only give Auntie Wang one piece?”
Xie Yuqi was thoroughly baffled by her questioning again, completely overlooking the intimate term “baby.” She glanced sideways at her. “What do you mean?”
Ning Che lowered her voice even further, speaking in a tiny whisper, “You gave them to me, so I can’t bear to share them all. If I give Auntie Wang one, you one, and me one, there will only be one piece left.”
Xie Yuqi turned her head and stared at her, watching her for quite a long time.
Being stared at made Ning Che nervous. She pursed her lips anxiously. “Yuqi?”
Xie Yuqi suddenly leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.
Ning Che froze. Her expression went blank, her eyes turning utterly dazed. It took about three seconds for her to react, after which she immediately responded to Xie Yuqi with deep emotion.
The kiss only came to an end after a dozen or so seconds.
Xie Yuqi asked, “Can this kiss be worth a piece of pastry?”
Ning Che’s face flushed bright red. Lowering her eyes, she felt a bit too shy to look at her.
“It’s worth it.”
After saying that, she felt that this answer didn’t fully express what was in her heart. She quickly raised her head to gaze at Xie Yuqi, emphasizing with absolute earnestness, “It’s worth countless pastries.”
Xie Yuqi looked at her without saying a word, and Ning Che didn’t speak either. Her heart was brimming with tenderness, feeling incredibly happy just from this shared gaze.
Xie Yuqi suddenly raised her hand and stroked her face. “Since you like eating them, just eat them all. You don’t need to share them with me, nor do you need to share them with Auntie Wang.”
She had tasted countless varieties of rare pastries, and Auntie Wang had tried many along with her. Her assistant and security detail were all people who had seen the world as well.
To be perfectly honest, out of everyone in this entire apartment building, Ning Che was probably the only one who truly cared about this single box of pastries.
Ning Che said seriously, “Auntie Wang is an elder, so I must share with her. And you, even more so. I want to eat them together with you.”
Auntie Wang was in the kitchen warming up some milk. Coming out just then with two cups of hot milk, she happened to overhear their conversation.
She truly didn’t care about a single piece of pastry. Having followed the head of the family, the mistress, and the young lady for so long, what kind of good things had she not eaten?
Nevertheless, Ning Che’s words still sounded quite pleasant to her ears. Not caring about something yourself was one thing, but being cared for by someone else was entirely another.
She placed the milk on the table and said, “No need to save any for me. I have dietary restrictions.”
Since the milk was just heated, the two sat down by the table, planning to enjoy the pastries with the milk.
Ning Che invited Auntie Wang to have a taste with them, but Auntie Wang waved her hand. “I’m not like you young people, daring to eat sweet things so late at night. I won’t eat any. Don’t leave any for me, go to bed early after you finish eating.”
With that, she went back to her own bedroom.
Ning Che opened the pastry box, took out one piece, and placed it on a plate. Carefully, she used a butter knife to slice it into two halves, handing one of them to Xie Yuqi.
Xie Yuqi actually hadn’t intended to eat the pastry at all; she had only accepted the box to give Xia Li face.
But after glancing at Ning Che, she took it.
“Why are we splitting it?”
Ning Che gave a shy smile. “Today we’ll share one piece together, that way we can share another one together tomorrow.”
Only then did Xie Yuqi realize she was harboring such a little hidden motive, and she couldn’t help but look at her once more.
A casual gesture of hers had brought about such an unexpected sequence of events.
Her mood grew slightly complex.
The next morning, Xie Yuqi instructed her assistant to go pick up a car.
After completing all the procedures, the assistant returned and handed a document bag containing the vehicle registration, relevant documents, and the car keys to Xie Yuqi.
Without even looking at it, Xie Yuqi tossed it onto the table and gestured to Ning Che. “Come here.”
Ning Che was on the balcony watering the flowers. Hearing this, she immediately set down the watering can and walked over cheerfully.
“Yuqi.”
Her tone was filled with intimacy as she sat down beside Xie Yuqi, intending to hold her hand. Xie Yuqi, however, pointed at the table. “Open it and take a look.”
Ning Che picked up the document bag, asking curiously, “What is this?”
Xie Yuqi didn’t explain, only saying, “A gift for you.”
Ning Che opened it to take a look and froze on the spot.
For a long while, her mouth hung wide open as she said in astonishment, “You bought me a car?”
Xie Yuqi remained silent, watching her expression of utter bewilderment with great amusement.
After another moment, Ning Che spoke up again, even more stunned than before, “Five million?!”
Xie Yuqi grew a little interested and asked her deliberately, “What, are you so moved that you’re about to cry?”
Instead, Ning Che slowly lowered her eyelids, staring at the documents and falling silent.
Xie Yuqi thoroughly disliked it when people fell silent in front of her. She reached out with her tender pink toe and lightly nudged Ning Che.
“Speak.”
Ning Che said softly, “Yuqi, this is too precious. I can’t accept it.”
Xie Yuqi had thought she would be moved to tears, showing an even greater reaction than the box of pastries from last night. She hadn’t expected her to refuse, which instantly made her feel a bit disgruntled.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Accept it, otherwise I’m going to be unhappy.”
Ning Che: “Oh.”
Without a word, Xie Yuqi stood up, preparing to leave.
Ning Che quickly pulled her hand. “Yuqi, I’ll take it. Don’t be angry.”
Xie Yuqi let out a soft snort and pinched her face. “Now that’s being good. Drive this car whenever you go out starting from today. Not only that, you have to be happy too, no throwing tantrums.”
Ning Che’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Oh, okay.”
Who said she wasn’t happy? She was thrilled out of her mind, it was just that she felt an immense amount of pressure. Doing this, wouldn’t she become a literal Alpha living off a sugar mommy?
Ning Che thought to herself secretly.
However, thinking about how Xie Yuqi hadn’t forgotten to bring her pastries even while out on business, and was now giving her a luxury car worth five million, she felt incredibly happy. Let there be pressure then, this was the pressure of love.
In the afternoon, Ning Che went to tutor Xiang Chen.
Xiang Wan didn’t come out this time either. Ning Che walked to the bedroom door and deliberately jingled the car keys.
Xiang Wan cast a glance over. “If you have something to say, say it.”
Ning Che grinned. “My girlfriend gave me a car.”
Xiang Wan said coldly, “I remember you saying before that your previous girlfriend wanted to give you a car too, but you refused it. What, have your bones gone soft now?”
Ning Che felt a bit awkward, but she quickly explained in earnest, “Back then, our feelings hadn’t reached that point yet. I always felt like I couldn’t bear such a precious gift. But now, I feel like we’re bound to spend the rest of our lives together. Her giving it to me is her way of showing her affection; it would actually be bad if I didn’t accept it.”
Xiang Wan ignored her after that.
Ning Che walked into the secondary bedroom to tutor Xiang Chen. Xiang Chen wanted to look at her luxury car keys, so Ning Che displayed them in the palm of her hand. When Xiang Chen reached out to pick them up, Ning Che refused to let her.
Xiang Chen said disgruntedly, “Teacher Ning, you’re way too stingy!”
Ning Che replied, “You can see them clearly like this too.”
Xiang Chen scoffed, “Since you’re this stingy, you’ve definitely never given your girlfriend a gift!”
Ning Che countered, “That’s not true. It’s just because this is a gift from my girlfriend, so I don’t want anyone else touching it.”
Xiang Chen immediately rolled her eyes hard. “I’m not looking anymore.”
Ning Che didn’t care in the slightest, immediately tucking them into her pocket. She couldn’t bear to let her look at them anyway.
Xiang Chen was still young after all, and her curiosity was heavy. After finishing the tutoring session, she couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher Ning, you just got your hands on a luxury car. How about taking me out for a spin?”
Ning Che pursed her lips, pondering how to refuse.
Fearing that her stinginess would win out, Xiang Chen hastily added, “When you get a brand new luxury car, you absolutely have to invite someone to sit in it to ‘weigh it down.’ It brings good luck!”
Ning Che was skeptical. “Is that true or false?”
Xiang Chen argued, “Could I possibly lie to you? Search it online and see if there’s such a custom or not!”
Ning Che immediately pulled out her phone to search, and upon checking, there really was such a saying.
Xiang Chen gloated, “Now you believe me, right? Hurry up and take me for a spin. I am the future of the Federal Empire. With me helping you weigh down your car, you’re going to strike it big!”
In truth, ever since she could remember, the Xiang family had fallen from grace. She had never lived in a luxury mansion, nor had she ridden in a luxury car. Right now, it was merely the vanity of a teenage girl at play.
Ning Che thought about it for a moment, then said, “Not today. You’ll have to wait. I need to take my girlfriend for a ride first.”
Stung by the rejection, Xiang Chen lost face instantly and flew into a frenzy. “Teacher Ning, I declare you to be the most narrow minded Alpha in the entire Federation!”
When Ning Che returned home, she told Xie Yuqi about the custom of weighing down a new car and expressed her desire to take her out for a spin. Xie Yuqi agreed.
At a certain intersection, Ning Che brought the car to a halt to wait for the red light.
With a serious expression, she carefully observed the road conditions, while Xie Yuqi pulled her hat down low to look at her phone.
Neither of them noticed that in the adjacent lane heading in the same direction, a black luxury car had stopped. The window suddenly rolled down by five centimeters, revealing a pair of deep, dark eyes.
After staring at Ning Che for a moment, the person instructed the assistant in the passenger seat, “Look into this car.”
The light turned green, and all the vehicles crossed paths.
The black luxury car deliberately lagged behind by a few meters while the assistant snapped a picture of the license plate.
An hour later, the assistant reported, “President Xia, that car was picked up fresh today. Eldest Young Lady Xie’s personal assistant handled the paperwork, and the car is registered under the name of Ning Che.”
Pausing for a moment, the assistant added, “Ning Che is Miss Xie’s girlfriend. Here is her relevant information.”
Xia Li opened the document with great amusement. A moment later, she closed it, an expression of utter disdain surging into her eyes.
“So she’s just a cripple.”
Xie Yuqi stayed at the apartment for three days. During these three days, the young couple’s relationship was harmonious, spending their time in close, tender intimacy.
Five days later, Xia Li called, inviting Xie Yuqi to play golf.
Xie Yuqi politely declined.
Before getting to the bottom of the real reason why the Xia family and the Shen family had broken off their engagement, she wouldn’t have any involvement with Xia Li.
Another two days passed before news finally arrived from Xu Ziwen’s side first.
“My uncle inquired about it. They say Shen Xingyao took a fancy to a scion from a powerful political family, and her family agreed, which is why the engagement was called off.”
“The Xia family agreed to it?”
“The Xia family had no choice but to agree because that political family put pressure on them.”
Xie Yuqi let out a sigh of relief.
Shortly after, Lu Niansheng also brought back news that was more or less identical to what Xu Ziwen had found out.
At the same time, the details Xie Yuqi managed to fish out from her parents were basically the same as well.
Coincidentally, on that very day, Xu Ziwen called to say that a new purebred foal had arrived at the Xia family’s estate, and Xia Li had specially invited the three of them to come view it.
“Yuqi, come with us.”
Xie Yuqi replied, “She didn’t mention it to me, probably because I rejected her last time. Of course I’m not going.”
That evening, Xu Ziwen and Lu Niansheng returned and held a video call with Xie Yuqi.
“Yuqi, we went to the Xia family estate today. The little foal is so cute, you really missed out by not coming.”
“But well, we didn’t forget about you. We made sure to complain to Senior Sister Xia on your behalf, and she promised to invite you personally next time!”
The next morning at nine o’clock, Xie Yuqi received a call from Xia Li.
“Little Qi didn’t come yesterday because I, your senior sister, was a poor host. I wonder if Little Qi has some time today to grace the Xia family estate with your presence and give us some guidance?”
Xia Li’s tone was lighthearted and teasing, dispelling the reservations in Xie Yuqi’s heart.
She readily agreed.