Chapter 32: Dare You Say You Didn’t Plot This?
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His fingertip lightly pressed the bruised spot, making Qiao Xu tremble with pain.
If that thick glass bottle had struck her head, she could have died on the spot.
Xu Si’an’s gaze swept over the other fragrance bottle at the edge of the sink.
He took off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, then pulled her into a corner. Lowering his head, he kissed the tip of her nose.
“Wait for me.”
With that, he snatched up the glass bottle and hurled it at Shen Zhiwei.
Xu Shiran reacted quickly, shielding her in his arms. The fragrance bottle slammed heavily into his back before falling to the floor and shattering.
The cramped space filled with the excessively strong, almost acrid scent of roses.
“Brother Shiran, are you all right?”
“Xu Si’an, he’s your brother.” Shen Zhiwei, still shaken, burst into tears.
Xu Si’an gave a cold laugh. His leather shoes crunched over the broken glass as he walked toward them.
“He’s a man. Is that all it takes to hurt?”
“When something weighing several kilos struck my wife, didn’t she feel pain?”
“You should be grateful he’s an idiot blinded by love. Otherwise, you would be the one dying here today.”
A soft hand closed around Xu Si’an’s palm.
“My hand hurts.”
He swept her up in his arms and carried her away from the scene.
Crying, Shen Zhiwei tried to explain, “Brother Shiran, it really wasn’t me. She—she hit me, so I struck her with the bottle, but I didn’t cut her hand.”
Xu Shiran gently soothed her. “I know. I’ll deal with it.”
Xu Si’an led Qiao Xu to the car with a grim expression and ordered the driver to take them to the hospital.
He took a bottle of mineral water from inside the car and twisted off the cap.
“Give me your hand.”
Qiao Xu held out the hand wrapped in a tie worth tens of thousands.
Xu Si’an caught her other hand.
“Open your hand.”
“What are you doing?”
“Washing your hand.”
Qiao Xu pressed her lips together, but opened her palm all the same.
A conspicuous scratch marked her fair skin.
She felt a little guilty.
Xu Si’an poured the mineral water over her hand, washing her palm clean.
“Next time, if you want to cut someone, cut someone else’s body or face. Don’t be so stupid as to cut yourself. Doesn’t it hurt?”
Qiao Xu glanced at his expression.
“You knew?”
“I’m not blind.”
“If she’d cut you, there would be another mark on her face by now.”
Xu Si’an had always been fiercely protective of those he considered his own. Anyone could lay a hand on him, but if they touched Qiao Xu, he would never let it go.
“But you couldn’t have inflicted the injury on your shoulder yourself.”
“She struck you, so I struck her back.”
He rubbed the top of her head.
“Looks like I’ll have to arrange two bodyguards for you after all.”
What rotten luck.
He had finally gone on a business trip, only to end up at a hospital.
Fortunately, the wound was not deep. Once it had been bandaged, Xu Si’an took her back to the hotel.
“Eat first, or shower first?”
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At the reception, she had done little more than drink; she had barely eaten anything.
Qiao Xu could hardly stand the heavy fragrance clinging to her body.
“Let’s shower. The smell is too strong.”
“I’ll wash you.”
Xu Si’an did not hesitate for even a second, as though hesitating would be a betrayal of his own wishes.
“No need. I won’t get the wound wet.”
“The reception—”
“Joy will take care of it. I’ll wash your hair, then go out. All right?”
Xu Si’an went into the bathroom, cleaned the tub, and began filling it with water.
When they had been together, the incomparably privileged second son of the Xu family had often done such things for her.
Qiao Xu stood at the door with her pajamas in hand.
“Xu Si’an, thank you.”
Thank you for standing by me without a trace of hesitation.
Thank you for avenging me.
Thank you for protecting me.
The man tossed a bath bomb into the tub. With his wet fingers, he pinched her cheek.
“I don’t accept verbal thanks. Thank me in bed, hmm?”
Qiao Xu stared into his eyes.
“All right.”
All right?
All right, my foot.
“So boring. Get in. I’ll wash your hair.”
Qiao Xu lay in the bathtub, while the bubbles rising from the bath bomb obscured everything beautiful from view.
Xu Si’an wet her hair with practiced ease, squeezed out the shampoo, worked it into a lather, and gently massaged it through her strands.
Qiao Xu rested her injured foot on the edge of the tub, feeling somewhat insecure.
“Are you done yet?”
Qiao Xu’s hair was very long. When they had been dating, Xu Si’an had bought her a membership at the hair salon beneath her apartment building.
Whenever he had no time to wash her hair himself, he would send her there instead.
Over the past few years, Qiao Xu had grown used to washing it herself. But her hair was so long that she was always too lazy to dry it afterward.
“Once more. It still smells like fragrance.”
“Oh.”
After washing her hair for more than half an hour, Xu Si’an helped dry it and used a hairband to tie the damp strands into a little bun.
“Take your shower. Call me when you’re done, and I’ll come in and carry you out.”
After he left, Qiao Xu rose from the tub and walked to the shower area to rinse the bubbles from her body.
All she could think about was the sight of Xu Si’an grabbing something and hurling it without the slightest hesitation.
He had said that he was no longer part of the Xu family.
When Xu Si’an pushed open the door, Qiao Xu was already standing before the mirror, drying her hair.
He took the hair dryer from her and dried her hair himself.
“Thank you.”
Xu Si’an tossed the hair dryer onto the counter, slipped an arm around her waist, and set her down on the vanity.
“How will you thank me?”
Qiao Xu looked straight into his eyes.
“How do you want me to thank you? How many times?”
He caught her chin, forcing her to tilt her head back.
“How many times?”
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“Do you thank everyone who helps you like this?”
Qiao Xu curved her lips.
“I rarely ask anyone for help.”
He gently rubbed her shoulder.
“Does it still hurt?”
“Not much.”
Xu Si’an rested his forehead against hers.
“I’m pursuing you.”
“I know.”
“Give me a kiss, hmm?”
Qiao Xu parted her red lips.
“If you never intended to do anything, why is there a condom in the suitcase?”
“You dare say you didn’t plan this?”
Xu Si’an chuckled as he rubbed his lips against hers.
“I don’t need to plan anything. I’ve never tried to hide it.”
“You’re injured, so behave.”
Qiao Xu hooked an arm around his neck and complained, “Shen Zhiwei said you two slept together.”
The man’s kiss stopped instinctively.
“I slept with her?”
“Fuck, don’t disgust me. I’m about to throw up.”
“My brother and I are both extremely picky. Xu Shiran is the only one who isn’t afraid of catching something. I’m scared to death of it.”
Xu Shiran: …
Qiao Xu: …
“You really are ruthless, aren’t you?”
Xu Si’an toyed with the buttons of her pajamas.
“My wife is the person dearest to me.”
One button. Then another.
Her white bra came into view. Xu Si’an laughed despite himself.
“Were you guarding against me?”
“Mm-hmm.”
He continued undoing the buttons.
“When did Shen Zhiwei tell you?”
“On the plane.”
“She said—”
The hesitant look on Qiao Xu’s face displeased Xu Si’an. His kiss fell just beneath her collarbone.
“What did she say? Let the person being slandered hear it too.”
Qiao Xu tugged at his short hair.
“It’s pretty disgusting. Are you sure you want to hear it?”
“Tell me. We can be disgusted together.”
Qiao Xu: …
“She said you two did it all night.”
“Damn it, this is exactly the kind of thing people invent rumors about me for.” Xu Si’an was like a firecracker, igniting at the slightest spark.
“Am I really that weak? One night? Whenever you and I weren’t in class together, we went from daylight to dark.”
Qiao Xu: …
“Can you stop interrupting?”
Xu Si’an kissed her cheek.
“Wife, I’m sorry.”
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