Xu Xiangyang breathed out a sigh without a word, "Mr. Bai, my junior sister needs to rest. Let's not talk anymore, I'll go up and hail a cab."
"I'll take you."
An unfamiliar voice, deep and coming from inside the Maybach, was not Bai Yuchen's.
Bai Yuchen 'swooshed' his head around, so quickly that his head almost flew off.
He looked on in horror at the driver, Xi Jiu.
"Jiu, Brother Jiu... what did you just say?!"
He hadn't misheard, had he?
Brother Jiu had actually offered to give a ride to two strangers!
Had the sun risen from the west?!
Xi Jiu didn't say anything; his gaze, through the passenger-side window, was firmly fixed on Ruan Qi.
"This..." Xu Xiangyang was a bit embarrassed. After all, he wasn't familiar with Xi Jiu; getting in his car so suddenly seemed a bit disrespectful.
He looked at Ruan Qi, "Junior sister, what do you think..."
"Get in," Xi Jiu interrupted him.
At the same time, the rear car door automatically popped open.
Now that it was mentioned so explicitly, it would be quite ungrateful to refuse.
Seeing that Ruan Qi had no objections, Xu Xiangyang opened the car door and helped her into the car.
"Then we are in Master Xi's debt."
——*——*——
The black Maybach left the garage and hit the road.
Xi Jiu was always silent and uncommunicative, leaving Bai Yuchen with the task of breaking the ice.
Bai Yuchen turned around, his curious gaze completing a circuit over Ruan Qi.
Thinking of Xi Jiu's unusual behavior towards Ruan Qi earlier, Bai Yuchen's eyes twinkled, and he began to chatter away.
"Miss Ruan is from Baicheng, did you come to the Imperial Capital for school?"
Ruan Qi looked away from the window, nodded at him, and said, "Yes."
"Which high school did Miss Ruan attend? If I know someone from the school, I could ask them to look out for you," Bai Yuchen continued.
Ruan Qi slowly shook her head, "I've graduated from high school."
Bai Yuchen was a bit surprised.
"Miss Ruan doesn't look like a university student. So young! By the way, how old are you?" he asked.
Ruan Qi: "Just turned nineteen."
The driver, Xi Jiu gripping the steering wheel, suddenly tensed his hand.
Bai Yuchen noticed Xi Jiu's change in demeanor, thought for a moment, and then, smiling, asked, "Which university did Miss Ruan test into? Is your major in medicine?"
Xu Xiangyang couldn't help but glance at Bai Yuchen.
This young master from the Bai family was notoriously talkative in the Imperial Capital, but it was strange that he kept questioning a girl he had just met.
If one didn't know better, they might think he had taken a liking to Ruan Qi.
Ruan Qi, however, hadn't read so much into it. After all, she was riding in his car and felt she should be cordial in return.
"I'm not in a medical program," she shook her head, "I got into Imperial Capital University."
Xu Xiangyang was genuinely shocked this time.
"Wow! The top institution in China, it turns out Miss Ruan is an academic star! Xiao Di is also at Imperial University, and she is actually your senior. When we have a chance, I'll ask her to share with you about the new student orientation at the university, okay?"
Ruan Qi hesitated and opened her mouth as if to speak, but finally just softly hummed in agreement.
For the next twenty minutes, Bai Yuchen fully exhibited the traits that befit a veteran chatterbox.
Apart from Xi Jiu, who was driving, both Ruan Qi and Xu Xiangyang were spoken to the point of drowsiness.
"Ring——!"
Suddenly a ringtone sounded, startling the two in the back seat wide awake.
Ruan Qi rubbed her sleepy eyes and dug out her phone from her bag.
"Hello?"
"Xiao Qi, come over tonight," the person on the other end of the phone said as if it were a matter of course.
Ruan Qi: "Aunty, I'm busy tonight, I don't have time."
"No time?" The woman's voice on the phone rose sharply, "Xiao Qi, I'm not trying to scold you, but I've asked for you three or four times, and you're always busy.
It's just a matchmaking meeting, right? The other party is a young master from Fengyu Group, would your aunty harm you?"
Ruan Qi remained silent.
The woman continued to prattle on from the phone: "You came from the countryside, you don't understand the situation in the Imperial Capital.
What kind of good job can a student from a third-tier university get after graduation?
The young master from Fengyu Group is a returned student from overseas, for sure he will inherit his family's wealth in the future. He's willing to consider you, and you're still being choosy?"
The car was very quiet, and because the volume on Ruan Qi's phone was loud, all three other people in the car heard everything clearly.
Xu Xiangyang's face was chillingly cold.
He stretched out his hand intending to snatch Ruan Qi's phone.
Ruan Qi shook her head at him.
Bai Yuchen watched this unfold with curiosity, while Xi Jiu's cool gaze lingered on Ruan Qi through the rearview mirror.
The woman was still droning on the phone.
"Aunty," Ruan Qi suddenly spoke up.
The woman's voice paused, "What is it?"
"Since the young master from Fengyu Group is so outstanding," Ruan Qi said slowly, "then I'll leave him for my cousin. After all, she's your own daughter, and I shouldn't take such good fortune from her."