That was seven days later.
At 2 a.m., just back at the intersection, she saw an Audi Huo Xi A8 parked under a row of dry, withered trees on the south road.
It was a family car with a special license plate seldom seen.
The car didn't have its lights on, sitting silently in the night.
The Xu family driver, whom she had met once, stood by the car, still as a log.
She walked up, wrapped tightly in her scarf, but the driver acted as if he didn't see her, remaining silent.
She knocked on the window and, within two seconds, the rear window rolled down. Leh Ying bent over slightly, looking at Xu Jingxi inside the car.
The streetlights were dim, not shedding a beam of light inside, making him appear even more solitary in the dark.
He turned his face casually, and that glance met Leh Ying's eyes just right.
She sniffed her frozen red nose, somewhat embarrassed, and looked away.
"How did you know where I live?"
"The car has a tracker."
All of a sudden, Xu Jingxi pointed to his own cheek.
Confused, she followed his gesture and touched her own face, asking him what was wrong.
Hearing a very low chuckle from him, "Paint."
Leh Ying's hand paused, thinking of the disheveled little flower cat on the street corner. If only she had been more vain and looked in the mirror more often, she wouldn't be in such an awkward situation.
That was really ugly.
Her head tilted, not wanting to continue discussing the blotches on her face with Xu Jingxi, she too had a girl's vanity.
After a moment, she skirted the topic, "Did you come for the car, sir? I'll go get the car keys." She pointed in the direction behind her, "I don't live far from here."
Xu Jingxi actually wanted to say he had a spare key but, seeing her anxious to go back, he eventually just smiled faintly and nodded slightly.
"Wait a few minutes, sir."
She ran back, holding a tool bag in her arms, entering a dark narrow lane.
The buildings here were not too densely packed, and Xu Jingxi was curiously wondering which one she had entered.
Resting his hand on the car window and leaning his face against it, he quietly observed the buildings. After a long while, he slowly asked, "Huajiadi?"
"Yes," Xiao Li softly replied. "Passing three main streets, you reach the Jiuxian area and that's 798."
The cold wind was biting, and Xu Jingxi's throat felt itchy. He frowned and coughed before speaking in a hoarse voice, "I know."
Of course, he had grown up in Imperial City Root. Hearing that cough, Xiao Li grew more concerned about his health.
"You should stay up less at night, either go to the hospital to get some medicine or go home and let the doctor there check on you?"
He withdrew his hand, staying silent.
Xiao Li was most apprehensive about his sudden pauses in the conversation and didn't dare to disturb him further. He stood quietly by the roadside waiting, not noticing which building's lights had turned on.
He couldn't say that he was just passing by Huajiadi, nor that he had come on purpose. The crown prince had left some documents in the car, remembered them only after heading back on the expressway from the airport, and decided to come get them.
Not even ten minutes had passed.
Leh Ying hurried back, asking from afar in a quiet voice so as not to disturb the nearby residents, "Mr. Xu, why have you gotten out of the car?"
Her voice was very soft as his gaze drifted over to her.
Their eyes met, and she smiled, holding up the car keys as she walked toward Xu Jingxi.
The man stood by the lamppost, his silhouette tall and straight, and his posture as upright as if it had been trained, dressed in a black suit that was even more still and imposing.
Born to high status, even just passing by his side she could feel a galactic divide of class.
Getting closer, she saw he was on the phone. Leh Ying slowed down, waiting for him to finish the call before handing over the car keys.
"You drive the car back," she said. "The parking is so expensive."
Her face was now clean of the paint, lifting her chin up to look at him. The little face, washed with warm water, showed red marks from being scrubbed, looking pitiful and wronged.
She didn't wait for Xu Jingxi to reach out and take them.
"Mr. Xu won't need this car for the time being. Let's do it next time. I'll pay the parking, sorry for the disturbance, coming here so late to get the documents."
Xiao Li, standing nearby, responded, took the car keys, and went off alone to the parking lot to get the documents.
Leh Ying watched Xiao Li's retreating figure, puzzled.
Xu Jingxi glanced over her furrowed brow, "I left documents in the car."
Suddenly, she remembered that night in the private room, his friend handing him an envelope of documents wrapped in leather.
"You trust me to leave your car with me, is it because I look too dumb and honest?"
Xu Jingxi walked ahead of her, "I remember now, you are a good person."
She recalled those words, her head bowed, lips slightly curled.
Before he opened the car door, Leh Ying politely offered, "Would you like to come upstairs for a drink of water as a courtesy of the host?"
He turned to look at her, "Do you invite everyone you meet back to your place?"
Leh Ying pouted her red lips, "Actually... it's just for Mr. Xu."
"Leh Ying."
"Yes?"
Xu Jingxi leaned against the car door, one hand in his pocket, as he looked at her. "Sweet nothings are not my cup of tea."
Leh Ying tiptoed, trying hard to look Xu Jingxi in the eye, but she still wasn't tall enough.
"This is called reciprocating courtesies, Mr. Xu. Since you were kind enough to lend me your car, although I'm not sure if Liu Huaiying saw it, his friend did and would like to invite you for a glass of hot water."
He suddenly curled his lips into a smile, three parts frivolous, "Where on earth did you get the courage to approach me."
After dropping that cryptic line, he stopped looking at her, opened the car door, and got in, maintaining his usual serene demeanor throughout.
She thought to herself that the courage probably came from the desires and aspirations she saw in Xu Jingxi.
The driver, holding some documents, came back and got into the car, circling around the tail end.
The car didn't hurry away.
Finally, Xu Jingxi, sitting in the car, leisurely unraveled the string seal of a manila envelope, and spoke in a hoarse voice, "Go back, it's cold outside."
She pursed her lips and nodded, "Safe travels."
The car headlights illuminated, and the Huo Xi vehicle slowly drove away.
What she didn't know was that Liu Huaiying had been watching the entire scene from not so far away.
[Wow, Leh Ying.]
At the staircase entrance, Leh Ying had no intention of responding to the message, her hand on the stair rail, climbing the steps one by one.
She didn't understand what Liu Huaiying meant.
In her mind, she wondered whether to wash her hair or take a bath first tonight.
-
As the car left the Huajiadi area, Xiao Li whispered, "Just now, Liu Huaiying was across the street."
Xu Jingxi's expression didn't change, his thoughts seeming to be entirely on the document, "Is that so."
Xiao Li nodded.
As for him, it wasn't about any life-and-death acquaintanceship with Liu Huaiying; they knew each other, but he wasn't one to completely open up to anyone. Their recent frequent contact was solely due to the tendering document from Jingzhai Pavilion.
Even if it was Liu Huaiying's woman, it didn't matter to Young Master Xu if he had intentions of keeping her around.
It all depended on whether he wanted to, not on which girl belonged to whom.
"He was about to change lanes to come over, but when he saw our car, he turned off his engine instead," Xiao Li reported.
The car entered the North Third Ring.
As the window was rolled down, the night wind swept in, and sitting in the back seat, Young Master Xu was merely glancing indifferently at the glitzy high-rises of the Forty-Nine City.
The sound of flipping papers.
After a while, a faint chuckle came from inside the car, "Who shall we give the project to."
-
But that night,
the stubborn Liu Huaiying successfully found the number of Leh Ying's apartment and rang the doorbell.
She didn't invite Liu Huaiying in, didn't invite him at all.
Admitting defeat, Liu Huaiying simply leaned against the door side, staying silent for a long time.
In the end, Leh Ying couldn't stand it anymore and brought out two stools, sitting with Liu Huaiying at the door.
She kindly offered Liu Huaiying a can of Coke.
"Isn't Qiqi keeping you company tonight?"
Liu Huaiying roared, "You're heartless."
Leh Ying shot a glance at him impatiently, speaking in a low voice, "Don't make noise, my neighbors are sleeping."
The young master maintained some decorum, holding back his anger as he popped the tab of the Coke and leaned back against the wall with his stool.
The corridor was silent, with no sound to be heard, and the motion-sensor light gradually went out.
After some time,
Liu Huaiying opened his mouth to speak: "His old man's one of the top figures in Forty-Nine City, the cherished prodigy nurtured by the Powerful Clans of the Xu family, why would you think he'd bother spending effort on you, perhaps in his eyes, your appearance and the swallows and orioles that flocked to him in the past make no big difference."
He knew Xu Jingxi all too well.
A master preoccupied with power.
How could a girl so easily win him over, with just the laughable desires of men and women? Ridiculous to even think so.
"Do you think there are no women around him?"
Leh Ying's face flashed with surprise as she put down the Coke, "He has a girlfriend?"
Liu Huaiying had let it slip himself, saying Xu Jingxi didn't have a girlfriend; was he getting carried away with anger now?
Turning his face away, Liu Huaiying said, "I don't know if she's a girlfriend; I've never met her, but I've heard he keeps a very pretty canary at Bay Hillside."
"You're talking about someone you haven't even seen."
Her remark was no different from subconsciously defending Xu Jingxi.
Liu Huaiying, annoyed, reached out and tugged at her ear; she yelped in pain, and Liu Huaiying, for some reason, couldn't bear it and retracted his hand sorrowfully, setting down his Coke and crossing his arms over his knees.
"Leh Ying, his old man has one son, understand the weight of the name Xu Yi."
Just like an emperor.