Leh Ying didn't dare to make a sudden move.
The thick and substantial hand naturally pressed on her knee, even the lines on his palm were clearly felt, with her heart uncontrollably trembling, she slowly raised her eyes.
Like a deer that had gotten lost in the jungle, still in a state of shock.
Xu Jingxi reached out, smoothing Leh Ying's hair behind her ear, and slowly smiled, "Are you angry? Did I say something too harsh?"
It was perhaps simply a moment of interest, lacking company, someone to sit with, to chat with.
Initially, she had no external news about Xu Jingxi, unaware that Xu Yi had such a son.
She only knew through what Liu Huaiying said, only through those with status who had to bow respectfully to him.
His clothes were neatly ironed, of such expensive fabric, Leh Ying didn't know where to place her hands properly, so she pressed them tightly against her own skirt.
"You pulled my hand just now and it hurt, left a red mark.
As if he hadn't heard, he asked indifferently, "Is that really your little boyfriend?"
The conversation didn't connect, not beginning properly or ending as such. It wasn't like she could just ask and Xu Jingxi would obediently answer.
Meng Xiuyuan didn't seem young. A student in school, not as tall as Xu Jingxi, nor as old. Leh Ying shook her head, "My roommate's boyfriend. Met by coincidence in the elevator, going to the 8th floor restaurant for a meal. They serve Cantonese cuisine there, sigh."
She confessed it all, though rather unwillingly.
Having stayed in Forty-Nine City for a while, her last sentence carried a bit of the Beijing accent.
Amused by her, Xu Jingxi leaned there, his eyes blooming like peach blossoms slightly lifted, revealing a kind of weariness as if he could never get enough sleep, reflecting the dazzling high-rises outside the car.
His eyes were indeed beautiful.
After a while, Leh Ying shifted her gaze away, "The compensation you had the driver send over, I accepted it."
She counted it, 60,000, an auspicious number, she hadn't touched a cent of it yet.
When she took the bag, the driver said it was 'a return gift from the gentleman.' She thought it was some sort of New Year gift, but once she took it upstairs and poured it out, she was met with a pile of brand-new banknotes.
She had no idea how to return money to someone who wasn't short of it, sitting by the bed in a daze for a long time. That driver sure knew how to speak, well-trained and elegant, not simply saying it was money but politely speaking of returning a gift.
"The painting," Leh Ying continued to ask, "Did you throw it away?"
The man curved his lips, "It's hanging in my house."
He knew how to charm people, effortlessly.
Leh Ying didn't believe he would actually hang it up, it sounded too false.
The higher the position, the thinner the sentiments.
It must have been carelessly tossed at the corner of a desk, and only the next day would the housemaid do him the favor of tidying up the room and placing it in some corner.
But Leh Ying wouldn't expose him, whether it was hung or not, what did it matter? Who could expect such a high and mighty man to hang an inconspicuous painting? It wasn't like she didn't have a purpose in giving that oil painting.
Waiting at the red light, the driver braked to a stop, she lost her balance, and her shoulder fell into Xu Jingxi's embrace.
Xu Jingxi didn't push her away, sitting there solidly, murmuring as if to himself, "Why do I keep running into you lately?"
She looked into the scenery inside Xu Jingxi's collar, he hadn't worn a tie today, casually unbuttoned at the top, when he laughed, his prominent Adam's apple would move slightly.
Leh Ying claimed innocently, "I don't know either, could it possibly be fate arranged by the heavens?"
Fate?
She spoke of her scheming as if it was charming and soft.
Xu Jingxi smirked ambiguously, chin tilted down, his arm reached past her for the cigarette case, tapped out a cigarette leisurely between his lips.
He had just put it in his mouth.
Yet the cigarette was deftly taken by the young woman in his arms, her fingernails beautifully manicured, clear and lustrous, with soft and slender hands.
She held the cigarette in her mouth, herself striking the bronze lighter, lighting it up.
The cigarettes Xu Jingxi smoked were in a black and gold box, without a specific name, only the words "special tobacco supply" It was this kind he smoked, very strong, making one cough incessantly.
Leh Ying imitated the boys smoking, gently inhaled, the tobacco numbing like a blockage in her lungs, her throat enduring the fiery nicotine until the cigarette burned evenly all around.
Only then did she remove it, and as if begging for affection, she offered the lit end to Xu Jingxi's lips.
"The cigarette is lit, for the gentleman."
Her voice was soft and compliant, the cigarette remaining uncontained.
The large palm, adorned with a platinum pinky ring, seized her waist in an instant, gripping firmly. The man lowered his neck, effortlessly capturing her lips with his.
His breath forcefully entered the space between her lips.
The carriage was a shadowy cocoon as the Hongqi car drove past Jinghua South Street, the glittering International Trade night scene outside the window blurring as it flashed by.
The cold, hard platinum of his pinky ring pressed through the sweater into her skin, sending a ticklish weakness through her body. She shivered.
His lips were hot, soft, and thorough. Leh Ying felt as though she touched an electric current, her gaze scattered, fingers clutching his arm through the suit, but her cat-like strength couldn't press deep.
Thorough, her body gradually surrendered.
Only after a moment did Xu Jingxi release her.
The cigarette in her hand was still burning, veins of nicotine escaping out the window, the light from the skyscrapers streaking past in a blur.
His casual kiss was like others, merely a playful diversion for his leisure, meant to only hint and not go further.
Yet even so, Leh Ying's ear tips were red enough to bleed, her head bowed, her fingers lightly touching her lips—wet and warm.
Retaining his temperature.
In truth, Leh Ying had never been kissed before.
Now she was even more bewildered and lost than she had been when she got into the car.
Xu Jingxi casually propped his hand against the car window, taking the cigarette from her hand to his lips, pinching it between his index finger and thumb, drawing in deeply, inhaling to his throat and lungs.
Leh Ying kept her head lowered the entire time, noticing that the man's shirt collar had been loosened by her and saw his silent smoking figure, not speaking to her.
Looking at the reflection in the car window, her lip color hazy: she hadn't applied any lipstick today, naturally pale and rosy.
It was just a bit... swollen.
Swollen by his kiss.
Silence fell briefly until the distinguished gentleman of the third generation in front of her chuckled with interest, "Is this all you've got? And you still want to compete with me?"
His expression was quite scornful.
-
At 9 PM, the car arrived at the foot of Yan Mountain.
Xu Jingxi took his time fixing the gunmetal black button she had pulled loose before getting out of the car and leading her into a villa.
"Pretty—"
It was a girl's voice.
It wasn't like fireworks were forbidden. In fact, Leh Ying just saw a sparkler.
Unsure who set it off, it disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
Standing at the villa's entrance, she lamented its brief existence. What a pity.
Near Linyan Lake.
She saw his friend by the lakeside, encircling a girl with his arm and playing with sparklers, personally lighting them for her.
Later she would learn that this was Xu Jingxi's best friend, Liang Wenye.
"You idiot, why would you get a tattoo, on you of all places? It'll ruin your future. My dad's whipping will be for me."
The girl giggled like a blooming flower, "Then what do you do that you can't get a tattoo, yet you say you really like me?"
"What do I do?" Liang Wenye scoffed softly, "I'm set to inherit the family business."
Waving the sparkler, the girl pressed further, "I heard that you all have Nana Qomoto's phone number and contact information, is that true?"
Leh Ying took a while to react, uncertain of whom that name belonged to.
"Pay attention, and stop asking random questions," Liang Wenye finally turned his head back, his gaze shifting toward the figures entering the villa.
"What took you so long? They're on the third floor. Are you coming?"
Xu Jingxi didn't look back, "Not playing."
Liang Wenye then looked at her, "And this girl at the door, where did you find her, new companion?"