Liu Luoxi rolled her eyes, exclaiming as usual: "Ranran, if you don't play games, you'll never know what pleasures you're missing out on in life."
Well, the eldest cousin is a total internet addict.
Li Qingmo took out his phone and twirled it in his hand, a toothpick dangling from his mouth as he glanced at Liu Luoxi: "Liu Luoxi, what rank are you? You always team up with a noob like Li Qingran. Why don't you team up with your cousin? I can carry you to victory."
Liu Luoxi kicked his chair: "Dream on about being an older cousin, you should reincarnate earlier in your next life to be one. So cheeky, you should be calling me 'older cousin.'"
Li Qingmo slightly shifted his chair towards Qingran's side, looking at Liu Luoxi with disdain: "Liu Luoxi, do you even look a bit like an older cousin? Wanting to be called that, you have to convince me. How does using your violence convince me? You need to convince both my heart and my word."
Liu Luoxi: "Are you saying that just because I beat you till you beg for mercy, that only convinced you verbally but not in your heart?"
Li Qingmo: "I was just giving you face because you're a girl; otherwise, do you really think your weak kung fu could beat me?"
Liu Luoxi: "Wow, big talk, giving me face? Li Qingmo, I know your true strength best, if you're capable then don't give me face and let's go one-on-one!"
Li Qingmo stood up and pointed his chin toward the door: "Scared of you? Let's do it one-on-one!"
Li Qingmo and Liu Luoxi obviously had conflicting personalities, and when put together, they couldn't go half an hour without fighting.
When they were young, Liu Luoxi was chubby while Li Qingmo was skinny and weak. Not to mention Liu Luoxi was even half a year older than Li Qingmo; their fights were always a one-sided victory for Liu Luoxi simply based on physical strength.
Li Qingmo felt it was humiliating for a young boy to be beaten by a girl. So, crying and making a fuss, he got his wish to learn Taekwondo and martial arts at the age of five. When Liu Luoxi heard that her defeated opponent went to learn martial arts, she too cried and insisted on learning, fearing he might overturn the tables one day.
Whether Li Qingmo has ever turned the tables or not, no one knows. Liu Luoxi, however, truly did turn the tables; the former chubby kid transformed into a tall and elegant young lady.
Persuaded by other friends, the two ultimately didn't rush out to fight. They decided to settle their titles based on a game's outcome.
After two cups of fruit wine, Qingran embarrassingly got drunk again, but fortunately, she handles her alcohol well. Even when drunk, she just sits quietly in her seat, staring intently with her moist apricot eyes at whoever speaks. Not finding anything exciting between Liu Luoxi and Li Qingmo, she turned to look at Xie Ying'an who had been holding her phone.
Xie Ying'an asked for some warm water and passed it to her. She obediently took it and sipped gently.
Zhao Yan, who doesn't have a daughter, simply adores Qingran's drunken cute demeanor. She found Xie Ying'an sitting in the middle bothersome, and nudged his arm: "Son, switch seats."
Xie Ying'an, who was fiddling with a rose pink phone, looked up at Zhao Yan and then lowered his eyes back to the phone, refusing: "No swapping."
Ever since Zhao Yan found out about Qingran's low alcohol tolerance, she always looked for excuses to get the young girl drunk at every gathering. After getting drunk, Zhao Yan either pinched her cheeks or coaxed her into calling her 'Mom.'
Unfortunately, the drunken Qingran was extremely obedient, doing whatever Zhao Yan asked. This only encouraged Zhao Yan further. Luckily, they only drank fruit wine which, although strong, wasn't harmful to the body. Li Qingmo and Mr. Li usually turned a blind eye to these antics.
Zhao Yan leaned in and half-hugged Xie Ying'an's shoulder, proposing in a bargaining tone, "Don't be so stingy, son. Mom will leave early tomorrow and won't compete with you for the girl for several months."
"Oh." Xie Ying'an nonchalantly nodded without lifting his eyelids, "Not changing!"
"You little rascal." Zhao Yan slapped his arm lightly, then, seeing her son skillfully tuck another girl's phone into her purse, she hesitated with concern, "Son, it's not really nice to look through someone else's phone, is it?"
"She agreed to it." Xie Ying'an zipped up Qingran's purse, then pulled out his own phone from his pocket, swiftly tapping a few times on the screen, and upon seeing the chat page go blank, he put away his phone.
Slanting his body slightly to the left, he looked at the girl who was watching his actions with wide eyes, her expression soft and harmless—something he could never see when she was awake. A wicked thought suddenly arose in his heart.
Zhao Yan found her son too dull; seeing that teasing the girl was hopeless, she turned to keep up the conversation with the manager's wife who had been trying to connect with her.
Xie Ying'an sat sideways, blocking Zhao Yan's view from the right, and sat next to Qingran on the left. Liu Luoxi had her head leaned against Li Qingmo, as they teamed up online in the game. The elders sat together discussing the company's development and future trends, paying no attention to this corner.
Xie Ying'an held Qingran's hand, which was properly placed on her lap under the table. The girl had grown, her fingers no longer chubby like in her childhood but had become slender yet pleasantly soft to touch.
He leisurely separated her fingers one by one, interlacing and disengaging them with his until all ten fingers were tightly intertwined. For the first time, a hint of a smile appeared in his usually cold eyes, "Ranran, who am I?"
His voice unexpectedly hoarse, mixed with a hint of coaxing.
Qingran looked up at him seriously for a moment: "Xie Ying'an."
Xie Ying'an moved even closer to her, their eyes locked. Her eyes were filled with his figure as he took advantage of the situation, "Who is Xie Ying'an?"
"Xie Ying'an?" Qingran repeated in a hushed, puzzled voice, "...Should I know him?"
The slight smile froze on Xie Ying'an's face, he tensed their interlocked fingers under the table until a faint pain was felt but did not let go, "Hmm, think carefully."
After drinking, Qingran was like a blank slate, not understanding what Xie Ying'an meant by thinking carefully, but she still obediently lowered her head to think. She imagined scattered snippets from a book.
In the book, just days before Qingran was to be wed by Mr. Li, she secretly ran away and found her way to Xie Ying'an's house, but Xie Ying'an refused to see her. Wandering aimlessly, she ran into Wen Shiyi.
The normally stubborn Qingran, who never cried, wept in front of the protagonist, saying she didn't want to marry some unknown professor, she wouldn't disturb Xie Ying'an and Wen Shiyi's lives anymore, she didn't love Xie Ying'an anymore, pleading for them to let her go.
In the book, Wen Shiyi, displaying no expression, watched as Qingran, gasping for breath through her tears, narrated how she was tied down watching that disgusting man with his malicious smile slowly undressing her, crying even harder than her, asking if anyone had seen it.
She said, "This is all Li Qingran's retribution."