137

Suddenly, a flash of lightning split the sky, casting a blinding white glare, immediately followed by a deafening roar of thunder.

"Ah!"

Xiaoqi shrieked in terror, her body instinctively lunging forward to embrace the person right in front of her.

With her slender arms wrapped tightly around him, her cheek pressed softly against his chest, she squeezed her eyes shut while her entire body trembled slightly from the force of her embrace.

"Lin Yichen, quick, cover my ears!"

Yichen was taken aback by the rare gesture. The soft warmth of the girl's body pressed tightly against him felt sweet and intense, like an unquenchable wildfire that suddenly flared up, making his heart hammer violently against his ribs.

Lowering his gaze, he stared at her face, paled by fright, her fluttering eyelashes, and her tightly pursed pink lips. As if acting on instinct, his hands rose and cupped over her delicate ears.

The thunder rolled, and within moments, a torrential downpour broke out with a loud hiss.

"Ah, it's raining!"

Yichen frowned, scooped her up directly into his arms, and strode toward the car.

It wasn't until they were safely inside that Xiaoqi snapped back to reality.

Did she just hug him?!

And on top of that, he had covered her ears?!

He had even carried her into the car?!

Didn't he—didn't he utterly despise her? How could he possibly...

"Heavy rains come fiercely and leave swiftly, so the moment the rain stops, get out of my car immediately."

His voice was lowered, yet to Xiaoqi, it carried an edge of bone-chilling frost.

Damn it, she had just been wondering if maybe he didn't hate her after all.

Just listen to those words, and that tone.

Hmph, always trying to intimidate her. Xiaoqi shot him a frosty look in return. "Do you seriously think your car is the only one I can ride in? Let me tell you, this lady is gorgeous. The moment I bat my eyelashes, there are plenty of people lining up to let me into their cars."

At these words, the corners of Yichen's lips twitched into a cold, wicked smirk. "Plenty of people let you into their cars?"

"That's right," Xiaoqi exaggerated, "Not only are there plenty of people willing to let me in, but I've ridden in plenty of cars too!"

Yichen's handsome face instantly turned ice-cold. His dark eyes narrowed heavily as he chewed over the literal meaning of her words. "You've ridden in a lot of cars?"

"..."

Why did this conversation suddenly sound so weird?

"Yeah, but it's none of your damn business."

Yichen frowned, fixing her with a displeased, icy glare as a mocking arc formed at the corner of his lips. "Ye Xiyang, you truly never cease to amaze me."

Amaze you?

What was that supposed to mean?

Suddenly, her waist was seized in a tight grip, and a rich, masculine scent washed over her. A potent wave of testosterone instantly smothered her breath and senses. Before she could react, her entire being was caged by his tall, sturdy frame.

Xiaoqi trembled all over, her nerves going into overdrive. Nervous and mortified to the point where her voice cracked, she pushed against him continuously, only to find herself strangely devoid of strength. Stumbling over her words, she stammered, "Hey, what—what are you doing?"

Yichen's brows furrowed deeply, though they relaxed slightly when his gaze fell upon her face, which was flushed to the point of bleeding. Lowering his gaze, he admired the flustered and nervous expression of the girl in his arms, then leaned down to whisper right against her ear with a low, hoarse chuckle, "You've ridden in a lot of cars, is that right?"

Xiaoqi felt as though he was completely fixated on that one sentence.

He just kept looping back to it.

This posture made Xiaoqi both nervous and deeply embarrassed. She tried to push him away with both hands, but he didn't budge an inch, while she couldn't figure out why she had suddenly lost all her strength. Reduced to verbal defense, she protested, "Hey, you—get off me right now."

"Get off for what?" His handsome face was obscure and unreadable in the dim interior of the car, a sharp, dangerous curve playing at the corners of his lips. "Didn't you say you've ridden in plenty of cars? Then surely you won't mind adding mine to the list."

With that, his handsome face pressed down toward her.

Seeing this, Xiaoqi immediately averted her face, finally grasping his warped implication in a flash of insight. "I was just lying to you earlier! I've only ever ridden in your car!"

Damn it! He had actually misinterpreted "riding in cars" as sleeping around!

This man's mind was completely impure!

Hearing this, Yichen remained silent, as if processing her words. After a long moment, the grip firmly shackling her waist finally loosened, and his tall frame straightened up, though his handsome face remained somewhat stern.

However, as he sat back up, the hair clip on top of Xiaoqi's head snagged on the knit sweater across his chest.

"Hey, wait, my hair!"

Pausing slightly, Yichen looked down to find her fair, delicate nape right in front of him.

Xiaoqi fumbled with the hair clip using both hands, suddenly feeling a warm touch brush against the back of her neck...

It took her a good few seconds to process what had just happened.

What was he doing?

Touching her neck?!

Failing to care about the pain anymore, she jerked upright, causing the hand that had been on her neck to brush squarely across her cheek.

Xiaoqi froze, dumbfounded.

Because the look in the eyes of the man before her was so... tender.

The sensation of his palm against her fine, fair, and smooth skin felt like a sudden surge of electric current racing through her entire body.

Her heart clenched tightly, making her entire body tense up. Without thinking, his palm pinched her cheek firmly.

Xiaoqi cried out in pain, "Hey, why did you pinch my face?"

Swatting away the hand on her face, she rubbed her stinging cheek.

Damn it, just a moment ago she thought he was being gentle, yet he pinched her this hard—he really had no idea how to cherish a delicate flower.

Though his hand had been batted away, he stared into her eyes for a few seconds before snapping back to reality.

Sitting up straight with a somewhat dazed expression, he wondered what on earth he had just been doing.

Why did touching her give him such an addictive, reluctant-to-let-go sensation?

And where had this intense wave of scorching heat come from?

Suddenly, a pair of boneless fingers pinched his pectoral muscle, reigniting the heat he had only just managed to suppress.

"Ye Xiyang, that's enough!"

His voice was loud and frosty, frightening Xiaoqi into instinctively shrinking back against the car door.

Yet inwardly, she slandered him.

*Damn it, you're allowed to pinch my face, but I'm not allowed to pinch your chest muscles?*

*Talk about a capitalist hypocrite who can burn books while others aren't even allowed to light a lamp.*

"Get out of the car."

Yichen felt that if he stayed with her a moment longer, he might completely lose control and do something to her.

He was now certain of what Fang Li had told him: he was deeply in love with her.

Otherwise, he wouldn't crave her this intensely...

Yet he had already made a promise to Anna.

Besides, the feelings he had for this girl were simply different from those he felt for other women; they hadn't reached the depth of true love, not even simple affection.

A naive and clumsy little girl like her was not suited for him.

He truly couldn't fathom how he could have ever fallen for her type in the past.

Get out of the car?

Xiaoqi glanced at the raging storm still pouring outside.

"The rain hasn't stopped yet, I'll wait a little—"

"I don't want to look at you for even a second longer. Get out of the car."

As he spoke, he refused to look at her.

Perhaps his voice was too severe, or perhaps his expression was too callous, but Xiaoqi felt as though the blood in her entire body froze in an instant. She stood paralyzed, as if struck by a paralysis spell, unable to move a muscle.

Biting down hard on her lower lip for a long while, Xiaoqi finally shoved the car door open and dashed out into the pouring rain.

With a loud *bang* of the door closing, Yichen abruptly realized that she had actually run out into the severe storm.

His instinct was to open the door and chase after her, but his hand halted mid-motion.

She was a thing of the past; right now, she was merely someone desperately clinging to him and refusing to let go.

Someone who pestered him endlessly and lived in a completely different world from his own—they needed a clean break.

After giving himself this mental warning dozens of times, he finally ignited the engine and sped away through the torrential rain.

Sitting inside her own car, Xu Lu happened to catch sight of Xiaoqi walking miserably through the rain by the roadside.

She looked thoroughly wretched.

With rain pouring down this heavily, why was she still...

It suddenly dawned on her that this state of affairs meant she must have broken up with Lin Yichen.

No wonder she hadn't been at the restaurant earlier when she went looking for her; as it turned out, she was heartbroken and wandering in the rain.

She instructed her driver, "Pull the car up beside that girl in the white dress."

"Yes!"

Xiaoqi walked with her head slightly lowered when suddenly a car pulled up and stopped beside her.

The window rolled down. "Ye Xiyang, you'll catch a cold walking in this heavy rain without an umbrella. Get in the car!"

Xiaoqi raised her eyes and recognized the person inside offering a faint smile, a trace of suspicion crossing her mind.

Still, she knew this woman was no good. Even though she was freezing and furious with Lin Yichen, she retained her sanity. This vehicle looked like a trap, and there was no way she was getting in.

Ignoring the woman entirely, Xiaoqi kept walking.

Knowing what tactic would work on a girl like this, Xu Lu said, "I heard that you and Yichen broke up, so seeing you here, I just wanted to check on you."

At these words, Xiaoqi's steps faltered, and the phone in her pocket began to ring.

It took her a moment to process it before she pulled out her phone; it was an auntie calling.

Auntie must have noticed she wasn't in her room and gotten worried again.

"Hello!"

"Xiyang, where did you go?"

"I..." As Xiaoqi spoke, she noticed the rain had stopped pelting her body. Looking up, she saw the driver standing beside her, holding an umbrella over her head.

She glanced at Xu Lu, who pushed the car door open, signaling for her to get in.

Xiaoqi weighed her options. *Get in then. It's not like an alien like me should fear an Earthling.*

Besides, she was dripping wet, and stepping inside would just dirty the car. *Hmph!*

The moment she got inside, she finally felt a wave of returning warmth.

It was November, and walking through the rain was indeed freezing cold.

Yet, as soon as she warmed up, she couldn't help but remember Yichen telling her to get lost and roll out of his car.

*Damn it, throwing me out in such heavy rain—he really must hate my guts.*

*You deadbeat Lin Yichen, sooner or later this lady will tell you to get lost too. No, I should tell you to roll away, since you told me to roll away first.*

Having heard no response for a while, Fang Yun could faintly hear the sound of rain over the phone. "Xiyang, are you outside?"

"Oh, yeah," Xiaoqi snapped back to reality, realizing she was still on the phone. She turned slightly and lowered her voice, "I had some things to buy, so I went out. But then this sudden rainstorm started and I couldn't get back, so I'm waiting by the supermarket entrance. I'll head back the moment the rain stops. Oh right, Auntie, why did you call?"

Hearing this, Fang Yun finally remembered the reason for her call. "This is a disaster! Lin Yichen's wicked stepmother came here looking for you."

*Looking for me? Why would she look for me?*

Xiaoqi glanced at Xu Lu once more, then said with unruffled calm, "Auntie, stay calm. You need to control yourself. Just listen to me—I'm being totally calm hearing what you just said."

"Oh, right, calm, calm," Fang Yun steadied herself and continued, "That stepmother of Yichen's came looking for you, and when she saw you weren't in, she told me that her son is a two-timing cheat, and as his mother, she feels terrible about it. She wants to give you a huge sum of money."

"What?!" Xiaoqi almost jumped out of her seat.

Xu Lu, sitting right beside her, was startled by the sudden outburst. Seeing her act so erratic over a phone call, Xu Lu's estimation of her dropped even lower.

Studying Xiaoqi closely, she noted the milk-white waist-cinching dress she wore. Against her pale skin, the milk-white dress—despite being soaked—still gave her an ethereal, fairy-like aura.