Translated by newbienoona

Edited by anks

An Chuxia has a lot of questions in her mind, so Han Qilu carefully explains, “To guarantee clarity, one must be clear by focussing on what's real. Thus, for Mingluo to show she's the reason he came over makes most sense.”

An Chuxia raises her eyebrows. “He's not chasing a girl.”

“Whatever.” Han Qilu waves his hand. “What's fun to play with in your room for the four of us to play together?”

Obviously, An Chuxia thinks of what he just said. There's nothing in her room that's interesting to play with. Jiang Yuan has bought her a lot of dolls. Should she ask Meng Xiaonan to play with them?

“I don't have anything to play with in my room.” An Chuxia looks at Xiao Mingluo apologetically.

Xiao Mingluo nods his head. “I have Hanyu's chess set in my car. Should I get it?”

Han Qilu says quickly, “I do have a chess set in my room, as well as other things. I'll pick it up from my room.”

An Chuxia waits until Qilu disappears before facing Mingluo. “I can't see her play this game.”

Mingluo looks at her with deep meaning and asks, “How are you and Qilu progressing? Is there any progress? Last time, in the abandoned warehouse, he told me something about you.”

Confused, An Chuxia asks, “What's the matter? The two of us… are still the same. I'm still his meimei.”

“No, not meimei.” Xiao Mingluo is about to continue, but he has to swallow his words when he hears footsteps.

Han Qilu comes in with a medicine box-sized case, and the three of them circle around the game once it's flung on the carpet. An Chuxia still wonders why the chess game would be in such a big box. When Han Qilu opens the box, the doubt in her heart finally unknots.

Wealth is really deadly. The upper cla.s.s plays chess, but their game is quite different. They play with pieces that are over a cubic meter in size, and they are made with gems of different colors. This is extremely expensive!

“When will she arrive?” Taking advantage of the wait, Xiao Mingluo's eyes show a slight nervousness. “If she sees me and leaves, what should I do?”

“Come out!” Han Qilu answers without thinking. “Tell her she's your woman and she has to keep you company!”

Xiao Mingluo ignores Han Qilu. An Chuxia quickly makes her statement. “Don't be nervous. Meng Xiaonan won't do that. I'll find an opportunity for the two of you to be alone, and you will apologize and tell her what you'd like to say.”

Han Qilu plays with the chess pieces and interjects. “An Chuxia, are you just in love with the idea of love? What kind of worm do you think is in that man's belly?”

In Xiao Mingluo's point of view, Han Qilu is amusing An Chuxia to attract her attention, while from Chuxia's point of view, Qilu is just doing the right thing by supporting her!

Seeing that the atmosphere between them is wrong, Xiao Mingluo acts as a middleman. “Both of you need to think of what I should do if she really runs away!”

Without being able to discuss, they hear footsteps coming their way.

“Here it is.” A maid walks in with Meng Xiaonan. “Xiaonainai, your friend is here.”

An Chuxia stands up quickly along with the other two.

“An Chuxia… .” Meng Xiaonan walks in with bags in her hands but drops them in surprise. The expression in her eyes changes the moment she sees Xiao Mingluo, and then she turns and walks away.

This really surprises An Chuxia. She thought Meng Xiaonan would give her face, but she really didn't expect her to hit Xiao Mingluo.

“Jiangnan!” Xiao Mingluo chases after her without thinking.

An Chuxia's about to run after them when she feels a hand tighten around her arm before her feet cross. She turns her head to see Qilu.

She looks at him anxiously as she wants to break away. “What are you doing? Let go!”

Han Qilu doesn't let her go. “You've already made them meet. It's their own matter. You should let them resolve it by themselves.”

Han Qilu is right, but she wants to see how things are going. Maybe Meng Xiaonan would look at Xiao Mingluo and listen to his explanation.

“Let go first.” An Chuxia takes a deep breath. “Anyway, I called them, and I feel that I… .”

“What? What do you want to do with the couple?” Han Qilu frowns.

She finally sighs. “Well, I'll go with you.”

Wouldn't they be complete if he went with her? She sulks, as he holds out his hand.

When he was with other girls, did he hold hands with them like this? An Chuxia thinks about it, but rejects the idea. When she was with him, he never talked about holding hands with other girls, let alone talk to them.

Does this mean Xiang Mankuai is less attractive than her?

An Chuxia is feeling proud about herself until she sees the two people in the lawn.

“They're there!” An Chuxia points out automatically.

“I'm not blind!” Han Qilu says coldly. “Are you going to interfere now?”

Well…

Since they were at a distance, she can't hear the conversation between Meng Xiaonan and Xiao Mingluo. She looks at their expressions- Xiao Mingluo's face is anxious while Meng Xiaonan's face remains blank.

It seems that now is not the moment to interfere. An Chuxia shakes her head. “You're right, this issue needs to be resolved by them.” Both of them stare quietly for a long time at the couple not too far away.

After being quiet for a while, he suddenly says, “I'm quite envious of them.”

Envious of them? Envious about the awkwardness between Meng Xiaonan and Xiao Mingluo? Han Qilu is stupid!

“You don't want to quarrel with Xiang Mankuai, too?” An Chuxia squints at Han Qilu.

“Do you have to bring her up?” Han Qilu turns to his side and looks at her. “An Chuxia, you pigheaded… .”

How did she provoke the young master?

“I'm not listening!” Meng Xiaonan's roar attracts Han Qilu and An Chuxia's attention immediately. Upon hearing her, An Chuxia runs to her side.

It seems Xiao Mingluo failed!

“Jiangnan, listen to Xiao Mingluo's explanation. There must be a misunderstanding between the two of you to come to this!” An Chuxia says.

Meng Xiaonan shakes her head in desperation. “There's no misunderstanding! Xu Nian is the chosen Xiao xiaonainai, and I am destined not to be accepted by his family, and it's best if we break things off now!”

“This… .” An Chuxia looks at Han Qilu who's standing next to her. He, too, is puzzled.

This Xu Nian is impressive. How did she become the Xiao's xiaonainai? Xiaonan's words… Does that mean Xu Nian is Mingluo's wife? Where is this going?

“Sorry, An Chuxia. I'm leaving first. This is for you.” Meng Xiaonan quickly hands her the bag with shortbread she held onto tightly.

Xiao Mingluo doesn't chase after her anymore. He stands and looks at Meng Xiaonan's back.

“Let's go.” Han Qilu reaches out to An Chuxia's wrist, and walks toward Xiao Mingluo. He makes it look so natural.

“Mingluo, what happened?” Han Qilu asks.

Xiao Mingluo looks back and shakes his head before looking at Qilu. “She doesn't listen to me at all.”

An Chuxia listens to Xiao Mingluo's explanation.

The Xu and Xiao parents had a meeting, and Xu Nian was presented to his parents, and they were satisfied with her as she met the family's requirements. The families, satisfied with the arrangements, formed a marriage (alliance). Meng Xiaonan didn't want to hear any of this explanation at all.

“It must be her!” An Chuxia grits her teeth. “It must be Xu Nian who started this issue! Mingluo, don't give up. I know Jiangnan. She doesn't want you to be embarra.s.sed so she wants to end the relations.h.i.+p so that you won't have to deal with difficulties on both sides.”

Xiao Mingluo nods, his eyes are full of sorrow. “This isn't written down! She's giving up on me. Doesn't she know that I'm at my saddest when she leaves?”

A heavy feeling weighs on An Chuxia's chest. She was happy when Meng Xiaonan had found her home, and now, she wishes that same feeling [with the relations.h.i.+p].

An Chuxia's heart didn't calm down until long after Xiao Mingluo left.

“Don't think too much. There's always a solution.” Ha Qilu reaches out and pats her head. “Let's go back.”

An Chuxia doesn't say anything, and walks back with him.

“Master, xiaonainai,” steward Han greets them, “It's almost time for dinner.”

The dinner!!!

An Chuxia was so preoccupied with Meng Xiaonan's story she completely forgot about the celebration!

But wasn't dinner not until seven or eight o'clock? It's only three.

After seeing the confusion on An Chuxia's face, steward Han explains. “It takes time to choose an outfit and get your hair done, so you need to start getting ready.”

An Chuxia was never put in this situation so she didn't know anything about advanced preparations. She thought she just had to dress up a bit more.

Steward Han escorts the couple away from the villa and onto the parking lot. Jiang Yuan is already waiting in the car.

Jiang Yuan has made deliberate arrangements. An Chuxia sits in the car with Han Qilu, while Jiang Yuan sits with steward Han. The car sets off quickly, and only stops once they arrive at a high-end beauty salon.

As they enter, a row of servants on either side of the hallway await them.

Han Qilu is taken up the stairs on the right, while Jiang Yuan and An Chuxia are led up the stairs on the left. It seems the salon is separated by gender.