Chen Xi came out carrying the scallion-fried lamb that Chen Mei had prepared.

At first glance, she saw San Huang cozying up to Qin Lie.

The old dog had both paws resting on Qin Lie’s legs, panting at him with his tongue hanging out, his tail wagging with pure joy.

Chen Xi was slightly startled. This old dog at home had quite a temper.

When strangers visited for the first time, it not barking fiercely at them was already giving considerable face, yet here it was wagging its tail and being friendly.

This treatment – even Bai Yuning, who had been coming and going from this house for two years, had never enjoyed it.

Chen Xi set the dish on the table and said neither warmly nor coldly, “This dog seems quite familiar with you.”

Qin Lie was scratching San Huang’s chin. Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows to look at Chen Xi and smiled faintly.

Fan Mingsu laughed cheerfully from the side, “Sometimes animals are more perceptive than people.”

Chen Xi couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge her veiled sarcasm and turned to go back into the kitchen.

Chen Mei took a few fresh eggs she had brought today from the wicker basket, cracked them into a large bowl, tossed in a handful of chopped scallions, and skillfully stirred them together.

“Chen Xi, is he pursuing you?”

Chen Mei asked quietly.

Chen Xi casually picked up a rag and wiped the oil stains on the stove, smiling as she said, “You’re all overthinking it.”

Chen Mei poured the egg mixture into the hot pan. With a sizzling sound, oil smoke and fragrance burst forth together.

She looked puzzled. “It sure looks like it to me.”

Chen Xi: “Really, no. He won’t be staying in our area for long.”

Chen Mei had originally wanted to fry some peanuts, but hearing this, she suddenly felt deflated.

“Sigh, such a nice young man.”

She felt it was such a pity.

Chen Xi smiled and said quietly, “He’s not that rare.”

She carried out the egg pancake that Chen Mei had finished making.

Looking up, she was startled again.

Sensen had somehow come over and had even brought the airplane model he had made, placing it right on Qin Lie’s lap.

Chen Xi couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows and flicked Sensen’s forehead with her finger.

“You brat, didn’t you say this model couldn’t be touched?”

Sensen covered his forehead and looked at Chen Xi with disdain.

“Would you know how to reassemble it if you broke it? Big Brother Qin Lie can even help me improve the wings.”

Chen Xi flicked Sensen’s forehead again and said with a laugh, “Little heartless one.”

Fan Mingsu said with a beaming smile from the side, “Little Qin, come visit often when you’re free. Sensen mentions you every other day at home.”

Qin Lie looked up and asked with a smile, “What does he say about me?”

Fan Mingsu: “He talks about that facility of yours, says it’s incredible.”

“Our Sensen wants to get into Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in the future, to attend the school that his Yang Guan couldn’t get into.”

“After graduation, he wants to build rockets and spaceships, to send people to that outer space you showed him.”

Hearing this, Qin Lie smiled and patted Sensen’s head, saying, “Keep it up.”

Sensen nodded vigorously, his little face already red as a big apple.

Chen Xi couldn’t understand how Qin Lie, who was so cold and hard, could be so approachable with this group of people at home.

She cleared her throat lightly and reminded, “It’s getting late, let’s eat quickly.”

Fan Mingsu hurriedly called out, “Come, come, eat while it’s hot.”

Chen Mei carried out the fried peanuts, being the last to come to the table.

In the small courtyard, a cool breeze blew gently, and a full moon hung at the treetops.

Chen Xi ate silently, listening to the sporadic, casual chatter of everyone at the table.

Qin Lie still didn’t speak much, but he answered every question asked.

His manner could simply be described as well-behaved.

Unconsciously, he looked exactly like someone meeting his girlfriend’s family for the first time.

Chen Xi wordlessly gulped down a mouthful of apricot water, then suddenly coughed violently.

Only then did she realize she had grabbed the wrong cup and had downed half of Qin Lie’s baijiu in one go.

After dinner, Chen Xi accompanied Qin Lie to the alley entrance to hail a taxi.

The only street lamp at the intersection was broken, and the long alley was covered only with a thin layer of moonlight.

The two walked silently for a few steps. Chen Xi stepped on a pebble, her body swaying slightly, and her hand lightly brushed against Qin Lie’s hand.

The next second, her hand was suddenly grabbed and firmly held in his palm.

Chen Xi wordlessly pulled her hand free and walked silently for a few more steps before suddenly stopping.

“Qin Lie.”

She called his name softly.

Qin Lie stopped and hummed quietly in response.

She looked up at him. In the dim night, his gaze was neither cold nor warm.

He seemed like a different person from the one who had just been drinking with Fan Mingsu in the courtyard, answering every question from Chen Mei and Sensen.

Chen Xi: “You don’t need to deliberately be so enthusiastic toward the people around me.”

Qin Lie looked down at Chen Xi. After a long while, he said quietly, “I wasn’t being deliberate.”

Chen Xi smiled, “Then you’re deliberately being cold to me?”

Qin Lie looked up at the night sky speechlessly and tugged at the corner of his mouth faintly.

“Not that either.”

He was someone who warmed up slowly, sometimes not warming up at all.

But for some reason, whenever he met Chen Xi’s family, he unconsciously became much easiergoing.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “How do you want me to treat you?”

Chen Xi lifted her leg to continue walking forward. Looking at the uneven road beneath her feet, she smiled and said, “Like ordinary friends.”

Qin Lie silently followed, then suddenly grabbed Chen Xi’s wrist.

Chen Xi stumbled, and before she could react to what was happening, she was already pressed against a dull gray wall by the roadside.

The next second, Qin Lie pressed against her and forcefully kissed her.

Chen Xi initially resisted, but couldn’t break free from his unrelenting kiss no matter what.

Gradually, she gave up resistance and wrapped her arms around Qin Lie’s solid neck.

Rising on her tiptoes, she responded just as unrelentingly.

Two young bodies sparked in the dark corner.

After kissing for who knows how long, the two separated, both breathless.

Qin Lie held the person in his arms tightly and asked in a deep voice in her ear, “Is this what ordinary friends do?”

Chen Xi rested her head against Qin Lie’s heaving chest. Her body felt like it was on fire, but her mind was devastatingly clear.

She smiled and changed her phrasing, “Friends with benefits work too.”

She felt Qin Lie’s heavy breathing pause slightly.

But the arms holding her didn’t loosen at all.

After a long while, Qin Lie’s cold voice came from above her head.

“Chen Xi, do you have to be so contrary?”

Chen Xi looked up at Qin Lie, “I’m not being contrary.”

Their faces were so close that Chen Xi could almost see her tiny reflection in his dark eyes.

He didn’t speak, just looked at her deeply.

Chen Xi suddenly raised her hand and, as if possessed, touched his ruggedly handsome face.

“Qin Lie, will you stay in Dunhuang?”

She looked up at him, her gaze clear, the desire in her eyes, the hesitation, the resolve – she didn’t hide any of it, laying it all bare before him without reservation.

Qin Lie’s Adam’s apple bobbed, but he didn’t speak.

Chen Xi smiled, “You don’t know either, right?”

The two locked gazes, staring at each other for a long time, both their eyes filled with honesty.

After a long moment, Qin Lie hummed quietly in acknowledgment.

Chen Xi: “You know how my last relationship ended, so before this matter has an answer, stop trying to seduce me.”

Having said this, she gently pushed Qin Lie away and turned to walk into the dim alley.

Qin Lie indeed stopped trying to seduce Chen Xi. He barely even came to the VR facility anymore.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed, and Chen Xi hadn’t seen Qin Lie once.

She accepted this peacefully, busy every day with the shop’s business, busy taking care of her family, busy with the trivial matters among friends.

Only when riding her motorcycle past the VR facility entrance in the mornings would Chen Xi habitually glance inside, though she couldn’t see anything.

The motorcycle sped past the VR facility entrance, and Chen Xi tugged lightly at the corner of her mouth.

Those feelings of attraction – Chen Xi simply let them live or die on their own.

This evening, after Chen Xi finished bathing and sat at her desk, just about to draw for a while, Yang Shan’s phone call came.

As soon as she answered, Yang Shan’s eager voice came through the phone.

“Hey Chen Xi, did you watch the video I sent you?”

Chen Xi looked confused. “No, I just finished bathing.”

Yang Shan excitedly urged, “Watch it, watch it quickly.”

Chen Xi: “What is it?”

Yang Shan laughed heartily, “You’ll know once you watch it. Heaven truly has eyes.”

Chen Xi hung up the phone, opened WeChat, and clicked on the video Yang Shan had sent her. It was from a well-known legal program.

“Man purchases used car, unexpectedly discovers it’s a major accident vehicle…”

As Chen Xi watched, her eyes grew wider and wider.

She didn’t recognize the person who bought the used car in the video, but she immediately recognized the person selling the car.

It was that smiling tiger who sold accident vehicles, and the car with hidden major issues in the video was exactly the accident car Chen Xi had seen.

The program was long, detailing the entire process from multiple perspectives: the buyer, seller, appraisal agency, and mediation organization.

Mr. Song, who had returned from out of town to Dunhuang for vacation, was accompanying a friend to browse the used car market one day when he also took a fancy to a nearly new BMW 3 Series sedan and quickly completed the transaction procedures.

Unexpectedly, on the return trip, the car’s engine developed problems.

While having the car repaired at the 4S shop, Mr. Song was told that this car’s engine had undergone major repairs three months ago, and the body also showed signs of extensive repairs in multiple places.

After the investigation, Mr. Song was shocked to discover that this car had been in a major traffic accident three months earlier, in which two people in the car died on the spot.

Mr. Song immediately returned to confront the seller about this matter.

The other party refused to admit that they had sold Mr. Song an accident vehicle and made physical threats against Mr. Song.

The reason this seemingly ordinary used car transaction dispute appeared on this legal program was because after Mr. Song reported it to the police, during their investigation, they discovered the seller had specialized channels for acquiring accident vehicles and stolen vehicles.

Having engaged in illegal activities for many years, the case evolved from a civil dispute into a criminal case.

Chen Xi watched it all in one go and felt incredibly satisfied.

She sent Yang Shan several emojis and then smiled as she set down her phone and picked up the paintbrush from the desk.