363 A call for help
Xing Bi smiled and dismissed it. “Nothing. I might be thinking too much about it. It felt a little spooky that night, haha.”
Ai beamed. “Are you afraid of ghosts and monsters under the bed too?”
“…”
Xing Bi flicked on her forehead. “No, silly. And why do you look happy asking me that?”
“I thought I found company.”
“Why do you need company when you have me?” A deep and husky voice reverberated from behind her and two hands firmly pressed on her shoulders.
Ai looked up. “Jun.”
Jun smiled and kissed her forehead, making Xing Bi cough. “Mercy, show a little mercy on this single dog.”
“Date my brother and then you wouldn’t be a single dog anymore.”
Xing Bi gasped in horror. “I thought you were at my side! Who has taken over Liu Jun? You cannot be him!”
Jun shook his head. “I am sorry. I am just kidding. I support you. Don’t give in to Bro Nian so easily.”
Xing Bi harrumphed. “Of course!” But then she found something odd in his words. “What do you mean by ‘so easily?’ Do you think I will give in to him eventually?” She suspiciously asked.
Jun raised his brow and remained silent at that.
“Say something!”
No answer.
“You…”
Jun shrugged as if he wanted her to accept her fate. “You see, the men in the Liu family are extremely stubborn, tenacious and damn possessive.”
“…”
“So if we fall in love with someone, then it’s pretty much game over.”
“…”
“The other person doesn’t have much of a choice left but to accept us.”
“…”
Jun smiled. “But don’t worry. We are extremely loyal, loving and caring too. So you won’t regret not having a choice.” He gave her a thumbs up.
Xing Bi wasn’t sure how to describe her mixed and complicated feelings about this.
Ai seriously expressed her concern. “Not having a choice left is unfair.”
Jun narrowed his eyes. “Do YOU want to have a choice, Miss. Zhou?”
“I am just talking generally.”
“And I just think you are tired of living,” he flashed an alarming smile. “If you are having any doubts about me, then how about I uproot that out for you?”
“…”
Ai hugged him and beamed. “I never had any doubts about Jun. You are the best.”
He sneered at her poor cajoling attempt.
Xing Bi burst into tears and grabbed her bag to leave. “No way will I accept this! Hah! It might be your family’s tradition, but Xing Bi is impossible to conquer! I am leaving because I cannot bear this mushy mushy atmosphere anymore!”
“Wait.”
“What!?” Xing Bi sniffled and turned.
“Shui’s birthday is in four days, and you are invited. Please come.”
“I definitely will!” And she dashed away like a tornado.
Ai brightened. “Shui’s birthday is coming?”
“Yup.”
In the past, it was this birthday when Jun had first proposed to Shui with his ring. It had been the happiest moment of his life which soon turned into a tragedy.
Ai leaned and kissed his lips. “Now, everything is different.”
“Yes,” he kissed her back, hard and fierce. “This time, I have you.”
He got a message and sighed. “I have to head back for a meeting. Wait for me. We will leave together. I have a surprise for you at home.”
Ai’s eyes gleamed. “What is it?”
“It’s a surprise. I am not supposed to tell you.”
She pouted sweetly.
“But I can give you a hint. It’s about your fear for monsters under the bed,” he chuckled.
“…”
Ai pursed her lips. “Do you want to surprise me or bully me?”
“A little bit of both?” He winked. “Wait for me, okay?”
Jun left for his meeting, and Ai went back to her story plotting work. But she couldn’t focus because her mind was too occupied guessing what Jun’s surprise might be. In the end, she sat back defeated which was when she received a text on her phone. She saw it was a message from Yating, and she blinked.
Yating?
Ai opened the message and read only one word written in it.
‘Help…’
Her eyes widened, and she straightened up.
Help? What does he mean?
She quickly called him back, but the call was never answered. It only made her increasingly worried.
Yating has never left a message like this before. Is he in some trouble?
Ai called Yating’s assistant to check if he was in the office.
“No, Mam. Actually, Chief Gu left early today. He was feeling quite sick.”
“Oh…”
“Yes. I would have gone to check on him, but it’s the month end and we are loaded with so many publishing duties! We hardly have the time to breathe, and Chief Gu is also not here,” he cried.
“I understand.”
She hung up and wondered what to do. Yating lived alone and there was nobody to take care of him. She had no time to look into Gu Rong’s number, so she quickly got up. She passed by Jun’s conference room, but he was busy with his meeting.
Jun had told her to wait for him but she couldn’t, sensing the urgency in Yating’s message.
Ai left a note on Jun’s phone, saying that she would directly meet him at the condo and hurriedly left Sky.
—
Xing Bi, on the other side, was also hurriedly running to catch her bus back home. “Wait for me!”
She barely caught the bus in the nick of time. “Phew!”
She was about to get on it when she noticed a familiar figure in the distance. She rapidly blinked as she recognized Sun Bai.
Miss. Sun?
Xing Bi was taken aback. Hou Lin had said that she was on sick leave today but looking at her, Sun Bai didn’t look like she was sick.
What is going on?
She saw Sun Bai waiting for somebody. Then a cab arrived with a man riding in the passenger seat. Sun Bai got in, and the cab left.
By that point, the bus driver asked, “Are you getting in or not?”
Xing Bi’s daze snapped, and she said, “No. I am sorry. I think I will take the cab.”