Strike Back, Proud Goddess!

Qiao Liang closed his eyes and Tang Xi gently massaged his head, but Qiao Liang still couldn’t sleep soundly. He frowned as if he were seeing something horrible in his dream. He suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Tang Xi, holding her hand tightly.

Tang Xi looked sadly at him and said bitterly, “I’m still here and I won’t go. Have a good sleep. When you wake up, let’s go have afternoon tea. Or we can go to visit Aunt Qiao and have afternoon tea with her. The lawn of your house is perfect for that. It’s so beautiful. We can go there.”

Qiao Liang shook his head and closed his eyes again.

Tang Xi lay down with him while humming “My Darling” softly and holding his head. One of her hands was being held by him, while the the other was patting gently on Qiao Liang’s back.

This time Qiao Liang didn’t frown, but soon after he closed his eyes, he opened them again and looked at her. Tang Xi knew that he still didn’t want to sleep, but he couldn’t go on like this—he had to sleep. So she put her hand over his eyes and said, “Please sleep. If you sleep, I’ll still be here when you wake up. But if you don’t, I’m leaving right away.”

Qiao Liang tightened his grip and his voice suddenly became tense as he replied, “No, I won’t allow you to leave.”

“Okay, then sleep, and I’ll stay with you while you do,” Tang Xi said with a sigh. “I’ll be worried if you still don’t sleep. If I didn’t sleep for ten days, wouldn’t you be worried about me?”

Qiao Liang did not speak and merely stared at her. Tang Xi returned his stare, but even after a quite while passed, Qiao Liang still refused to close his eyes. Tang Xi simply came forward and held him tightly. “I beg you,” she implored him in a helpless voice. “I’ll feel insecure if you don’t sleep. Didn’t you say that you’d always protect me? If you die, who’ll protect me? Ah Liang, you don’t want me to live without you after I’ve finally come back to life, right?”

Qiao Liang felt pain in his heart. He held Tang Xi tightly and closed his eyes. Tang Xi smiled, reached out to hug him and slept in his arms.

She hadn’t fully recovered and was better off staying in bed to recuperate; however, she had been very worried about Qiao Liang yesterday, so she insisted on being discharged from the hospital, but she didn’t expect that she couldn’t start the System. Afterwards, invited by He Wanyi, she hung out with her brothers and friends and then had a hangover. When she came home this morning, she was so tired that she immediately fell asleep. But then she received a phone call from Xiao Jing, who told her that Qiao Liang hadn’t slept for more than 10 days.

Qiao Liang opened his eyes and gazed at the girl who had fallen asleep in his arms. He bent down to print a kiss on her forehead and slightly closed his eyes as he murmured, “I’ll always stay by your side and protect you.”

The sleeping girl gave a faint smile and put her face against his chest.

Qiao Liang reached for the remote control on the bedside table and pressed it. The window glass immediately turned black, and the whole room turned dark. He pressed the remote control again, and the air gradually cooled and became less hot.

When Tang Xi woke up later on, she saw that Qiao Liang was sleeping soundly while holding her. Just then, a knock sounded at the door of the office lounge. Qiao Liang frowned at the noise. Tang Xi gave a gentle pat on his back again and whispered, “It’s alright. Just sleep.”

Qiao Liang fell asleep again while holding on to Tang Xi’s hand.

With her other hand, Tang Xi took out her cell phone and took a look at it; the time was 5 p.m. She wanted Qiao Liang to have a good sleep at night. If he slept too long during the day, he might not sleep well at night. At this time, the door of the lounge was knocked on again. Tang Xi frowned and took a look at Qiao Liang before she got up to open the door.

As the door opened, an anxious voice rang out. “Qiao Liang, you… ” A woman looked at Tang Xi in shock and with a frown, asked, “Who are you?”

Tang Xi saw the person in front of her and was visibly a little surprised. With raised eyebrows and a frivolous tone, she asked, “Miss, what’s up?”

“I want to see Qiao Liang. Where is he?” Qin Xinying peered inside the lounge.

Tang Xi frowned and closed the door of the lounge, and her voice turned cold as she asked again, “Miss, who allowed you to enter?”

A gleam of uneasiness flickered across Qin Xinying’s eyes, but soon afterwards she stared at Tang Xi arrogantly as she returned with a question of her own. “What are you doing sneaking around in Qiao Liang’s office? Don’t you know you don’t belong here?”

Seeing how Qin Xinying made no secret of her possessiveness towards Qiao Liang to her, Tang Xi wondered if she was blind before—she had actually kept this woman by her side and let her covet Qiao Liang every day!

Tang Xi casually crossed her arms and looked at Qin Xinying with a smile on her face, saying, “I don’t belong here? You mean you belong? Hey, lady, have you woken up from a hangover?”

“Miss Xiao…” At that moment, Little Five came over. When he saw Qin Xinying in the room, he frowned and said coldly, “Miss Qin, why are you here? I remember that the president has told you that you’re not welcomed here!”

“Not welcomed?” Qin Xinying sneered and handed a notice of employment to Little Five, continuing, “This is the letter of employment from the costume design department of Qiao’s International Group. I’m here to work.”

Little Five looked at Qin Xinying and frowned again. “Miss Qin, this may be a mistake made by the personnel department. We will inform the personnel department immediately to cancel the employment. Please leave.”

“I am a friend of your president! How can you do this to me?!” Qin Xinying didn’t expect that Little Five wouldn’t give her face in front of a strange woman. She turned pale as she pointed at Tang Xi and asked, “Who is she?! Why is she in Qiao Liang’s office?!”

Tang Xi raised her eyebrows and looked at Little Five. The latter touched his nose, looked at Tang Xi and thought to himself: I also want to know who she is. Xiao Rou? Or maybe Tang Xi? Or maybe neither…

“That is none of your business,” Little Five replied after struggling inside for a while. “Since you are an employee of the design department, please go to the design department. Right now our president is taking a rest and doesn’t want to be disturbed. Please leave.”

When Qin Xinying heard the word “rest”, she remembered that when the woman had just walked out of the break room, her hair was a little messy. Qin Xinying’s eyes suddenly turned grim. She narrowed her eyes at Tang Xi and asked coldly, “Do you know whose boyfriend the man inside is?”

Tang Xi raised her eyebrows and looked at Qin Xinying with a smile on her face as she responded, “Oh? Whose boyfriend is he?”

“He’s the boyfriend of Tang Xi, the princess of Empire Group. What do you think will happen to you if you steal her boyfriend?” Qin Xinying continued coldly. “I advise you to be sensible and leave him as soon as possible. That man is not someone you can touch!”

Tang Xi sneered and leaned on the sofa, looking up at Qin Xinying with a hint of disdain in her eyes. She asked, “I can’t touch him? You mean you can?”

Qin Xinying’s face stiffened and Tang Xi smiled as she continued, “Miss, I can see your possessiveness towards him in your eyes. Unfortunately, I’ve already touched Qiao Liang and labeled him as mine. If anyone wants to get him, she’ll have to ask me whether I agree or not.”