Strike Back, Proud Goddess!

“You…” Qin Xinying frowned, then raised her eyebrows and suppressed her anger. She smiled and looked at Tang Xi as she said, “Miss, it’s too early for you to say that. It’s not yet certain as to who’ll be having the last laugh.”

Tang Xi shrugged, but it was at that very moment that Qiao Liang’s indifferent voice came from the lounge. “You won’t be the one having the last laugh anyway.”

When Little Five heard the domineering tone of his boss, he almost jumped to his feet and gave him a thumbs-up. In any case, he really didn’t like this Miss Qin.

Tang Xi turned her head only to see Qiao Liang, who had finally fallen asleep but was woken up by Qin Xinying, standing at the entrance of the lounge and looking sullen.

Qin Xinying turned around sharply. She hadn’t expected that Qiao Liang was really in the lounge. Qiao Liang didn’t like people to get close to him. Except for those intimate to him, he wouldn’t allow anyone to intrude into his territory. As far as she knew, the only person who could lie beside him was Tang Xi, but she didn’t exist anymore.

Her eyes soon became filled with tears as she looked at Qiao Liang. She gazed at Qiao Liang pitifully and said incredulously, “Qiao Liang, I didn’t know you were this kind of person. We still don’t know whether Little Xi is alive or dead, yet you and this woman are… in the office.” Instead of continuing her words, she merely accused Qiao Liang with her eyes.

Tang Xi raised her eyebrows and looked at Qin Xinying, holding her chin. She didn’t know that Qin Xinying was so good at acting. She didn’t realize until now that every woman could be an Oscar-winning actress in life. How on earth had she feigned indifference towards Qiao Liang in front of her?

Qiao Liang gave a cold look at Qin Xinying and said indifferently, “It’s none of your business what kind of person I am.”

Then his eyes softened as he looked at Tang Xi, who beckoned to him and said, “Come and sit down. Do you feel better now?”

Qiao Liang nodded with a smile, went over to sit down beside her and gently fixed her hair for her, completely ignoring Qin Xinying standing there. “I can’t fall asleep without you lying beside me.”

Tang Xi smiled and, also ignoring Qin Xinying’s presence, said softly, “Then don’t force yourself to sleep. Let’s go out for afternoon tea, and then sleep early at night and go to work vigorously tomorrow.”

Tang Xi swore this was the gentlest voice she had ever used since she was together with Qiao Liang.

Qiao Liang cast a deep look at Tang Xi. Even though she said the most ordinary words, he could see the great tenderness in her eyes. He nodded and took her hand as he asked, “Would you like to have dinner with me?”

Tang Xi shook her head. “I promised Mom and Dad I’d go home for dinner.”

Qin Xinying clenched her hands hard as she glared at Tang Xi and then turned to go out. Little Five hurriedly followed after her. Tang Xi glimpsed Qin Xinying leaving and gently hit Qiao Liang who was holding her hand and playing with her fingers. She asked, “Did you already know that Xinying liked you?”

Qiao Liang took a look at her and replied, “Why should I know?”

Tang Xi felt frustrated. This was the way he was. If he didn’t care about someone, no matter how hard the other party tried to impress him, he wouldn’t feel anything. Even if he felt it, he would still keep that person outside of his world. No wonder…

Tang Xi sighed and stood up. “Okay, let’s go out for afternoon tea.”

“Wait for me in my office. I have some business to attend to,” Qiao Liang said softly, standing up to hold Tang Xi’s hand.

Tang Xi looked at him with a smile and said, “I can’t understand your work.” Then she waved her cell phone and continued, “I’ll be playing games. You can go to work. I’ll wait half an hour for you.”

Qiao Liang looked deeply at her and kissed her on the forehead before reluctantly letting her go. “I’ll finish it in half an hour.”

Tang Xi nodded and began to play games on her phone, but then she received a phone call from He Wanning. He asked her to make the audition on Friday, and then informed her that the shooting would formally begin on Saturday. She didn’t remember until now that she hadn’t told Qiao Liang she was going to shoot a TV commercial. She raised her eyes and happened to meet Qiao Liang’s. The latter put down his pen and looked up at her, asking, “What’s the matter? Do you know He Wanning well?”

Tang Xi pondered for a while with a pout before nodding and answering, “Yes, I think so.”

Qiao Liang felt slightly jealous. “Wow, you really have a lot of friends.”

Tang Xi chuckled as she turned off her game, then went over to sit in front of Qiao Liang’s desk and gaze at him with her chin on her hands. She suggested, “Then you can follow me. I’m sure you’ll make a lot of friends too.”

Qiao Liang frowned and thought to himself, “Will that be good for me?”

“You can be with me the entire time,” Tang Xi continued cutely. “And I’m so beautiful. Won’t you be afraid that I’ll be stolen by some other man? If you follow me, you can drive those men away for me.”

Qiao Liang gently knocked her head with his pen and said, “That makes sense. But what about my work?”

“Well, everyone needs their personal space, so it’s up to you when you work, and it’s up to me when I go to school, okay?” She knew that they could not be together all the time, especially now that she was Xiao Rou who was in the spotlight because of the real-or-fake-daughter matter. If it were reported that she and Qiao Liang were lovers, she didn’t know whether she could stand the media bombardment or not.

Qiao Liang knew what was on Tang Xi’s mind, but he didn’t lay her thoughts bare. He reached out to hold her and looked at her with a smile as he said, “Don’t worry. We can meet every day.”

Tang Xi’s heart jolted at his words. She asked, “What are you going to do?”

She remembered having once quarreled with him. Back then, she swore that she would never speak to him again, but he told her, in the same manner as he had spoken just now, that she would be talking to him within a single lesson.

She didn’t believe him at the time. If she listened attentively in class and didn’t look at him, how would she speak to him since he sat so far away from her? However, he exchanged seats with her deskmate and constantly gazed at her with his chin in his hands. Unable to ignore his gaze, she had shot him a dark look and said, “Stop looking at me!” And he had responded by showing her a triumphant smile. Recalling that scene, Tang Xi couldn’t help but smile. He was really cute at that time.

“It won’t be long before you find out.” Qiao Liang turned off his computer and pulled her up. “Let’s go for afternoon tea.”

Tang Xi took his hand with a smile as she jested, “Are you going to do what you did in college again?” Suddenly, something occurred to her and she said excitedly, “You’re not going to study in our school, are you?” Then she frowned as she continued, “Oh, please don’t. I’ll be laughed at by my classmates. Although I’m a freshman, I look very young so my classmates don’t know my real age. If you go to my school though, they’ll find out about it.”

Qiao Liang looked at the imaginative girl in front of him and said helplessly, “What on earth are you thinking?”