Huo Shiqian’s gaze was icily fixed on her.
Xia Chuyi stiffened her neck and said, “Uncle Liberation Army, I’m only eighteen! Do you really want to make me, before I’ve enjoyed the best years of my life, walk into the tomb… I mean, the palace of marriage?”
Having almost said ‘tomb’, she wisely turned a corner with her words.
“Huo Shiqian, I’m serious, I’m still young, and I don’t plan to marry so soon. If you can’t wait, you’re free to find someone else…”
Her gaze darting sharply at him, she was forced to phrase it differently, “I mean, let’s give each other some time, get to know one another better. If in a few years, you still feel the same, then I agree to marry you.”
“But before then, you should learn to act like a young person and court me from scratch.”
“You can’t, just because you’re older, deprive me of my right to love.”
She laid out her conditions systematically, cornering him at every step, yet Huo Shiqian listenned with an expressionless face.
“I agree to your terms.” After a thought, Huo Shiqian actually agreed.
She sighed, feeling that in this war of attrition, she was unlikely to come out victorious.
“Then that settles it! Can I get out of the car now?” Xia Chuyi asked him.
Huo Shiqian lowered his gaze to look at her, speaking calmly, “Not so fast, you’ve stated your conditions, now it’s time to hear mine.”
“What are your terms?” she asked warily.
Huo Shiqian’s imposing presence pressed in again, “First, stop calling me Uncle Liberation Army. I’m not old. Since you’ve agreed to be with me, we are peers.”
“Hey, I haven’t agreed yet…” Noticing the quick change in his eyes, she wisely held her tongue.
Alright, he was the elder brother, his word was law.
“Secondly, this ‘courtship’ period will last two years. In two years, you’ll be of legal age to marry. And by then, it’ll also be high time I got married.”
Xia Chuyi hung her head low, out of his sight, she sneered secretly.
This man, when asked not to be called uncle, says he’s not old, but when setting the time limit, he suggests he’s not young either.
Huo Shiqian continued, “This fits perfectly, as the army is transferring me to the Southwest. I had originally declined, but since you need two years, it will be just right for me.”
“Southwest?” Xia Chuyi’s mind immediately recalled in her past life, the army unit Huo Shiqian was demoted to was in the Southwest.
“What is it?” Seeing her puzzled look, Huo Shiqian asked.
She realized that perhaps, she had misunderstood some things in her past life.
If Huo Shiqian hadn’t been demoted because of her, then to what did she really owe him?
Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret in this world.
She was already entangled with a man beyond clarity.
Raising her head, with a forced smile, she agreed, “Alright, it’s a deal, Liberation Army… Huo Shiqian… Brother Shi Qian, it’s settled then!”
She changed her way of addressing him repeatedly, until she finally got the demon king’s agreement.
“Can I leave now?” Xia Chuyi gestured outside the window.
“Mm.” He said so verbally, but Huo Shiqian’s hand resting on the door didn’t move, “Chuyi, I will write to you, pursuing you as young people do.”
He patted her head as if comforting a child, “So, wait for me obediently at home. Also, quickly resolve the engagement with He Qing. I don’t want my woman tied to someone else’s name.”
What did he mean by ‘his woman’… wasn’t it agreed to start with the pursuit?
She thought so inwardly, but didn’t dare show it on her face.
She nodded obediently, her eyes curving into small crescents, “Mm, I got it. Is there anything else, Brother Shi Qian?”
Satisfied with her submissive attitude, Huo Shiqian’s daunting aura receded.
“Remember to wait for my letter and write back to me.”