"Girl, girl, are you there?"
Chen Nan shouted with urgency in his voice, rushing quickly toward Su Qingqing’s room.
Just thinking that something might have happened to this girl set his heart racing with unspeakable panic, just like the first time on Fire Qilin Mountain when he saw the broken half of the Silver Bell Rope and thought his junior sister was dead.
He even somewhat regretted it – why did he go to pick the Essence Fruit, why didn’t he stay by her side to protect her?
However, when he burst through the door, the anxiety weighing on his heart finally eased.
Su Qingqing, unable to sleep, had been sitting on her bed in a daze. Hearing Chen Nan’s voice, she couldn’t wait to rush out only to collide full on with Chen Nan, who had just entered. Her forehead knocked right into Chen Nan’s chin.
"Ouch, it hurts so much."
Su Qingqing held her forehead and rubbed it, then she touched Chen Nan’s chin with concern, "Dummy, does it hurt?"
Seeing the girl safe and sound before him, Chen Nan let out a long sigh of relief and involuntarily touched her forehead, "I’m thick-skinned and tough, of course I’m okay. But did it hurt you?"
A most joyful smile appeared on Su Qingqing’s face.
"It was hurting, but as soon as I saw it was you who bumped me, the pain instantly went away."
She said cheerfully, and now seeing the man she had been thinking about day and night, perhaps due to excitement, she opened her arms to embrace Chen Nan, resting her head against his chest and laughing happily.
In this moment, she forgot her shyness, her restraint, and even... forgot that Chen Nan was not her boyfriend.
Chen Nan hugged her back, not feeling it was inappropriate at all.
Smelling the faint fragrance coming from her hair, so familiar, Chen Nan was somewhat overwhelmed, as if he had sunk deeply into it, as if he was in a world with just the two of them.
Suddenly, a coughing sound came from the doorway. Yun Fei and Su Yixuan stood there in their pajamas.
They had already been asleep, but when they heard Chen Nan’s loud shouting, they rushed out immediately, not expecting to witness such a scene.
Chen Nan realized what was happening and quickly separated from Su Qingqing.
"Is everything all right?"
Yun Fei looked at Chen Nan with some expectation, while Su Yixuan also cast a puzzled glance.
Chen Nan nodded, his expression slightly embarrassed, especially since they had seen him hugging Su Qingqing, "I’ve got the Essence Fruit; it went pretty smoothly."
"That’s really great." Yun Fei said excitedly.
After all, Chen Nan had lost a significant amount of his Life Essence because of her. Now that Chen Nan had obtained the Life Essence Fruit, she was genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart.
Su Yixuan also smiled happily, then curiously asked, "The two of you just now, hugging... what was that about?"
Seeing trouble brewing, Chen Nan quickly cut her off, "The girl and I have always been as close as siblings. We hadn’t seen each other all day, so we were just a bit excited upon seeing each other. Don’t think too much of it."
Yun Fei pursed her lips, "Only a fool would misunderstand; Qingqing, even if her taste were poor, she definitely wouldn’t fancy someone like you."
Although she knew Chen Nan was a good person and had even saved her life, she just couldn’t help opposing him verbally. It seemed to have become a habit. The house felt somewhat boring with Chen Nan away for just one day.
It was like being addicted to smoking; sparring verbally with Chen Nan had also become an addiction.
As for Yun Fei’s jibe, Chen Nan was accustomed to it.
He glanced at her with disdain and said, "You’re just an idiot; I can’t be bothered with you. Talking to you lowers my IQ."
Dongfang Yun Fei glared at him, fuming.
She always wanted to argue with Chen Nan, but she could never win, which was incredibly frustrating for her.
"What ’you’? Can’t accept it?"
Chen Nan sneered at her, "Look at Yixuan, did she say anything unnecessary? That’s called class, understand? Not like you, always whining for no reason, tweeting on like an endless chatterbox."
Dongfang Yun Fei was so angry she was practically steaming, nearly exploding, "Chen Nan, you bastard, did you just get back to be scolded by me?"
"If you like to scold, go ahead. You’re obviously lacking in class. Talking civility with you is like playing the lute to a cow," Chen Nan sighed. "No wonder your parents worry you won’t get married, with your shrewish ways, indeed no man would dare to marry you."
Dongfang Yun Fei felt like her lungs were about to explode, "If this lady says she wants to get married, men would line up to circle the Earth ten times for the chance!"
"Big words for nothing. If you could really find a man, would you need to pay me to pretend to be your husband?" Chen Nan shook his head, "If you can’t get married, then accept it and don’t deceive yourself. Maybe if you’re gentler, some blind guy might marry you."
Dongfang Yun Fei, infuriated, stomped her foot and stormed back to her room, huffing and puffing.
The Su sisters couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
They truly admired Dongfang Yun Fei; she almost always lost her verbal duels with Chen Nan but never backed down and kept coming back for more. Such unwavering determination was indeed admirable.
"Treat my sister well, if you dare bully her, I won’t let you off,"
Yixuan said to Chen Nan with a smile and then turned and left the room.
Without a doubt, in her eyes, Chen Nan had been captured by the endless efforts of her sister. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been hugging just now. Plus, Chen Nan’s expression while speaking was awkward, a typical cover-up, clearly revealing his panic.
Yixuan had been in the business world for many years; though not an old fox, she could hardly miss such things.
Chen Nan was stunned, then quickly said, "Yixuan, you’ve misunderstood, it’s really not like that."
"I know, I know. Continue your talk; I won’t disturb you," Yixuan said cheerfully, turning and leaving the room, obviously not believing Chen Nan’s explanation.
Turning to Su Qingqing, Chen Nan spread his hands helplessly, "I’ve been misunderstood."
"A misunderstanding is just that, and to be honest, I don’t mind."
Su Qingqing responded with a grin, pointing at his nose, "Come clean, you yelled and dashed over here in such a rush, were you worried I’d go to Jiang Haotian?"
Chen Nan gave a resigned smile, "I was just worried about you, afraid something might happen to you."
Qingqing puffed out her cheeks, "Anyway, you like me, whether you admit it or not, you like me."
Chen Nan slapped his forehead, "Girl, can we change the subject?"
"Hit the nail on the head, didn’t I? Feeling guilty?"
Qingqing shook her head triumphantly and dragged him to sit on the bed, "Did you know, during the day, Jiang Haotian called me. He wanted to ask me out."
Chen Nan’s brow furrowed, his tone slightly agitated, "And how did you respond? Did you go?"