Chapter 171 - A Man and Woman Alone
After sending off Ernst, Xia Fei only felt his whole body lighten. After all, it was not easy to have rejected a tempting offer, not to mention that it involved Avril and the entirety of Starlink Corporation. The offer was indubitably a priceless transaction—something that anyone would go crazy over.
Phantom was shaking his head like a rattle. “You’re mad. Absolutely insane. Why would you reject such a wonderful offer?”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and calmly replied, “Avril isn’t an object or good; she should not be used as part of a transaction. Imagine you are Ernst; would you have given the company forged by the countless generations before to a complete stranger you’ve only met once?”
Phantom’s forehead creased as he mulled over this for some time. “Though Ernst said that he’s trying to save his family, the method that he used to resolve it is somewhat too far-fetched when one carefully thinks about it. Begging for mercy isn’t the only way to save Barty’s life; as one of the elite families in the Alliance, Ernst ought to have other methods at hand, so there’s no reason for him to put his entire family’s life and fortune all on you.”
“Something strange is afoot, so I rejected it because I can’t make sense of it,” Xia Fei answered. “Rejection was the safest way to handle that situation just then.”
Phantom seemed to have understood a little but was still unable to make sense of other things. Actually, he was not the only one; Xia Fei himself could not fathom the true intentions of Ernst, and he had only made his decision based on his intuition.
“Then, that other method that you mentioned, which can save the Jian family’s prestige, what is it exactly?” Phantom changed the topic.
“Killing Barty.”
“Bastard!”
“Brute!”
“Beast!”
The bodyguards, who were guarding outside, could no longer suppress the rage that they were feeling inside, and each of them cursed Xia Fei furiously. All of them were convinced that their beautiful lady Avril would most definitely be taken by the man.
In the hearts of all these bodyguards, Avril was like an attainable saint—someone whom they could only admire from afar, yet that ugly Xia Fei had actually run in and staked his claim on the delicate beauty, causing all of them to feel extremely imbalanced deep down.
This was especially true given Xia Fei’s attitude just then, generously inviting himself into Avril’s room as if it was only natural for her to sleep with him. As such, the rage that these bodyguards were feeling toward Xia Fei soared to greater heights more than ever.
Closing the door, Xia Fei then moved to close the thick curtains, too, plunging the entire room into gloomy darkness. A man and woman alone in such a setting made it all the more impossible for people not to conjure some wild thoughts. Lying openly on the bed, Xia Fei stared at the ceiling above as if he was contemplating something. Avril stood at the side of the door, uncertain on what she should do, wishing that she could just find some hole to dive into. ‘What is he doing, lying in my bed? Is he perhaps waiting for me?’
After hesitating for a good while, Avril spoke in a small voice. “I’m going to take a shower first.”
“Okay,” Xia Fei answered with ease.
Changing out to a pair of slippers, Avril hurried and hid herself in the bathroom, taking a peek at Xia Fei before she closed the door. All she saw was Xia Fei lying calmly on the bed, all meditative. Avril’s heart was now trembling in a mixture of excitement and fear. “Xia Fei looks so calm and composed; perhaps he already has experience.”
She hid behind the door as she nervously clutched her burning cheeks. “This is so embarrassing; just what am I thinking about?”
She took a hot shower with her heart at sixes and sevens. Avril stood in front of the mirror and brushed her blonde hair over and over again, carefully wiping each and every water droplet off her skin, staring blankly into the mirror after she was done.
“Is today the day? How detestable. I haven’t even gotten myself ready for it yet.
“It wouldn’t be bad doing it with Xia Fei, would it?
“What should I say after I step out?”
The heart of the young maiden was like the weather in June: unpredictable. Avril was momentarily anxious, momentarily expectant. Even she had no idea just what exactly was the reason for this.
“Are you okay?” Xia Fei asked, knocking at the bathroom door.
“Don’t come in!” Avril nearly jumped out of her skin upon hearing Xia Fei suddenly knock like that, blurting that out in her nervousness.
“Oh, it’s fine as long as you are okay.”
Avril clutched her chest. All that courage she had managed to gather all but disappeared following Xia Fei’s unexpected interruption.
Avril took a very long time to calm herself down again. She opened the door and very mortifyingly made her way to the bed. She lowered her head and sat down, her two, fair hands rubbing the corners of her pajamas, her face now a dazzling peach color.
Xia Fei leaped from the bed and walked toward Avril.
‘Here he comes.’ Avril’s heart began to thump hard, her head lowering even more than usual, her state of mind in complete chaos.
The moment Xia Fei’s hand touched her hair, Avril suddenly reached out to hug his waist, her voice trembling slightly. “You need to be gentle.”
Her head was blank, completely clueless why she had said something like that.
Xia Fei was slightly startled. “You go to sleep first. I’m going to take a shower, too.”
Avril anxiously let Xia Fei go and quickly crawled back under the covers, wrapping herself tightly from head to toe.
In no time, the sound of running water could be heard from the bathroom. Xia Fei’s shower was much faster than Avril’s, taking no more than two minutes before his footsteps could be heard in the room once more.
‘He’s coming now,’ Avril nervously thought to herself as she shrank deeper under the covers.
A minute passed, and not a move was made.
Three minutes went by, and Xia Fei had still not torn off Avril’s bedcover.
Ten minutes later, Avril finally could no longer hold back and poked her head out, curiously looking around.
All she saw was Xia Fei lying down on the carpet, his clothes bundled up under his head to form a makeshift pillow, his two eyes closed, already fast asleep.
Avril felt very disappointed, coldly snorting as she pouted. She dove back under her covers and muttered softly to herself, “Curse Xia Fei, this big meanie! I knew he was just teasing me.”
It was unknown just how much longer before Avril finally fell asleep out of tiredness. She had clearly done nothing today, yet she had never felt more tired than before.
In the wee hours of the morning, Xia Fei abruptly opened his two eyes, breaking out from his dream. Without making a sound, he climbed up to his feet and hid behind the curtains while looking out into the night sky. All he saw was a weak light some distance away, flickering like fireflies, as if transmitting some signal.