Chapter Thirty-Six: Heart-to-Heart Talk in Progress

  According to Lan Ruoxue's idea, Xia Yunfei should calm down and think carefully after hearing her two sentences. But Xia Yunfei was not an ordinary girl, she looked at Lan Ruoxue lightly after listening, and continued to drink happily: "Right, I don't understand myself. But do you understand me? Or, do you understand Ao Yuan?"

  Lan Ruoxue was choked for a moment, then opened her mouth somewhat flustered: "I'm really curious, Xia Yufei, can't you just not ask counter-questions every time? Will it kill you to answer a question calmly?"

  Xia Yifei didn't even bother to look at her this time, and only spoke indifferently after throwing a peanut into his mouth: "Lan Ruoxue, did you think I was joking when I said I liked Ao Yuan just now?"

  "Will you truly like someone? With your innate heartlessness... Don't glare at me, this is what you yourself once said."

  Xia Yanfei smiled lightly: "I didn't plan to refute. But now that I think about it, rather than saying that I'm naturally heartless, it's better to say that I realized too early on that the most terrifying and unpredictable thing in the world is human nature, so I just don't believe."

  "So I'm saying you're completely on your own. You won't die if you don't do anything stupid, why can't you understand that, dear?" Lan Ruoxue was almost exasperated with her, and after opening another bottle of beer for herself, she thought for a moment before continuing, "Come on, tell me why you fell in love with Ao Yuan, satisfy my intense curiosity."

  Xia Yifei gave her a strange look, then was silenced by Lan Ruoxue's expression of "hurry up and say it so I can gossip" and covered his face: "What about your image, girl?"

  "In front of Bagua, the image is just a trivial matter." Lan Ruoxue waved her hand indifferently, "To be honest, Fang has been chasing you for so many years and you didn't react. Why now?"

  "Fang Yinghe and I are not suitable." Xia Yifei put down the wine bottle and said calmly, "He wants a normal life after all, but that's not what I want or can give him. You also know me, once I get used to it, I'll just keep moving forward, there's no way to stop."

  "So you're so sure that Ao Yuan doesn't want to stop you?" Lan Ruoxue said with her mouth full of greasy lamb skewers, not forgetting to gossip. Xia Yunfei also started eating, after all, filling one's stomach is the most important thing: "Ao Yuan and I are the same kind of person."

  "Excuse me for being blind, but I really didn't see what you two have in common."

  Xia Yifei casually threw away the bamboo skewer, snatched a roasted wing from Lan Ruoxue's hand and continued to gnaw on it: "Both of us are people who can't stop for the sake of comfort, we're used to moving forward, and can't willingly stop for someone just to live a so-called peaceful life."

  "People like us, have a craving for the battlefield, and an even greater thirst for adventure. To put it this way...” Xia Yu Fei thought for a moment before finding a suitable metaphor to begin with, “We saw in each other the long-sought-after battlefield.”

  "Hmm, how did a good romantic love story turn into a tale of loving and killing each other?" Lan Ruoxue asked in puzzlement, "Don't you think something is off?"

  "Actually, from the moment I met Ao Yuan, the plot went completely off track." Xia Yunfei waved his hand to ask the boss to add a few more strings of roasted chicken wings, instructing him to put more chili peppers before turning back to say this sentence in a calm tone. Lan Ruoxue shrugged: "I have no way to answer you, after all, you've always been hiding something, right?"

  Xia Yanfei looked at her seriously, under the dim yellow light of the big stall, this girl's black hair and eyes set off her white skin, really like a piece of flawless white jade: "I can't because of my own affairs drag all the people related to me down."

  Lan Ruoxue, sitting across from her, stared at her with a straight face for a while before suddenly bursting out laughing: "Alright, stop being so sentimental, as long as you know I'm your friend, that's enough."

  "Is she your girlfriend?"

  "I'm going to beat you up."

  Sometimes friends are like that, no need to say more, no need to explain too much. When you're in danger, the one who rushes to help without hesitation is that person. When you're being stubborn and refusing to listen, it's also that person who slaps some sense into you. And when you've finally found your direction, that person will nonchalantly tell you to keep moving forward, don't worry if you get hurt or lost, they'll be there to bandage your wounds and pull you out of the mud no matter what.

  How can this feeling be compared to so-called love?

  That night, Lan Ruoxue unexpectedly didn't drink much, but Xia Yunfei, who was almost immune to alcohol, accidentally got drunk. Lan Ruoxue muttered to herself about drowning in water and dying from wine as she helped Xia Yunfei to the door with the assistance of hotel staff. Fortunately, Xia Yunfei had good drinking manners, and when he got drunk, he didn't make a fuss or cause trouble, but instead quietly slept his own sleep, not reacting no matter how others moved him around or poked him.

  Ao Yuan was woken up by the sound of knocking on the door. Lan Ruoxue opened the door and threw Xia Yun into his arms: "This guy is drunk, damn it's the first time I've seen her drink so much in all these years, I wonder how she'll get up tomorrow morning!"

  It's just that her hands were gentle when she put him down, and she watched as Ao Yuan laid Xia Yu Fei on the bed before closing the door and returning to her own room.

  Ao Yuan closed the door, thought for a moment and turned into the bathroom to soak a towel with cold water. After wringing out the water, he gently wiped Xia Yu Fei's face with it, his eyes filled with an unprecedented tenderness.

  Then he sat on the edge of the bed, under the soft light of the lamp in the entrance hall, looking at Xiaoyanfei. Xiaoyanfei's beautiful eyebrows and eyes were usually sharp as a newly unsheathed blade due to her own aura, but now that she was asleep, her eyebrows and eyes were calm and peaceful, and suddenly softened into a quiet good year.

  Ao Yuan's gaze painted her face with the soft, flowing light, black long hair, eyes that were usually full of pride now quietly closed, rose-colored lips, and beautiful collarbone.

  He thought, how could he let go of this person, how could he bear to let go?

  Xia Yifei, although the time they met was not long - even very short - but from the beginning he had a great interest in her, until today, this interest has fermented into an unknown emotion.

  But this feeling is not love, nor can it be love. The word "love" is too thin to carry all his feelings for Xia Yu Fei. This feeling is not warm or sweet, and will not make people willing to die together or drink poison willingly. He just wants Xia Yu Fei to keep moving forward in the direction she wants, and he will be by her side no matter what, not as a protector, but to go through those hardships with her.

  "But I'm worried what you want isn't this."

  "Xia Yifei..."

  He said these three words with a sigh, as if it were a sigh itself.