Night Fire Lingering

"Ding-dong-"

The elevator arrived, and the doors opened.

Jiang Xing's steps were somewhat heavy. After a second, he followed Lou Qi inside.

"I'm sorry, Lou Qi." Jiang Xing didn't dare to look Lou Qi in the eye.

Even though this was her own choice and a result of her careful consideration, she knew that she still owed Lou Qi an apology.

"If you're apologizing for hiding this from me, I accept it."

In short, he won't accept it for any other reason.

Jiang Xing then raised her eyes again and looked at the man through the reflection in the elevator car: "Lou Qi, aren't you going to ask me why I did this? I caused trouble for your mother's birthday banquet, and it might even cause more grudges between your Lou family and the Cheng family. When you go back today, your parents will scold you."

"Are you worried about me?"

"..." Is there something wrong with this person's brain? Why can't they ever grasp the main point?

The elevator door opens.

Lou Qi's expression was still not good, but he still took Jiang Xing's hand and walked out, then put her into the passenger seat of the car.

Cullinan returned from the hotel to the basement of his large penthouse apartment.

Lou Qi said to Jiang Xing, "You go home first."

He clearly had other things to deal with, and Jiang Xing wasn't sure if it was the trouble he had caused.

Jiang Xing didn't move, but turned to Lou Qi and asked, "Don't you have anything you want to ask me?"

Lou Qi said, "No."

Indeed, with his intelligence, it's impossible that he didn't notice her unusual behavior, and it's impossible that he would still be deceiving himself into thinking that she hadn't done anything.

Jiang Xing was genuinely curious: "Lou Qi, don't you think what I'm doing is quite vicious and beneath me?"

The idea of ​​scheming to get a homophobic man into bed with another man is something she herself would despise.

That's despicable.

Lou Qi seemed to have heard something funny. He placed one hand on the steering wheel, glanced at Jiang Xing, and looked at him with gentle eyes.

"Do you think that my liking for you is just because I like your noble character? Little Doctor, what era are we living in? Where are you going to find any pure and innocent men and women? Besides—" He paused, "I've never liked innocent girls."

Jiang Xing couldn't express how she felt.

Shock, awe, doubt, confusion, and a touch of fear.

She always thought that Lou Qi's affection for her, even to the point of obsession, was partly due to her carefully 'fishing' for him.

He always addressed her as "Little Doctor," calling her a kind and highly educated person, and said he would carefully protect her in the social environment.

So, he had already seen through her hidden side?

So he still likes her that much?

why?

Jiang Xing didn't understand.

“Jiang Xing, I don’t know what Ying Kaian did. I’m not interested in him and don’t want to know,” Lou Qi said. “But I know you, Jiang Xing.”

Jiang Xing looked at him blankly.

Lou Qi said, "You are not someone who acts without reason or cause."

For someone as morally upright and inherently aloof as Jiang Xing to overcome his psychological bottom line and resort to such methods, Ying Kaian must have done something unforgivable.

Ying Kai'an deserved his punishment.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I did this?"

“It doesn’t matter. You’ll tell me if you want to,” Lou Qi said. “I only need to know my own choices.”

Jiang Xing unconsciously curled her fingers, feeling a little empty inside.

Lou Qi actually... trusted her so much.

She couldn't help but say, "Lou Qi, your comments... sound like someone obsessed with love."