A beautiful summer night

Xia Wanzhi should have guessed it long ago.

From the first time she met Butler Qi, she felt that something was off.

Just a few days ago, I even had the illusion that Butler Qi looked a lot like a celebrity on TV.

Now it seems that wasn't an illusion; it was just that her foolish mind hadn't yet awakened.

And then there's that WeChat profile picture that clearly shows the other person is Xie Qiyan. She clearly thinks that the cat looks a lot like Changsheng, but she still uses self-pity to tell herself that all orange cats look the same.

Xia Wanzhi almost laughed at her own stupidity.

“My maternal grandmother’s surname is Qi, so I can also be surnamed Qi, and you can call me Butler Qi.” Xie Qiyan analyzed for her methodically, “If you want to investigate this matter, you have to investigate Xie Tan. I was forced by her to be your butler.”

Ultimately, the blame was shifted onto Xie, a primary school student, Tan, who was in class at school.

"You mean you're innocent?" Xia Wanzhi laughed in exasperation.

“You finally understand me.” Xie Qiyan replied without hesitation.

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

"You have a maternal grandmother?" Xia Wanzhi had already been misled.

Xie Qiyan was charmed by her focus and replied seriously, "Who doesn't have a grandmother? It's just that she passed away when I was very young."

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

"Even the elderly who have returned to their homeland are being dragged out for a stroll? Xie Qiyan, are you even human?" Xia Wanzhi was so shocked by this absurdity that she forgot what she was going to ask next.

Xie Qiyan replied unhurriedly, "It's your butler."

"Yes, you hired someone specifically to mess with my butler, and even hired an actor. You're really something." Xia Wanzhi said sarcastically, and in her anger, she grabbed a cushion from the sidebar and threw it at him.

Xie Qiyan took the cushion with one hand and reached out with the other to pull Xia Wanzhi up and sit down next to him: "I'm sorry."

If it weren't for him, Xia Wanzhi wouldn't have been frightened tonight.

Last time it was a fall into the sea, this time it's a terrifying prank.

Xie Qiyan cannot escape blame.

The guilt in his heart surged, and Xie Qiyan stopped joking. His Adam's apple bobbed slightly as he grasped Xia Wanzhi's hand and looked at her sincerely: "I admit my mistake. If you're still angry, you can do whatever you want with me."

Knowing that he had hired an actor to deceive her, she only cursed a couple of times, her emotions so stable that it was unlike the Xia Wanzhi he knew.

Xia Wanzhi felt the warmth of Xie Qiyan's palm through her wrist, and her eyelashes trembled slightly, but she wasn't thinking about whether he was right or wrong.

"So, this house is yours, right?" Xia Wanzhi looked up, staring directly at him.

Looking back now, Xie Tan was actually full of flaws, but at the time she believed them all.

Whether it was Xie Tan's good intentions or Xie Qiyan's instruction, Xia Wanzhi already had the answer in her heart.

Xie Tan wouldn't have been able to do these things if Xie Qiyan hadn't agreed.

Including how she foolishly added him on WeChat and treated him like a butler, while he, a busy CEO, still had the leisure to cosplay as a butler and play games with her, even hiring professional actors, fixing water pipes, delivering appliances, and coming over every night to cook for her.

Xie Qiyan was silent for a while, then couldn't bear to lie anymore: "Yes."

Xia Wanzhi: "..."

On the surface, he's sharp-tongued and cunning, but secretly he takes good care of her.

Based on everything she had experienced during this period, Xia Wanzhi deduced that the only explanation was that Xie Qiyan liked her.

But this person was too good at pretending, and she always felt that her judgment was wrong.

In addition, their relationship wasn't good when they were young, and even now that they've reunited as adults, he hasn't been one to be sarcastic or rude.

No one likes people like that.

Xia Wanzhi frowned slightly and slapped his hand hard: "Fine, I can't be bothered with you. I'm going to take a shower and rest. Do as you please."

After chasing the person away, Xia Wanzhi added essential oils to her bath to prevent herself from having trouble sleeping that night and to ease the shock she had just experienced.

But as soon as I climbed into bed, covered myself with the blanket, and closed my eyes, the scene of unpacking the box reappeared in my mind, as if the doll was right there in some corner of my room.

Xia Wanzhi shuddered in fright, pouted, and ran barefoot out the door to seek Xie Qiyan's help, her lips trembling as she cried.

Having fed Changsheng before, she knew Xie Qiyan's house password. After pressing a few buttons, Xia Wanzhi went in and slammed the door shut behind her.

Xie Qiyan, who was brushing his teeth, came out with a toothbrush in his mouth and looked at her leisurely.

Their eyes met, and Xia Wanzhi blinked her eyes, which were brimming with tears, and gave a polite but awkward smile: "I...I...I came to see Changsheng."

Changsheng was an independent old cat, sleeping soundly in its cat room. When it saw Xia Wanzhi come in, it lazily opened its eyes, meowed, closed its eyes, and went back to sleep.

This is already considered giving Xia Wanzhi face.

If it were Xie Qiyan who came in, it wouldn't even bother to move.

Xia Wanzhi stayed pitifully in the cat room for a while. Just as she was about to leave, she turned around and saw Xie Qiyan leaning against the door frame, and she was so frightened that she shuddered again.

"You scared me to death..." Xia Wanzhi tried to suppress her trembling voice, but still couldn't help but let it slip.

She's not actually that easily frightened, but she's still feeling some lingering effects from tonight.

"I've tidied up the guest room. If you're scared, you can sleep here tonight." Xie Qiyan's gaze was gentle, and he leaned lazily to one side, his words revealing concern, just like a kind and approachable older brother next door.

Xia Wanzhi calmed her breathing.

It must be an illusion.

But Xia Wanzhi appreciated the gesture, as that was her original intention, so she asked in a deep voice, "May I?"

Xie Qiyan nodded: "Mm."

Xia Wanzhi asked again, "Can I really sleep here?"

Xie Qiyan wanted to laugh for no reason, so he looked up and patted her head: "Okay, go to sleep."

At midnight, before Xie Qiyan turned off the lights, he received a message from Yu Fei saying that he had found Zheng Lei and provided the police with evidence of Zheng Lei's series of illegal acts. The police have now detained her at the police station.

Xie Qiyan never considered himself a good person. The last time Sun Xiao picked a fight with Xia Wanzhi and accidentally pushed her into the sea, Xie Qiyan retaliated by terminating all cooperation with the Sun family, and also let Sun Xiao experience what it's like to be soaked in water.

In this circle, offending the Xie family means offending their vassals, which is equivalent to offending half of the M family. In order to apologize, Old Master Sun personally brought Sun Xiao to Xia Wanzhi's house and promised that he would never let his granddaughter appear in Beicheng.

This time, the matter arose because of Qi Shi, and it is up to him to resolve it.

But how to resolve it is up to Xie Qiyan.

Because he was worried that Xia Wanzhi would be scared, Xie Qiyan specially threw Changsheng into her room as well, thinking that she would feel more at ease with Changsheng by her side.

At 1:30 a.m., all was quiet. Xie Qiyan had already fallen asleep. In his dream, he felt a slight itch on his cheek, as if he had touched something furry.

An uneven breath also landed on the side of his face.

The curtains didn't completely block out the light; in the darkness, one could vaguely see the outline of a person. Xie Qiyan turned over, and his fingers suddenly touched even more furry things.

Subconsciously opening his eyes a crack, Xie Qiyan seemed to see a hazy figure. He paused for a few seconds, trying to determine if it was a dream, when suddenly a delicate, cool touch came from his palm, and his entire hand was firmly held.

Suddenly, all sleepiness vanished, and his mind raced, connecting with every organ in his body. Xie Qiyan gasped and slapped the wall lamp on.

Xia Wanzhi knelt on the floor, her hands tightly gripping his, her innocent big eyes staring intently at him.

Her waist-length hair was loose, making her look like a deadly female ghost.

There was also an orange cat lying next to me with equally big, round eyes.

Xie Qiyan, who had never been so terrified in his twenty-six years of life, had a tense face: "..."