After returning to the private room, Xia Pengfei sat on the sofa with a blank expression, opened the bottle of soda Leng Siyu had sent earlier, and took slow sips. Suddenly, he felt that the air in the room seemed heavier and more stifling than before…
Ye Zhiqiu's subtle, complicated gaze kept landing on Xia Pengfei, lingering for a moment before hurriedly shifting away again…
She tapped a song number on the karaoke machine, stirring up a small commotion within the sealed room. It turned out the song Ye Zhiqiu chose this time was a highly difficult and famous operatic aria—"Nessun Dorma."
The moment the prelude began, simply the way Ye Zhiqiu stood in the center of the small dance floor—composed yet not stiff, graceful yet without a trace of wildness—instantly made her the most dazzling presence in the room. It felt as if she illuminated the heart of every boy in "By the Water's Edge"…
When she began to sing, her voice was still so professional, so moving, and subtly carried some unspoken longing.
But before she even finished singing, Xia Pengfei stood up and walked toward the door. "Xudong, I have to go," he said, then strode out of the room under Ye Zhiqiu's dimming, desolate gaze.
Xia Pengfei wandered around the upper and lower floors for a while, then finally went to the first-floor bar and asked a waiter, "Is that working girl with the little kid still here?"
"She seems to have quit. She already left."
A rare smile appeared on Xia Pengfei's handsome face. He walked out of "Oriental Pearl," and as he stood on the sunlit street watching the crowd pass by, the tension that had been gripping his heart seemed to be relieved for a brief moment.
Just then, he suddenly saw an old man crossing the street during a red light. A fire truck rushing to an emergency was speeding toward him—based on its speed and distance, there was no way it could brake in time.
The old man seemed hard of hearing and did not react to the piercing sirens and blaring horn.
Without a moment of hesitation, Xia Pengfei dashed toward the elderly man and, in his urgency, half-dragged, half-carried him back to the sidewalk! The instant they reached safety, a massive red fire truck roared past them.
"In broad daylight, are you trying to kidnap someone?!" The old man, suddenly being pulled away in the middle of the street, burst into anger. But after seeing the fire truck rage past, his face instantly turned pale, his legs turned weak, and terror washed over him.
Panting heavily, he repeatedly thanked Xia Pengfei, "Y-y-young man, thank you so much! If… if not for you, these old bones of mine would have… would have been crushed under those wheels!"
"Young man, on behalf of our brigade, thank you for your bravery!" A command vehicle behind the fire truck had stopped on the roadside. A commander stepped out and saluted Xia Pengfei.
"No need to thank me—this is what I should do." Xia Pengfei's moral compass rose instantly to the level of a model citizen. "Your sacrifices are far greater. You risk your lives to protect the peace of all people. I'll help comfort the old gentleman—please go handle your task!"
"Thank you!" The commander shook his hand firmly before turning and leaving quickly.
"The light's green now. Come, sir, let me help you cross." Xia Pengfei supported the old man carefully across the road. Remembering how Leng Siyu mocked him earlier for being a spoiled rich kid, he couldn't help but let out a dry laugh.
A rich kid? What about it? Even if I am a rich kid, I'm a rich kid with a conscience.
After seeing the elderly man off, Xia Pengfei felt refreshed and called Lan Lan. "Sister Lan, I'll be home for dinner tonight—"
He stood by the roadside with the phone, when suddenly he caught sight of a reinforced SWAT riot-control vehicle speeding past. When he clearly saw the license number of the van, he instinctively took several steps in pursuit, but all he caught was a puff of dark exhaust…
Standing alone by the road, the warm autumn sunlight lit up Xia Pengfei's handsome face—but could not illuminate the sudden gloom rising in his heart…
In Room 0301 of Building A, Fenghuang District, little Xia Chongchong was standing on a high stool with the golden retriever "Bao Bao," leaning over the balcony railing to look downstairs.
"Chongchong, come down and rest a bit. You've been watching long enough. Yuanyuan won't be back this early. She's with Siyu working part-time, so she should return quite late." Lan Lan said kindly while cleaning the room.
"That's not necessarily true! Yuanyuan said Sister Rain works purely out of personal interest—just to earn some pocket money. If she's in a bad mood, she gets off work early."
"The weather's so nice. Why would she be in a bad mood?"
"What does the weather have to do with mood? …Wow, isn't that her?! I see Yuanyuan!"He shouted excitedly. "By the entrance! The one with the little upturned pigtails in a red-and-white skirt, kicking pebbles along the road! Yuanyuan—Yuanyuan—!"
"Woof woof woof!"
"Yuanyuan—Yuanyuan—come up to the third floor and play! I brought Bao Bao!"Little Chongchong was so thrilled that he waved vigorously from the balcony.
And Bao Bao cooperated perfectly, barking loudly in support…
"Yuanyuan—come up!" "Woof woof woof—!"
"Yuanyuan—come up!" "Woof woof woof—!"
In the bright sunlight, the two handsome "singers"—a boy and a big dog—were leaning over the third-floor balcony, performing a very passionate duet to welcome Yuanyuan home. The scene looked strange, yes, but also incredibly warm, harmonious, and contagious!
Yuanyuan's little heart felt wonderfully warm, as if ironed flat by a hot press. She had never received such a ceremonious welcome before! She waved back at them gleefully. "Chongchong, you're so handsome! And Bao Bao is so cuuute!"
Then she turned and hugged Leng Siyu's slim leg like a koala. "Good sister, best sister, can I go to the third floor to play for a little bit? Just a little bit! I'll come back to recite poems and study English afterward, okay?"
"No." Leng Siyu rejected her instantly, prying Yuanyuan's hands off her leg. "The principle of 'study first, play later' does not change for ten years. Someone who easily changes plans or can't resist outside temptations will not achieve much in the future."
"Why do I have to achieve so much? I can just be an ordinary person. Ordinary people have the right to live too!" Yuanyuan protested.
Leng Siyu immediately poured a bucket of cold water over her dreams. "When you have that mindset, you won't even manage to be an ordinary person—you'll become a useless person in minutes."
Knowing she couldn't win against her iron-willed sister, Yuanyuan looked up at the balcony and said, "Chongchong, wait for me. I'll come up after I finish studying."
"Can I come down and watch you study?" Chongchong asked.
"No!" Leng Siyu replied before Yuanyuan could speak.
"Woof—woof—woof!" the golden retriever added supportively.
Chongchong stuck his tongue out at Leng Siyu and secretly cursed her dramatically in his heart…
Once the sisters got home, Yuanyuan behaved unusually well. She dashed into her room, grabbed the English textbook, and climbed onto the sofa, urging Siyu nonstop. "Sister, hurry and teach me! Once I finish, I can go play with Bao Bao—"
Temptation can be an obstacle, but sometimes it can also be a boost.
Under the dual temptation of Bao Bao and Chongchong, Yuanyuan quickly finished her English homework and classical poem recitation. Before long, she tossed aside the books and her strict sister, humming "Two Tigers," with her twin pigtails bouncing as she happily ran upstairs…