For dinner, Xie Ning claimed she wasn’t feeling well and didn’t come downstairs.
Song You’ai had a sinking feeling that things were getting serious!
Looking at the completely oblivious Gu Chen, she couldn’t help the worried look that crossed her face.
Gu Chen genuinely didn’t realize at first that Xie Ning was deliberately avoiding him. It wasn’t until he had gone to Bamboo Orchid Garden three times during mealtimes without once bumping into her that it dawned on him.
Even the usually oblivious Er Bai couldn’t help but ask his brother, "Did you do something to offend Ningning?"
Thinking back on how Aunt Song had looked at him with a hesitant expression every time she saw him these past two days, Gu Chen finally realized something was wrong and quickly sent someone to investigate.
’Did something happen that I don’t know about?’
’It must have been that day, September 30th.’
Gu Chen summoned the head of the cafeteria for questioning. What he heard made him so furious he was practically steaming at the ears...
’He truly hadn’t expected that woman, Song Xue, to pull such a dramatic stunt!’
Gu Chen grabbed his car keys and dashed outside, running right into Zhai Ruobai.
"Where are you headed, bro?"
Gu Chen didn’t have time for a lengthy explanation and simply ran past him.
’Aunt Song mentioned that Ningning has been leaving the base by herself for a couple of hours every afternoon these past few days.’
’She should be coming back around now.’
’No wonder when he greeted her at the base entrance yesterday evening, she stared straight ahead and zoomed right past him...’
’At the time, he’d thought Ningning simply hadn’t seen him!’
’How outrageous!’
’That lunatic Song Xue really screwed him over!’
Gu Chen sped to the base’s north gate, just in time to see that signature little van of hers clear inspection and drive through.
Xie Ning had a piece of chocolate in her mouth as she drove toward the Bamboo Orchid Garden garage.
She hadn’t even been on the base’s main road for a minute when a Land Rover suddenly swerved in front of her, blocking her path.
Xie Ning slammed on the brakes, sticking her head out the window, ready to curse out the lunatic who couldn’t drive.
But a glance was all it took to see Gu Chen striding quickly toward her.
Xie Ning rolled her eyes and immediately rolled up her window, fully intending to ignore him no matter how hard Gu Chen pounded on the door.
However!
’That guy was unbelievably stubborn!’
Like some kind of highwayman, he had just parked his car sideways in front of her, leaving Xie Ning no way to get through.
The cars behind her were now blocked as well. People started craning their necks to see, pointing and muttering about them...
Xie Ning, at the end of her rope, rolled down her window and yelled, "What do you think you’re doing?!"
Gu Chen met her pitch-black, frost-filled eyes, and for some reason, his heart clenched.
"Get out. We need to talk!"
"What’s there to talk about?" As soon as Xie Ning said this, he yanked on the car door from the outside.
Gu Chen was getting truly desperate.
’Looking at the way she was pushing him away, was she planning to cut him out of her life completely?’
’How could he let that happen?!’
"Move your car, now!" Xie Ning yelled, leaning halfway out the window and pointing furiously at the Land Rover blocking her way. "Stop blocking the—"
Before she could finish, she felt a sudden tug on her seatbelt, and it snapped open with a CLICK.
Her face a mask of dumbfounded confusion, she was plucked right out of the car window...
Exactly like scooping a baby bird out of its nest—he just reached in and pulled her right out!
A smile played on the man’s lips, his arms incredibly strong.
Seeing him this close was dizzying, almost mesmerizing.
’And those gawkers all around, seeing her get plucked out of the car window, were actually laughing at her? The kind of laughter you could hear?’
’Do they have any decency?’
When Lu Wei and Zhai Ruobai rushed over, they arrived just in time to witness this scene and were both rendered utterly speechless.
"Bro!"
"Go park the cars," Gu Chen tossed out, then turned and strode away, carrying a still-dazed Xie Ning in his arms.
It had to be said, Gu Chen’s bandit-like stunt completely upended the girl’s entire plan.
’She had planned to just hide from them for a few days. Once they returned to Jingji Base, wouldn’t that be the end of it?’
’It would save her from all the daily drama. She knew it was better to avoid trouble she couldn’t afford to stir up.’
’But no!’
’Thanks to this ridiculous scene Gu Chen created at the main gate, she’d be the laughingstock of the entire base before dinner was even served!’
"Why are you ignoring me? What did I do to offend you?"
"Put me down!"
"Don’t you stab me, that’ll hurt!" Gu Chen quickly surrendered when he saw the murderous look in her eyes.
"Put me down!" Xie Ning really did feel like stabbing him.
Gu Chen carried her to the side entrance of Bamboo Orchid Garden and sat her down on the adjacent railing.
"Tell me, what did I do wrong?" Gu Chen blinked, staring at her with a pitiful expression. "We were perfectly fine that day when you tossed me that lunchbox!"
"So did that lunchbox mean you wanted me to... ’get my last meal,’ so to speak?"
"I was so happy that day, you know. If that’s what Ningning meant, I would rather have starved to death than accept that lunchbox!"
Xie Ning: ...
’This guy is ridiculous!’
Gu Chen saw the girl trying to suppress a smile, and the knot in his chest loosened slightly.
He reached out, resting a hand on her to steady her on the railing, and stared at her, his eyes full of earnestness.
"Ningning, do you think you’re being reasonable?"
The man asked in a low voice.
"If I hadn’t, on a whim, decided to question the head of the cafeteria, would I ever have found out about this?"
"You’re deliberately avoiding me because of this? That’s not fair."
"Shouldn’t you be avoiding a lunatic like Song Xue?"
"What did I do wrong? Do you really think you’re in the right here?"
"I’m leaving tomorrow, and you’re still wasting time avoiding me."
"Are you really trying to cut ties with me for good?"
His barrage of seven or eight questions struck a nerve, and Xie Ning actually started to feel a little guilty.
’The guy did have a point, but Xie Ning just didn’t want any more trouble or complications.’
The mere thought of trouble made her head ache.
"I just don’t want your romantic entanglements to affect me and my family."
"How can you call them *my* entanglements? I barely know any of those lunatics!"
"And how are they not your entanglements?" Xie Ning couldn’t help but roll her eyes. "Do you know that Zhang Biyun? She got the Hunting Team to target my uncle at every turn. He almost got hurt the day before yesterday because of her."
"I don’t understand why it has to be this way."
"Every day, I’m busy gathering supplies, busy running from place to place to find unspoiled food, busy training my body and working on my Cultivation and superpower. I’m truly exhausted."
"I don’t want to be bogged down by this kind of crap."
"Besides, I’m not a very patient person. If one of your admirers comes looking for trouble, I probably won’t be able to tolerate it for a second."
"And my only solution for trouble is to kill."
"Even though I don’t want to kill anyone."
Xie Ning’s cold gaze landed on him. "But I don’t see any other way."
"It’s not easy for anyone to survive in this apocalypse. All I want is to live a decent life, and to keep my family alive."
Gu Chen suddenly reached out, pulled the girl off the railing, and yanked her into an embrace so tight it was hard to breathe.
Xie Ning’s head slammed against his hard chest, the impact making her nose sting.