No? Can I read the mind of my mortal enemy?

Pei Jingnian used force to twist and throw Xia Heng away.

Without any hesitation, he removed Xia Heng's coat from Shi Qiao's waist and quickly put on his own.

His coat was still warm, and when he fastened it, his fingertips brushed against his skin, giving Shi Qiao goosebumps.

The leaves then fell to the ground.

Pei Jingnian's eyes were dark and devoid of light, a chill running through them.

Xia Heng was taken aback.

Did he see it wrong?

Why did he get the feeling that Pei Jingnian was going to kill him?

Xia Heng swallowed, subconsciously stepped back, then remembered something and took his coat back from Pei Jingnian's hand.

"Well, I'll be going now."

He turned and ran after saying those words, almost tripping over a pebble on the road.

Shi Qiao raised her head, glanced at the hand on her shoulder, and then turned to Pei Jingnian.

She tilted her head slightly. "What are you doing here?"

Pei Jingnian froze for a moment, then immediately withdrew his hand from Shi Qiao's shoulder and moved away. The scattered hostility was greatly reduced by this short sentence.

"I was just passing by when I saw you."

Oh no, I couldn't resist and rushed at it.

Honey... I hope I didn't scare you?

Of the two heartfelt words, Shi Qiao immediately picked up on the phrase "couldn't help it."

She had thought that Master Zhou's methods would work, but she really didn't expect them to work this well.

This finally made the stubborn man move his body a little.

Shouldn't we press our advantage?

Shi Qiao raised her furry head, a cunning glint in her eyes.

"You were just passing by, so why did you suddenly rush up and act like that towards my friend?"

Pei Jingnian narrowed his eyes. "Friends?"

Have you two known each other for more than a day? Are you just friends?

That pretty boy.

Shi Qiao blinked lightly, observing Pei Jingnian's expression as she began to deliver the final blow.

"Yeah, I just met him at the club today. He's a nice guy, and quite a gentleman."

"He seems to be my type, and he's quite handsome too."

Not bad.

gentleman.

Pretty handsome.

Each word that burst from that small mouth pierced Pei Jingnian's heart, causing it to bleed.

Honey, am I not a gentleman?

Am I not as handsome as him? Not as tall as him? Not as fit as him?

The heartfelt words poured out like a storm, one after another. Before Shi Qiao could even finish hearing the previous sentence, the next one would immediately follow.

Pei Jingnian took a deep breath and took out his phone to call a taxi.

"That's good."

"I'll call you a taxi, you can go back in a bit."

Shi Qiao wanted to say something more, but Pei Jingnian's lowered eyes silenced her.

His eyes were dull and muddy, a chaotic jumble.

His thumb swiped frantically across the screen, and it took him a while to finally bring up the ride-hailing app.

She never imagined she would see helplessness in Pei Jingnian.

It feels like if I say one more word, this 190cm tall man will burst into tears on the street.

She gently tugged at Pei Jingnian's sleeve, her lips parting and closing several times.

She wanted to say that although Xia Heng was decent, she still thought Pei Jingnian was more handsome.

Or perhaps she simply doesn't like this type of person and has no feelings for them.

Alternatively, she could simply tell Pei Jingnian that Xia Heng was just a male model she employed.

But just imagining these words coming from her mouth made her face instantly glow with a fiery red, even more radiant than the sunset glow.

No, no.

What is she thinking?

Isn't this the result she wanted?

Forced to the point of no return, Pei Jingnian finally knelt down and begged for mercy.

But why did she feel so confused and disoriented after actually seeing this glimmer of possibility?

The car slowly stopped in front of the two of them. Pei Jingnian opened the car door for Shi Qiao, but did not get in with her.

"I have other things to do."

He closed the car door, lingered briefly on Shi Qiao, then put his hands in his pockets and disappeared from her sight.

Her originally tall figure now appeared hunched and lacking in confidence from behind.

His long, tousled hair covered his eyebrows and eyes, and the corners of his eyes that were faintly visible seemed to be slightly red.

They're even more pitiful than stray dogs that walk with their tails between their legs.

As the car drove away, those aggrieved voices grew fainter and fainter.

Until there was no sound.

The peace and quiet only made Shi Qiao more flustered, and the image of Pei Jingnian's loneliness kept replaying in her mind.

This is so bad that I feel like I need to slap myself if I wake up in the middle of the night!

She deserves to die!

*

When Shi Qiao returned home, she numbly washed up and then reviewed the chemistry knowledge she had learned in the past few days.

The knowledge simply doesn't enter the brain.

She scratched her head vigorously, her conscience still itching in her chest.

Shi Qiao suddenly stood up and paced back and forth.

She hesitated for a moment before opening her chat with Pei Jingnian.

[Shi Qiao: Pei Jingnian, when are you coming back?]

[Shi Qiao: I didn't mean anything by it, I just wanted to ask if you needed me to leave a light on for you.]

Half an hour passed, and there was no reply.

Although Pei Jingnian always acted like a cold-faced knight in front of her, he at least wouldn't ignore her messages.

She glanced at the clock; it was almost midnight.

There was no news of them in the middle of the night.

Could something have happened to Pei Jingnian?

In a moment of impulsiveness, she dialed Pei Jingnian's number directly.

After two beeps, the call finally connected.

However, all that came through the receiver was the deafening sound of sirens and a cacophony of voices.

Shi Qiao's heart immediately jumped into her throat.

"Feed...feed?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, but a girl's voice answered.

"Hello! Are you a friend of the owner of this phone?"

Almost as soon as she replied, Shi Qiao got up and went into the room, grabbed a coat and put it on.

"Yes, it is. What happened on your end? Where is the owner of this phone?"

The person on the other end of the phone glanced around and said, "Girl, don't worry."

"This is Haiwan Road. There's been a rear-end collision between two cars here."

"The damage to the car body was quite severe; the hood of the car in front was on fire."

"The paramedics carried two people into the ambulance, I don't know if that's it..."

boom!

Shi Qiao's phone slipped from her hand, and her eyes immediately welled up with tears.

The fog in front of her made it impossible for her to see the ground, so she staggered down and squatted down to pick up her phone.

"Um..." she choked back tears, "Do you...do you know which hospital it is?"

"Let me see, the Gulf Harbor Joint Affiliated Hospital."

"Okay, thank you!"

Shi Qiao hung up the phone and ran straight out the door, pressing the elevator door button repeatedly.

Her previous so-called plans were really naive.

If it was her insignificant competitiveness that triggered a butterfly effect, causing Pei Jingnian to lose half his life, or...

Shi Qiao shook her head and buried her head in her collar.

No, don't scare yourself.

Pei Jingnian will be fine.