Xu Qingqing was carefree and unconcerned. While the Xu family was still angry on her behalf and formulating a series of plans targeting the Lin family, she, the person at the center of it all, already felt unburdened and was lying in bed happily playing on her phone.
After all, Xu Qingqing knew her family would never let her suffer or harm her. What was involved now wasn't just her and Lin Donghan, but the Xu and Lin families. Adult matters should be handled and worried about by adults.
Xu Qingqing felt that since she had just finished her final exams, now was the time to relax.
Xie Lianqing had only intended to see Xu Qingqing home today and was about to leave. Seeing her so heartless, he couldn't help but sit back down. He leaned close to her cheek and teased with a smile, "What are you playing so intently?"
"Gaming."
The short-legged character on the screen was frantically running away. Xu Qingqing immediately started chattering loudly, "Zhou Chenyu, protect me! Zhou Chenyu, save me!"
"Coming, coming! Stop yelling, my lady," a voice came through the voice channel.
The smile in Xie Lianqing's eyes faded. His expression remained unchanged on the surface, and he still said gently, "You're playing games with Zhou Chenyu?"
Xu Qingqing, noticing nothing amiss, said, "Yeah." She suspected Xie Lianqing had hearing problems. Hadn't he heard her shouting for Zhou Chenyu so loudly just now?
Xie Lianqing asked casually, "Why not ask me to play?"
Xu Qingqing found it strange. "You have to work every day. Every time I ask you, you tell me to wait two or three hours, and you only play a few rounds when you get online. I might as well ask Zhou Chenyu."
Thinking she was complaining about him not having time for her, Xie Lianqing sighed and explained, "There's a project at the company recently, I'm a bit busy. I'll play with you tomorrow."
At this point, he suddenly remembered he had to go abroad on a business trip tomorrow and wouldn't be back for a week.
It wasn't that Xie Lianqing didn't want to spend time with Xu Qingqing; he was just genuinely very busy right now.
He had just graduated and taken over the company. Although he was the crown prince of the Xie Group, there were still old-timers in the company who were unconvinced and creating obstacles, wanting to teach him a lesson. Companies outside were also watching closely, secretly observing and speculating about the future of the Xie Group, seeing if there was a chance to take a piece of the pie.
To train his successor, Chairman Xie, while still holding the fort at the company, had gradually been handing over core group affairs to Xie Lianqing. The newly developed project was directly entrusted to Xie Lianqing, showing the high expectations placed on him.
Under these circumstances, bearing immense pressure and working around the clock, Xie Lianqing naturally had no time to be at Miss Xu's beck and call to play games.
After the semester started, Xu Qingqing had classes and returned to the Xu family home after school each day. The Xie Group and Xie Lianqing's residence were located on the opposite side of the city from the Xu home and A University. Someone as heartless as Xu Qingqing certainly wouldn't take the initiative to go to the company to find him.
Xu Qingqing never went to the company to find her boyfriend unless she had something specific, and Xie Lianqing didn't have time to go to the Xu home or school to see Xu Qingqing every day.
So actually, it wasn't just about gaming; in fact, the two of them hadn't seen each other for a while. Their last date was half a month ago.
Occasionally, after finishing work late at night, Xie Lianqing would send messages or video call Xu Qingqing, but she also seemed to have other things to do, like homework, catching up on dramas, gaming, or lurking in group chats for gossip.
These things all seemed more interesting than idle chit-chat with her boyfriend.
So, Xu Qingqing wasn't that invested in Xie Lianqing's calls, and their conversations usually ended quickly.
It was precisely because of this that Xie Lianqing had previously wanted to secure their future through an engagement.
Xie Lianqing hesitated, swallowed his promise, and told his girlfriend about his business trip tomorrow.
Worried she might throw a tantrum, he leaned down and gently kissed her cheek, promising in a soft voice, "I'll definitely make it up to you when I get back from my trip. You mentioned last time you wanted to visit the neighboring city..."
Xu Qingqing waved her hand, unconcerned. "Alright, alright, I know you're busy. It's fine, it's quite nice playing with Zhou Chenyu too."
Xu Qingqing was very understanding about her boyfriend being busy and working overtime. This wasn't because she had suddenly changed her temperament and stopped being demanding. It was because she was used to it.
Growing up, the family members surrounding Xu Qingqing were all elites—from her aunt to Chairman Xu and his wife—each one extremely busy.
Adults being too busy to play with her? That didn't exist.
Xu Qingqing was deeply reasonable. She understood perfectly well that without the hard work and struggle of her aunt and the others, she wouldn't have the comfortable, slacker life she enjoyed today. If one day her aunt and the others slacked off and stopped working diligently, Xu Qingqing would probably worry about being forced to step up as the successor.
That would be terrifying.
So, when she was little and her family had no time to play with her, Xu Qingqing not only didn't complain, but at a young age, she knew how to show concern. She would even proactively pour hot water for her aunt and others after work, telling them to take care of their health.
However, that was for family. For a boyfriend, Xu Qingqing certainly wasn't that patient. A boyfriend wasn't family; she didn't have to inherit his company, so his work was naturally less important than her games.
So, showing concern was out of the question. Sometimes, Xu Qingqing would even get angry because the other person was busy with work.
Remember last semester? Xu Qingqing called Xie Lianqing at 3 AM to bother him. Because he was busy with a project, he suggested writing her a love letter later. Not only did Xu Qingqing not show understanding, she immediately started making a scene.
Besides that, she had caused plenty of scenes big and small. For example, going to Xie Lianqing's company and, because he was busy in a meeting and ignored her, she would also make a fuss.
But that was in the past. The current Xu Qingqing didn't plan to marry or stay with him. She was still thinking about breaking up with Xie Lianqing after dealing with Bai Youlan and the system.
Xu Qingqing had even prepared her breakup reason: her boyfriend was too busy to spend time with her. What a great, perfect excuse. Compared to the last reason—dreaming that Xie Lianqing cheated—this breakup reason was something he could definitely accept, right?
Therefore, Xu Qingqing was very supportive of her boyfriend Xie Lianqing's spirit of working hard and forgetting to eat and sleep.
Of course, Xie Lianqing had no idea what schemes Xu Qingqing was harboring in her heart; otherwise, he would probably spit blood on the spot.
Xu Qingqing felt she was practically the most considerate girlfriend in the world. Her boyfriend going on business trips, working overtime, having no time for her—anyone else would definitely be angry. Only she could be so magnanimous.
She was so considerate, yet some people still called her demanding and said she had princess syndrome. How infuriating!
However, for Xie Lianqing, this kind of "consideration" from Xu Qingqing was worse than no consideration at all; it simply added fuel to the fire. When Xu Qingqing was being demanding, he wanted this little ancestor to behave. But when she unusually stopped causing trouble, he felt uncomfortable, suspecting she was brewing some new scheme.
If Xie Lianqing hadn't observed and concluded that Xu Qingqing was probably just speaking thoughtlessly, he might have thought she was deliberately saying such things to annoy him.
However, this discovery didn't make Xie Lianqing feel any better; instead, it made him feel worse. Because compared to an unintentional remark, Xie Lianqing would rather the other person was speaking that way on purpose out of anger—at least that would prove she cared about him.
His girlfriend didn't care enough about him because she had other people for company. Although Xie Lianqing knew there was nothing between Xu Qingqing and Zhou Chenyu, hearing that the person she relied on most wasn't him, even someone as rational as Xie Lianqing couldn't help feeling a bit jealous.
He looked at Xu Qingqing and asked as if casually, "Qingqing, have you been playing games with Chenyu a lot lately?"
Xie Lianqing took out his phone and logged into the game. Having not logged in for too long, it even needed an update. After going online, he checked Xu Qingqing's match history and found that she had been playing with Zhou Chenyu most of the time.
Just as Xie Lianqing was speaking, Xu Qingqing's fingers moved across the screen, maneuvering her short-legged character to hop and skip behind the assassin.
Zhou Chenyu's voice immediately came through the headset, sounding exasperated, "Xu Qingqing, stay away from me! Stay away from my jungle! Don't think I haven't noticed you following me and stealing resources! Missy, you can't even get kills, what do you need the red buff for anyway?"
Xu Qingqing pretended not to hear. She stealthily leeched a wave of Zhou Chenyu's experience, then happily hummed a tune as she returned to the bottom lane to clear minions and defend the tower.
When she finally came back to her senses, satisfied, she noticed Xie Lianqing staring at her with an inscrutable gaze and remembered the question he had just asked.
She thought for a moment and replied, somewhat puzzled, "Yeah. He's my best friend."
Xie Lianqing raised an eyebrow, trying his best to ask in a gentle tone free of any accusation, "Don't you have any other friends?"
Xu Qingqing thought briefly but firmly said, "No."
Someone like Le Jiaojiao, who comments "the picture is crooked" under her photos, doesn't count as a friend.
Xu Qingqing's reasoning was quite solid. Faced with her perplexed look, Xie Lianqing couldn't press further or argue.
Xu Qingqing and Zhou Chenyu had grown up together. They teamed up for mischief and, naturally, for gaming too.
It was perfectly normal.
Xie Lianqing hadn't just learned today that Zhou Chenyu and Xu Qingqing were close. Strictly speaking, he had gotten together with Xu Qingqing because of Zhou Chenyu.
But seeing Xu Qingqing being more intimate with someone else, even if it was his own good friend, still made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Xie Lianqing wished that Xu Qingqing would think of him first every time and rely on him the most.
Just like his thoughts when he first saw her long ago. He wanted to be her friend, her best friend, her boyfriend.
Xie Lianqing casually revealed, "But you still shouldn't trouble Zhou Chenyu too much. He's starting a business recently and will probably be quite busy."
"Really? He seems pretty free all day to me," Xu Qingqing thought and said, "Besides, he failed his math exams before. His math is probably worse than mine. How dare he start a business like that? I should advise him to give up early and focus on gaming properly."
Xie Lianqing asked, "In your eyes, is Zhou Chenyu that kind of person?"
Xu Qingqing was bewildered. "What else would he be?"
Xie Lianqing nodded, his expression subtle and thoughtful.
And with that, I was actually jealous of Zhou Chenyu just now?
Xie Lianqing breathed a sigh of relief, smiled, and patted his girlfriend's little head. He kissed her forehead, stood up to say goodbye in a gentle voice, "Alright, Qingqing, go to bed early. I'm heading downstairs now; I'll text you later."
Although Xie Lianqing didn't say it, Xu Qingqing had sensed something was off with his mood earlier. She hadn't expected it to inexplicably improve later.
Men are so strange.
Xu Qingqing didn't want to dwell on what he might have been thinking either. She casually waved goodbye to her boyfriend, then turned on her mic and asked Zhou Chenyu about his business venture.
What Xu Qingqing saw as well-intentioned advice sounded like utter slander to Zhou Chenyu's ears.
He yelled, infuriated, "Who are you saying is bad at math?! Where am I losing money? Okay, fine, a few companies are in the red, but I have profitable ones too!"
Xu Qingqing couldn't believe it. "No way! Even you can make money?" She scratched her head, suddenly feeling like maybe she could do it too.
That's right, last time I proposed the Rose Manor resort project. A few days ago, my assistant showed me the financial statements, and the profits and growth prospects seem really good. My aunt even specifically approved plans for the resort, saying we should acquire the land nearby for development and expansion.
And now even Zhou Chenyu can start a business. Xu Qingqing suddenly felt like maybe she could inherit the family business after all.
Hearing Xu Qingqing's words, Zhou Chenyu exploded on the spot. "What do you mean 'even someone like me can make money'?! Xu Qingqing, you explain yourself clearly today! If you don't, believe me, I'll drag you down the ranks on New Year's Eve, straight to Bronze!"
