"No need," Xu Ke Xin immediately refused, "If I like it, I can buy it myself."
After speaking, she felt her tone was too harsh.
She pursed her lips and explained, "I didn't mean to be rude to you.
"I just feel..."
"I understand," Xing Jia He said with a light smile, "It's about security, right?"
"Yes."
Xu Ke Xin nodded, revealing a smile of being understood.
-
Qiao Xi Xi's birthday party was in the evening.
Mu Chen received an invitation but had no intention of going.
But he couldn't resist his friends' persuasion, one sentence after another.
So he came.
Han Yan was there before him and had already hit it off with the Qiao brothers.
He was directly dubbed 'brother-in-law'.
Mu Chen felt a pang in his heart, then chided himself for being petty. He turned and sat down nearby.
When Qiao Xi Xi saw him arrive, she was overjoyed.
She wished she could drop everyone and go to him immediately.
But she recalled the embarrassing scenes of her previous confessions being rejected and restrained herself.
She planned to give him the cold shoulder for a while longer.
Unexpectedly, by the time she felt it was enough, he had already disappeared.
Qiao Xi Xi was dejected.
Using the excuse of toasting, she drank herself into a stupor.
When Mu Chen returned after getting some fresh air, she was drunk and causing a scene, clinging to Wen Ting Xue.
Her clingy demeanor made it seem like they were a couple.
Han Yan watched helplessly from the side, while Yu Wen Li wished he could throw her out.
If it wasn't her birthday today.
Mu Chen: "..."
"I'll take care of her."
Mu Chen pinched his temples and walked over to Wen Ting Xue.
As soon as he stood still, Qiao Xi Xi, who was flailing her arms, slapped him.
"Who told you to touch me? I'm already taken!"
The drunk Qiao Xi Xi recognized no one.
Anyone who touched her would get a beating.
In the end, only Wen Ting Xue and Mu Chen could get her upstairs.
But Wen Ting Xue wanted to create an opportunity for the two of them to be alone, so she deliberately shied away.
Mu Chen finally managed to bring the boisterous drunkard to the room.
In the time it took him to get a glass of water, she had already opened the window and was leaning out halfway.
Mu Chen's heart leaped into his throat instantly. "What are you doing?!"
He quickly pulled her back into the room and firmly shut the window.
Qiao Xi Xi mumbled hazily, "Ah," and explained.
"I heard there's a meteor shower tonight, I wanted to see it."
Saying that, she tried to push the window open again.
Mu Chen grabbed her and said with annoyance, "There's no meteor shower tonight, only rain."
"..."
The young girl stared into his eyes for a moment.
Then she drooped her head, unhappy.
Like a deflated ball.
Mu Chen couldn't bear to see her like that. "Do you really want to see the meteor shower that much?"
"Mm," she nodded, her head resting on her chest, and said in a muffled voice.
"Meteor showers grant wishes, and I want to make a wish."
"What wish?" Mu Chen squatted down to be at her eye level. "Maybe I can help you too."
The young girl shook her head vigorously. "You can't help me, only heaven can."
Mu Chen: "..."
"So, what is it?" he pressed.
Qiao Xi Xi hesitated for a moment, then, with drunken eyes, beckoned him closer. "Come here, I'll tell you quietly."
Mu Chen leaned in as requested. The next second, warm breath tinged with a faint scent of alcohol brushed against his sensitive ear.
"I like someone, but he doesn't like me, so I want to wish for him to like me."
"Don't tell anyone," Qiao Xi Xi warned with wide eyes, "This is my only chance."
Mu Chen's heart trembled slightly, then he stared at her expressionlessly. "Are you drunk?"
"What?" she tilted her head, her eyes full of confusion.
Mu Chen chuckled self-deprecatingly.
What was he thinking?
She wasn't that good at pretending to be drunk.
"It's nothing," Mu Chen shook his head and sat down.
"Since you told me a secret, I'll tell you one too."
"Okay!"
The young girl immediately sat cross-legged, ready to listen to a story.
Mu Chen let out a low laugh and said,
"When I was three, my parents were getting a divorce.
"I squatted in the corner listening, and neither of them wanted me.
"On my ninth birthday, they fought again, and still didn't want me."
"Hug."
Although Qiao Xi Xi was drunk, she could feel his sadness.
She threw herself into his arms and clumsily hugged his neck.
"Don't be sad. They don't want you, but I do."
Due to her drunkenness, her words were a bit slurred.
But Mu Chen understood.
The corners of his lips curved slightly. "Qiao Xi Xi, thank you."
"It's okay, we're friends!"
"..."
It seemed she was truly drunk.
Mu Chen stroked her naturally curly long hair.
He continued to recount the secret that had weighed on his heart for decades.
"Actually, I've known since I was very young that I was an unwanted child by my parents.
"They hated my birth, so no matter what I did, it was wrong."
Mu Chen paused, his tone deepening.
"Xi Xi, please like someone else. I don't have the capacity to love.
"And I have no plans to get married or have children. I have no expectations for marriage.
"Everything you want, I cannot give you."
He had truly considered fighting for her, but he really couldn't step into marriage.
The mere thought of it made him want to escape.
This was an incurable illness of his heart, and the fundamental reason he rejected her.