As everyone else remained silent, Er Ya suddenly burst into laughter, making everyone’s scalp tingle.
“What are you laughing at, you weirdo?” Miao Tong asked Er Ya with a bewildered look.
“I’m reading a novel, and villains always laugh like this!” Er Ya cupped her hands around her mouth and whispered, “Aren’t we the villains!”
“No, we’re not!” Xia Qing Tian couldn’t help but defend herself. “I didn’t come here for any ghost treasure at all!”
“Hmph, still trying to quibble!” Young Master Lei snorted coldly before looking at Lei Xi Rui.
He had explained everything so clearly. Lei Xi Rui should already see through Xia Qing Tian’s true colors by now!
“Third Brother, it’s really not like that!” Lei Xi Rui said. “I never knew anything about any treasure, and Sister Qing Tian never asked me about it either. She and Qing Yu treated me with sincerity. They are warm, kind, gentle, and honest. They are nothing like you say!
It’s you!
You are my Third Brother, the person closest to me since childhood. Yet, you never listen to me!”
Lei Xi Rui looked at Young Master Lei with tears in her eyes. “I have no friends at school. They all fear the Lei family, they all fear you, and they don’t dare to befriend me. I don’t even have anyone to talk to.
Those people say one thing to my face and another behind my back. Even when I represented the country in competitions, the only one who sincerely congratulated and blessed me was Xia Qing Yu.
You always say you’re taking care of me, that it’s for my protection.
But when I was at my most miserable and painful, it wasn’t you by my side. All the difficult times since childhood, I’ve endured them alone.
I finally made friends, and found someone I like… someone I love…” Lei Xi Rui’s voice gradually choked up, and Shi Xing Wu’s smile flashed in her mind.
This was her first flutter of the heart, her first thought of wanting to be with someone forever.
But this hazy, beautiful relationship, before it could even blossom, Shi Xing Wu had…
“He’s dead, and my heart is dead too…” Lei Xi Rui felt a sharp pain in her chest, and she clutched her chest, weeping. “You just want to confine me, trap me for a lifetime… What am I? I’m a display in a shop window, a canary in a cage. I’m Lei family’s private property… I’m just not… myself…
Since that’s the case, I might as well end it! Let me die with him!”
“Shush, shush, shush!” Seeing Lei Xi Rui like this, Xia Qing Tian immediately put her index finger to her lips and made a shushing gesture. “He’s not dead! Shi Xing Wu is alive! He was rescued, just not awake yet. Xi Rui, don’t keep talking about dying. Children’s words are uninhibited, uninhibited. Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo!”
“What?” Lei Xi Rui finally looked at Xia Qing Tian, her previously hollow eyes regaining their light. “Sister Qing Tian, he’s not dead!”
“Yes, isn’t it often said that simpletons have simple blessings? Plus, he’s been practicing martial arts since he was young. After being observed in the ICU all night, he actually managed to pull through,” Xia Qing Tian comforted Lei Xi Rui. “And with a good girl like you liking him, he surely won’t want to die.”
Hearing Xia Qing Tian’s words, Lei Xi Rui’s face flushed with embarrassment.
She had truly thought Shi Xing Wu was dead, which was why she had accidentally revealed her true feelings.
“Not dead?” Young Master Lei looked at Xia Qing Tian, his brow furrowed. “Since the person isn’t dead, what was all this commotion you caused at my Lei family’s residence about?”
“That Shi Xing Wu is not dead is because he is lucky and resilient. But your Lei family’s men shot and injured him, which is a result of your poor discipline, Third Brother! Even if the person is fine, what about the suffering he endured? What about his parents’ sleepless nights of worry?” Xia Qing Tian glared at Young Master Lei and said coldly, “Only you, Third Brother, care about your sister. Are other people’s sons picked up from the street?”
“Sister Qing Tian, the person who fired the shot wasn’t Third Brother’s subordinate,” Lei Xi Rui said immediately upon hearing this.
“What?” Xia Qing Tian was also taken aback. She looked at Lei Xi Rui and asked, “Not Young Master Lei’s subordinate? But…” She clearly heard on the phone…
“It was Cif!” Lei Xi Rui clenched her fists tightly at her sides. “Your Third Brother’s men used an electric stun gun. After they shocked Shi Xing Wu, they tried to snatch me away. That’s when Cif suddenly appeared with her people. She fired the shot and injured Shi Xing Wu, who could no longer fight back!”
That scene, Lei Xi Rui felt she would remember it for a lifetime.
It was also when Shi Xing Wu was shot and fell before her eyes, yet still tried to reach out to her, that she confirmed her feelings for him.
She liked this sunny boy who, when faced with danger, would first protect her.
He wasn’t smart, he was reckless, he didn’t understand cherishing a woman, his mind was full of muscles. He wasn’t a young master from a prestigious family either, but she liked him.
“It was her!” Xia Qing Tian’s brows furrowed deeply.
This meant this matter was related to Xiang Xue Yuan!
Damn it!
“Xia Qing Tian,” Young Master Lei, after listening for so long, pondered for a moment before looking at Xia Qing Tian hesitantly. “Are you truly not here for the treasure? Do you really know nothing about the treasure?”
“I didn’t before,” Xia Qing Tian said, looking at Young Master Lei and blinking. “But I know now. Heh heh, thank you.”
This thank you almost made Young Master Lei faint from anger.
“Third Brother,” Lei Xi Rui took a deep breath, as if finally gathering her courage. “Third Brother, you cannot confine me for a lifetime. I will not leave Z Country. I am not Lei family’s ornament, nor a canary trapped in a cage. If you cannot respect me, if you cannot treat me as a human being.
Then I don’t want to be the Lei family’s daughter anymore.”
“You! You mean to sever ties with the Lei family!” Young Master Lei looked at Lei Xi Rui, his brow deeply furrowed.
“That’s right. If Third Brother insists on manipulating my life, I will sever ties with the Lei family!” Lei Xi Rui met Young Master Lei’s probing gaze, her tone firm.
“!” Young Master Lei choked. He felt that the Lei Xi Rui before him was so unfamiliar; it was as if he had never seen this Lei Xi Rui before.
In his memory, Lei Xi Rui had always been timid and soft, never daring to breathe too loudly, always appearing in need of his protection.
But now…
“If you step out of this house, you don’t need to be a Lei family member anymore,” Young Master Lei said coldly to Lei Xi Rui.
Hearing Young Master Lei’s words, Lei Xi Rui’s gaze flickered. The hands hanging by her sides, which had been clenched into fists, slowly relaxed. Along with them, the unresolvable solemnity on her brow also eased.
“Third Brother, thank you for taking care of me all these years. Please also take care of yourself in the future.” After saying this, Lei Xi Rui lifted the hem of her skirt, slightly curtsied, displaying perfect lady-like etiquette, and then walked around the dining table towards Xia Qing Tian.
Seeing this, Xia Qing Tian extended her hand to Lei Xi Rui, a gentle smile on her face.