Chapter 1360: Not a hostess to welcome you.
Chapter 1360: Not a hostess to welcome you.
When Qi Shuai caught sight of Li Xue at the staircase, his eyes immediately shone. He didn't look surprised at all, but rather looked accustomed to her presence there.
And his such attitude made Li Xue realize that she might have known him from before. She stared at him for a moment before her eyes darted to stare at Feng Shufen who had also turned around to look at her now. Given the vibe between the two men, she could tell they must be friends.
"Xiao Xue, did you come down to greet me? It's been such a long time. Do you remember me?" As been bubbly in nature always, Qi Shuai cheerfully asked, almost sprinting his way to Li Xue.
But Li Xue simply stared at Feng Shufen. Her eyes still held an accusation for him. "Sorry, Mr. Qi, I am not the hostess of the house to welcome you here. The people who are responsible for the affairs of this place have long estranged me from their life and that also pushed me away from the household affairs. So, sorry, but I am definitely not here to welcome you."
She said before turning to look at Qi Shuai with an amiable yet distant smile.
When Qi Shuai heard her, he stiffened at his place. He could clearly feel the tension between the two people there but what took him off guard was his sudden involvement in it. When he came to greet her, he never thought to get involved in this tension.
He has kept it planned in his head that if Li Xue didn't recognize him, he would simply tell that he was Yi Lan's fiancée and has heard about her a lot from Feng Yi Lan. But now it seems he has been wrongly introduced to Li Xue.
But wait, didn't Shufen say that he has shared a kiss with Li Xue? Then why was there a sudden difference between them? What happened out of blue.
As he pondered in himself, his eyes stared at the little head beside Li Xue. He raised his brows at her with the intention to ask what was going on. But the little one also shrugged her shoulders in no knowledge.
He then turned to look at his friend who held a guilty expression on his face. He sighed at the sight of him then, turning back to Li Xue, he said, "I can understand. Please don't mind my words. I was just trying to make conversation with you since it has been really quite a long time since I last met you. Anyway, how are you?"
Li Xue looked at him and smiled. Although she had no remembrance of the man, he was still the man whom Feng Yi Lan has chosen to be with for her life, so he wouldn't be bad. Smiling, she spoke, "I am fine Mr. Qi. And it's really nice meeting you. But pardon me, I need to leave first. Something cropped up at my place and I need to attend it urgently. Hope you won't mind."
She said and Qi Shuai shook his head. "Definitely not, I can understand. Please go on with your work. We will meet again soon." He said, and Li Xue gave him a last smile before looking fleetingly at Feng Shufen and then turned to look down at WeiWei.
Getting on her knees, she paralleled herself to her height before combing her hair delicately with her fingers to say, "Sweetie, stay well at home, okay? Mama would need to leave now. But she will come to meet you again."
She said and then slowly leaned to kiss her dearest's cheeks. WeiWei smiled and nodded. "Don't worry, Mama. Weiwei is a good girl and she knows well to take care of herself. Furthermore, I also have Daddy Angel here."
Li Xue smiled and nodded before giving a small hug and then standing up, she was ready to leave. But before she asked WeiWei to get back to her room. Once she was gone, Li Xue turned and walked to leave.
Walking up, she was ready to step out of the house while ignoring Feng Shufen when the latter halted her.
"It's late. Let Du Fan drive you back." Feng Shufen said and Li Xue paused in her steps before looking at him.
But then smiling, she said, "It won't be needed, President Feng. I can manage on my own. After all, haven't you planned to stay as strangers with me?"
"Li Xue, I …"
"I said it won't be needed. I have brought my car and can drive back home on my own. So, you need not worry." She said and then without waiting for another moment, strode out without even turning back for once.
While Feng Shufen simply stared at her disappearing silhouette. When Qi Shuai saw her like that, he clapped his hands to ask, "Wow-hoo, Shufen! What did you do now? She was clearly upset to a level where she would have burned you alive."
"She has her reasons." Feng Shufen simply replied, making Qi Shuai all speechless.
"Really?" he asked running to stand by his side before looking into his face.
Once Feng Shufen saw Li Xue drive away, he turned to look at Qi Shau before turning to walk inside the house, nodding, "Yes. She is upset thinking that her love for me is one-sided and that I don't love her as much as she does. And that's why after she lost her memories, I never went back to remind her about me."
Qi Shuai felt dumbfounded. "Did she regain her memories?" He asked and Feng Shufen shook his head,
"Nope, but instead, I think she could feel the strings between us."
"Although poetic, this still doesn't sound superficial. Anyway, what did you think then?" Qi Shuai asked and Feng Shufen turned to him and raised his brows.
And seeing his expression turning like that towards him, the man almost slapped himself. "I am sorry, I am sorry. I almost forgot that I was here to tell you that. But since now I have remembered it, listen to me. So, my plan is …"
On the other hand, when Li Xue returned to the palace, she didn't go straight to her room. Instead, she checked the time on the clock and walked straight in the direction of the study room.
"Young Princess, you are back. Should I ask the maids to bring you something?" When Butler Cao saw Li Xue walking in hasty steps, he asked, but Li Xue shook her head.
"That won't be needed, Mr. Cao. Just tell me Father and Mother are in study, right?" She asked.
And the butler nodded. "Yes, Princess, they are in the study. There is still time for dinner, do you want to meet them now?"
"Don't mind, Mr. Cao. I will walk on my own. You can go and make arrangements for dinner." She said and then without waiting for the reply made her way to the study.
Behind, the old butler stood in no position to question her. So, following her orders instead, he walked to the kitchen.
While reaching the study room, Li Xue knocked at the door twice, making the couple look up at her.
"Li Xue!" Shin Tingming was first to notice.
To which Li Xue nodded before asking, "Ma, Pa, are you busy? Can I come in?"
When Chen Rui heard her like that, she at once underwood that there was something wrong. Her brows jutted together, as she nodded to quickly say, "Why are you asking Xiao Xue. Just come in."
Li Xue stared at the woman for a moment, before walking inside to dart her eyes between both of her parents. "Did you guys know about my relationship with Feng Shufen?" She asked and Chen Rui was all surprised by her sudden askance.
Before she could say anything, Shin Tinming roared to ask, "Did Shufen tell you anything?"
Li Xue raised her brows at him. So, as she has thought they must have known about it. Not just that, he didn't seem to like Shufen.
"So, you knew it as well. Only I have been kept in the dark. Do you think that was fun?" She asked and Chen Rui shook her head. An expression of empathy got over her face but both of them knew that Chen Ruin may not be able to understand what Li Xue was suffering now.
"Xiao Xue, don't take us wrong, we were thinking the best for you. And …"
"And you failed to understand what's best for me. Do you think that it's easy for me to live, forgetting my memories?"
"Feng Shufen might not deserve to stay in your memories and that's why you forgot him and everything related to him." Shin Tingming was enraged. But Li Xue was not in the mood to understand his concern at the moment. Furthermore, when he spoke something like that about Shufen, she felt a burn inside her and retaliated without thinking much of her relationship with him.
"Really? This is how you would defend yourself, Pa. Then tell me, why I don't remember you as well. In that situation, did you all not deserve to be in my memories?"
"Xiao Xue! What are you saying? He is your father. You can't talk to him like that." Chen Rui felt the ache. Not just for her husband but also for her daughter.
When Li Xue saw the face of Shin Tingming, she also understood that she had crossed her line. But since it was already done, she couldn't just collect all the milk in the bowl as before, so she said, "I am sorry for being rude but I just wanted to remind you that I have memories of none of you. If I am staying here with you all, accepting you as my family then it's because of the connected strings I feel with you. If I can believe you on my instinct, I would expect that you all would also remain honest with me."
"Hiding things like this will only get me upset inside, making me lose my cool like this again and again." She said and then turning on her heels, she strode out of the room.