452: Chapter 451: The Considerate Younger Aunt 452: Chapter 451: The Considerate Younger Aunt Zhu Xuetao meant well, but that didn’t mean Ning Fan had fallen so low as to join him in soliciting prostitutes.
His heart was in the right place, but his idea was off the mark.
In the end, Zhu Xuetao left with a hurt expression on his face, while Ning Fan commandeered his office sofa and had a good sleep.
It wasn’t until the evening, when work was over, that Ning Fan was “kicked out” by Zhu Xuetao.
When he got home that night, Nangong Fu had already left, and the moment he walked through the door, Xu Xiaoqing started making eyes at him.
“Huh?” Ning Fan looked at Xu Xiaoqing, puzzled, and the latter had a look of frustration as if lamenting his lack of sense.
Xu Xiaoqing gestured towards the living room, and Ning Fan suddenly realized what was happening.
She was reminding him that Xu Ruolan was still in the living room.
“To have such a considerate younger auntie, what more could a husband ask for!”
“Pah, pah, pah, with you in the mood to reflect here, you’d better think about how to deal with my sister!” Xu Xiaoqing jabbed Ning Fan’s cheek forcefully.
Ning Fan smiled wryly and then followed Xu Xiaoqing into the living room.
The moment he stepped into the living room, the air seemed to freeze, and Ning Fan’s expression turned cold.
He and Xu Ruolan didn’t acknowledge each other.
Seeing the atmosphere sour between the two in the same room, Xu Xiaoqing felt a headache coming on.
She looked at Xu Ruolan, then at Ning Fan, and felt even more vexed.
She had reminded Ning Fan, yet the moment he came in, the two of them started a cold war.
The cold war lasted until dinner time and even spread to the dining table, with Xu Xiaoqing caught in the middle, feeling the most uncomfortable of all.
During the meal, everyone moved their chopsticks, but Xu Xiaoqing couldn’t feel the warmth of the food, finding it as tasteless as chewing wax in her mouth.
Xu Xiaoqing looked helplessly between Ning Fan and Xu Ruolan.
Neither of them spoke and she felt the atmosphere was terribly awkward.
“Right, I heard a joke at school today!”
All of a sudden, Xu Xiaoqing raised her chopsticks and said, drawing Ning Fan’s and Xu Ruolan’s attention to her.
Feeling their gaze, Xu Xiaoqing felt immense pressure and her body became incredibly stiff.
Both of them just looked at her, showing no other reaction.
Xu Xiaoqing felt the pressure mount and subconsciously swallowed.
“Today it rained all day, and just now I saw a young boy, around twelve or thirteen, walking with an umbrella.
When a car sped by, splashing water from the road, the boy quickly tilted his umbrella towards the car.
The window was half open,
and water splashed all over the woman in the passenger seat.
I heard a sharp scream, then the car stopped, and a man got out.
I thought the boy would be at a disadvantage, but he jumped into the puddle and furiously splashed water all over the man, then ran into a nearby apartment building and disappeared!”
The worst thing is when the air suddenly goes quiet!
“Hahaha, these kids today are just too clever, ahahahaha!”
Still, no one responded to Xu Xiaoqing, and she felt like a fool.
At the dining table, Xu Xiaoqing’s forced laughter seemed very lonely.
Her laughter gradually ceased, and then, as if she’d entered “Sage Mode” and became a “Saint,” her expression became placid.
She calmly picked up some food with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth as if nothing had happened.
In the end, neither Ning Fan nor Xu Ruolan laughed.
Only Xu Xiaoqing was silently sobbing in her heart.
Seeing their lack of response, Xu Xiaoqing also felt indignant.
Why should she suffer because these two were at odds?
It had nothing to do with her!
“Forget it!” The thought popped up in Xu Xiaoqing’s mind, and then she decided she wouldn’t bother with such thankless tasks anymore.
Xu Xiaoqing lowered her head and silently ate her rice, determined to ignore the atmosphere at the table.
Suddenly, a pair of chopsticks appeared in her line of sight, and Xu Xiaoqing subconsciously raised her head to see Ning Fan affectionately adding a chicken leg to her plate.
“Girl, eat more, you’re growing, and you need more nutrition.”
“Oh…” Xu Xiaoqing looked at Ning Fan in a daze, a bad premonition suddenly arising in her heart.
Crack!
As if something had ruptured, Xu Ruolan, who had always been extremely cold, suddenly revealed a warm smile.
Just as Ning Fan withdrew his chopsticks, she also picked up a piece of meat for Xu Xiaoqing.
“Xiaoqing, eat more.
Although girls need to maintain their figure, you shouldn’t mistreat yourself!”
“Err, yeah!”
Xu Xiaoqing stared blankly at Xu Ruolan.
At this moment, Ning Fan and Xu Ruolan’s gazes collided, and Xu Xiaoqing felt as though she saw intense sparks exploding in mid-air.
“Girl, this is delicious.”
“This is what Xiaoqing likes to eat the most.”
“This one is more nutritious.”
“Ha, Xiaoqing doesn’t even like to eat that.
Can someone please stop troubling Xiaoqing?”
“I was just thinking the same thing, can’t everyone stop being a bother?
It’s just food, what can’t be eaten?”
“Oh, so someone’s taste can change at any time, huh?”
“Well, that depends on how someone chooses to interpret it.”
Their tones were full of anger; they were bickering.
But poor Xu Xiaoqing, caught in the middle, suffered the most.
They kept piling food into Xu Xiaoqing’s bowl until it formed a small mountain.
If they added any more, it would all start to fall off!
“Enough, enough!
I really can’t eat any more!”
Xu Xiaoqing slapped the table with a bang and shouted out loud, finally making Ning Fan and Xu Ruolan stop.
Caught in the middle and feeling like an outsider, Xu Xiaoqing had had enough.
She stood up, looked at the mountain of food in her bowl, and felt bitter and tearful without the tears.
What kind of sin had she committed?
Their cold war had nothing to do with her.
She had done everything she could do, but why had she become the victim of their conflict?
“You both need to stop…”
“Oh right, Xiaoqing, haven’t you always wanted me to teach you to dance?
I’ve already thought about it.
How about tomorrow?
If you’re free, any time will do, even tonight!”
Just as Xu Xiaoqing was about to beg for some sanity, Ning Fan suddenly started talking about teaching her to dance.
Xu Xiaoqing was stunned.
There was indeed such a matter, but the timing of Ning Fan’s proposal was off.
Was now really the time to discuss this?
But by the time she realized it was too late.
As Xu Xiaoqing was about to speak, to prevent Ning Fan and Xu Ruolan’s cold war from escalating further, Xu Ruolan also spoke out defiantly, “Xiaoqing has to go shopping with me tomorrow, she won’t have time to indulge in your nonsense.”
Xu Xiaoqing laughed.
When had she ever agreed to go shopping with her sister?
Was there really such a plan?
“That’s really unfortunate, then tonight it is.”
“Tonight won’t work either, I need to discuss some private matters with her.”
Xu Xiaoqing was on the verge of collapsing.