Chapter 215: Chapter 193: Is Qin Xia your girlfriend?
When Gu Yanjing and Qiao Yuxian returned, everyone else had gone to the shooting range except for Chu Zhengran and Qiao Zhiang.
Originally, Qiao Zhiang was chasing after Qiao Lech.
But the noise at the shooting range was too loud.
Qiao Lech drove him away.
So he sat next to Chu Zhengran, eating dessert.
Chu Zhengran was sipping tea.
The two were getting along quite harmoniously.
Not a word was spoken.
Chu Zhengran glanced at Gu Yanjing and smiled, "Back already?"
Gu Yanjing ignored him and pulled Qiao Yuxian to sit down.
After sitting down, Qiao Yuxian first looked for where Qiao Lech was.
Chu Zhengran saw her looking for someone and said, "Huai Shu took Miss Qiao to the shooting range."
Qiao Yuxian acknowledged and looked over at Qiao Lech and Lin Huai Shu at the shooting range.
It seemed they had been playing for a while, the initial nervousness of Qiao Lech no longer visible.
Huai Shu was also quite the gentleman, teaching her how to shoot while maintaining a proper distance. Whenever he needed to help adjust her posture, he did so politely.
A slight indication, a gentle support on her arm, something like that.
Qiao Yuxian felt relieved seeing Qiao Lech enjoying herself.
Then she glanced at the others at the shooting range.
Meng Yan and Su Qi seemed to be having fun.
Shang Chen...
Even from such a distance, Qiao Yuxian could feel Shang Chen’s menacing aura as he held onto the gun.
One shot after another, as if the opposite side wasn’t a target, but his enemy.
Then there was Lu Mengyi and that woman she hadn’t seen before.
The unfamiliar woman had a similar approach to Shang Chen.
Radiating a strong killing intent.
And Lu Mengyi, with each shot, seemed composed and in control, calm and effortless.
Her presence was quite similar to Gu Yanjing’s.
Except Gu Yanjing seemed uncompromising with anyone, consistently dominant and imposing.
Lu Mengyi knew how to restrain herself, albeit cold and strong, but not as ruthless as Gu Yanjing.
Gu Yanjing noticed she kept looking over there, with an expression that looked both admiring and approving. He followed her gaze and then noticed Lu Mengyi.
Mr. Gu: "......"
He raised a hand and placed it atop her head.
Qiao Yuxian turned to him, smiling sweetly, then picked up a small cake from the table and unwrapped it.
Upon unwrapping the cake and planning to eat it, she found it beautifully made, so she took out her phone and snapped photos of the cake from every angle: front, back, left, right, top, bottom.
After taking the shots, she began selecting photos for filters from the many she had taken.
She didn’t eat the cake at all.
Finally, she selected three photos from over a hundred, and shared them in a moment on her social media.
Gu Yanjing watched her next to him as she chose photos and posted them.
Just after Qiao Yuxian posted, a message from Qin Xia came in.
Qin Xia: [Is Chu Zhengran there?]
Qiao Yuxian sat up straight and replied: [I suspect you’re spying on me.]
Qin Xia: [Girl, you showed a finger in the photo. Chu Zhengran’s.]
Qiao Yuxian went back to check her post and looked at the photos.
Despite selecting meticulously, she picked one where an upper corner showed a finger.
But!
It was merely the top half of an index finger visible, how did Qin Xia even recognize it?
Qiao Yuxian: [How did you recognize it?!]
Qin Xia didn’t reply.
After waiting a while to see no response, Qiao Yuxian reckoned she must have gone to shoot her scenes. So she took another look at the finger in the photo, just an ordinary finger, revealing nothing.
So she put down her phone and looked towards Chu Zhengran’s finger.
Chu Zhengran noticed her suddenly looking at his hand, lowered his gaze to check his own.
Then instinctively glanced at Gu Yanjing.
Gu Yanjing, knowing he would look over, happened to be watching him too.
The instant their eyes met, Chu Zhengran felt that Gu Yanjing had already figured out where to bury him.
He promptly retracted his hand below the table.
Once hidden, Qiao Yuxian was momentarily stunned, blinked, and immediately turned her head towards Gu Yanjing.
Gu Yanjing looked at her, his gaze seemed to say: So what? Are you starting to check out other men right in front of me?
Qiao Yuxian quickly held and squeezed his hand, smiled placatingly: "Hehe, I was just curious to see, it was Qin... a friend who mentioned something to me, so I took a look."
She said the word "Qin" very clearly, but the "Xia" was just barely emitted as an "X" sound before being swallowed back.
Whether intentional or just said casually was hard to tell.
Gu Yanjing observed her, his brows slightly moving.
Qiao Yuxian’s smile deepened a bit.
Chu Zhengran also glanced at her, chuckled, and then inquired: "Where’s Qin Xia?"
Qiao Yuxian looked at him, thought for a moment, and said: "At the film crew."
Chu Zhengran continued to watch her with a gentle demeanor.
Qiao Yuxian continued: "Shooting a film in the northernmost part of the country."
Chu Zhengran nodded: "Got it."
"It’s quite cold there." Qiao Yuxian said casually to Gu Yanjing, "Last time we called, I could only hear the wind blowing, she had to shout to speak. I couldn’t hear anything I was saying."
"Spent the New Year there?" Gu Yanjing asked knowingly.
"Yeah." Qiao Yuxian replied, "Since I’ve known her, she never rests during New Year. I suggested celebrating New Year with me, but she refused."
Gu Yanjing said no more, poured himself a cup of tea.
Qiao Yuxian also stopped talking, lowered her head to take a bite of cream.
Chu Zhengran looked at the pair, his gentle expression slightly rigid.
He wanted to know why she insisted on working during New Year, why she was alone during the holiday, and why no information about her was traceable.
But that’s where the two stopped speaking, leaving things unsaid.
Chu Zhengran observed the two as if they were heartless conspirators.
He was completely ignored by the pair.
Qiao Zhiang glanced between Gu Yanjing and Qiao Yuxian, then turned to Chu Zhengran: "Brother, is Qin Xia your girlfriend?"
The last trace of a smile on Chu Zhengran’s face disappeared.
He quietly stayed silent.
Qiao Zhiang watched him, waiting for a response.
After waiting for a while, Gu Yanjing turned Qiao Zhiang’s head back saying: "Eat your food."
Qiao Zhiang glanced at Gu Yanjing and lowered his head: "Oh."
Gu Yanjing turned to Qiao Yuxian: "Not going to play?"
Qiao Yuxian looked over at the shooting range and said: "No, let them play. I can go anytime I want; last time we booked the racing track, Young Master Lin said the time could be made up any time."
"Alright." Gu Yanjing replied, "I’ll take you next time."
"Okay!"
After finishing the conversation, Qiao Yuxian glanced at her phone again to see how many people had liked and commented.
Quite a few liked and commented.
Qiao Yuxian replied to each message.
Some people were mutual friends.
They suddenly started chatting on her post.
It became more lively than a group chat.
In the midst of chatting happily, Qiao Yuxian heard footsteps approaching their side; judging by the sound, it was a woman’s.
With Gu Yanjing right beside her, she didn’t pay much attention.
She kept eating her small cake and chatting on the phone.
Until the person stopped by their table and spoke to her: "Miss Qiao, interested in a challenge at the shooting range?"
Qiao Yuxian suddenly raised her eyes to look at her, seeing the cold-faced woman whom she didn’t recognize, following Lu Mengyi over. She was momentarily bewildered.
Gu Yanjing, Chu Zhengran, and Qiao Zhiang were also looking at her.
The woman remained expressionless, only asking, "Up for a challenge?"
Qiao Yuxian’s posture was very upright; even while sitting, she seemed much shorter than the woman before her, yet her aura did not lose. Calmly, she looked at the person ahead.
She swallowed the cake in her mouth slowly, then said: "Sorry, I don’t know how."
...