Chapter 86 Going Home

Seeing Rong Xiu crying and whimpering, looking pitiful and aggrieved as he shrank into Fan Xia’s arms, prompting Fan Xia to constantly comfort and persuade him, his hand still stroking his belly as if he had been wronged and the child in his belly was also suffering, Gu Jin Yi was extremely angry.

He had just couldn’t help but say a few words to Rong Xiu, and he acted as if he was about to die, not only blocking all his words but also pinning on him the crime of ‘showing off in public’, wasn’t that implying that he was exposing too much while playing basketball for women to see?

But Gu Jin Yi didn’t know how to retort, what if Fan Xia’s thoughts weren’t as sensitive as a man’s, and didn’t catch the hidden meaning of ‘showing off in public’, if he explained it, wouldn’t that be playing right into Rong Xiu’s hands? Gu Jin Yi’s mind felt like it had been hit by a heavy punch, both hateful and angry.

“Jin Yi is young and doesn’t know how to speak, don’t be angry, he doesn’t really mean that.” Seeing Gu Jin Yi flustered, Li Zhou immediately stepped forward and said, “Jin Yi is just envious that you married a good wife-master, and can stay at home to take care of your pregnancy without having to work outside. This is what many men can only dream of. You used to do business outside, dealing with so many women at drinking parties all by yourself, it was really exhausting. Now it’s good to take a break while you’re pregnant.”

Hearing this, the anger in Gu Jin Yi’s eyes instantly turned into a smile, finally venting his frustration through Li Zhou’s words.

You say I’m showing off in public, aren’t you, Rong Xiu, doing the same? At least he played basketball openly, who knows if Rong Xiu had been taken advantage of while drinking and accompanying those women.

A little third party who relied on tricks and schemes, just got the position for a few days, and already forgot about his dark history, really thinking of himself as a pure and innocent person? Ridiculous!

“Yes, I heard that they drink white liquor for business negotiations, which has a very high alcohol content. You get drunk after just a few sips, it’s very harmful to the stomach. Now that brother-in-law is pregnant, it’s a good time to stay at home and rest the stomach, to avoid developing chronic problems,” Gu Jin Yi added fuel to the fire.

Rong Xiu bit his lip. This father and son pair, looking weak and harmless, were actually more vicious than each other. Every word was caring, every word stabbed at his vital points.

He couldn’t admit in front of Fan Xia that he had never drunk alcohol. When he first seduced Fan Xia, it was at Chen Yu Ze’s club where he pretended to be drunk, letting her take him home. Although that time wasn’t successful, he did take advantage of the drunken state to kiss her unintentionally, that was the first time he teased Fan Xia, followed by countless seductions afterward.

Thinking about it now, that day’s abandoned behavior after getting drunk had become a handle against him.

Would Fan Xia think that he would act the same way with other women when he got drunk while talking business in the past? Rong Xiu anxiously clutched Fan Xia’s hand, although he was speaking to Li Zhou, it seemed more like he was speaking for Fan Xia to hear: “I have a male secretary, I hired him specifically to drink on my behalf, I’ve never been drunk in all these years, and I myself only drink a glass of red wine when chatting with close friends during leisure time.”

Li Zhou chuckled and said, “I know, I understand, it’s not easy for a man to make his way in a circle full of women.”

What do you know? What do you understand?

Rong Xiu was shaking with anger, but Li Zhou still covered his mouth and laughed, “Although our Jin Yi also works outside, the good thing is that his teammates are all men, and they play basketball, so there’s no need to rack his brains for business talks, can’t be compared to a big CEO like you. He’s so tired every day that he falls asleep as soon as he gets home, let alone drinking parties, he rarely even goes to team dinners. Not to mention female leaders or female colleagues, he rarely even sees little girls around him. Ah, it’s really not easy being a man, having to work and take care of the family, it’s very tiring. Now that you’re married and can stay at home, it’s even better. That’s what my Jin Yi meant just now, who knew you would misunderstand, look, it turned into a joke.”

This round of pleasantries not only cleared Gu Jin Yi of all blame, but also praised him while subtly criticizing the other, implying that Gu Jin Yi was a pure and good boy, while Rong Xiu was a bad man who could only become a CEO by drinking with women.

Rong Xiu clenched his fists tightly. If Li Zhou had said this at any other time, it would have been fine, he had heard such things before, but he shouldn’t have, absolutely shouldn’t have said such things in front of Fan Xia.

Deliberately slandering him in front of Fan Xia, making Fan Xia look down on him in the future, planting the seed of his frivolous and unrestrained nature. Now their relationship is good, they can pretend nothing happened, but once their feelings fade, these words would be a devastating blow to his marriage. By then, the ‘pure’ Gu Jin Yi would take the opportunity to take his place, his wife-master, and even the child in his belly would become Gu Jin Yi’s dowry.

How could he tolerate this? His eyes, piercing towards Li Zhou, dripped with poison: “Jin Yi is now a star player in the men’s basketball team, his annual salary is not much less than some senior executives in our company, many men can only envy him.”

Hearing someone praise her precious son, Li Zhou naturally nodded with a proud expression.

Rong Xiu immediately changed the subject and said, “But what you just said about Jin Yi not having female leaders is not correct. When I went to watch Jin Yi’s basketball game with my wife-master before, I saw that their coach was a woman.”

After saying this, Rong Xiu deliberately clung to Fan Xia’s arm and asked, “Do you remember? It’s the coach who was always instructing Jin Yi, she looked to be in her forties.”

Rong Xiu’s moist eyes still sparkled with tears, reminding her of how Rong Xiu’s self-esteem had been hurt by Gu Jin Yi’s unintentional words earlier. Fan Xia still went along with his words and replied, “Mm, that’s right.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Li Zhou’s expression became somewhat unpleasant.

Fan Xia squeezed Rong Xiu’s palm and said to Li Zhou, whose expression had frozen, “Uncle Li, we’ve bothered you for the whole evening, we’ll be leaving now.”

“Leaving now? Sister Fan, please stay a bit longer.” Gu Jin Yi stood up in surprise.

“No, there are still things to do at the company,” Fan Xia said with a smile, carefully supporting Rong Xiu’s body as they walked out.

If they didn’t leave now, these three men would explode.

Fan Xia was a woman, and she couldn’t fully understand the subtleties between men, so at first, she didn’t realize the surging undercurrents beneath this calm surface. She thought that Gu Jin Yi had really accidentally said something wrong, coincidentally hitting a nerve of the sensitive pregnant Rong Xiu, and she even spoke up to defend him.

But as she listened more, she felt something was off. Although she didn’t understand the rhetoric between men, she had been in the business world long enough to detect something amiss in Li Zhou’s veiled words. Upon closer listening, the powder keg atmosphere became even more intense.

Although she didn’t know why three people with no apparent conflict would escalate their conversation to such a dangerous level, Fan Xia knew they couldn’t stay in this place any longer. If only for the sake of their unborn child, she couldn’t let Rong Xiu get upset and harm his body, so she hurriedly left with Rong Xiu.

“How did the conversation turn into an argument?” Once in the elevator, Fan Xia hugged Rong Xiu and asked softly.

Rong Xiu’s pale face instantly flushed red. He hadn’t expected Fan Xia to see through it all, and for a moment, he couldn’t speak, his ear tips burning red.

Seeing him not speaking, Fan Xia thought he was still sulking. She rubbed his slightly red ear tips and asked, “Still angry? Don’t take Jin Yi’s words to heart.”

The ears were Rong Xiu’s most sensitive part, how could Fan Xia not know? The soft and tender earlobe was gently kneaded between Fan Xia’s fingertips, the soft red flesh of his ear swelling with heat. He couldn’t help but murmur, “How… how did you know I was angry?”

“Can your eyes hide anything from me?” Fan Xia laughed softly, her warm laughter seeping into his heart, moistening his blood, burning his whole body with heat. Without realizing it, his face had turned red. In the past, he never showed his emotions, but now Fan Xia understood him so well.

Unknowingly, he had honestly given her his everything, in front of her he seemed to be naked. She only needed one look to see through him completely. This feeling of being completely possessed by Fan Xia, body and soul, made his spirit soar. “If I’m angry, will you think I’m being fussy? Troublesome?” Rong Xiu murmured.

“How could I? Everyone has their temper, it’s better to vent it out than keep it bottled up inside. I also think what Jin Yi said was a bit inappropriate. It must have been hard for you to hold it in,” Fan Xia immediately said.

Although she still didn’t understand how these three men, who were chatting so well, suddenly became so confrontational.

But Rong Xiu was her man, of course she had to protect him, there was no reason to let him suffer grievances.

She remembered when she was young, her father Xie Ying would sometimes not get along with certain director’s husbands or factory manager’s wives in the work unit compound. They would be polite on the surface, but once home, he would complain to her mother Fan Yun.

Sometimes Xie Ying’s words had no focus, no beginning or end, not only Fan Xia couldn’t understand, even Fan Yun couldn’t understand. But every time, Fan Yun would put down her work, listen very carefully and agree with Xie Ying, letting him vent. Then the originally angry Xie Ying would become happy again.

Fan Xia felt that her current situation was similar to what her mother faced back then. Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Rong Xiu’s almond-shaped eyes curved up, his bright black eyes sparkling with a faint luminescence, like brilliant stars in the dark night: “I knew you would always be on my side.”

“If you can’t get along with them, there’s no need to keep in touch often in the future. No need to make yourself uncomfortable,” Fan Xia said very seriously.

For a moment, Fan Xia saw a vague glimmer of moisture slide across Rong Xiu’s ink-black eyes. “…Mm.”

The elevator reached the first floor. As they walked out of the building, the cold air outside swept over them. The white, misty sky mixed with the thin, light snow, creating the somewhat biting snow atmosphere of a northern winter.

Fan Xia squinted her eyes, her thick eyelashes blocking the swirling snowflakes. She turned her back to shield from the flying snow and faced Rong Xiu, tucking the light gray wool scarf hanging around his neck into his coat, so that now except for his face, no other skin was exposed, keeping him very warm.

Rong Xiu looked at the woman gently adjusting his collar in front of him. That was his wife-master, his Fan Xia.

She blocked all the wind and snow for him. The howling snow wind lifted her long hair, in the misty sky, the fluttering strands were indistinct, and a small, crystal-clear snowflake was still adorning her eyelashes. Rong Xiu’s mind went blank for a moment, and in the next second, he had already kissed her curled lashes, the snowflake melting into a soft droplet of snow water on his thin lips.

Fan Xia’s eyelashes trembled slightly, with a second of surprise in her eyes, followed by an indulgent shake of her head and a silent chuckle.

“Let’s go, let’s go home,” Fan Xia said.

“Okay,” Rong Xiu nodded, holding Fan Xia’s hand as they set off on the way home.

Half a month later, a rumor about a ‘basketball new star rising through sleeping his way up’ began to circulate in the sports circle.!