After saying goodnight and going upstairs to sleep, Xie Qingci, who had taken the blame unjustly, came to settle the debt.

Yu Xia had just finished her washing up and was sitting in front of the mirror when she saw him unlock the door with a key.

Under her astonished gaze, he walked up behind her nonchalantly, bent over, and pinched her chin to turn her head for a kiss.

Yu Xia couldn’t get into it and nervously pushed him away, keeping a watchful eye on the door, afraid Xu Yan might walk in at any moment.

Xie Qingci noticed her tension and went with her push, saying in a low voice, "She won’t come in directly."

Yu Xia raised her eyebrows and glared at him, "You’re just being reckless because of that? Where did you get the key? Hand it over."

Xie Qingci offered no resistance, placing the key in her palm.

"These are the only two keys, they’re all yours."

"Stop playing dumb, why did you come in?" She tossed the key into the drawer, arms crossed as she questioned him.

He acted like he had a couple of screws loose, propping himself on the back of her chair, bending down close to her.

"Why did I come in? What do you think? I took the blame for you just now and got scolded, shouldn’t I get some interest?"

Yu Xia glanced at him, turned away, and continued applying skincare in the mirror, while casually calling him petty.

"So what if you took the blame? Wasn’t it something you ought to bear? The way your mom spoke, she just wanted to scold you."

Xie Qingci didn’t respond, lazily standing behind her, watching her do her skin care, their heads looking quite close in the mirror.

After a while, he said, "I’ve taken the blame, you took my key, didn’t even get a decent kiss; I’m at a loss on all fronts. And soon, I’ll have to go back to that tiny room and squeeze onto a small bed. Why am I so miserable?"

She glanced at him in the mirror, unmoved.

Staring at her reflection, Xie Qingci called out suddenly at her final step of skin care, "Wifey."

Yu Xia’s hand shook, almost knocking over the essence bottle.

She steadied the bottle, turning around to stare at him like he was a ghost.

"Are you crazy?"

He looked rather innocent, tilting his head to ask, "What? I just suddenly remembered what that kid said, and casually called out. You were ignoring me earlier, but look, now you’re responding."

"...Are you a love-starved child needing attention? Move along, go back to your room. Otherwise, Auntie will come to catch you later."

He didn’t leave, leaning close to her ear and breathed softly, calling again, "Wifey."

"..." In this closed-off space with just the two of them, calling her that again carried a completely different meaning.

Yu Xia’s reaction was much stronger, a blush spreading from her ears.

She was able to scold him just now, but now she couldn’t utter a word, not even daring to look at him. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

But Xie Qingci wasn’t that easy to deal with; he lifted her chin to make her look up, meeting his gaze in the mirror.

Then, speaking softly in her ear like whispering secrets, he asked:

"So what, I can’t call you that? It’s just that girlfriends always become wives."

She bit her lip, forced to look at the person in the mirror, staring intently.

He didn’t hear an answer and spoke again, "Hmm? Speak up."

"Say what?" She slapped away his annoying hand, "You’re not even legal marriage age, and you’re calling me wife."

"Oh, are you complaining that I’m too young? So once I’m at marriage age, I can call you that, huh? Or are you hinting that when the time comes, we should make it official?"

He bent there feeling tired, simply shifted to leaning against the table, leaving her nowhere to look away.

Yu Xia twisted the small bottle of whitening essence in her hands, organizing her thoughts, then retorted him:

"It’s just you calling me insistently; what’s it got to do with me? You haven’t even graduated, and it’s the first time you brought me to meet your parents. You’re already thinking about making it official. What, afraid I’ll run away?"

"Yeah, you ran once before. If you do it again, I can’t take it. Or can you come up with a way to convince me you won’t run away?"

He knew very well that she wouldn’t consider marriage for a couple of years, so the goal wasn’t really about that.

Yu Xia looked at him with eyes full of "Do I look like a fool?".

"Why don’t you just go to heaven? You want to tie me down, but ask me to find a way, so I should strategize against myself? What do I need you for?"

He rubbed his nose, "My ideas might not match yours. For example, an engagement?"

"For now, it’s not possible. I just got my first award, and you’ve just entered the film industry for a short time, not yet stable. Be careful of severe backlash; Changhui would only think you lack ambition."

He sighed, relinquishing a degree but still trying the next best thing.

"How about you discuss with your brother, find some time to meet my parents? Or give me a definite answer, how many more years until we can make it official? I’ll prepare a... dowry during those years."

Now she understood, fixing him with a half-amused, half-serious stare, "This is what you’re waiting on me for, huh? You haven’t even graduated from college and you’re thinking about marriage so early. Others aim to make money, and you’re setting marriage as a goal. Are you that eager to get married?"

"..." Xie Qingci neither nodded nor shook his head.

He was about to say more when his phone started buzzing.

Yu Xia leaned over for a look, there was just a single character on the caller ID.

"Hello, Mom." Xie Qingci shushed her with a finger to his lips.

She crossed her arms, leaning back against the chair, listening to how he handled it.

Xu Yan had entered the room on the first floor for more than half an hour but hadn’t slept, likely waiting to catch him. Last night she came up personally, tonight she’s probably just calling to avoid awkwardness.

She could guess what Xu Yan would say without hearing; sure enough, Xie Qingci soon responded to her saying, "No, I’m not asleep, yeah, still at her place."

"I know, I’ll head back soon."

"Her? She’s about to sleep."

"No need for milk, I got her some water."

"Alright, I know, I won’t."

"I’ll be back in ten minutes."

After he hung up, Yu Xia smugly said, "What, Auntie told you to leave quickly? Aren’t you heading back?"

Xie Qingci tossed his phone aside, raising an eyebrow as he said, "There’s still ten minutes, what’s the rush?"

She then smartly started counting down.

"Ten minutes, right? Alright, once the countdown ends your heels must leave my room."

"Your room? This is my room; I just got kicked out."

Yu Xia feigned sympathy, mocking him with an "Oh dear".

"Then why don’t you go claim back your living rights? You could tell your parents right now that you want to live here and pack me off to the storage room."

Even with courage as mighty as eight hundred men, Xie Qingci wouldn’t dare to respond to that, instead changing the topic, he said:

"You living here is fine, anyway, when they bought this place, they intended it for me and my future wife. You moved in early doesn’t matter, staying forever would be even better."

"For someone not that old, you’re quite eager to marry. By your logic, my apartment was originally meant just for me and my pets, so technically, you shouldn’t have moved in."

Xie Qingci asked, "Pets? You even considered having pets? What kind of pet?"

She glanced at him slyly, slowly replying, "A magical pet that’s sometimes a dog, sometimes a cat."

"..."