Chapter 596: Chapter 596: Moving and Not Taking Me?

They exchanged some trivial words, eventually falling into silence and staring at each other.

With three minutes left on the countdown screen, Xie Qingci leaned on the table, seriously watching her. The lamp above made his hair seem fluffy with a layer of soft light.

She had to slightly squint her eyes and tilt her head up to see his expression and gaze clearly.

Calm, gentle, serious.

He didn’t seem in a hurry to continue the previous conversation, simply wishing to quietly watch her for three minutes.

After gazing at him for a while, Yu Xia suddenly said, "The company plans to find me a new apartment. The security at the current place isn’t good, and He is worried about fans sneaking in. But I plan to buy a flat myself. Where do you think I should buy it?"

Xie Qingci tilted his head: "Why didn’t you mention this earlier? Are you moving, but leaving me behind?"

She couldn’t help but laugh: "Why would I take you along? Won’t you follow me yourself? If the large flat is too expensive, you’ll have to share the cost as my roommate, just consider it as..."

He chimed in, dragging his voice: "Consider it, joint marital property before marriage?"

She rolled her eyes but did not refute.

Xie Qingci’s mood instantly brightened, his spirit lifted.

"Where do you want to buy it? I’ll go with you to check it out after we get back. I heard Yishan’s large flats are quite good; they’re just slightly more expensive than elsewhere."

"I can afford the expense. But if you can’t pay your share, you can forget about having a place to sleep." She spoke leisurely.

Just as she finished speaking, the countdown on the screen reached zero.

Yu Xia looked up, glanced at him suggestively, and then pointed her chin toward the door.

"At this point, your heels should have crossed that line by the door."

Xie Qingci placed her phone down on the table, deciding not to look at it to avoid bothering himself, then pulled her up, pushing her towards the door, while remarking with meaning:

"Don’t worry, I can definitely pay, or I’ll offer myself as payment if necessary."

She struggled slightly: "Who wants you to offer yourself as payment? What are you doing, pushing me?"

"Aren’t you kicking me out? Sending me out."

... Speechless.

She pointed to the distance from the table to the door in front of them, saying: "It’s just a few steps, and you want me to send you out? Why don’t I carry you outside?"

He laughed: "I wouldn’t mind that. Let’s go, or my mom will call again if I’m late."

As they pulled and tugged toward the door, he held onto the door frame, bent down close to her face, insisting on getting a good night kiss before being willing to leave.

Yu Xia threw a couple of quick kisses, causing him to lean back, like a woodpecker fiercely pecking a tree.

Xie Qingci was baffled by her demeanor for a second, then chuckled while holding onto the door frame.

"You really are, too cute, dear."

Yu Xia promptly pushed him outside the door and shut it with a click, separating them inside and outside.

From inside the room, she could still faintly hear Xie Qingci’s laughter, along with his amused "Goodnight." She leaned against the door to listen, determining that he lingered by the door for a while before walking back next door leisurely.

And sure enough, Xu Yan called him again, his phone ringing just as he entered the room next door.

She sighed, turned off the light, and climbed into bed.

But she didn’t close her eyes, instead lying sideways and gazing at the faint moonlight outside the window. The words Xie Qingci said earlier circled in her mind, disturbing her thoughts and preventing sleep.

She hadn’t expected him to consider marriage so early.

Not even graduated college; some peers haven’t started their first romance, yet he’s contemplating early marriage. Leading his classmates need not be so ahead of the curve, right?

Plus, the timing isn’t mature at all. He’s not of legal age, and she’s just met his parents for the first time—likely, neither family has considered this, especially her brother, who probably strongly opposes.

She flipped over, wondering, isn’t Xie Qingci thinking? Wouldn’t he realize these issues?

Could he be mentioning this deliberately, then stepping back to make her soft-hearted and agree to other things?

Ah yes, his intention lies in the two suggestions that followed.

She closed her eyes and exhaled deeply, annoyed because this is just an arbitrary lead-in, yet she’s here restless, pondering every possibility.

Darn Xie Qingci, tomorrow morning she’ll have to give him a piece of her mind.

After venting internally, she rolled over again, seriously considering his later suggestions.

Rushing family meetings is unwise; providing some assurance... might be worth consideration.

Equivalent to painting a large picture—men can do it; women can too.

Embrace him, caress his head, and tell him affectionately, I’ve fallen deeply for you, love you so profoundly I’ve lost myself, and seven years down the line as you know me more and I adjust to you, when both our careers peak, I’ll marry you.

However, he wouldn’t believe it, likely staring at her with resentment, calling her a heartless traitor, claiming she’s casually placating him.

Imagining his resentful look is funny.

Thinking and thinking, Yu Xia buried herself under the quilt and chuckled.

...

A dreamless night.

On the first day of the New Year, at the start of the New Year, Yu Xia called home early.

Then she sent New Year greetings to He Ci, Mei, other colleagues, and friends within and outside the industry.

Because there were many people, and she didn’t want to delay until very late, she woke up early and sat on her bed, continuously messaging.

She was just a few people short when Xie Qingci knocked to come in.

She stared at her phone, dragging her pink fluffy slippers provided by Xu Yan, opened the door for him, and sat back on the bed to continue messaging.

Xie Qingci said a couple of words, to which she absentmindedly replied, "Oh," "Hmm," "Ah," without any heart.

"Speak later; I’m sending New Year wishes to directors, crafting greetings is tough. You interrupt, and I nearly sent your name instead."

Now, Xie Qingci understood why she was so popular in the entertainment circle. Other artists had managers or assistants craft messages for mass sending, or delegated this entirely, unlike her who composed each one.

He sighed and pulled over the clothes she placed aside, dressing her.

"Reach out, tilt your head."

Since she wanted to hold her phone, she switched hands to dress, struggling for quite a while to manage.

Xie Qingci buttoned her inner garment and casually commented, "We really shouldn’t have children, too troublesome." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Besides Yu Xia, he couldn’t imagine being so patient with anyone else. If it were a child, he might toss her phone straight out the window.

Yu Xia had just finished messaging, looked down at her outfit, and smilingly told him: "Not bad, your dressing skills are good; you’d likely manage with kids too."

"Whose kids? Your little one?"

Yu Xia immediately recalled Yue Ling’s previous mention, her brother getting kicked in the face while dressing her nephew, stifling her laughter.

"Not impossible, my brother would probably thank you for rescuing him."

Saying this, she wrapped her arms around his neck, kissed his cheek.

"Happy New Year, darling."