Chapter Ninety-Six: The Young Lady Was Angry

Ke Bei also knew that what Li Mingbo had done back then had been somewhat excessive, and he regretted having asked Pei Xi to go find Li Mingbo in the first place. But since it had already happened, regret was useless. Ke Bei had apologized to Pei Xi as well, but Pei Xi simply refused to accept anyone’s apology.

Even so, under Ke Bei’s insistence, Li Mingbo had come in person to apologize, yet Pei Xi still refused to forgive them.

“Pei Xi wouldn’t stay angry with you over something so small. From what I know of her, she isn’t a petty girl. You must have done something else to make her upset.” Fang Yuan was unconcerned when he heard Ke Bei’s words. It was only a young girl’s temper, after all.

“Small? If Pei Xi heard you call this a small matter, she’d only be even angrier,” Ke Bei said in a low voice, as though afraid Pei Xi in the next room might overhear him.

“To tell you the truth, apart from the part where you were driven to jump into the sea, Li Mingbo and the others really didn’t do anything else to offend Pei Xi. To keep her safe, Li Mingbo even specifically had his own captain accompany her,” Ke Bei explained.

Mentioning Pei Xi’s cold treatment of him, Ke Bei still felt a trace of lingering fear. Because of this matter, Fang Yuan was the key person; whether Pei Xi would forgive him depended on Fang Yuan’s attitude.

“Is that so? Then why is Pei Xi so angry?” Fang Yuan was also puzzled. Although Li Mingbo had shown him no mercy, when it came to a girl, especially one with Pei Xi’s special background, he should not have let his subordinates do anything too extreme.

Could it be that Pei Xi had simply let her young lady temper get the better of her?

Pei Xi had grown up wrapped in luxury and had never truly suffered any hardship. With Old Master Pei’s strict protection, no one had ever dared to bully her.

So Fang Yuan had assumed that Pei Xi was simply unable to accept such a loss because she had never experienced anything like it before.

“Master, it’s not what you think. I think Miss Pei Xi is behaving this way because she’s worried about you,” Chong Chong suddenly said.

“Worried about me? Are you joking?” Fang Yuan blurted out, unable to help himself. The outburst startled Ke Bei beside him.

“What did you say?” Ke Bei was thoroughly baffled by Fang Yuan’s sudden remark.

“Ah? Oh, nothing. I just think... Pei Xi didn’t do anything wrong at all,” Fang Yuan said, then pulled the blanket up and wrapped himself tightly inside it.

“Master, I’m absolutely right. Miss Pei Xi must be worried about you, which is why she holds such a grudge against Li Mingbo,” Chong Chong continued. “Master... do you think the young lady might have fallen for you? Otherwise, why would she care about you so much?”

Although Chong Chong had never experienced much of the ways of the world, it could still see a different spark in the way Pei Xi looked at Fang Yuan.

Because Ke Bei was there, Fang Yuan could not say much. As Chong Chong spoke, it carefully analyzed the situation.

In truth, the analysis was pointless, because in this regard Fang Yuan was as blank as a sheet of paper, with no experience at all.

Still, Fang Yuan did rather admire Pei Xi. If things really were as Chong Chong said, he would not be opposed to it.

Pei Xi had the figure, and she had the looks. Compared with those great beauties, what Pei Xi lacked was only that particular temperament.

But that was precisely what Fang Yuan liked. Beautiful without being artificial, straightforward without being strange—she would indeed make a fine girlfriend.

“Master, why don’t you just ask Miss Pei Xi directly in a bit? If she really likes you, then what are you waiting for? Take her down directly and make those restless people give up for good,” Chong Chong grew more and more excited as it spoke, and in the end it even urged Fang Yuan to surprise Pei Xi outright, skipping the entire stage of dating and heading straight for marriage.

Knowing that Chong Chong was only half-informed and probably no better than himself in such matters, Fang Yuan could only smile helplessly. What a sentimental Chong Chong this was—thinking of something and acting on it, never considering the consequences at all.

Seeing that Fang Yuan looked somewhat tired, Ke Bei knew, no matter how thick-skinned he was, that it was time for him to leave. Once Ke Bei was gone, Fang Yuan, who had been pretending to rest, suddenly sat up.

“Chong Chong, do you think Pei Xi really likes me?” Fang Yuan was already in his early twenties. To be honest, he had reached the age when people started thinking about romance. He did have some ideas about it.

“Of course, Master. Why don’t we go ask the young lady right now?” Chong Chong said at once, energized by the question, and immediately began urging Fang Yuan to go ask her.

If this had been any other time, Fang Yuan probably would never have done such a thing. But at that moment, for reasons even he did not understand, he actually got dressed and went into the room next door.

The next room was a storage room for medical supplies. There was a reclining chair inside. When Fang Yuan entered, Pei Xi was speaking with a doctor. Seeing Fang Yuan appear before her in a patient’s gown, Pei Xi thought something might be wrong with his condition and hurriedly stood up, asking anxiously,

“Fang Yuan, do you feel uncomfortable anywhere? If you do, then...”

“Pei Xi, do you like me?”

Before Pei Xi could finish, Fang Yuan cut her off and asked suddenly.

“What? What did you say?” Pei Xi was momentarily speechless, thinking she must have heard wrong.

“I’m asking whether you like me,” Fang Yuan repeated, very seriously. His expression did not change in the slightest, as though he were conducting some routine inquiry.

For a moment, the room fell silent. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard.

Then came a snort, followed by loud laughter.

After a long while, the doctor who had been standing behind Pei Xi and facing Fang Yuan finally could not hold back and burst into loud laughter.

Perhaps the doctor laughed a little too arrogantly, a little too infuriatingly. Both Pei Xi and Fang Yuan frowned at once and looked toward the attending physician, who was laughing so hard he could barely stand upright.

Realizing his own impropriety, the doctor became rather embarrassed, but this young man in front of him was simply too amusing.

Out of the corner of his eye, Fang Yuan saw the doctor trembling all over under Pei Xi’s gaze, then fleeing the room as if escaping for his life. After that, Fang Yuan heard an earth-shaking peal of laughter from outside the door...

“Fang Yuan... you...” Pei Xi’s little face flushed bright red as she pointed at him, seeming to want to say something, but in the end she could not get the words out.

“What? What about me? Do you like me or not?” Fang Yuan looked at the blushing Pei Xi in complete bewilderment, unable to understand why answering such a simple question could be so difficult.

“Fang Yuan, you... you’re bullying me.” With that, Pei Xi fled the room in indignation, her eyes seeming to glisten with tears. Her wronged expression was so heartbreaking that anyone seeing it would feel the bully was nothing short of inhuman.