She didn't know why the old trouble flared up again this time.
Watching Fang Jiangyi leave, Yan Xia instinctively turned to look at Lu Qianzhou. He was all set, waiting for her to get in his car and leave at any moment.
Some of the onlookers had dispersed, but there were still quite a few curious people lingering around.
It seemed that in this just - ended drama of vying for the beauty, Lu Qianzhou had the upper hand.
Yan Xia stood still. She would rather wait for Fang Jiangyi's driver to pick her up than get in his car.
Lu Qianzhou took a few steps and came in front of her. Grabbing her hand, he was about to drag her towards his car. Yan Xia stood firmly on the ground and refused to move. No matter how hard Lu Qianzhou pulled, she was determined not to go with him.
Lu Qianzhou wasn't angry. Instead, he looked at her with a smile: "How much longer do you want to stand here and be gawked at like a monkey?"
Yan Xia glared at him: "Isn't it because of your persistent entanglement that I'm standing here being gawked at like a monkey?"
It was clearly his doing, yet how could he act as if he was uninvolved and have the nerve to ask her to go with him?
"Anyway, if you keep wasting time with me here, you'll only attract more onlookers. Our names will quickly be linked together and arouse people's speculation. I don't really care. If you want to keep wasting time with me here, I'll oblige."
Yan Xia ignored him and just stood by the roadside waiting on her own.
She might not have much else, but she had plenty of patience. For someone like Lu Qianzhou, all she needed to do was ignore him, and she could infuriate him in no time.
Sure enough, less than a minute later, Lu Qianzhou grew impatient with waiting. The people around who were secretly taking pictures also made him increasingly annoyed.
"Are you sure you won't go with me? The child you're going to pick up is still waiting for you. What if someone else picks her up by accident if you're late?"
He was threatening her again. Now that she had Lan Mengfan, the child was her weakness. Lu Qianzhou always knew exactly how to seize her weakness and force her to submit.
"Don't you touch her! She's just a child who doesn't understand anything!" Yan Xia replied coldly.
Lu Qianzhou raised his eyebrows: "I didn't say I was going to touch her."
He held her hand tightly and refused to let go. The warmth of his palm was so scorching. Yan Xia suddenly remembered the unfamiliar streets they had walked together in the Japanese streets. His palm had been just as warm then.
But now, that warmth felt like a kind of irony to her, almost burning her.
No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free from Lu Qianzhou's grasp. She felt like she had been cornered, almost suffocating under Lu Qianzhou's relentless pressure.
"When will you stop using those despicable means to coerce and lure me? You've done those things, but you don't have the guts to admit them. It's really ironic."
Lu Qianzhou narrowed his eyes: "What have I done?"
"You know exactly what you've done. You have everything you want, and you've avenged your great hatred. I don't understand what else you're not satisfied with." Why did he still have to resort to schemes and tricks in everything he did?
"You used to have the same contemptuous evaluation of Fang Jiangyi, and now you have the same misunderstanding of me." Lu Qianzhou's gaze turned a bit colder. Maybe because he was facing her like this, his heart was pounding uncontrollably against his chest. "In your heart, he's a gentleman. What am I? A hypocrite who acts one way in public and another in private?"
She didn't even want to compare Lu Qianzhou with Fang Jiangyi on the same level.
But she still wanted to make Lu Qianzhou feel bad. As long as the words were vicious enough to hurt him and embarrass him, she didn't hold back. So she bluntly criticized him.
"You don't need me to think so. You are exactly like that."
The grip on her hand suddenly loosened a bit. Before Yan Xia could rejoice, she heard Lu Qianzhou say.
"Since I've already had such an image in your heart, if I don't do something, wouldn't I be sorry for your evaluation of me?"
Suddenly, her arm was grabbed. She didn't even have time to react. With a sudden shift, she was hoisted onto his shoulder. The whole world turned upside down. She was firmly carried on Lu Qianzhou's shoulder, and her long hair covered her panicked face.
"Lu Qianzhou, are you crazy!" Yan Xia didn't dare to struggle too hard for fear of falling. "Put me down. Do you hear me!"
Her stomach was pressing uncomfortably against his shoulder, but she didn't care. Thinking that so many people had seen her embarrassing state, her face couldn't help but flush.
He simply ignored her and the onlookers' whispers. He directly carried her and threw her into the car. Then he got in himself, and the driver quickly drove away. Finally, they disappeared from the sight of the onlookers.
Lu Qianzhou turned to ask Yan Xia: "Where's the school?"
Before he could finish his sentence, Yan Xia suddenly kicked out with one leg. The aim was extremely precise, straight at his crotch, as a way to vent her anger.
Fortunately, Lu Qianzhou was quick - witted and grabbed her calf in time, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Lu Qianzhou raised his eyebrows: "Cruel woman. You dare to kick anywhere. Do you want to be a widow?"
Yan Xia glared at him angrily. This man was always so brazen.
She was wearing a neat suit today. At the moment, one of her legs was held in his hand, and his hand was pressing tightly against her delicate skin, wandering ambiguously.
"Let go of me!" Yan Xia gritted her teeth in restraint.
"Tell me the school address first." He was determined to go with her to pick up Lan Mengfan.
Although she was extremely reluctant, thinking that the child was still waiting for her and she didn't want the child to wait too long, Yan Xia had no choice but to tell him the address. The driver sped towards the school.
All the way, Yan Xia propped her elbow on the car window and stared at the scenery outside without saying a word.
But Lu Qianzhou had no qualms at all. He chatted with her: "You've made up your mind to adopt Lan Yuzhou's daughter, haven't you? He'll be out of prison soon. Sooner or later, you'll still have to return her to him."
When Yan Xia ignored him, he analyzed to himself.
"However, it is indeed a smart choice. Everything will be the best for her by your side, and no one will dare to touch her." He thought carefully. "Then we should start training her from now on. Since she calls you mom, then she should change her address for me to dad."
No matter whose child it was, as long as she liked it and was willing to accept it, he could love her because of his love for Yan Xia and reluctantly accept the child.
Yan Xia didn't even want to talk to him. She just didn't expect him to be so brazen.
"Lu Qianzhou, can you have some self - respect? Why should she call you dad?"
Lu Qianzhou sneered: "If she doesn't call me dad, who do you want her to call? Fang Jiangyi?"
She ignored Lu Qianzhou's sharp gaze.
"No matter who she calls, it won't be you! What right do you have to make her call you dad? Did you give birth to her or raise her?"
Needless to say, she knew that Lu Qianzhou just wanted to win over everyone around her with all his might. Lan Mengfan was close to her and called Yan Xia mom. Of course, he couldn't stand it if she called someone else dad.
People who knew the truth would understand, but those who didn't might misunderstand.
Lu Qianzhou said casually: "It's okay. I'll make up for it slowly from today on. She'll get used to changing her address."
Yan Xia ignored him. From afar, she saw the school gate. The teacher was holding Lan Mengfan's hand, waiting for her to pick the child up. If she hadn't wasted time with Lu Qianzhou, she should have picked up the child long ago instead of being so late.