"Why would I be a princess? If it weren't for you slippery-footed coward, I'd still be vacationing abroad!" Wen Yao retorted, "It's all your fault! You're faster than anyone when there's actual business to be done! And! Don't call me Roly-Poly!"
"Hmph, stingy." Wen Jiu pouted.
"Wen Jiu, she is..." Xia Qingtian asked, blinking.
"She's my cousin," Wen Jiu introduced. "Because she's so big, I always feel like she's unstable and will fall, but every time it's just a false alarm. So I call her Roly-Poly. But don't underestimate her; she's quite famous internationally. Her counter-surveillance skills are top-notch."
"Wen Jiu! Don't call me Roly-Poly!" Wen Yao's face flushed red in protest. "And! I'm only a month younger than you! Stop calling me cousin!"
"A day younger is still younger." Wen Jiu's gaze shifted from Wen Yao's face to her chest. "But it's okay, you're big in other..."
"Wen Jiu!" Wen Yao stamped her foot in anger. "I'll kill you!"
"You can't even beat me..." Wen Jiu shrugged, crossing her arms.
"If everyone else couldn't beat you, you would have died countless times already!" Wen Yao puffed, her chest becoming increasingly prominent and exaggerated.
Xia Qingtian truly wasn't trying to be impolite by staring at someone's sensitive areas, but she couldn't look away... she really couldn't.
In that instant, Xia Qingtian understood Gu Yaoyang.
If it were her, she wouldn't be able to control herself either!
Seeing Xia Qingtian's strange gaze, Gu Yaoyang guessed what she was thinking and his ears immediately turned red.
He cleared his throat deliberately. Seeing Wen Yao still bickering with Wen Jiu, he could only say helplessly, "Wen Yao, why don't you go catch up with Wen Jiu?"
"What's there to catch up on with her!" Wen Yao scoffed, wanting nothing more than to strangle the scoundrel.
"Then let me catch up with you, alright?" Wen Jiu slung an arm around Wen Yao's shoulder and pulled her upstairs, saying with a laugh, "Come up with me, sis, I'll show you a big surprise~"
"Let go of me!" Wen Yao protested for only a couple of sentences. Before she could struggle, Wen Jiu hoisted her onto her shoulder with one arm.
Only when they reached the stairs did Wen Jiu give Gu Yaoyang an ok sign and carry Wen Yao upstairs.
The entire living room was left with only Xia Qingtian and Gu Yaoyang.
Xia Qingtian finally came back to her senses and coughed lightly, looking at Gu Yaoyang. "So, she's from the Wen family. You two are quite well-matched."
"What's this 'well-matched'?" Gu Yaoyang finally had a chance to explain to Xia Qingtian. "We don't know how the Wen family intercepted the news, but they heard someone was after me, so they sent Wen Yao. She's only responsible for protecting me; we're not in that kind of relationship."
Thinking he had finally clarified everything, Gu Yaoyang breathed a sigh of relief, picked up his teacup, and took a sip to moisten his throat.
"Oh..." Xia Qingtian replied, then looked up at Gu Yaoyang. "Since that's the case, then... don't get too carried away..."
"Pfft!" Gu Yaoyang looked at Xia Qingtian speechlessly. "You... cough cough..."
Xia Qingtian immediately grabbed some tissues and handed them to Gu Yaoyang. "Are you alright?"
"Qingtian, I!" Gu Yaoyang took the tissues and wiped his mouth. Just as he was about to explain further, he heard footsteps approaching, accompanied by Xia Honglang's voice.
"Mr. Gu, thank you for waiting. There was some traffic on the way back." Xia Honglang entered and looked at the hesitant Gu Yaoyang and the subtly-faced Xia Qingtian, blinking in confusion. "What's..."
"It's nothing, Dad. I'm going upstairs now. You guys talk." Xia Qingtian said and then turned, running upstairs with a pitter-patter.
Gu Yaoyang watched Xia Qingtian run off like that, feeling like he was going to burst from holding back.
After going upstairs, Xia Qingtian's lips curved into a mischievous smile.
Seeing the interaction between Wen Jiu and Wen Yao, Xia Qingtian guessed that Wen Yao was probably just sent by the Wen family to protect Gu Yaoyang.
What she had heard before was likely due to some misunderstanding.
But thinking about how Gu Yaoyang dared to avoid her earlier, Xia Qingtian deliberately played dumb, intending to tease him.
Seeing his rare look of panic, Xia Qingtian felt like laughing.
When she reached the second floor, she went straight to Wen Jiu's room.
At this moment, Wen Jiu and Wen Yao were standing at the doorway, speaking to each other in serious lip-reading. Wen Yao was also frowning, staring at Wen Jiu's lips, deciphering them intently.
Seeing Xia Qingtian, Wen Jiu revealed a somewhat improper smile again. "Qingtian, finished chatting?"
"Mm, my dad's back, and they're discussing work, so I came up first." Xia Qingtian walked towards Wen Jiu. "Are you two sisters still catching up?"
"What's there to catch up on with her!" Wen Yao rolled her eyes. "Such a fierce old witch..."
"Tch." Wen Jiu merely chuckled and invited Xia Qingtian and Wen Yao into the room to chat.
As soon as she opened the door, Wen Yao was shocked. "Is this how a person lives? How can it be so messy! I'm begging you! Can you please not throw your socks around! And this! This!"
Wen Yao complained with disdain as soon as she entered, while tidying up efficiently.
"Is she..." Xia Qingtian lowered her voice, subtly pointing at Wen Yao.
"Mm, this aspect of her is quite similar to Wen Ning," Wen Jiu commented, twitching her lips.
Xia Qingtian made an 'ok' gesture, indicating she understood.
"Let's go sit over there and let her fuss about by herself." Wen Jiu couldn't be bothered with Wen Yao and directly led Xia Qingtian to sit down. "I went to investigate your aunt today. I didn't know until I started looking..."
"And what did you find?" Xia Qingtian asked Wen Jiu, pressing for details.
"I found out nothing," Wen Jiu spread her hands.
"..." Xia Qingtian couldn't help but roll her eyes. "That must have kept you very busy. You should focus your time on more useful matters."
"Are you silly?" Wen Jiu poked Xia Qingtian's forehead with her finger. "Let me tell you, it's not scary to find anything about a person. The scariest thing is when you can't find anything at all."
"What do you mean?" Xia Qingtian blinked at Wen Jiu.
"Everyone has a past. Even if they haven't committed any crimes, they must have had a fever or a cold and gone to the hospital, right? I can't even find her medical records. Don't you think that's too strange?" Wen Jiu tapped her finger on the table. "In this situation, either someone erased all her records, and her past is so well hidden that even someone at my level can't query it, or... she's a fake, a complete fake."
Upon hearing Wen Jiu's words, Xia Qingtian's brow furrowed.
Given Wen Jiu's capabilities, the first possibility was absolutely out of the question.
Therefore, only the second option remained.
Yu Zixuan, who exactly are you?