"Your sister is far more smooth than you are." This was precisely why Miao Tong had chosen Xia Qingyu.
"More than that! My sister is so much better than me, my sister, she..." Xia Qingyu's eyes sparkled, as if merely mentioning Xia Qingtian gave her inexhaustible energy and endless words.
"Stop!" Miao Tong suddenly recalled the memory of listening to Xia Qingyu praise Xia Qingtian for hours. He immediately interrupted, "I know how outstanding Xia Qingtian is in your eyes, but I'm not here to ask about Xia Qingtian right now."
"Tsk." Having her train of thought so abruptly interrupted, Xia Qingyu clicked her tongue and asked, "What do you want to ask?"
"That girl named Er Ya, is she on good terms with my brother?" Miao Tong inquired.
"Of course, they're close. I think Er Ya is determined to marry your brother," Xia Qingyu chuckled, recalling Er Ya's possessiveness over Xia Shang.
"Determined to marry my brother? Her? A bumpkin from the Tang family?" Upon hearing Xia Qingyu's words, Miao Tong's attempt to suppress his instinctive emotions shattered. "Does the Tang family look down on everyone? They think they can palm off a village girl onto our Miao family? Does she even deserve it! Even if my brother never gets married, never ties the knot in his life, and lives a lonely life until death! He would never marry her! She should give up on that idea soon!"
"You're so... friendly towards your brother," Xia Qingyu said, her lips twitching as she listened to Miao Tong's lengthy outburst. "If you weren't my cousin, I'd definitely beat you to death."
"Anyway, that's the gist of it. She's impossible to marry into my family," Miao Tong stated with ill grace.
"Your Miao family doesn't welcome Er Ya, but our Xia family likes her very much. As long as she's good to my uncle and my uncle likes her, that's enough," Xia Qingyu said with a broad perspective.
Frankly, given Xia Shang's disfigured features, not every girl could accept him.
Xia Qingyu thought it was good that Er Ya could see past Xia Shang's distorted and sinister appearance to his kindness, gentleness, and sincerity.
She really didn't know what Miao Tong was so concerned about.
"Hmph, what does your Xia family know! Dealing with a tiger, aren't you afraid of being devoured completely and left with no corpse one day!" Miao Tong deliberately put on a stern face and spoke sinisterly.
It wasn't that he was intentionally trying to scare Xia Qingyu; the Lu family had suffered such a fate.
Back then, the Lu family had even sought a marriage alliance with the Tang family. And what happened?
They were annihilated without anyone knowing why!
Xia Qingyu listened to Miao Tong's words, then recalled Er Ya's plump, rosy face and her big, blinking eyes. She couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
"Er Ya? She's only got the combat power to kill a chicken. You're overthinking it," Xia Qingyu said with a scoff, waving her hand dismissively.
"Why don't you believe me!" Miao Tong, seeing Xia Qingyu question his words, immediately grabbed her shoulder and said anxiously, "Listen to me..."
Xia Qingyu's shoulder ached from Miao Tong's grip, and she gasped for breath. Before she could protest, she saw a figure quickly block in front of her.
Before Xia Qingyu could react, Miao Tong was struck squarely in the face and fell to the ground.
Miao Tong was equally caught off guard, only two words flashing through his mind: so fast!
A moment later, pain surged through him. Miao Tong felt a sweetish taste in his mouth, his nose burned, and the tailbone he'd injured when falling sent a twinge of pain.
He braced himself on the ground with one hand, and with the other, he touched his nose, only to see a smear of red.
He was bleeding!
Xia Qingyu also noticed Miao Tong was bleeding from his nose from the blow. Just as she was about to step forward to help him up, her wrist was grabbed.
Xia Qingyu followed the hand that had grabbed her wrist upwards and met a profile filled with anger. "Nie Qingkong?"
"Stay away from her!" Nie Qingkong said coldly, glaring at Miao Tong and warning, "Or I'll beat you every time I see you!"
"Huh?" Miao Tong was stunned for a moment. Before he could explain, he saw Nie Qingkong grab Xia Qingyu and walk away from him.
Miao Tong's mind was in a momentary state of chaos.
He'd been hit, his milk tea spilled, and Xia Qingyu had been dragged away...
"What is all this!" Miao Tong looked at the red on his hand, completely bewildered.
Nie Qingkong had forcefully dragged Xia Qingyu away. Xia Qingyu's wrist hurt from Nie Qingkong's grip, and after several futile struggles, she finally couldn't help but say, "Nie Qingkong! Let go of me!"
Nie Qingkong's face was stern.
He hadn't intended to get involved in Xia Qingyu's affairs anymore.
After all, Xia Qingyu had made it clear last time that she didn't want him to meddle in her business.
He wasn't one to grovel.
So, at the school gate, he had deliberately ignored her.
But he never expected that while driving past, he would see that scumbag who called himself [Xiao Xiao Su] getting into a confrontation with Xia Qingyu!
How dare that bastard confront Xia Qingyu!
He had gone easy on him with that punch just now; he should have broken that scumbag's legs!
"Nie Qingkong! You're hurting me!"
Hearing Xia Qingyu say this, Nie Qingkong's grip lessened slightly. He took a deep breath, then stopped and turned to look at Xia Qingyu, asking, "Aren't you being too careless with yourself?"
"What?" Xia Qingyu's mind was a jumble of questions upon hearing Nie Qingkong's words.
"Aren't you done being lovey-dovey with Li Xiaozhong? And who is this now?" Nie Qingkong said mockingly. "You really are..."
Xia Qingyu's expression changed. She shook off Nie Qingkong's hand and slapped him across the face.
Nie Qingkong was taken aback by the slap and looked at Xia Qingyu in disbelief. "You dare to hit me?"
"If you spout foul language, you should be prepared to be hit! What right do you have to say I'm careless with myself? Are you sick! If you're sick, go get treated!" Xia Qingyu glared, her eyes wide, and said impatiently. "I've told you before not to interfere in my business. Can't you understand what I'm saying?"
"You..." Nie Qingkong opened his mouth, then swallowed the words back down his throat. He nodded and sneered self-deprecatingly. "To meddle in your affairs again would be my own foolishness!"
With that, Nie Qingkong turned and walked away.
"You lunatic!" Xia Qingyu glared at Nie Qingkong's retreating back and rolled her eyes. She turned to go back and find Miao Tong.
He was her uncle's younger brother, after all. What was wrong with this Nie Qingkong, hitting people at the slightest disagreement? His thought process was too far from normal!
As Xia Qingyu turned back to find Miao Tong, Miao Tong was also coming to find her.
After all, she was his elder brother's nominal niece, and he couldn't just stand by and watch her be snatched away like this.
The two met at the intersection. Miao Tong's nosebleed had stopped, but his face was dirty, and his lip was bruised, making him look quite disheveled.
Xia Qingyu had no choice but to take Miao Tong back to the Xia residence. As they were waiting for a car by the roadside, Nie Qingkong, sitting in his car, spotted the two of them.
He clenched his fist at his side, his expression grim. From now on, if he interfered in Xia Qingyu's affairs, it would be his own foolishness!
Nie Qingkong said nothing, his gaze sweeping over Miao Tong.
That scumbag, he would remember him.
He would beat him every time he saw him from now on.