Chapter 172: Chapter 170: Bai Qi's Wild Imagination_1
Thud—
The chopsticks Bai Qi held in her hand suddenly dropped and clattered onto the dining table.
Her sparkling big eyes stared blankly at Fang Ren across from her, her mouth stuffed with a chicken leg, puffing her cheeks out in an adorably dazed expression.
What did he say?
Go, go, go to... go to a hotel!?
"Fang Ren! You hooligan!"
Without a second word, Bai Qi reached out and flung the chicken leg she was biting into straight toward Fang Ren's forehead.
Fang Ren immediately caught the flying chicken leg, looking at Bai Qi with a bewildered face, only then did he suddenly realize there was something off about his last sentence.
I'll accompany you anywhere... I stand by only wanting to go to a hotel…
"Stop, stop, stop! I didn't mean it like that!" Fang Ren hastily raised his hands in protest.
"Then what do you mean!?"
"I just want to start cultivating as soon as possible."
"I don't believe you!"
"How can I make you believe me?"
"I just don't believe you!"
"Do I really seem like the kind of person who would take advantage of you?" Fang Ren said.
Upon hearing this, Bai Qi's cheeks turned red, "Wasn't it enough for you to stand by taking advantage last time?"
"But... wasn't that an accident?" Fang Ren said with an embarrassed face.
"You still took advantage of me!"
"Didn't you take advantage of me, too?"
"You're a man!"
"So a man can't be taken advantage of? Just now you were saying something about equality for everyone, yet you change your tune when it comes to this."
"Are they the same thing!"
"Fine, fine, fine, whatever you say goes, but please stop nagging," Fang Ren quickly conceded, worried she might speak even louder. Her voice had attracted the attention of everyone around the dining table.
Bai Qi also snuck a peek around and hurriedly snatched back the chicken leg she had thrown, and continued gnawing on it in her mouth.
Fang Ren also got serious and said, "If you want to go shopping later, I might not have time to accompany you, but make sure to look after yourself. You do have some experts around you, after all."
"By myself? Shopping?" Bai Qi was instantly irritated by his comment, "I was considering taking you shopping because I thought you were in a bad mood, and now you're telling me to go by myself?"
"If you don't feel like shopping, let's find a place to settle down first. I still need to work on my cultivation later," Fang Ren said.
Bai Qi saw his indifferent look and felt even more angry. She was concerned about him, and yet he was showing no appreciation.
"Hmph!"
Bai Qi lowered her head and bit fiercely into the chicken leg, grabbing a small bun with her other hand and stuffing it into her mouth, puffing out her cheeks again. Coupled with her angry demeanor, she looked immensely haughty yet adorable.
After a few aggressive bites, Bai Qi began to calm down and analyze the situation.
Fang Ren liked her, this Bai Qi considered beyond doubt, but why was it that when she suggested accompanying him shopping, he showed no gratitude?
A few seconds later, an epiphany dawned on Bai Qi.
He was playing hard to get!
That's right, she felt sure that Fang Ren must be in a fit of pique with her right now!
Since Fang Renthen liked her and had even made concessions because she had developed feelings for someone else, it was already quite humiliating for him. Now, Fang Renthen had gone so far as to allow her to meet Brother Song, and she decided not to see him, tacitly putting an end to the matter. This must have made Fang Renthen think she was playing him.
Yes! That had to be the reason! He was angry!
The moment Bai Qi realized this, her eyes lit up; everything suddenly made sense.
If Fang Renthen didn't want to go shopping because he was sulking, then his mention of wanting to cultivate signified, Bai Qi thought, something deeper was at play.
Before leaving the Orchid Bamboo Alchemy Guild, she had told him seriously that she didn't want to meet Brother Song and that she didn't want him to keep feeling so wronged.
Yes, it was because of that sentence!
That sentence was full of misleading implications. Bai Qi believed that when Fang Renthen, who was fond of her, heard it, he must have felt as if she was being sympathetic to him, possibly leading him to misunderstand that she had some feelings for him as well.
So, after hearing this, Fang Renthen must have thought he had a chance. He said he needed to rush off to cultivate… could it be that he wanted to quickly close the gap in their cultivation levels and prove that he was better than Brother Song, ultimately winning her affection?
The more Bai Qi thought about it, the smarter she felt she was. With just a few words, she was able to guess Fang Renthen's inner thoughts so "clearly." Truly, she was a supreme genius.
In conclusion, Bai Qi summed up her theories: he didn't want to shop because he was sulking, and he wanted to hasten his cultivation because he wanted to win her heart.
Clear as day! Everything was crystal clear in the eyes of Bai Qi, the genius detective!
Having settled on her line of thought, Bai Qi began to ponder how to broach the subject.
It didn't matter how it was put, it was she who had asked Fang Ren to come, and it was also she who had asked him to give up his rights. No matter how you looked at it, it was her capriciousness that had caused this mess. Now that Fang Ren was upset, of course, she needed to find a way to soothe him.
However, for her, a princess who had always been the one to be pampered, figuring out how to cajole someone else was indeed somewhat challenging. She had never done such a thing before and had no experience to draw from.
This matter was completely unfamiliar territory to her.
Bai Qi's mind grew more chaotic as she thought about it, and she started gorging on the dishes on the table, taking out her emotions on the food.
"Hey, I'm discussing something with you, don't just focus on eating," Fang Renthen said with a sheepish look as he watched her devour the food like a tornado.
"Huh? What is it?"
Caught off guard by his sudden interjection, Bai Qi lifted her head, her cheeks bulging with food.
"Tsk~"
The moment she looked up, Fang Renthen couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Look at you, you're a mess."
"What is it?"
Bai Qi's face turned red, she paused for a moment, then pulled out her phone to check her reflection in the camera and saw that one side of her face was smeared with remnants of food, resembling a patched-up cat.
Blushing even more, Bai Qi grabbed a napkin and wiped her face, demanding, "What's the important thing?"
"I'm talking about where we'll stay for the night. We can't sleep on the streets, right?" Fang Renthen suggested.
"Two separate rooms!" Bai Qi blurted out immediately.
"…" Fang Renthen was taken aback. Could he, a married man, actually share a room with her?
If his wife found out, wouldn't she fight with Bai Qi while still carrying their child?
Seeing Fang Renthen silent and motionless, Bai Qi felt she might have crushed his hopes and remembered that she had just been considering how to appease him.
Her remark probably made him feel even worse, which was not the outcome she wanted.
Bai Qi, with her face still flushed, struggled for a moment before she spoke up, "But... even if we are engaged, we can't share a room. I like Brother Song... and we're going to annul the marriage later…"
As she spoke, her voice dropped to a near whisper, the last word so faint it was hardly spoken at all.
Comforting someone was clearly not her forte.
She hadn't even spoken two full sentences before she felt she had made Fang Ren's mood even worse.