Xu Tingyu looked at him but fell silent again.
Qi Shifeng wasn't in a hurry to urge her to believe him. Instead, he got up and poured her a glass of warm water.
"Would you like to tell me what happened today?"
Xu Tingyu took a few sips of water and shook her head.
"It's nothing. I'm a bit tired and want to take a rest. I've made a dinner appointment with Uncle Qian tonight."
After a pause, she added an explanation, "Uncle Qian was my father's former secretary."
"I know," Qi Shifeng replied with a sigh, his tone tinged with helplessness and disappointment. "Tingyu, I'm not that unfamiliar with you."
She was taken aback, her delicate eyebrows knitting slightly, but she didn't say much.
Did he know her well?
She herself didn't even feel that she knew herself anymore.
The collapse of Xu Jianmin's image left her feeling lost.
After the confusion came deep exhaustion.
She got up and went back to her room, noticing that the bed had been tidied up.
The bed sheets and quilt covers had been replaced with new ones.
She curled her lips silently and went into the bathroom to wash off the thin layer of sweat on her body.
While drying her hair, her eyes met her reflection in the mirror.
There were still red marks on her body that hadn't faded, indicating how wild Qi Shifeng had been last night.
But when he said he wanted to start over in the morning and took off his clothes, she saw that he wasn't in much better condition, which made her feel a bit more balanced.
She stared at herself in the mirror for a while before drying the water on her body and putting on a bathrobe.
As the red marks on her body were covered, her exhaustion returned.
When she returned to the room, she saw Qi Shifeng standing at the door, holding a small bowl.
Seeing her come out, he explained voluntarily, "I asked the kitchen to make some soothing soup."
She refused to say anything, but the weariness between her eyebrows was hard to hide.
All he could do was accompany her.
Xu Tingyu nodded, took the small bowl, and without looking, drank half of it in one gulp.
She really needed to calm her nerves now.
Seeing her drink the soup, Qi Shifeng helped her lift the quilt. "Do you want me to sleep with you for a while?"
His voice was deep and powerful, without a hint of ambiguity.
Xu Tingyu didn't refuse. "If it's convenient for you."
It was as polite as if they were talking about the nice weather today.
But in fact, as soon as Qi Shifeng lay down, she automatically snuggled into his arms and pressed her face against his chest.
Qi Shifeng didn't say a word. He just let her adjust until she found a comfortable position.
Then, her breathing gradually became shallow and fell into his ears.
He didn't say anything else but gently patted her on the back.
Xu Tingyu didn't say anything either.
For her, Qi Shifeng was just a human pillow now.
She always felt her hands and feet were cold in the thermostatically controlled room and needed a source of heat.
But when she closed her eyes, her sense of smell and hearing were magnified. In his clean and cold fragrance, she felt a subtle flutter in her heart.
Maybe it was because he was by her side, or maybe it was the effect of the soothing soup.
She slept for nearly two hours.
When she woke up again, it was already evening.
Qi Shifeng hadn't slept at all. He had just lain there with her for two hours.
But he enjoyed it. Even after she woke up, he still asked, "You can sleep a little longer. It's still early for dinner."
The tenderness in his tone softened her heart.
She tilted her head slightly back, and her breath hit his chin.
"Qi Shifeng, I want to kiss you."
That was her first words.
Qi Shifeng's eyes darkened. He suddenly lowered his head and covered her red lips.
The moment their lips touched, Xu Tingyu let out a long sigh in her heart.
Her heart tightened and tightened again, beating extremely violently, but her mind was blank, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
Qi Shifeng knew there was a dinner tonight and there wasn't enough time.
So he was very measured. His hands behaved themselves and didn't move around randomly. He just held her tighter and tighter.
He almost pressed her into his body, relying on this to relieve his longing for her.
When the kiss ended, Xu Tingyu's voice was hoarse.
"Qi Shifeng, do you want to go with me tonight?"
When she asked if he wanted to go, it actually sounded more like a challenge of whether he dared to go.
Qi Shifeng could tell, but he wasn't the least bit unhappy.
He touched the corner of her mouth. "Of course, if you're willing."
He returned her words to her.
What a vengeful man.
Xu Tingyu hooked her lips into a smile. "Then let's go together."
She had now accepted his intimate gestures and was also taking him to meet Secretary Qian.
But for some reason, Qi Shifeng still felt that she was far away from him.
While waiting for Zou Yu to send Youyou over, Xu Tingyu was sitting in front of the dressing mirror putting on makeup, and Qi Shifeng was sitting on the edge of the bed watching her.
The room was very quiet, and Qi Shifeng's gaze was very focused.
Xu Tingyu suddenly looked over. "Qi Shifeng, did your father and mother have a good relationship?"
Actually, Xu Tingyu rarely asked about the Qi family.
The last time she asked about Qi Ye was an exception. Unexpectedly, she was concerned about the Liu Ning couple today.
Qi Shifeng didn't think much but quickly replied, "No."
If the couple had a good relationship, their siblings wouldn't be so strange.
When parents weren't harmonious, siblings wouldn't be harmonious either.
"Why wasn't it good?"
Xu Tingyu seemed very curious.
Qi Shifeng gave her a deep look. After making sure she was really curious, he slowly replied, "My father was promiscuous."
It was actually a very embarrassing thing for a man to describe his father with such a word, especially in front of his wife.
But it was the truth.
Xu Tingyu was stunned for a moment before asking, "So what do you think of your father?"
"I look down on him, but I'm helpless. This life was chosen by my mother."
Qi Shifeng also had a very poor relationship with his father.
Qi's father was indeed dissipated and had a very low sense of family responsibility.
Giving birth to Qi Ye and their three siblings was more like fulfilling the old man's task.
After the task was completed, he completely let loose and rarely went home.
Liu Ning was hysterical about this and put all her energy into her husband who didn't come home, completely ignoring the children.
As a result, the personalities of the three children were also very strange.
All in all, this was a family of oddballs.
"Since Big Brother is in poor health, does your father also look down on him?"
Xu Tingyu seemed to have turned into a curious baby.
Every time he heard Qi Ye from her mouth, Qi Shifeng would subconsciously become vigilant.
Why was she so abnormal today?
And why was she always so curious about Qi Ye's affairs?
"I'm not very sure about this. My father rarely stayed with us. We only got together on important family festivals."
"In my memory, his attitude towards me was about the same as towards Qi Ye. He was quite nice to Xixi and liked to play with her."
"Neither Qi Ye nor I were very close to him. We were quite afraid of him when we were kids. Even when we grew up, we only saw him a few times a year."