“Young ladies these days are becoming more and more open.” The shopkeeper's wife muttered underneath her breath.

Meanwhile, Lu Beixiao placed a piece of note on the table before walking away with his girlfriend, hand in hand.

He walked away without even asking for the change. It was a fifty yuan note.

“See, that's what a real man does!” One of the girls in the restaurant grumbled about her boyfriend's lack of courtesy.

“Well, his girlfriend is obviously better looking,” the boy retorted.

They had to pay a visit to the local judicial administration to make a formal report about the street fight. Ye Qiao waited patiently while Lu Beixiao was in the room, noting his testimony. Soon, his uncle joined her in the wait.

“Xiao Xiao!”

Lu Beixiao frowned upon hearing the voice as soon as he stepped out of the room. He did not answer or even look at his so-called uncle, who was only three years older. He took a look at his watch in a burst of impatience.

Ye Qiao was standing right next to Du Jun.

Du Jun had once told her that he was a person that Lu Beixiao looked up to, which was, frankly, gibberish.

Ye Qiao did not believe in such nonsense.

“Xiao Xiao didn't hear me,” Du Jun softly explained. Determined, he cleared his throat and called out once again, “Xiao Xiao! Little Lu Lu!”

Lu Beixiao simply could not accept such nicknames, as they were absolutely humiliating. He held back the urge to give the man a harsh beating and simply ignored him.

“He still didn't hear me,” Du Jun comforted himself.

“Uncle, are you sure about that?” Ye Qiao teased him. She did so rather quietly.

“Of course! He wouldn't have turned away from me if he did. I'm the uncle that he admires that most!” Du Jun continued with excessive pride and self-satisfaction.

Ye Qiao pretended to acknowledge his boastful remark with a smile. “Xiao!” She called out his name softly.

He turned around, almost instantaneously, and Du Jun's heart was shattered into a million pieces when reality finally hit him. They had not met in three years, and yet all that he had received was such poor treatment.

Ye Qiao ran swiftly towards Lu Beixiao and was received with warm attention. He rubbed her head and watched as her hair swayed from left to right.

“Xiao, didn't you hear your uncle? He called out your name twice,” Ye Qiao said with a hint of pride while Du Jun walked towards them.

“I heard him,” he did not beat about the bush, nor did he care about hurting Du Jun's feelings.

Ye Qiao could tell that Lu Beixiao was putting up a show of intentional unfriendliness.

“How could you dismiss me like this, after my constant service by your girlfriend's side?” Du Jun cried his heart out over the mistreatment.

“Mr. Du Jun, did you really just bring that up? She would've been seriously injured if I hadn't got there in time! Where were you when everything went haywire? I didn't see any of your relief troops tonight, and yet you're here taking merits. Are you serious?” Lu Beixiao said with a note of mild aversion.

“I…”

“That's enough, Xiao. Don't get mad at your uncle. He's only human. He did send his men to protect me. Who would've thought that the gangsters would show up so suddenly at my brother's house when we went separate ways?” Ye Qiao quickly explained. It was not entirely his uncle's fault. In an era without cellphones, it was rather difficult to locate someone urgently.

“You're really a thoughtful girl! I haven't even had my dinner yet because of you! Come, girl, I'm taking you out for a feast. Shall we?” His invitation was met with Lu Beixiao's flinty stare.

Lu Beixiao pulled Ye Qiao into his arms, followed by a tight squeeze of her shoulder as a sign to display their relations.h.i.+p. That was how sensitive he was, even in front of his uncle. He did not want his girlfriend to be taken away by another man.

“You can eat alone. Give me the car. I'll send her home!” Lu Beixiao was not at all polite.

There was nothing else Du Jun could say in response to his domineering request.

“Uncle, let's go, shall we? Xiao is in a rush back to the base. Tick tock,” Ye Qiao turned around and said while walking away with Lu Beixiao, arm in arm.

“Xiao, let's send you back to the base. I'm afraid that you might be late. It's almost 11!” Ye Qiao was reluctant to see him go, but rules were rules.

“No, I'll send you back. I need to check and see if the hotel is secured,” he was serious about it.

“The hotel is only secure without you, pervert.” Ye Qiao thought to herself.