"Xiao Nanchen, who the hell are you calling a dog?!" Xia Qiqi was so angry she nearly spat blood. On what grounds was he insulting her like this?
"Whoever's an idiot is a dog."
"You're the idiot, your whole family is idiotic!" Xia Qiqi was about to explode, incredibly upset.
"If you're not an idiot, go help Nanchen get changed."
"I refuse!" Xia Qiqi was typically stubborn and defiant.
Ye Jinghuai's expression noticeably darkened a little.
"It's fine," Xiao Nanchen quickly tried to smooth things over. "She can help me instead."
He casually pointed at one of the female staff members.
The female staff member didn't dare say a word. Caught off guard by the sudden request, she hastily responded, "Of course, I'll help you get changed."
As she spoke, she moved to push Xiao Nanchen's wheelchair forward.
By this time, An Nuan had also changed into a black formal gown and emerged from the changing room. She had clearly overheard their quarrel inside.
She said to Xia Qiqi, "You go help Nanchen get changed."
"On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that your name is written right next to Nanchen's!"
"......" Xia Qiqi looked extremely aggrieved.
But ever since she was little, she could never win against An Nuan. On all major and minor issues, as long as An Nuan spoke, she would listen to An Nuan.
"Go on, be good. We'll wait for you," An Nuan urged.
Xia Qiqi pushed out her lips sulkily, looking very unhappy as she pushed Xiao Nanchen's wheelchair into the changing room.
The sudden enclosed space was still rather... awkward.
Xiao Nanchen said, "I can manage the top half, but I'll need help with the pants."
Xia Qiqi didn't speak.
Xiao Nanchen also didn't say anything further.
He knew she was deliberately ignoring him.
He lowered his head to take his clothes off.
Xia Qiqi had initially turned her head away.
She didn't know why, but she couldn't help taking a peek.
She saw that the previous bruises and swellings on Xiao Nanchen's body were gone.
His skin really was fairer than a woman's.
She had always wondered where Xiao Nanchen got his muscular physique from. She never saw him working out, and his overall impression was that of a weak, frail youth.
She didn't know if the perfect body contours he had were a gift from Heaven!
The more she thought about it, the more unfair it seemed.
And so Xia Qiqi just kept on staring at Xiao Nanchen, watching as he took off his clothes and put on a white dress shirt and exquisitely tailored black suit jacket.
"Qiqi," Xiao Nanchen called her.
Xia Qiqi abruptly came back to her senses.
Her face suddenly turned a little red.
She had actually been staring, enthralled.
She didn't know when she would be able to shake off her fondness for ogling handsome men.
At the very least, she had to shake off ogling Xiao Nanchen!
She was rather exasperated and flustered. "I told you to call me Xia Qiqi!"
Xiao Nanchen lightly pressed his lips together. "Xia Qiqi, please help me change my pants."
"I should have brought your caretaker along," Xia Qiqi grumbled.
But she still went over and squatted down to help him take off his pants.
Because he was sitting in a wheelchair, it was actually very inconvenient.
And Xiao Nanchen was heavy too. Trying to support his body wasn't easy either.
The two of them struggled for quite a while.
Xia Qiqi finally managed to pull Xiao Nanchen's outer pants off.
Then she helped him put on the black suit pants.
The entire process left her drenched in sweat.
She didn't understand how she could have fallen to the point of having to dress another person.
She took a deep breath.
The moment she stood up from in front of Xiao Nanchen, she noticed his face seemed a little red, suspiciously red.
She wasn't the one who had exerted herself just now!
Why was his breathing a little hurried?!
Feeling a bit bewildered, when she glanced down, she saw that her strapless gown had somehow slipped down quite... exposing.
Xia Qiqi immediately clutched her chest. "Xiao Nanchen, what are you looking at?!"
Xiao Nanchen hastily averted his gaze.
Caught red-handed like this, his whole face turned red.
"How can you ogle me so shamelessly?" Xia Qiqi was furious.
She felt Xiao Nanchen had taken egregious advantage of her.
"I'm sorry," Xiao Nanchen apologized.
The sudden apology left Xia Qiqi at a loss, not knowing whether to feel appeased or to flare up.
Xiao Nanchen just had that kind of appearance that easily evoked people's pity, with his delicate pretty-boy looks. Right now wearing that apologetic expression, he clearly made it so people simply could not scold him!
In fact, Xiao Nanchen had wanted to warn her earlier too.
But seeing her trying so hard to help him put his pants on, and... he admitted he was a little tempted to look, so...
Now, seeing Xia Qiqi's intense revulsion, he still felt a little chilled inside.
In Xia Qiqi's eyes, forget being husband and wife, they weren't even friends.
Having a man ogle her like this would of course make her very angry.
Xia Qiqi readjusted her clothes and stormed off the changing room in a rage.
"Qi...Xia Qiqi," Xiao Nanchen called out to stop her.
"What?!" Xia Qiqi snapped irritably.
"Do you want to change into another gown?" Because it was too prone to exposure.
Even though there hadn't been much contact earlier, it had still slipped down so easily.
"Why?" Xia Qiqi didn't understand.
She really liked this gown.
"In case it falls down again later at the banquet..."
"It won't!" Xia Qiqi stated categorically. "I just wasn't paying attention earlier. If I pay attention, it won't happen again."
Xiao Nanchen still wanted to say something.
But Xia Qiqi had already flounced off.
What he really wanted to say was, not only was it easily exposed, the parts that were revealed were also a bit too much.
But their relationship was different from Ye Jinghuai and An Nuan's relationship. He didn't have the right to ask Xia Qiqi not to wear a gown she wanted to wear.
Xiao Nanchen pushed his wheelchair out of the changing room.
When he exited, An Nuan and Xia Qiqi had already gone to the makeup room.
He wheeled over to the lounge area and sat with Ye Jinghuai.
Ye Jinghuai had a magazine in his hands. He glanced up at Xiao Nanchen and said, "Where's your bow tie?"
"Here," Xiao Nanchen took it out from his suit pocket.
Ye Jinghuai took it from him and leaned over to tie Xiao Nanchen's bow tie.
The makeup room was also open format.
From where Xia Qiqi and An Nuan were sitting, they happened to be able to see Ye Jinghuai and Xiao Nanchen inside the lounge area.
"Why do I feel like these two are so well-matched?" Xia Qiqi suddenly spoke up.
Following her line of sight, An Nuan also looked over.
She truly felt their relationship was very special.
But why did the two seem so estranged from each other in front of others?
"Xiao Nanchen should just go be a delicate pretty boy. What's he trying to do playing the manly role!" Xia Qiqi muttered.
An Nuan was speechless.
Xia Qiqi really would say anything.
"Speaking of which, don't you think Ye Jinghuai and Xiao Nanchen look a little alike?!" Xia Qiqi seemed to have discovered new revelations as she asked.
An Nuan frowned.
If left unmentioned she wouldn't have noticed, but hearing it brought up now...
It did seem there were some minute similarities.
"The nose," Xia Qiqi scrutinized. "Their noses are so alike."
So...
"A match made by fate then," Xia Qiqi concluded.
An Nuan rolled her eyes.
Just when she thought Xia Qiqi might pleasantly surprise her, the girl would instantly let her down again.
She really shouldn't have any expectations of Xia Qiqi!
