Chapter 157: The Beauty Eating Steamed Buns

Qin Xuan finally decided to pursue her.

Liu Qianqian always acted outside the norms, and if she genuinely felt too embarrassed to run back on her own, it would become quite troublesome. What would happen if such a pretty little girl got lured away by someone else out there?

Qin Xuan’s black-robed figure quickly vanished from the villa’s doorway.

Dongfang Qingwan wore a gentle smile, feeling a faint envy toward Qin Xuan and Liu Qianqian. A swordsman's life was far more interesting than her own, and watching the two of them bickering and fighting every day gave Dongfang Qingwan the reassurance that she was truly alive.

Living in the Xixia Villa previously, with her frail constitution, she had been confined to her room every night, her only peer and confidant being her younger brother, Dongfang Wenhao.

Yet even Dongfang Wenhao held a trace of fear toward her as his elder sister, making it impossible to roughhouse or play around together. Though she had only spent a short time in this villa, the joy she had experienced already surpassed that of an entire year in the past.

"I... I'll go make something to eat..."

Narcissus stared in a daze at the others, snapping back to reality only after Qin Xuan had run out, and hurriedly slipped into the kitchen.

Recovering her senses, Dongfang Qingwan quickly followed her into the kitchen to help, thinking that if Qin Xuan managed to bring Liu Qianqian back, their relationship would surely grow even closer, and they ought to prepare some food to celebrate...

...

Running out of the villa, Qin Xuan immediately pulled out his phone and dialed Liu Qianqian’s number.

After ringing twice, a sweet, synthesized automated voice came through: "The subscriber you have dialed is currently on another call. Please try again later..."

Qin Xuan knew this meant the girl was still angry and had hung up on him.

Putting away his phone, he jogged forward for a stretch until he spotted the yellow taxi he had driven back earlier.

"It's not advisable for me to exert true qi right now; I might as well drive after her..."

After a brief moment of thought, Qin Xuan hopped directly into the car and stepped on the gas. The driver wasn't coming to pick up the car until tomorrow anyway, and since he had given the man ten red hundred-yuan bills, the driver would turn a massive profit even if he drove it all night long.

Heading down the winding mountain road toward the city center, Qin Xuan kept guessing where the girl might have gone, but he remained entirely clueless. Liu Qianqian was also a swordsman, and her running speed was by no means slower than his.

If she channeled her true qi, she could certainly outpace ordinary cars just like Qin Xuan could. If Liu Qianqian ran at full tilt, Qin Xuan felt he would have a hard time catching up even in a vehicle.

Regardless, he had to give it a try. Fortunately, there was only one mountain road leading from the villa toward the city, so for the time being, he just needed to follow this route. As for the mountainous forests on either side of the highway, Qin Xuan figured the girl wouldn't be eccentric enough to dash into them in the middle of the night...

Driving along the highway for over ten minutes without encountering a single soul, he realized that after all, this area was flanked by villa complexes, and late at night, nobody in their right mind would frequent this road.

Ahead of him, the mountain road finally came to an end at a four-way intersection. One path led to another mountain road, while the other two led straight into the Jinling city center. Reaching this point, Qin Xuan felt a sudden intuition; he spun the steering wheel and turned down one of the roads.

He remembered that on the very first morning Liu Qianqian stayed at the villa, he had walked down this exact road with her to buy steamed buns. Since he had no leads right now, he might as well check that bun shop.

The bun shop was not far from the intersection, and the yellow taxi soon pulled to a stop right in front of it under Qin Xuan's control. Without getting out, Qin Xuan glanced sideways and saw that the bun shop was still open at this late hour, though there were no customers left.

And Liu Qianqian was, predictably, not here.

Qin Xuan took out his phone again and dialed Liu Qianqian’s number.

The call went through, rang twice, and was abruptly declined by Liu Qianqian once more. But this time, a flicker of joy arose in Qin Xuan's heart, because he faintly caught the sound of a ringtone coming from outside the car window.

"The boundless horizon is my love..."

The girl's signature ringtone drifted into Qin Xuan's ears, and he knew for certain that Liu Qianqian was nearby. He quickly scanned his surroundings and spotted an Audi parked not far ahead.

Looking closer, a young woman in red was indeed standing right beside the Audi—who else could it be but Liu Qianqian?

A surge of relief washed over Qin Xuan, but instead of getting out, he drove the yellow taxi closer. He wanted to hide and see what the girl was up to, standing beside an Audi and seemingly chatting with someone.

The taxi approached the Audi without drawing any attention. With the distance closed, Qin Xuan could clearly see the face of the young woman in red—it was none other than Liu Qianqian, who had just bolted from the villa.

At that moment, Liu Qianqian’s pretty face still bore faint traces of tears. She was clutching a small bag of steamed buns, talking to the owner of the Audi with a slightly stubborn, petulant air.

"Beauty, seeing you cry so heartbreakingly, how about I take you out for a drive to clear your mind?"

A somewhat familiar male voice rang out from inside the Audi, carrying a tone of eager anticipation.

"Where could you even take me?"

Liu Qianqian stood by the roadside, feeling aggrieved yet curious as she asked.

"Beauty, wherever you want to go. I can take you anywhere."

The driver said with an air of confidence.

"I want to go to... um..."

Liu Qianqian tilted her head in thought, but alas, having arrived in Jinling only recently, how could she possibly know any fun places there?

"How about this, beauty? I'll take you to the Aqua City shopping mall, and then we can head to the Confucius Temple, how does that sound? I guarantee you'll have a blast and forget all your troubles."

The driver tempted her smoothly.

Liu Qianqian pondered this and was about to agree when a voice suddenly called out from nearby: "Sorry, this young lady isn't going anywhere; she's coming home with me."

Liu Qianqian froze, looked up, and saw Qin Xuan stepping out of a battered, run-down taxi ahead, waving at her with a smile.

"Humph."

Liu Qianqian let out a soft snort, turned her head away, pulled open the Audi's door, and slid into the front passenger seat.

She hadn't been entirely sure whether to leave with this man, but the moment she saw Qin Xuan, her mind was instantly made up. Clearly, she was still holding a grudge.

The man inside the car was so overjoyed he could practically burst into laughter.

The reason Qin Xuan found his voice somewhat familiar was that the man in the car was none other than Hua Tianjiao, formerly a lackey of Li Shihao, though he hadn't crossed paths with him since the Li family's downfall.

Hua Tianjiao had been out carousing and was on his way home to his villa in the primary mountain villa district. Passing by this spot, he had happened to spot a top-tier beauty emerging from a bun shop, eating steamed buns while crying.

It had been a delightful surprise.

Though he couldn't fathom why a beauty of this caliber would be eating buns by the roadside—something utterly unimaginable in Hua Tianjiao's eyes. Shouldn't beauties of this level be hanging out in upscale hotels at this hour?