181: They look worthless, how shameful!

"What else can I do but accept it humbly? I can't beat you in a fight, so what choice do I have? Even though we've fought each other, I hope we can still be friends!"

Xiheng's expression became extremely serious as he spoke those final words.

Ai Yue was stunned by his solemn attitude.

While Ai Yue was dazed, Cheng Siyu saw the two of them talking closely from afar. Overcome with jealousy, she immediately pulled Gu Xitian toward them.

Ai Yue's lips moved, but just as she was about to speak, Cheng Siyu's voice cut in: "Xiheng, Ai Yue, what are you two talking about? You seem to be getting along so well, laughing and chatting."

Ai Yue swallowed the words she was about to say and said coldly, "Nothing much. I'm afraid you wouldn't want to hear what we were discussing."

Cheng Siyu gave a sweet smile and familiarly linked her arm with Xiheng's, saying, "If you don't tell me, how do you know I won't want to hear it?"

Ai Yue sneered. "Fine, since you insist, I'll tell you. I was saying that Xiheng's bald head looks hilarious. Oh! You're bald now too, aren't you? But since you're so beautiful, I guess having hair doesn't matter to you."

Cheng Siyu's face instantly soured at the mention of her hair. She couldn't help but reach up to touch her head, which was covered by a hat, and glared at Ai Yue resentfully.

"Ai Yue! It's your fault we're like this! How can you laugh about it and hurt our pride like this? You... you're shameless."

"Hmph, talk about shifting the blame. You're the one who insisted I say it. I even told you that you wouldn't like what I had to say, but you wouldn't have it any other way! You can't blame me now." Ai Yue shrugged and spoke with an innocent smile.

Siyu bit her lip unwillingly and looked at Xiheng beside her. "Xiheng, Ai Yue, she..."

Xiheng removed her hand from his arm and said, "Siyu, Ai Yue isn't wrong. You're the one who insisted on hearing it. Alright, it's a fact, so let's just let it go. There's nothing to argue about."

Gu Xitian, who had been standing by, curled her lip, very dissatisfied with her brother's casual dismissal of the matter. "Brother! You're just letting her..."

She pointed at Ai Yue angrily, but before she could finish, she saw Ai Yue looking at her with a half-smile. Startled, she immediately pulled her hand back, swallowed her words, and retreated behind Xiheng, not daring to make another sound.

Seeing her act like a frightened kitten, Ai Yue ignored her and looked back at Beauty Cheng. "Beauty Cheng, do you have anything else to say?"

Cheng Siyu was fuming inside but didn't want to show it and let Ai Yue mock her. She tried her best to control herself, forced a proper smile, and said, "Xiheng is right. Since my skills were inferior and I ended up like this because of you, I should accept it gracefully!"

Ai Yue looked at Siyu playfully and said slowly, "Really?"

By now, Siyu had completely regained her composure. She smiled slightly. "It's just hair; it's not like it won't grow back. It's no big deal, just a rare life experience."

"Oh, by the way, we'll be neighbors from now on. Please look after me."

"Sure, as long as you want it, I'll 'look after' you well. When I have time, I certainly will!" Ai Yue said with a beaming smile, intentionally emphasizing the words 'look after'.

The smile on Siyu's face froze. She understood Ai Yue's underlying meaning; the 'looking after' Ai Yue spoke of wasn't the genuine kind, but rather an intent to mess with her.

"Ai Yue, how did you find this place?" Xiheng suddenly interrupted their conversation and asked.

"Sister Ai Yue, Brother Gu, what are you chatting about?" Gong Qiumu suddenly popped out from nowhere, jumping in front of Ai Yue and asking happily with a wide grin.

"Nothing much. Where did you go? I noticed you'd disappeared just now," Ai Yue asked curiously.

Gong Qiumu's expression fell, and he said with a long face, "Sigh, don't mention it. My brother is coming. Once he gets here, he'll definitely drag me back, and I haven't had enough fun yet!"

"Gong Qiuqiu?"

"Yeah!" Gong Qiumu looked utterly despondent.

Gu Xitian, who had been hiding behind Xiheng, jumped out upon hearing Gong Qiuqiu's name. "What? Gong Qiuqiu? Your brother is coming?"

Gu Xitian looked delighted.

After spending so many days with her, Gong Qiumu had realized that Gu Xitian was an arrogant, willful, and unreasonable young miss, so he didn't want to have much to do with her.

Furthermore, he later found out that she was being warm toward him only because she was lusting after his brother and wanted to use him to win his brother's favor.

This made him want to distance himself from her even more.

"That's my brother coming to take me home. What are you so happy about?" Gong Qiumu said crossly.

"You can't say that. A guest is a guest. Your brother traveled thousands of miles to get here; he must have suffered a lot on the way. He needs to have a good rest." Gu Xitian didn't catch the annoyance in Gong Qiumu's tone and countered happily.

Xiheng really couldn't stand seeing his sister look so desperate whenever a man was mentioned. He immediately grabbed her by the collar and hauled her behind him.

"Gu Xitian, Gong Qiuqiu coming here has nothing to do with you! Stop jumping around and embarrassing me!" Xiheng glared at Gu Xitian and said harshly.

"Brother? What are you doing! How am I embarrassing you?" Gu Xitian asked, confused as to why her brother was suddenly being so mean to her.

"Shut up! From now on, you're not allowed to get involved in anything related to Gong Qiuqiu!"

"Why?" Gu Xitian questioned defiantly.

"No 'why'! I said no, so it's no! From now on, you are not allowed to say another word!"

"I won't! I'm not going to listen to you!"

"Hmm?"

Seeing her brother's fierce expression, Gu Xitian obediently shut her mouth. With a pout, she walked over to Siyu, hugged her arm, and lowered her head to hide her darting eyes.

Seeing that she had quieted down, Xiheng stopped staring at her and asked Gong Qiumu, "When is your brother coming?"

"He'll be here in a day!"

"Alright, I'll send someone to pick him up later," Xiheng said.

"Thanks, Brother Gu!"

Xiheng's cold face remained expressionless, and he simply gave a slight nod.

At that moment, Gu Yan came out of the house cheerfully, saying as he walked, "Old Ai, since we just got here and there's too much to do, I can't stay long. Otherwise, I'd definitely have a good drink with you until we're both drunk!"

"Alright, next time when you're not busy, bring some good wine and we'll drink to our hearts' content!" Ai Guosheng said, his eyes crinkling into slits as he smiled.

"Okay, it's a deal. Next time I'll definitely bring that Erguotou you've been craving and let you drink as much as you want!" Since he arrived, Gu Yan hadn't stopped smiling, his mouth wide in a grin, looking very happy.