Boyfriend's passive-aggressive behavior, she turns the tables and makes him her backup option.

The faint male voice coming from outside the door was not clearly audible to Si Nian.

But she was certain there was another knock on the door.

Si Nian was on edge. She went to the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and stood at the doorway.

Her phone suddenly rang.

When Si Nian saw Xie Jingyao's call, she snapped out of her daze and answered it.

She heard Xie Jingyao say, "Open the door, I'm at your door."

The sounds from the phone and outside the door gradually overlapped.

Si Nian's lips trembled slightly: "Why did you come here..."

"Open the door." Xie Jingyao did not answer.

Si Nian cautiously peered through the peephole, and after confirming that she saw Xie Jingyao's face, she opened the door.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Jingyao stepped in.

He saw that Si Nian's face was deathly pale and she was still holding a knife, so he couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

Si Nian regained her senses, casually placed the knife aside, and uncontrollably slumped to the floor.

She hugged her knees and whispered, "A man with blood all over his head just knocked on my door, and it scared me."

She spoke briefly, but her eyes remained fixed on Xie Jingyao, refusing to look away.

She had never wanted to see an acquaintance for a moment like this before.

Seeing her like this, Xie Jingyao bent down and picked her up from the ground.

Si Nian struggled for a moment, but felt those strong arms tighten even more.

Xie Jingyao carried her to the bedroom.

"What are you doing?" Si Nian instinctively grabbed his collar.

After Xie Jingyao put her on the bed, he said reassuringly, "Don't be afraid, there are no bad people around."

Si Nian slightly loosened her grip.

She asked softly, "How did you know I lived here?"

Xie Jingyao replied, "I don't know, I'll have someone check it out."

So it took him thirty minutes to get here.

Si Nian's body was still trembling slightly.

Xie Jingyao pulled the blanket over her and wrapped it around her.

"Why are you so scared?" Xie Jingyao wondered, but seeing Si Nian's absent-minded appearance, he didn't press her for details.

Xie Jingyao tucked the blanket in. "It's alright, go to sleep."

Then he stood up.

Si Nian instinctively grabbed his hand, "Don't go."

Xie Jingyao was stunned for a moment. He felt Si Nian's hand trembling slightly, and her voice was pleading: "Stay with me a little longer... a little longer."

"This is the first time I've seen you like this."

Although Xie Jingyao joked, he still didn't break free from Kai Sinian's hand.

He sat back down next to Si Nian, reached out his long arm, and pulled her into his arms.

"Is that all? Are you still scared?"

Si Nian listened to his heartbeat so close to hers and awkwardly struggled out of his embrace: "You don't need to hold me like this..."

Xie Jingyao scoffed lightly, "Don't be so pretentious."

"..."

He stretched out his long arm and looked at Si Nian.

Si Nian hesitated and made no move.

Then Xie Jingyao hooked his arm around her waist again and half-embraced her in his arms.

This time, Si Nian did not struggle.

She felt half of her body being encircled by Xie Jingyao, and she felt a sense of security she had never felt before.

After seeing the woman in his arms finally calm down.

Xie Jingyao picked up his phone and made a call. He asked someone to investigate which audacious person had come to scare Si Nian in the middle of the night.

Not long after, Xie Jingyao's people called back.

Xie Jingyao answered the call and put it on speakerphone.

"Mr. Xie, the person who was pretending to be a ghost has been caught. He said that someone gave him a sum of money to hire him to dress up like that and wait for Miss Si on this floor of Yunjin Mansion."

Xie Jingyao's eyes turned cold, and he said in a deep voice, "Who hired them?"

"That man didn't know who the employer was. He had never met the employer and relied entirely on his nephew for communication. I've already sent people to arrest his nephew."

"Um."

"Mr. Xie, what should we do with that thing that scared Miss Si?"

Xie Jingyao glanced at the woman in his arms, her eyelashes trembling, and said slowly, "Give her a good thrashing, so she won't have a chance to scare people again."

"understood."

After hanging up the phone, Xie Jingyao knew Si Nian wasn't asleep. He squeezed her arm and said, "Did you hear that? Looks like you've made quite a few enemies."

Si Nian opened her eyes. There were quite a few people who disliked her, but for a moment, she had no clue who could dress up as Zhou Lin before his death to scare her.

How much must this person hate her to come up with such a despicable trick?

Si Nian got up from Xie Jingyao's arms, "Thank you..."

"I don't accept verbal thanks."

"I owe you a favor. In the future... if there's anything you need me for, just let me know."

Xie Jingyao said, "You still owe me a favor from when I was repairing the zither."

Si Nian pretended not to hear, "It's getting late, you..."

"You think I'll turn on you and kick you out after I've used you?" Xie Jingyao interrupted her.

Si Nian originally wanted to say that it was so late and he should go back and rest.

But since Xie Jingyao said that, Si Nian could only change her mind and say, "What I meant was, if you're sleepy, why don't you rest? Shall I get you a blanket?"

"Um."

Si Nian got up and went to the closet, taking out a new set of quilt and pillow.

When Xie Jingyao returned to the bedroom, he had almost completely undressed.

Si Nian paused for a moment, then asked, "Are you going to sleep naked?"

She remembered that Xie Jingyao had this habit; he couldn't fall asleep without sleeping naked.

Xie Jingyao, wearing only underwear, reached out and took the blanket she handed him: "I won't go naked, I'm afraid you'll take advantage of me."

"..."

Si Nian secretly rolled her eyes.

It's as if she's so lusting after his body.

Si Nian took a pillow and placed it between her and Xie Jingyao.

Seeing this, Xie Jingyao tore the pillow apart and threw it on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Si Nian asked, turning around.

"Can't you live without being dramatic? What would I do to you if I really wanted to? What's the use of using a tattered pillow as a shield? Go to sleep already. If you keep acting like you're protecting yourself from a pervert, I'll show you what it really means to be a pervert."

"!"

Before Si Nian could think of a rebuttal, Xie Jingyao had already turned off the lights.

She lay back down on the pillow, her back to Xie Jingyao, but she could still hear his breathing.

She never imagined that one day she would be able to lie peacefully in the same bed with Xie Jingyao.

Time passed second by second, and as the breathing behind her gradually became steady, Si Nian turned around to look at the man in the darkness.

I thought she would have trouble sleeping after what happened last night.

Surprisingly, she slept very soundly that night.

Several times she tried to open her eyes and push away the arm pressing on her waist.

As a result, she was so sleepy that she not only couldn't push him away, but was also held tightly in her arms.

When Si Nian woke up the next day, she found herself completely in Xie Jingyao's arms.

She didn't even know when, but instead of a pillow, her head was resting on Xie Jingyao's arm!

Si Nian wanted to quietly move back to her original spot, but as soon as she moved a few times, Xie Jingyao opened his eyes.

"Didn't anyone tell you not to snuggle up to a man first thing in the morning?" Xie Jingyao's hoarse voice rang out.

"..." Upon hearing this, Si Nian subconsciously looked down.

Xie Jingyao was just saying it casually, but after noticing Si Nian's gaze, he suddenly felt a warm current rush to his lower abdomen.

Thus, Si Nian witnessed Xie Jingyao's rapid "change".