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

Si Nian's ears burned.

She quickly looked away, then picked up a pillow from the side and threw it at Xie Jingyao.

"Have you no shame?"

Xie Jingyao lay flat on his back without moving. "It's just a normal physiological phenomenon."

"You're shameless."

"This only proves that I am a healthy and energetic person."

Si Nian pulled the blanket over Xie Jingyao and threw it on him, covering him up.

She got up and went out of the bedroom to wash up, and Xie Jingyao followed her in a little while later.

Si Nian opened the bathroom cabinet door and took out a brand new set of cups and toothbrushes. "Here you go."

Xie Jingyao looked at the men's toiletries, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, a hint of disdain in his eyes: "I don't use other people's things."

"How could I possibly use someone else's used ones! They're all brand new, you can use them without worry."

Xie Jingyao's eyebrows were still furrowed. After taking the cup from Si Nian, his gaze fell on another set of men's toiletries that Si Nian had placed on the sink.

It's a set of toiletries that are exactly the same except for the color.

Si Nian finished washing up and went out first. He had just arrived in the living room when he heard someone knocking on the door.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Although it was confirmed yesterday that it was a prank, she was still a little scared.

Si Nian went forward to see who was outside the door. After seeing a strange man, Si Nian was slightly puzzled.

She didn't rush to open the door, nor did she make a sound.

A short while later, Xie Jingyao's phone rang.

Then Xie Jingyao came out of the bathroom, reached out to open the door, and turned to Si Nian, saying, "This is my assistant."

Upon seeing Xie Jingyao, Qi Tao reported directly: "President Xie, last night we had the nephew of the person who was pretending to be a ghost arrested. Although his nephew refuses to reveal who ordered him, he is an employee of Lin's Group and has worked there for many years."

"The Lin family?" Si Nian asked instinctively.

"Yes," Qi Tao confirmed again.

Xie Jingyao hummed in agreement, and after closing the door again, he said, "So it's you family members scaring each other. How amusing. What's the point?"

Si Nian clenched her fists. Yes, what's the point?

She felt that the culprit was not Lin Tinghan.

It wasn't that she trusted Lin Tinghan that much, but rather that Lin Tinghan's actions were not beneficial to either side, and they had no way to use Zhou Lin to threaten each other.

Back then, Lin Tinghan was the one who helped quell the dispute.

So, the person who has a grudge against her in the Lin family and might also know about the conflict between Zhou Lin and her is probably Lin Wenshuang.

After regaining her composure, Si Nian looked at Xie Jingyao, but she did not respond to his teasing and questions.

She didn't want to talk about Zhou Lin from five years ago.

So she changed the subject, "You're out so quickly? Finished washing up?"

Xie Jingyao leaned closer to her, "Why don't you check it out?"

"What am I checking..." Si Nian was trapped in the doorway, with no way to avoid the question.

The man's face, which smelled of mint, drew closer, and even his breathing became unusually clear.

Si Nian's ears felt slightly hot, and she subconsciously wanted to turn her face away.

But then she heard Xie Jingyao whisper meaningfully in her ear, "Why don't you slap me first?"

Si Nian looked at the man who was standing close to her in surprise.

What kind of bizarre request is this? Someone actually asking to be hit?

Si Nian suspected that Xie Jingyao might be acting strangely. She subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch Xie Jingyao's forehead to see if he was delirious from a high fever.

However, Xie Jingyao grabbed her wrist with one hand and pinned her hands behind her waist.

The next moment, Si Nian felt a pair of soft lips brush against her ear and cheek, stopping less than a centimeter away from her lips.

Si Nian's heart began to pound uncontrollably.

She realized what Xie Jingyao was planning to do, and then she understood what he meant by saying "slap him first."

"Don't do anything reckless," Si Nian said.

Xie Jingyao scoffed: "But you're expecting it."

"I don't."

Upon hearing Si Nian say this, Xie Jingyao straightened up the next second and released her hand.

Si Nian paused for a moment.

"Disappointed that I didn't kiss you?" Xie Jingyao asked.

Have some shame.

Si Nian pulled herself out of her chaotic thoughts and turned to walk to the other side.

He had only taken two steps when Xie Jingyao suddenly grabbed his arm.

Si Nian's body was uncontrollably pulled into his arms.

He gripped Si Nian's nape with one hand, controlling the angle so that she couldn't raise her head to avoid it.

With his other arm, he held Si Nian tightly in his embrace.

"Hmm..." Si Nian wanted to speak, but all her words were blocked back in her throat.

As her lips moved, they were pried open and probed in.

Si Nian did not respond to this almost forceful and aggressive kiss, but she also did not struggle as violently as she had before.

After Xie Jingyao finished kissing her, she moved her lips, which were red from being ravaged, and said in a calm and collected tone, "I'm returning the favor I did for you last night. We're even now."

Xie Jingyao reached up and wiped the corner of his lips. "You calculated it so meticulously?"

"Our relationship should be made clearer."

"Then tell me, what is our relationship?"

"Ex, if you don't want to acknowledge that relationship, you can also say you were friends with benefits in the past."

Xie Jingyao leaned closer to Si Nian, narrowed his eyes, and said with a hint of danger, "I've said it before, we're not officially broken up unless I agree to break up."

Si Nian didn't want to listen to his nonsense.

"We're not the hot-blooded, impulsive people we are in our late teens or early twenties anymore. So many years have passed, it's pointless to keep insisting on whether we should break up or not."

Hearing her clear-headed remarks, Xie Jingyao subconsciously frowned.

Si Nian continued, "The most important point is... I can't afford to play this game now, and I don't like repeating the same mistakes."

She knew why Xie Jingyao had appeared before her repeatedly.

He was not reconciled.

However, what he was unwilling to accept was not necessarily the relationship between them.

Instead, he was unwilling to accept that the dignified Young Master Xie would be dumped and "cheated on".

She hadn't forgotten the harsh words Xie Jingyao had said to her on the day they broke up.

"Si Nian, you better not fall into my hands again, or I'll definitely torture you to death."

He was furious back then, and with bloodshot eyes, he growled at her.

Si Nian was not afraid.

She even said to Xie Jingyao with a hint of provocation, "I really hope you live to see that day, and do more good deeds in the future, otherwise you'll go to hell early and won't have another chance."

Xie Jingyao's slightly deep voice pulled Si Nian back from five years ago.

He said, "Whether we repeat the same mistakes or not is not important. What's important is whether I want to continue playing this game."

"..."

"You know I'm not a patient person. I'm giving you seven days to divorce that sickly man, and I can solve all your problems. Similarly... if you can't bear to part with your lover, then pray with him that what you've done will never be known to anyone else."