Chapter 160: I Really Was Too Foolish

The family banquet could basically be described as enjoyable for both hosts and guests.

Originally, family banquets in major families definitely had many rules and etiquette to follow, but this particular banquet was more private in nature, hosted only by Xu Yongfeng’s family of three. So even though many servants were coming and going, continuously bringing various delicious dishes, the five people seated weren’t eating in a particularly solemn atmosphere.

During this time, Xu Yongfeng kept conversing with Yun Langyue, occasionally exchanging a few words with Su Ming as well, but his attention was more focused on Yun Langyue—his intentions were as clear as day.

Su Ming knew that Xu Yongfeng wanted to build a closer relationship with Yun Langyue to facilitate cooperation between their families, which was why he paid more attention to her.

Su Ming didn’t really mind; in fact, he was somewhat secretly pleased.

Not being targeted by these deeply shrewd political heavyweights was truly for the best.

Therefore, Su Ming simply focused on enjoying the delicious dishes by himself, acting like an extra who had sneaked into high society, looking quite content with himself. Xu Qing, who was secretly observing him from the side, didn’t know what to say.

Xu Qing was Xu Qianqian’s mother.

This somewhat delicate and refined mother had been very curious about Su Ming when she first saw him. She wanted to ask him properly about his parents’ occupations, where his family lived, whether he had any goals after graduation, and if he had considered buying a house or a car, etc…

However, Su Ming’s behavior, as if he were just there for a free meal, left Xu Qing at a loss for how to start such a conversation, so she turned to Xu Qianqian instead.

But Xu Qianqian didn’t pay any attention to Xu Qing either, acting as if she hadn’t noticed her mother’s gaze, calmly eating by herself without saying a word.

This made Xu Qing feel somewhat bored.

“My daughter brought a boy home for the first time, yet I can’t gossip about anything. This feeling is just too frustrating.”

Xu Qing secretly sulked in her heart.

“Forget it, since I can’t gossip, I should think about how to organize tonight’s mahjong game properly.”

Unlike Xu Yongfeng, Xu Qing had no interest whatsoever in family, influence, political situations, power, and the like.

She was also different from Xu Qianqian; she never aspired to become particularly strong, and her innate talent wasn’t outstanding. If not for being a branch member of the Xu Family and, through various intertwined interests and behind-the-scenes dealings, coming into Xu Yongfeng’s view, she might not have been able to marry this second young master of the main family and become the Xu Family’s second young mistress.

Given this, Xu Qing remained indifferent to any family affairs, only wanting to live each day well for herself.

For someone like Xu Qing, she might not even be fully aware of why Su Ming and Yun Langyue were invited to her home for this family banquet.

But it didn’t matter; Xu Qing didn’t care about such trivial matters. As long as her daughter was safe and sound, that was enough.

Thus, after the family banquet ended, Xu Qing excused herself, planning to play mahjong all night with her girlfriends.

Xu Yongfeng, on the other hand, invited Yun Langyue to his study, saying he had important matters to discuss.

“Well then, I’ll be back soon.”

Yun Langyue glanced at Xu Qianqian beside her, then gave Su Ming a teasing smile.

“Don’t try anything funny while I’m away, alright? My great benefactor!”

After leaving these words, Yun Langyue went with Xu Yongfeng to the study.

Naturally, Uncle Wu followed along.

The servants also withdrew with the butler, leaving only Su Ming and Xu Qianqian alone.

The two looked at each other, somewhat at a loss for words.

It couldn’t be helped.

“You’re unusually quiet today.” Su Ming crossed his arms, giving Xu Qianqian’s rare formal attire a once-over, then said with a similarly teasing smile, “What? Playing the good girl in front of your parents?”

Faced with Su Ming’s teasing, Xu Qianqian remained very calm.

“I’m always like this.”

Whether she was explaining or not, Xu Qianqian tossed out this sentence before walking out of the banquet venue.

Seeing this, Su Ming followed her.

“True, you’re not usually someone who talks much anyway.” Su Ming asked somewhat intentionally, yet unintentionally, “But why do I get the feeling you’re not in a good mood?”

“You’re overthinking it.”

Xu Qianqian denied it without a second thought.

“Is that so?”

Su Ming didn’t believe her.

“Yes.”

Xu Qianqian remained extremely composed.

“I don’t believe you.”

Su Ming spoke honestly.

Xu Qianqian immediately fell silent, as if she couldn’t be bothered to argue with Su Ming, adopting an “think whatever you want” attitude.

Su Ming’s eyes shifted slightly, then he inconspicuously used his fingernail to scratch the tip of his left index finger, creating a small cut.

A drop of blood immediately seeped out, crimson like wine.

The next second, the small cut on Su Ming’s fingertip vanished.

With his current Physique, such a trivial little wound would heal in just a few seconds.

But the blood that had seeped out was real, emitting an extremely faint, almost imperceptible scent of blood.

However, it was this faint trace of blood scent that caused the expressionless Xu Qianqian walking ahead to stiffen, pause her steps, and freeze in place.

“Oops, I seem to have accidentally cut my finger.”

Su Ming acted as if he hadn’t noticed any of this, putting on a clumsy performance with exaggerated exclamations.

“……”

Xu Qianqian didn’t turn around or speak, but her fingertips tightened slightly.

“Ah, it’s bleeding.”

Su Ming continued his exaggerated exclamations.

“……”

Xu Qianqian still didn’t speak, but her fist was now clenched.

“Well, no choice. I’ll ask the butler for a band-aid and deal with this blood.”

Su Ming wasn’t anxious at all, talking to himself and even making a move to put his fingertip in his mouth.

At this, Xu Qianqian couldn’t hold back anymore.

She grabbed Su Ming’s hand, beating him to it, and put his finger in her mouth.

Only then did Su Ming show a mocking smile.

But the next moment, the mocking smile on Su Ming’s face also froze.

Because he clearly felt that Xu Qianqian not only licked away the blood drop on his fingertip but also used her sharp teeth to pierce the skin of his finger again and began sucking blood.

Su Ming: “∑(っ°Д°;)っ!””

In that instant, Su Ming felt like he had dropped a rock on his own foot.

……

Ten minutes later, Su Ming and Xu Qianqian were once again walking together along the corridor of the Main Residence.

Xu Qianqian still wore an expressionless face, but the slight flush on her cheeks betrayed her current mood.

Su Ming followed behind Xu Qianqian, looking somewhat weak and listless.

Clearly, today was another day of being drained until his legs felt weak.

“I’m so foolish. I clearly know you’re a complete female vampire, yet I still tease you like this. I really am too stupid…”

Su Ming felt like crying but had no tears.

“This time you brought it upon yourself; it has nothing to do with me.”

Xu Qianqian spoke these words indifferently, her cheeks still flushed.

Even so, Su Ming’s sacrifice could be considered worthwhile, at least to some extent.

At the very least, Young Miss Xu’s mood seemed to have improved quite a bit, no longer as silent and prickly as before.

In this situation, Xu Qianqian finally brought up serious matters.

“I have one good news and one bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Xu Qianqian said this.

“What good news and bad news?” Su Ming was first startled, then realized, “Is it related to Little Hai’er?”

Xu Qianqian nodded.

Su Ming couldn’t help but feel a tightness in his heart and quickly asked, “Has Little Hai’er’s situation been exposed?”

If that were the case, it would be troublesome.

Fortunately, the bad news Xu Qianqian mentioned didn’t seem to be that severe.

“If that child’s situation had been exposed, do you think my father would still be in the mood to invite you all to a family banquet?”

Xu Qianqian used this reasoning to dismiss Su Ming’s speculation.

“Then what is the good news and bad news?”

Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief before asking with confusion.

“Let me tell you the good news first.” Xu Qianqian said, “Little Hai’er has now passed all the reviews and has been sent to me. I’ve placed her in the villa where we met last time. If you want to see her, you can go anytime.”

This indeed counted as good news.

However, since Su Ming had originally come with the agreement to pick up Little Hai’er from Xu Qianqian, while it was good news, it wasn’t particularly surprising.

Su Ming also wasn’t surprised about why Xu Qianqian didn’t bring Little Hai’er along.

After all, this was the Xu Family’s territory, with too many outsiders and even enemies around. Bringing Little Hai’er here would be truly reckless.

“Then I’ll go back to the villa with you later to pick up Little Hai’er.”

Su Ming immediately decided this.

“Are you sure?”Xu Qianqian confirmed, “Although the control and ownership of that child are indeed in your hands, how do you plan to arrange for her?””

This was a question that needed confirmation.

After all, Little Hai’er now was essentially entering humanity’s stronghold.

Not only were there humans everywhere who saw Phantom Demons as natural enemies, but there were also many Professionals who would undoubtedly attack her if they encountered her.

Moreover, Little Hai’er was a Phantom Demon Cub with superior Phantom Demon Bloodline, possessing the potential to evolve into a Nightmare Species, making the higher-ups in Longyao City covet her—they were probably still searching for her.

Additionally, the underground mercenary organization 『Sin』 might not let the matter rest. In short, Little Hai’er was a completely hidden existence; not the slightest carelessness or accident could be allowed.

Considering all this, Xu Qianqian had originally intended to settle Little Hai’er herself and hide her properly.

She had even considered secretly sending Little Hai’er out of Longyao City, letting her flee far away.

As for handing Little Hai’er over to Su Ming, Xu Qianqian was very uneasy.

After all, Su Ming didn’t have a family background like hers, nor did he have many connections. How to properly hide Little Hai’er—he definitely didn’t have as many methods as she did.

But Su Ming insisted on taking Little Hai’er away.

Just kidding, he had already decided to properly train Little Hai’er and develop her into his number one enforcer; how could he let that mermaid slip away?

Facing Xu Qianqian’s question, Su Ming didn’t explain too clearly, just smiled and said confidently:

“Don’t worry, I have my own methods.”

For Little Hai’er’s sake, Su Ming had turned his Golden Finger backpack inside out before finally finding several extremely useful items.

With those items, as long as no obvious mistakes were made, Little Hai’er shouldn’t be easily discovered.

Xu Qianqian could also see Su Ming’s confidence and wanted to ask for details, but noticed Su Ming had no intention of explaining.

“Anyway, you’ll know when the time comes.”

That’s what Su Ming said.

What else could Xu Qianqian do?

“I hope you can really manage it.”

Xu Qianqian sighed.

“This is the good news, right?” Su Ming then changed the subject and asked, “Then what’s the bad news?”

Hearing this, Xu Qianqian’s beautiful brows slightly furrowed, as if somewhat troubled.

Then, she said this:

“Little Hai’er’s condition doesn’t seem too good.”

Xu Qianqian revealed this piece of bad news.

“Condition not good?” Su Ming was stunned, “What do you mean?”

“Literally.” Xu Qianqian said, “That child is very weak now.”

Weak?

Why is that?

Could it be that her previous injuries haven’t healed yet?

Several thoughts flashed through Su Ming’s mind, and then he began to guess.

“It couldn’t be…”

Su Ming’s brows also furrowed.

“You’ll see for yourself later.” Xu Qianqian looked at Su Ming and said, “We need to think of a good way to help her recover.”

“Alright.” Su Ming had no objections, just said, “Then shall we go now?”

“Now?” Xu Qianqian narrowed her eyes, her tone somewhat ambiguous, “Aren’t you going to take care of Yun Langyue?”

“She’s not going to disappear.” Su Ming said righteously, “Didn’t she go to discuss serious matters? We have our own things to do too, right?”

Su Ming made no attempt to hide his desire to slip away.

This made Xu Qianqian look at Su Ming with a somewhat strange expression.

“What’s wrong?”

Su Ming didn’t understand.

“Nothing.” Xu Qianqian recovered and said indifferently, “I just thought you two had a good relationship.”

“Didn’t I say it before?” Su Ming forced a smile, “We’re not familiar.”

Xu Qianqian clearly didn’t buy this explanation.

Not familiar?

If you weren’t familiar, would she be willing to specifically block me for your sake and ask me to cover for you?

At that time, Yun Langyue’s attitude and gaze all told Xu Qianqian that the relationship between her and Su Ming was just one step away.

Unfortunately, this idiot seemed somewhat unaware of his own good fortune.

Thinking of Yun Langyue’s matter, and then An Zijin’s matter, Xu Qianqian for some reason silently picked up Su Ming’s hand again.

“Damn! You’re biting me again!?”

Su Ming only felt a sharp pain in his fingertip, followed by weakness in his legs.

Xu Qianqian didn’t say anything, silently sucking blood.

Feeling the loss of blood in his body, Su Ming felt like he was about to bleed to death and meet the King of Hell.

“What did I do to upset you?”

Su Ming once again felt like crying but had no tears.

To this, Xu Qianqian only gave one sentence.

“Figure it out yourself.”

After saying this, Xu Qianqian immersed herself in sucking blood, unable to extricate herself.

To be honest, this blood was truly delicious, intoxicating.

Xu Qianqian’s eyes gradually grew hazy, and a trace of loneliness in her heart was filled in this state.

This trace of loneliness was something Xu Qianqian herself hadn’t discovered.

She only knew that she might be becoming increasingly unable to leave Su Ming.

(End of Chapter)