Chapter 4: The Vampire’s Prey (04)
Xie Yanchuan held a bone china teacup, the rising steam only serving to accentuate the indifference in his eyes.
Yu Jiao stood before him, nervously clutching the hem of her jacket. Xie Zhenye, meanwhile, leaned against the wall with an unconcerned air.
“Explain what’s going on.”
Xie Yanchuan took an unhurried sip of tea, looking for all the world like a dean of discipline who had just caught a pair of students in a secret romance.
Xie Zhenye, showing no sense of responsibility or self-awareness, looked at Yu Jiao with keen interest, his face all but spelling out the words: Let’s see how you spin this.
Yu Jiao bit her lip and looked back at him, a pitiful expression on her face.
Xie Zhenye just raised an eyebrow, feigning impartiality.
Seeing this, Yu Jiao’s eyes widened, making her cat-like eyes appear even rounder. With a look of mingled complaint and entreaty, her lips formed a silent message: ‘You promised me. Keep the secret.’
Xie Zhenye couldn’t hold back a grin.
Clink. The teacup was set down on the table, neither too heavily nor too lightly.
It was a warning.
Yu Jiao immediately stood up straight, all prim and proper.
Xie Yanchuan had taken in the entire silent exchange. His probing gaze shifted between the two of them.
Since when did they become so close?
Yu Jiao was practically invisible in the Xie family. To Xie Yanchuan, helping her was as casual as tossing a coin to a beggar. It wasn’t that he hadn’t noticed her gaze following him, but to him, it was no different from the fawning looks of the many other Xie family members.
Everyone was just a piece on his chessboard.
At this moment, an inexplicable displeasure rose in Xie Yanchuan’s heart. It was like suddenly discovering that an insignificant pawn in the corner of the board had become uncontrollable.
And so, the lofty chess master lowered his gaze.
Yu Jiao stood before him with her hands behind her back, as obedient as she had always been. And yet, she was like a pearl that had been wiped clean of dust, radiating a lively, unignorable soft light.
She kept her small face tense, ignoring Xie Zhenye’s winks and gestures.
Having had his fun teasing her, Xie Zhenye finally explained with satisfaction, “It was just a prank. I was the one who told Yu Jiao to hide in your closet. She lost a game to me, so she has to grant me three requests. This was only the first one.”
“Right, Yu Jiao?” Xie Zhenye looked at her, smiling.
Although he was smiling, his deep blue eyes were like those of a hungry wolf, as if he were already plotting how to use this verbal trap to blackmail her, to tear her apart and devour her whole.
Xie Yanchuan’s oppressive gaze also fell upon Yu Jiao. “Is that so,” he said, his tone unreadable.
Under the weight of both their gazes, Yu Jiao lowered her head and murmured, “Mhm…”
Satisfied, Xie Zhenye hooked an arm around Yu Jiao and pulled her into his side, ruffling her soft hair with his large hand.
“Well then, I’ll have to think carefully about the next two requests,” he said maliciously.
Yu Jiao’s hair stood on end from the rough tousling. Her face was a picture of misery, yet she didn’t resist. She was still wearing Xie Zhenye’s school jacket, which hung loosely on her frame, making her look as if she were trapped in a cage.
It was as if she were completely steeped in Xie Zhenye’s scent.
Xie Yanchuan’s fingers, which had been tapping on the table, paused.
What is this primitive, territorial behavior? he thought to himself. He’s acting like an imbecile.
With that thought, he suddenly stood up, went to the bedroom wardrobe, and pulled out a set of clothes. He handed them to Yu Jiao and said coolly, “This is my middle school uniform. It should be just your size.”
Yu Jiao was about to take it, but Xie Zhenye grabbed her hand, his voice laced with displeasure. “Why should she wear your clothes?”
Xie Yanchuan’s expression was cold. “Surely you don’t want her walking out of here and embarrassing herself dressed like that.”
Both of them looked at Yu Jiao.
The men’s school uniform, several sizes too large, hung on her like an ill-fitting dress. While it didn’t reveal anything it shouldn’t, its excessive size left her delicate, pale neck, slender collarbones, and the lace front of her slip completely exposed.
It was a clash of prim formality and raw desire, one that could easily stir a person’s curiosity and destructive urges.
Xie Zhenye quite liked how Yu Jiao looked in this outfit, but he didn’t want anyone else to see her this way.
He weighed his options. “Fine.”
Yu Jiao took the clothes, only to realize that neither of the brothers had any intention of giving her privacy.
Xie Zhenye crossed his arms with blatant audacity. Xie Yanchuan sipped his tea as if nothing were happening.
One stared at her directly, the other would flick a glance over from time to time, as if watching a woman change her clothes was the most normal thing in the world.
Yu Jiao’s face was a mask of distress. She clutched the clothes and tried to slip into the washroom to change, but Xie Zhenye blocked her way.
“Don’t,” Xie Zhenye’s voice was low and intimate. “Change right here. You’re so clumsy, what if you fall again with no one watching?”
His words were pointedly suggestive.
Yu Jiao froze. Her pleading eyes shot towards Xie Yanchuan, but he simply lowered his gaze and took a sip of tea, as if tacitly approving of Xie Zhenye’s specious reasoning.
Disbelief filled Yu Jiao’s eyes. Annoyed, Xie Zhenye blocked her line of sight. “Jiao Jiao—”
The name was both a threat and a declaration of ownership.
Yu Jiao’s slender, pale fingers tightened on the clothes. She was so distressed that tears were about to fall. The standoff continued for another long moment before she finally seemed to admit defeat. With a look of deep humiliation, she turned her back to them, shook out the trousers, and bent over to put them on.
The curve of her spine was a beautiful arc. The loose jacket now clung to her body, outlining her delicate figure and sparking the imagination.
As she bent down, the hem of the jacket rode up her back, revealing her soft, pale thighs inch by inch. An unspeakable, private view seemed on the verge of being unveiled…
Xie Yanchuan’s eyelashes trembled as if he’d been burned, and he immediately tore his gaze away.
The soft rustle of fabric against skin was like a feather tickling the inside of his ear. Xie Yanchuan shot to his feet, calmly grabbed Xie Zhenye, and began pulling him towards the door.
“We need to go down. Those guys are probably about to die of boredom.”
His tone was unchanged, but for a man who was always composed, his steps were now a fraction too hurried.
Xie Zhenye pouted. “Let them die for all I care.”
But Xie Yanchuan was insistent, using the excuse of discussing important matters to forcibly drag him away. Xie Zhenye had no choice but to wave reluctantly at Yu Jiao. “Wait for me to come back, little kitten.”
The two of them left quickly, leaving Yu Jiao alone in the room.
The shame and anger on Yu Jiao’s face were replaced by an indifferent calm.
She scoffed. What a repressed, hypocritical gentleman.
After changing into the well-fitting men’s uniform, Yu Jiao swiped a beret and a silk scarf from Xie Yanchuan’s walk-in closet. She tucked her long hair into the hat and tied the scarf around the back of her head, obscuring her features.
Now, at a glance, Yu Jiao looked like a slender young man.
Leaving from the boys’ dormitory was still too risky, and besides, that dog Xie Zhenye had actually locked the door.
Yu Jiao made a swift decision: she would climb out the window.
As for Xie Zhenye?
Only a fool would wait for him.
Playing the part of the obedient girl was effective on a pure-hearted brute like Xie Zhenye, but constant meekness would only backfire. An occasional act of rebellion was necessary to trigger his desire for conquest.
Once she was ready, Yu Jiao opened the window. She suddenly paused, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She turned and walked briskly to Xie Yanchuan’s bed. With her index finger, she hooked the slip dress she had taken off and slowly let it go.
The white lace lingerie fell onto the impeccably neat, dark bedspread, melting into a sensual puddle.
It was a taboo, flagrant display. A suggestive, ambiguous hint.
A smirk played on Yu Jiao’s lips.
What a shame I won’t be able to see Xie Yanchuan’s spectacular expression.