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Chapter 161: Laying Down Foundations

“You’re back!” Avril ran out of the pavilion, reattaching herself to Xia Fei’s arm. The few minutes that they were separated may well be an entire year to this lady.

“What did my father and second uncle say to you?” Avril carefully asked, deathly afraid that they had said things that were not too courteous to Xia Fei.

Xia Fei smiled. “Nothing much; we merely exchanged greetings with each other.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

Sitting on the marble bench, Avril pressed her head onto Xia Fei’s chest. The girl’s unique scent permeated the air, stimulating all of Xia Fei’s senses; the strands of golden hair dancing with the wind softly caressed his face.

“It’s all my father’s fault; he forcibly cut off the communication between us, making you go through such troublesome things.” Avril pouted.

Xia Fei knew she was not someone who harbored hate. He had once made her cry, but she had never hated him for it, so her relationship with Newman would be restored over time.

“You can’t say that. If it hadn’t been for me losing contact with you, I would’ve never made the effort to come here and would’ve gone straight to Black Abyss. This means that I wouldn’t have been here when the kidnapping incident occurred, and you might really have been successfully kidnapped.” Xia Fei jokingly teased Avril.

Avril crooked her head after some thought. “Stop making excuses for him; he’s at fault either way.”

All of a sudden, Avril stood up and looked at Xia Fei pitifully. “You’re going to Black Abyss? That means you’re still planning to leave?”

“Uhh...” Xia Fei was left speechless, regretting his choice of words. For some reason, he, who had always been alert, would unknowingly let his guard down in front of Avril.

“Yeah, I’m leaving in a few days. Remember Old Porter from the warship graveyard? He needs my help, so...” said Xia Fei bluntly as there was no point in hiding it from her any longer.

Based on how Avril had reacted previously, she would probably hit Xia Fei on his chest before throwing a fit and ripping apart some teddy bears.

Surprisingly, Avril remained incredibly calm.

She placed her head on his chest once again, saying incredibly softly, “Yeah, Old Porter has treated you well; you should go since he needs your help.”

Xia Fei was lost for words. The Avril today was quite different from the one a year ago. She was kind and considerate, it was difficult to imagine the Avril he knew one year ago giving the care she had provided Xia Fei in the past few days. This princess-like lady always got what she wanted; when would she ever need to take care of someone else?

She did not even put up a fight when Xia Fei said he was leaving, encouraging him, instead. This was almost unbelievable and had completely exceeded his expectations.

Xia Fei gently placed his hand on the lady’s forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

Avril pushed his hand away in a fluster. “No, why would I have a fever?”

“Then, why are you talking nonsense?” Xia Fei asked with a smile.

Avril blushed. “When you disappeared, I began to consider if I had been too harsh to you. I always hoped that you would stay by my side, but I finally realized...”

“Realised what?”

“That you’re never someone to just sit and relax, so in the future, just do what you need to do, only remember that I’m always here, waiting for you,” Avril shyly whispered. Especially when she got to the ‘waiting for you’ part, her voice was practically inaudible.

Phantom, who was next to Xia Fei, made fun of him. “Xia Fei, you really have this young lady under your spell. She’s only a few steps away from being completely in your control.”

Xia Fei curled his lips and ignored Phantom. Any ordinary man would feel emotions hearing any lady say this, and Xia Fei was no exception, feeling incredibly warm inside, obviously touched by the remark.

]Avril seems to have matured,’ Xia Fei muttered to himself with a smile.

...

It was now night, yet Xia Fei was tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. His body inched ever closer to recovery as days went by, and it was almost time for him to leave, but Avril’s recent kidnapping incident had made him quite uneasy.

Especially after the girl showed him her tender and sensible side today, Xia Fei found it even harder to relax. He knew that from today onward, there would be someone who was always on his mind.

Xia Fei lit a cigarette and put on his shirt, intending to have a walk in the garden. Just as he exited his room, he saw Pang Xing, who was wearing sunglasses, in the hallway with some bodyguards. He gave Pang Xing a smile and a nod before walking to the room next to him and looking through the window. Avril was incredibly cute as she slept like a cuddly, pink lamb.

Xia Fei then turned and headed toward the lift. As he was about to pass Pang Xing, Xia Fei stopped and asked, “How about we have a small chat in the garden?”

Although Pang Xing had stopped him from entering Sunset Villa, Xia Fei did not hate the other from doing so. Avril had mentioned, time and again, to Xia Fei how Pang Hai and Pang Xing were just like her father and grandfather. Anyone in the Jian family might backstab them, but definitely not the father-son duo.

Pang Xing furrowed his eyebrows. “I can’t leave the lady.”

Xia Fei laughed. “It’ll be just downstairs. It won’t be far.”

Pang Xing took a few seconds before signaling the guards around him, then he followed Xia Fei to the grassy lawn downstairs.

Xia Fei casually sat down on the grass with a cigarette between his lips, looking up at the moon as though he had something on his mind.

Pang Xing stood next to him, picking an angle so that he could keep an eye on Avril’s room.

“You can’t truly protect someone with just your eyes; you need to use your perception,” Xia Fei said while smiling. “What if someone incredibly strong comes? By the time you see them, it’ll already be too late.”

Pang Xing was shocked, nodding immediately. “My father mentioned that you have incredible perception. That day at the Sunset Villa, only you and father sensed danger, and you perceived it earlier than he did. You’re really incredible just from that.”

Xia Fei did not say anything. Perception relied on detecting micro-changes in the surroundings to infer what might happen next. This ability was not something that could be trained; it was talent more than anything else. Only someone talented could possess incredible perception; a normal human being could train their entire lives and still be unable to detect danger that was freshly brewing. Obviously, Pang Xing’s perception was not anything special.

“Why isn’t your father here?” asked Xia Fei.

“My father is settling other matters back at the Sunset Villa. He mentioned that that incident was incredibly suspicious, and everyone at the villa must be thoroughly investigated. Plus, you’re by Avril’s side; he wouldn’t be of much help even if he were here,” Pang Xing said honestly.

“Hmm...” Xia Fei said, “that makes sense. His thoughts are similar to mine. Do you know if he’s made any progress in his investigation?”

Pang Xing turned pale. “Nope, but if I found out who’s behind all this, I’d never go easy on them.”

Xia Fei put out his cigarette before lighting a new one. Cigarette addiction was such a weird thing. If a smoker stopped smoking for a few days, their desire to smoke would be stronger the next time they resumed smoking. Moreover, Xia Fei was in the middle of a thought, needing the assistance of nicotine.

“If Avril died, who would benefit the most from it?” asked Xia Fei.

“That’s impossible. The lady... she would never die.” Pang Xing was incredibly angry, clenching his fists as he spoke with a low rumble.

Xia Fei laughed. “Heh. Nobody would wish for Avril’s death. I’m just presenting a hypothetical question just to better understand this situation.”

Pang Xing bit his lip with some force behind it. “Outside of the lady, there’s the master and the second master. The Old Patriarch has been off the grid for a long time. If the lady died from that attack, it’d spell doom for the Jian family, and nobody would benefit from that.”

Xia Fei nodded. “Does Barty have any children of his own?”

“No, the second master was involved in a car accident in his youth. He lost both his legs in the process and even his...” Pang Xing stopped there. He was a servant of the Jian family, after all; it was not a good thing to be talking about his masters behind their back.

“Is that so...” muttered Xia Fei.

“Why do you want to know all this?” Pang Xing could not help but ask.

“It’s nothing.” Xia Fei kept his hypothesis to himself, remaining vigilant before anything was set in stone.

Pang Xing seemed a bit anxious, and Xia Fei’s nonsensical questions had piqued his interest. “The lady mentioned that you’re incredibly smart. If you’ve come to realize something, you can tell me about it. I know how to keep my mouth shut.”

Xia Fei shook his head. “This doesn’t have to do with keeping your mouth shut. Rest assured; I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything with evidence.”

Pang Xing could not help but sigh, crossing his arms as he continued looking at Avril’s window.

“The master probably wanted you to leave the lady when he met with you today, right? How did you respond?” asked Pang Xing.

“What do you think I answered?” Xia Fei slyly turned the question around.

“It’s hard to say; it’s quite a difficult situation to be in. It may not be a good thing for her future if you stick around, but if you leave, the lady will go back to being depressed like before. I finally got to see her being happy again, and I wish that she would never go back to how she was a year ago,” Pang Xing said truthfully. Because of Avril, Pang Xing had started letting his guard down in front of Xia Fei, treating him as family.

“I understand what you’re getting at, but have you considered that everybody has the right to choose? The one who decides whether I stay or leave shouldn’t be Newman but Avril herself, right?”

“What do you mean?” Pang Xing asked, confused.

“Simple. Is it certain that Avril’s life will get better once I leave, or will she be worse off if I stay?”

Pang Xing shook his head. “Who knows what will happen in the future?”

“Exactly. These things can be left for Avril to decide; nobody else gets that right. I’m staying not because I’m after the Jian family’s riches and most certainly not because I’m trying to climb the social ladder. To be honest, I don’t care about any of that. For me, no amount of money can compare to Avril. What I truly care about is her, so I gave her the right to choose and respect her decisions.”

Pang Xing was taken away by the other’s response. Incredibly touched by it, he spent a few moments in silence to take it in. “Perhaps you’re right, but regardless of anything, I can tell that you treat Avril well.”

Xia Fei stood up and patted him on the shoulder, saying in a serious tone, “You may not know, but I’ll be leaving soon. The thing that worries me the most is Avril. If you trust me, I hope that you can do one thing for me.”