Chapter 456: Chang Xia (3)
Chang Xia's visit not only surprised Jiang Li, her greeting words also made him feel both awkward and guilty.
She was right after all. Before falling asleep, he looked up her number on his phonebook. Sadly, before he could press the call button, he already fell asleep.
Breaking a promise with a patron was not something a qualified kept man would do. It would leave a terrible impression on the other and would make them doubt their sincerity which could then cause a rift between the two parties. But while technically, what Jiang Li failed to fulfill was not a promise, it was still a problem since it made Chang Xia unhappy.
Jiang Li did not make up any excuses, since he knew he was the wrong one here.
"How about I be your servant for the entire day?" He just said with a helpless smile.
The girl's expression instantly brightened, liking how he basically proposed to be with her for an entire day.
"Okay." Chang Xia readily replied, then linked arms with Jiang Li. She was beaming happily. Even he was surprised.
In this world, they were people who just met yesterday. Their relationship was not that deep yet. Thinking that she might act this way to other guys with handsome faces made him feel concerned somewhat.
However, when he looked at her, she returned his gaze, wearing a radiant smile.
'...Alright. I will believe this is because of the connection between our souls, not because of my face.'
Jiang Li guided Chang Xia to the living room before leaving her there to watch some random morning shows.
It was weird. The current situation developed into something Jiang Li also never imagined before. Instead of the guy waiting for the girl to dress up, it turned out the other way around. Jiang Li whose face had thickened through his years of world-hopping felt like laughing at the thought, finding it amusing and at the same time, awkward.
On that day, Jiang Li fulfilled his promise and accompanied Chang Xia to various places in the city.
Actually, this morning before she came knocking on his door, he was thinking about whether he should meet his parents today. He missed them greatly. However, one part of his brain reminded him that as a disappointing son, if he were to return, it should be after proving his worth and accomplishing something that would make them proud.
With that in mind, he initially decided to do his research today. However, Chang Xia dropped by. He was the one who suggested spending the day together so while his plan did not change, his schedule became packed. He just decided to not sleep later.
The young lady was still young at heart so they stayed the longest in the amusement park near the city center.
Compared to her previous incarnations, Chang Xia stood out for being a very outspoken and lively one, the type to do and say whatever she wanted.
She was really like a normal rich, spoiled, and naive girl.
If she wanted something, for example, a stuffed toy, or a type of snack, or even a balloon, she would not hesitate to buy them. Even if she did not know how to use a particular item, as long as it looked good, she would buy it and even generously pay extra.
Likewise, if she did not like something, she would not shy away from voicing out her opinions about it and would not be careful with her words even if some people get offended. For an instance, after sampling a pumpkin-flavored cake, Chang Xia did not hesitate to criticize the snack in front of the seller, even saying that a 3-year-old kid she knew could make something better.
Sometimes she would act like a child that had no idea how the world works.
However, was that really the case?
Jiang Li who already received the plot from the system knew not to think lightly of this cute creature as she was actually not that simple.
The girl shared a name with the villainess despite not being the villainess. Chang Xia and the villainess were from the same family. The last name Chang was not that common in their city. She was probably at least aware of what her family dabbles into, hence she was reluctant to tell Jiang Li. She was also at least conscious of the fact that the relationship between them was still very new, and fragile.
Even Jiang Li could tell that for now, she was only into his face, but their actual relationship was awkward. They were not really lovers, but more like strangers that were trying to get to know each other. Of course, there would be many details that she would not be able to share with him.
But even though she had no plan to tell him about her family yet, Jiang Li was not perturbed because Chang Xia was quite a major figure in the plot.
"Wow." At Chang Xia's request, the two went inside a nearby cinema hall to watch a movie. "So many people."
She acted like she had never seen a crowd queuing to buy tickets and buy snacks. The usual look in her eyes that showed curiosity on just about everything could really beguile people into thinking that she was innocent and easy to lead around.
Jiang Li was shielding her so she would not suddenly be pushed around. "Careful."
Chang Xia merely grinned. She asked, "Which do you think is more interesting? Scifi? Or youth drama?"
"Whichever you like."
"Oh, I get it, servants can't refuse their master," she laughingly replied. "In that case, I will choose. Let's go with this one."
Surprisingly, she picked neither scifi nor youth drama. The tickets Jiang Li bought were for a romance story between two people who were about to divorce. And yes, he paid for it. His pride that he threw away the previous day already came back to him.
He thought her choice was really interesting. Usually heavy and extremely mature topics like divorce were not liked by young people. After all, it opposes their ideal romance in mind,
When he asked why he chose that movie, she said it was because she was friends with the lead actress and wished to support her. Jiang Li only smiled meaningfully, not commenting anymore.
On their seats, Jiang Li did not pretend to like the movie. He quietly sat there, but his eyes were on the screen of his phone.
Chang Xia immediately discovered that he was not paying attention in front. She snuck a peek at his phone, quizzically asking, "Are you not going to watch? What are you scrolling through there?"
She did not seem offended. Instead, curiosity was overflowing from her eyes.
Jiang Li looked up and glanced at the huge screen in front. The film had just started. The two protagonists had just married and moved into their new house. Everything seemed to be going well for them. The start was a really generic one.
Jiang Li lost his interest and replied to Chang Xia, "I'm checking news about my family."
The girl's eyes were still on the phone screen. She checked the titles and the links. He was browsing news websites.
"Somebody from your home is famous? Or you mean you were from the type of families that could appear on news?" Chang Xia's gaze remained full of curiosity. A smile could be seen on her lips though, and her tone sounded like she was teasing him.
Had he been a normal pretty boy who possessed great pride without anything to back it, he would have already taken her tone badly.
However, Jiang Li knew that Chang Xia was simply trying to make him talk about his background.
"Hmm. If you mean the local news, yes," he said.
"Oh? For real?" Chang Xia saw several familiar names in the article currently displayed. Surprisingly, a few were people from the same circle as her, while the others were names of brands and businesses. After digesting his words, she asked, "Does it mean you were also from a rich family but ran away for some reason?"
Looking at her expression, nothing changed. Jiang Li laughed. "Well..."
"So I guessed correctly?"
Jiang Li did not deny it, rather asking if she would believe it if he said yes.
Chang Xia nodded. It appeared like she did not even bother to suspect if he was speaking the truth or not.
The serious expression on her face made him grinned. "Miss Chang, you know, maybe I was actually making things up to amuse you."
To this, she replied, "But you don't seem to be lying." Chang Xia laughed. " And I'm at least confident that I am not someone a dear servant of mine would lie to."
Weirdly enough, she said she believed him but did not ask him why he left his home.
Soon, the movie ended. Somehow the two of them still came to know the plot despite not watching ninety percent of the time. The other viewers filled it in for them as these people discussed the story while heading towards the exit.
"Oh. So the story was pretty good." Chang Xia's remarked after she overheard the plot. However, she also whispered secretly, "Sadly, the director is not talented enough. Could not even make me watch from beginning to end. Poor Sis Chen. I wonder who forced her to accept this film."
This really left Jiang Li speechless.
The two then ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant before resuming their tour. It seemed Chang Xia really wanted to take full advantage of his proposal. Jiang Li commended her for her stamina and energy because 9 pm already passed yet Chang Xia still showed no signs of wanting to go home.
However, he also could not help but wonder. Was his original face that fascinating to make her so reluctant to part with him? Or was there another reason?
Several times, Jiang Li wondered why the chauffeur, who was clearly hostile to him yesterday, was eerily quiet today.
Then suddenly, he remembered something about the Changs.
When he saw his companion looking at her wristwatch and phone frequently to check the time and refresh her mail, a guess flashed through his mind which he felt like ninety percent correct.
'What a complicated family,' he mused.
"I remember that there's a night market nearby. How about we go take a look?" asked Chang Xia who looked excited about something she had never seen or experienced before. Jiang Li did not know if her excitement was faked or not.
"Sure. Just don't stray from me. That place has many people after all."
Of course, he did not refuse. Even if the place she wanted to visit turned out problematic, he had enough confidence to secure their safety, not to mention, the old gentleman tailing behind them looked like a retired military officer.
However, Chang Xia's words further confirmed his hunch in mind.
It was not his face. It was her family.
'If today is the day the other Chang Xia visits home, then it all makes sense now,' Jiang Li thought to himself.
His gaze stayed on her for a long while.
For some odd reason, the real and the fake must not be seen in the same place at the same time.
When the real was at home, the fake must stay outside.
The latter must hide her identity and even stay in locations where nobody would be able to recognize her.
This explained why the girl kept dragging him to places very few elite people go to. It just so happened that those places seemed the ideal romantic spots for normal people. Her actual purpose was to avoid troublesome eyes.
Now the question is, why did the Chang family create a fake Chang Xia?