Chapter 347: Then and Now

"Ladies and gentlemen, this flight is from Golden City Base to Jingji Base. The total flight time will be under one hundred minutes."

"Make way, make way, make way!"

Xie Ning turned her head, her expression deadpan as she was met with Li Dawei’s face, which was stretched into a foolish grin. She immediately shot up from her seat. "What are you doing here?!"

"Hey, we haven’t seen each other in over a year. Can’t you be a little nicer to us?" Li Dawei muttered as he stuffed his luggage away. "We bought tickets, you know! And they were expensive—I mean, really expensive! Our whole team paid... this much!"

Xie Ning blinked. She recalled her boyfriend stuffing a sack of Crystal Cores into her hands just last night. ’So that was what the ticket money was for?’

Xie Ning cleared her throat and took the orange juice Gu Chen handed her.

The man gave her a questioning look.

"N-no, it’s nothing." Xie Ning scanned the area and suddenly spotted a familiar face. "Xiao Long?"

Song Xiaolong gave her a slight nod, his expression calm and detached.

Song Kexin quickly turned and stood up to greet him, but Song Xiaolong had already turned his head away, not sparing them another glance.

Xie Ning looked at Li Dawei.

"Hey, what are you looking at me for? Don’t you guys know what happened to Xiao Long’s family?" Li Dawei rolled his eyes.

"Ah, forget it. It’s been so long. Xiao Long is with our Fierce Tiger Squad now." Li Dawei added smugly, "Oh, right, Xie Ning! Did you know I got married?"

"Why the hell should I care that you got married?" Xie Ning snapped back.

"That’s not it." Li Dawei jutted out his chin. "What’s with the attitude? I’m trying to tell you that both my wives are pregnant now! As their aunt, shouldn’t you buy a little something to celebrate the newborns?"

Xie Ning stared at him, her face deadpan. "You’re pregnant?"

The onlookers couldn’t help the twitching of their lips. For some reason, the sight of these two together was just hilarious.

"What do you mean, am I pregnant?" Li Dawei rolled his eyes to the heavens. "My wives are pregnant! And, uh... we’re not asking for much! As our former neighbor and current comrade-in-arms, just make a small gesture. How about two hundred Crystal Cores for each baby? And they have to be Second Order or higher! We won’t take First Rank."

A deadpan Li Xiang suddenly grabbed a magazine and used it to cover his face.

Sure enough, three seconds later, Xie Ning leaped over and started hammering her fists on his brother’s head.

"I’ll give you Crystal Cores! Here, I’ll give you Crystal Cores! Is five hundred enough? How about three thousand?!"

Exasperated, Gu Chen stepped forward, grabbed his girlfriend, and pulled her to his side to calm her down. "Ningning, don’t hit people. Your hands will hurt."

Everyone: ...

BANG. Someone nearby indignantly slammed down their tray table and turned to stare out the window.

’What did I do to deserve this?’

After spending a fortune in Crystal Cores to get on a flight to the Capital, I have to sit here and be subjected to their PDA? It’s infuriating!

Zhong Yaying and Zhao Yingying came over, sporting their baby bumps.

Zhong Yaying, carrying herself like a socialite, spoke first to smooth things over. "Miss Xie, Li Dawei is just joking with you."

Zhao Yingying also chimed in with an apologetic smile. "Ningning, I’m so sorry. He’s not all there, please don’t take him seriously."

Song You’ai shot Li Dawei a look and scoffed, "Morally bankrupt and utterly depraved."

Then she turned to her future son-in-law and earnestly advised, "Xiao Gu, don’t you learn from him! Just look at the state of him! He shouldn’t have been allowed on this plane! Does he think we’re still in the Great Qing Dynasty, marrying two wives to show off his wealth?"

Gu Chen hurriedly professed his loyalty. "Don’t worry, Auntie. Ningning is the only one for me, for the rest of my life."

Li Dawei shot him a sidelong glance and suddenly snorted, "It’s not like you’d dare have two, would you?"

He muttered under his breath, thinking no one could hear, "’You’d dare have two? It’d be a miracle if Xie Ning didn’t cave your damn head in.’"

Yu Tianfeng suddenly burst out laughing. "HAHAHA!"

Everything that brat Li Dawei said was pure gold, and every word of it was true.

’As if Xiao Gu would dare have a wandering eye. It’d be a cold day in hell before he’d try anything.’

Xie Ning lunged forward to kick Li Dawei but was snatched back by the quick-reacting Gu Chen. "Ningning, let’s not sink to his level. Calm down, calm down."

"The nerve of him," Xie Ning glared at Li Dawei.

The young couple went to their seats at the front. Xie Ning was still fuming. "Why did you let him on the plane?"

’What is wrong with that guy?!’

"The plane has plenty of room, and I figured we shouldn’t let the Crystal Cores go to waste." Gu Chen cleared his throat. "Do you have a feud with him?"

"Not a feud, exactly," Xie Ning took a deep breath. "It’s just... that psycho follows me everywhere I go."

To this day, she could still remember that lunatic constantly shouting behind her, "Xie Ning’s making a run for it! Follow her, follow, quick, keep up!"

After recounting the past incidents to Xiao Gu, Xie Ning shot him a quiet look. "Go ahead and laugh if you want to."

Gu Chen truly couldn’t hold it in any longer. He let out a low laugh, his eyes crinkling. "He’s quite a character, then."

’Character or not, all I know is that he’s very punchable.’

Xie Ning rolled her eyes, pulled two cans of milk powder and two packs of diapers from her Space, and tossed them to Song Shijun in the seat behind them. "Give these to him for me."

Song Shijun nodded, suppressing a laugh, and took the items over to Li Dawei.

Soon, Li Dawei’s booming voice rang out again. "Haha, thank your captain for me! Hahaha, now this is more like it! We’re all old neighbors. Once we get to Jingji Base, we’ll have to help each other out, yeah?"

Song Shijun couldn’t be bothered to engage with the man, so he just delivered the items and returned to his seat.

Xie Ning whispered to Gu Chen, "Li Dawei is like a stubborn leech. Once he latches onto you, you’ll never be able to shake him off."

"So, can we hit him?" Gu Chen also whispered.

"Yes, of course we can," Xie Ning said huffily. "After we get off the plane, if he tries to freeload off us again, we’ll just beat him until he leaves."

Li Xiang lowered the magazine from his face. "Why do you always have to provoke her? If it weren’t for the fact that you married my two sisters-in-law, I’d almost think you were in love with her."

’His behavior is just like some little kid with a crush, always trying to get the girl’s attention by making her angry.’

"Bah, get out of here!" Li Dawei’s face went pale. "Don’t you say such scary things. Who? Who would love that tigress? What do you know?"

Li Dawei broke into a grin and lowered his voice to a mutter. "Don’t just look at how fierce and stingy Xie Ning seems. She’s actually really good to the people close to her. Who do you think I’m trying to get on her good side for? It’s for you guys."

"See? I took a few punches that didn’t even hurt, and in exchange, I got two cans of milk powder and two packs of diapers."

Li Xiang was exasperated. "Oh, get lost."

’He’s a grown man about to become a father, and he still acts like a brainless teenager.’

Li Xiang shook his head, putting on the air of a psychic. "My guess is that you’re suffering from unrequited love. You have feelings for Xie Ning but never even realized it. Thankfully, you have some self-awareness. That woman, Xie Ning, is more than you could ever handle."

"If the man Xie Ning chooses ever dares to be unfaithful, she’d chop him to bits without a moment’s hesitation."

Li Dawei suddenly felt his groin tighten, and for some reason, his entire body shuddered.