Lu Mengjie ended up blinking a few times upon hearing what he said. Well, he was the only person who greeted her that way after remembering who she was. Her eyes softened. Bai Jingye was surely a good friend. "Thank you."

"Have you told your family about what happened?" He asked, looking curiously at her.

"Well, yeah, most of it," she replied. "Not everything but I have already told them not to do anything so don't worry. They will keep their heads low while they are here. Bai Keran already knew that some people are claiming to be my family so I only have to play a bit with him."

Despite saying that, she knew that the old man was not stupid. If he was able to hide his dirty works from others, he was someone who should be wary of. She was only waiting for him to make a move.

"I see.."

"How's Xiao Ruyi, anyway? It's been a while since I last heard from her. How's she doing in the mainland? Getting famous as ever?"

He chuckled a bit. "She's doing well, you don't have to worry about a thing. She has been very busy with her career now that she was taken as an ambassador to a famous clothing brand."

"Well, that's the trend nowadays. Everything is about social media." If she remembered correctly, her brother was also famous on a different platform.. He was as a gamer. Aside from being a Chairman and CEO of the Xia company, he had another hidden identity and it was the famous pro-gamer 'Black Cat'. He has been earning lots lately and to think that he still wanted to get more money from the people around him.. he truly was greedy.

Bai Jingye finally took the plate with a slice of cake in it. He could finally enjoy the sweet dessert now that the topic and atmosphere between them lightened up.

"How are things between you and madam Bella?"

Her sudden question almost made him choke. Good thing he had already swallowed the food before the question was asked. He shot his eyes at her with his brows furrowed together.

Lu Mengjie ended up raising a brow at the reaction she received from him. "What? Did something happen?"

She left him last night to call the other woman before she left to go to Han Yizhou. She only wondered what happened between them. Did they get along together? As she could see, the slice of cake he was eating was the same cake she bought earlier. It was either given to him or.. stolen from her. Knowing Bella Qin, she was not the type to share her favorite dessert with others, especially with those she was not even close with.

"That.." He paused and tried to think of the right word for what he had in mind. "Is she always like that?"

She blinked a few times in confusion at the question she asked. "Like.. what?"

"Childish."historical

She looked at him, puzzled at the word he said. Childish? That was the last thing she thought when it came to Gluttony. She was not immature and she would never use 'childish' to describe her after all, that woman has always been motherly and sophisticated. She could never remember a time when the woman acted out of character so it was only normal for Lu Mengjie to be confused when she heard what Bai Jingye said.

"I don't think I quite understand what you mean," she blurted out.

The man became quiet and as he did, seconds ticked by. It was as if he came to a pause to try and read her mind but failed to do so. He ended up breathing out a sigh. "Never mind." That woman was already giving him a headache so he at least wanted to rest his mind from her now that she was not present in the room.

"Are you perhaps.." she paused, the side of her lips curling up into a teasing grin before she continued, "are you perhaps falling for her?"

Clang!

The sound of metal hitting the floor was heard. He was caught off-guard by her sudden question. It so happened that Bai Jingye accidentally let go of the fork he was holding. He looked at her with blank eyes but somehow, she could feel a different ambiance of 'are you seriously giving me that question?' coming from him.

She fluttered her lashes innocently at him but at the same time, her curious gaze was still locked at him, waiting for him to answer her question.

"Me? Fall for her?" A small laugh escaped his mouth although it sounded quite sarcastic. "Stars have to fall from heaven first for that to happen."

In other words, he was saying that falling for her was impossible.

"Don't be stingy. Madam Bella may be older than you but nowadays, older women find true love with younger men. Age is just a number when it comes to love."

He chuckled a bit, "anyone who believes in love will agree with you but consider me out." He picked the fork from the ground then stood up.

She arched her neck, leveling her sight to him. "You.. don't believe in love?"

"Whether I believe in it or not is none of your concern," he replied, quite coldly at that.

"That's bullshit! Of course, it will become one of my concerns! I am your friend!" She retorted, standing up to face him.

The man didn't say a word of refute but instead, he just flashed her a small, bitter smile. "That's right, we're just friends."

For some reason, his words hit her differently. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at him in shock. "Don't tell me.. you still like me?"

No words came from the man and instead, he took a step forward towards her. He stretched out his hand and in the next second, he flicked her forehead.

"Are you crazy? Who would fall for a wild girl like you?"