The woman gestured to the plush leather sofas. "Do let me know if you like anything to eat or drink."
Jingwei blinked and turned to Xue Ning, not even sparing her a second glance. "Darling, do you want anything?"
"Nah, I'm not hungry," Xue Ning said, not even bothering to protest the pet name. She didn't have much appetite since she received the news yesterday. "What about you?"
"I'm fine," Jingwei said. "Then what about you guys? Wei Yan, Ming Guang?"
"No." Both replied simultaneously. They weren't going to eat something from a stranger when they were on a mission! Now that Sun Jingwei had left the safety of his home, they needed to be more alert.
Meanwhile, the smile on the woman's face was slowly becoming more strained as Sun Jingwei continued to ignore her!
"Excuse me Miss, how long do we need to wait before we can fly?" Xue Ning asked.
The staff reluctantly turned to her to answer.
"In as soon as half an hour, Madam. The crew is conducting the final checks for the plane. Is there anything at all that I can help you with?"
"No thanks, you can go," Jingwei said, before he paused. "Wait, there is something you can do!"
The woman practically threw herself at Jingwei at his words, dying to please him. She knew it! No man could resist her looks and her figure! She was the top air stewardess for a good reason, with a lot of happy clients under her belt.
Perhaps he wanted some extra 'service' on the plane, service that the grouchy, frumpy-looking woman that was accompanying him couldn't provide. Whoever his guest was, she didn't look like anything special.
She was dressed in a simple T-shirt and long pants, looking like a tired college student. Clearly she must be Jingwei's younger cousin or something. Even if he called her his darling, she couldn't possibly be his fiancee from the press conference video!
"Yes! Whatever you need! I'll help you fulfil your every request!" She replied, emphasising on the word 'every'.
Xue Ning rolled her eyes. Wei Yan winced, this woman was going to embarrass herself.
"Give my wife a shoulder massage!" Jingwei replied cheerily. Both Xue Ning and the woman stared at him in surprise.
"I'm not your wife," Xue Ning corrected, her brow furrowing in unease. They were supposed to be pretending to be friends, not lovers! Did Jingwei forget their agreement already? What if this woman blabbed?
"Sir! Your wife?" She choked out, finally taking a careful look at Xue Ning, eyes were disbelieving. If the rumours were true, this woman was the one that beat up the Zhou family heiress so badly that she had to get reconstructive surgery!
She paled immediately, stepping back in terror. And she still dared to flirt with her husband in front of her!
"No need," Xue Ning said, scowling, not liking how the woman looked frightened to death at the sight of her. She knew she didn't look her best, but this woman didn't need to act like she saw a ghost!
"Just get us on the plane quickly."
"Yes Madam! I will do that now," she bowed hurriedly and all but fled with her metaphorical tail between her legs.
"Wow, Miss Li, you really scared her," Wei Yan muttered in awe.
"I didn't even do anything!" Xue Ning protested. "And does my face look that scary?"
"Of course not," Jingwei quickly assured her, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "You look as cute and lovely as always."
"You do realise we are supposed to be just friends right?" Xue Ning said, even as she couldn't help but lean into his hold.
"That's why I'm making the most of it now," Jingwei planted yet another kiss on her other cheek. "Once we touch down in Hubei, I'll have to live with being your platonic friend. No hand-holding, no hugging, no kissing, no sex…"
"You'll live," Xue Ning said, smacking him. "Now make sure you remember our cover story, or we're both toast!"
=====
After a few hours, they touched down at Hubei. The journey was pleasant and smooth-sailing, and Jingwei cheered when he saw the rolling hills of green and the tiny buildings from the plane window. Even if the circumstances weren't ideal, he was going to visit the place where Xue Ning grew up!
To his surprise, there was no welcome party waiting for them when they disembarked from the plane.
"Aren't your parents coming to fetch us?"
"No, I told them not to bother. We'll drive there. Come on." Xue Ning gestured for them to follow her into the car the airport had helpfully provided for the youngest Sun family member. "I'll give you directions."
Jingwei drove, marvelling at the way the smooth roads from the airport grew increasingly bumpy with every turn Xue Ning told him to take. While he still drove past high rise buildings at the start of the journey, eventually those buildings became increasingly smaller, increasingly dilapidated. In fact, for a certain stretch of road, there weren't any buildings at all, just plots of flat farmland as far as the eye could see.
"Are those cows?" Jingwei asked as he peered to the side of the window just for a moment, distracted.
"Keep your eyes on the road," Xue Ning scolded. "And yes, those are cows. Have you never seen one before?"
"Not like this!" Jingwei protested, even as he shifted his eyes back to the road, an action that he thought was pretty pointless, since there didn't seem to be any human life on the road other than them. "This is cool! But are there really no people here?"
"Oh sadly there are," Xue Ning said, "now turn right here and you'll arrive at town."
And true to Xue Ning's words, a sleepy little town soon came into view. Jingwei slowed down, taking more time to look around inquisitively. The buildings clearly had seen better days, but there was a certain charm under it all.
Time seemed to have slowed down.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om