Xinghe accepted the offered glass and clinked it with his. The wine went down smoothly, she couldn't remember the last time she was so relaxed. Mubai seemed to share the same thought. He took a sip of the wine and offered a luxurious smile. "This feels nice."
It's nice drinking with her.
Well, it's nice doing anything with her.
The period he was away, he missed her dearly. He was gratified now that he saw her in person, but somehow, he felt it wasn't enough…
Mubai sipped on his wine slowly while staring intensely at Xinghe. Xinghe saw a mess of emotions in his deep dark eyes. She felt they were communicating some messages to her, precisely what she couldn't be sure. She could read other people's thoughts fairly well but she had difficulties when it came to relationships. It was a lot more complicated than she would have preferred. It was as if her brain was born without the faculty to dissect relationships even though her mental acuity on other subjects was surprisingly inhuman.
Mubai saw Xinghe's disinterestedness.
"I'm done drinking, what about you?" Xinghe put down her glass and became all business again.
Mubai sighed helplessly, "Then why don't you go back to sleep, the sun hasn't even risen yet, you can still afford some shut eyes."
"That's fine, I'm well rested, how about you?"
She kept asking that question but it was not out of concern; she just wanted to talk business with him!
What kind of business, Mubai could only guess.
"Xinghe, it's not often we get the opportunity such as tonight to rest, why don't we savor it?" Mubai hinted but Xinghe was like a block of wood.
"I've savored more than enough. Let's talk business and not waste time."
"When do you plan on leaving?" Xinghe looked at him and asked directly. She knew Mubai had only come back temporarily, he had to leave soon.
Mubai found himself unable to lie under her scrutiny. "…In a bit."
In other words, he was leaving tonight. Xinghe nodded before adding, "Take me with you."
"Do you think that's possible?" Mubai asked rather angrily.
Xinghe answered consolingly, "I know my departure will be troublesome for the Xi family but we're running out of time, we have no other choice."
This was her last resort. If she couldn't clear her name, then she needed to find out Saohuang's proof of criminality as soon as possible. Only then could everything be fine again.
Even though eventually they would find that out but time was not on their side. The longer this dragged on, the more the Xi family stood to lose. Time was a crucial variable.
For example, Saohuang might be brought down in the future, but the leadership post of Flying Dragon Unit might not go to Munan anymore. Things changed and they had to act fast to catch up. The only thing she could do was to try her best, to not give up until the very last moment. For that purpose, she had to follow Mubai overseas, she had to find Saohuang's proof of criminality as soon as possible.
Mubai understood all of this as well but he didn't want to involve her in any more danger. He would handle everything and she would be safe, but could her decision be changed?
He knew full well it couldn't because she was Xia Xinghe.