I Am The Third Party (GL) - Chapter 11

“Well…” I tucked my fingers into my sleeves and drew a circle in the air. “A park.”

“Which park?” Qi Xi asked.

“Why would I tell you so much?” Why would I need to reveal my whereabouts to you? This is strange.

Qi Xi uttered an “oh” and began to speculate. “Xianhu Park, right? A lot of people have been going to see the swans lately. Who did they go with?”

Holy crap, how did this guy know everything?

I jumped. “Yeah, for a blind date.”

“Blind date?” She paused, gave me a quizzical look, then nodded in understanding. “True, but for someone like you, blind dates aren’t very promising.”

…

I snorted, thinking nothing

of her business. True, I’ve never denied this.

Men are visual creatures, prioritizing appearance over character. It’s a very real thing, and women are the same.

I’m neither good-looking nor have any character. My life is boring, just drifting through life. It’s normal that no one is interested in me.

But I’ve never worried about being single or unable to get married.

For now, love and romance are optional for me; they’re not essential to survival.

They don’t add any color to my life. There’s nothing wrong with a peaceful life; I quite enjoy it.

Xiaoli said I held this view because I’d never truly entered anyone’s heart.

I used to despise her arguments.

What does it mean to enter someone’s heart, how can you truly enter their heart?

No one knows.

Sometimes I doubt the very existence of love itself. After all, it’s invisible and intangible; I can only hear about it, never personally experienced it.

So whenever such topics come up, I always laugh it off, thinking it’s no big deal.

But now…

I watched Qi Xi, who pulled the key from his bag and opened the store door, hesitate.

I didn’t care what the blind daters thought of me, but I did care about how Qi Xi saw me.

I was afraid she’d dislike my lack of good looks, my affluent family background, or my gentle personality…

I was gradually becoming a skeptic, always refuting previous assumptions the moment I formed a new conclusion, establishing, refuting, establishing, refuting, over and over again, endlessly.

Close to her, or away from her?

Stay with her, or leave her?

Maybe I need her, but she’s actually unimportant?

How do I really feel about her?

Like? No.

What is that?

Just a liking, curiosity, a desire to get closer.

But is that really the case?

What are we now, friends?

Or nothing at all?

I suddenly realized how fragile the connection between Qi Xi and me was.

The only thing holding us together was “her interest.”

She asked me to spend time with her, cook for her, listen to her talk, and give her hugs when she felt like it.

In return, she offered me her apartment, helped me with retail contacts, oversaw the renovations, and provided any assistance she could.

Everything was her request, meaning I could refuse.

But I didn’t.

Then I thought, her help is a huge advantage for me. There’s a benefit to be gained, so why not?

She loves to play, and currently seems to have a slight interest in me, but it won’t last. Perhaps in the next moment, she’ll find this game boring and go on a new adventure.

One thing is certain: while she’s still interested in me, she’s capable of doing many things for me, and I can extract the most benefit from her.

Perhaps the feeling I thought I had of “liking her” wasn’t real.

After all, I didn’t know what liking her actually was. I was simply intrigued by everything about her.

She captivated me constantly.

At the same time, I wanted her attention, only me.

I craved her care and touch, and was addicted to her scent… but that didn’t mean anything.

Could I say I liked her simply because of that?

Before, I was so self-righteous. I was simply interested in her, longing for her, and foolishly thought that was “liking.”

Perhaps I was only around her for personal gain, to satisfy my own desire for her.

And she, on the other hand, was simply interested in me. I was her game.

She played me, and I profited from her, so that made things fair.

And yet, I struggled so hard just two days ago, thinking of Qi Xi, his lovers, his fiancée, foolishly believing I was in love with a woman. Oh, how foolish!

Qiao Xianyu, Qiao Xianyu, one such low-level mistake is enough. Don’t let it happen again.

Overthinking and fantasizing only lead to self-destruction. Heartlessness and a drive for money are my life’s pattern.

I don’t expect to earn love, but I hope to at least protect myself from harm, let alone the pain of being foolish enough to run into someone.

Yes, I thought clearly.

So I was wrong before, caught up in the joy and agony of thinking Qi Xi might care a little bit about me.

But from the beginning, our relationship was simply one of exploitation, plain and simple.

Haha, that’s great.

“Come in, what are you doing standing outside like an idiot?”

Qi Xi turned on the light, pushed the glass door open, and beckoned me in. I sighed and leaped over to hug her.

Why should I hesitate?

In a relationship with an unknown duration, you have to seize every second and make the most of it.

Besides, I was so greedy for her body and feelings that even if it was just a casual fling, I felt like I’d made a killing.

Qi Xi crossed her arms, tapped her toes to the beat, and raised her chin to point at the wooden bar under the colorful lights, “How is it?”

I glanced at the bar, my eyes secretly stuck on her, “Great. Look how good my taste is, the design is good, and the things I pick are

good too.” “Well, it’s just so-so. But I’ve been helping you look after it these days, how do you thank me?” She changed the subject and looked at me with a smile in her eyes.

I grinned, tiptoed over and kissed her cheek, “I’ll give you a big kiss.”

It was just a light peck, and it left as soon as it touched.

I laughed, stepped back and ran to look somewhere else, ignoring her.

Qi Xi stood there in a daze, obviously not coming back to her senses.

After a long time, she raised her hand to touch her cheek, turned around and yelled at me: “Qiao Xianyu, are you crazy?!”

I jumped onto a table, swayed on the chair with my feet, supported my head with my hands behind my back, and said, “Sister is happy today, what do you want to do?”

I looked at her miserable face as if she had eaten expired bread, and I felt very comfortable.

Why, you can tease me, but I can’t tease you?

Qi Xi, you tease me, and I will tease you too.

We’ll see, there are many days to come.