Chapter 33 — Not enough, Nan Xu. Not nearly enough.…
Night had already fallen. Just as Qi Ming got out of the car, he was still thinking about discussing dinner plans with Xie Hejing, but then Qi Hui called—something had come up on her end and she wanted him to go back.
Coincidentally, Xie Hejing wasn’t in the mood for dinner anyway. The welcome banquet was simply postponed to tomorrow.
Xie Hejing and Nan Xu got out of the car. From the moment they stepped into the hotel until they returned to the room, he kept a stern face, not saying a single word.
As soon as the door closed, he shrugged off his coat, tugged off his tie, and lounged lazily on the sofa.
His right hand rested casually on the armrest, long fingers idly playing with the tassels of a cushion. Every so often he gave a little tug, and the tassel swayed at his fingertips.
Nan Xu felt like her heart was just like that tassel in his hand—swinging back and forth, never able to find a moment of calm.
She wanted to comfort him, but she had no idea how. The tips she had read earlier completely vanished from her mind.
Carefully, she walked to the side and poured herself a glass of water, her brain racing to figure out what to do.
Xie Hejing finally spared the tassel, leaning back into the sofa, crossing his legs as he reached for his phone.
He swiped at the screen absentmindedly, but his gaze occasionally drifted past the edge of the phone, sneaking glances at Nan Xu.
When she still didn’t move for a long while, he tossed the phone onto the table. The crash of objects colliding landed with a heavy thud.
Nan Xu was clearly “reminded” by the sound. She turned her head toward him and mumbled in a small voice: “Brother, I know I’m supposed to coax you, but give me a second—I need to study first.”
Otherwise, not knowing his temper, she might only make things worse.
Xie Hejing: “…”
He held back his impatience and waited ten minutes. When Nan Xu still hadn’t done anything, he frowned and asked, “Nan Xu, are you deliberately stalling?”
By now she was breaking into a nervous sweat. She had been searching on her phone: [How to coax an angry older brother]. She didn’t even look carefully at what website it was—she was too focused on the idea of coaxing him. The deeper she scrolled, the more startled she became. Is this really how you’re supposed to do it?
“Nan Xu.” Xie Hejing called her again.
“I’m coming!” With no time left, she hastily memorized a few lines, set down her phone, and walked over to him. “I’m here.”
Xie Hejing tilted his chin slightly. “So, what did you learn?”
Nan Xu hesitated, unwilling to say. What she’d just read didn’t feel right at all, so she decided to go with her own instincts instead.
But since she had never coaxed anyone before, all she could manage was a few stiff, awkward words.
“Brother, don’t be angry. It’s all my fault.”
Xie Hejing raised a brow. “What exactly is your fault?”
Nan Xu: “…”
“As long as you’re not mad, then everything’s my fault,” she said honestly.
Xie Hejing’s expression stayed cold. “This is the result of ten minutes of studying?”
Thinking back to what she’d just seen on her phone, Nan Xu swallowed hard and decided to give up on that route. “Well… everyone learns at a different pace.”
“Nan Xu, do you even care about me at all?” he asked.
She was terrified of making him angrier, so she rushed to say, “Of course I care about you.”
“Then put a little effort into coaxing me.”
Nan Xu really had no idea what to do. She could only try to cling to whatever scraps of memory she still had from earlier.
Torn and desperate, she finally blurted out, “Then you’re not allowed to be mad afterward.”
“Alright.”
He was curious to see just what she would come up with to soothe his temper.
Standing there, Nan Xu clenched her fists and squeezed out, “Wait for me.”
She rushed into the room, recalling what the website had just taught her: to change into an outfit that “had a feeling”.
But what counted as “had a feeling”?
She rummaged through her luggage for a long while before her eyes landed on a dress she had packed just in case of a formal gathering. She hadn’t thought it would come in handy like this.
After changing into the dress, she removed her makeup, loosely fixed her hair, and finally opened the bedroom door.
Hearing the sound, Xie Hejing glanced up from his phone. When he noticed the change of clothes, his brow lifted. “Why did you change?”
Nan Xu’s eyes darted away, and she stammered, “You’ll find out in a minute.”
On the website, this “trick” had been marked with several red stars in a row. She had stared at it long enough that it stuck most clearly in her mind. Surely, if anything worked, it would be this.
Worried he’d accuse her of not being serious, she steeled herself and went with the method.
Step one: change into an outfit that “had a feeling”.
Step two…
Nan Xu walked toward him.
Xie Hejing’s posture shifted, becoming sharper, more composed. At some point, the top two buttons of his shirt had come undone.
His elbows rested firmly on his knees, hands relaxed between them, but his gaze tilted upward—steady, unwavering, fixed entirely on her. His eyes followed her every move.
The intensity of his stare made her skin prickle. Her fingers twisted at the fabric of her skirt as she asked in a trembling voice, “Why… why are you looking at me like that?”
His eyes grew darker, yet his lips curved into a smile. “Don’t want me looking at you? Then figure something out yourself.”
Figure something out myself…
Nan Xu froze. Then, remembering the next step, she bit her lip and glanced around. Her gaze landed on the tie he had discarded earlier.
“I’ll figure something out. But you can’t refuse.”
“I won’t,” he said.
Nan Xu stepped closer to the sofa and hooked a finger around the tie.
It was a solid black tie, soft and silky, slipping easily against her pale, delicate fingers. The stark contrast of black and white was striking—so much so that it was impossible to look away.
Nan Xu felt his gaze burning into her, and her face flushed crimson as she walked over to him.
Xie Hejing was sitting on the sofa, and for the first time, she was looking down at him from above.
He tilted his head back, clearly curious to see what she would do next.
Nan Xu deliberately ignored the weight of his gaze. Holding up the tie, she whispered, “Brother, close your eyes.”
The corners of his lips curved upward, but he obeyed, shutting his eyes.
Nan Xu draped the tie over them, blocking out those soul-stealing eyes completely.
In an instant, everything before him went dark. But with sight gone, his hearing sharpened. He caught the sound of her nervous breathing—slightly rushed, like a little deer about to do something forbidden, both frightened and timid.
He asked softly, “What are you planning to do?”
Already on edge, Nan Xu jolted at his sudden question. “Brother, don’t talk,” she said quickly.
At that, he raised his brows—but stayed silent.
Step two: do something intimate with the ear.
Nan Xu wasn’t sure what that really meant, so she decided to interpret it literally.
“Brother, lean your head back a little.”
Xie Hejing paused for a second, then leaned back without hesitation, an unguarded posture of complete surrender.
Her heart thundered in her chest, her palms slick with sweat. Forcing herself past the embarrassment, she bent down, lowering herself toward his ear.
Her lips brushed lightly against the tip of it—a fleeting, feather-soft touch.
Xie Hejing’s entire body went rigid. The hand resting on the sofa’s armrest clenched instantly, knuckles whitening. It took every ounce of his self-control not to drag her into his arms right then.
Her kiss trembled, lingering at the edge of his ear, hesitant yet electrifying.
His breathing grew heavier, deeper.
Just as she pulled back, about to straighten up, his voice came low and husky, tinged with a dangerous rasp: “What’s next?”
Nan Xu froze, flustered. “That’s… not enough?”
His mouth curved into a smile, a low laugh escaping—seductive, almost taunting. “Not enough, Nan Xu. Not nearly enough.”
He was intensely curious—just how far could she go?
Her mind was in chaos, nearly blank, but under the heat of his direct, burning demand, a reckless courage surged up. She bit her lip, her voice soft yet carrying a note of resolve: “I know.”
There was, in fact, a third step.
Kiss his lips.
But when her eyes lingered on his mouth for a few seconds, she chickened out. She couldn’t handle what might happen if she stirred up emotions he could no longer hold back.
Instead, her brows furrowed in thought, and her gaze shifted downward—settling on his throat.
After two seconds of hesitation, she made her decision.
Nan Xu took a small step back, then bent forward again, this time aiming for the sharp lines of his Adam’s apple.
Her breathing quickened, warm breath fanning over the sensitive skin of his neck. The sensation made Xie Hejing shudder.
When her lips finally brushed against his Adam’s apple, he couldn’t help it—his throat bobbed with an involuntary swallow, the movement dragging his Adam’s apple right against the softness of her lips.
Nan Xu froze as if burned, hesitating for a second. But after that brief daze, an indescribable curiosity rose to the surface and won out.
Slowly, she stuck out the tip of her tongue and brushed lightly against the Adam’s apple that had just moved beneath her lips.
The tiny, almost careless gesture was like a spark tossed into dry tinder—it set fire to every last shred of Xie Hejing’s self-control.
His body went rigid. The hands he had been forcing to stay still clenched into fists, veins standing out along his arms.
His breathing turned rough and uneven, his chest heaving violently as his body reacted beyond his control.
“Nan Xu…” He forced her name out between his teeth, hoarse to the point of breaking, a sound that carried nothing but strangled desire. “This is what you learned?”
In one motion, he yanked off the tie covering his eyes. Nan Xu found herself staring straight into them—eyes burning with a terrifying, scorching heat.
Nan Xu’s heart skipped a beat, and she took a step, about to leave. She only got halfway when she felt something wasn’t right, so she turned back to look.
He hadn’t said a word or moved a step, but his fists were still clenched tight, his body trembling like he was enduring some unbearable strain.
Nan Xu hurried back, her voice anxious: “Brother, what’s wrong?” A flash of panic ran through her—had she actually made him sick from anger?
He shot her a glance, then tugged his coat over himself, covering a certain area, before silently rising and heading back into his room.
Nan Xu stood frozen for a moment, completely baffled. She asked, but he wouldn’t answer.
Still, she knew deep down this had something to do with her. Grabbing her phone, she walked to his bedroom door, pulled up the same page again, and called softly through the door:
“Brother, don’t be angry. I’ll study more on how to coax you.”
Scrolling down past the tricks, she found a section of “phrases to use.”
Nan Xu frowned, unsure if they would work, but desperate enough to try anything. A dying horse is still worth treating, she thought, and began reading them out loud.
With every line she spoke, Xie Hejing’s breathing inside grew heavier, deeper.
She scrolled and picked through phrases until she reached the last one:
“Brother, I lo—”
Suddenly, her throat locked up. Not a word, not even a sound could come out.
Her eyes landed on the line just beneath it, the final part of the page—big, bold words marking the end of the article:
[Did you get these flirting tips for couples?]
For a moment, Nan Xu couldn’t even think of a word to describe her feelings. Her mind went blank, repeating the same thought over and over:
It’s over. It’s completely ruined.
She scrolled up frantically to confirm the title. It really did say, How to Coax an Angry Older Brother. That’s why she had clicked it in the first place.
Backing out, she opened the site again and finally realized—it was a dating website, filled with nothing but “relationship tips.”
Her back went cold, her fingers suddenly too weak to grip her phone.
If Xie Hejing finds out… I don’t even want to imagine how angry he’ll be.
And just at that moment—
Creak.
The bedroom door swung open.
Nan Xu, who had been leaning against the wall scrolling in a frantic search for damage control, jumped at the sound. Startled, her hand slipped, and her phone fell to the floor with a clatter.
“Bro… Ther, why did you come out?” she stammered, every word squeezed out through sheer panic.
Xie Hejing had changed into loose pajamas. He raised a brow and tilted his chin slightly. “Weren’t you the one who told me to come out? Go on then—finish what you were saying. You love what?”
Nan Xu choked up, unable to continue no matter what.
“I… love, love…” She felt like crying. “I love… cheering people up.”
The words slipped out too fast. She squeezed her eyes shut, hardly able to believe she’d actually said that.
Xie Hejing stepped closer. “You like cheering people up? Is this how you do it?”
Something flickered in his mind; his brows furrowed. “Nan Xu, do you do this to other people too?”
At that, Nan Xu quickly looked up. “Of course not.”
There was no way she’d use this kind of approach with anyone else. Even doing it with Xie Hejing was just a last-minute compromise. If she’d stuck to her own way of handling things, at least nothing would have gone wrong—unlike now.
Then she suddenly remembered the strange look on his face earlier. Concerned, she asked, “Brother, what happened to you just now?”
For once, Xie Hejing’s gaze flickered away. He avoided her eyes, refusing to answer, and only left her with a hurried:
“I’m going to take a shower.”