Trap in a Book

Chapter 48

"So you want me to try it first? Why me? Also, I still think this is nonsense," Xiaomei said, "I mean... It's part of it, but there's more to it."

"Well, I-I want to test it out. The vendor said body language is the best thing to see how a person thinks about you. So, I want to see his reaction. Will Bojing allow you to grab his sleeve without swatting you away," Chuhua said.

"I agree with the vendor about body language, but why do I have to grab his sleeve? Why can't you or Zhou Baozhai?" Xiaomei said, still resisting.

"Well, I'm nervous and afraid of what he will do to me. For Zhou Baozhai, I-I already know...," Chuhua said quietly.

"Alright," Xiaomei said quickly to prevent Baozhai from questioning since her face was showing she didn't understand what Chuhua meant with the last sentence as Baozhai only knew that Chuhua likes Bojing.

Chuhua looked up to Xiaomei with great gratitude. Xiaomei sighed in her head, "It's not going to make a difference. Bojing just thinks of me as an acquaintance," she thought. "I'll do it, but since it's already late. I'll do it tomorrow," Xiaomei said.

The two ladies got up and were about to leave when a knock on the door appeared, stopping them. "Huang Daiyu," a voice called out.

"General Bojing?" Xiaomei said as they all were slightly startled.

"Are you sleeping?" Bojing said through the door.

"Ah, no. Come in," Xiaomei said, but Chuhua wasn't ready, so she constantly shook her head. "Might as well, get it over with," Xiaomei said.

"But I'm not ready," Chuhua said, but Baozhai patted her shoulder to comfort her and encourage her.

Bojing entered the room and was surprised to see the rest of the ladies there as well. "What brings you here, General Bojing," Xiaomei asked, looking at him. "Oh, I didn't expect you to have some company right now. I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Have a good night, ladies," he said, turning to leave. He felt awkward talking to Xiaomei with the other two here.

Chuhua and Baozhai both looked at Xiaomei. "Wait, General Bojing," Xiaomei said, reaching out to grab his sleeve. He immediately stopped and turned his head before saying, "Hmm? What's wrong," he said softly as he raised his eyebrows. Even though he raised his eyebrows, his eyes were soft and gentle showing great compassion. Chuhua and Baozhai were surprised to see Bojing's gentle eyes.
Xiaomei was startled by his warm gaze and immediately let go of his sleeve. She didn't expect him to show great warmth in his eyes. Xiaomei didn't understand. BoJing's character was supposed to be like a cold-hearted statue.
"Um?" Xiaomei uttered unsure and withdrew her hand away from him, but then his hand tried to reach out to grab her hand. However, at that moment, another hand appeared out of nowhere, and snatched her hand away before pulling her into his arms.

There was another uproar of surprise, and a small sense of jealousy filled the room. A voice spoke, "Sorry, but she thought you were me." ZhangWei acted shamelessly with his voice having a hint of jealousy. He held her closer as she was completely confused about what was happening. He appeared out of the blue and snatched her in a quick swoop.

Soon there was dead silence in the room, as no one uttered a sound while Bojing and ZhangWei were having a staring contest with each other. Once again, there was a knock at the door. Before anyone could answer, the door opened. "Huang Daiyu, I need to talk to you-," LiJie tried to say as he entered the room, but stopped midway once he noticed the group of people in the room. Another round of silence entered the room. LiJie noticed Xiaomei was in ZhangWei's arms. He felt a little annoyed with the sight of that. Both Chuhua and Baozhai were silently bewildered by what they were watching.

"Um," Xiaomei tried to say and think about what to do next. She struggled to break free from ZhangWei's hand, but it didn't work. It was like she was a mouse stuck in a mouse trap.

She had to clear out this room. There were too many people with their own little drama. Before she could open her mouth, Bojing kindly said, "You needed something." He warmly looked at Xiaomei.

"Like I said she thought you were me," ZhangWei immediately said, stopping Xiaomei from answering.

"How is that possible? You weren't even here when she grabbed my sleeve," Bojing said while both of them were glaring at each other.

Xiaomei quickly interrupted them to stop this from escalating and put on a smile, "Sorry, General Bojing for grabbing your sleeve without your permission. I saw something on your clothes and was trying to get rid of it. Sorry for the confusion." While she was lying to Bojing, she didn't notice ZhangWei's face stiffening in jealousy from her words.

Bojing smiled and said, "Ah, I see. Thank you then." Chuhua was bitterly watching Bojing smile and couldn't endure the pain in her heart. She knew that Bojing would never give that kind of smile to just anyone. She herself never received that kind of smile.

"Huang Daiyu, thank you. I see now. I won't bother doing it. Have a good night. Please excuse me," Chuhua said, quickly leaving.

"Han Chuhua," Xiaomei called out and tried to go after her but ZhangWei refused to let her hand go. BaoZhai quickly went after her before glancing at Xiaomei in understanding but then at LiJie. The two ladies were already out of the room, and the three men remained. Xiaomei didn't understand. She expected them to chase after those two, but they didn't leave.

"Huang Daiyu," both LiJie and Bojing said at the same time. They both looked at each other before continuing, "I need to talk to you alone," they both glared at each other.

ZhangWei stood there, feeling that he was going to burst into jealousy, and immediately answered, "No."

"I wasn't talking to you," LiJie and Bojing said again. Xiaomei was starting to get a headache with these men. She did not understand what was happening and why they were so desperate to talk to her. She was also worried about Chuhua. She knew Chuhua was probably heartbroken now.

They were about to start to argue with each other, but Xiaomei interrupted them. "All of you out. If you want to talk to me, then you can find me tomorrow and we can talk," she said with a hint of anger, and her fake smile showed great annoyance as if she was about to explode. Their backs went cold, and they opened their mouths to apologize, but she shut them up. "You all may not have noticed, but it is late, so I need my rest. Also, it's not proper for a woman to have three men in her room at night, so please leave," she said harshly, pushing them out. Once the door was closed, she let out a great sigh of relief, but what she didn't know was, when she shoved them all out, only two of the men retreated back to their room while the other one sneaked around and climbed back in through the window.