The next morning, Ning Xi was awakened by a low male voice coming from the living room.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Lu Tingxiao lowered his phone, and asked in a gentle tone, "Did I wake you?"
Ning Xi stared at the man in front of her, her eyes wide like copper bells.
Lu Tingxiao wasnāt wearing a shirt, so when she opened the door, the first thing she saw was his bare skin. The impact was too much.
She rubbed her nose. Thankfully, she hadnāt embarrassed herself.
Lu Tingxiao didnāt seem to have noticed her strange behavior, and calmly picked his shirt up from the sofa. As he buttoned it on, he said, "Thereās an emergency at work, I have to go. Iāll have to trouble you to go wake Little Treasure up."
"Oh, okay!" Ning Xi nodded and quickly went to do so.
But she didnāt have to; when she turned around, she saw a soft and cute little Pikachu standing in the doorway. His eyes were staring intently at his father, Lu Tingxiao, and he appeared displeased.
"Little Treasure, go change your clothes," Lu Tingxiao ordered this son as he put on his coat.
The reply he received was the loud bang of the bedroom door being slammed shut.
Ever so merciless.
Lu Tingxiao: "ā¦"
Ning Xi: "ā¦"
Lu Tingxiao went to turn the doorknob, but it was locked. He looked at Ning Xi. "Do you have the key?"
Ning Xi awkwardly shook her head. "I do have one, but the key is also inside the room!"
Lu Tingxiao pinched the skin between his eyebrows, and said in a cold, unfathomable tone, "Iāll give you three minutes. If you donāt come out, donāt think youāll ever get to come here again."
Three minutes later, there was still no sound or motion behind the door.
"Get out here! If youāre waiting for me to force you out, I wonāt be as nice as I am right now!"
There was still no movement.
That Little Treasure was really not giving his father any face.
Watching from the sidelines, Ning Xi wanted to laugh, but didnāt dare to. "I have work later, but itās no big deal if Little Treasure stays to play for a while."
Lu Tingxiaoās expression was irritated and displeased as he took out his phone to make a call.
Ning Xi took a sneaky peek, and saw that he was calling a psychiatrist. She was at a loss for words. Wasnāt it too extreme to call a psychiatrist for such a small matter like this?
Ning Xi coughed as she urged, "How about letting me try?"
Lu Tingxiao hesitated slightly before nodding.
Ning Xi pressed against the door and used a gentle, soothing voice. "Little Treasure, Auntie has to go to work so I canāt take care of you. Follow your father home first, okay?"
There was still no sound from inside.
"How about this, we can exchange phone numbers so we can instantly contact each other? We can even video chat!"
Sounds of footsteps approached the other side of the door.
"If Auntie is late, the director will yell at me, our director is really mean. Auntie is so pitifulā¦ wuā¦"
The door unlocked with a kachi sound and then opened.
Lu Tingxiao, who was already prepared to fight a long war, felt that he was dreaming. He stared at the woman standing beside him with bewilderment.
With just three statements, she had managed to coax Little Treasure into obediently coming out by himself.
If only he had known her when Little Treasure had locked himself in the attic the last time this happened. His entire family of four, all the butlers and servants, the psychiatrist, even a negotiation expert who had been hired as a last resort, had all been useless despite spending an entire afternoon trying to talk him out of the attic. In the end, they broke the door down and the little kid ignored everyone for a whole month.
Ning Xi of course didnāt know about any of this, and only thought the child was really obedient despite his tragic air. She picked Little Treasure up. Seeing his depressed expression, she was unwilling to scold him, and praised him instead. "Little Treasure is so obedient. Thanks, darling!"
Little Treasure appeared happier with the praise, and he silently gave her a note. On the paper, there was a string of numbers.
Ning Xi accepted the note. "Ah, is this your phone number? Alright, Iāll save it, and when Iām not busy, I will definitely give you a call!"
Lu Tingxiao felt it a bit strange; Little Treasure didnāt have a cellphone, so what phone number did he give her?
Using his height to his advantage, he looked at the note. That was his phone number.