Return to the City: The Strongest King
Chapter 183: A Kiss

Chapter 183: Chapter 183: A Kiss

Everyone sat at Song Xiaodong’s home for a while before heading to a nearby restaurant, where they had a good meal.

Originally Wu Songtao was the main character of the day, but after witnessing the abilities of Song Xiaoru and Song Xiaodong, everyone unconsciously treated Song Xiaoru as the main character, a sentiment even Wu Songtao didn’t object to.

After the meal came singing, and everyone treated Song Xiaodong and Song Xiaoru as a couple, teasingly urging them to sing a love duet.

Song Xiaoru was quite shy, but Song Xiaodong just pulled her up, looping an arm around her waist and looking at her with a beaming smile.

"You little rascal, causing such a fuss," Song Xiaoru nudged him gently with her elbow, her cheeks flushed red from the alcohol.

During the love song duet, Song Xiaodong sang with great passion, slowly drawing Song Xiaoru into the performance as well. As she sang, her gaze turned toward Song Xiaodong, and her eyes filled with an inexplicable emotion.

"Bravo!" Cheers from the crowd snapped Song Xiaoru back to reality, leaving her instantly bashful. This was her brother, after all. How could she be so captivated? It was silly.

"Kiss! Kiss!" Zhang Na shouted loudly.

"Yeah, kiss! Kiss!"

Among Song Xiaoru’s colleagues, the young ones were the majority, and the alcohol only made them rowdier, beginning to chant in unison.

"No, no!" Song Xiaoru was very embarrassed, waving her hands repeatedly.

Zhang Na jumped out and said, "You found yourself a tall, rich, and handsome guy so quietly, keeping it a secret from us for so long. If you don’t kiss, do you think we’ll let you off? What does everyone say?"

The crowd echoed one after another, "Yes, we absolutely can’t let her off. They have to kiss."

Song Xiaoru’s gaze subconsciously sought out Song Xiaodong, as she had become accustomed to looking to him for solutions whenever she encountered a problem.

Song Xiaodong chuckled and said, "If they want a kiss, let’s give them a kiss."

Song Xiaoru quietly kicked Song Xiaodong and chastised in a soft voice, "What nonsense are you talking about now?"

Song Xiaodong leaned in close to her ear and whispered, "If we don’t kiss, they won’t let us be. Let’s just give them a peck like we do at home, alright?"

Song Xiaoru hesitated for a moment but finally agreed with a blushing face. Song Xiaodong then gently pecked her on the cheek.

"No way, no way! That’s too perfunctory. We want to see a mouth-to-mouth kiss, and it has to be a French one."

"Exactly, way too perfunctory!"

The crowd had already gotten into an uproar, not willing to let go of Song Xiaodong and Song Xiaoru over just a peck on the cheek.

Song Xiaoru and Song Xiaodong looked at each other, at a loss. A peck on the cheek was one thing, but a mouth-to-mouth kiss, and a French one at that, was asking too much. Even though Song Xiaodong always liked being close to his sister, this was something he found himself unable to do, as it would not just be closeness, but a desecration of his sister.

Song Xiaoru’s face turned even redder, unable to accept such a thing. But seeing everyone’s expectations, they felt there was no chance of being let off without complying. Song Xiaoru secretly pinched Song Xiaodong and said in a pained whisper, "This is all your fault. You didn’t explain yourself earlier. What do we do now?"

Song Xiaodong chuckled awkwardly, admitting to himself that he hadn’t anticipated this kind of trouble. He pulled out his phone to take a look, then pretended to answer a call, bringing it to his ear and saying, "Hello, Director Sun... wait a moment, it’s a bit noisy here..."

As Song Xiaodong made his phone call, the room quieted down. Then, holding the phone to his mouth, he said, "Everyone, I have to take this call. You go ahead and sing," and with that, he strode out of the private room.

Song Xiaoru heaved a sigh of relief in secret, grateful that Song Xiaodong was quick-witted. She quickly chuckled and said, "Everyone keep singing, don’t mind him."

Zhang Na said proudly, "Xiaoru, don’t think you can get away with this. When he comes back later, you two won’t be able to escape that kiss."

At this point, Song Xiaoru was no longer afraid and responded, "Alright, we’ll talk about it when he comes back."

Soon, Song Xiaodong came back and said, "Everyone, I have some important matters to attend to, so I won’t be able to join you all anymore. I’m really sorry. Xiaoru, have a good time with your colleagues. I’ll be back in about two hours to pick you up."

Song Xiaoru, now eager for Song Xiaodong to leave, quickly said, "Okay, you go ahead and take care of your business."

If it were anyone else, the group would definitely have made a few complaints, but Song Xiaodong’s status meant they didn’t dare to make a fuss, so they all stood up to see Song Xiaodong off.

As soon as Song Xiaodong left, everyone surrounded Song Xiaoru, bombarding her with questions about Song Xiaodong’s identity.

Song Xiaoru had already prepared her excuse, vaguely saying that Song Xiaodong was in business, but not locally, to prevent everyone from asking too many detailed questions that would be difficult to explain.

A single lie often requires many more to cover it up. Song Xiaoru, who was usually not good at lying, now had to weave all these lies, which exhausted her.

Fortunately, everyone noticed Song Xiaoru’s hesitations when she spoke, thinking she didn’t really want to talk about it, and considerately stopped prying.

When everyone was almost ready to leave, Song Xiaodong came back, settled the bill, and then left with Song Xiaoru.

"Phew... I’m beat." Song Xiaoru got into the car and let out a long breath.

Song Xiaodong smiled and said, "I did win some face for you today, didn’t I?"

"You little rascal, now everyone thinks you’re my boyfriend, and I’m sure no one will want to be my true friend anymore."

Song Xiaodong smiled and said, "True friends won’t change their attitude towards you based on whether you have money or not, like Gangzi and Xiaoqiang. Those who change, you don’t need to care too much about them."

"But it’s still awkward for me to work in the company, sigh," Song Xiaoru shook her head.

"If you want to work there, work there; if you don’t want to, then don’t. Anyway, I think it’s quite good. Now I can buy you some nice clothes to wear. Otherwise, you never want to buy yourself good clothes, and that’s something I’ve always been bothered about."

Song Xiaoru gave Song Xiaodong a sidelong glance and said, "You, you’re just like a nouveau riche now."

Lifting his head proudly, Song Xiaodong declared, "So what if I am a nouveau riche? I just want to make sure my sister has the best of everything, to make other women envious and jealous. That’s what gives me a sense of achievement."

"Sis, why don’t you drive?" Song Xiaodong said with a smile.

"What’s up?" asked Song Xiaoru, puzzled.

Song Xiaodong explained, "I just want to see you driving with your hair flowing in the wind. You look really beautiful."

Song Xiaoru felt incredibly sweet inside but still chided, "I’ve had quite a few drinks; how can I drive? Tomorrow when I haven’t drunk, okay?"

"Mmm, haha, just thinking about my beautiful sister and that I’m the only one who can truly appreciate it, I’m just over the moon."

"You..." Song Xiaoru pursed her lips, rolled her eyes at Song Xiaodong, and said, "No wonder Miao Xuanxuan says that about you; you really are a sister complex."