26 Choose One 2

Hong Chi stopped pacing back and forth. She exhaled, scrutinizing Li Nuxie. "So, Black Emperor is not your first kiss?"

Li Nuxie's mouth twisted before she nodded.

"Hah, Ying, it seems that your team is losing," Hong Chi inclined her head.

Li Chanying didn't take the bait. "Okay. Let's solve your problem," she said, turning to her cousin. "You cannot have both of them," she stood up from the bed. "To the library."

Hong Chi grasped Li Nuxie's arm and pulled her from the bed gently. They walked behind Li Chanying.

Inside the library, Li Chanying pulled the black curtain to the side, revealing a tempered glass attached to wall. "Have a seat, esteemed guests," she curtsied.

The three of them laughed. Hong Chi pulled a chair for Li Nuxie before pulling one for herself. Li Chanying took a pentel pen from her craft box and stood at the right side of the tempered glass.

"First, let's identify the pros and cons," Li Chanying turned around. The pentel started gliding against the tempered glass. On top of it was written 'Black Emperor versus Mr. Book'. "What do we need to consider, Chi?"

"Good kisser!" Hong Chi yelled. Li Nuxie's brows furrowed. "What? The first standard of a boyfriend is being a good kisser."

Li Chanying wrote it on the glass.

1. Good kisser

"And second one?"

Hong Chi glanced at Li Nuxie. "Hot damn body," she giggled before pointing her finger to Li Nuxie. "You're not allowed to speak. This is between Ying and me."

Li Nuxie just shrugged her shoulders. Whatever.

2. Hot damn body

"Next!"

"Big bird!"

"The fvck!" Li Nuxie could not help but choked on her saliva. "Hong Chi, this is getting overboard!"

Li Chanying burst out laughing. "Well, sooner or later, you're gonna see it."

3. Big bird

She added small hearts around the words. Hong Chi giggled as she poked Li Nuxie's arm.

Li Nuxie opened her mouth but no words came out. She shook her head. How did she end up with a friend and a cousin who are both perverts?

"Fourth one, please!" Li Chanying's voice reverberated inside the library.

"A Primus Black Card," Hong Chi said, slapping her hips with her hands.

4. Primus Black Card

Li Nuxie sneered. "I have my own," she interjected.

Hong Chi ignored her. "Fifth should be brains," she said, pointing at her temple. "There's nothing sexier than a man who knows what he is saying,"

5. Brains

Li Chanying turned around and crossed her arms. "Next?"

"Pervert in capital P, girls."

Li Nuxie put her hand over her eyes as she groaned.

6. Pervert

Hong Chi rubbed her chin. "Seventh should be a sweet and loving boyfriend, don't you think, Ying?"

"Actually, it should be the first," Li Chanying argued as she wrote it.

7. Sweet and Loving

Hong Chi rolled her eyes. "What will you do with a sweet and loving boyfriend if he sucks when it comes to kissing?"

"Okay, okay. You know it," Li Chanying conceded.

With a tight-lipped smile, Hong Chi lifted her shoulder in a half-shrug. "Eighth should be talent," she stared at Li Nuxie, a smile slowly crept on her lips.

Li Nuxie knew that smile. Hong Chi was up to no good. "Stop it!" Li Nuxie raised her hand. "You're making fun of me."

With a jutted chin, Hong Chi winked at her. "Says who? Talent in everything. But talent in bed should be on the top list," with that, a full-blown laughter escaped from Hong Chi's mouth.

Li Chanying shook her head but still wrote it.

8. Talent in bed

Hong Chi stood up from her seat and took the pentel from Li Chanying. "I'll write." Li Chanying shrugged and took a seat opposite Li Nuxie.

9. Power

10. Smells damn good

"Ladies, the list is already complete," she turned around. Li Nuxie's shoulders were slumped. "Come on, why do you look so defeated?"

Li Chanying chuckled. "She probably cannot decide."

"Well, dear Xiexie, you need to."

Li Nuxie sighed. "But I really like both of them." She agreed with the criteria but. She sighed helplessly.

Li Chanying pressed her lips at the stubbornness of her cousin. Even in ancient era, the Emperor has only one Empress and the rest were concubines. What the hell?

"What do you mean both? One will be dearer to your heart," Hong Chi's face contorted.

"They're both equal in my heart," Li Nuxie said. "Is it possible?"

Hong Chi rubbed her neck as her gaze landed on Li Nuxie's face. "This is what happens when you get your heart broken a little too much. Your heart must have split into two."

"For me, Xiexie should choose Black Emperor. After all, he is friends with Xu Ming," Li Chanying aired her thoughts.

Li Nuxie curled her lips. "Mr. Book is Xu Ming's best friend. Xu Ming said so."

Hong Chi's eyes grew wide. "You fell for the two friends? Are you crazy, Xiexie?" She shook her head. "Choose one. Or drop both of them."

"I can't," Li Nuxie stubbornly insisted.

"Ying, you need to help her. Or she'll be in trouble," Hong Chi turned to Li Chanying.

"Me? How? You want me to investigate the two of them? Do you want to send me to hell? Both of them are practically untouchable," Li Chanying rambled continuously. Why was it that she was always sent to the front lines during critical times? Was she bullet proof?

Hong Chi went to Li Chanying's side, encircling her arms over her shoulders. "Come on, you're the only who can do that."

She grasped Hong Chi's arms. "Hmmmp. Xiexie taught me about computers –"

"A woman in love is dumb when it comes to computers."

"Excuse me, that's not true," Li Nuxie protested.

"Well, it's true for you. You even like two guys," Hong Chi retorted. "Where did you even meet this Mr. Book guy?"

Li Nuxie lifted her chin. "Don't worry, I didn't meet him in a bar. We met each other in a train."

Hong Chi removed her arms from Li Chanying. She straightened her back as her gaze bore to Li Nuxie's face. "Ying will investigate the two of them. But for the meantime, please avoid them if ever you see them. We don't need troubles. NU C's launching will be held in a month's time."

"I know. Business is business. How's RuRu?"

"Coping up. She's already rehearsing," Li Chanying interjected.

Hong Chi pulled the curtain over the tempered glass. "We'll go over this again after NU C's launching."

The day ended with Li Nuxie undecided of the man she would choose. Lying on the bed, Li Nuxie's eyes were closed but her mind was very much active. It went back to the past, months ago, when she came back to City S.