Chapter 219 - Clapback

Lei Xing was aware that Doctor Lou had been glaring at Bi Lu, but she warned him about this strange old man so she was not at all feeling sorry for his treatment. Her whole attention was focused on the duo before her.

Tung Mei was casually drinking, completely relaxed as if she owned the place. While the real owner, Doctor Lou had his back turned to her, like a child sent to a corner as he glared daggers at the innocent bystander, Bi Lu. 

Lei Xing internally sighed.

{...These two are so weird...But they've always been weird, them being weird together should be the normal expectation -_-)'...}

Regardless, their weirdness was not Lei Xing's concern at the moment. She drew back her sleeve and held her arm out in front of Doctor Lou, "Did you make this?" She bluntly asked pointing at the bracelet as she kept her eyes trained on Doctor Lou and Tung Mei, intently watching their every move. 

Tung Mei paused for a split second mid-sip, it was so short so Lei Xing was not sure if she really saw anything. But Doctor Lou's reaction was beyond obvious. He froze, then blinked and then squinted at her.

Lei Xing squinted back at him and asked with more conviction, "You made it, didn't you?"

{...It's too much of a coincidence that you, a poison detecting ring manufacturer also happens to be the "godfather" of the owner of a freaking talking bracelet...Can't be a coincidence and I say not a coincidence -_-)'...}

"Xing ji-" 

"I didn't ask you." Lei Xing immediately shut Tung Mei down before she could begin, she could not trust anything that came out of Tung Mei's mouth. She was a proven liar. But Doctor Lou was on more neutral ground so she stared him down and added, "No lies."

"I don't lie." Doctor Lou defended with a pout, obviously offended that she would think he would ever lie.

"Good, now answer." Lei Xing flatly said, obviously not at all caring about him being offended.

Doctor Lou looked her over and then haughtily raised his head and said, "Fine, I made it. So what?" 

Lei Xing blinked, taken aback by his frank admission. Having a suspicion and it being confirmed were two very different things, especially when it was so easily confirmed. Even it were true, Lei Xing honestly expected that he would be more difficult about admitting things. But then Lei Xing reasoned he must have been more willing to share than she thought since they had built quite a rapport between them. He did consider her a friend.

His admission also confirmed another one of her suspicions, Tung Mei had definitely been lying to her. Lei Xing glanced at Tung Mei, who immediately lowered her head to avoid Lei Xing's gaze. 

Lei Xing could not be bothered with her and quickly refocused on Doctor Lou and observed his demeanor.

His hands were folded and he was facing away from her while giving her a side glare, it was obviously a combative position. He was clearly not happy with her and if he shut down now she would get nothing more.

So Lei Xing took a deep breath and then looked at the bracelet with admiration, "Ahhh, that explains this wonder. With the magnificent and exquisite workmanship is and the otherwordly quality of the gems...I knew it had to be done by someone with great skills. Your ring is as beautiful as it is useful so I naturally thought of you, with you being the greatest I've met so far..."

Doctor Lou's demeanor immediately switched, he chuckled and leaned over and appraised the bracelet along with her as he excitedly explained, "Naturally, I only deal with the best. It took me quite a long while to settle on these gems. I really wanted something that looked pure and innocent, unspoiled you know. Something that would capture the essence of an adorable baby hehehe~"

{...Baby?...}

Lei Xing plastered on a smile and nodded in understanding as her eyes darted over to Tung Mei, who was still staring holes into the table. Lei Xing quickly turned her attention back to Doctor Lou and complimented, "Ah, so that's why. You know, whenever I looked at it, I felt innocence and purity radiating from it. I always wondered about the creator's thought process..."

Doctor Lou chuckled again and was eager to enlighten her. It was obvious he rarely got interested listeners admiring his craft, "You see when Xiao Ying was still an adorable little baby, she had the bad habit of wandering off. Although sometimes I just forgot where I left her hehe~....This one time I actually found her napping in a hole in the middle of nowhere. I had no idea how she got there - Although she might have fallen off when I passed but that's irrelevant. You know I was very panicked when I arrived at home and the baby was gone, babies are such hard work but they are adorable company hehe~..." Lei Xing glanced at Tung Mei as Doctor Lou continued his happy retelling of events

{...Napping in a hole in the middle of nowhere? O_O) Who the hell gave this quack their child?!...}

Tung Mei had apparently resigned herself to the situation and had grabbed the jar of wine and proceeded to nonchalantly continue her drinking. While she kept her eyes on the table, avoiding making eye contact with Lei Xing. 

Doctor Lou obviously continued his recounting, "...After so many mishaps, I came up with the brilliant idea of this bracelet. With it, I never needed to search anymore. So whenever I lost her or forgot hehe~ I easily followed the bracelet right to her. It made my life a lot easi-"

"Tracking. It's a tracking device?" Lei Xing asked in surprise.

"Of course, how do you think I found you?" Doctor Lou immediately froze after those words left his mouth. He sat there blinking at Lei Xing and Lei Xing mirrored his expression, completely stunned by this revelation. While Tung Mei just refilled her wine cup, completely on the outside of this conversation.

"You found me with this?" Lei Xing finally asked with a raised eyebrow. She had never really thought about how Doctor Lou happened to find her that night. 

Doctor Lou raised an eyebrow, then straightened up and looked off to the side and responded out the side of his mouth, "Well...yes. Also saved you from making a big mistake too."

Lei Xing knit her brows, "But how did you- Wait, wait, wait, do you know there's a-" She remembered Bi Lu was there and then lowered her voice to a whisper, "... voice entity in the bracelet?" Then she shook her head, "Of course, you know, you made it...What is it?"

Doctor Lou c.o.c.ked his head in her direction and then blinked at her a few times, seemingly in surprise. Then he raised an eyebrow, "Hmmm..." He turned to Tung Mei and then asked her, "What do you think?"

"I don't want to know what she thinks, I want to know what you think!" Lei Xing irritatedly cut in, she then lowered her voice and said through gritted teeth, "This thing has been terrorizing my life!" 

"Terrorizing?" Doctor Lou immediately frowned, "Saved your life and stopped you from making terrible mistakes on many occasions. Also, a great friend and what did you do, you ungrateful little brat?! If anyone was being terrorized, it was me! Do you know how precious those precious gems are?! And you even tried to smash it with a stupid inkstone! Even if it wouldn't have made a dent, I could not stand for my precious gems to be disrespected like that!-"

"You almost gave me a heart attack! You were trying to kill me and yet I graciously forgave you, but now you say I was terrorizing you? No, you are clearly the terrorist here and I am a great, great, brilliant person! I deserve your respect and so do all of my precious, precious gems!" Doctor Lou let everything out in one breath and was now holding his heaving chest for dramatic effect as he took deep breaths to calm himself.

How dare she insult his goodwill like this?!

Tung Mei let out a defeated sigh and shook her head as she just covered her face with both her hands. On the other end, Lei Xing just sat there staring at him with her mouth open, her confusion and shock were clear on her face.

Lei Xing blinked as she recovered from the shock, "So you're - but - how? - Why?!" She asked, completely baffled by why he would do all this to her. She expected to hear a secret about some entity or other trapped in the bracelet or...She honestly did not know what she expected, but she didn't expect this.

It made no sense. 

Doctor Lou straightened up and haughtily looked off to the side and responded, "Well...You started it...and I was bored."

"Started it?"Lei Xing exclaimed in disbelief as she held her forehead, her mind was having a hard time processing this.

{...What the hell? I didn't start any-...}

{...*Next time when I say leave me alone, you leave me alone! ( ￣^￣ )...}

Lei Xing blinked up at Doctor Lou looking at her with challenging raised eyebrows. Lei Xing was flabbergasted and annoyed by his accusing expression and she immediately defended herself, "Even if I "started it", I only kept it hostage for a few days, you've been keeping me hostage for months! "

Doctor Lou blinked, then he leaned forward and quietly said, "That...sounds like a you problem." Then he snorted, put a hand over his mouth and snickered as he sat back up and informed, "I've been wanting to say that for a long time. It is a really great line~" 

Lei Xing frowned as her lips twitched in annoyance. She was speechless, confused, angry and a whole bunch of other emotions she could not identify at the moment. Her mind was reeling.

Doctor Lou smirked and narrowed his eyes at her, "Tell me, how does it feel when it's "your" problem?" Doctor Lou snickered again, "You know another line I really like?..." He paused for effect and then told her, "Wouldn't you like to know." Then he howled in laughter as Lei Xing sat there with a confused frown. Trying to digest the information while being ridiculed by this boisterous laughter was even more irritating for Lei Xing.

It made even less sense the more she thought about it.

{...I started it - He was bored - Was this all a joke?... My life was a joke? ( ಠಠ )..}