Chapter 49 We Didn't Know Each Other in the First Place

My dazed look made Xie Xiuyi so dissatisfied that he threw me out. I wasn't prepared and fell heavily to the ground. My arm ached terribly, and my gaze instinctively turned to Xie Yan.

But the moment I saw Xie Yan, he withdrew his gaze.

An invisible pressure seemed to bear down on me all of a sudden, making my chest feel so stuffy that I could hardly breathe.

Although I didn't know what was going on, why was Xie Yan pretending not to know me?

The moment I stood up, I glanced at Xie Yan again. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed that Xie Xiuyi was looking at me. I turned my head and met Xie Xiuyi's eyes, and he sneered mockingly.

"Hehe."

Xie Xiuyi raised his eyebrows and smiled faintly. Then he turned his head and whispered to me, "Gu Mian, look. This is the person you chose. Before all the elders even arrived, he's already pretending not to know you."

"We..."

The moment I opened my mouth, I felt a chill down my back. Only then did I realize that at some point, everyone's eyes were on me. I swallowed hard and then continued, "I'm not familiar with Xie Yan."

Leaving aside the fact that he's my landlord, even in daily life, we're just neighbors.

My dazed look made Xie Xiuyi so dissatisfied that he threw me out. I wasn't prepared and fell heavily to the ground. My arm ached terribly, and my gaze instinctively turned to Xie Yan.

But the moment I saw Xie Yan, he withdrew his gaze.

An invisible pressure seemed to bear down on me all of a sudden, making my chest feel so stuffy that I could hardly breathe.

Although I didn't know what was going on, why was Xie Yan pretending not to know me?

The moment I stood up, I glanced at Xie Yan again. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I suddenly noticed that Xie Xiuyi was looking at me. I turned my head and met Xie Xiuyi's eyes, and he sneered mockingly.

"Hehe."

Xie Xiuyi raised his eyebrows and smiled faintly. Then he turned his head and whispered to me, "Gu Mian, look. This is the person you chose. Before all the elders even arrived, he's already pretending not to know you."

"We..."

The moment I opened my mouth, I felt a chill down my back. Only then did I realize

that at some point, everyone's eyes were on me. I swallowed hard and then continued, "I'm not familiar with Xie Yan."

Leaving aside the fact that he's my landlord, even in daily life, we're just neighbors.

We're neighbors with neighboring stores. We don't see each other after work.

I spoke softly, but when I finished speaking, the entire hall was so quiet that it seemed there was no one there.

I looked at them one by one. They didn't say anything, just coldly sizing me up. My heart tightened, and I said, "I'm really not familiar with Xie Yan."

"Nonsense."

Xie Xiuyi suddenly erupted in a furious shout. His scarlet eyes glared at me angrily. He pointed at Xie Yan in the distance and loudly questioned me, "You and Xie Yan have even slept in the same bed, and now you're saying you don't know each other."

Slept in the same bed?

Several encounters with Xie Yan flashed through my mind, and my heart suddenly started beating faster. My face turned red, and I retorted to Xie Xiuyi, "Who slept in the same bed with him? Don't talk nonsense."

After all, I'm not married yet!

Being said to have slept in the same bed with a man, who is also my landlord, who knows what others would think if they didn't know the truth!

"Ahem."

Suddenly, an old voice came. Xie Xiuyi stared coldly at me and took a deep breath.

"Gu Mian, do you really not remember anything?" Xie Xiuyi asked me.

I was taken aback. The images of the banquet hall and that strange room flashed through my mind, and then I shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The atmosphere on the scene became awkward in an instant.

After a few seconds, the coughing old man slowly opened his mouth. "It doesn't matter who the leader wants to choose. However, the clan rules cannot be broken. Mr. Xie, you said that the leader wants to kill you?"

"Yes." Xie Xiuyi replied simply.

Xie Xiuyi's confident answer echoed in the empty room.

I looked at that huge and luxurious table and at Xie Yan, who had a noble posture at the end of the table. Almost instantly, I knew that Xie Yan was the leader they were talking about.

Xie Yan was their boss.

No wonder he could take over my former landlord's store at any time. Indeed, Xie Yan was a wealthy person. Thinking of this, I suddenly remembered what Xie Xiuyi had said about the killing.

Both Xie Xiuyi and Xie Yan had the surname Xie. They should be from the same family.

After combining several pieces of information, I roughly understood what had happened. Xie Yan and I were attacked in the forest, and the attackers should have been people sent by Xie Xiuyi.

But at that time, Xie Yan had also fought back to protect me.

No!

I suddenly raised my head and looked at Xie Xiuyi, who was talking eloquently.

Xie Xiuyi was talking about what had happened in the forest. His posture was elegant, but the words he said were extremely unpleasant.

"I originally just wanted to make my brother come to his senses. The person who died thousands of years ago is dead. No matter how much he liked that person, now that person is just a pile of dry bones. When Xie Yan didn't stop, he took action, and he even almost..."

"No."

I suddenly interrupted Xie Xiuyi. I quickly took a step forward and stood beside Xie Xiuyi. "That's not what happened at that time. I was attacked in the forest, and Xie Yan came to save me. If Xie Yan hadn't shown up, I'm afraid I would have been dead by now."

I was telling the truth.

I did see Xie Yan take action, but it was also because Xie Xiuyi had started the fight first.

After I finished speaking, the old men sitting behind the table stared straight at me. It wasn't until a few minutes later that one of them asked me, "When you went into the forest, were you instructed by someone?"

"No."

I shook my head. "I went into the forest just to deal with some things. No one asked me to go."

"Did you tell the leader before you went?" The old man asked again.

When I heard the word "leader", I instinctively looked towards Xie Yan. Xie Yan pursed his thin lips, and his pitch-black eyes were as calm as water, as if we really didn't know each other.

I felt even more stuffy in my heart for some reason.

I slowly let out a breath, wanting to say that Xie Yan might just have happened to be in the forest, and I was just lucky to be saved by Xie Yan.

Just as the words were about to come out of my mouth, I heard a faint sound of fabric rubbing.

I looked in the direction of the sound. Xie Xiuyi was holding a phone in his palm and standing lazily to the side. The light from the phone screen was reflected on his sinister face.

At that moment, I suddenly woke up.

My parents were still in Xie Xiuyi's hands.

Xie Xiuyi's pale fingers slowly slid across the phone screen. As if he sensed that I was looking at him, Xie Xiuyi slowly raised his head. His eyes were full of coldness, but he smiled amiably.

"Is Gu Mian looking at me?"

He said casually. After the words fell, his fingers were still on the phone. He turned the phone around to show me. "It's nothing. Just say what you should say. I'm just dealing with some work of my subordinates. After all, I'm also a pretty good boss."

Just say what I should say?

Xie Xiuyi's simple words fell into my ears like a bomb.

Say what I should say and don't say what I shouldn't.

Xie Xiuyi had also said the same thing to me before I entered the door.

Then the person to be accused was Xie Yan. The words I should say were the words that Xie Xiuyi wanted to hear, not the truth of the matter.

A sudden chill enveloped me. My fingertips were trembling, my heart was freezing cold, and my throat was soacerbity that I couldn't breathe.

Xie Yan had saved me.

But I had to lie in front of them because my parents were in Xie Xiuyi's hands.

What should I do?

Despair welled up like a tide. Xie Xiuyi's cold laughter flashed in my ears, but my gaze slowly fell on Xie Yan's face.

His long and narrow eyes were still lowered. The curve of his thin lips was an unfamiliar sense of distance. There was no gentle smile, and there was no longer the doting look in his eyes when he looked at me.

Everything was like a dream.

"Yes." I suddenly said, "It was indeed Xie Yan who took action against Xie Xiuyi that day. I saw it."

As soon as the words fell, a group of old men suddenly stood up.

The chairs rubbed against the ground, and the sharp noise stabbed at my brain. My heart was as good as dead, and I closed my eyes. The next second, I lost consciousness.