Chapter 2574 — Making Up Her Mind

"Is… is that so?" Chen Xi thought it over, and it really did seem to make sense. She nodded and made up her mind. "Then… then I'll ask Wei Zhao-gege to come up and sit for a while?"

"That's right! You're just showing a little gratitude—it's no big deal!" Ying Ziyu said.

"Mm-hm!" Hearing Ying Ziyu put it that way, Chen Xi actually felt a little relieved. "Then… shall I call him now?"

"Wait—you still need to get ready!" Ying Ziyu stopped her.

"Ready? Ready for what?" Chen Xi looked at Ying Ziyu, puzzled.

"Ready to build a little romantic atmosphere, of course!" Ying Ziyu said. "Right now, Wei Zhao-gege most likely thinks of you as a little sister. So I think you should make him change his thinking—make him realize you're not a little girl anymore, that you're a young woman now!"

"Ah? H-how am I supposed to do that…" Chen Xi asked, blushing. She was embarrassed, but she also had to admit there was something to what Ying Ziyu said—Wei Zhao really did treat her like a little sister, and that wasn't how Chen Xi saw things at all. She had already fallen for Wei Zhao, and naturally she didn't want to stay just a little sister forever…

"Look at you—still wearing a jacket at home! How is that supposed to show off your lovely figure?" As she spoke, Ying Ziyu pulled Chen Xi's jacket right off. "When you're at home, you should wear less. If you want Wei Zhao-gege to see you as a young woman and not a little girl, you have to show off your figure!"

"B-but isn't this a bit too little?" With her jacket off, Chen Xi was left in just a camisole—and a low-cut one at that—which made her terribly self-conscious.

"Too little? It's still too much!" Ying Ziyu shook her head. "No, you have to keep going—take off your bra too!"

"What!" Chen Xi was startled by Ying Ziyu and instinctively clutched her chest, stammering, "M-my bra too?"

"Yes! You have to understand the beauty of suggestion. If you go without a bra and just wear that thin little camisole, you'll be full of that suggestive charm—Wei Zhao-gege is sure to love it!" Ying Ziyu said.

"Th-that… maybe we shouldn't?" Chen Xi was a very modest girl—how could she ever do something so bold?

"Why not? You absolutely must!" Ying Ziyu said. "This is how you overturn that little-sister image in Wei Zhao's mind—make him gasp, 'My sister can't possibly be this sexy!'"

"…" Chen Xi still couldn't bring herself to do it. "Um, could we skip the bra this time? Maybe next time?"

"Next time? How would that work? Tell you what—I'll take mine off too, to show you how. I'll keep you company so you won't feel so alone!" With that, Ying Ziyu took off her own jacket, then slipped both hands inside her blouse, unfastened her bra, pulled it out, and tossed it aside. "See? I've demonstrated. Now aren't you going to take yours off?"

In truth, Ying Ziyu had a little scheme of her own tucked away in her heart. She didn't want to compete with Chen Xi for anything, but Wei Zhao wasn't limited to just one girlfriend, was he? If Chen Xi became Wei Zhao's girlfriend, then Ying Ziyu could be thrown in as a buy-one-get-one-free bonus. But the prerequisite was that Wei Zhao had to have some fondness for her too, or else it would be tragic—Chen Xi would get promoted to girlfriend while she stayed a sister.

So Ying Ziyu had decided to change Wei Zhao's impression of her as well—to upgrade herself from a little sister to a sexy young beauty!

"Ah? Ziyu-jie, you… you don't have to keep me company…" Ying Ziyu's "sacrifice" moved Chen Xi deeply. She thought: Ying Ziyu, an outsider, had gone and taken hers off—if she, the one this was all for, didn't do the same, wouldn't she be letting Ying Ziyu's kindness go to waste?

At that thought, Chen Xi gritted her teeth and took off her bra too, tossing it aside. The difference was that her camisole, unlike Ying Ziyu's blouse, was so low-cut that the slightest movement would reveal the little white rabbits of her chest, making her terribly shy.

"I… this still doesn't seem right, does it?" Chen Xi glanced at her own chest, then at Ying Ziyu's. "Yours covers much more than mine. Maybe I should change into a blouse too?"

"Change into what?" Ying Ziyu said, half exasperated at her for not trying harder. "I'm telling you to show your girlish side to Wei Zhao—not me! What are you comparing yourself to me for?"

Chen Xi supposed she was right. Ying Ziyu had already set an example—if she still couldn't go through with it, wouldn't she be letting Ying Ziyu's good intentions go to waste? So she nodded, gritted her teeth, and said, "All right, then I'll call Wei Zhao-gege right now…"

But perhaps out of nervousness, as Chen Xi reached for the phone with one hand, her other hand clutched at the neckline of her camisole, keeping herself from being exposed.

Watching Chen Xi's cautious manner, Ying Ziyu felt a little helpless, but there was nothing to be done. Getting this far was enough to satisfy her for now—the rest could come slowly, later on.

Wei Zhao was talking with Foreman Zhu when his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the caller ID—it was actually Chen Xi's number! After Ying Ziyu and Chen Xi entered high school, Wei Zhao had bought Chen Xi a phone too, though she rarely used it.

"Xiao Xi?" Wei Zhao answered.

"Wei Zhao-gege, it's me." Thinking of what she was about to do, Chen Xi felt rather embarrassed, and her voice came out a little coy.

"Xiao Xi, you're awake?" Wei Zhao hadn't expected Chen Xi to wake up so soon.

"Mm, I'm awake. Thank you, Wei Zhao-gege, for saving me and Ziyu-jie, and for… bringing me home." Chen Xi said softly. "Wei Zhao-gege, have you left yet?"

"I haven't left—I'm downstairs. Since you're awake, I'll come up and see you." How could Wei Zhao fail to hear the meaning in Chen Xi's words? He smiled faintly, said nothing of it, and directly offered to come and visit her.

"Mm-hm, then I'll wait for you at home!" Chen Xi was instantly overjoyed—she hadn't even said it, and Wei Zhao had offered himself.

"All right, you wait there—I'll be up in a bit." With that, Wei Zhao hung up, then turned to Foreman Zhu and said, "Is there a supermarket in this compound? Go buy some fruit or something, and we'll pay a visit to Chen Xi and Ziyu."