Strike Back, Proud Goddess! Novel

Tang Xi closed her eyes and pressed the ice pack against her eyes as she listened to Xiao Jing and Xiao Sa’s chatter. Subconsciously, she was no longer as sad as just before. She smiled. Maybe this was the power of kinship. With them around her, she was not that sad.

A small island near the Pacific Ocean.

Qin Xinying got up early in the morning and put on light makeup. She used CC cream to cover her ruddy skin to make her look pale. With the makeup, she looked delicate and pitiful, and the pale-red eye shadow made her eyes look slightly swollen.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled, grabbed a lipstick and applied it to make her red lips pale. With satisfaction, she put the lipstick into her dressing-bag, turned to leave her room and went to the building where Qiao Liang lived.

Today, she was wearing a short, white skirt and her loosened hair was blown randomly by the wind, which made her look adorable. She smoothed her hair on her temples, took a breath and strode into the building. She walked inside unimpeded. There was no man working under Qiao Liang in the building. She frowned and went upstairs.

As she reached the door of Qiao Liang’s room, she slowed down and pondered. Was he still sleeping in sadness? Thinking of this possibility, Qin Xinying thought of several ways to comfort Qiao Liang, and finally knocked on the door of his room.

After a long time, no one answered. She frowned and knocked a few more times, but still, no one responded. At that moment, a woman came over. She smiled and asked in English, “Excuse me, are you looking for Mr. Qiao?”

Qin Xinying nodded, and the woman smiled and introduced herself as the houseowner. Qiao Liang had already checked out and left last night, and gave her an extra month’s rent.

Qin Xinying’s face suddenly turned pale. She bit her lips tightly and looked at the woman, asking, “You’re saying they’re gone?”

Seeing her upset, the woman nodded sincerely and replied, “Yes, he checked out around 12 o’clock last night. A helicopter picked them up at that time. They must have had something urgent to attend to.”

Clenching her fists, Qin Xinying didn’t look at the woman anymore and trotted out of the small villa. She had heard the sound of the helicopter last night, but she thought it was Qiao Liang increasing manpower to find Tang Xi. She didn’t know he left!

Didn’t he love Tang Xi so much? Why did he leave so abruptly?

At that moment, Qin Xinying’s phone suddenly rang. She looked at the caller ID and picked up the phone. Before she said anything, the person on the other side hurriedly said, “Tang Xi appeared!”

Hanging up the phone, Qin Xinying rushed to the seaside, looked up at the sky and shouted angrily, “Qiao Liang!”

‘Just because of an email, you are so sure Tang Xi is still alive?! Tang Xi is dead! Dead! She can never come back to life again!’

With her own eyes, she had witnessed Tang Xi’s plane crash and Tang Xi was smashed to pieces! How could she still be alive?!

Long Beach.

Someone picked Qiao Liang up as soon as he got off the plane; it was the president of the Long Beach Branch of Qiao’s International Group. He respectfully greeted Qiao Liang. Qiao Liang nodded and told him that he had come over for some private affair and needed nothing else but a house to reside in, and told that president not to fuss.

The president nodded and led Qiao Liang to a villa. Qiao Liang got out of the car, took a look at the villa and said to the president, “Don’t let anyone know that I’m in Long Beach. I came here for personal reasons and don’t want to be disturbed by business.”

The president of the branch company said he understood and wished Qiao Liang a pleasant journey before leaving. Qiao Liang tossed the door card in his hand to Little Five, and the latter opened the door and walked in. Little Six followed after him and Qiao Liang brought up the rear. When he got in, Qiao Liang asked Little Six who was holding his computer, “Have you positioned the IP address?”

Little Six shook his head. “I can’t. Maybe I’ll have to resort to an inch-by-inch search.”

Qiao Liang looked at Little Five and the latter said, “Our people will come soon. It will take about 20 minutes.”

Qiao Liang nodded. He didn’t sleep last night, but he was still in high spirits today and didn’t want to go to sleep at all.

Qiao Liang looked at Little Six and said seriously, “Keep tracking the IP address of that email and be sure to find the real address. Little Five, wait for them here. I’ll be taking a walk nearby. Call me when they arrive.”

Little Five nodded. Qiao Liang lit a cigarette and turned to go out.

Little Five looked back at Little Six, patted him on the shoulder and sighed. “Brother, try harder. Otherwise, we will have no chance to sleep in the coming days.”

Feeling greatly stressed, Little Six stared at the computer. “This person must be the world’s top hacker. Although I’m better at the computer than you guys, I can’t compete with a world-class hacker.”

Little Five raised his eyebrows. “Why doesn’t Young Master do it himself?”

Staring at the computer screen and continuing to tap away on the keyboard, Little Six pursed his lips and said, “As the saying goes, ‘the closer I approach my hometown, the more nervous I am’. So the more he wants to know the news, the more he dares not lay his hand on it.”

Little Five looked at him disapprovingly. “Hometown? Why does this metaphor sound so weird?”

Little Six raised his eyebrows and took a look at him without stopping his tapping. “Then name one not weird.”

“Well. Okay, your metaphor is good.”

Qiao Liang slightly closed his eyes as he walked on the beach. Then he opened his eyes and gazed at the azure sea. The next second, however, he turned his eyes away and dared not look at the blue sea, because she was probably buried in there. However, after he received the email, he felt a bit grateful to the sea. Perhaps it was because of the sea that Xixi had a narrow escape from death.

When his phone rang, Qiao Liang answered it and said, “Check the local hotels one by one first, then the private houses, and finally the private villas. Search them one by one. Be sure to find some traces of her whereabouts.”

On the other side of things, Tang Xi’s eyes were no longer swollen after using the cold compress. She washed her face, applied Refine Facial Treatment Essence on it, and went downstairs to work out. After she had breakfast, Yang Jingxian asked her to go shopping with her, but Tang Xi said she had to finish her homework. This was the downside of high school. On weekends, the amount of homework was even greater than usual.

Xiao Jing whistled and looked at Tang Xi’s back, asking, “Rourou, do you need me to tutor you?”

Without looking back, Tang Xi replied, “I think I’m better at studying than you are!”

Looking at Tang Xi’s back with a smile, Yang Jingxian said, “I called the school to ask about Rourou’s study. They said her academic performance was really good, and she could even help the teacher with problems in class. She is very impressive.”

“She’s a genius,” Xiao Sa said, imitating Tang Xi’s tone.