Chapter 203

Xu Yanfeng picked up the phone and first asked her: "You're finished so soon?"

In the previous call, she said she would work late into the night to finish the drawings; has it already ended before nine?

"This is just the beginning." Xia Xi stood in the corner and still felt cold; she turned sideways, closed the half-open window, and said, "Halftime break, I'll call you, then we'll continue after I go back."

On the phone, Xu Yanfeng gave a light laugh.

His smile is usually restrained; when pleased, he merely lifts the corners of his mouth slightly, and he rarely laughs out loud.

Xia Xi listened to his laugh, momentarily forgetting what she wanted to say, her hand resting on the windowsill, the window glass reflecting her slightly dazed expression; three seconds later, she also laughed.

"If you finished earlier, you could rest earlier—why are you calling me?" His voice was low and gentle.

"Can't I miss you?" Xia Xi teased him deliberately.

Xu Yanfeng had long been used to it: "Sure."

Xia Xi gave a foolish laugh, coughed, remembered the matter, and said: "Do you know when my birthday is?"

Although he didn't know why she suddenly asked this, Xu Yanfeng answered without hesitation: "March 25."

Xia Xi led the conversation step by step: "Have you prepared a birthday gift for me?"

Xu Yanfeng's expression tightened slightly as he sensed something off: "I have prepared it." He had just finished it today—how did she know?

After thinking it over, Xu Yanfeng immediately thought of the few people who knew this: Fu Li, Tang Yizhou, Luojinnan, and Cui Xingyuan. First, he ruled out Cui Xingyuan, whose lips are tighter than a screwed bolt—he would never leak a word; besides, Cui Lu doesn't even know Xia Xi.

Fu Li is steady-tempered and would never say this in front of Xia Xi.

That leaves only Tang Yizhou and Luojinnan, who have only met Xia Xi a few times—how could they have informed her? Surely they wouldn't have gone specially to Nan Da to find her…

Xu Yanfeng directly asked: "Who told you?"

Xia Xi pondered a moment, then sold a clue: "Guess."

Xu Yanfeng thought for a couple of seconds, then said in a low voice: "It's Tang Yizhou." Although he didn't know how Tang contacted Xia Xi, it's most likely him.

On the other end of the phone, Xia Xi sucked in a breath—this guy guessed too accurately, locking onto the target as soon as he spoke; how did he manage? She hadn't given any hint.

Her silence exactly confirmed Xu Yanfeng's guess; he was displeased with Tang Yizhou's meddling: "What else did he say to you? He's got a sharp tongue—don't listen to anything he says, not a word."

Xia Xi smiled indifferently, glanced at her nails that needed trimming: "You think I'd be at a disadvantage? Heck, my tongue is sharper than his; I've pissed him off half to death—he's probably hiding somewhere sulking right now."

Xu Yanfeng: "……"

Unbidden, an image popped into his mind of her scolding Zhou Xiaoyu until she cried and ran away.

Indeed, she's not someone to be provoked lightly.

"Xu Yanfeng." Xia Xi unusually solemnly called his name, sighed, then continued: "Are you stupid? Who gives birthday gifts as…?" She almost laughed saying the word "shares"; anyway, I don't want that—you're not allowed to give it to me.

Xu Yanfeng frowned; giving her all his assets, he thought, was his sincerity.

"Why?" he asked.

"You… you still ask why? Of course it's because it's too valuable—I can't accept it." Xia Xi said in a half-joking tone: "Of course, if you said this is your betrothal gift, I'd take it without hesitation. But is it?"

Xu Yanfeng: "You could think of it that way, too."

Xia Xi covered her mouth, shocked speechless.

What does he mean—does he want to marry her?

Xia Xi lowered the hand covering her mouth, pressing it tightly against her chest, swallowed, and said: "Wait… wait… wait a moment, I'm startled—let me compose myself."

Xu Yanfeng said nothing, giving her ample time to recover.

After a long while, Xia Xi remained in shock, her heart pounding as if she'd just finished a sprint; she took a deep breath: "Isn't this too soon?" Her face burned, she felt a bit overwhelmed, and whispered: "I'm still a student."

Good grief, Xu Yanfeng, who never voluntarily says sweet words, casually uttered a sentence that nearly scared her to death.

Xia Xi hastily hung up, emphasizing before ending: "I won't sign that whatever contract—don't bring it to me. Ah, I have to rush work; we'll see tomorrow, bye."

Xia Xi felt hot, fanned her face with her hand to no avail, so she pushed open the tightly shut window; the cool breeze brushed her cheeks, carrying away a layer of heat, but could not dispel the warmth surging inside her.

Xu Yanfeng is being excessive—how can she possibly calm down to finish her drawings now?

Xu Yanfeng threw the freshly printed contract into the shredder; countless fragments fell into the transparent bin, he leaned back against the chair, and his face in the light appeared rather gloomy.

She said it's too early…

His possessiveness toward her far exceeds hers; she only wants to possess him as a person, whereas he wants to possess everything of hers—her future, her life.

Is he being overly greedy and obsessive?

Xu Yanfeng lowered his head, pressed his fingers twice on his brow, felt a surge of gloom, then called and gave a dressing-down to the meddlesome Tang Yizhou.

Tang Yizhou had just gotten home, his butt not even touching the chair, when Xu Yanfeng coldly berated him; feeling both angry and wronged with nowhere to vent, he redirected his fury at Xia Xi, the culprit, and bombarded her with WeChat messages.

Tang Yizhou: "Did you go tell on me to Xu Er?"

Tang Yizhou: "What did you say to him?"

Tang Yizhou: "I knew you were a scheming woman!"

Tang Yizhou: "Xu Er's been fooled by you—I'm not stupid; you'd better wise up and stop playing games of sowing discord. If you get serious, see whether Xu Er cares more about you or about the brotherhood of over twenty years."

Seeing the string of messages, Xia Xi had only one thought: No, is this guy sick?

She replied to Tang Yizhou with two words: "Nuts."

Then she decisively blocked him, and he will never see the light of day again.

This shows the saying "birds of a feather flock together" isn't always true—Tang Yizhou might be a decent friend, willing to go through fire and water for his buddies, even take a bullet for them, but in other respects he's truly low-quality.

In the blink of an eye, a semester passed.

This year's New Year falls neither early nor late, on February 7.

The restaurant was busy; it wasn't until after eight in the evening that the Xia family finally sat down to eat the New Year's dinner.

Compared to last year's New Year's Eve, Xia Yue and her husband Zhou Hongsheng are missing; the young couple is spending the holiday at the Zhou family this year, as they had agreed after marriage to alternate years. Just now Xia Yue called; she had already finished her New Year's meal there, was watching the Spring Festival Gala with family, chatting, and mentioned her plan to have a child this year.

The happiest was Su Jinru, who said she would become a grandmother by year's end or early next year, and, delighted, she couldn't help but drink a few extra cups.

Xia Xi stared at her, seeing she was about to get drunk, quickly swapped her wine for grape juice: "Mom, drink a little less—any more and you'll be drunk."

Su Jinru's eyes were already glazed with drunkenness, her mouth never having closed.

Xia Chenggang furrowed his brow, looking displeased at Xia Xi, and said: "Your mother wants to drink, let her have a drink, what's the problem? The restaurant is swamped today, a drink might help her sleep, stop nagging her."

Xia Xi had some resentment toward this father who is usually silent and indifferent, only caring about himself; hearing that, she held back a bit, not wanting to argue with him during the New Year, she spoke plainly: "My mother's blood pressure has been a bit high lately; I just took her to the hospital last week to get medicine, you might not know."

Grandma also spoke up: "Xi Xi is right, Jinru, drink a little less."

Xia Chenggang ground his back teeth, dared not talk back to the old lady, didn't utter another word, poured himself a small cup of white liquor, gulped it down in one go; just then his phone rang, seeing the caller ID his face changed, he covered the phone and walked away while coughing, his face turned eggplant purple.

Out of sight of the family members, Xia Chenggang hurriedly answered the phone, he spoke slurringly: "Brother, brother, it's New Year today, you… why are you calling me at this time? Rest assured, I will definitely pay you back… give me more time… no, no, no, please don't come to my door…"

At the dinner table, Su Jinru, with a flushed red face, waved her hand: "No more drinking, no more drinking, I'll start quitting alcohol tomorrow, from now on I won't drink at all. I need to keep my health good to be able to take care of my grandchild."

She pointed at Xia Xi, smiling, and said: "Maybe your sister's child will be born soon, you're also getting there; my good health lets me help you more."

Xia Xi was speechless. Xia Xuan covered her mouth and giggled.

While clearing the dishes, Xia Xi leaned on Su Jinru's back, just like when she was little, arms wrapped around her neck, she said affectionately: "Mom, don't give yourself too many tasks; looking after the child can be left to a nanny; at your age you should enjoy ease. Just like Grandma, when you reach that age you should retire, live the life you want, and the restaurant will be managed by the eldest sister."

Xia Xuan raised her hand, eager to join in: "I can also help the eldest sister."

Su Jinru embraced both of them, smiling especially happily, her eye sockets were a bit wet, it was both moving and comforting.

People cannot foresee the future, so Su Jinru will not know; this was her last comfortable New Year's Eve, thereafter there would never be such a complete, warm moment again.