Chapter 245

"You didn't avoid me?" Xu Yanfeng repeated Xia Xi's words.

Xia Xi heard the teasing in his tone and emphasized again: "No."

"I believe you." Xu Yanfeng seemed to smile a little, not obvious, "Then you come down now, we can talk."

Xia Xi suspected the wind outside was too loud, she misheard, and with a "bang" she shut the window tight, locked it: "What did you say?"

Is she pretending to be stupid? Xu Yanfeng said impatiently: "I said, come down now, let's talk. Aren't you still awake?"

Xia Xi confirmed, she hadn't misheard; she leaned forward, forehead against the window glass, eyes lowered looking down.

Her family lives on the tenth floor, the floor isn't low, nor especially high; she could vaguely see a car parked under the dim streetlight.

Is Xu Yanfeng sick? On New Year's Eve he's not home with family, he came here. Even if he wants to talk, there's no need to pick today.

Xia Xi didn't want to go down to see him: "I'm about to sleep."

Xu Yanfeng wasn't at all surprised she'd make an excuse: "You just said you weren't avoiding me."

Xia Xi randomly made up an excuse to placate him: "Everyone at home is asleep; my coming and going would easily wake them."

"Oh——"

He dragged out that "oh," obviously not believing her nonsense.

The warm breath she exhaled fogged a small patch of the window glass; she lifted her sleeve to wipe it, her view cleared again. She stared downstairs, breathing shallowly, urging him to leave: "Go back."

Xu Yanfeng didn't hang up, he held his ground with her.

Xia Xi drew the curtains, turned her back to the window, her words overly calm: "Xu Yanfeng, I don't know what you've heard, but dwelling on the past now is meaningless."

Xu Yanfeng's voice turned a bit cold: "Then what do you think is meaningful?"

Xia Xi was speechless, hastily hung up.

In the car, Xu Yanfeng, sitting in the passenger seat, lit a cigarette, gazed at the phone's dark screen, gave a self‑mocking smile, tossed the phone into the glove compartment with some force, making a loud bang.

"What did she say to you?" Xu Junmo sat in the driver's seat, one hand lightly tapping the steering wheel, his gaze sweeping over his brother's face—anyone could see he was in terrible spirits—"She doesn't want to come down to see you?"

Xu Yanfeng felt dejected inside; with no one else in the car, he didn't need to hide it, it showed on his face: "She said, dwelling on the past now is meaningless."

Xu Junmo pondered a moment, gave a light chuckle, and praised: "She's got a point, pretty philosophical."

Xu Yanfeng shot him a cool glance—just whose side is he on?

"Sorry, I forgot to consider your feelings." Xu Junmo gave in.

The cigarette was boring, Xu Yanfeng stubbed it out, pushed the door open and got out, his gaze went up, counting floors, stopping at the tenth; that row of windows was black, already dark.

Xu Junmo also got out, hand on the car roof, not knowing which floor Xia Xi lived on, he glanced up casually and asked Xu Yanfeng: "Do you know which unit she lives in?"

"I know."

"If you want to see her, just go up and knock on the door." Xu Junmo saw many people coming and going, playing with sparklers outside, could swipe an access card, getting in wouldn't be hard.

Xu Yanfeng turned his face, looking at him coldly: "Then you'd wake the whole household—her mom, sister, little sister coming out to gawk?"

"Forget I said it." Xu Junmo rubbed his nose, advising him: "Since we're sure she won't come down, let's head back. Big Tiger Xu should be asleep by now; sneaking back is perfect."

Xu Junmo rarely returned home to spend New Year with his parents; at the reunion dinner, Xu Guanshan brought up old talk, asking when he planned to marry. Xu Junmo choked, unable to eat, his stance unchanged—he swore he'd never marry in this lifetime, and instead urged Xu Guanshan to abandon such notions.

Xu Guanshan's face darkened with anger, he slammed his chopsticks onto the table.

Zhong Yinghong stepped in to smooth things over, saying it's not easy for a family to share a reunion meal, don't ruin the atmosphere.

Her words got through to Xu Guanshan a little, he eased his anger. Less than three minutes of calm passed, the focus turned to Xu Yanfeng; Xu Guanshan spoke more bluntly, telling him to pick a date—this year, no matter what, he must get engaged to the Ling family's daughter.

Xu Yanfeng was equally tough, he tossed off "I won't get engaged to Ling Yan" and walked away.

As soon as he left, Xu Guanshan's anger had nowhere to go, surely it would be aimed at Xu Junmo. Xu Junmo wasn't stupid; he sprang up from his chair like his butt was on fire, chased after him, ostensibly to advise Xu Yanfeng.

New Year's Eve, the two brothers in misery wandered the streets.

Coincidentally, Tang Yizhou called, saying he'd gathered a group at the entertainment club they often go to, to celebrate the New Year together.

Xu Yanfeng wasn't interested, he refused; afterward, he had Xu Junmo bring him here.

The brothers got home just before one a. m., entered quietly, only to find Xu Guanshan still awake, sitting in the living room in a waiting‑for‑rabbit pose, a cigarette between his fingers.

The ashtray on the coffee table was piled with cigarette butts; beside it sat a pot of tea on the electric stove, the brewed liquid dark and rich—clearly strong tea, the kind that wakes you up.

Xu Junmo's temples twitched, a bad feeling rose; he frantically signaled Xu Yanfeng with his eyes—what should we do? The Big Tiger's going to eat someone!

Xu Yanfeng was steadier than his brother; he walked calmly to Xu Guanshan and said, "Dad, do you have something?"

Xu Guanshan turned his head, looking at the dazed Xu Junmo: "You, step aside."

From despair to joy took just a second; Xu Junmo felt reborn, his mouth almost twitching into a smile, he nodded to Xu Guanshan, lifted his foot toward the elevator, not forgetting to glance back at Xu Yanfeng with a sympathetic look.

Xu Guanshan's dignity brooks no challenge; Xu Junmo had learned that early on, and even now recalling it makes him shiver.

He couldn't help Xu Yanfeng anymore; he could only rely on himself.

Xu Guanshan lifted his chin, signaling Xu Yanfeng to sit.

Xu Yanfeng sat down composedly, elbow on the sofa arm: "Just say what you have to say."

The anger Xu Guanshan had been holding since the dinner table had built up to now, impossible to suppress; his sharp gaze locked onto Xu Yanfeng: "What do you mean by saying you won't get engaged to Ling Yan?"

He knew their relationship was fake, not real lovers, but that didn't stop them from joining forces.

"Which word don't you understand?" Xu Yanfeng smiled faintly. "Literally. I don't like Ling Yan, so naturally I won't get engaged to her, let alone marry her."

Xu Guanshan's temple twitched, feeling a sharp pain radiate from his temple deep into his brain: "In your position, can choosing a partner rely solely on liking?"

"The Xu Clan is already strong enough; we don't need to rely on marriage alliances." Xu Yanfeng said this with confidence—the Xu Clan has been rising year after year under his hand.

"It's not that we don't need marriage alliances, but a strong‑strong union is better than you picking someone with nothing." Xu Guanshan laid it out: "You don't want to get engaged to Ling Yan—fine, I won't force you; you have many options. Who do you want? The Zhao family's daughter, or the Tang family's, or even the Fu family's will do—just that they're six years older than you."

The few he listed are all daughters of aristocratic families.

Since they couldn't agree even a little, Xu Yanfeng saw no point in continuing: "I'll only marry the person I want to marry. It's late; you should go rest."

Having said that, he rose and went upstairs.

Behind him came a clear sound—whether Xu Guanshan smashed the tea cup or the teapot, unknown; Xu Yanfeng didn't turn back.

Because of Xu Yanfeng's phone call, Xia Xi couldn't sleep, tossing and turning in bed, she burst out of despair, went downstairs to look, and the car under the streetlight had already driven off.

She breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately not like last time, staying in place insisting on waiting for her to go down to see him.

Xia Xi opened the bedroom door and walked out, the living room had no light, she stumbled a bit, turned on her phone flashlight for illumination, walked toward the room where her grandmother had lived before her death, and gently turned the door lock.

After the grandmother passed away, the family members were afraid of being stirred by the scene, and no one pushed open this door.

Xia Xi pressed the light switch on the wall, the furnishings inside still retained their previous appearance, and at the foot of the bed was draped the dark brown sheepskin vest that her grandmother often wore.

After glancing around, Xia Xi sat down beside the bed, slightly bent over and opened the nightstand drawer, inside lay the books her grandmother read and a sewing box.

Under the sewing box pressed a light brown envelope; Xia Xi's gaze lingered, she pulled the envelope out, examined both sides, and found no writing on it.

Xia Xi opened it, pulled out two folded sheets of paper from inside, unfolded them; the writing was her grandmother's, not particularly beautiful, but she had written with great effort, and the back of the paper had a raised texture.