Chapter 270: Not Sure If We're Together

Xia Xi actually didn't pay much attention to what Zhou Du said; she was still thinking about Xu Yanfeng.

Seven years have passed, just as Xu Yanfeng himself said, longer than the time they were together, how could he still harbor feelings for her?

She had already "betrayed" him, abandoned him.

Could it be that he doesn't care?

Xia Xi remained silent, and Zhou Du thought he had hit the nail on the head. He poked his own forehead, furrowed his brows, looked troubled—Xu Yanfeng's ruthless father really is a problem.

But he thought it wasn't a big problem.

"You have to believe in yourself; you're no longer the Xia Xi from seven years ago. Also try to believe in Xu Yanfeng—he's not the Xu Yanfeng from seven years ago. How things turn out, no one can say until the end." Zhou Du said, "Back then, it was because something happened in your family that gave that old coot an opening; now it's a different matter."

Zhou Du doesn't really understand the ins and outs of wealthy families, but he thinks that if Xu Yanfeng has decided to get back together with Xia Xi and wants a bright, aboveboard future with her, he won't neglect to resolve the family issues.

Xia Xi, dazed, let out an "ah": "What are you saying?"

"……" Zhou Du laughed angrily, his tone cool: "Honestly, I've been talking dry-mouthed for half a day, and you didn't hear a word?"

Xia Xi thought back, uncertainly asking: "You seemed to have mentioned Xu Yanfeng's father?"

"Yeah, that's what I was talking about."

"We haven't even gotten to that point; you're worrying too far ahead." Xia Xi said slowly, "I haven't even confirmed being with Xu Yanfeng—his father has no say over me."

Zhou Du nodded; he really was over-worrying—the emperor isn't anxious, but the eunuch is.

Xia Xi: "You've given me all kinds of analysis, positive and negative, but you didn't ask whether I still have feelings for him?"

Zhou Du stared at her for a long time, the corner of his mouth involuntarily lifting; he raised a finger and pointed to her neck, where the hickey had been covered, temporarily unseen but not nonexistent: "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Zhou Du didn't spare her face, not minding speaking more bluntly: "He was drunk—were you drunk too? With your martial prowess, if you truly had no feeling left for Xu Yanfeng, could he even get close to you? Let alone leave a bunch of red marks on your neck."

Xia Xi: "Don't underestimate the disparity in strength between men and women."

Zhou Du: "Xia Xi, telling the truth isn't illegal."

Xia Xi: "……"

She just asked that unnecessary question and ended up tasting the folly of lifting a rock only to drop it on her own foot.

A flush rose on Xia Xi's face; she scratched her cheeks twice, then turned toward the bedroom before it reddened: "I'll go call Zi Heng and Youyou; it's about time we head out for lunch."

The two kids lay on the bed, taking a short nap; after being woken, their little faces wore the same drowsy expression.

Xia Xi brought them shoes: "Sleep a nap after you finish eating."

The two kids didn't fuss, obediently put on their shoes, and went to the bathroom to wash their faces.

Xia Xi sent a message to Huang Shiyu in the other room.

Not long after, Huang Shiyu came out, and everyone took the elevator down together.

Zhou Du was playing with the kids; Xi Xi picked up her phone. She replied to a few WeChat messages, casually opened Moments, swiped a few times—nothing to see—when she was about to exit, her gaze suddenly caught a familiar name and avatar.

Xu Yanfeng, for the first time, posted a moment with just four words: "Warm heart, warm stomach."

The picture was a pot of porridge; the photography skills were lacking, shot plain and ordinary, even somewhat ugly.

Xia Xi naturally recognized at a glance that it was the porridge she had cooked that morning.

She and Xu Yanfeng didn't share many mutual friends; she only saw Fu Li's comment.

Fu Li: "What is this? 【picking nose】"

It seemed a bit contemptuous.

Anyone seeing such a plain pot of porridge posted solemnly by Xu Yanfeng on Moments would indeed suspect something.

Xu Yanfeng replied to Fu Li: "You don't understand—it's a love-filled breakfast."

Fu Li didn't reply anymore.

Xia Xi's mouth corner involuntarily curved up; at the same time, her heart felt as if scratched by a claw—neither itchy nor painful, just soft.

Suddenly sensing the elevator's atmosphere was off, Xi Xi slowly lifted her gaze from the phone screen; the two adults plus the two kids—eight eyes in total—were all fixed on her.

Xi Xi cleared her throat, restrained the smile at the corners of her mouth, and nonchalantly put her phone away in her bag.

Zhou Du asked her: "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, I just saw a rant post and found the netizens' comment meme funny." Xi Xi pointed ahead: "The elevator has arrived."

Huang Shiyu, walking out, chimed in: "Nowadays netizens are quite meme-savvy; I often come across amusing comments and laugh for ages without stopping."

The restaurant is not far from the hotel; the drive is under twenty minutes.

Zhou Du booked a high-end Chinese restaurant; all the dishes were delicious. After eating and drinking their fill, Xi Xi announced the plan: "Zi Heng and Youyou, this afternoon go play at your godfather's place; Mom has work to do."

Then she told Zhou Du: "I should be done around five; then I'll go pick up the kids."

Zhou Du clenched his fist, thumped his chest, pointed at her, and gave her a "leave it to me" look. It's just watching two kids—no big deal. These two kids are each more low-maintenance than the other.

Leaving the restaurant, the group split into two: Zhou Du took the kids back to his home, while Xi Xi and Huang Shiyu first returned to the hotel, departing after one o'clock to meet a lumber supplier.

This lumber supplier was also carefully selected by Xi Xi; if suitable, she wants to secure a steady cooperation with Broad and Elegant, so that future large-scale interior projects like Jingyu Yuan will be much easier.

As soon as Zhou Du got home, he gathered various snacks and toys, piled them in front of the two kids for them to play with freely. He also dug out a stash of discs, some of which are sci-fi films the kids also enjoy, so he can watch them together.

The two kids, full and drowsy, collapsed on the sofa for a nap; Zhou Du told them to go sleep on the bed, but they said sleeping on the sofa is already quite comfortable.

The living-room sofa is made of fleece material, consisting of two 1.8-meter-long sofas—more than enough for two kindergarten kids to sleep on—so Zhou Du obliged, fetching two blankets from the bedroom to cover them.

"Du Ge."

The assistant lowered his voice and called out, waving at him.

"When you wake up, your godfather will play with you." Zhou Du patted the two kids' heads, rose, and walked toward the assistant.

"What's up?" Zhou Du yawned, looking sleep-deprived.

The assistant showed him the memo on his iPad: "There's a live stream this afternoon at three; don't forget. Three to five, two hours."

Zhou Du's tired eyes widened instantly, staring blankly at the assistant, completely forgetting about it: "Live stream? What live stream? Are you sure it's today? I have no recollection."

"It's Saturday today, a chat session—you gave advance notice on Weibo."

The assistant, holding the iPad in one hand, opened Zhou Du's personal Weibo homepage, scrolled down looking for it; he hadn't found that Weibo post yet when Zhou Du remembered—it was posted last week.

Chat session, right? I'm OK with that.

There's also a raffle: you asked fans last time how they wanted to draw, many gave suggestions, I tallied them privately; later during your stream I'll randomly screenshot and pick one from the captured danmaku, continuing until we've given out a hundred prizes. I've prepared a prize list, I'll send it to you later—all are gift boxes sent by PR, I've set one aside for you, any extra will be treated as a benefit.

Got it, I understand.

Zhou Du waved his hand, no need for him to say more.

It was almost three o'clock; the two kids woke up, Zhou Du told them, then went live by the floor-to-ceiling window beside the living room, the curtains behind him drawn, with two potted plants placed as decoration.

He opened the stream early, propping his chin on his hand as he waited for people to come in.

His hair was washed, his face lightly coated with base to cover dark circles and even out his skin tone—no extra adornment needed, he already looked handsome. Zhou Du skillfully greeted the steadily incoming fans, waiting for more people to gather before starting the topic.

After an hour of broadcasting, Zhou Du had drawn over fifty prizes, then paused to take a sip of soda water.

"Godfather, I can't open this yogurt." Youyou came over holding two bottles of yogurt, "My brother can't open it either."

"Give it to me." Zhou Du hooked his finger, silently moving the streaming equipment a bit to the side to avoid filming Youyou, then he unscrewed the yogurt caps one by one and handed them to her, "Drink up."

"Thank you, godfather." The little girl ran off hopping, knelt on the fluffy carpet, gave one bottle of yogurt to Zi Heng, and took a big gulp herself.

Zhou Du watched them both, the corners of his mouth curving.

After he returned to the stream camera, he realized something big had happened: the danmaku scrolled noticeably faster than before. He narrowed his eyes, leaned in to read the screen, trying to see what the fans were discussing.

"Zhou Du, do you have kids?"

"You became a dad?"

"Didn't you say you were single? Didn't you say you weren't married?"

"Holy shit, a scandal live?"

Zhou Du rubbed his forehead, looking somewhat helpless, then responded frankly: "No, one person mishearing is understandable, but so many people mishearing is ridiculous. The kid clearly calls me godfather—godfather OK? I'm truly single, solo from birth, stop spreading rumors."

"Hahaha, the fastest debunking ever."

"I said I seemed to hear a little girl call something 'dad,' not the word 'dad' exactly—turns out it's 'godfather'."

"Zhou Du, Zhou Du, are you straight?"

Zhou Du read that danmaku, his eyes went black, he slid his chair back a distance, arms crossed in front, a speechless expression: "Say it again—I, Zhou Du, am 24K pure straight."

Before Zhou Du even ended the stream, fans had recorded this segment and posted it, quickly shooting up to the hot search list.