Chapter 276

Thanks to Xu Yanfeng, Xia Xi couldn't sleep.

Lying in bed like a flattened pancake, she tossed and turned, unable to calm her mind, her brain also very active, repeating over and over the words Xu Yanfeng had whispered in her ear as he left.

"You advise me to let go, but I don't want to hear it. Just like I once advised you not to pursue me, I advised you many times, yet you didn't listen."

Xia Xi slapped her own cheeks in the darkness, hardly able to believe that these were words Xu Yanfeng would say.

Even as she is now, she could not utter such words.

If time were turned back seven years, perhaps she could have said them.

Unable to sleep and not wanting to keep thinking about Xu Yanfeng, Xia Xi simply turned on the light, sat up, pulled her laptop onto the bed, and dealt with work matters.

Only when she was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open did she close the laptop, lie down, and fall asleep.

As a result, she slept uneasily, dreaming of Xu Yanfeng, who in the dream still said those words to her.

The next morning, Xia Xi was awakened by Youyou. The little girl leaned against the bedside, shaking her arm: "Mom, wake up, the sun's baking your butt!"

Xia Xi opened her sleepy eyes, got up from bed, and went to the bathroom to wash up.

While brushing her teeth, she typed with one hand and messaged Huang Shiyu: "I'm taking the kids to Youlechang to play; want to join?"

Huang Shiyu, thinking she had nothing else to do, agreed: "Sure."

Xia Xi: "See you later."

The suite's door was knocked; Xia Xi capped her lip gloss, assuming it was Huang Shiyu coming over, and hurried to open the door.

The suite door was knocked, Xia Xi twisted the cap of her lip gloss, thinking Huang Shiyu had come over, and hurried to open the door.

Before she could finish, she saw the tall figure outside the door and froze—this wasn't Huang Shiyu.

Xu Yanfeng, dressed casually and standing relaxed, greeted Xia Xi: "Morning. Did you sleep well last night?"

If he hadn't asked, it would have been fine, but the question made Xia Xi recall her restless insomnia from last night: "Do you have something to do?" He hadn't even returned to Nancheng yet, which surprised her.

"You said yesterday you'd take the two kids to Youlechang to play today."

You said yesterday that you would take the two kids to Youlechang to play today.

"With one more person to help, you could relax a bit, right?"

Xia Xi immediately understood: "You want to come with us?"

Xu Yanfeng's lips curled slightly, a faint smile appearing: "This is what you said, so I'll reluctantly agree."

Xu Yanfeng's lips curled slightly, a faint smile appeared: "That's what you said, so I'll reluctantly agree."

"How did it become her saying that? Wasn't what he just said meant that way?"

"So if he didn't spell it out, it doesn't count as him saying it?"

"And yet he claims to be 'reluctant,' but she sees no sign of reluctance in him."

Xia Xi found it hard to adjust to Xu Yanfeng's change; her expression stalled, and for a moment she couldn't find words.

"Xia Xi sister." At that moment, Huang Shiyu came from her own room, carrying a small bag; seeing Xu Yanfeng there, her eyes widened and she stammered a greeting: "Xu, General Manager Xu."

Xu Yanfeng glanced at her casually, gave a slight nod: "This isn't a work setting, no need for that title."

Huang Shiyu fiddled with her bag strap, feeling confused: "Then how should I address you?"

She looked at Xia Xi with a pleading gaze.

Xia Xi also didn't understand what Xu Yanfeng was up to.

Xu Yanfeng looked at Huang Shiyu, his expression serious, not joking: "You call her Xia Xi sister, and I am the father of her children."

Huang Shiyu followed his words around in her mind, arrived at an answer, and hesitantly said: "Sister... husband?"

Huang Shiyu was led by his words to go around in a circle, she came up with an answer in her mind, and she hesitantly said: "Sister... husband?"

Huang Shiyu: "..."

Xia Xi: "..."

"Maybe he should just be normal; suddenly becoming like this is weird and scary, as if possessed by something."

The few of them went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast, and only then did Xia Xi learn that Xu Yanfeng had also stayed there last night, right next door.

Huang Shiyu silently ate her clear broth noodles, her gaze shifting between Xu Yanfeng and Xia Xi, and only then did she realize that Nan Da's legendary couple had reconciled—and they even had a child!

Good heavens, if she were to post on Nan Da's tieba right now, it would cause quite a stir.

But nowadays, their classmates hardly use tieba anymore.

Huang Shiyu finished the soup at the bottom of the bowl, wiped her mouth, and made a decision: "I just remembered there's a popular internet-famous shop I've bookmarked for a long time; I really want to go check it out."

Xia Xi lifted her head, swallowed the porridge in her mouth, and slowly said: "You're not coming with us to Youlechang?"

"I have to head back to Nancheng this afternoon; I don't know when I'll be able to come again, so I might as well go today rather than pick another day." Huang Shiyu smiled somewhat sheepishly.

Seeing the family of four getting along so well, she decided not to be the third wheel.

Xia Xi remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded: "All right, we'll meet this afternoon."

Leaving the hotel for Youlechang, they rode in Xu Yanfeng's car.

The Xu Clan also has a branch in Beicheng; as soon as Xu Yanfeng landed, the branch assigned someone to handle his travel arrangements here.

The two kids were excited, chattering away before they even arrived about what attractions to try. Xia Xi listened and timely reminded: "You're still young; some rides have age and height restrictions, so you can't go on them yet."

Xu Yanfeng turned his head and interjected: "Haven't we never gone to Youlechang for a date before?"

Xia Xi looked at him through her glasses, somewhat gritting her teeth: "In front of the kids, don't talk nonsense."

"Isn't it normal for mom and dad to go on a date? How does that become nonsense?"

Although Xu Yanfeng said he hadn't spent much time with the kids, he wasn't completely clueless; he knows what can and cannot be said, so Xia Xi shouldn't try to fool him.

Xia Xi closed her eyes to steady her breath and said: "You don't even like Youlechang, so why would we go there for a date?" She was answering his earlier question, hoping that after she replied he wouldn't keep harping on the topic.

"You never asked me back then, so how do you know I don't like it?"

"Fine, it's just that I don't like going to Youlechang to play." Xia Xi gave in.

"Fine, I don't like going to Youlechang to play, okay." Xia Xi surrendered.

Xu Yanfeng's thin lips twitched slightly; he was about to reply to her, but suddenly stopped, realizing the upcoming words weren't suitable for a child. He pondered for two seconds, pulled out his phone, and chose to send a message to Xia Xi instead.

The phone chimed once; Xia Xi didn't know it was a message from Xu Yanfeng, so she pulled her phone out of her bag, and when she saw a WeChat from Xu Yanfeng on the screen, she was still puzzled.

Is there something he can't say directly?

Xia Xi tapped it open, saw the full content, and her face flushed red instantly.

Xu Yanfeng: "Hmm, you don't like going to Youlechang; you just like playing with me."

Xia Xi pressed the lock screen hard, shoved her phone into her bag, thought about it, took it out again, deleted Xu Yanfeng's message, destroying the evidence!

It seemed as if, as long as she deleted it, it could be treated as if it never existed.

Youyou stared at Xia Xi's face for a while, poked it with her hand, and asked innocently, "Mom, why is your face red? Are you hot?" Then she fanned Xia Xi's face with her little hand.

Xia Xi stiffened, instinctively glanced at Xu Yanfeng, saw he was sitting steadily without turning around, then slightly relaxed her grip, took Youyou's hand, and said in an unnatural tone, "I'm a bit hot; Mom's wearing too much."

Youyou let out an "oh".

Unbeknownst to her, Xu Yanfeng, sitting in the front passenger seat, slightly raised the corner of his eye and easily caught that scarlet face in the rearview mirror.

In the past, Xia Xi's flushed face was a rare sight.

The heat on her face wouldn't subside for a while; Xia Xi, trying to cover up, put on a mask, and just then her phone in the bag chimed again—having learned her lesson, she didn't pull it out to look.

After a moment, Xu Yanfeng spoke directly to her: "I sent you a message."