Chapter 278: About How Zi Heng Came to Be

In the blink of an eye, Xu Yanfeng walked up to Xia Xi.

The two children beside them lifted their heads, blinking their dark, shiny eyes, wearing expressions of watching the fun. Youyou covered her mouth and laughed, because she knew how frightening it was to be lifted onto someone's head, and she wanted to see Mom's reaction.

Although Xia Xi didn't catch what Xu Yanfeng had just said, his gaze was a little strange, giving her a bad feeling.

She instinctively stepped back, putting her body on guard, her eyelashes fluttering twice: "What are you doing? I warn you, don't mess around."

"You stare at me like that—don't you also want to try?"

She stepped back, and Xu Yanfeng stepped forward.

Xia Xi was about to ask what to try, but then she realized, shaking her head in denial: "I haven't!" She's not a child—how could she possibly sit on his shoulder? That would be too conspicuous.

"Don't be embarrassed." Xu Yanfeng curled the corner of his mouth, reached out with both hands pinching her waist, intending to lift her up.

Xia Xi sprang up like a shrimp caught in someone's hand, jumping far away from him: "Don't mess around, I said I haven't."

Xu Yanfeng caught up to her in a few steps: "How can you not even have as much courage as Youyou?"

"No matter what you say, I don't want to." Xia Xi said while dodging, her expression panicked.

Youyou looked this way and that, laughing nonstop.

Xu Yanfeng stopped, no longer teasing Xia Xi.

At noon, the family of four ate at the restaurant in Youlechang; Youyou and Zi Heng had kids' meals, wanting the small toys that came with them. Xia Xi had little appetite, so she ordered a hamburger.

Xu Yanfeng flipped through the menu and ordered a plate of spaghetti and a vegetable salad.

"Don't you want something else?" Before closing the menu, Xu Yanfeng tilted his head and spoke to Xia Xi.

Xia Xi was folding Zi Heng's sleeves—his sweater sleeves were a bit long today, making eating inconvenient—"I don't want to eat."

Xu Yanfeng took the initiative and added a serving of creamy corn soup for her.

The two children ate nicely, needing no adult supervision.

Xia Xi unwrapped the hamburger paper, took a bite, chewed slowly, her gaze not sweeping toward Xu Yanfeng as she lowered her head to look at her phone; suddenly she heard the sound of a chair being moved, and her eyelids twitched slightly.

In her view, Xu Yanfeng dragged his chair over and sat right beside her.

While eating, his arm almost touched hers.

Then she heard Xu Yanfeng ask in a low voice: "When is Zi Heng's birthday?"

Xia Xi didn't quite understand his behavior, wondering if it was necessary to ask that question so close to her; even if he sat a meter away, she could still hear him clearly.

Xia Xi said: "You want to celebrate his birthday? You'll have to wait until next year—his birthday this year has already passed."

"No." Xu Yanfeng put his fork on the plate, leaned against the chair back, elbow resting on the armrest, propping his face, his body tilting slightly toward her, his voice even lower than before: "I just suddenly realized that we seem to have taken precautions every time—how did Zi Heng come to be?"

Xia Xi: "……"

She now understood why Xu Yanfeng had suddenly moved his chair over—this topic really wasn't suitable for a third person to hear.

Xia Xi glared at him with a reproachful look: "In broad daylight, in a public place, don't you feel ashamed asking that?"

He said he wanted to change himself, but there was no need to become this open.

Really, there's no need.

Xu Yanfeng's expression was completely candid: "I'm not saying this very softly; besides you, no one else heard."

He was still quite justified. Xia Xi took a fierce bite of the hamburger, her cheeks bulging.

"You won't tell me?" Xu Yanfeng tapped his other hand lightly on his leg, slowly nodding: "It's fine if you don't say; I'll go ask the teacher for Zi Heng's enrollment records later—they should have the birth date filled in. Tsk, no, wait—did you alter their birth dates to make the two children into a dragon-and-phoenix twin set?"

Xia Xi choked on the hamburger she had just swallowed. Unable to argue with Xu Yanfeng, she deliberately twisted his meaning: "Why are you so obsessed with knowing Zi Heng's birth date? Do you suspect he isn't your child?"

Xu Yanfeng instantly dropped his relaxed posture, sat upright, and told her clearly: "Xia Xi, don't try to pin a black pot on me—I don't mean that."

Xia Xi didn't respond, lowering her head to drink the soup.

Xu Yanfeng, afraid she really thought that, spoke with a slightly urgent tone: "I'm just a little curious."

Xia Xi glanced at him; he was indeed anxious, not pretending.

Seeing him like that, Xia Xi felt a bit reluctant and also didn't want to tell him, because if she did, he could roughly calculate when the child was conceived, and then he would know it was her issue.

When she first learned of the child's existence, Xia Xi herself, out of curiosity, had calculated the date. If she wasn't mistaken, it should have been the day Xu Guanshan talked to her, when she knew she would leave Xu Yanfeng and wanted to indulge once before parting, spending the night at Xu Yanfeng's apartment. All night, she hardly rested at all, and she can't even recall exactly how many times it happened.

One time, Xu Yanfeng hadn't even had a chance to put it on when she impatiently rubbed herself against him.

It was just a brief moment.

Recalling this, Xia Xi's breathing suddenly became a little rapid, and she felt the temperature of her cheeks gradually heating up.

I'm defeated—how am I getting more and more useless as I live on.

Xia Xi turned her face aside, reached out to push away Xu Yanfeng's head leaning toward her: "Move over a bit, it's getting hot."

Looking at Xia Xi, who had taken off her outerwear and was wearing only a thin shirt, Xu Yanfeng's mouth corner curled slightly; he didn't expose her lie, silently shifting his chair a few centimeters away and asked: "Take a look—is this okay? If not, I'll move it a bit more."

Xia Xi didn't look.

Xu Yanfeng teased: "How about I get you some ice cream?"

Before Xia Xi could answer, Youyou's eyes lit up: "I want some too!"

Xu Yanfeng sensed things weren't looking good, so he glanced at Xia Xi's expression.

Indeed, Xia Xi turned her head toward him, furrowed her brows, her eyes holding a warning: "I finally persuaded Youyou not to eat ice cream—don't go messing things up for me."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to." Xu Yanfeng blinked innocently, then picked up his fork again, twirled a bite of spaghetti into his mouth, and said lowly: "I heard you say you were feeling hot, so I wanted to help you cool down."

In the afternoon, first return to the hotel to get the luggage, then rush to the airport.

Huang Shiyu, traveling with them, felt like a transparent person, speaking little, silently observing up close this couple who had been separated for years and then reunited, feeling it wasn't quite as she had imagined.

It seemed not as intimate as she had imagined.

Perhaps it was because she, an outsider, was present.

Huang Shiyu didn't dwell on it long, and turned to her phone.

Xia Xi had originally planned to catch a bit of sleep on the way to the airport, putting on an eye mask; half an hour passed and she still wasn't asleep, the airport was almost upon her, so she simply pulled the eye mask up to her forehead, took out her phone, and checked the messages.

Xu Yanfeng had sent her many photos, all taken at Youlechang; she hadn't had a chance to look at them yet, so she took this opportunity to sort them out.

She looked at them one by one; to be honest, Xu Yanfeng's photography skills were average, but the weather was good today—blue sky, white clouds, the bright colors in Youlechang, the beautiful background—so the overall effect improved.

All the photos were group pictures of her and the two children; in two of them, all four people appeared in the frame.

In front of the carousel, she and Zi Heng each held one of Youyou's hands; Xu Yanfeng stood beside her, his gaze directed at her face. She wasn't looking at the camera, leaning on the railing, wondering what she was thinking.

Another photo shows the same scene; the only difference is that Xu Yanfeng is closer to her, one hand propped on the railing behind her, making it look as if he's encircling her waist.

Xia Xi couldn't help feeling puzzled—how did these two photos come about?

She glanced at the front passenger seat; from her angle, she could only see Xu Yanfeng's profile, its lines smooth and distinct.

He seemed to have grown an extra eye; after she glanced at him twice, he noticed, turned his head toward her, his gaze slightly inquisitive.

Xia Xi collected herself and bluntly asked, 'These two photos… how did you take them?'