Chapter 295

Zhong Yinghong and Xia Xi chatted casually for a few sentences, the whole time filled with an awkward atmosphere, both of them somewhat unable to relax.

One felt heavy-hearted, the other felt nervous.

Zhong Yinghong put her teacup on the coffee table and said she wanted to leave.

"I sent Xu Yanfeng a message; he'll be back soon." Xia Xi stood up as well, unconsciously breaking into a sweat, "It's almost eleven; why don't you stay for a meal…"

Xia Xi realized she had misspoken, and her voice trailed off.

By saying that, she made it sound as if she were the mistress of the house, while Zhong Yinghong was the guest.

Xia Xi pressed her lips together, her brows slightly furrowed.

"Let's talk about it next time." Zhong Yinghong walked toward the entryway.

Xia Xi tried to persuade her to stay a few more times, but seeing that Zhong Yinghong was determined to leave, she stopped saying anything else.

Hearing the door open, Zhangyi rushed out of the kitchen, water droplets still on her hands: "Madam, why are you leaving? I was just preparing the dishes; won't you stay for lunch? Mr. Xu should be back soon."

"Not."

Zhong Yinghong gave a faint smile, slung a elephant-gray bag over her arm, glanced once more at Xia Xi, and entered the elevator full of doubt.

Watching the elevator doors slowly close, unable to see Zhong Yinghong's figure any longer, Xia Xi slumped against the wall, completely drained.

Seeing her poor complexion, Zhangyi supported her arm and asked concernedly: "Are you okay? Does your stomach still feel uncomfortable?"

Xia Xi shook her head.

Half an hour later, Xu Yanfeng arrived home leisurely, carrying pastries wrapped in old-fashioned kraft paper, casually tossing his car keys into the entryway cabinet, changing into slippers and walking inside.

He glanced around, but did not see Zhong Yinghong's figure.

"Where's Mom?" Xu Yanfeng asked.

The living room was quiet; Xia Xi lay limp on the sofa like a salted fish, looking lifeless. On the other side, Zi Heng was reading in the circular sunken lounge area, utterly focused.

No one answered, so Xu Yanfeng asked again.

Xia Xi propped herself up with her elbows, slowly sitting up, her eyes vacant as she looked at him: "Why did you come back so late? She's already left."

Xu Yanfeng raised his arm, wiggling the several bulging kraft-paper packages in his hand: "You know that pastry shop is far away; driving there takes a while. Today being the weekend, there were long lines, which delayed me a lot, so I got back late."

"……"

Xia Xi didn't know what to say to him.

Silence stretched; after a few seconds, Xia Xi finally spoke: "Didn't you see my message 'Come back quickly'? What time is it now, and you're still thinking about pastries?"

Hearing her say each word slowly, her voice sounding a bit tense, Xu Yanfeng found it funny: "Did Mom scold you?"

"No." Xia Xi recalled her mother-in-law's tone of voice—quite gentle, soft-spoken from start to finish, like a breeze brushing past her ear, with no sense of pressure at all.

"Did Mom give you a cold look?"

"No."

"Did Mom target you?"

"Not either."

"Then that's fine." Xu Yanfeng's smile spread from the corners of his lips to the corners of his eyes: "Whether I come back or not doesn't matter much."

"……"

Lunch wasn't ready yet; Xu Yanfeng found an oval white porcelain plate, unwrapped the pastry packaging, took two pieces of each, arranged them on the plate, and handed it to Xia Xi: "Eat a little less; this is hard to digest."

Xia Xi shook her head; she had no appetite.

"Do you want me to feed you?" Xu Yanfeng pinched a chestnut pastry and brought it to her lips: "I bought it from far away; show some appreciation."

Xia Xi felt a bit embarrassed, turned her head slightly, took it from his hand, and took a bite: "Aren't you going to ask what I talked about with your mother?"

Xu Yanfeng calmly analyzed: "First, you definitely won't admit our relationship; second, you won't tell my mother about Zi Heng's background. So your conversation would only be the most ordinary—'What's your name?' 'What do you do for work?' 'Where's your home?' and the like. Am I right?"

Xia Xi was speechless; he had guessed everything correctly.

"My mother probably has a belly full of doubts right now." Xu Yanfeng said, pulling out his phone: "I'll give her a call."

Xia Xi pressed down on his hand; when his gaze flicked over, she pulled her hand back: "What are you planning to say to her?"

Xu Yanfeng tossed her three words: "Truthfully, speak."

"How can you tell her the truth? Aren't you afraid of making her sick with anger? Besides, we really aren't dating, and I'm not deceiving her. She didn't ask whether Zi Heng is your child, so I certainly wouldn't volunteer that."

"Why are you so nervous?" Xu Yanfeng raised his hand, ruffling her hair: "You think my mother is too fragile; she wouldn't get sick from anger that easily. If she knew she had a grandson, she might just bring over the household register tomorrow."

"……"

Xia Xi watched helplessly as he dialed the number.

No one answered on the other end.

Xia Xi's heart leapt; she felt doomed, certain his mother was angry and wasn't picking up his call.

Xu Yanfeng, however, didn't think much of it and immediately called again.

This time it rang only a few times before Zhong Yinghong answered, her voice not as soft as usual, somewhat distant: "Hey, Afeng."

Xu Yanfeng glanced sideways at Xia Xi beside him, not wanting her to hear his conversation with his mother, and walked to the window before speaking: "Why didn't you wait for me to come back?"

"What do you think?" Zhong Yinghong said, as if she had just found the right way to interact with her son daily, speaking clearly: "Since New Year, when you and your father fell out over your marriage matters, you haven't been coming back much. I wanted to visit you today, so I called your assistant beforehand, learned you weren't at the office, and went straight to your place. Who would have thought I'd see a strange woman in your home? I had no mental preparation. She… she even brought a child. She said you two aren't dating—do you think I'd believe that?"

"She wasn't deceiving you either." Xu Yanfeng gave a light laugh and confided: "She hasn't officially agreed to be with me yet; I'm pursuing her."

Zhong Yinghong felt like she was about to suffocate.

Her outstanding son, pursuing a woman with a child, and still hasn't succeeded?

Although that girl is quite pretty and has a decent personality, she has a kid! She must have been divorced.

Zhong Yinghong doesn't discriminate against divorced women with children; she just finds it hard to accept her son's choice in the short term. With so many excellent heiresses presented before him, Xu Yanfeng doesn't like any of them. Not to mention heiresses—he simply prefers girls from ordinary families; as long as it's his choice, his father would try to persuade her, so why does he happen to like…

Zhong Yinghong's head ached nonstop; she was sure she couldn't get past her husband's approval!

"Afeng." Zhong Yinghong sighed, rubbing her forehead: "Can you give me a little time to digest this?"

Xu Yanfeng: "……"

Zhong Yinghong carefully chose her words, saying: "Are you really sure about this? Want to be with that woman? Be that kid's stepfather? Don't say your dad wouldn't agree—you're now the company's executive; any stir won't escape others' eyes."

"Mom, that's also my child." Xu Yanfeng knew what she misunderstood, and told her the truth.

He planned to reconcile with Xia Xi, then bring her and the child to meet his parents, explain the situation, and discuss marriage. If Xia Xi hadn't yet agreed to get back together with him, he would bring the child before the elders, and she would be unhappy.

Today, running into Zhong Yinghong was purely accidental.

She had already seen Zi Heng; keeping it hidden any longer wouldn't be right, so Xu Yanfeng came clean.

But he underestimated Zhong Yinghong's preconceived notion; hearing him say that, all she thought was—It's over, completely over, not even married yet, and he's already treating someone else's child as his own.

He's doing a pretty good job of being a stepfather.

"Don't say anything else; I need to do some mental preparation." Zhong Yinghong's tone was a bit weary, "Let's leave it at that, I'm hanging up."

Xu Yanfeng: "?"

He's already explained everything clearly, so why does his mother seem unable to accept it?

Women Zhong Yinghong's age mostly expect to have a grandson or granddaughter—this is nothing like what he imagined.