Chapter 357

Xu Yanfeng touched the wound on his forehead with his fingertip; before entering, he fiddled a few times with the stray hairs at the edge of his forehead, trying to cover it, but he didn't expect that sharp-eyed Su Jinru would still notice.

He smiled: "I just knocked it accidentally."

"Is it okay?" Su Jinru didn't quite believe it, feeling he wasn't the careless, clumsy type, but she couldn't call him out to his face.

"Xia Xi has already taken care of it for me; it's no big deal."

"This is good, this is good." Su Jinru thought for a moment, pointing to the kitchen, "I've boiled some soup; Xi Xi loves drinking my soup the most, so stay for dinner tonight, anyway you have nothing else to do today."

Xu Yanfeng gave a dry cough, glanced at Xia Xi, using his eyes to ask her opinion. Xia Xi was a bit tired and didn't want to go through more trouble: "How about we eat dinner first and then go home?"

Since she said that, Xu Yanfeng naturally had no objection.

Xia Xuan was crunching a crisp apple, turned her head to look at the two of them, couldn't help but make a snide remark: "I really admire my brother-in-law, needing to make a decision over such a tiny matter; your family status is really worrisome."

Xia Xi snatched her apple, took a bite herself, then shoved it back at her: "Watch your TV."

"Xi Xi, come here for a moment." The kitchen faucet was running, making a splashing sound, Su Jinru called out to her.

Xia Xi chewed the apple, got up from the sofa and walked over.

Su Jinru was washing amaranth greens at the sink; Xia Xi liked to put them in the soup to blanch and eat.

When Xia Xi walked over, Su Jinru sized her up; as soon as she entered, she had noticed that Xia Xi had removed all her makeup.

After turning off the faucet, Su Jinru said, "Did you encounter any difficulties when you went to the Xu family?"

Xia Xi: "Huh?"

"Don't try to fool me." Su Jinru's expression was a rare solemnity: "After all, there's a gap in family status; even if you've added a grandson to the Xu family, I think it's unlikely you'll receive complete respect. I can see you like Xiao Xu, and I can tell he's sincere toward you; if you really marry him, you need to be mentally prepared. Although I've been urging you to marry Xiao Xu soon, deep down I... sigh, I don't know how to put it, I just feel uneasy."

"Mom." Xia Xi opened her arms and hugged her, her chin rubbing her shoulder, "I know you're worried about me. His mother is really nice, she treats me wonderfully. Just like you, she's gentle and kind."

Su Jinru: "And what about his father?"

Xia Xi paused, at a loss for words. After learning the full truth from Xu Yanfeng, she had lost even the most basic respect for that person.

Su Jinru narrowed her eyes: "Why aren't you speaking?"

"His father... isn't important, and I don't live with him anyway." Xia Xi said angrily, "We probably won't have much contact in the future."

She said "not much" to keep Su Jinru from overthinking; in fact, they probably wouldn't have any contact at all.

"Is this your opinion or Xiao Xu's?" Su Jinru had thought more than she had; of course she needed to get everything clear, otherwise she wouldn't feel at ease.

Xia Xi said: "His opinion and mine are the same."

Su Jinru suddenly laughed at that remark, inexplicably deflating.

"You should worry less from now on; keeping your body healthy is more important than anything else. I won't let myself be wronged. I didn't before, and now that I have Xu Yanfeng by my side, I certainly won't."

Su Jinru glanced at her sideways, then completely lost her temper, giving her a push: "Move aside, I need to wash the vegetables."

"I'll help you wash." Xia Xi looked for a hair tie to put her hair up.

Su Jinru chased her out: "Don't run around in the kitchen in your white dress."

Xia Xi returned to the living room, sat beside Xu Yanfeng, and slipped her hand into his palm. He looked at her, his fingers closing to grasp her hand, knowing that she and her mother had something to say, so he didn't interrupt.

Xia Yue bought a few cold dishes and came back; the family sat down together to eat dinner.

The pork bone soup was in a white clay pot on the induction stove, bubbling gurgling, white steam drifting; eating it made you sweat profusely, even though it was scorching summer, it felt like winter.

Chopsticks went in; Xia Xi scooped up a piece of meat without even glancing away, placed it in Xu Yanfeng's bowl, worried he might get tired of it, she pushed the dipping sauce bowl toward him, indicating he should dip and eat.

Xu Yanfeng tilted his head to look at her.

Xia Xi bit the tip of her chopsticks and mumbled, "Don't you like it?"

"No." Xu Yanfeng smiled and ate that piece of meat, stewed until soft and fragrant.

Xia Xi didn't look at him, scooped out some blanched greens to eat, and silently vowed to treat Xu Yanfeng better, even better, not just a little but a lot more. Since time can't turn back, if something can make up even a little, it's worth it.

"Mom, I want meat too." Zi Heng tugged at her arm.

Xia Xi picked up a piece of meat with bone and put it in his stainless steel small bowl: "It's a bit hot, chew slowly."

Zi Heng looked at the big bone sticking up far above his bowl, had no idea where to start, sighed, wondering why the piece given to his dad was pure meat.

"Why are you sighing again?" Xia Xi laughed and cried at the same time.

Seeing Zi Heng staring at the big bone in his bowl, Xia Xi realized, used her chopsticks to nudge it a few times, stripping the meat off the bone: "Go ahead and eat."

Youyou was clutching the big bone with both hands, gnawing it until grease and meat scraps surrounded her mouth; looking at Zi Heng, she shook her head like a little adult: "So spoiled."

Zi Heng: "……"

Several adults burst out laughing.

In summer, it gets dark late; after dinner you can still see the gorgeous sunset, a gradient from warm orange to deep red spreading across half the sky, with white contrails streaking through the middle, trailing long tails.

Xia Xi glanced a few times, then turned her gaze to look for Su Jinru.

She should be tidying up in the kitchen; Xia Xi shuffled over in her slippers, and indeed, Su Jinru never stopped moving, wiping the range hood with a cloth. Xia Xi softly called out, "Mom."

"Hmm?" Su Jinru didn't look at her, tilting her head to wipe the edges and corners.

"Give me the household register." Xia Xi leaned on the countertop, and after saying that, she couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth.

Su Jinru froze for a moment, turned her face to her: "You really decided?"

Once married, it's not easy to change your mind; she herself had gone through a disastrous marriage, and Xia Yue's marriage ended miserably too, leaving her with lingering fear.

Xia Xi nodded solemnly: "Yes, I've decided."

Su Jinru didn't delay; she immediately tossed aside the cloth, washed her hands clean, wiped them on her apron, went back to the room, pulled out a cloth bag from the lower part of the wardrobe containing important documents, the reddish-brown household register easy to spot, and took it out to give to Xia Xi.

Xia Xi flipped it open, glanced at it, then wrapped her arms around it to her chest: "Thank you, Mom."

"Silly, what are you thanking me for?" Su Jinru laughed, her eyes glistening; although she had already known about this in her heart, at this moment she suddenly became sentimental, feeling an urge to cry, "As long as you live happily, I have no regrets. Never mind, while it's still light, drive back home safely."

After the family of three said their goodbyes, they entered the elevator.

Xia Xuan had her hands in her pockets, leaning against the doorframe, suddenly she also wanted to go home; the thought came, she straightened her body and said, "I'll go back too. I haven't been home for several days; I don't know how things are there."

"If you want to go back, wait until tomorrow," Su Jinru said.

"It's fine; it's still early now."

Xia Xuan had nothing to pack, she just grabbed a canvas bag, putting her phone and wallet inside.

"Remember to call when you get home," Su Jinru said, seeing her to the door and reminding her.

Xia Yue also wasn't entirely at ease: "Send me the license plate number."

Xia Xuan smiled with her eyes narrowed: "I know."

Before entering the elevator, she turned and waved her hand, urging them to hurry inside, not to stand outside—it's terribly hot.

Xia Xuan hailed a taxi at the residential complex gate, gave the driver the address, then called Chen Songbai to see if he was still busy at work and whether he'd be coming home tonight.

The dial tone sounded for just a few seconds before someone cut it off.

Xia Xuan frowned, wondering if he was working overtime.

Even if he was working overtime, it's time to eat dinner by now.

Xia Xuan sent Chen Songbai a WeChat message: "Are you busy?"

After waiting a long time, there was no reply from the other side.

Xia Xuan wouldn't give up, she dialed again, just like before, and the call was cut off.

This had never happened before. Even when Chen Songbai was busy in a meeting, he would find a moment to send her a message, telling her it was inconvenient to take a call and that he'd talk later if needed; he wouldn't just hang up on her without a word like now.