1259 Don“t Want To Leave You 1The evening sunset glow colored half the sky red. Soon, the boundless gray came slowly with the night breeze, swallowing the final light by the horizons, and then the sky quietened down.
On the streets of Los Angeles early one evening, Xi Xiaye was dressed in a light beige fall dress with a small black jacket, and her waist-length hair was tied casually into a bun. She walked along unhurriedly on this slightly noisy street.
Beside her was Mu Yuchen. He held her frail shoulders by habit while his other hand held the jacket that he had just taken off.
The husband and wife did not say much. They just walked like that for quite a distance until Xi Xiaye then slowly stopped to reach out and pull at his sleeve. She turned and looked up quietly at him.
“What’s wrong?” Mu Yuchen was surprised that she had suddenly stopped.
“Settle the problem sooner and come home quickly. I’m worried about you being alone out here. Father and Mother have called to urge you home now. Everyone’s really worried about you.” Xi Xiaye’s soft voice was clearly concerned.
As he smiled, his hand that held her shoulder tightened and he pulled her into his warm embrace and said in a low, raspy voice, “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t take too long. Besides, I’m not alone here. Zimo and Li Si are here too. Su Chen’s probably coming over soon too.”
“Does the Zhou family know about Zimo already?” Xi Xiaye asked with concern.
“Su Chen’s told them. Even though they are worried, they are willing to trust us. Zimo has explained it to Uncle Zhou. When you go back, just pretend you don’t know what’s happening here. You’re just here to be on holiday with me, okay?” he carefully explained.
She nodded gladly and responded, “Mmm, I understand. I’m just here to be on holiday with you, and then go back home with Su Nan and Ruan Heng.”
“Good.”
He reached out to carefully fix her fringe that had fallen on her forehead. “Remember to bring up their father more in front of our sons. Otherwise, they’ll forget me by the time I get back.”
Upon hearing that, Xi Xiaye pursed her lips and laughed. “Don’t worry. Zirui’s asking when you’re coming home every day. Xiao Cheng’s still little. Do you expect him to recognize anyone? But I can almost hear him speak, and I heard Mother say that he can already stand up on his own these past few days. He can walk a few steps and didn’t cry when he fell. Yesterday, Grandpa went to Maple Residence, and our baby was trying to follow him or something.”
When she spoke about her two sons, Xi Xiaye felt very proud.
“Also, in his monthly exams, Xiao Rui got first place in his whole grade and was far ahead of second place. You can praise him when you get back. The little guy loves your praises. He’s still young, so it’s necessary to encourage and praise him,” Xi Xiaye said.
“Well, of course, he inherited that mind of his from me. He was influenced by me, not you and the way you got the last place in your grade. When you get home, tell him that I’ll bring home a special gift for him,” he said, then pulled her aside to sit down on the bench underneath the streetlights. He considerately put the jacket on his arm onto her shoulders. “It’s a little cold.”
Xi Xiaye did not reject it as she fixed the coat, and his soft voice continued to be heard. “Grandpa’s been going to visit Grandfather often recently. That’s a good thing too.”
“Don’t worry. Grandfather and Grandpa are quite well. I heard Ah Shi say that the two of them and a few other old men signed up for some autumn hiking club. They join the activities organized by the club every day these days, including autumn excursions on foot and some other outdoor competitions that are suitable for older people, so they’re rather busy now.”
Xi Xiaye only found out about this from the call with Mu Lingshi a few days ago. That was great. At least, they had something to pass the time with.
Mu Yuchen was quite surprised to hear that. “Grandfather and Grandpa have always gathered together. It’s good that they hang out with Elder Su and the rest too.”
“It’s good, but Ji Zitong mentioned to me that Grandfather Su was paying much attention to her not being pregnant. Su Chen and her have been together for almost a year now, so they can’t help but be worried,” Xi Xiaye said and could not help but laugh as she could imagine the helpless look on Ji Zitong’s face.
“Su Chen’s going to turn 34 soon. Do you think he’s still young?” Mu Yuchen laughed casually and then leaned back against the seat. With one arm over Xi Xiaye’s shoulders, he looked up with his profound gaze at the faint streetlights that fell on the ground. He said in a lowered voice, “Who could have imagined that in the blink of an eye, 30 odd years would have passed just like that?”
She leaned into his shoulders. “Yeah, time passes too quickly. We couldn’t have imagined where we’d be today.”
He chuckled and did not say anything, merely hugging her tightly.
“Mu Yuchen…” She fell silent for a while, and then suddenly turned over and silently watched him.
“Mmm?” He loved it when she called his name as he looked at her with half-lidded eyes.
“I’ve been thinking that back then if it wasn’t because of what happened that time, and if I didn’t respond to your request, would you have asked me the second time? Would you have asked to marry me a second time?” Xi Xiaye could not help but have this thought flash across her mind.
This made Mu Yuchen think for quite a while, and then he responded seriously, “Even though I don’t like repeating myself, you have always been an exception.”
She felt her heart warm, and then she reached out with both hands to hold his hands that lay on his lap tightly. “Me too. I think no matter how many times we can go back in time, I would probably have agreed to you the first time you proposed, and then all those unhappy things wouldn’t have happened after that.”
“You’re truly an unreserved silly one.” Mu Yuchen was amused. Were all women as imaginative as her?
“Right, Xi Xinyi…are you really confident that you can get her…to Han Yifeng’s side?” Xi Xiaye could not help but ask.
Mu Yuchen lowered his gaze, thought about it, then answered, “That would depend on how Qi Lei arranges it then.”
“Didn’t you say before that Qi Lei should probably seize this opportunity as well? How will this pan out?” Xi Xiaye could not help but be worried obviously because of Xi Xinyi. She was worried that if they could not fulfill their promise to Xi Xinyi, Xi Xinyi would be unhappy and then things would change.
“What are you worried about? Even if we don’t need Qi Lei to worry, there are other ways of moving Xi Xinyi over. It just depends on how much she was willing to sacrifice.”
She understood these words.
Han Yifeng was in San Francisco while Xi Xinyi was in City Z. One of them would need to choose to compromise…