Xiehan eyed her for a mont before asking, "Did you try to understand her?"
"What?" Lanni frowned quizzically.
"Your mom. Did you ask her why she was acting the way she was? Do you know her reasons?"
Lanni huffed and remained silent. Who was she to ask? Li Yuming didn’t want to tell her anything no matter how many tis she asked. How then could she understand her? "She is so secretive that she doesn’t want to tell anything. I did ask this in the past."
Xiehan raised an eyebrow in contemplation. Even though Lanni put it that way, he still couldn’t find it in his heart to bla Li Yuming. "Perhaps there’s sothing that she doesn’t want to tell you? You see, there might be things that you cannot bear to know. Maybe she is only beings secretive to protect your feelings."
Lanni glared at him. "Just whose side are you on?"
Xiehan laughed even though he knew it was not funny. "Listen, I’m not taking sides. I’m only trying to make sure you don’t have a falling out with your mum."
Lanni shrugged. "Let’s go in now."
She got off the car and he followed her out, taking the basket with him.
He glanced at the perfectly arranged fruits beside the food flask and remarked jealously, "Where’s mine?"
Lanni gave him a side eye and shook her head. Who would be jealous of his own future father-in-law? Even so, she promised to prepare a al for him the next ti he went to Li Yuming’s villa.
Satisfied, Xiehan led the way to the hospital. Because the attending doctor already knew who Lanni was, he directly let her go to visit Xia Hanchen. The pair smiled as they made a turn to go to Xia Hanchen’s ward, then Lanni stopped, her legs freezing.
Xiehan followed her line of sight and when he saw soone sneakily leaving Xia Hanchen’s ward, his expression darkened.
Lanni gripped his hand tightly to control herself. Her expression couldn’t be any more fierce. "Is that who I think it is? Because if it is, I might hack soone to death."
Xiehan didn’t say a word, his eyes saying it all. He was ready to flung soone out of the hospital using their ponytail. What the hell was he doing here—he was everywhere!
Lanni hurried over to catch him off guard. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
The man started and turned to face the duo. He grinned when his eyes t Lanni’s angry ones. "Ah, Princess. You are here too!"
Lanni didn’t mind his taunting because her attention was on sothing else but when Xiehan heard him call Lanni ’princess’ so naturally, sothing in his heart dimd.
Lanni pushed him to the wall and grabbed a fistful of his collar, her eyes threatening to shoot lasers at him as she enunciated word by word. "What are you doing here? Why did you just leave my dad’s room?"
"Nothing!" Flynn raised his hands in the air with a playful grin plastered across his face. "I’m innocent, really! I only ca to pay Mr. Xia a visit."
Lanni couldn’t make sense of his words no matter how she thought about it. Her body tensed up when she thought of a possibility and she tightened her hold on Flynn’s shirt. "I do not know why you are here nor what you are planning but get this clearly. If you so much as hurt a strand of hair on my dad, I will kill you."
She sounded so threatening that even Xiehan was surprised. However, Flynn laughed and effortlessly pulled himself away from her. "Ah, soone’s princessy claws are out. Listen, I didn’t do anything okay? Nor do I plan to do anything."
Lanni was tempted to grab his neck and strangle him to death but before she did, the man moved away and stole a glance at Ji Xiehan before teasing, "If you touch again, your lover might get jealous."
Lanni glanced at Xiehan and was about to rebut but when she saw how uncomfortable he looked, she rushed to him instead. As soon as she held his hand, all the anger faded form Xiehan’s eyes. Not wanting him to be uncomfortable again, Lanni glared at Flynn. "Leave right now. I don’t want to see you ever again."
"Heh." Flynn laughed tauntingly. "Princess, you are the one who will look for . Mark my words." With that, he left.
Lanni frowned in disgust. What was wrong with him?
"The way he keeps calling you princess irks ." Xiehan finally spoke.
"You can say that again love. It’s so irritating." Lanni seconded.
"I want to fling him out by his ponytail." Xiehan confessed.
Lanni took a peek in the direction that Flynn was just leaving. She eyed his honey-colored ponytail as it flapped on his shoulders slightly with every step he made. "It does look good for flinging."
"He is weird." Xiehan added, thinking of how this man had deliberately sent a picture that could cause a misunderstanding between hkm and Lanni.
"I don’t know when he has ever not been weird." Lanni frowned. How could such a person exist? "Whatever it is, I will kill him if he even thinks of hurting my dad or anyone I care about for that matter."
Xiehan held her hand with his free hand. "No. You will not kill him."
"Do you think I’m joking? Just you wait and see. If he does anything he shouldn’t..."
"I will kill him before you do." Xiehan interrupted her. When she looked up at him in confusion, he continued, "I will not let you dirty your hands for people who do not deserve it."
_
Lanni and Xiehan finally made it to Xia Hanchen’s ward after so many distractions.
Lanni took in a deep breath at the door then took another deep breath. When she did it the third ti, Xiehan furrowed his brows. "Are you nervous?"
"Yes." She grabbed the fruit basket from him and hugged it tightly. "It’s the first ti I’m introducing a man to my dad."
She didn’t know whether she had done it in the past but considering her age and the fact that they had not t that many tis, it was only logical that this was the first ti. She didn’t know how Xia Hanchen would react to this.
Seeing her unease and hearing her reason, Xiehan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Didn’t she sound so bold the previous day? When he saw her take more deep breaths, he tugged her to the door. "How about you go first? Check on the situation and if you are ready to introduce , I will be waiting here."
"Really?" Lanni’s eyes widened at the suggestion. He was being serious?
"Of course. You don’t seem to be ready. You can ask him first then you will know how he will react to the news."
Lanni nodded to agree with the idea. Decisively, she pushed the door open.
Xia Hanchen was awake but reclining on the bed. As soon as the door opened and he saw Lanni walk in, he broke into a happy smile. "Cupcake."
Used to the na after hearing it before, Lanni smiled emotionally as she walked over to him. "Dad."
She hugged him and when she rembered that Flynn had been here earlier, she stiffened.
Xia Hanchen who was hugging her noticed this and asked, "Cupcake, what’s wrong?"
"Did he do anything to you?"
"Who?"
"That man who just left. What did he do? Should I get ready to..."
"Relax, cupcake." Xia Hanchen patted her. "He didn’t do anything. He only ca over to talk."
Lanni was even more surprised. "Talk? Talk about what? Are you close to him?"
Xia Hanchen looked surprised. "Isn’t he your friend? He said you were still a little busy and couldn’t co earlier so he ca over to talk to ."
Lanni gritted her teeth but when she saw him looking at her, she smiled to mask her irritation. "Y-yes. He is uhm... my friend." To change the topic, she brought the basket she had placed on the table. "Dad, I cooked this for you myself. Because you are still weak, you can only eat this kind of food. I will make sothing tastier when you get better."
"What are you saying? Anything you cook is the tastiest food." Xia Hanchen said coaxingly.
Lanni felt sweetness fill her heart.
"Even if it included burnt pancakes." He added with a chuckle.
Lanni heard what he had said and froze. "Hey! When did I make burnt pancakes? How can you be so an?"
Xia Hanchen laughed heartily, having fun teasing his daughter. Although they had not been close for too long, he loved her and he knew that she loved him just as much—and that they were both trying to make up for all those years they missed thanks to Li Yuming’s restriction.
Lanni watched him eat happily and knew that she must have cooked much better this ti. She had put her heart into it—of course it would be tasty.
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