The dinner went much better than Xiaoshi had anticipated. After learning that Xichen was the grandson of a renowned cardiologist as well as a reputable doctor, Uncle Yun was no longer suspicious of him. After all, the Yun family was nothing in comparison to the infamous Han clan. There was no way a man with such an excellent background would be interested in playing a charade with his daughter. On the other hand, his daughter was a stunning beauty. Although it was also almost impossible for her to be affiliated with a man of such social standing, it was more believable for them to be in a relationship than to team up and lie to him.
Never would he have expected that these two incompatible individuals were, in fact, teaming up to trick him.
When Uncle Yun learnt that Han Xichen was one of Xiehan’s close friends, he was even more impressed. He knew that his nephew was careful while making friends. Based on this fact, he was convinced that his daughter would not be at a disadvantage.
...
When they were done, Uncle Yun left first and let the youngsters catch up.
As the two of them walked to the parking lot, Xiaoshi let out the breath she had been holding. She excitedly let out a squeal and launched herself into his arms. "You were aweso! What a sweet tongue you have, you have totally convinced him!"
After rambling for a while, she finally realized that she was hugging him tightly...
She awkwardly pulled away, wishing nothing more than to punch herself. She was so used to hugging her friends when she was excited that she forgot her manners.
Seeing her embarrassed little face, Han Xichen thought that she looked quite cute. He smiled and changed the topic. "You can ask your friends out a few tis and let your dad assu that you are with . I don’t think he has the ti or thought to stalk you."
"Okay! Why don’t I treat you to a al as thanks?" She added as she nodded to his suggestion.
Han Xichen would have readily agreed. However, although she was jovially inviting him, he could tell that she was conflicted about it. The al was not a re thanks. It was a way to entirely cut ties with him, so they would no longer have to see each other. Seeing that she was forcing herself to make a decision she didn’t know whether she was ready to make, he spoke up. "There’s no need for a al. If you feel so indebted to , you can owe a favor and I will contact you in future if I ever need your help."
She thought about it and nodded. "Deal."
This was partially because as a grandson of the Han clan, why would he ever need anyone’s help? The possibility of his contacting her was quite slim. On the other hand, it would not entirely break things off between them.
Perhaps because she didn’t have many friends, she selfishly wanted to cling onto this man who she found to be kind and easy to talk to. She would be happy if they were friends but at the sa ti, she didn’t want to cause him any trouble.
"Then, I’ll go ho now. I still have a prototype to complete." She waved and prepared to leave.
"I’ll drop you off." He offered.
"My cousin’s bodyguard drove here." The words flew out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she didn’t know why she felt regretful.
Just before they parted, a pair of familiar faces ca into view. It was Xingyu and Luna, who had just left their car. Xingyu was going on about sothing and seed to be trying to curry her favor, while Luna ignored him disdainfully.
Xiaoshi’s gaze lingered on them for a while before she recovered from her trance to look at sothing else.
"Yo, Xingyu." Han Xichen waved over when the couple was close enough.
Xingyu looked over and was a little surprised as he walked over with Luna. "Xichen? What are you doing here?"
"I ca to accompany a little beauty for dinner." He gave the simplest excuse. "I could ask you the sa thing."
"I promised my wife to buy her dessert from this restaurant but forgot about it, so she is mad at . I brought her over to pacify her and end this cold war." Xingyu explained. Even though he said that they were fighting, they were holding hands and exchanging sweet smiles from ti to ti.
Han Xichen couldn’t take it. "We have not t in a long ti and the first thing you want to do is stuff to death with dog food? You horrible man!"
The n bumped shoulders as a form of greeting. Xingyu then introduced the two. "Luna, this is Xichen. I don’t know whether you have heard of him before but if you want to look for the most incompetent doctor in the world, this is him."
"Hey, how dare you slander in front of sister-in-law?"[1] Han Xichen playfully punched his friend’s arm before extending a hand to greet Luna. "I finally get to et you. This unreliable man must have kept you away in fear that I would expose his dirty past to you."
"What dirty past? Don’t speak nonsense." Xingyu imdiately defended himself. "Love, don’t listen to him. He is only bluffing because I exposed him."
When Han Xichen saw his friend—who was usually too proud for his own good—explaining to Luna so patiently, he was baffled. It turned out, it was true that love could change n in the most unbelievable ways.
Finally recalling why he thought Luna was familiar, he was stunned. Wasn’t this Lanni’s sister? The last ti he saw her, she looked like a tomboy. Seeing her again, he could swear that he would have mistaken her for Lanni if she wasn’t holding hands with Xingyu.
"Why are you looking at my wife?" Xingyu hid Luna behind him, behaving like a kid who didn’t want his precious gift to be swooned over by other kids.
Han Xichen laughed at his possessiveness. "I’m just wondering why Li Yuming didn’t have triplets."
His implication was the sa as Lin Jian’s when he discovered that his friends were dating twins.
Luna and Xingyu took it as a casual joke, but it was different for Xiaoshi. For so reason, she felt a little uncomfortable hearing such words from Han Xichen. To put it plainly, she had been uncomfortable from the mont the two n started talking about Luna.
Yet, she couldn’t tell whether she was jealous of Luna or envious of the fact that Xingyu was so protective of her—or whether it was because Han Xichen had given a remark that could easily pass off as flirtatious.
Luna had long noticed Xiaoshi but their relationship was still awkward so she didn’t say a word. After a short exchange between the two n, Xingyu led Luna into the restaurant.
Han Xichen tapped Xiaoshi who was lost in thought. "I have a feeling that Xingyu is the man you love, the one who didn’t love you back and got engaged with another woman. Am I right?"
Xiaoshi subconsciously wanted to deny it but she was too shocked. "How did you know?"
"Logic." The man grinned. It made sense now that he thought about it. As Xiehan’s cousin, it was likely for her to like one of his friends, especially if that man is Xingyu. Many girls tended to like n like him. But, even if there was no logical explanation behind it, Xiaoshi’s gaze on Xingyu had betrayed her.
He thought about the situation and was a little surprised. "You don’t look like a heartbroken girl to , though."
"Huh?" She tilted her head to ask curiously.
Looking at her, he analyzed, "If you were still so madly in love with him, you would not be able to stand that fierce display of affection."
Xiaoshi was stunned when she realized it. Indeed. If this was any other ti, she would have long excused herself to go and cry elsewhere. Even if she didn’t do wnuthing about it, the sight of Xingyu doting on another woman so much would have felt like a sword being twisted ruthlessly in her heart.
Han Xichen softly continued, "You are moving on. You are starting to make peace with the fact that he cannot be yours, and it’s the best thing for you to do."
Xiaoshi was once again stunned. Perhaps because she had never had too much hope to begin with, the truth was not as hard to accept as she had thought it would be.
Han Xichen saw her changing expressions and had the urge to pat her head. This feeling, it was no different from successfully completing a patient’s therapy. He knew that Xiaoshi’s case was the easiest to deal with. After learning about her, he concluded that as long as she discovered that she could do it, it would be much easier for her to move on. Which is why he had told her about her own progress, and from the looks of her expression, it had worked.
[1]...In so countries, it’s normal for a m an to call his friend’s wife ’sister-in-law’.
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