Bai Chengxi didn’t leave the Zhuo Family after dinner until Yuqing had walked him to the gate.
"I’m going back to Aus City tomorrow." Bai Chengxi didn’t rush to leave. Instead, he stood under the streetlight talking to her. Seeing her wearing a padded jacket and wrapped up like a bear, he couldn’t help but laugh: "Is it that cold?"
"This is A City, not Aus City." Yuqing gently exhaled, and imdiately a puff of white vapor ford in the air, "We can enjoy the snowy scenery here, unlike in Aus City where it doesn’t snow."
"I haven’t seen snow many tis, actually."
"Then, when it snows in A City, I’ll take you to the lake to see the snowy landscape. It’s really beautiful."
"Okay." Bai Chengxi took her hand and held it in his palm, "Will you co with tomorrow?"
Yuqing felt a bit troubled. She really wanted to go back with him, but she had promised her family and didn’t want to break her word.
"No, I’m going back on the seventh day, and I’ve already booked the flight."
"Mm, alright. It’s rare to go ho, spend more ti with your parents." Bai Chengxi tightened her padded jacket’s collar for her and gently patted her red, frostbitten cheeks, "I’ll give you a call when I arrive."
"Be careful on the road."
"Goodbye."
Yuqing stood there and watched his car pull away, noticing his assistant at the wheel. Did he specifically bring his assistant over from Aus City just to prepare a gift for her father?
A warm feeling suddenly welled up in the depths of Yuqing’s eyes. She waved vigorously at him. In order to gain her father’s approval, he really had made a lot of effort. She felt that it was her fault, causing him so much trouble for no reason.
Yuqing returned ho to find Zhuo Yao and Qiao San watching TV in the living room.
"Qingzi, co here." Qiao San waved at her.
Yuqing obediently walked over and sat down beside Zhuo Yao, hugging his arm and acting coquettishly: "Dad, what do you think about Bai Chengxi?"
Zhuo Yao kept his eyes on the TV, not glancing away, only looking over when he heard her question: "Requires further observation."
Upon hearing Zhuo Yao’s remarks, Qiao San was over the moon. Although it wasn’t an outright acknowledgnt of Bai Chengxi, the fact that Zhuo Yao said this much was a sign that he wasn’t opposed to him anymore. Yuqing didn’t know how Chengxi had managed to gain approval, but all she wanted to say now was: Impressive.
Actually, Bai Chengxi didn’t use any kind of sches; it was half sincerity and heart, and half fated destiny. So things just naturally fall into place.
Yuqing went back to her room to take a bath, and upon getting out, she eagerly checked her phone for ssages. It was quiet, aning he hadn’t reached the hotel yet.
"Qingzi, your brother is here," Qiao San’s voice suddenly sounded from outside. On hearing this, Yuqing imdiately put down her phone and ran out, calling from afar, "Brother!"
Tang Tianyou had just entered the door, his coat still on, and looked up, "Don’t run, beware of slipping."
Yuqing wouldn’t listen to him, dashing down the stairs: "When did you co back?"
"Just arrived at noon." Tang Tianyou patted her head, "Your hair is still wet, what if you catch a cold?"
"I didn’t get a chance to dry it yet." Yuqing, arm in arm with him, entered the living room.
Tang Tianyou said, "Dad, Mom."
Qiao San scolded her daughter with a glance: "You’re all grown up and still clinging to your brother."
As she spoke, she pulled Tang Tianyou to her side: "Youyou, why don’t you stay ho and spend more ti with your dad, running off to Aus City again for what?"
"There was so business there, so I made a trip back." Tang Tianyou placed the nice cigarettes he brought on the coffee table, "Dad, these are for you."
Zhuo Yao smiled as he picked them up to take a look: "Our Youyou really knows best."
Upon settling onto the couch, Tianyou curiously picked up the cigars on the coffee table: "Dad, did you buy these?"
Before Zhuo Yao could reply, Qiao San interjected: "They’re from your future brother-in-law."
"Future brother-in-law?" Tang Tianyou looked curiously at Yuqing who had already reddened: "Qingzi, when did you get a boyfriend, and you didn’t even ntion it to ?"
Yuqing thought this topic would be awkward to bring up in front of Tang Tianyou, since she had adored him since she was young, but to her surprise, hearing Qiao San say it made her feel incredibly at ease.
"You should know him." Bai Chengxi was also a prominent figure in Aus City, and people in their social circles likely had so intersections, "It’s Bai Chengxi."
"Bai Chengxi?" Tang Tianyou blinked his narrow eyes thoughtfully, "I do know him."
Hearing this, Zhuo Yao imdiately asked: "From what you know of him, what do you think about him?"
"My interactions with Bai Chengxi aren’t that deep; we’ve only t a few tis at banquets, but I’ve not heard anything negative about him from others. In the murky waters of the entertainnt industry, he is considered a man of clear desires, not entangled with those female celebrities." Tang Tianyou spoke truthfully; his few impressions of Bai Chengxi were quite positive.
Zhuo Yao nodded, "Keep an eye on him."
"Got it, Dad."
The re thought sent shivers down my spine.
"Qingzi, didn’t you have sothing for ?" Tang Tianyou suddenly stood up, "Don’t hide it."
Zhuo Yuqing looked at him sowhat blankly, as she hadn’t ntioned having anything to give him. Nevertheless, seeing Tang Tianyou wink at her, she imdiately snapped her fingers at her forehead, "I almost forgot, brother, co upstairs with ."
"What is it that you can’t show us? So secretive," Qiao San grumbled discontentedly.
"It’s a secret," Zhuo Yuqing waved her hand at her, "For my brother’s eyes only." Saying that, she dragged Tang Tianyou upstairs.
"Brother, what did you want to talk about?" Zhuo Yuqing closed the door as soon as they entered the room.
Tang Tianyou’s expression turned serious, no longer warm as before: "How long have you been with Bai Chengxi?"
"Not even half a year."
"Then do you understand him?"
Zhuo Yuqing blinked, "Brother, just say what you want to say."
Tang Tianyou sighed, his hand resting naturally on her shoulder, "Do you know about Bai Chengxi’s past?"
"How far back are we talking?"
"It’s sothing I’ve heard, but it should be reliable." Qingzi was his most treasured sister, and he didn’t want her to be deceived by anyone. Even if Bai Chengxi’s character wasn’t questionable, his past seed to pose a certain threat to Qingzi in Tang Tianyou’s eyes. He feared she might get hurt.
Zhuo Yuqing, seeing Tang Tianyou’s earnest face, suddenly felt a bit of reluctance to learn about these matters. No matter what Bai Chengxi’s past was, they were already married now. Everyone has a past, so why cling to it?
Before Tang Tianyou could speak, the phone on the bed suddenly rang. Zhuo Yuqing had set a specific ringtone for Bai Chengxi, so she imdiately knew who it was when the familiar music started playing.
"Brother, hold on a mont," Zhuo Yuqing hurried over to pick up the phone, and an irrepressible smile spread across her face when she saw the caller ID, "Have you arrived?"
"I have, about to take a shower," Bai Chengxi stripped and walked into the bathroom, "What are you up to?"
Hearing the sound of him undressing, Zhuo Yuqing’s cheeks reddened, "Nothing much, just finished watching TV. You should sleep early after your shower, you have a flight tomorrow."
"I’ll call you after my shower."
"Okay."
Zhuo Yuqing hung up the call, Tang Tianyou was looking at her thoughtfully.
He had watched her grow up from childhood yet had never seen such a happy smile on her face – the smile of a girl in love, shy yet warm, with a hint of coquettishness and a dash of nervousness.
He didn’t know how long they had been together, but to an outsider, Zhuo Yuqing’s expression unmistakably conveyed that she had fallen head over heels in love.
"Brother, what were you about to say just now? What about Bai Chengxi’s past?"
Tang Tianyou blinked and ca to his senses, "He started from scratch, you knew that, didn’t you?"
Zhuo Yuqing shook her head in astonishnt. The Bai Family was so powerful, why would he need to start from scratch? Then, she suddenly rembered Bai Chengxi ntioning before that his father, Bai Ze, also started his own business, determined not to rely on his grandfather’s assistance. It turned out that such stubborn pride ran in the Bai Family’s bloodline.
"His entrepreneurial journey was quite arduous, and there were a lot of negative rumors," Tianyou ntioned.
"Is that what you wanted to say?" Zhuo Yuqing seed to feel a sense of relief. She had thought he was going to ntion sothing dire.
Tang Tianyou nodded lightly, "Hasn’t he ntioned any of this to you?"
"No."
"Forget it, it’s all in the past now, no need to bring it up. As long as he treats you well, that’s what matters. Otherwise, I’ll be the first to not let him off."
"Brother, don’t be so fierce," she chided.
"I’m not even serious, and you’re already taking his side," Tang Tianyou grunted, "It seems I, as a brother, won’t have much of a status in the future."
"That’s not it." Zhuo Yuqing smiled, shaking his arm, "You’re overthinking it."
After chatting with Tang Tianyou for a while longer, he received a call that seed urgent and reminded her about a few things before leaving.
"Brother." As Tang Tianyou’s hand touched the doorknob, Zhuo Yuqing suddenly called out to him.
She rembered how in the past whenever Tang Tianyou visited their ho, she was so overjoyed and excited, almost inseparably hovering around him. Wherever he sat, whatever he used, she treasured it as if it were a precious gem.
For a ti,
"Brother, I hope you’re happy," Zhuo Yuqing’s lips curled into a smile as she gazed at him, "Even without Qili, you must find happiness."
Tang Tianyou paused for a mont, then patted her shoulder gently, "Silly girl."
After Tang Tianyou left, Zhuo Yuqing rummaged through the cabinet for those little stars she had folded, filling half a glass jar already.
Clutching the jar, a flood of mories ca to mind, but in the end, what settled in her thoughts was Bai Chengxi’s face.
She took the opportunity when her family wasn’t paying attention to sneak to the hill behind the house with the jar and quietly dug a hole to bury it.
Goodbye, her first love. Goodbye, the days of her secret crush.
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