“I’m in love with Qin Ya.”
Su Zhan declared his love for Qin Ya out loud when everyone assembled in the dining room for breakfast.
Qin Ya was not used to getting so intimate with him she struggled a little in his embrace. However, Su Zhan immediately bent down and whispered into her ear, “If you don’t want to mess up our act, then don’t resist.”
Qin Ya had no choice but to play along.
“Hmm,” Shen Peichuan said, smacking his lips together. “That’s some amazing speed.”
Qin Ya was so hostile towards Su Zhan when they were drinking last night, and now they’re lovers?
Who are they trying to bluff?
Shen Peichuan had been suspicious of this since the beginning. Zong Jinghao could tell that Su Zhan was just playing around just from Lin Xinyan’s account.
However, he was just too lazy to expose Su Zhan.
Zong Jinghao fed Lin Ruixi as she sat in his lap.
He didn’t care about anything but his little daughter.
Shen Peichuan didn’t know what to make of it either, as he watched Zong Jinghao lovingly feed mouthful after mouthful of food to his daughter. He had never seen Zong Jinghao acting so gentle before Lin Ruixi came into his life.
He is a slave to his daughter, perhaps?
That description fits Zong Jinghao perfectly.
“Rui,” Shen Peichuan said, picking up a hard-boiled egg. “You want Uncle to help you peel the shell?”
Lin Ruixi shook her head, hugging Zong Jinghao tightly. “No. Daddy will help me peel it.”
Shen Peichuan blinked a few times, feeling abandoned. Zong Jinghao was married and had a cute daughter as well as a smart son. Even his wife was beautiful and much younger than he was.
To add insult to injury, even that playboy Su Zhan fell in love, while he was the only one who was single.
Did he really get abandoned like that?
He moved closer to Lin Xichen, the only other bachelor in the house.
Lin Xichen wasn’t sure why Shen Peichuan moved so close to him, but he still gave the hard-boiled egg he finished peeling to Shen Peichuan.
“Uncle Shen, you can have this.”
Shen Peichuan’s expression softened at the sound of that. Looks like someone still cares about him.
He took a bite out of the egg. “Thanks, Xi.”
Lin Xichen gave him a look. “No problem. I just think that you look a bit lonely.”
Shen Peichuan went silent.
The egg in his mouth started to taste funny.
Even Lin Xinyan doubted the truth in Su Zhan’s announcement.
“Why do you think Qin Ya came here with me? It’s because we’re dating. Today just seems like the perfect day to announce it since the weather is great.”
Su Zhan spoke with ego.
Lin Xinyan didn’t have the heart to expose him anymore, reminding herself of the saying, “Even destroying ten temples is better than spoiling a marriage”. She decided to congratulate them instead. “Alright then, since you’ve made up your mind, then you should forget about the past and focus on your future with her.”
Qin Ya began to feel embarrassed. “Lin, I didn’t mean to hide this from you…”
“It’s fine. It’s getting late. Let’s hurry up and eat.”
She didn’t blame Qin Ya for anything. She was an adult after all, so she probably knows what she was doing. The only thing Lin Xinyan felt unsettled about was whether Su Zhan would end up harming her.
They hadn’t known each other for long, and Su Zhan wasn’t the kind to watch his tongue.
Qin Ya flicked Su Zhan’s hand away and walked to Lin Xinyan’s side. “Lin.”
Lin Xinyan hugged her by the shoulder and got her to sit down beside her. She didn’t want Qin Ya to feel pressured about this.
Qin Ya didn’t even dare to look Lin Xinyan in the eye. She felt ashamed.
She wasn’t really dating Su Zhan to begin with.
Zong Jinghao grasped Lin Xinyan’s hand under the table. ”Everyone has their own fates.”
He didn’t want Lin Xinyan to worry too much about other people’s lives.
He put a glass of milk before her. “Drink this.”
Lin Xinyan knew what he meant. However, she was just feeling concerned for Qin Ya due to their close relationship, even though she had no intention to interfere. Then, She picked up the glass of milk and downed it quickly.
“Mummy,” Lin Ruixi said, giving the egg Zong Jinghao peeled for her to Lin Xinyan. “This is for you.”
The little girl held the “little white ball” tightly as she raised it to Lin Xinyan’s mouth.
She was such a filial child.
Lin Xinyan took a bite of the egg her daughter was holding. It was just an ordinary egg, yet it tasted more delicious than it should be.
She stroked her daughter’s head, oblivious to the little bit of egg yolk stuck to the corner of her mouth. Zong Jinghao grabbed a piece of tissue paper and wiped it off for her.
Lin Xinyan felt slightly uncomfortable. So many people were watching them! She tried to take the tissue paper from him, but was met with Zong Jinghao’s determined gaze.
Se retreated her hand recalling how he wanted them to act like they were in love whenever they were in front of others.
As she let Zong Jinghao wiped her mouth clean, Lin Ruixi wriggled deeper into her father’s embrace with a giggle. She loved seeing her parents acting like that.
She felt like the happiest girl in the world.
Su Zhen was slightly shocked by all this. Taking a huge gulp of milk, he said, “Can you all stop it? You’re embarrassing Peichuan! He hasn’t gotten even a single date yet!”
He began to laugh awkwardly after that.
Shen Peichuan gave him a disgusted look, before stuffing the rest of his egg into his mouth and standing up.
Lin Xichen stood up with him. “I’m full too.”
“Come with Uncle,” Shen Peichuan said. He couldn’t help but feel grateful for this boy’s presence.
When they got to the door, they bumped into Bai Yinning, who was heading towards them.
Shen Peichuan stopped in his tracks. “Mr. Bai! Why are you here?”
“I’m here for Ms. Lin,” Bai Yinning said with that familiar light smile on his face.
Shen Peichuan smiled too. “She’s having her breakfast now. Would you like to wait here for a moment?”
“Sure,” Bai Yinning said.
His gaze fell on Lin Xichen. The boy was young, yet he was undeniably handsome and had an uncanny resemblance to Zong Jinghao.
“You’re Xi?” Bai Yinning asked.
“That’s right. My full name is Lin Xichen, but you can call me Xi,” Lin Xichen replied politely.
Bai Yinning froze for a moment. Lin Xichen?
He’s using his mother’s surname?
Even the kids of ordinary families would carry their fathers’ family names rather than their mothers’, let alone a family as prominent as the Zongs.
Something felt wrong.
Interesting.
Bai Yinning’s smile only grew wider and brighter. “That’s a beautiful name. Xichen – a new beginning, something that symbolized the morning. Did your dad give you this name?”
“No, my mommy did,” Lin Xichen said.
He didn’t realize the meaning behind Bai Yinning’s question at all.
His smile made him seem like a really good guy.
Lin Xichen was not wary of this guy at all.
“Oh, your mommy is really smart then…”
As he was talking, Lin Xinyan and Zong Jinghao emerged from the dining room.
“I’ll bring you to see the master today.”
“Sure,” Lin Xinyan said. “Wait for me.”
She turned to look at Zong Jinghao, but he spoke before she could say anything, “I’ll go with you.”
Bai Yinning’s enthusiasm towards Lin Xinyan made Zong Jinghao unhappy.
Leaving the two of them alone?
Only if I am crazy!
“What about the kids?” Lin Xinyan asked with her eyes widening in shock. She didn’t expect Zong Jinghao to tag along.
“Bring them along too,” Zong Jinghao said. He wasn’t going to leave the kids home by themselves.
Lin Xinyan knew how Zong Jinghao’s personality was like. Once he has made a decision, no one could change him.
“Is it far away? Can we make it back before their bedtime?” Lin Xinyan asked. She figured that she should prepare some essentials for the kids if they couldn’t come back early.
“We can leave now, and we’ll be back by nightfall,” Bai Yinning answered. His gaze fell on Zong Jinghao. “Is President Zong concerned with my arrangement?”
Zong Jinghao sneered and said with a hand on Lin Xinyan’s shoulder, “I’ve never regarded President Bai as a rival.”
His real meaning was that Bai Yinning was not good enough.
Bai Yinning was not happy, but his smile was unwavering. “I’ll wait outside then,” he said.
He raised his hand, and Gao Yuan pushed him out.
“Who is he?” Su Zhan asked Shen Peichuan.
“He’s the landlord of Baicheng.”
Shen Peichuan’s answer was simple.
“He’s an interesting person. He can’t even walk on his own, but he seems to have a couple of tricks up his sleeve,” Su Zhan said, stroking his chin. Moving his gaze from Bai Yinning to Shen Peichuan, he asked, “Where are they going?”
“They’re going to visit a master in tea silk weaving.”
“Woah! Tea silk?” Qin Ya yelped, almost jumping out from her seat.
Su Zhan glanced at her in shock. “Is it something precious? How come I’ve never heard of it?”
Qin Ya glared at him. “What do you know?”
Su Zhan was silenced by her glare.
“I…”
Qin Ya ignored him completely and went straight to packing. The whole group left the hotel soon after.
They squeezed into three different cars and followed two of Bai Yinning’s cars to the master’s place.
Slowly, civilization disappeared from their windows, replaced by the rural scenery and bumpy roads.
When they finally arrived at a picturesque little village, Lin Xinyan went speechless in awe.
The village sat between a river and a mountain range, with unique architecture and a long stretch of grapevines spread across the mountains that faced the sun. When they went into the village, they were met with the fresh scent of soil and grapes.
Their journey continued, and a bunch of traditional buildings came into view. They were quaint little wooden houses that resembled those built in the Middle Ages, completed with endless grapevines connecting each and every one of them. Every house had scissors and bamboo baskets hanging at their door, meant to be used for picking grapes.
Lin Ruixi was overjoyed at the sight of this, her little hands banging against the window of the car. “Wow, so many grapevines! If it’s summer, they would definitely be full of grapes…”
Just then, Bai Yinning’s car screeched to a halt before them, and they followed suit.
Everyone alighted from their rides.
Bai Yinning pointed to another village in the distance. “It’s right there, but we can’t drive any further in. We’ll have to walk there from here.”
“It’s so beautiful here so I won’t mind walking there,” Qin Ya said, appreciating the scenery.
A village untouched by the monotony of urban living was rare nowadays.
“Let’s go,” Bai Yinning said, leading the way.
Zong Jinghao looked around to confirm that it was just a village before wrapping his arm around Lin Xinyan’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
After around half an hour of walking, they finally arrived at the village. The population there was very sparse with a few elderly, there was almost no youngsters insight.
“That’s the one we’re looking for,” Bai Yinning said, pointing at a wooden house at the other end of a bridge that sat above a clear river.
The fence around the house was made out of branches, and there was no gate. Inside the fence was a two-story wooden house with a chair woven out of bamboo on the right side. An old man was sitting on it, and he was weaving bamboo baskets out of bamboo strips. When he raised his head, the wrinkles on his forehead was prominent, and his deep-set eyes fell on Zong Jinghao almost immediately.
He put down the bamboo strips in his hands and stood up.
