“Hurry up, eat your dinner. Don’t let the dishes get cold.” Lin Xinyan pushed him again.
Zong Jinghao stood up and walked over to the table. “Aren’t you going to eat dinner with me?”
“I have only brought in one bowl of rice, I’ll eat outside.”
“Stay please.” Zong Jinghao sat down and pulled her to sit on his lap. Lin Xinyan stared at him, “There’s only one bowl of rice.”
“We can share it.” Zong Jinghao picked some food from a dish as he fed it to Lin Xinyan.
Lin Xinyan simply obliged.
“How is it?”
Zong Jinghao fed her again, this time with lady’s fingers that had touched her lips. “Aren’t you starving?”
Lin Xinyan felt uncomfortable. I’m not a child, there is no need to feed me, please!
“You don’t feel like being fed by me?” Zong Jinghao was sharp to read her body language.
She lowered her head and explained softly, “I’m an adult now, stop treating me like a child.”
Zong Jinghao put the food intended for her into his own mouth instead, “Then, you feed me. I don’t mind.”
This made Lin Xinyan speechless.
“You may feed me like I am a child.” He cast a playful look at her, “Come on, feed me.”
The corners of Lin Xinyan’s eyes twitched. She knew if she did not oblige to him, he would never stop giving her a hard time.
In order to extricate, Lin Xinyan used the chopsticks to feed him some prawn meat.
Zong Jinghao bit at the chopsticks and refused to let go of them. Just when Lin Xinyan was about to get angry, he quickly released them.
“Tastes very good.” He smiled contentedly.
Lin Xinyan stared at him. “All along, the food prepared by Aunt Yu has been good.”
“The taste is good because you’d fed it to me.” He held her waist and looked up at her, “If you don’t believe me, try it.”
Lin Xinyan did not know what else to say.
She refused the offer. Zong Jinghao frowned, “Why? You don’t like me?”
Lin Xinyan avoided his gaze. “No.”
“Then, please eat it.”
Lin Xinyan was utterly embarrassed.
“Please stop fooling around with me… “
Before she finished her sentence, a piece of prawn meat had been shoved into her mouth.
Lin Xinyan was shocked, her eyes wide open.
He grinned, “Isn’t it sweet?”
Lin Xinyan had originally thought of spitting it out. However, Zong Jinghao had sensed her thoughts. He pushed her chin up so that the prawn meat would slide down her throat, leaving a strong smell of seafood in her mouth.
“Don’t try to be funny with me.” He laughed at his success in feeding her by a trick. Lin Xinyan did not want to look at him; she ate a morsel of rice. Zong Jinghao stopped his antics in fear of enraging her. He would then have a hard time to appease her, if at all.
It was only a bowl of rice with a few dishes, They devoured them all. Lin Xinyan took the tray out with the empty bowl and plates. Meanwhile, Zong Jinghao went to take a shower.
Aunt Yu was unpacking the luggage as Zhuang Zijin helped to bathe Lin Xichen.
Lin Xinyan cleared up the dinner table and washed the eating utensils in the kitchen.
Aunt Yu came to the kitchen while Lin Xinyan was busy with washing the eating utensils. “You must be tired by now after travelling long hours in the car. Let me finish the washing. You can go ahead and have a shower before you rest.”
Lin Xinyan smiled, “I am not tired, really.”
“Even if you are not tired, you don’t have to do the washing.” Aunt Yu pushed her aside gently and took out her gloves, “Young Master doesn’t look happy today. Go and cheer him up.”
Lin Xinyan preferred to stay in order to avoid getting with entangled with him. While eating an apple, she asked Aunt Yu, “ His mother… “
Aunt Yu raised her head with surprise. She did not expect her to raise this matter. “You mean Madam?”
Lin Xinyan nodded. “Could you please tell me something about her?”
Aunt Yu was stunned at first, then she smiled affably, “No problem.”
She is showing great interest in knowing more about Young Master. Does this mean that all these days Young Master has been away from home, she has fostered a better relationship with him?
“I followed Madam to the Zong family. I was a former maid of the Wen family. When Madam was married into the Zong family, I was sent over to take care of Madam. Madam and Master Zong’s marriage was meant to make both families a strong alliance. Although they did not have true affection towards each other initially, they had still treated each other with all due courtesy and respect. They became closer after the birth of Young Master. After that, Madam passed away due to illness. Within one month of Madam’s death, Master Zong married the current ma’am.”
Lin Xinyan took a morsel of an apple and chewed slowly. Her mind tossed with certain things which seemed inexplicable to her. Wen Xian has passed away. But Cheng Yuxiu said that Wen Xian was once pregnant. What has happened to her child? What about Wen Xian’s lover? All of these seemed unanswered after her death.
Apparently, Aunt Yu knew nothing much. She did not even know that Zong Jinghao was not borne by Wen Xian.
“What do you think of Yuxiu?” Lin Xinyan continued probing.
Aunt Yu thought for a while, trying hard to give an impartial impression. “Although she married Master Zong at the wrong time, she was quite a nice person. It looked like she was in a good health. She didn’t scold Young Master or torture him. She carried herself well. The point is, she did not have a child of her own. I really respect her. At that time, she was rather young. It is quite a sad thing for a woman not to have a child of her own during her lifetime.”
Lin Xinyan squinted. The apple in her mouth had lost its taste after constant chewing. She recalled the call from Cheng Yuxiu that day; the latter had wanted to desist from re-introducing Xiangyun silk on the market.
Back then, Wen Qing had undergone pressure from her family, in terms of marrying Zong Qifeng. This was in exchange for the rescue of the Cheng family’s ancestral business. However, Wen Qing had been principally motivated to proceed with the deal, as she was eager to stay beside her child, taking care of it. She was willing to do so, even though she knew that the child would be unaware of her true identity.
She could not pretend to be unaware of this side of the story. She knew that she had no right to pass judgment over the deal. However, she was sure that the Wen family had gone overboard in the matter.
Instinctively, she held her hands tightly. Once her mind was made up, she would not regret her decision.
Lin Xinyan still felt like asking Aunt Yu more about Wen Qing.
She had worked in Wen family before and would surely know something about Wen Qing. Before she could open her mouth, Zhuang Zijin’s voice interrupted her.
“Yan.”
After Zhuang Zijin had bathed Lin Xichen, she put him to bed. The latter fell asleep almost immediately because of tiredness.
Zhuang Zijin wanted to have a word with her daughter. Seeing Lin Xinyan in the kitchen, Zhuang Zijin called upon the former.
Realizing Zhuang Zijin’s intention, Lin Xinyan put down the unfinished apple and approached her mother. “Yes, mom.”
“Follow me.” Zhuang Zijin turned around to step into her room.
As soon as Lin Xinyan stepped in, Zhuang Zijin told her, “Close the door, please.”
After closing the door, Lin Xinyan sat by the side of her mother’s bed. “What is it that you want to talk about, mom?”
Zhuang Zijin kept holding her own hands. She did not know how to put it. She was also worried about her daughter’s objection to what she would say to her.
“All this while away from home, how have you been getting along with him?” Zhuang Zijin calmed herself down before asking.
Lin Xinyan knew who her mother was referring to.
Coincidentally, Lin Xinyan also wanted her mother to know her decision. “I am getting along quite well with him. I have decided to stay with him.”
“That’s good.” That was what Zhuang Zijin had wished for. “After all, he is the father of the twins. Maybe it is fated. After so many trying times, you two have finally come back to square one.”
She had her marriage arranged while she was a child. By a twist of events, she had given birth to his children.
Maybe, it was all fated.
“Yan… “ Zhuang Zijin stopped with hesitation.
“Mom, go ahead and say what’s on your mind. I am your daughter and not some stranger.” Lin Xinyan held her mother’s hands tightly.
Zhuang Zijin stared at her daughter. She waited long enough to muster up the courage to speak her mind, “I have decided to remarry Lin Guoan.”
