Chapter 106

Chapter 106

In late November, the temperature plunged. The Sky Garden on the top floor of Xingyao Building had only just been completed in its initial form, and the doors of Xia Wanzhi’s Studio were covered in dust from the construction.

Xie Qiyan called a few people over to help Zhuzi clean up. It was cold and raining, and it happened to be the weekend. For once, he had an entire day free, so he had no desire to let Xia Wanzhi go out. Instead, he kept her all to himself, holding her in his arms.

The two of them cuddled on the sofa and watched a movie. Xie Qiyan tugged the blanket that had slipped down to her lower abdomen back up. His fingertips brushed, whether intentionally or not, across the front of her chest, startling Xia Wanzhi into grabbing his hand to stop him from moving.

She turned her head and glared at him fiercely, then leaned back against his chest and continued watching the movie seriously.

Xie Qiyan’s brows relaxed. Every now and then, he still pinched her fingers and her ears.

The moment the movie ended, Xia Wanzhi showed no mercy and slapped his thigh. “You’re like a fly. You keep making me itch.”

Xie Qiyan was in a good mood. He picked up a cherry and fed it into her mouth, teasing, “So the Little Princess has actually seen flies before.”

Xia Wanzhi rolled her eyes at him.

She couldn’t be bothered to respond.

Once winter arrived, Changsheng became even less fond of moving. At that moment, it was curled up beside Xia Wanzhi’s legs, sleeping soundly.

When people had nothing to do, they tended to chat about the past. Xia Wanzhi stroked Changsheng’s head and looked at its long white whiskers, which made her think of its age.

Cats only lived a little over ten years.

This year, Changsheng was already fourteen.

Noticing the shift in Xia Wanzhi’s mood, Xie Qiyan glanced at Changsheng, who was sleeping deeply. He leaned closer and hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. His low voice flowed out slowly. “You’ve met Changsheng before.”

Those words instantly pulled Xia Wanzhi out of her melancholy. “When?”

Changsheng seemed to have heard them talking about it. It woke from its sleep, glanced at the two people showing off their affection, meowed, and walked into Xia Wanzhi’s arms to be held.

Xia Wanzhi held it and scratched it. Changsheng purred in comfort.

Xie Qiyan held Xia Wanzhi.

Xia Wanzhi held Changsheng.

It looked exactly like a warm little family.

“When it was three months old.” Thinking back now, he realized that fourteen years had already passed since he adopted Changsheng.

Xia Wanzhi calculated backward. “Then wasn’t that… when I was eleven?”

She had still been a child then, but old enough to remember things. Still, after so many years, that did not mean she could remember everything.

Now that she had a precise time, Xia Wanzhi froze slightly, trying to think of when she had seen Changsheng that year.

Xie Qiyan chuckled softly and gave her a hint. “Mm. In the summer of that year.”

That summer was also one week before Xie Qiyan left the country.

A lost little orange stray cat had darted into the Xie Family’s backyard. It was so thin it was barely the size of a palm, and Xia Wanzhi, who had come to the Xie Family as a guest, happened to run into it.

She gave it water and fed it dried fish. She wanted to keep it, but one of her parents was allergic to cat fur, while the other was afraid of cats.

That day, Xia Wanzhi sat under the Xie Family’s hundred-year-old tree, full of guilt and reluctance, and rambled on to the little orange cat for over an hour.

What she did not know was that, that day, twelve-year-old Xie Qiyan was lying up in that tree, listening to her chatter for more than an hour.

When Xia Wanzhi left, she planned to find her parents and ask them to help find someone to adopt the little orange cat. Before she went, regardless of whether the kitten understood her or not, she deliberately instructed it not to leave.

Yet in that brief span of time, Xie Qiyan jumped down from the tree and scooped the little orange cat away with one hand.

So when Xia Wanzhi brought Ms. Ross over that day and discovered the kitten was gone, she searched everywhere and still could not find it. After that, she cried for a long while.

Some things were not completely forgotten. They were merely sealed away in the depths of one’s mind. And now, this memory suddenly awakened.
“I was wondering how my cat disappeared! It was clearly so well-behaved! When I left, he even meowed back at me, promising to wait until I came back for him. I never thought a bad guy like you had stolen him!” Xia Wanzhi was furious and twisted the hand he had wrapped around her waist.

Xie Qiyan even liked the way she looked when she was angry. Seizing the chance, he pinched her chin and kissed her pouting little mouth before apologizing with absolute sincerity. “That’s why I let it take your surname.”

Xia Wanzhi froze.

Changsheng.

Xia Changsheng.

Back then, Xie Qiyan had explained that he named it Xia Changsheng because they had met in the summer.

That was one reason. The other reason was Xia Wanzhi.

Xie Qiyan couldn’t help sighing inwardly too. Who could have imagined that, after so many years, Xia Changsheng would not only meet its benefactor again, but would also have to call that benefactor Mom?

Back then, he had decided to adopt Xia Changsheng because of Xia Wanzhi.

Ever since he misunderstood Xia Wanzhi’s kindness when he was nine, Xie Qiyan had always felt guilty.

If she couldn’t keep the cat, then he would keep it for her.

Once she learned the truth, Xia Wanzhi’s little temper from earlier instantly dissipated, and the look she gave Xia Changsheng grew even gentler.

It was as if everything had been destined. The kitten she failed to keep when she was eleven had returned to her side in the year she turned twenty-five, living together with her.

“Don’t be mad anymore, kid’s mom.” Xie Qiyan pinched her earlobe.

Xia Wanzhi bit her lip, turned her head, and shot a coy glare at the kid’s dad.

Xie Qiyan raised a brow slightly and lowered his head to kiss her.

Xia Wanzhi didn’t dodge. Instead, she turned back, lifted her face, and met him in a lingering kiss, with Changsheng still in her arms.

The sparks flew so hot and fast that Xia Changsheng bolted on all four paws.

Their sweet, sticky little days passed quickly. By early December, it was already deep winter. It had been raining for several days in a row. Xia Wanzhi had returned to her normal work schedule, but there weren’t many orders, so she worked one day and rested the next.

On workdays, she went to the Studio. On her days off, she stayed home and painted Xie Qiyan’s mother.

She had already reached the twenty-first portrait. There was only one left.

But this year was about to pass again.

They still hadn’t found her, and there had been no progress on Xie Qiyan’s end.

Xia Wanzhi was a little worried about Xie Qiyan.

Because she was worried, she spent more time keeping him company.

The weather finally cleared that day. Xia Wanzhi went out to deliver some warmth to Xie Qiyan, bringing along the lotus root and pork rib soup he had specially made for her that morning.

She couldn’t finish it by herself anyway, and besides, drinking it alone wasn’t any fun.

She figured the employees at Xie Corporation didn’t know about her relationship with Xie Qiyan and would probably stop her instead of letting her go straight upstairs to find him. So, if she wanted to surprise Xie Qiyan and get in smoothly, she could only ask Xie Tan to come with her.

Having a future sister-in-law around really did make things much more convenient.

Ever since her relationship with Xie Qiyan had warmed up and Xia Wanzhi occasionally stayed over at his place, Xie Tan had stopped coming over on weekends.

It was rare for Xia Wanzhi to seek her out, so Xie Tan was over the moon.

Although she was only ten, kids these days matured early. The moment she heard Xia Wanzhi wanted to go deliver some warmth, Xie Tan pretended to be shy and teased her, “So you don’t mind bringing me along as a third wheel anymore?”

The two of them joked around for a while. After arriving at Xie Corporation, Xie Tan led Xia Wanzhi straight toward the elevators. For a moment, the front desk staff didn’t know whether they should stop them.

They certainly couldn’t stop Xie Tan, but the other one…

Her status was naturally distinguished as well, but no matter how distinguished an outsider was, they couldn’t barge in without an appointment.

A receptionist anxiously stepped forward, wanting to ask for more details. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and standing inside were Yu Fei and Huo Yang.

Both of them were stunned for a second.

Huo Yang quickly composed himself, but Yu Fei’s mouth was faster than his brain, and he blurted out, “Oh! The CEO’s Wife / Madam President is here-“