Chapter 122

Chapter 122

The atmosphere froze. Xia Wanzhi blinked, then picked up the conversation as naturally as could be. “Didn’t you say the Xie Family Genealogy is only brought out every year on the first day of the New Year?”

“Bringing out the Xie Family Genealogy on New Year’s Day is to honor the ancestors and let the younger generation of the Xie Family understand who all their relatives are. The Xie Family Branches will all come then, so it’s more formal. Other than that, there aren’t any particular rules. Any suitable day will do.” After the Old Master finished explaining, he fell silent for a moment and seemed to have no intention of staying long.

Xie Qiyan resented him. No matter how long he sat here, it would not erase the resentment in Xie Qiyan’s heart.

Besides, with Xia Wanzhi here, seeing how loving the two of them were made the Old Master happy too.

“After the New Year, Xie Lin is getting married as well. The date is set for the sixteenth day of the first lunar month.” Before leaving, the Old Master mentioned it in passing. “Wanzi likes attending wedding banquets. If you have time then, bring her over.”

Other than Xie Tan, Xie Qiyan had never taken anyone else in the Xie Family to heart. Ever since he moved out, he had not been interested in anything that happened in the households of the Second Uncle of the Xie Family or the third uncle.

As long as they behaved themselves, Xie Qiyan could coexist peacefully with them.

But only as superior and subordinates.

By bringing up Xia Wanzhi, the Old Master was simply hoping Xie Qiyan would attend Xie Lin’s wedding.

He was old. Xie Qiyan was his grandson, and even if Xie Lin and Xie Nan were disappointing, they were still his grandsons too.

Now that he had handed the position of family head to Xie Qiyan, in a few more years, he would fully let go of Xie Corporation as well and step down from the board of directors.

He owed Xie Qiyan, but the main reason he had handed Xie Corporation to him was that Xie Qiyan had the ability to carry on its glory.

But he could not be partial only to Xie Qiyan.

He merely hoped Xie Qiyan could let go of the grudges from the past and become part of the Xie Family as a whole.

But he also knew Xie Qiyan could not do it.

That was why he worried.

As soon as the Old Master left, Xie Qiyan stood and pressed the automatic button, shutting the office door tight.

Xia Wanzhi did not know what he was thinking at the moment. She tilted her head and studied him for a few seconds.

“You like attending wedding banquets?” Xie Qiyan finally spoke after a long while, but the first thing out of his mouth was so random that Xia Wanzhi was stunned.

“That was just Grandpa’s excuse.” Xia Wanzhi let out a soft, reproachful sound. She did not believe he had failed to realize the Old Master had deliberately used her as an excuse to persuade him to attend Xie Lin’s wedding. After thinking about it, she decided not to beat around the bush and asked directly, “He is your cousin, after all. Are you not going?”

Xie Qiyan glanced at her. Looking at that fairy-like face of hers, he thought of how she had fed him cherries just now, and the gloom between his brows suddenly dispersed. “If you like wedding banquets, we can arrange one ourselves.”

The Old Master had gone out of his way to mention Xie Lin’s wedding. Perhaps he was also indirectly urging him and Xia Wanzhi to get married.

He abruptly veered off topic, leaving Xia Wanzhi momentarily startled.

When she reacted, she deliberately gave him a fierce glare. “Oh? You still have the heart to joke around? Looks like President Xie isn’t that sad after all.”

These past two days, he had been so dejected that Xia Wanzhi had worried herself sick, taking care of him as though he were a child.

But judging by his current state, he had clearly recovered long ago. Everything earlier had been him pretending to be pitiful on purpose to make her heart ache for him.

A smile touched Xie Qiyan’s lips. He walked over, lifted her onto his lap, and wrapped her in his arms. His chin pressed tightly against the nape of her neck. He closed his eyes and, without warning, said, “Back then, when my mother left me in the Xie Family, he was the one who forced her.”

Xia Wanzhi’s back stiffened. She knew the “he” referred to the Old Master.

“He would not allow the eldest grandson of the Xie Family to wander outside with an uncertain future. He thought I would amount to nothing if I stayed with my mother. My mother was alone and powerless. She couldn’t argue with him, and the conditions he offered were enough to persuade her to leave me in the Xie Family.”

“They never asked for my opinion. They made the decision for me on their own.”

“In my heart, I didn’t only resent him. I resented my mother too. But I can no longer remember what she looked like, so all that resentment turned into longing.”
Xia Wanzhi had been doted on by the Old Master ever since she was little. Xie Qiyan knew how much she respected the Old Master, so he would never put her in a difficult position and force her to choose between him and the Old Master.

Xie Tan would be attending Xie Lin’s wedding, and if Xie Tan went, she would definitely drag Xia Wanzhi along. On top of that, the Old Master would certainly ask Xia Wanzhi to go too.

If Xia Wanzhi went, he would go.

Without Xia Wanzhi, there was no way he would ever set foot there.

After he finished speaking, Xia Wanzhi unconsciously tightened her arms around him. She knew a little about how Xie Lin and Xie Nan had bullied her when they were young. She knew he felt wronged, and she knew just how much he disliked the people of the Xie Family. So she coaxed him gently, “Then we won’t go. Grandpa must have guessed you wouldn’t want to.”

Xie Qiyan toyed with her hair. Suddenly, he lowered his head to the back of her neck and grazed it lightly with his teeth, as if grinding them against her skin. He chuckled. “If Teacher Wanzi wants to eat at the wedding banquet, then we’ll go. The Jiang family will be there too. I’ll have Jiang Baichuan bring Yun Li along. It’s just…”

The way he trailed off made Xia Wanzhi unbearably curious, and the back of her neck was starting to itch from his biting. She huffed, sat up straight, and pinched both his cheeks. “Why are you being so mysterious? Hurry up and tell me.”

She looked so fierce that Xie Qiyan wanted to kiss her.

He laughed despite himself. “It’s just that once we go, everyone will know you’re my girlfriend.”

Xia Wanzhi gave a light scoff. “I am your girlfriend. It’s not like I’m some huge celebrity who has to hide her relationship. Let them know.”

At that point, her eyes suddenly lit up. “If Jiang Baichuan brings Yun Li with him, doesn’t that mean she’ll be meeting the family elders? Will Yun Li agree to that? No, I have to talk to Yun Li and tell her to mentally pre-”

Before she could finish the word “prepare,” Xie Qiyan excitedly sealed her mouth with his.

Xia Wanzhi blinked, forced to part her lips as her mind kept racing through what, exactly, she had just said that had tempted Xie Qiyan.

How had he suddenly turned so wolfish…?

Xie Qiyan’s heart was pounding violently.

For Xia Wanzhi to say so casually that they could make their relationship public-those words made him feel as if he had been chosen by her.

They were not public figures, but their identities were what they were. Once news of their relationship got out, it would inevitably become a topic of conversation.

They had never intended to hide it, but dating was still a matter between two people. Aside from those close to them, no one else knew that Xia Wanzhi was Xie Qiyan’s girlfriend.

But they did know that Xia Wanzhi had once been Zhou Yu’s fiancée.

Men had their possessive instincts.

Xia Wanzhi wanted others to know that he was her boyfriend.

And Xie Qiyan wanted just as much to stake his claim and tell the entire world that Xia Wanzhi was his.

She was Xie Qiyan’s girlfriend.

The kiss, which had come down like a violent storm, gradually softened into a lingering spring drizzle, full of endless tenderness and allure. Xie Qiyan was far too skilled at kissing; there had never been a single time Xia Wanzhi hadn’t lost completely to that mouth of his.

Her lipstick smudged and stained Xie Qiyan’s lips. After they finished kissing, she had to wipe it off herself. Xia Wanzhi glared at him in irritation, only to be caught by him and kissed through several more rounds.

It was endless.

But Xia Wanzhi was happy.

For the past two days, Xie Qiyan’s mood had been stuck in a low place, and she had felt depressed along with him. Now that she knew he had come out of it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her forehead affectionately against his.

“Xie Qiyan, let’s work hard together. Let’s find your mother together.”

From now on, he would no longer be alone.

Xie Qiyan lifted his eyes. After experiencing Xia Wanzhi’s tenderness these past few days, he was feeling thoroughly smug.

“What are you doing-” Xia Wanzhi cried out as Xie Qiyan suddenly pressed her down onto the sofa without warning.

Xie Qiyan kissed her. “I haven’t kissed you in almost three days. I’m making up for it.”