Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Xia Yongqing had already prepared all the documents needed for immigration, and things here in Beicheng were basically settled.

The biggest problem now was Xia Wanzhi.

He and his wife had never forced Xia Wanzhi to do anything. Xia Yongqing was softhearted, and at first, he had even thought that if Xia Wanzhi insisted on not going to the UK with them, he would be the one to persuade the Old Master.

But ever since he discovered that Xia Wanzhi and Xie Qiyan had been seeing each other so often, his resolve to make Xia Wanzhi move to the UK with them had become ironclad.

Their original plan to return to the UK in the next couple of days had been delayed by three days because of Xia Wanzhi’s refusal to cooperate.

“Baby-”

“Wanzi, come out and let’s talk-”

“Xia Wanzhi-”

Xia Yongqing had been ignored by his precious daughter for three whole days.

Ms. Ross had just finished a long transnational meeting. Pinching the back of her neck, she walked past Xia Yongqing, opened the fridge, and took out a can of soda. On her way back, she passed him again and tossed out a sarcastic remark. “That’s what you get for provoking her. You deal with it.”

Xia Yongqing: “…”

Who on earth had she inherited that temper from?

“Someone’s ringing the doorbell.” Rose had just sat down on the sofa when she heard the bell, so she turned and ordered Xia Yongqing to go.

There was a ninety-nine percent chance it was Xie Qiyan at the door.

With a dark expression, Xia Yongqing went to open it. Out of habit, he lifted his chin, ready to glare the visitor away, but when the door opened, there was no one in his line of sight.

The visitor was not Xie Qiyan.

It was Xie Tan, who only came up to Xia Yongqing’s waist.

Xia Yongqing coughed lightly. As he lowered his gaze, he bent at the waist as well, smiling as he patted Xie Tan on the head and led her inside. “Little Tan, you came at the perfect time. Your Sister Wanzi hasn’t eaten for three hours. Hurry and talk some sense into her.”

Xie Tan, who had been pushed to Xia Wanzhi’s bedroom door: “…”

From the looks of it, she had just been sulking for three hours.

“Sister Wanzi-”

The moment Xie Tan called out, Xia Wanzhi’s bedroom door opened.

Xia Yongqing held up his old face and secretly peeked at her.

Xie Tan had come to find Xia Wanzhi for a reason. She grabbed Xia Wanzhi’s hand and pulled her toward the apartment across the hall. “Changsheng is out of food. My brother isn’t home. He said we have to start switching his food today and feed him according to the Seven-Day Food Transition Method. I don’t get it. Come take a look.”

When it came to Changsheng, Xia Wanzhi was never careless. Ignoring Xia Yongqing’s look, she followed Xie Tan out.

Xia Yongqing’s face turned livid.

An excuse. A pure excuse!

This had to be Xie Qiyan’s scheme.

First, he used a cat to win Xia Wanzhi over, and now he was using Xie Tan to play the sympathy card.

How sinister!

Xia Wanzhi had never raised a cat before and had no idea what the Seven-Day Food Transition Method was. After she went over, she still had to call Xie Qiyan.

“Feed him at a ratio of fifteen percent new food and eighty-five percent old food. The new food is on the left side of the rack, the old food is on the right. Didn’t I tell you?” Xie Qiyan had just finished work. Perhaps because he had been busy all day, his voice sounded a little more tired than usual.

After raising Changsheng for so many years, he would always prepare plenty of cat food before going out each day. Yet today, Xie Tan had called to say she had accidentally kicked over Changsheng’s food.

How big did her foot have to be to kick it over?

Xie Qiyan’s tone sounded displeased, but Xie Tan was perfectly justified. “I have a bad memory, okay?”

While the siblings were on the phone, Xia Wanzhi had already started putting out Changsheng’s food.

“It’s done,” Xia Wanzhi said.

On the other end of the line, the moment Xie Qiyan heard Xia Wanzhi’s voice, he immediately understood that Xie Tan was up to her little tricks again.

“Don’t put out too much. He’ll have canned food tonight.” Xie Qiyan closed his laptop and stood up smoothly, draping the suit jacket on his chair over his arm. “I’ll be home in twenty minutes.”

Any trip Xia Wanzhi made across the hall would take at least an hour.

Xia Yongqing sat before the coffee table making tea. Seeing that Rose did not look worried at all, he could not help asking, “If your daughter really likes that Xie boy, you can still stay this calm?”

Rose glanced at him and said lazily, “If she really likes him, there’s nothing you can do about it anyway.”
Besides, she hadn’t even fallen for him yet, and he was already helpless against her.

Xia Yongqing kept his face taut and said nothing.

Seeing that he was serious, Rose softened her tone. “Is it because Xie Qiyan is an illegitimate son that you look down on him?”

“It’s not that I look down on him. It’s that he’s out of our league,” Xia Yongqing said in a low voice. “He’s deep and calculating. He lay low for years, and the moment he returned to the country, he drove Xie Tianqi and Hou Mengqiu into that kind of corner. That alone shows how ruthless his methods are. Our Wanzi is too innocent. She’s not suited for him.”

Rose let out a scoff, clearly disagreeing with the first half of that. “Excuse me? Our Wanzi is worthy of being enshrined in the imperial ancestral temple, all right? How is he out of her league?”

Xia Yongqing: “…”

Was that the point?

“The Old Master has already been urging us. Wanzi probably won’t be willing to leave with us,” Xia Yongqing analyzed rationally.

Rose gathered her hair back, got up, and sat beside him, soothing his temper. “I never said we absolutely had to take Wanzi away.”

Xia Yongqing looked at her in surprise.

“The Old Master froze her cards to force her, and it didn’t work. It only made her suffer so much. I’ve thought it through. What’s most important is that our Wanzi is happy. And you know it too-the Studio means the world to her. Why should we force her? Even as her parents, we shouldn’t deprive her of the right to choose, or take away the things she loves.” Rose had always been brisk and fiery by nature, so hearing her speak so calmly and earnestly now made Xia Yongqing settle down as well.

“Including Xie Qiyan?” Xia Yongqing sighed.

He knew exactly how important the Studio was to Xia Wanzhi.

He had intended to support her from the start.

But then Xie Qiyan had to appear out of nowhere.

Even though Xia Wanzhi had repeatedly denied there was anything between her and Xie Qiyan, Xia Yongqing would bet on the fifty years’ worth of salt he’d eaten that there was definitely something fishy going on between those two.

Rose laughed. “Who knows if there’s even anything between those two kids yet? Let’s stay a few more days. Why don’t you observe a little longer?”

Her way of judging people was simple: if someone seemed good at first glance, then they were good.

That was exactly how she had fallen for Xia Yongqing back then.

–

Xia Wanzhi stayed at Xie Qiyan’s place for almost an hour without Xia Yongqing coming to drag her away, which she found utterly baffling.

“What’s wrong?” Xie Qiyan asked when he noticed her repeatedly glancing toward the door.

Xia Wanzhi was holding the languid Changsheng in her arms. At his question, she clicked her tongue. “My dad actually hasn’t come to catch me and take me back.”

Xie Tan lifted her head from her homework, her face crumpling pitifully. “Why does he always have to catch you and take you back? You’re about to leave us soon. Uncle Xia is so cruel-he won’t even give us one last chance to spend time with you.”

Xia Wanzhi answered without thinking, “Because he suspects there’s something going on between me and your brother.”

Xie Qiyan paused slightly and lifted his eyes to look at her.

Their gazes met all of a sudden. Realizing she had spoken too quickly, Xia Wanzhi stiffly tugged at the corners of her lips. “Ha.”

Xie Qiyan’s brows relaxed, his posture leisurely. “You want something to be going on between us?”

Xia Wanzhi’s eyes widened as she defended herself. “Who wants something to be going on with you?”

“Then why is your dad so sure there is?”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

“It must be because you made it too obvious.”

Xia Wanzhi looked at him like he had lost his mind.

Xie Qiyan crossed one leg over the other, clearly in a good mood. “I really didn’t expect you to harbor such thoughts about me.”

Xia Wanzhi gave a cold laugh, but she truly couldn’t find a way to refute him. “There really is no curing that mouth of yours.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say such shameless things the way he did.

Xie Qiyan wore the posture of a victor.

After a moment of silence, Xia Wanzhi added aggressively, “One day, I’ll cure that rotten mouth of yours!”

Xie Qiyan’s eyes deepened. “Sure. I’ll be waiting to see how you do it.”

Xie Tan blinked, somehow feeling that there was something going on here that children were not supposed to ask about.