Chapter 62

Chapter 62

No one had ever said he looked very much like his mother.

Counting the years, it had been twenty years.

Twenty years was too long-long enough that his memories of Yao Qin had already blurred.

Ever since he was heartlessly sent into the Xie Family at the age of five, Xie Qiyan had never seen his mother again.

All he had left of her was this one photograph.

Xie Qiyan did not know what Yao Qin looked like now. His memories of her remained frozen twenty years in the past.

After graduating from university, Old Master Xie had directly arranged for him to serve as vice president at Xie Corporation’s overseas branch. From that time on, he began sending people to make inquiries back home.

For years, those inquiries yielded nothing. It was not until he returned to the country and took over Xie Corporation that he began investigating through Xie Tianqi and Hou Mengqiu.

He was like a man obsessed, adrift in a lone boat upon a vast, endless ocean. He had lost his direction and could no longer turn back.

Over the past few months, he had obtained countless leads, but every time he thought he was about to make progress, nameless waves would slam viciously into his lone boat, snuffing out the hope he had so painstakingly rekindled again and again.

With every disappointment, the voice in his mind grew louder.

That voice told him: his mother didn’t want him anymore.

But even knowing that, he still wanted to find her.

Especially after learning that Hou Mengqiu had used despicable methods to force her to leave back then, his determination to find her only grew stronger.

He wanted to know whether she was safe.

He also wanted to ask her why she had left him in the Xie Family back then.

He had clearly been such a good boy.

“She is my mother.” Xie Qiyan’s low, muted voice sounded beside Xia Wanzhi’s ear.

Because of her earlier attempt to pull open his clothes, Xia Wanzhi was very close to him-so close that with one sideways glance, she could clearly see the sorrow hidden deep in his eyes.

It was an emotion not even his lenses could block.

Xia Wanzhi slowed her breathing and listened to him carefully.

“Her name is Yao Qin. In the photo, she was only twenty-seven.” Xie Qiyan lowered his eyes, suppressing the surge of emotion in his chest.

This Polaroid was one he had taken of Yao Qin on his fifth birthday.

It had been spring then. Xie Tianqi had not yet abandoned them.

Xie Qiyan took a deep breath and looked up at Xia Wanzhi. “I want to ask you to use her appearance as a reference and draw thousands upon thousands of versions of her.”

Xia Wanzhi’s hand tightened slightly around the photo, her eyes filled with confusion.

She could hear just how deep his fixation on his mother was in those words.

Thousands upon thousands of versions of her.

Thousands upon thousands of different versions of her.

Not just Yao Qin at twenty-seven.

What Xie Qiyan wanted to know even more was what Yao Qin looked like now.

“Xia Wanzhi, you can do it, can’t you?” His gaze was burning, filled with deep urgency. He knew she could understand what he meant.

Xia Wanzhi lowered her eyes and sighed softly. “Mm. I can.”

She did not know how he had seen that she possessed this ability, nor did she know why he trusted her so much. But the truth was, with her drawing skills, she indeed could use a single photograph to extrapolate, through drawing, what Yao Qin might look like at forty-seven.

It was just that this would be a long process.

From twenty-seven to forty-seven, not a single drawing in between could be skipped. She would have to compare each drawing against the one before it, pick out the details, and proceed step by step before moving on to the next.

But there was also a chance her deductions could be wrong.

After a long while, she heard Xie Qiyan exhale as though a burden had finally been lifted. “Thank you.”

Xia Wanzhi looked at him without speaking, as if through the man before her now, she could see the tenacious young man who had once knelt in the courtyard years ago.

Beneath even the strongest exterior, there was always a fragile heart hidden away.

This was not the first time Xia Wanzhi had felt this ache of sympathy for him.

“A simple thank-you can’t repay such a great kindness. In consideration of how devoted Little Sister Xia has been, I won’t ask you to offer yourself to me in marriage.”

The heavy atmosphere was scattered by his lazy remark.

Xia Wanzhi froze. “…”

It was as if everything that had just happened had been a dream.

Xie Qiyan was still that same sharp-tongued Xie Qiyan, not the Xie Qiyan who had revealed his vulnerable side in front of her just now.

Xia Wanzhi laughed despite herself and kicked his leg, neither too hard nor too gently. “Then move. I’m going back.”

Xie Qiyan stood to see her off, and while he was at it, he picked up the two gift boxes he had brought all the way back from Nancheng.
Xia Wanzhi had thought he was only walking her to the door. She hadn’t expected him to carry the things over from the apartment across the hall into hers as naturally as could be.

Xie Qiyan said with a perfectly serious face, “It is my good fortune to serve Her Ladyship at her every beck and call.”

The corner of Xia Wanzhi’s mouth twitched. “Oh, thank you so much.”

This man was a master of saying things with that sharp, backhanded tone.

But that was exactly why Xia Wanzhi had never been able to see through him.

He hid himself too deeply.

Xia Wanzhi spent the entire night processing everything that had happened.

Being Xie Qiyan’s girlfriend. Painting for Xie Qiyan.

Those two things alone had laid the foundation for her having to spend every day with Xie Qiyan from now on.

She didn’t know when it had started, but Xie Qiyan had silently threaded himself through her daily life.

Lying in bed, unable to sleep, Xia Wanzhi finally remembered that she still hadn’t opened the two boxes of gifts Xie Qiyan had given her. She sprang up and pattered out to the sofa, then sat there with an emotion she couldn’t quite describe as she opened them.

The box on top contained exquisite pastries from Nancheng, the same as Xie Tan’s box.

As for the other box…

Xia Wanzhi stared at it for a long time.

A box of traditionally made rose brown sugar.

Her ears suddenly went a little red.

In the middle of the night, for no reason at all, her chest felt strangely warm.

After sorting out her thoughts, Xia Wanzhi pattered back to her bedroom, buried herself under the covers, and kicked her calves a few times. Only after quite a while did she roll over, stare up at the ceiling, and let out a heavy breath.

She was done for. Her head was full of Xie Qiyan.

Early the next morning, Xia Wanzhi threw herself into work with a tense face, trying to numb herself with her job. But not long after she had gotten into the zone, Zhuzi gestured to her through the glass door of the studio. “Zhou Yu is here.”

Xia Wanzhi’s mood instantly became especially ugly.

She had already woken up annoyed because she’d dreamed about Xie Qiyan last night, and now that Zhou Yu had shown up, she was even more ready to explode.

“What are you doing here? Why are you still coming here? Is it so hard to be a normal ex? Do you have to force me to take a paintbrush and huff and puff while I stab your eyes blind before you’ll give up? What you’re doing right now is sexual harassment. If you don’t leave, I’m calling the police!”

Zhou Yu clearly hadn’t caught up. He looked confused, as if wondering whether something had possessed Xia Wanzhi. “Zhi Zhi…”

“I’m not listening, I don’t want to listen! Zhuzi, open the door and drive the dog out!” Xia Wanzhi planted one hand on her hip and pointed imperiously toward the door with the other.

Zhuzi blinked, thinking that her boss actually had such a domineering side to her. Excited, she answered, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Zhou Yu’s expression immediately collapsed. “I’ll leave after I ask one thing!”

Xia Wanzhi kept her face taut. “Make it quick.”

Zhou Yu loosened his clenched fist and said in a low voice, “You being with Xie Qiyan… it’s not real, is it?”

When Xie Lin had sent him the photo last night, he hadn’t believed it. He couldn’t believe it, and even more than that, he couldn’t accept that she was with someone else.

Xia Wanzhi was so angry she laughed. “It’s as real as you cheating on me.”

“I don’t believe it!” Zhou Yu’s face tightened, and he suddenly rushed up to Xia Wanzhi, staring at her deeply. “This isn’t real…”

Xia Wanzhi was exceptionally calm. “We’ve met the parents and we’re living together. We’ve kissed, hugged, and done all the lovey-dovey stuff. We’ll get engaged this year, married next year, and have two chubby sons the year after that. Maybe then you’ll believe it.”

The moment she finished speaking, a burst of applause sounded from the doorway.

Xia Wanzhi’s pupils abruptly widened, and something in her brain seemed to snap.

What had she just said?

Could someone please grant her a rollback system so she could say it again?

In the instant the air froze, Zhuzi, who had been standing off to the side cheering her on, grabbed at her scalp and fled to the display room to organize the art books.

What an embarrassingly dramatic scene.

Even she felt embarrassed on her boss’s behalf.

“Cousin Zhou, you’re still not leaving? You upset our Wanzi. Be careful, she might give birth to two chubby sons tomorrow just to piss you off.” Xie Qiyan sauntered in lazily, his face full of suffering. “Honestly, you’re creating work for me.”

Xia Wanzhi: “…”

After being thoroughly humiliated, Zhou Yu was gritting his teeth and about to storm out the door when Xie Qiyan suddenly blocked his way.

This time, his tone was no longer flippant.

“Try this again. I dare you.”

It was a naked threat and warning.