The Arrogant President's Cute Assistant - Chapter 162 - The Only Relative

“Let me think about it for a while longer.” Ye Ranxi broke free from his embrace. She hadn’t forgotten what Zhao Zhihui had said to her yesterday; tomorrow marked the anniversary of her parents’ deaths, and today she needed to head back.

As Ye Ranxi packed her bags in the room, Ling Xiaonai had somehow come up behind her. Seeing the suitcase she was pulling, he realized she was planning to leave. Fearful, he rushed forward and hugged her tightly. “Xiaoxi, where are you going?”

During the past two days of illness, Ling Xiaonai had been having the same dream-Ye Ranxi leaving with Han Shengyu, leaving him with only her departing figure. Ye Ranxi had left him twice before: once out of spite over Linda and going to France to study design, and another time when she regained her memory and left for America with Han Shengyu.

In the past, Ling Xiaonai had been very arrogant. He thought that no matter where she went, she still had him in her heart and would eventually return to him. But now he realized he had overestimated himself. The current Ye Ranxi was no longer the same Ye Ranxi; if she left, perhaps she would never come back…

“What does it matter to you where I’m going?” Ye Ranxi coldly responded, which only frightened Ling Xiaonai more. He tightened his grip, refusing to let her go.

With no other choice and not wanting him to mess up her plans, she decided to tell him the truth, “I’m just going home.”

“Home? Isn’t this your home?”

“I’m talking about my mother’s hometown. I want to go back and take a look.”

So that’s how it is… Ling Xiaonai released his hold on her. Ye Ranxi thought he was actually letting her go, so she pulled her suitcase to the yard and got into the car. But to her surprise, Ling Xiaonai climbed in right after her.

“What are you doing?” Ye Ranxi felt an urge to slap him. With him tagging along, all her plans were becoming a complete mess.

Ling Xiaonai said nothing; he just fastened his seatbelt and glanced at her. “Alright, let’s go.”

Ye Ranxi tried every possible way to get him to leave, but Ling Xiaonai did not show any intention of getting out. He simply sat in the car and closed his eyes, seemingly ignoring her protests.

She didn’t want to waste time on these trivial matters, so she decided to start driving.

It had been a long time since she had returned to her hometown-long enough that she was almost forgetting where it was. When she was little, she had come here with her mother, but as she grew up, she never came back to visit. She was afraid that if she returned, she would remember all the sad memories, so she avoided coming back altogether, as if that would erase the past and lessen the pain in her heart.

Using her memory, she finally managed to find the way. The car stopped in front of the old house, which had become worn and dilapidated after so many years. It was nighttime when they arrived, leaving no time for cleaning up.

Ye Ranxi sighed and ultimately decided to stay at a hotel. However, someone like Ling Xiaonai, who paid great attention to the quality of life, would surely look down on staying at a motel… If only she had known, she wouldn’t have brought him along.

“Let’s stay at a motel,” she suggested.

To her surprise, Ling Xiaonai did not object but nodded instead. “Alright, let’s go then.”

After some effort, they found a relatively clean hotel. Ye Ranxi dragged her luggage inside while Ling Xiaonai followed behind with the key.

“Even though this is far from the Presidential Suite you’re used to, you’ll have to make do for one night,” Ye Ranxi said as she took the key from him, intending to say goodnight. But before she knew it, Ling Xiaonai had slipped into the room. She couldn’t close the door in time.

“What are you doing?” There was only one bed. Were they really expected to share a bed? She hadn’t fully forgiven him yet.

Ling Xiaonai looked innocent. “There’s no choice; there’s only one room.”

“What? You only booked one room?”

Ye Ranxi was furious; this man must have done it on purpose. She walked over to the front desk, preparing to book another room, only to be told by the receptionist that although there had been two rooms available, one had already been taken by a couple.

Fuming, she returned to the room. Seeing Ling Xiaonai lounging on the sofa with his legs crossed, she helplessly rubbed her forehead and sighed.

Forget it… It seemed that even if she didn’t want to sleep in the same room as him, it was nearly impossible.

“You sleep on the bed, and I’ll take the sofa,” she suggested. Ling Xiaonai had just recovered from his illness, and she couldn’t bring herself to force him onto the sofa, so she settled for that arrangement.

Ling Xiaonai offered no objection and simply nodded slightly.

This man… had no understanding of gentleness or consideration. Couldn’t he at least say, “I’ll take the sofa”?

Forget it; the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. Ye Ranxi sulked a bit as she pulled out her sleepwear from her suitcase and headed to the bathroom to take a shower.

By the time Ling Xiaonai finished his shower and came out, she was already lying on the sofa.

His hair was still damp from the shower, and water droplets glistened on his sun-kissed skin, looking as enticing as a glass of rich red wine in the dark. She found herself staring at him, forgetting to look away.

Taking advantage of her distraction, he walked over, lifted her from the sofa, and gently placed her on the large bed.

“What are you doing?” Ye Ranxi was taken aback as she watched him make himself comfortable on the sofa, sinking into its cushions.

Could he really be planning to sleep on the sofa? She noticed that his legs were nearly dangling off the edge, and she felt a pang of sympathy. If she insisted on sleeping on the sofa, the outcome would be the same: he’d carry her to the bed and then go sleep on the sofa himself.

It was already cold at night, and it was still winter. Ling Xiaonai had just recovered from a fever and was covered by only a thin blanket. If this continued, he might get sick again.

Sometimes Ye Ranxi really hated her own kindness. If only she could harden her heart! Why should she care if he was sleeping over there?

Even so, what came out of her mouth was, “If you’re cold, just come sleep over here.”

Ling Xiaonai knew she was still upset and looked at her with a smile. “I’m not cold.”

He had chosen to come along, and whatever happened was his own doing. Ye Ranxi comforted herself, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t fall asleep. She tossed and turned in bed, feeling inexplicably restless.

“Are you going to come sleep over or not? If you get a fever again, don’t expect me to take care of you,” she said, unable to harden her heart. She threw off the covers and walked over to him.

Ling Xiaonai’s smile widened as he grabbed the blanket and walked to the bed, pulling her in beside him to sleep.

Before Ye Ranxi had regained her memory, she had been used to sleeping next to him, always curling up in his arms and sleeping soundly. In that moment, it felt like returning to the past; she was still his most beloved person, never having truly left.

Ye Ranxi found herself somewhat uncomfortable with such intimacy and tried to pull back, but the bed was too small, and she almost fell to the floor. Eventually, she let Ling Xiaonai hold her, not daring to move anymore.

The past few nights, she hadn’t slept well, but being in Ling Xiaonai’s embrace seemed to chase away all her nightmares. The next morning, she surprisingly slept until nine o’clock.

She hadn’t forgotten the purpose of her visit. After changing her clothes, Ye Ranxi headed to the place Zhao Zhihui had mentioned. By the time it was near noon, she finally found her parents’ grave.

Ling Xiaonai had stayed by her side all along, finally understanding the reason for her trip.

So, she had come here to pay respects to her parents… No wonder she had been so anxious yesterday.

She was very young when she lost her parents, and after losing her memory for a while, their faces had gradually blurred in her mind.

As she stood before the headstone, seeing the smiling faces engraved on it, Ye Ranxi couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.

They were her last remaining family in this world… Now, she was all alone. As the thought sank in, Ye Ranxi’s tears flowed freely, as if a dam had burst, flooding out all the emotions she had bottled up inside.

“It’s okay, don’t be sad anymore,” Ling Xiaonai said softly as he noticed her distress. He wrapped his arms around her gently to comfort her, and she gradually began to calm down.

She couldn’t help but wonder how her parents would react to Ling Xiaonai being here… After all, it was him who had caused their family to fall apart. Ye Ranxi thought bitterly, feeling an intense hatred for Ling Xiaonai that she had never felt so strongly before.

Ling Xiaonai understood that she was remembering the painful moments and didn’t say anything more, just holding her close.

After crying for a long time, Ye Ranxi suddenly recalled that her mother had loved lilies… She had rushed here and completely forgotten to bring any lilies.

While consumed by her sorrow, she hadn’t even noticed that there was already a bouquet of lilies placed in front of the headstone. Who else could have brought flowers for her parents if not her?

Could it have been a mistake? But why were they exactly the lilies her mother adored? Besides her, only her grandmother would know.

Her grandmother… Ye Ranxi remembered that after their family tragedy, her grandmother had also fallen ill. Since her disappearance and memory loss, she and her grandmother had lost contact. She didn’t even know if her grandmother was still alive.

The more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. Perhaps it really was her grandmother… This was her mother’s hometown. Who else would come to honor her parents with flowers on their memorial day?

“Ling Xiaonai, can you accompany me to the village to look for her?” Ye Ranxi wiped her tears away, her eyes shining with a glimmer of hope.

If it was her grandmother, then she still had family in this world. She wasn’t truly alone…

Maybe it was because she had been deprived of familial bonds for so long, but to Ye Ranxi, family meant everything. No matter what, she had to find her grandmother.

Ling Xiaonai nodded. “Sure, no matter what you want to do, I’ll be with you.”

The two left the mountain and headed toward the village, searching from house to house and asking about the elderly woman’s whereabouts. However, as the day grew darker, they still had no leads.