Ch 15: I’ve Never Regretted It

Everyone began chatting and drinking happily, but Xiao Yao seemed somewhat absent-minded.

Suddenly, her phone in her pocket vibrated. She took it out and saw it was an unknown number.

【What is my status now, attending your family banquet?】

Xiao Yao quickly glanced at Zhuang Lingyun. His phone was on the table, his fingers lightly resting on it. He was talking to his Third Uncle at the moment, responding effortlessly and speaking politely.

This guy, when did he get her phone number?

Xiao Yao looked at the others again. Everyone was chatting and laughing; no one noticed their small actions.

Xiao Yao thought for a moment, secretly taking her phone under the table, and replied with a text message: 【Marry me, don’t regret it.】 After a pause, she added another: 【It’s still not too late to leave now.】

His phone vibrated twice. Zhuang Lingyun picked it up, glanced at it, put it back on the table, and continued chatting with his Third Uncle and Third Aunt.

Xiao Yao looked at him. What did that mean?

Regretting it?

“Hey, Yaoyao,” Xiao Wenxing bumped Xiao Yao’s shoulder.

Xiao Yao turned to look at him. This guy’s face was red like a monkey’s bottom, his eyes hazy; he was clearly quite drunk. In contrast, Zhuang Lingyun looked composed, his gaze clear, and his speech articulate. At the banquet, these two had toasted each other several times, drinking something different from everyone else’s red wine—potent vodka.

The last time Xiao Yao did something so reckless, it was because of this vodka. One glass made her black out, so she had a particularly strong impression of it and had already classified it as forbidden.

Yet Zhuang Lingyun and Xiao Wenxing had each drunk nearly a bottle. Zhuang Lingyun could still sit there so calmly; his alcohol tolerance was truly impressive.

Xiao Wenxing looked at Xiao Yao ambiguously. “The person’s right here. Why do you have to send a text message when you can just talk?”

Xiao Yao’s face flushed. He had actually seen it; this guy’s eyes were too sharp.

She pretended to be nonchalant. “What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”

“Tsk tsk, you’ve forgotten your brother for your lover. You didn’t treat me like this before.” Xiao Wenxing slurred, suddenly extending an arm and putting it around Xiao Yao’s neck, pulling her close, his head against hers. “Brother’s heart is aching, but I’m also sincerely happy. My little sister is finally getting married; no one will bully you anymore. Xiao Qiang, aren’t you particularly jealous that you found such a handsome man? Mother’s maternal aunt probably would be envious to death, which is why she didn’t come to our welcome banquet today, right?”

The pungent smell of alcohol lingered in the air, which Xiao Yao found quite unpleasant. However, listening to Xiao Wenxing’s words, her heart warmed, and she didn’t immediately push him away.

Before her Third Uncle’s family moved to Xinjiang and their family didn’t move to Beibin City, the three generations of their family lived in Yinghui City, Ning Province. That was their Xiao family’s ancestral home, and they had all grown up there.

Xiao Yao and Xiao Wenxing had a particularly good relationship at that time. Although they often bickered and played around, those were especially happy and unforgettable childhood memories.

Later, when she was in a coma after a car accident at the hospital, it was discovered that Xiao Wenxing was actually the child her Third Uncle’s family had mistakenly raised, while the real Third Uncle’s son was in Xinjiang.

At that time, their whole family moved to Xinjiang to find their son. After Xiao Yao woke up from the car accident, she underwent a long period of recovery, and her contact with Xiao Wenxing decreased.

Although Xiao Yao didn’t have the same experience as Xiao Wenxing, she could imagine how helpless and sad he must have felt when he went from being a biological son to one with no blood relation.

But seeing him as cheerful as before, and that his Third Uncle, Third Aunt, and Grandmother treated him no differently, their family relationships must have been handled properly.

Xiao Yao sighed, picked up her cup, poured a glass of plain water, and handed it to him. “Drink some; sober up.”

“I’m not drunk.” Xiao Wenxing smiled, taking the cup and holding it in his hand, continuing to put his arm around Xiao Yao’s neck and whispering in her ear, “No matter who you marry, you’re still brother’s little sister. If he bullies you, tell brother, and I’ll break his legs for you.”

“Okay,” Xiao Yao replied softly.

Speaking of Zhuang Lingyun, her gaze unconsciously drifted back to him. She found that he was also looking at her, his elbow resting on the table, propping up his chin, his gaze shifting back and forth between her and Xiao Wenxing. If he wasn’t drunk at all, his expression was still quite different from usual—calmness mixed with a hint of danger.

Xiao Yao suddenly realized that she and Xiao Wenxing were a little too close. She awkwardly grinned, pushed away Xiao Wenxing’s alcohol-soaked face, and sat up straight.

As the banquet neared its end, Xiao Yao’s father, Xiao Jianshan, and her Third Uncle, Xiao Jianbo, were both drunk, and Xiao Wenxing was completely intoxicated, drooling on the table, his image utterly ruined.

The women hadn’t been drinking, but it wasn’t feasible for them to carry the men out. Fortunately, Zhuang Lingyun had already arranged hotel rooms, and Xiao Yao’s father, Xiao Jianshan, and mother, Jiang Lufang, were also staying at the hotel.

Tonight was the sixteenth day of the lunar month, and a huge full moon hung in the sky, illuminating the snow-covered city at night, as bright as day.

In the northern cities, winter nights are usually cloudy; it’s rare to see a sky full of stars and a full moon. Tonight, however, was an exception.

It was nearly midnight, but Xiao Yao couldn’t sleep.

She put on a coat and went downstairs.

There was an elegant gazebo in the hotel’s back garden. Walking along the wooden bridge, she found someone already sitting inside for some time; smoke and a faint smell of alcohol filled the air.

Xiao Yao paused slightly before entering.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

Zhuang Lingyun put his feet down from the seat and extinguished the cigarette he had just lit, waving his hand in the air a few times to quickly dispel the smoke.

“You’re not asleep either,” Xiao Yao said, sitting down a few steps away from him.

Perhaps because spring was approaching, there was no wind tonight, and it wasn’t cold. The air was silent for a few seconds; they looked at each other, neither speaking first. For a moment, Xiao Yao felt a little awkward.

“What are you thinking about?” After a while, Zhuang Lingyun put his feet back on the chair, leaning against the dragon-carved wooden pillar behind him, his gaze lightly glancing at her.

“Zhuang Lingyun, thank you. Thank you for what you did before, and for everything you did for me today.”

He smiled, looking indifferent.

“You didn’t reply to my message. Do you regret it?” After hesitating for a long time, Xiao Yao finally asked, “It’s okay. Actually, it wasn’t reasonable to begin with. If…”

“I’ve never regretted it.”

Xiao Yao looked up at him. Zhuang Lingyun was also looking at her, his gaze deep and tender, a pampering smile on his face. He beckoned her. “Come closer.”

Xiao Yao hesitated for a moment, then got up and walked to his side, sitting half a meter away. But as soon as her bottom touched the chair, a hand suddenly appeared on her arm, pulling her into a cold embrace.

Zhuang Lingyun pulled her onto his lap with a slight effort. “The chair is cold; sit on my lap.”

Xiao Yao was startled, looking at his handsome face so close, her face slightly reddening. “Put me down first. What if someone sees us?”

✦ ✦ ✦