“Little Ningning, keep Little Yรน company while you chat. Your father, your brother, and I are going to pop over to Uncle Wen’s place to check on Lulu. Auntie already has dinner going in the kitchen, so we may not be back for a little while โ make sure you look after Little Yรน properly.”
After saying this, Yan’s mother looked apologetically at Xuan Yanyu. Before she could say anything further, Xuan Yanyu spoke up considerately. “Auntie, please don’t treat me like a guest. I think of this place as my own home โ no need to stand on ceremony. Go ahead with whatever you need to do.”
Yan’s mother smiled and nodded. “Alright then, the two of you watch some television. Auntie will be back as soon as she can.”
“Mom, what’s wrong with Lulu?”
At Yan Jing’an’s question, Yan Yunning pricked up her ears as well.
Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes slightly and cast her a sidelong glance. Yan Yunning gave a sheepish little rub of her ear.
Yan’s mother heaved a long sigh. “She’s come down with a fever โ no energy, spends all day shut up in her room, won’t go out. Your Auntie Lu is at her wit’s end. We only just heard and cut our trip short to come home.”
Yan Jing’an blurted out, “She won’t go out? Then why not ask Ningning to go check on her?”
Yan’s mother shot him a look. “You and your nonsense โ if you want to go, then go. Why drag Little Ningning into it?”
Little Ningning was grown up now, and so was Lulu. There was no use in always pushing them together.
Yan Jing’an: “โฆโฆ”
“Son, keep your opinions to yourself. Whatever your mother says, just nod along.” Yan’s father said unhurriedly.
Yan Jing’an gave him a meaningful look. “When Mom picks out a son-in-law for herself, do you just nod along for that too?”
Yan’s father landed a punch on his arm and shot him a glare. “Your mother is right โ you really do talk too much.”
Yan Jing’an: “โฆโฆ”
Five minutes later, only Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning remained in the living room.
Yan Yunning scooted closer to Xuan Yanyu, rested her head on his lap, and took his hand, turning it over idly between her fingers.
“Do you want to go see her?” the man asked, his tone dripping with barely concealed sarcasm.
Yan Yunning squeezed his fingers. “My parents and brother are already there โ I don’t need to go.”
Xuan Yanyu enunciated each word with deliberate care. “Don’t hold back on my account. I’m not that petty. If you want to go, you can.”
Yan Yunning sat up and looped her arms around his waist, laughter dancing at the edges of her voice. “Really? Maybe I should go take a look then?”
The man lifted his gaze, a half-smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, and let out a cold scoff.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Yan Yunning poked the back of his hand. “You’re the one who said I could go. What is that expression supposed to mean???”
Xuan Yanyu’s tone was perfectly flat. “I can say it, but you can’t actually go.”
“โฆโฆ” Yan Yunning let out a helpless laugh.
The man plucked a strawberry from the fruit tray and held it up to her lips, his voice carrying a trace of wounded feeling. “When will I finally get a proper title in front of your parents?”
“Let me think about how to tell them.” Yan Yunning took a small bite of the strawberry, then furrowed her brow slightly. She pointed at the fruit tray and spoke in a sweetly coaxing voice. “I want that sour pear โ peeled, please. Would my boyfriend be so kind?”
With that, she cradled his face in her hands, pressed a kiss to his thin lips, and smiled brightly. “Consider that your payment.”
“Not enough.” Despite his words, Xuan Yanyu reached for the pear and a fruit knife.
“Not enough~?” The young woman tilted her head, thought for a moment, then leaned in and kissed his cheek, her eyes curving into gentle crescents. “Is that enough?”
“Yan Yunning!” The furious voice made Yan Yunning jolt. She spun around, eyes wide with disbelief, to see Yan’s father and Yan’s mother standing in the doorway of the living room โ with Yan Jing’an right behind them.
Well. That saved her the trouble of figuring out how to break the news to her parents.
“Uncle, Auntie.” Xuan Yanyu rose to his feet. He was still gathering his words when Yan’s father cut him off, his voice measured but firm. “When did you two get together?”
Yan Yunning lightly licked her lip. She almost said they’d been together for quite a while now โ then thought better of it and kept her mouth shut.
Xuan Yanyu spoke in a warm, composed, and courteous tone. “Uncle, we made it official six days ago.”
Yan’s father studied him with an appraising eye, his gaze dropping to the hand in which Xuan Yanyu held the pear.
He noticed the blue diamond on his ring finger. His eyes immediately shifted to Yan Yunning’s hand, and sure enough, he found a matching pink diamond.
He was not a man without discernment. Rare colored diamonds, and at a considerable price โ the carat weight of these two was no small matter, easily worth several top-tier villas.
“Will you treat Ningning well, always?” Yan’s father’s sharp gaze bore directly into the man standing straight before him.
Xuan Yanyu nodded immediately, his expression sincere. “I will.”
Yan’s mother watched Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning with quiet amusement. She had no objection to her daughter being in love โ as long as the man treated her little Ningning well and kept her cherished, she would have no complaints.
Beyond that, her relationship with Shuyun being what it was, she had no worries about how Ningning and her future mother-in-law would get along.
And Shuyun’s son โ handsome, upright, and with circumstances far better than their own family’s. She had no concerns about Ningning ever suffering hardship. Even their material conditions surpassed her family’s.
Most importantly, little Ningning liked him. She was no fool โ a son-in-law this good was not something she was going to let slip away.
His only flaw was that he tended to stick his nose into other people’s business โ that part she wasn’t entirely pleased about.
“Little Yรน, about the matter with Shiyaoโฆ”
Before Yan’s mother could finish, Xuan Yanyu quickly gave his assurance. “Auntie, please rest assured. It will never happen again.”
A clear smile spread across Yan’s mother’s face. “Good. Good. Good. Let Auntie say this upfront โ if anything similar ever happens again, no matter whether you’ve married Ningning or even have children by then, don’t blame Auntie for having Ningning leave you.”
The man’s expression turned serious. “It won’t happen. Auntie, you may rest completely at ease. Nothing like that will ever happen again.”
“Good.” Yan’s mother stepped forward and patted Xuan Yanyu’s hand, then guided him toward the dining room. “You must take good care of our Ningning from now on,” she added as an afterthought.
“I will. Only her โ no one else will ever receive that care.”
Yan’s mother chuckled. “You certainly know how to say the right things, child.”
Watching her mother walk off with Xuan Yanyu, Yan Yunning belatedly asked, “Brother, Dad โ how did you come back so quickly?”
Yan’s father shot her a look and walked toward the dining room without a word.
Yan Yunning: “โฆโฆ”
“Uncle Wen and his family weren’t home.” Yan Jing’an helpfully supplied the explanation.
“No wonder you came back so soon.” Yan Yunning muttered under her breath.
And here she’d missed out on her sour pear entirely.
โโ
That evening.
Yan Yunning slipped quietly into Xuan Yanyu’s room and found him sorting through photos and editing a video. Curious, she leaned in closer and discovered he was drafting a caption on the Xuan Group’s official account.
“What are you doing?” Yan Yunning bent forward, arms draping over the back of his chair and around his neck, her cheek resting lightly against his as she tilted her head to watch Xuan Yanyu’s elegant fingers tapping at the keyboard.
ใReally love, two words, mine.ใ
He deleted it, then typed again.ใAlways be happy, with you.ใ
In a blink, those words vanished too, and new ones appeared.ใIn the Name of Love, We Share a Lifetime.ใ
Satisfied at last, the man tagged his own newly created account, then tagged Yan Yunning’s account, and hit send.
โโ
Author’s note:
Translation: ใIn the Name of Love, We Share a Lifetime.ใ