Hua Lin Yu looked up at this person and smiled happily. He still hadn't completely forgotten that he was actually supposed to hold a grudge though. Seeing that they were alone now, he finally felt like it was time to voice his displeasure. "Why didn't you come to see me earlier?"
Xin Lan was pulled out of his thoughts on how to teach this person. He sat up again, giving him a long look. "Did you want me to come to see you?"
Hua Lin Yu also sat up, pursing his lips. "Of course I did! How could you not know?" He looked down, obviously unhappy.
Xin Lan took a deep breath. It seemed that this might not be as easy as he had thought. At the very least, it seemed he'd have to coax this little beauty first so he'd forgive him.
He pondered for a moment and then inched closer, taking Hua Lin Yu's hand. "Try to look at it from my perspective: You were still a child. If I came to visit you just to realize that it would still be such a long time until I could make true on my promise, don't you think it would have hurt me?"
Hua Lin Yu looked at him, his expression hovering somewhere between happiness and confusion.
Xin Lan struck while the iron was hot. "I understand that you suffered. You wanted to see me but could not. I apologize for that. I should have taken your feelings into consideration. It was selfish of me."
Hua Lin Yu already seemed a lot more forgiving when he heard that. He squeezed Xin Lan's hand and his lips curved up in a sweet smile. "It's alright. I'll forgive you. Anyway, you had your reasons."
Xin Lan reached out and brushed the youth's hair back, feeling quite happy with the sensation of the satiny strands. Obviously, the Jian Yi Sect had taken care of him quite well. "It's an explanation but not an excuse. But anyway, you've grown up now. Whatever reservations I had, they aren't relevant anymore. From now on, I'll be there for you. I'll hardly leave your side. If there's anything you want or need, you just need to tell me. I swear we will make up for everything that we have lost out on in the last years. How does that sound?"
Hua Lin Yu's expression lit up and he nodded happily. "Let's do that!"
Xin Lan nodded and then motioned at the bed. "If you're tired, you should lie down. I'll stay at your side and make sure that nothing will happen. When you've woken up, we can talk about our wedding."
Hua Lin Yu seemed even happier when he brought that up. Back when he had been a child, he might not have actually understood what Xin Lan was talking about when he spoke of becoming a family and holding a wedding but he wasn't that clueless child anymore. He knew very well now just how big of a step marrying Xin Lan would be.
Thus, hearing him say that they would definitely talk about it made him very happy. In fact, it made him so happy that even though he did as Xin Lan had told him and lay down, he was unable to calm down and actually sleep. After a while, he turned to the other side, peering at Xin Lan's face. "Say, about our wedding … How long will it take until then?"
Xin Lan who had also closed his eyes, opened them again, looking at this boy with some contemplation. Wasn't he a little too eager? Anyway, it was good if he was. "There are a few things we will have to organize first. But we can cut that as short as possible. A few weeks should be enough in that case."
"Then what is there that we need to do?"
"First of all, we should speak to your family. As you elders, they will be the ones who will decide whether or not they accept this. And they will also be the ones I have to talk about organizational matters like the gifts with."
"Then what do you think my family will say?"
Xin Lan looked at him, wondering what to say to that. "Well … They've known me for quite some time. So most likely, it shouldn't be a problem?" To be honest, he wasn't really sure about that. While the Hua family had never said anything negative, that had also been because of the circumstances.
They had believed that their youngest child was in trouble and anyway, they would have had a problem actually getting rid of him if he didn't want to leave. So in the end, they wouldn't have had any way to actually drive him away even if they wanted to. It was something that they necessarily had to accept.
As for now … They still hadn't figured out what the problem had been originally so they should still be worried about Hua Lin Yu and even if they had gotten stronger in the last few years, it wouldn't be to the degree where he would have to worry.
So in a sense, he was pretty sure that they wouldn't make things difficult for him. But then again, staying around and actually marrying Hua Lin Yu were two different things. Naturally, they wouldn't want to give their child to just anyone. So they might try to get around it carefully. He had to prevent that.
"Your family loves you a lot. I guess that they would make their decision dependent on what you think to a large degree. That might not be all but I do think that you would be able to convince them that I'm a good partner. So as long as you want to marry me, it should be possible."
Hua Lin Yu beamed and inched closer, grabbing onto the lapel of Xin Lan's robe. "I definitely want to. You don't have to worry about that."
Xin Lan smiled himself but didn't say anything. Yes, he really wasn't worried about that. Anyway, this child had latched onto him even shortly after he had been born. What were the odds that he would change his mind now?