Luo Yanran got into the car and stared at the hot milk tea in her hand, somewhat lost in thought. The driver in front glanced at her through the rearview mirror but ultimately said nothing.
Today, she had impulsively stopped Xie Xiao on a whim.
She indeed wanted to confess to Xie Xiao, even though she knew that his heart had always been set on Zhou Mianmian.
But she still wanted to try; without trying, there would be no chance at all. Her family wanted her to go abroad after the college entrance exam, but she couldn't bear to leave Xie Xiao...
Luo Yanran glanced out the window, but based on what she had just seen, maybe she wasn't completely without a chance, right?
At the very least, Xie Xiao seemed not to only have Zhou Mianmian in his eyes anymore, and he knew that she liked her milk tea with three parts sugar... He seemed a bit different.
On the other side, Zhou Mianmian's heart was also troubled in the taxi.
Yan Shi beside her kept talking, probably feeling a bit excited.
Xie Qinghe had always driven her home, and this was the first time Yan Shi had the chance to do so.
Zhou Mianmian felt strangely unsettled by Xie Qinghe's demeanor tonight; this was the first time he had been so indifferent towards her...
"Mianmian, why aren't you drinking your milk tea?" Yan Shi asked with concern, noticing that she was holding the milk tea without drinking it, "Do you want me to insert the straw for you?"
Zhou Mianmian felt very annoyed inside. Yan Shi was both annoying and inconsiderate, nowhere near comparable to Xie Qinghe.
But even though she was annoyed, her face still wore a gentle smile, "No, I'm planning to drink it when I get home, I am not thirsty now..."
"Oh, I see, haha~," Yan Shi touched his head and laughed foolishly.
His appearance was very ordinary; Zhou Mianmian glanced at him and then looked away.
Xie Qinghe was better, but it was all his fault for inexplicably getting angry with her today.
He made her lose face in front of Luo Yanran and even had Yan Shi send her home, which was extremely annoying.
Humph, she should stop bothering with Xie Qinghe; he was too terrible!
On the other side, after watching Luo Yanran get into the car, Xie Qinghe went straight home.
When he entered the door, he saw his father reading on the sofa.
Their family was slightly above middle-class; his father was a teacher, and his mother a doctor.
His mother was not home today as she was likely on her night shift.
Since Xie Qinghe's parents were both people of gentle nature, so too was Xie Qinghe, often described as a warm man by everyone.
But since Zhou Mianmian came into his life, Xie Qinghe's warmth had been directed towards her alone.
Later, he realized that his 'warm man + fawning dog' persona was truly pitiful, even dogs would shake their heads if they saw it, and sheep would hand him a cigarette…
It was no wonder that he had fallen out with his best friend over this in his last life...
Thinking of the friend he had fallen out with, Xie Qinghe sighed and decided to talk to him tonight.
Xie Qingxiao glanced at his son who sighed as soon as he walked in the door, "What's the matter? Sighing as soon as you see me."
Xie Qinghe looked at his father, who still had no white hair and looked ten years younger than before his rebirth.
In his last life, after the incident, his parents, who were once cheerful and kind, turned white-haired within just two days.
Their faces also accumulated wrinkles, seemingly aging ten years all of a sudden.
The years that followed must have been tough for them.
Raising their son with such effort, only for him to become their burden, they never had a day of ease...
Xie Qinghe's eyes grew teary, but he forced a smile, "No, not sighing, Old Xie, aren't you sleeping yet?"
"Yeah, I wish I could sleep." Xie Qingxiao put down his book and stood up, "But your mom mentioned you've been having insomnia lately, staying up late at night, probably because you are upset. She specifically instructed me to make you a sweet soup..."
As he spoke, he headed towards the kitchen, muttering, "My wife cares about you more than I do."
Xie Qinghe followed him, looking at his straight back and jet-black hair, and smiled, "That's because I'm her biological child."
Yet inside, he felt a bit sad; his recent insomnia was probably because of worrying about how to confess to Zhou Mianmian before today's gathering.
As a result, although the necklace was given, the confession still failed.
He had received scholarships for many years, and he had spent almost all of it on Zhou Mianmian.
He had never bought even a single dollar's worth of gifts for his parents, yet his mother still worried about his insomnia, thinking it was caused by internal heat...
The usually punctual-to-bed Old Xie was still waiting for him to come home to drink sweet soup.
Xie Xiao felt terribly upset inside, burdened by having such a son; the two of them had indeed suffered a lot.
Xie Qingxiao took out a pot of sweet soup, with another left inside waiting for his wife to come home and drink.
The next moment, he turned around to see himself, his eyes red, standing behind him. "No way? You don't need to be this moved, do you?"
His tone hesitant, he asked softly, "Out of money? Want to ask me for living expenses? Then you shouldn't cry!"
While saying this, he glared at him.
Xie Xiao pulled at the corner of his mouth, "Am I that kind of person? I just suddenly felt that you guys have had a hard time..."
Xie Qinghe was stunned for a moment, suddenly feeling that today's son was somewhat different.
Before he could figure it out, Xie Xiao had already reached out to take the sweet soup and walked out.
He feared that if he stayed any longer, he might lose his composure; then Old Xie might notice something.
Xie Qingxiao followed behind him and sighed, "If there's anything on your mind, talk to Dad. You've grown up now and might not want to share with us anymore, which is normal. But if there's something you can't resolve, you still have to tell us; you're still young."
"I know, Old Xie, you're such a nag," Xie Xiao said, lowering his head to take a sip of the sweet soup, not looking up, his words somewhat dismissive. "You should go to bed, otherwise you'll be awake again when mom comes home."
A tear dropped into the sweet soup as he spoke with a muffled voice.
"Alright, rascal, after you finish, just leave it there. I'll wash it tomorrow. Go to sleep early and don't stay up late every night..." Xie Qingxiao said as he walked toward his room, unable to resist asking at the doorway, "Do you still have money? Aren't you always helping that classmate of yours? You haven't run out of money yourself, have you?"
Xie Xiao closed his eyes. His parents were really wonderful, but unfortunately, in his previous life, he had not been a good son. "I do, go to sleep, stop nagging," he said.
Xie Qingxiao didn't say anything more and went into his room, closing the door.
After finishing, Xie Xiao sat in the living room for a long while.
In his last life, he had spent the last three years continuously in the hospital and hadn't been back home since the car accident had left him with many health problems.
He had to be in the hospital every day for infusions, taking medications...
His parents and Luo Yanran would take turns being by his side every day, and this went on for three years...
Xie Xiao closed his eyes; in this lifetime, he would treat Luo Yanran really well.
He would also treat his parents well and not let them down.
As for Zhou Mianmian, that was that.
Thinking of this, Xie Xiao suddenly remembered that he didn't have Luo Yanran's contact information?
He cursed under his breath and pulled out his phone to search for her name.
It seemed he really didn't have it.
He sighed and opened a profile with only a basketball and court as the avatar, "Son, do you have Luo Yanran's WeChat?"
The other side quickly responded with a question mark, followed by, "Douchebag, are you switching to a new target to fawn over? But this one is a bit better than your last one!"
This straight-talking individual was his best friend Lin Yu.
Of course, they had fallen out now because Lin Yu couldn't stand the way he doted on Zhou Mianmian.
He was probably the only one who saw through Zhou Mianmian's true nature and realized she was using him as an ATM. Knowing that he was going to confess tonight, Lin Yu was so angry that he didn't go to the gathering.
But when Lin Yu learned that it was because of Zhou Mianmian's trouble that they had fallen out, he had furiously cursed her out at school upon returning to pick up an admission notice.
It was said that the language he used was exceedingly nasty, causing her to cry on the spot.
Later, because he ran into Zhou Mianmian showing affection with another man on the street and couldn't help but berate her again, it escalated into a fight with the man accompanying Zhou Mianmian.
In the end, both were taken into custody. Unexpectedly, the other party had connections, and as a result, Lin Yu was left with a criminal record, disqualifying him from civil service exams for life…
Looking at the spiky words sent by Lin Yu, Xie Xiao felt a pang of sadness mixed with warmth in his heart, and he couldn't help but crack a smile. He sent a voice message, "Want to play basketball tomorrow?"