Lin Xu's former bedroom had been preserved, and she moved back in after breakfast.
The bedroom, as if often cleaned, was dust-free despite being unoccupied for twenty years.
She walked in, looked around, and saw that everything inside had remained the same as before, except the family portrait on the wall had yellowed with age, losing its original clarity.
Lin Xu approached her desk, where a wedding photo was placed. In it, she leaned against a handsome man, her smile blooming like a flower, while the man's lips curved slightly, sweetly, and stickily looking down at her.
She reached out and gently touched the man in the photo, a pained expression appearing in her clear eyes, tears sliding down.
That day, Lin Xu and her husband were driving together when they were in a car accident; he held her tightly in his arms as a steel pipe from the truck pierced through both of their bodies.
Now that she had been reborn, had he been reborn with her?
Lin Xu pondered this and then shook her head.
If he had indeed been reborn, how could he not come to find her, not care for their child?
As she grieved her husband's death, a jarring noise erupted from downstairs.
Ji Tingyang gripped Wen Li's wrist tightly, his gaze dark and terrifying, "What did you say?"
Wen Li frowned in pain, but she didn't back down, "Ji Tingyang, I'm a person, not your pet. You can't keep me locked up in the villa, I want to go out!"
"Go out, and then what?" Ji Tingyang scoffed coldly, "To see Xiao Yu?"
Hearing her beloved's name, a shy blush spread across Wen Li's cheeks, and she gritted her teeth, "Who I see is none of your business."
Seeing her reaction, Ji Tingyang's chilly demeanor grew even colder, "Unless I die, you won't think of leaving here in this lifetime."
Wen Li's face turned deathly pale, her lips parted to speak, but then an exclamation was heard not far away.
"Ji Tingyang!"
Lin Xu had just come downstairs when she heard her eldest son spouting this freedom-restricting statement, and her vision darkened.
She hurried over, pinched Ji Tingyang's arm, and dragged him to the side.
"Who taught you to talk like that, who taught you to lock people up, aren't you afraid of being locked up yourself if someone calls the police?!"
Ji Tingyang, in pain and wanting to lose his temper, but seeing that the person in front of him was his mother, could only hold his breath and rub his arm.
"Who would call the police?"
Lin Xu said, "Wen Li."
Ji Tingyang: "She wouldn't dare."
Wen Li's parents worked in his company; she wouldn't risk offending him and causing her parents to be left without a foothold in the country.
Lin Xu felt frantic inside.
Wen Li had nothing to fear; wasn't your eventual fate being locked up in jail!
Lin Xu wished she could lift Ji Tingyang and spank him like she did when he was a child when he misbehaved, but now he stood at one meter eighty-five, taller than she was, so she had to abandon this impulse.
She decided to try a different approach, gently appealing to his emotions, "Do you really like her?"
Ji Tingyang paused, then nodded slightly.
Lin Xu asked him, "Were your father and I not very loving?"
Ji Tingyang reflected for a moment before nodding his head again.
Lin Xu said, "That's right, it's because your dad respects me, supports every decision I make, that's why I like him. Of course, part of it is because he's handsome and rich, and although he appears aloof, every time I tease him, his ears would secretly turn red..."
Ji Tingyang: "..."
He was unwittingly fed a dose of his parents' lovey-dovey display.
"Ahem, anyway..." Seeing the wordless look in her son's eyes, Lin Xu quickly redirected the conversation, "What I mean is, if your dad had kept me locked in a room all day like you do, I wouldn't have liked him at all. So if you want Wen Li to like you, you should let her go even more, because no one is going to like a big bad wolf who locks them up, you get it?"
Ji Tingyang pursed his lips, his thoughts tugging and struggling in his mind.
A little black figure argued that he should keep Wen Li locked up so that she'd be his forever. Another little white figure countered, saying his mother was right, love must learn to respect each other.
The black figure argued, what mother, who wasn't there when he was bullied, wasn't there when he struggled alone to take care of his two younger brothers and sister. Suddenly she pops up preaching about love...
Then suddenly.
A hand gently ruffled his hair, the touch so tender it even stirred the still waters at the bottom of his heart.
Lin Xu tiptoed, her body wobbly as she stroked his head, "But our Tingyang is so impressive, no matter what others think, I will always love you."
A wave of acidity welled up in Ji Tingyang's heart, he swallowed and took Lin Xu's hand from his head, gripping it tightly in his own.
During the time shortly after his parents' death, when Ji Tingyang saw other children celebrating birthdays, their parents kissing their cheeks and saying they loved them, initially, Ji Tingyang felt a bitter envy. But gradually, as he grew older, he became numb to such things.
But hearing Lin Xu say this today, he realized that his numbness was starting to waver.
The little black figure in his mind also dissipated.
...
Wen Li watched Ji Tingyang and Lin Xu from a distance; even though she couldn't hear what they were saying, she could tell from their occasional glances that their conversation was about her.
That woman seemed to want Ji Tingyang to let her go.
Wen Li stood anxiously in place, her fist clenched by her side. She knew that Ji Tingyang was a freak and, no matter what anyone said, he would never let her go.
Suddenly, she saw the woman touch Ji Tingyang's head, and not only did Ji Tingyang not get angry, but he also held the woman's hand with a tenderness she had never seen before.
Wen Li was stunned for a long moment before she could recover, Ji Tingyang approached her and said something that shocked her immensely.
"Housekeeper, from now on, do not stop Lady Wen from going wherever she wants to."
Wen Li couldn't believe her ears, "Are you really willing to let me leave?"
Ji Tingyang's face was as cold and merciless as ever, as if the glimpse of tenderness she thought she saw was just her imagination.
"Leave? Don't even think about it. I'm just letting you step outside, but if you're not back by 10 p.m., I can't guarantee what might happen to your parents."
Wen Li's face turned deathly pale. Although her heart was still unwilling, at least she could now leave the house.
She bit her lip, nodding in defeat.
Listening to the glaring threat in Ji Tingyang's words, Lin Xu felt overwhelmed, realizing the heavy task of educating her child.
But fortunately, there was now a good starting point, and the rest would have to be taught slowly.
Wen Li, who was granted permission to go out, secretly smiled triumphantly, tilting up the corners of her lips. She looked up, her eyes on Lin Xu who was walking beside Ji Tingyang, the puzzle in her heart deepening.
No one had ever managed to stop Ji Tingyang before... perhaps that woman could be a breakthrough.