Back when he lived at his aunt's house, his cousin would get tired while doing homework late at night and fall asleep at the table.
Concerned he might catch a cold, Aunt would fetch a blanket to cover him, and he watched this with some envy.
Ji Tingyang wished someone would do the same for him, but as the eldest among his siblings, it was usually he who covered his sleeping brother and sister with blankets.
When he first got to know Wen Li, she did cover him once. Her appearance seemed to fill a void in his heart.
Later, when he saw his aunt praise his cousin for winning a first-place prize, he also took his award certificate to Wen Li, hoping to receive the same commendation.
His aunt celebrated his cousin's birthday, and on his own birthday, he went to see Wen Li as well...
But later, Wen Li's attention shifted from him to a poor boy, and the thought of even the last bit of warmth being stripped away frightened Ji Tingyang.
He confined Wen Li in the villa, as if by doing so he could cling to that last bit of warmth. In the end, however, Wen Li grew ever more frightened of him, and the remaining warmth between them disappeared entirely.
The more he tried to hold onto something, the more it slipped away from him.
It was the case with Wen Li, and so it was with his younger brother and sister...
In a daze, Ji Tingyang pulled the blanket closer, easing the weariness of his body—he pressed his nose into it, finding it wonderfully warm.
"There's a bit of paperwork I haven't finished. I'll go to bed after I'm done," he said, his voice lazy from just having woken up.
He had spent the day with Lin Xu and had yet to finish his work.
"Okay," Lin Xu didn't insist, simply advising him to take care of himself before she went to rest.
Ji Tingyang pinched the blanket he was under and, on a whim, called out to stop her, "Mom..."
Lin Xu turned back, "Hmm?"
Ji Tingyang's throat tightened, "I want noodles..."
In the past, his aunt would cook a bowl of noodles for his cousin when she pitied how late he stayed up doing homework.
He had never tasted them before.
After calling out to Lin Xu, he felt somewhat uneasy. Such a thing could simply be requested from Aunt Zhang; there was no need to bother her.
What if Lin Xu got angry, finding him troublesome?
Lin Xu was surprised but found it intriguing.
She had seen little Ji Tingyang act coquettish many times, but to see CEO Ji Tingyang act this way was a first.
Lin Xu chuckled, "Alright, I'll go make them now."
Having said that, she left the study.
Ji Tingyang turned his attention to the documents on the desk, planning to finish them before eating the noodles, but he kept looking up at the door, clearly his mind was not on the work anymore.
After looking for over ten minutes, he hadn't even finished the first line.
In less than half an hour, Ji Tingyang felt for the first time as if time was dragging on endlessly.
As he anxiously waited, Lin Xu finally brought in a bowl of steaming scallion noodles.
The bowl was too hot, and she hurriedly placed it on the table, turning the unfinished document into a makeshift placemat.
Lin Xu didn't see it, but Ji Tingyang, who did notice, didn't mind at all.
"Quickly try it and tell me how it tastes?" Lin Xu asked excitedly.
Lin Xu rarely entered the kitchen, being the type of daughter brought up in wealth, so she never needed to cook. After she got married, she did try once or twice to fry some sweet and sour pork ribs for her husband.
The pork ribs didn't look appealing, and tasted even worse.
Her confidence took a hit, and she never set foot in the kitchen again afterward.
For today's bowl of noodles, Lin Xu had prepared thoroughly, even searching for recipes from famous chefs and following them, which is why it had taken her twice the time.
Under Lin Xu's expectant gaze, Ji Tingyang picked up the chopsticks and took a bite without hesitation, "Delicious."
Lin Xu asked doubtfully, "Really?"
Ji Tingyang smiled, "Really."
It was just a bowl of ordinary scallion noodles, which couldn't taste bad no matter how poorly made they were, especially since Ji Tingyang had been looking forward to them for a long time.
As if to prove his words, Ji Tingyang finished the noodles in just a few bites, not even sparing the soup.
"If you like it, I'll cook it for you again next time!" Lin Xu said happily.
Ji Tingyang was of course willing, "Okay!"
This long-lost warmth seemed to have returned.
——
It had been over a week since Lin Xu returned and settled down, after which she started thinking about visiting her parents.
Ji Tingyang hesitated for a moment before telling her that her grandparents had passed away a long time ago.
Lin Xu was an only child in her family, and not long after she died in the car accident, her parents passed away successively within the year due to excessive grief.
As he spoke, Ji Tingyang kept an eye on her expression, worried she would start crying.
Although Lin Xu was sad, she had already had a vague guess in her heart.
If her parents had still been alive, how could they have let their child stay at someone else's home?
"Your grandparents are buried in South Mountain Cemetery; shall we go together for a visit?" Ji Tingyang offered cautiously.
"Okay."
South Mountain Cemetery was located in the outskirts, occupying a large area and was beautifully decorated.
When they passed the flower shop at the entrance, Lin Xu asked him to stop. She went in and bought two bouquets of white chrysanthemums.
Then, she and Ji Tingyang walked into the cemetery, one after the other.
Her parents' gravestones were next to each other. Gazing at the photographs on the headstones, Lin Xu's eyes reddened and her repressed emotions finally gave way to melancholy.
To her, it felt like only a brief week had passed, and in the blink of an eye, they were lying in the cemetery.
Just half a month ago, she had called her traveling parents and told them she wanted to eat her mother's pumpkin cakes. The day before her accident, her parents had just returned from their trip and told her they had bought the pumpkin and would make the pumpkin cakes for her once she returned.
She laughed, saying she would bring the family of five over the next day, but she never got to taste those pumpkin cakes and was separated from them by life and death.
Twenty years ago, they came to the cemetery to visit her, and twenty years later, it was her turn to visit them.
The breeze brushed across her cheeks, blowing away the tears accumulating in her eyes and sending them falling to the ground.
Since Lin Xu wanted to speak to her parents alone, Ji Tingyang stood at the entrance to wait for her.
He glanced worriedly in Lin Xu's direction and, feeling the emptiness of his pockets, took out his phone, considering whether to ask the driver to bring over a pack of tissues.
A message suddenly popped up on the screen; it was from Wen Li. Just a few days ago, even though Ji Tingyang had mentioned the matter of being on the blacklist, she had already taken him off it.
"I'm busy today and won't make the curfew; can I come back late?"
Ji Tingyang frowned. It just so happened there was an update in her Moments, and he clicked on it.
There was a photo that captured half the body of a man, and he knew without doubt that it must be Xiao Yu.
Ji Tingyang's first reaction was to refuse, wanting to keep that bit of warmth to himself. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lin Xu approaching him.
Somehow, the dark emotions faded away. He casually replied with a "Hmm" and then tucked his phone back into his pocket as he walked up to meet Lin Xu.
"Ready to go back?"
Lin Xu shook her head, "Take me to see mine and your dad's gravestones."
She remembered Ji Tingyang saying that she and her husband's gravestones were also buried here.