At last, it was Cheng Yi's assistant who came to pick him up.
Ye Rui helped Cheng Yi into the car and then turned back to glance at the girl behind him before pulling out his wallet and taking out all the cash.
Lin Wei quickly stopped Ye Rui's outstretched hand, "I'm not that kind of person."
Ye Rui awkwardly withdrew his hand, "I'm sorry, thank you for taking care of Mr. Yi."
"It's nothing."
After getting into the car, Ye Rui was ready to drive to Luming Academy, but shortly after driving, he heard Cheng Yi say, "Go back to the old house."
"Mr. Yi, you..." Ye Rui was surprised—he wasn't drunk.
Cheng Yi had been back in the country for a while, and he rarely visited the old house. Ye Rui wondered why he suddenly wanted to go back, but as an employee, he didn't dare to ask more and simply responded, "Yes."
The Cheng Family's old house was actually a manor. After opening the black thorny iron gate, a grand white western-style building came into view, with a small white fountain in front of it and the external columns decorated with beautiful angel statues.
When they arrived, the Cheng Family had already gone to bed. By that time, Cheng Yi was much soberer.
"Ye Rui, you can go back now."
"Alright."
Upon entering the living room, Cheng Yi didn't disturb anyone and went straight to the staircase and to his room.
Although Cheng Yi had not lived here for a long time, his room was still cleaned regularly every day.
After closing the door, Cheng Yi sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette.
Suddenly, he reached out and picked up the photo frame from the bedside table. Looking at the person in it, his lips slowly curved into a smile, his eyes filled with a dazed mistiness, but it soon turned into a bitter smile.
Cheng Yi's fingers caressed the frame; the girl in the photo was wearing a light blue dress, with her hands behind her back, chuckling to the boy beside her. Her side profile radiated a particularly bright smile—if one looked closely, one would see that the boy's eyes also carried a smile, full of indescribable tenderness.
This photo was stealthily taken by Tan Bo on his eighteenth birthday. Xinan was unaware of this photo's existence.
Cheng Yi first met Xinan when he was fourteen during an exceptionally hot summer. Mr. Cheng and Mrs. Cheng were busy with work all day and had no time to look after him. Fortunately, his grandmother, having not seen her beloved grandson for a long time, took him in.
Life at his grandmother's was particularly dull, and Cheng Yi spent most of his time tending to the flowers and plants in the garden.
One day while he was usually clearing the weeds in the garden, a shadow suddenly flew in. If he hadn't been agile and dodged, he would have been hit by the ball on the head.
Cheng Yi picked up the ball just as he heard a soft and glutinous voice from the gate, "Brother, could you hand me the ball, please?"
Turning around, Cheng Yi saw a little girl with two braids leaning over the fence. Perhaps out of fear, she only revealed half of her body.
Normally, Cheng Yi would not have handed over the ball so easily, usually opting to lecture the other party first, but that day he simply handed the ball over without a word.
From that day on, in addition to helping his grandmother with the garden, Cheng Yi had another task—to help the little girl retrieve her ball.
Until one day, Cheng Yi even thought about rushing out to teach the little girl how to play ball himself, telling her that he was good at it, and wanting... wanting to tug on her braids.
Xinan's presence added much fun to Cheng Yi's dull summer. What the girl did not know was that because of that ball, she had lived in the heart of that boy for a whole decade.
Later, when Cheng Yi moved up to high school, one day his classroom suddenly became very restless. He then heard his desk mate mention that a breathtakingly beautiful girl had transferred to the junior high school.
He thought to himself that this girl couldn't be as cute as his 'little fairy'.
But when he really saw the girl, he was stunned for a long time—it was his little fairy!
Having not seen her for a long time, she had grown even more beautiful, the two braids now replaced by black long hair, her delicate lips not red but naturally rosy, and her signature oval face—a light smile made her incredibly attractive.
She had transferred to the same school he was attending, even though they were in different divisions—one in junior high, the other in high school.
At that time, both the high school and junior high divisions of their school were in the same campus.
Due to the relationship between their families, he and Xinan became closer and their friendship deepened. There was a time when he thought they would keep getting along like this, and he even secretly fantasized about marrying Xinan. He really did want to marry her.
But reality harshly slapped him—the fact that Xinan had transferred to his school was not a coincidence, but was purposeful.
That very summer, the Xi Family had realized that their daughter was close to the young master of the Cheng Family and began to nurture thoughts of climbing up the Cheng Family tree.
That was why Xinan had transferred to the same school as Cheng Yi, to cultivate their relationship, as the Xi Family was taking a gamble.
However, this wasn't the main reason for Cheng Yi's devastation; the straw that broke the camel's back was Xinan and Han Jibai.
After discovering the Xi Family's intentions, he wanted to go to Xinan to clarify things, to ask her face-to-face if she had ever really liked him throughout these years.
But when he went to the Xi Family villa, what he saw was Xinan and Han Jibai kissing. He completely broke down—it was the first time he felt the sensation of a heart shattering.
Thinking about it, Cheng Yi's body shook, and then he sneered, putting the photo frame back in the drawer, and murmured to himself, "Cheng Yi, haven't you learned enough from your lesson three years ago?"
The next morning, when Mrs. Cheng saw Cheng Yi coming down from upstairs, she was stunned for a while before reacting, "Ah Yi, you're back; why didn't you tell mom in advance?"
Cheng Yi had been back for many days, and even Mrs. Cheng had only seen him briefly. She had wanted him to stay at the old house, but he insisted on returning to Luming Academy to live.
"It was too late, so I didn't want to disturb you and dad." He didn't sleep well last night, so he sounded rather listless when he spoke.
During breakfast, Mrs. Cheng and Mr. Cheng exchanged glances, then Mrs. Cheng spoke up, "Ah Yi, I heard you and Nannan have gotten your marriage certificate?"
Now the Cheng Family was led by Cheng Yi, and besides, they were not the kind of parents who insisted their son marry someone of equal social standing; they just wanted him to marry someone he loved. Now, they simply wanted to confirm this with him.
Cheng Yi drank some milk, didn't even lift his eyelids, and gave a faint "Hmm."
Mr. Cheng then said, "Since you've already registered your marriage, find a time to bring her over for a meal."
Xinan was also considered someone who had grown up in their sights, and now that Cheng Yi was also getting older, it was time for him to settle down, get married, and have children, so they quickly accepted this result.
Cheng Yi coolly said, "We'll talk about that later."