"Anyway, Grandpa, you should just come. On that day, there'll be others aside from Qikai and Han Corporation attending. Also, can you convince Mother to attend along together with you?"

Xi Xiaye actually hoped for Shen Wenna to put up a tough act since Deng Wenwen was shameless enough to look for her. She would not just give up so easily and she wanted Shen Wenna to portray a sturdy attitude, especially on this matter.

"Your mother?" Shen Yue became alert when he heard Xi Xiaye's request. He looked at Xi Xiaye, slightly shocked.

"Mmm," Xi Xiaye sighed before she nodded with a heavy expression as she sipped some tea.

"Forget about it. You know your mother dislikes events like these. I understand that you youngsters have fresh ideas, but let her live in peace and don't bother her. It's not been easy for her to keep on going after so many years. If something else happens to her again, I don't think I can be responsible and tell your dead grandma about it."

Shen Yue placed his Go piece down with a disappointed expression on his face. "She has a knot in her heart, and you know exactly what that is. Let her forget all about the unhappy past. It's not a bad idea living a little more carefreely."

"But..."

Mu Yuchen stopped her when she was about to continue. "That's enough, Xiaye. Listen to Grandpa. Grandpa, it's your turn now."

Shen Yue's expression softened as he picked up another piece...

At that moment, there were sounds of footsteps outside followed by Aunt Xu's voice.

"Madam, do I take all of these into the kitchen?"

"Mmm, wash the vegetables. I'll handle the fish."

Shen Wenna's figure appeared before Xi Xiaye's eyes.

After receiving a call from Mu Yuchen in the morning and finding out that her daughter and son-in-law were going to come for dinner, Shen Wenna had gone out after a light breakfast. Aside from buying ingredients for dinner, she had also bought some New Year goodies too.

As usual, Xi Xiaye became Shen Wenna's helper in the kitchen. When she saw Shen Wenna's frosty expression, there seemed to be tension in the air. Xi Xiaye was not able to bring up the matter about Xi Xinyi going to look for her before.

The atmosphere around the mother-daughter pair was getting awkward and no one said a thing.

After some time passed while they prepared several dishes together, Xi Xiaye, who was preparing the seasoning, looked at Shen Wenna. She hesitated for a moment and then said quietly, "Mother, Father made me bring you something. There's also a document..."

Shen Wenna stopped her movements for a brief moment, then she continued, "What document is it?"

"I didn't look at it. He asked me to pass it to you by hand. If not, he'd look for you personally. Yesterday was Han Yifeng and Xi Xinyi's engagement... He came to Glory World and I followed him over. He didn't know about Xi Xinyi going to look for you. Ah Mo told me he left City Z after the engagement party and will only be back after the New Year," Xi Xiaye observed her carefully as she spoke.

She was expressionless as she gave it some thought.

"If you don't like it, I'll give them back to him."

"It's fine. Bring them to my study room later."

"Mmm."

Her brief reply ended the conversation.

The dinner was ready. It was a very sumptuous feast for just five people. They sat around the big table and things seemed much livelier than before.

They opened several bottles of champagne. Xi Xiaye gulped a few glasses down while Shen Yue chatted to Mu Yuchen from time to time about topics ranging from chess to geography to astronomy. Shen Wenna joined in the conversation sometimes and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

On the other hand, Xi Xiaye did not really speak much and just listened. She would just eat whatever the man put into her bowl. When they were done, she noticed that she had eaten a little too much while the man barely ate.

After dinner, the family sat in the living room and watched TV while enjoying some tea. Shen Yue went back to his room after watching some news. Xi Xiaye got Mu Yuchen to go and shower first, while she brought the stuff Xi Mushan had given her into Shen Wenna's room.

After she knocked onto Shen Wenna's door, she saw that her mother had just come out of the shower and was sitting at a sofa in the corner doing some reading.

"You don't have to be considerate about me and your father's past. I just hope you can live a more carefree life than me." Shen Wenna grabbed the document from Xi Xiaye as she looked at her calmly, her voice sounding gentle.

Xi Xiaye's eyes met with hers as a part of her struggled deep inside. The words that were stuck in her throat finally came out of her mouth. "Mother, have you always... been... missing Father? If not, you..."

She would never have asked about what happened between Shen Wenna and Xi Mushan because she knew that it acted like a needle in her heart. Just touching the topic would hurt her.

Shen Wenna's eyes darkened like the stars in the skies suddenly hiding behind dark clouds when she heard her question.

After some time, Shen Wenna still did not reply. Xi Xiaye struggled inside, and after a long silence, she ended the conversation between them like many times before. She stood up slowly.

"It's pretty late now. Get some rest soon."

She then exited the room.

"I only have these much feelings in my whole life, and I gave them all to your father. It doesn't matter if I miss him or not. You're all grown up, so you shouldn't always be worrying about me. Worry more about yourself. Your married life has just begun. Xiaye, I hope that you can treat yourself better. That'd be great."

Shen Wenna stood up from the sofa and went into the study room. "Help me close the door when you leave."

...

Xi Xiaye was distracted for a moment. In the end, she nodded and left quietly.

Mu Yuchen was done with his shower when she returned to her room. He was reading a stack of yellowish papers in his sleeping robe.

Xi Xiaye noticed that something was not right and she went over with a frown on her face.

He was looking through her test papers during high school!

Where did he get them?

She remembered that she had put all of them on the top shelf of her bookshelf. She did not expect him to find them so easily. As she was reminded of the pathetic marks on her papers, her face blushed as she dashed over.

"Don't you look at it. I'm not letting you!"