Actually, Mu Yinan's work had been pretty idle in the past few years. He usually just sat in the headquarters while leaving most of the important decisions to Mu Yuchen who was abroad. He would spend his time doing what he really liked such as gardening or playing chess while enjoying some tea.

"I heard you're handling the opening ceremony for Imperial Sky Entertainment City."

It was a precious moment of Mu Yinan expressing his concern about a company event.

Xi Xiaye nodded while pouring Mu Yinan a glass of water. She sat down and replied, "Mmm, Director Chu would be more familiar about it, but he's been transferred this year. The PR Department isn't very familiar with the whole process of it, so I'll just help out. Grandfather, are you coming with Grandmother on that day?"

Mu Yinan waved his hand and shook his head with a smile. "We'll sit this one out. I'm not worried about leaving the company to Chen and you at all. I've always wanted to retire after hustling all these years. As for your parents, I'm afraid they won't have time to attend as well. I guess you'd understand even if we don't say it out loud."

Mu Yinan's words stunned Xi Xiaye slightly. She then replied, "Mmm, I understand."

"Okay, go have your breakfast and just work on whatever you have to. Your grandmother is planning to revamp the land, so I'll go and take a look."

He then started to walk outside.

...

Xi Xiaye drove straight to the company after having a light breakfast.

It was still the holidays, so most of the company was empty. Only the PR Department was busy with the opening ceremony. Hence, they had to give up their rest to work on this project.

It was near noon after she finished revising the plans with Manager Fang. They locked down the details and established a general direction.

"Alright, we're set for now then. We can start decorating the place tomorrow. I've taken note of the details just now and most of them are done. We have three days, and I understand that it's a little rushed, but we have to do our best and make it as flawless as possible." Xi Xiaye closed the folder and handed it to Manager Fang.

"Noted, Director Xi. Don't worry. We're confident!" Manager Fang and the others gave her a confident smile.

Xi Xiaye nodded. "Thank you for everyone's hard work. Sorry for taking away your New Year's holiday. Chairman Mu asked me to bring everyone some gifts which I've left at the reception area on the first floor. Go and take them yourself later. It's pretty late now, so grab some food and let's meet at the plaza in Entertainment City tomorrow."

Their expressions brightened when they heard her words, and they quickly expressed their gratitude, "Thank you, Chairman Mu and Director Xi. We'll surely work hard on this!"

After the meeting was dismissed, Xi Xiaye packed her stuff up and was planning to go back to the Shen Residence. Before she left, she made a call and realized that Shen Yue had gone over to Maple Residence while Shen Wenna had gone shopping at the New Era Plaza with a colleague.

After thinking about it, she went straight to the New Era Plaza to look for Shen Wenna, intending to bring her over to Maple Residence for dinner.

It was rare for Shen Wenna to go shopping, so Xi Xiaye was surprised to hear that.

When Xi Xiaye found her, she was trying on some clothes with a colleague.

"Mother!" She quickly went up to Shen Wenna.

"You're here!" Shen Wenna seemed to be in a jovial mood. A precious smile appeared on her face when she saw Xi Xiaye.

"Is this your daughter? Oh my God, she looks just like you, Teacher Shen! Both of you look like sisters!"

The woman beside Shen Wenna was surprised when she saw the similarity between Xi Xiaye and Shen Wenna. She observed the mother-daughter pair as her eyes twinkled. "Both of you are really beautiful! Teacher Shen, I didn't expect your daughter to be this grown up already. If I hadn't seen your resumè, I would've thought that you've only been married for a few years."

"Thank you, Teacher Wei. I'm already over fifty years old. Xiaye, this is Teacher Wei, the lecturer for the students doing their Masters in chemical engineering," Shen Wenna introduced.

"Hi, Teacher Wei. I'm Xi Xiaye," Xi Xiaye greeted politely with a slight bow.

Teacher Wei was again surprised when she heard Xi Xiaye's name. She gawked at her in doubt. "Is your surname Xi as well? Teacher Shen, the girl that came to look for you the other day, Xi Xinyi... She seems to be pretty popular. Is she a relative of your daughter's? Wait, but I remember she asked me for your phone number..."

Shen Wenna's expression froze and Xi Xiaye frowned slightly as well...

"Did I say something wrong?" Teacher Wei looked at them apologetically when she realized that something was not right.

After a while, Shen Wenna calmed down and said to her colleague before leaving, "It's nothing. I'm just thinking about something else. It's pretty late already, Teacher Wei. I have to go back first."

Her depressed and sad expression was detected by Xi Xiaye whose heart sank a little. She turned around and told Teacher Wei, "I'm sorry. My mother might be a little tired. We'll head back first."

She then caught up with her mother.

The Xi family and her father had always been a thorn in her heart, one that would hurt every time someone touched it.

On a long bench by the plaza, Xi Xiaye opened a bottle of water and handed it to Shen Wenna. "Have some water."

She took a sip, raising her head and watching Xi Xiaye calmly. "Did your father call you?"

From what Xi Xiaye remembered, Shen Wenna hardly asked about her father. She nodded. "On the first day of New Year, he called me while I was driving."

"What did he say?" Shen Wenna asked quietly. However, Xi Xiaye could see her grip onto the bottle tighten whilst her eyes seemed a little odd.

Xi Xiaye started to feel a little doubtful inside.

To be honest, she could feel that her father still had feelings for her mother, and even though her mother seemed very cold on the outside, she could not forget about her father. Still, why would things turn out this way?

Anyway, she answered honestly since Shen Wenna asked, "Nothing much. Just New Year greetings and he asked me to keep you company."

Shen Wenna suddenly went silent after she heard the reply. She just lowered her head and fell quiet and said nothing more...