“Wife, wife.”
His palm wasn’t caught, but his chin was seized instead.
Xu Yiwen was being put in a chokehold by He Xihuan so tightly that his face twisted in agony.
He Xihuan, with his eyes split in fury, leaned down and growled angrily, “Xu Yiwen, while I still have some patience left, you had better reorganize your words.”
A trace of annoyance also appeared on Xu Yiwen’s face.
Why was talking to He Xihuan so utterly exhausting?
He had already made himself extremely clear, so how else did he need to organize them?
Among the four tasks he had clearly sorted out that needed to be completed currently, namely taking back the property he deserved, handling his work tasks to prepare for resignation at any time, ending his marriage with He Xihuan, and receiving relevant information about his biological parents, the third task, which was ending the marriage, should be the simplest and easiest to execute. Why wasn’t it moving forward at all?
Moreover, as for the divorce matters, if it were going to get stuck, it should get stuck at the final step of getting his parents to accept it. How could it get stuck at the very first hurdle? How could it get stuck right here with He Xihuan?
Seeing Xu Yiwen standing there with an unyielding, stern face and not the slightest intention of backing down, He Xihuan increased the strength in his hand, forcing Xu Yiwen’s face to distort once more as his cheeks and eye sockets turned red one after another.
“Cough, cough. Let go.” The air in Xu Yiwen’s mouth seemed to be sucked away, and his hands flailed blindly, scratching at He Xihuan’s leather jacket.
Lightning flashed across He Xihuan’s face and lips, bursting forth with a string of reprimands:
“You’re always like this. Curfew times, how to interact when visiting both families, these things all have to listen to you and suit your wishes. The moment things don’t go your way, you pull a long face and escape back to the study, and when you come out again, you put on that fake, plastic smile.”
“This is why I don’t want to come home!” He Xihuan’s exhaled breath grew heavier. “Who wants to see that fake deadpan face of yours the moment they step through the door?”
Xu Yiwen’s hands, which were gripping the other man’s black leather jacket, froze, and a look of astonishment crossed his face.
What did he mean by everything had to suit his wishes? Those were clearly things the two of them had discussed and agreed upon together!
Xu Yiwen took a sharp breath and retaliated with a tornado-like roar: “Nobody is begging you to come home! If you don’t want to come home, then get lost!”
These words were very crude, and his tone was completely different from Xu Yiwen’s usual demeanor, even harsher than when he had scolded He Xihuan for being a dog a few days ago.
He Xihuan’s arm trembled, his pupils darting around inside his eye sockets like wild horses breaking free of their reins, unable to focus or meet Xu Yiwen’s gaze.
“I…” He let go of his hand, stood up, turned on his heel, and flicked his wrist as he walked toward the door. “I can’t communicate with you. There’s a generational gap.”
Unlike He Xihuan’s flattened tone, Xu Yiwen’s words slammed heavily against He Xihuan’s spine and the closing door: “Think I’m old? I think you’re childish! Can’t take it? Then let’s get a divorce!”
He Xihuan threw a tantrum, and Xu Yiwen was losing his mind too.
Why on earth did he end up with He Xihuan as his arranged marriage partner? If it were He Xiqi, he might have been easier to talk to, and the agreement papers would have been in hand long ago.
Spring City had great weather and comfortable temperatures. As soon as he arrived here, Xu Yiwen’s mood was also wonderful.
Although it was his first time here, he inexplicably felt he would grow to like this place.
Not wanting this good mood to be ruined, Xu Yiwen finished unpacking his luggage and went to the adjacent suite to have dinner with Qiu Yao and Auntie Hong.
When Qiu Yao mentioned He Xihuan, he simply fobbed her off by replying that one of He Xihuan’s friends in Spring City had called and dragged him out.
He Xihuan had indeed gone out; he ran out the moment they started arguing just now.
As for whether he was with friends in Spring City, he had no way of knowing, nor did he want to call and ask.
After finishing dinner while admiring the sunset and pushing Qiu Yao for a stroll in a nearby park, Xu Yiwen finally prepared to make a phone call under Qiu Yao’s urging.
“Didn’t go through; he probably has important business.” Xu Yiwen turned off the communication screen, which hadn’t even dialed out, and pushed the wheelchair as he walked leisurely. “You know how it is, he can’t let go of group matters. Let him go and stay busy.”
Xu Yiwen bent down slightly, tilting his head to look at Qiu Yao with a bright smile. “Grandma, I’ve already made the travel guide. During this time, Auntie Hong and I will make sure you have a thoroughly good time.”
A corner of Qiu Yao’s lips also curved into a smile as she shook her head and said, “With my energy level, I get tired just looking at the scenery for a bit; I need to go back and rest. You don’t have to keep accompanying me all the time. Go out and walk around more with Xihuan.”
The itinerary Xu Yiwen had planned took Qiu Yao’s physical condition into account, dedicating only the morning or afternoon to a single location, leaving a considerable amount of free time indeed.
But there was no need to spend that free time smoothing things over with He Xihuan either.
On the surface, Xu Yiwen nodded in response to Qiu Yao’s words, but in his heart, he had already figured out how to make use of those free hours.
After learning about his own birth background that night, Xu Yiwen had started contacting private detectives to secretly investigate his mother’s identity and the truth behind the family’s victimization all those years ago.
According to the information provided by Qiu Yao, the fastest and most direct way to find out who his mother was, was to find out who the mysterious buyer of that necklace was.
That mysterious person was either his parents or someone who knew his parents.
Back then, Qiu Yao and Xu Fengying wanted to buy back the necklace, but the trail of information stopped with a deceased intermediary.
Xu Yiwen could only search for a needle in a haystack based on the necklace sketch Qiu Yao had drawn.
Since he had come to Spring City, Xu Yiwen wanted to personally investigate whether anyone in the local jewelry industry recognized that necklace.
There was a jewelry auction coming up in a few days, and the He family had been invited to attend. Wang Congmeng had also sent someone to deliver an invitation.
Xu Yiwen looked at the two invitations placed on the coffee table, then checked the time.
It was already past 9:40 PM. Should he, for the sake of the He family’s face, give He Xihuan a call?
Xu Yiwen spun his phone with one hand; the screen lit up and went dark, lit up and went dark, before finally being placed face down on the coffee table.
He Xihuan had already said he didn’t want to come home and couldn’t communicate with him. Why should he still force the guy?
He wouldn’t call.
Xu Yiwen put the invitations away and prepared to return to the guest bedroom to rest.
Coming out of the guest bedroom with a glass of water, Xu Yiwen walked toward the entryway.
It was five minutes to ten.
If He Xihuan still didn’t come back by then, he would really turn off the lights and go to sleep.
After finishing half a glass of water, Xu Yiwen didn’t check the time again and turned around to head back.
“Open the door! Don’t touch me!”
A commotion and the sound of footsteps echoed from the entrance.
Xu Yiwen placed his water glass on the entryway console and was just about to open the door when the private butler already opened it.
He Xihuan, who had been pushing and shoving against the person beside him at the doorway, caught sight of Xu Yiwen and immediately stumbled toward him with his gaze locked on him.
After taking two steps, he slumped forward against Xu Yiwen’s body, opened both arms, and wrapped them around Xu Yiwen’s shoulders.
He buried his head straight into the crook of Xu Yiwen’s neck, mumbling with lips smelling of alcohol: “Wife, wife.”
“Mr. Xu, this gentleman is the one who brought Mr. He back.”
The private butler respectfully stepped back a pace, and a man with orange-pink hair stepped forward. His hands, raised near his ears, fluttered like he was playing the piano as he greeted Xu Yiwen, “Hello there, He Xihuan’s Omega.”
Xu Yiwen, who had just steadied his footing and was supporting He Xihuan’s weight, turned his head, his polite words stuck in his throat.
When this man smiled, there were two cute little dimples, one on each side of his mouth.
He hadn’t grown dimples like his mom’s. I wonder if his older brother, who didn’t get the chance to grow up and met with disaster alongside their dad, would have had such cute dimples?
“Hello?” The man waved his hands again. “He Xihuan’s Omega?”
Xu Yiwen’s lips trembled slightly, and lowering his gaze to pull back his thoughts, he wrapped one arm around He Xihuan’s waist while freeing the other hand to greet the man. “Hello, thank you for the trouble. May I ask who you are?”
“My name is Liu Yanrong. Our Liu family previously had business cooperation with the He family,” Liu Yanrong shook Xu Yiwen’s hand. “However, this is my first time meeting He Xihuan.”
“And it’s my first time meeting you too.” Liu Yanrong slightly reined in his smile, the cute expression covered by a hazy layer of cold mist as his dimples vanished. “When you two got married, your family shorted the Liu family on an invitation. I didn’t get to attend your wedding and didn’t get to know you back then.”
“You look really handsome, so dashing even in pajamas. You must look even more dashing in a formal suit at the wedding.” Liu Yanrong leaned in half a step closer, rolling his eyes as he sized up Xu Yiwen, then puffed out his cheeks as if angry. “Too bad I didn’t have the fortune to witness that grand wedding of the Chongcheng He family.”
With one ear blocked by He Xihuan’s drunken mumbling and the other trying to process Liu Yanrong’s words, Xu Yiwen took a few extra seconds to react.
When he married He Xihuan, Xu Yiwen was only responsible for inviting his own friends and colleagues. Which business friends and partners the Xu and He families needed to invite was something he had no hand in at all.
Even if, as Liu Yanrong claimed, the He family had missed sending an invitation, had he come accompanying his own family members, the He family wouldn’t have blocked him from entering anyway.
Noticing the faint dimples hovering at the corners of Liu Yanrong’s mouth, Xu Yiwen guessed that this person was merely complaining upon seeing the wedding party firsthand and wasn’t genuinely angry.
“Otherwise, next time you get married, you can invite me instead.”
The sentence that popped out alongside the reappearing dimples confirmed Xu Yiwen’s guess. Not only was Liu Yanrong not angry, but he was even blinking playfully to tease him.
Xu Yiwen’s stunned expression made Liu Yanrong curl his lips into a smile. “Just kidding. Your Alpha kept muttering your name nonstop after getting drunk at our club.”
“You have the power to make people fall in love at first sight, and your Alpha does too. I certainly didn’t want your Alpha getting into trouble at our club.” Liu Yanrong extended his palm again, looking much more formal this time. “Hello, Mr. Xu Yiwen. Very nice to meet you and President He.”