“I am childish?”
The next day, when He Xihuan woke up holding his head, he only remembered returning the previous night; as for how he got back or what happened after, his mind was a complete blank.
He washed his face with cold water and patted his forehead.
He really had lost his mind. No matter how blinded by anger he was, he should not have gone out to drink.
In Chongcheng, whenever he did not want to go home, he would stay at the headquarters office. Upon arriving here, he suddenly had no idea where to go.
After leaving the hotel last night, he had driven around in circles.
En route, he received a call from a business partner in Spring City inviting him to hang out at a club. Without thinking, riding on a wave of lingering anger, he drove right over.
Thinking back now, that person inviting an Alpha on his honeymoon to a club in the middle of the night definitely meant no good.
Fortunately, the owner of that club was a member of the Liu family who had previously cooperated with them, so he managed to keep his innocence intact.
He wondered if any other Omega’s pheromones had rubbed off on him last night.
He Xihuan rummaged through the clothes he had worn yesterday, searching from the master bedroom to the living room, and finally spotted them on the living room balcony.
Xu Yiwen had washed them.
He Xihuan put his hands on his hips and let out a light laugh in the empty living room.
At least Xu Yiwen still had a conscience.
However, when he picked up his phone and read the message, the partly cloudy sky on his face turned straight to overcast.
[Grandma and I went to attend a flower festival and will be back in the afternoon. The private housekeeper took the clothes to be washed and will send them over along with the meals. If the clothes and meals are not to your liking, please speak properly and maintain your image as President He.]
He Xihuan slammed the phone down onto the sofa.
In the text Xu Yiwen had sent at eight o’clock this morning, the first part was an emotionless report of his itinerary, while the latter part was passive-aggressively mocking his words from yesterday.
He Xihuan sat on the sofa and picked up his phone again to check the time.
It was almost half-past eleven in the morning, and the breakfast left in the dining room had long gone cold.
He Xihuan flipped to Qiu Yao’s contact information, his thumb hovering in the air above the phone, feeling hesitant.
Forget it. It was not like he desperately needed someone to keep him company while eating.
He called the private housekeeper and had a meal sent up.
Xu Yiwen’s itinerary guide did not include him, and he did not want to shamelessly tag along, so he decided to check out the various branch offices of the He Group in Spring City instead.
After driving for over ten minutes, the car changed direction, and he dialed Qiu Yao’s phone number.
Going to the company would alert his parents, and who knew, he might end up getting chewed out by them all over again.
Going to find Qiu Yao did not count as bowing down to Xu Yiwen.
The location Qiu Yao mentioned over the phone was a restaurant near the flower festival.
When He Xihuan found them, they had just started eating.
The table full of dishes was basically garnished with flowers.
“Grandma, an all-flower feast? I have not eaten yet and am starving.” He Xihuan casually took a seat next to Xu Yiwen and waved for a waiter to bring him a set of cutlery.
Xu Yiwen cast a sideways glance at He Xihuan.
If the private housekeeper had not sent a message reporting that He Xihuan had already eaten lunch, he really would have believed this guy’s words.
Qiu Yao welcomed He Xihuan, telling him to try every dish.
Xu Yiwen, however, did not chime in at all. Occasionally, when he switched to public serving chopsticks, he only picked food for Qiu Yao and Auntie Hong, leaving none for He Xihuan.
He Xihuan dodged aside each time, waiting for a morsel of food to land in his own plate, but every single time it missed, as Xu Yiwen’s chopsticks never veered toward his direction even once.
Qiu Yao took note of the awkwardness between these two.
Last night, He Xihuan had returned late. Auntie Hong heard the commotion and crept up to the suite door to check on things for Qiu Yao.
Getting drunk in the middle of the night and being sent back by someone else was indeed He Xihuan’s fault, so Xu Yiwen could not be blamed for being so cold to him today.
As an elder, although Qiu Yao was partial to her own grandson and could not bear to see him wronged, she was unwilling to watch the young couple remain at odds like this.
She arranged for Xu Yiwen, who had already finished eating quickly, to go outside and buy some flower pastries, called He Xihuan to her side, and persuaded him: “Xihuan, you came back so late last night and were even sent back by someone else. You cannot blame Xiaowen for being angry.”
“Who goes out to drink on the very first night of their honeymoon?” Qiu Yao patted the shoulder of He Xihuan, who was crouching beside her. “Do not say I am partial to Xiaowen. He has every right to be angry. You were in the wrong here, and you need to apologize.”
He Xihuan’s gaze fixed slightly, then he smiled and nodded, telling Qiu Yao that he knew what to do.
Qiu Yao was a bit tired, so she told the young couple to continue enjoying themselves while she and Auntie Hong headed back to the hotel first.
After seeing Qiu Yao and Auntie Hong off into the housekeeper’s car, He Xihuan went to look for Xu Yiwen based on the shop name Qiu Yao had mentioned.
Xu Yiwen had just finished buying his items and walked out of the store holding a paper bag with floral prints on the outside, his forehead slick with sweat from waiting in line.
The moment he stepped outside and bumped into He Xihuan, he curled his lips and handed the bag to He Xihuan. “Eat up. It is not like you can eat yourself to death.”
He Xihuan’s eyes widened, the corners of his mouth twitching into an incredulous arc.
Was he being scolded by Xu Yiwen again?
He Xihuan took the bag and simultaneously grabbed Xu Yiwen’s wrist.
“What are you doing?” The roadside was full of people, and Xu Yiwen did not dare struggle too obviously.
“Grandma went back to the hotel, and she told you to keep me company.” He Xihuan’s hand slid from Xu Yiwen’s wrist to his palm, intertwining their fingers. “Before I eat myself to death, I will work you to death first.”
As a result, Xu Yiwen was forced by He Xihuan to retrace the entire morning’s route all over again.
Flower pastries, flower-themed ice cream, fridge magnets, commemorative badges, and other cultural and creative products were bought all over again.
Xu Yiwen was not completely worked to death, but he was half-dead by the end of it.
He was dragged all the way by He Xihuan without a moment of rest, until his legs and feet ached with soreness.
Having slept half an afternoon more than him, He Xihuan held the advantage in energy, physical stamina, and even the silver tongue that came from having eaten an extra meal of lunch.
Whenever he tried to speak, He Xihuan hijacked the conversation.
Xu Yiwen felt that Wang Congmeng’s prior instructions were completely redundant.
What did she mean by saying He Xihuan did not like playing around and telling Xu Yiwen to accommodate him a bit instead of finding him boring?
Did this look like someone who did not like playing around? Passing by every single shop and stall, He Xihuan insisted on browsing through them all.
“Enough!” Xu Yiwen yanked his hand free to grab He Xihuan, who was about to enter a haunted house. “We need to go back and have dinner with Grandma.”
“With so many things in our hands, how are we supposed to go into a haunted house?”
He Xihuan refused to let Xu Yiwen take the purchased items back to the car. Right now, both of their hands were hooked and weighed down with bags.
Once these packages were unwrapped, the two of them could practically open a mobile street stall.
Xu Yiwen exhaled through flared nostrils in exasperation, lifting his arm to wipe the fine beads of sweat from his forehead.
Seeing Xu Yiwen’s disheveled state, the anger He Xihuan had carried from last night until today finally dissipated.
He stepped out of the queue, took all the shopping bags from Xu Yiwen’s hands, and quickened his pace toward the parking lot.
After getting into the car to rest for a while and drinking a few sips of water, Xu Yiwen blurted out, “You are so childish.”
He Xihuan, who was about to start the vehicle, paused his movements, turned to look at Xu Yiwen, and asked in resentment, “I am childish? What did your message this morning mean? Could you be any more passive-aggressive? Exactly who is not speaking properly?”
Faced with He Xihuan’s four-part counter-interrogation, Xu Yiwen put down the water bottle after tightening its cap, the corners of his mouth drooping slightly.
Given He Xihuan’s temperament, this kind of daily torturous routine would just keep repeating, and Xu Yiwen did not want to waste time with him, so he offered a compromise.
“If you do not want to sign right now, you do not have to. We can give each other a cooling-off period.”
“You can go if you want to accompany Grandma on the tour, but I heard that the date for the group’s year-end performance review has been finalized. You know that Mom and Dad will not tell you, but they will tell me, and they will also tell me to make sure I spend that time having fun outside with you.”
“He Xihuan, I can help you find out the exact date.”
Xu Yiwen turned his head with a look of absolute certainty, adding, “I will wholeheartedly accompany Grandma here, and I will help cover for you over at Mom and Dad’s end. You can just stay in the hotel and work.”
According to the He family, He Xihuan had studied abroad since childhood. Later, when his elder brother decided to join the military and his elder sister showed a deep interest in research, his parents brought He Xihuan back from abroad.
Unlike other rebellious second-generation heirs inheriting family wealth, He Xihuan mastered both academics and work. As the successor, starting from his very first year entering the group, he began delivering performance review reports at year-end to the senior group executives who were one or two generations older than him, growing more brilliant year by year.
By now, his capabilities were evident to all, and the review was merely a formality, yet he still valued it greatly.
This year, He Jing and Wang Congmeng had deliberately kept it from He Xihuan, forcing him to put the matter aside.
In reality, He Xihuan had already started preparing for the review work.
Now that Xu Yiwen dangled the bait of the exact date, even if it were through an online format, He Xihuan would definitely attend.
True to his expectations, He Xihuan’s expression grew serious. He turned back to grip the steering wheel and replied in a cold tone, “All the expenses for your outing will be charged to my account.”