Xie Xun was about to go to Lu Xiaoqiao’s room to take a shower. Lu’s mother brought him a change of clothes that belonged to Lu’s father and said awkwardly, “We don’t have any men’s clothes at home. I just bought these for your dad…”
Xie Xun accepted them without changing his expression. “Thank you, Mom. And thank you, Dad.”
Lu’s father had gained quite a bit of weight in middle age, so the clothes were several sizes too large. When Xie Xun put them on, they hung loosely from his body, making his long legs and tall frame even more noticeable. His shoulder blades stood out beneath the oversized clothes.
He looked like an extremely handsome man who had suddenly appeared in the middle of an ordinary neighborhood.
He stood out completely, yet he was impossible not to notice.
People naturally turned their heads to sneak a look at him.
As soon as Lutu’s fever went down, the child was full of energy again.
Xie Xun crouched down and pulled him into his arms. He touched the child’s forehead, then his palms, checking him from head to toe. He leaned closer and rubbed his cheek against the child’s soft face.
Lutu blinked his innocent eyes.
“Daddy, your face is hurt?”
“…It’s nothing.” Xie Xun buried his face in the child’s sweet-smelling neck. “I had an allergy and scratched it a few times.”
“Oh.” Lutu asked, “Is my brother hurt?”
Xie Xun pulled back slightly and looked into the child’s bright, innocent eyes.
“He ate something he shouldn’t have.”
Lutu looked surprised. “Oh. That must hurt. Last time I secretly took Grandpa’s blood pressure medicine. I had to go to the hospital for an injection, and I got punished too.”
“……”
“Is my brother better now?”
“He’s better.” Xie Xun’s expression was difficult to read. His large hand gently covered the child’s small head.
“Are you feeling better, baby?”
“I’m fine,” Lutu said obediently. “Daddy should go stay with my brother. I have Mommy, Grandpa, Grandma, and Auntie. My brother only has his mommy. Daddy, you should go stay with him.”
Xie Xun froze almost imperceptibly.
There was a sound of footsteps coming from upstairs.
Lu Xiaoqiao was coming down.
Lutu happily called out, “Mommy, my fever is gone!”
Lu Xiaoqiao nodded.
Perhaps because she did not want to see someone in the room, she did not even hug her child. She simply walked into the kitchen with a blank expression.
Her hands moved slightly at her sides.
Xie Xun’s dark eyes fixed on the bruises around her wrist. His expression became even darker.
What exactly was this feeling?
Why did he feel this way toward a woman who could coldly stand by and watch him die without lifting a finger?
It was a strange mixture of fear, panic, helplessness, regret, and confusion.
When she slapped him, he should have wanted to kill her on the spot.
Yet his instincts had done the complete opposite.
Instead, he had felt restless and anxious, as if he could not sit still.
The fragmented memories that occasionally appeared in his mind seemed to match these feelings.
They did not contradict them.
So what was the truth about their past?
What had really happened between them?
Seeing Lu Xiaoqiao’s cold expression, her mother nudged her and tore off a piece of millet cake, putting it into her mouth. She glanced toward the doorway.
After making sure no one was around, she lowered her voice.
“I already asked your sister about it. You need to understand him.”
Lu Xiaoqiao slowly chewed the sweet millet cake and did not want to respond.
“His brother’s death was such a shame…” her mother said. “He was raised by his older brother. The two brothers depended on each other, and they were very close.”
“When you and A-Xun were discussing marriage, his brother was the one who came to formally ask for your hand. He helped prepare everything for your wedding and did everything an elder should have done. He followed every proper tradition and never looked down on our family because of the difference in our backgrounds.”
The Lu family had always had an excellent impression of Xie Minghe.
He was a true gentleman—humble, polite, warm, and refined.
Everyone in the neighborhood praised him.
Lu Xiaoqiao knew that.
Xie Minghe was genuinely a good person from the inside out. It was not an act.
He was completely different from someone like Xie Xun, whose outside appearance and inner thoughts could be so different.
Even after Lu Xiaoqiao married into the family, Xie Minghe had taken good care of her many times.
Last night, she had simply been pushed too far by Wan Bao’er.
She had lost control because of her anger.
That was why she had angrily taken her frustration out on the child without thinking.
Lu Xiaoqiao’s mother did not know the whole story. She only thought Lu Xiaoqiao was angry because Xie Xun had ignored Lutu and gone to take care of Xie Yu instead.
“Your uncle left behind only one child,” her mother said sadly. “If anything happens to him, he’ll feel like he has failed his brother. Your uncle protected him and raised him, so shouldn’t he protect his brother’s child in return? Lutu has us to take care of him, and the Lu family is much more peaceful than the Xie family. Just try to understand him a little.”
Lu Xiaoqiao was already filled with regret over what she had said to Xie Yu the night before. Her mother kept talking, and all the emotions she had been holding inside suddenly came pouring out.
Tears streamed down her face.
Her mother stared at her. “…Why are you crying?”
Lu Xiaoqiao’s shoulders shook as she sobbed. “I… I said horrible things to Xiaoyu… Waaah… Mom, I’m such a terrible person…”
Her mother was shocked.
“Why would you say those things to a child? Is that how your father and I raised you? Whatever problems the adults have…”
She stopped speaking.
A shadow suddenly blocked the bright light coming through the kitchen.
Lu Xiaoqiao’s mother quickly turned around.
Xie Xun stood at the doorway, his face pale. One hand gripped the doorframe so tightly that his knuckles were sticking out. He looked weak and unsteady, almost as if he might collapse at any moment.
“A-Xun…” Her mother hurried over. “Are you feeling unwell? Don’t hide it from us. Your lips look strange. They’re even paler than before…”
Xie Xun stared straight at Lu Xiaoqiao.
“I’m fine. It just… hurts a little.”
“Where does it hurt? Let your father take you back to the hospital…”
“No need.” Xie Xun spoke weakly.
“When she cries, I feel pain.”
“……”
Her mother was speechless.
Honestly, this child.
Why was he saying something so romantic at a time like this?
“Xiaoqiao, go outside,” her mother finally said. She was afraid her son-in-law would continue saying embarrassing things in front of her. “Don’t get in the way here.”
Lu Xiaoqiao sniffed. “No.”
Her mother simply pushed her out.
Lu Xiaoqiao stared at her mother in disbelief, tears still hanging from her eyelashes. She could not believe her own mother had betrayed her.
Her mother gave her a meaningful look.
Please understand your mother. Your father and I came from a time when parents arranged marriages. We can’t handle you young people being so shamelessly affectionate in front of us.
Lu Xiaoqiao wiped her tears and walked away.
Lu’s father’s clothes were far too loose on Xie Xun. He had almost collapsed from the pain earlier and was still leaning against the doorframe unsteadily. The loose collar had slipped to one side, revealing a large area of his pale collarbone.
He was blocking the doorway, so Lu Xiaoqiao walked straight into him without thinking.
To her surprise, the man actually stumbled from the impact.
Lu Xiaoqiao stared at him in disbelief.
“Stop pretending to be weak in front of my mother!”
He was a tall, muscular man with strong arms and abs, yet she had managed to knock him off balance with one push.
What an incredible actor!
The pain in Xie Xun’s heart had just faded. After taking several deep breaths, he finally recovered.
He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the bedroom.
Lu Xiaoqiao struggled for a moment, but then seemed to think of something. Xie Xun loosened his grip, and she immediately pulled her hand free.
“Let’s talk,” he said.
Lu Xiaoqiao remained cautious. “Tell me what you want to talk about first.”
Xie Xun said, “Divor…”
Before he could finish, Lu Xiaoqiao panicked and quickly covered his mouth with her hand, afraid her mother would hear.
“Talk!” she whispered as quietly as possible. “In my room.”
Xie Xun lowered his thick eyelashes.
His gaze fell on the bruises around her wrist.
The pain in his chest seemed to slowly return.