Liang Yutong said guiltily, "I told him I had something come up, I don't know if he believed me." "Okay, I understand."
Lin Xi sat down on the sofa at the foot of the bed. "Don't worry, he'll probably call me again. I'll talk to him." Liang Yutong apologized several times before ending the call. "What's wrong?"
Duan Yiheng noticed Lin Xi's expression and asked, "What did Liang Yutong tell you?" Lin Xi said, "Duan Mingxuan asked me to go out, and I said I was going to be with Yutong. He ran into Yutong on the street this morning." Duan Yiheng chuckled:
"If he knew you came here alone with me, he might break into the manor at night." "That's definitely something he'd do," Lin Xi retorted. Duan Yiheng hugged her waist and chuckled softly in her ear:
"Don't worry, even if he finds out I'm kissing you inside the ornate iron gate, he won't be able to get in." "Can't you be serious for once?" Lin Xi pushed him away. Just thinking about that scene made Lin Xi's scalp tingle. She now avoids Duan Mingxuan like the plague.
Speak of the devil, and his video call comes in. Lin Xi doesn't ask Duan Yiheng to avoid it and answers. "Xiao Xi, where are you?" Lin Xi calmly replies, "Outside." Duan Mingxuan frowns: "Didn't you say you went with Liang Yutong? Why did I see her this morning?"
Lin Xi: "She had something to do." Duan Mingxuan is silent for a long time, then says, "Then call her in the video call." "I won't." Lin Xi looks at him calmly, "I have no obligation to explain everything to you." "Xiao Xi, I'm just worried about your safety."
"Is that so?" Lin Xi smiles sarcastically, "Not trying to check up on me?" Duan Mingxuan is very guilty: "...I didn't." Lin Xi says "Oh," and then says, "I'm hanging up. Don't call me unless it's absolutely necessary. I'll go back when it's time." Duan Mingxuan choked, but Lin Xi couldn't see his darkened face. He wasn't stupid; what he'd seen about Liang Yutong that morning had planted a seed of suspicion in his heart. He immediately called Yu Lang.
As dusk settled, Lin Xi and Duan Yiheng had dinner and went to the villa to the south. Duan Yiheng had only brought Lin Xi here once in all these years. "My mother's things are all here." Lin Xi was stunned when she reached the third floor.
The third floor had no rooms; several walls divided the space, each room resembling a small exhibition hall. Miss Meng's gowns, jewelry, artwork… all were displayed in glass cabinets.
Fresh, elegant tulips filled the entrance hall, their delicate fragrance lingering in the air. Lin Xi was moved. She turned to Duan Yiheng and said, "You love your mother very much." Duan Yiheng ruffled her hair. "Can I see her?"
"Lin Xi cautiously asked Duan Yiheng, "Sister Mei said there are photos of your mother and you here." "Downstairs," Duan Yiheng said, "They're all downstairs." "Okay."
Duan Yiheng's mother passed away when he was 11, so the photos of them together were naturally of him as a child. Lin Xi wasn't particularly interested in his photos because she came to the Duan family when Duan Yiheng was 12.
Duan Yiheng's mother had deep-set features and a more defined face, resembling Duan Yiheng, but with a more mixed-race look. Looking at her face alone, it didn't seem like the face of someone troubled by love. Lin Xi felt heartache and regret for this woman who died young.
If she were still alive, would everything be different? Duan Yiheng's phone rang at that moment, and he quietly got up and went to the balcony. "What is it?" the butler asked.
"The security team found a red Ferrari parked 100 meters outside the manor. Upon inspection, they found it belonged to the second young master." Duan Yiheng raised an eyebrow in surprise, his movements quite swift. "The Second Young Master wants to come in." Duan Yiheng said succinctly, "Stop him." "Yes."
Duan Yiheng hung up the phone, not mentioning Duan Mingxuan at all in front of Lin Xi. Back in the main building complex, Lin Xi belatedly felt a little shy and said to Duan Yiheng, "I'm going back to my room to take a shower."
Duan Yiheng's words to her that morning were just a joke, so he didn't tease her further and simply said goodbye. Just as Lin Xi was about to enter the bathroom, Duan Mingxuan called again.
She didn't answer and went straight into the bathroom. After showering, she discovered he had called about ten times. Lin Xi then slowly called back: "Why are you calling so many times?" "When are you coming back?"
Duan Mingxuan's voice sounded somewhat restrained and deep. Lin Xi said, "Two days later." "...Where did you go with Liang Yutong?" "Duan Mingxuan, what exactly do you want to say?" Duan Mingxuan clenched his fists, holding back his words, and said,
"Didn't you say you'd come back the day before your birthday? I wanted to pick you up."
"No need, I'll go back myself." Lin Xi put the phone on speakerphone, took off her bathrobe, and changed into a white nightgown.
"Xiao Xi, your older brother isn't at the villa either. Do you know where he went?"
Lin Xi paused in her dressing: "What do you mean?" Duan Mingxuan laughed self-deprecatingly: "You didn't go out with Liang Yutong, did you?" Lin Xi continued dressing, head down, saying, "It's none of your business."
"Why did you go out with Duan Yiheng?
Why did you lie to me? Xiao Xi, why?" Lin Xi smiled at herself in the mirror, finding it unattractive. She looked down at her phone again and asked Duan Mingxuan, "I've never understood why you dislike me being close to Duan Yiheng so much. Can you tell me?"
"Don't you know? He and I have always been—"
"Don't lie." "Lin Xi interrupted him, "Duan Mingxuan, don't lie to me." Duan Mingxuan was taken aback, then his temper flared immediately: "Haven't you been lying to me all along?
How many times? Lin Xi, you can count them yourself." "Because you always make decisions about me without my consent, even though it has nothing to do with me," Lin Xi said. "If I tell you beforehand, you'll make a scene, and I'll choose to keep quiet and compromise. Isn't that how it's always been?"
"Lin Xi!" "Fine, if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I can probably guess what's going on. I'm hanging up." Duan Mingxuan angrily called back, but Lin Xi didn't answer. What did that mean? Did she guess? Did she know Duan Yiheng liked her?
Duan Mingxuan was restless. He got out of the car and smoked half a pack of cigarettes before driving away. Lin Xi tidied her hair, opened the door, and after confirming no one was home, went to knock on Duan Yiheng's door. Duan Yiheng had just showered and recognized Lin Xi's voice from the rhythm.
He was only wearing trousers and casually grabbed a nightgown from the bed. Opening the door, he felt as if he saw a quietly blooming jasmine. "What's wrong?" Duan Yiheng cleared his throat.
"I..." Lin Xi clutched her nightgown, "Could I... sleep with you?"