Duan Yiheng opened his eyes, then grabbed a light blanket and got out of bed. He pressed a button on the control panel, and the curtains slowly opened. It was indeed snowing outside. Duan Yiheng glanced at it, then draped the blanket over Lin Xi: "Be careful indoors too."
Lin Xi felt a warmth in her heart, nodded, then gripped the French windows with both hands to look outside, only to be embraced from behind by Duan Yiheng. "The snow is falling so heavily." Lin Xi turned and smiled, her back against his chest.
Duan Yiheng brushed her long hair aside with his cheek, nuzzling her affectionately, and said, "Go wash up first, have breakfast, then look around slowly. I don't think this snow will stop anytime soon." Lin Xi obediently replied, "Okay." Duan Yiheng said gently,
"Go wash up first, I'll have someone bring breakfast up." Lin Xi said, "Then I'll go back to my room to change." "Go ahead." Duan Yiheng pushed her lower back with his palm. Duan Yiheng had breakfast set out right in front of the French windows.
Lin Xi entered the bedroom and smelled the rich aroma of coffee. She and Duan Yiheng sat facing each other, the snowflakes falling silently outside the window. Duan Yiheng picked up his coffee, took a sip, and asked Lin Xi, "How many days do you plan to stay here?"
Lin Xi's smile faltered, and she lowered her eyes guiltily. After a long pause, she said, "Two or three days." Duan Yiheng looked up, disliking ambiguous answers, and asked, "Two days or three days?" Lin Xi knew she couldn't hide it anymore and said, "I'll go back on the 26th." Duan Yiheng frowned:
"Your birthday is on the 27th. Have you forgotten what you promised me?" Lin Xi stammered and put down her knife and fork. Seeing this, Duan Yiheng softened and said, "Never mind, let's eat first, we'll talk after we eat." Lin Xi nodded, eating the meal absentmindedly.
Duan Yiheng had a premonition that continuing the conversation would lead to an argument, so he simply changed the subject. After dinner, he was told that the horse he had given to Lin Xi had a problem, so he went to check on it alone. Lin Xi searched for him twice but couldn't find him, and thought he was angry.
Just as she was about to leave, Duan Yiheng returned. "What are you doing standing at the door?" Duan Yiheng asked. Lin Xi pursed her lips: "Are you angry?" Duan Yiheng shook his head: "The horse I gave you has a problem. I went to check on it, and I've already sent the vet over." Lin Xi was taken aback:
"Is it alright?" Duan Yiheng: "It won't eat hay. We'll see after the vet takes a look." The two went inside, and Lin Xi suddenly grabbed Duan Yiheng's arm, saying, "This morning, you asked me how many days I'd be staying, and I—" "Okay, let's not talk about that."
Duan Yiheng instinctively resisted, "You can go back whenever you want. On your birthday, you'll definitely have to have dinner with Grandpa." Lin Xi's words caught in her throat. In the afternoon, the snow stopped, and the two went to see the horse together. Duan Yiheng then took her riding it around twice.
Lin Xi temporarily put aside her worries and focused on spending the last day and a half with Duan Yiheng. That evening, Duan Yiheng specially asked the wine cellar for a bottle of red wine and took Lin Xi to the movies. Otherwise, if they returned to their room early, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to resist.
But the atmosphere at home was much better. He didn't know what the movie was about, but they did share quite a few kisses. Usually, Lin Xi would complain, but last night she obediently endured it. Duan Yiheng tilted his head back, gulped down half a glass of warm water, smiled, and turned to ask the butler, "Where's Lin Xi?"
The butler smiled and said, "Yesterday's snow was quite heavy. Miss Lin wanted to build a snowman, so I had all the snow moved to the courtyard." Duan Yiheng shook his head and chuckled, then turned and went to the courtyard.
Lin Xi built two snowmen under the ornamental trees, one tall and one short, one male and one female, to avoid direct sunlight. The technique was really poor. Duan Yiheng stood there for a while, then said, "You and me made of this?" Lin Xi turned around and smiled, "Guess."
Duan Yiheng pulled her up, "Your hands are all red." "It's okay." Lin Xi's smile faded slightly, her voice a little low, "It's almost done, I'll put the eyes on." Duan Yiheng touched her face, asking with concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"
Lin Xi shook her head, "No, you go inside first." Duan Yiheng stuffed two buttons into the dwarf snowman's face, then pulled Lin Xi into the house. Two ugly snowmen could be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows on the first floor. "Stop looking, come and have something to eat."
Duan Yiheng beckoned to Lin Xi from the sofa not far away. The housekeeper had the kitchen bring them afternoon tea. Lin Xi sat down and ate a dessert, but couldn't taste the sweetness. She asked Duan Yiheng, "Are you coming back with me? Or are you staying a couple more days?"
These days, because of his injuries, he and his grandfather hadn't spoken for a long time. Duan Yiheng frowned. "Of course I'll go back with you." Lin Xi picked at her fingers and said, "Before we go back, I want to tell you something." Duan Yiheng took a sip of coffee and looked up.
"What is it?" Lin Xi glanced at him, her heart aching with bitterness. The words on the tip of her tongue changed. "Duan Mingxuan is throwing me a birthday party tomorrow." This wasn't a nice thing to say, and Duan Yiheng's face immediately darkened. "So you're going to break your promise to me for him?"
Lin Xi had already used Duan Mingxuan; there was no denying it. She simply lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry." Although Duan Yiheng was angry, he remained rational. Lin Xi was only 23 years old, a young girl who liked new experiences. They were six years apart; he should be tolerant and respectful.
He shouldn't blame Duan Mingxuan. If she liked it, he could throw her a birthday party like this every year. After trying to convince himself for a while, Duan Yiheng asked, "Where was it held?" Lin Xi shook her head: "I don't know."
Duan Yiheng's brows furrowed further, thinking Duan Mingxuan was planning a surprise. "Drink less. Call me if anything happens," Duan Yiheng said. "I'll pick you up after it's over. At the very least, you have to let me say 'Happy Birthday' to you."
This was a veiled reminder that she had to be back before midnight. Tears instantly blurred Lin Xi's vision, and she hurriedly raised her hand to wipe them away. Duan Yiheng was taken aback, stood up and sat beside her, wiping away her tears: "Why are you crying?" He hadn't said anything, had he?
Lin Xi shook her head, but the tears flowed even more freely. Duan Yiheng had never experienced such panic before, and at this moment, he was somewhat at a loss because of Lin Xi's tears. "Tell me, what's wrong?" The gentler he was, the harder Lin Xi cried. "Don't be so good to me."
Lin Xi bitterly cursed herself. "I don't deserve it." "What nonsense are you talking about?" Duan Yiheng patiently wiped away her tears. "If I'm not good to you, who will I be good to?"
Lin Xi choked back a sob, unable to bear Duan Yiheng's tender affection any longer. She pushed his hand away and ran to the bathroom. Duan Yiheng immediately sensed something was wrong and strode after her, blocking her at the bathroom door. "What's wrong? Tell me, I'll solve everything for you." Lin Xi trembled from crying, her mouth agape for a long time before she managed to speak with difficulty: "Big brother, let's break up."
Duan Yiheng was initially taken aback by her form of address, but after hearing the rest of her sentence, his face darkened completely: "What did you say?" "Let's break up, I can't take it anymore."