Chapter Three

  A cool night breeze blew in through the open window, and Lucky sat at the window smoking, facing the wind.

  If it wasn't for his mother coming to knock on the door and interrupting that awkward standoff, he really didn't know what to do. He was clearly at a loss, forced into a dilemma with no way out.

  "Speak clearly, sentence by sentence. Give me a chance and give yourself a chance too. Don't refuse me, if you don't agree with me, I can wait, no matter how long it takes, I'll wait. I just won't believe that I'll never get to see you. That stubborn and arrogant tone doesn't allow for any rebuttal. And those tears, one drop at a time, make him even more flustered and at a loss for what to do. Where is the usual carefree smile of Young Master Ming? He's always been overbearing, playful, sharp-tongued, and eccentric, but never weak. Yet today, he was first holding back tears when no one was around, and later on, his tears flowed uncontrollably."

  Embracing myself, I beg of you, your plea.

  The cigarette burned down to the end, suddenly scorching his fingers, and Lucky jumped up from the chair in surprise, hurriedly brushing off the still-smoldering butt that had fallen on him.

  Xingyun extinguished another cigarette, but instead of continuing to sit down, he leaned directly against the window.

  The night color has become even bluer, the moon has slowly turned into a pale white small circle and walked far away to the high place at the edge of the sky. In the faint blue, white mist is slowly rising.

  The fog grew thicker and thicker, gathering in front of the window, as if it was about to pour into the room.

  Lucky felt as if he had already entered the fog, with a sense of confusion and blur in his heart. Since the big illness, no one in the family had mentioned the name of Gong Xi again, but Lucky knew that this incident had hurt his family, and now they would immediately change the channel when they heard Liu Dehua's song "Gong Xi Fa Cai". So, when Minglang reappeared at the Xing's house, the family's attitude was not gratitude, but vigilance.

  Minglang had never lived in Xing's house before their wedding, and whenever he came over, he would stay in a hotel outside. This time, since his family was helping out, it wouldn't be good to chase him away to live outside. Even so, he was lucky enough to move into Xinghai's room, and then vacate his own room for Minglang to live in.

  Minglang made a slightly intimate move at home, Xinghai would give him a fierce look, and his mother's face would also become unnatural. Fortunately, he knew that the people at home were hurt and feared that they would be hurt again.

  I just hope he can find an ordinary girl like his brother did, get married and have children, and live a happy life.

  But he really can't do it, marry a girl who doesn't love him at all, and live under the same roof every day, share the same bed... He can't do it, and he also can't hurt an innocent girl like that.

  He accepted Ming Lang, but he couldn't do it either. The relationship between him and Ming Lang was more like friendship than romance.

  The past is gone, fortunately, he's not a person who clings to the past, but for some reason, he no longer has any feeling of love towards anything. Nor can he muster up the desire to love again.

  A clear thing is still refused, and the specific future of the relationship between the two can only be followed by him.

  He can't deceive his own heart, and even more unwilling to cheat Minglang for personal gain.

  The daylight has already become very bright, and Tian Guang doesn't want to sleep anymore. His mother should have gotten up outside, he heard the sound of movement outside.

  Good fortune opened the door and walked out, and sure enough, her mother was already up and starting to prepare breakfast in the kitchen. Seeing Good Fortune, she asked with concern: "Good Fortune, why are you getting up so early? It's not even six o'clock yet, go back to sleep for a while."

  "Stop sleeping, mom. What's for breakfast? I'll help you."

  "No need, no need, what are you going to do. If you're not sleepy, go back to the house and lie down for a while, I'm exhausted from yesterday. I just made some porridge and prepared two small dishes. Your classmates are here, and your brother is bringing your sister-in-law over today, so it needs to be done a bit more elegantly."

  "Oh, then I'll help you with something." Lucky still wouldn't do any work, standing in the kitchen watching mom busy herself, but having no idea where to start doing anything.

  "No need, no need, what can you do? Ah, lucky, yesterday that classmate of yours, the one who was a bridesmaid at your brother's wedding, how is your relationship with her?"

  "What? Her?" Lucky chuckled dryly, "We're just classmates, ordinary friends."

  "Lucky." Xing's mother's voice was filled with a special tenderness, the kind that only a loving mother could have: "Mom is old, your brother is married, I don't care about anything else, just you. You've graduated now and will be going to the army soon, no one will be by your side to take care of you..." As she spoke, Xing's mother's voice choked with emotion: "How can Mom put her heart at ease?"

  "Mom..." He suddenly felt a pang of sadness, he walked over and hugged his mother's arm: "Don't worry, I can take care of myself, I'm all grown up now, aren't I?"

  "You're still a child to your mother, and you've never been in good health. The army is so tough on you, how can I be at ease?! Mrs. Xing said, getting a bit angry, slamming the vegetables onto the chopping board: "If you want me to be at ease, hurry up and find someone, get married, just like your brother did, find a good woman, then I'll be more at ease than anything else! Otherwise, even if your father and I were dead, we wouldn't be able to close our eyes in peace!"

  "Mom!" Xingyun felt a stinging pain in her heart as soon as she heard her mother's harsh words: "What are you talking about, dying or living? You're only sixty years old, you can still live for several decades."

  "You'd better let us worry less, so we can live a few more decades!" Xing's mother furrowed her brow, still looking somewhat huffy, with tears not yet dry at the corners of her eyes, but her hands were already busy preparing breakfast.

  "I don't care, just hurry up and find me a wife, get married."

  "Auntie, good morning!" Just as Mrs. Xing was speaking, a bright and clear voice rang out from behind her.