Chapter 13 (2/2)

These disappointing small matters, how many times has it been repeated for the past few years? A few hundred times? No, a few thousand times? To the point that the Mingxi who had come to their home happily two years ago had turned into one who was extremely disappointed in their family?

“Are you going to leave?”

Zhao Zhanhuai took a glimpse at the lady. His emotions were in a wreck as he pleaded, “Can I borrow the landline phone? I want to give her a call.”

Though the suspicion in the lady’s eyes did not go away, she still gave him the phone.

Zhao Zhanhuai turned on his phone, dialed Zhao Mingxi’s number according to what was shown on the screen and called.

However, three minutes later.

She still didn’t pick up.

Zhao Mingxi was swift and firm with her severance. She had changed her number.

The lady said, “Stop acting.”

“…”

Zhao Zhanhuai hung up the phone with mixed emotions.

*

As Zhao Zhanhuai had spent quite some time at Zhao Mingxi’s dorm, he missed the timing to fetch Zhao Yuan.

Zhao Yuan called him, but no one picked up. She didn’t know what her eldest brother was busy with. She had waited for a long time at the school gates to the point that the girls from her class who wanted to see her handsome eldest brother had all left.

Zhao Yuan was unhappy, but she didn’t show it. She called for their family driver to come pick her up.

When Zhao Yuan got home, she saw Zhao Yuning going upstairs. As she recalled how Zhao Yuning had brought her a gift, she took the initiative to ease the tension between the both of them. “Yuning, when did you get home?”

Zhao Yuning who was at the stairs turned his head with a heavy heart. He didn’t catch what Zhao Yuan asked, so he just replied with a “Oh” and went into his room.

He didn’t have any appetite for dinner because Zhao Mingxi wasn’t home.

Zhao Yuan: “…”

Zhao Yuan furrowed her brows. She didn’t like the feeling of being ignored.

She changed her shoes and entered the house. At the same time, the nanny came in from the front yard, struggling as she carried a parcel which was as tall as she was. She said, “Miss, this was sent from the mall. Did you purchase this?”

Zhao Yuan turned and gave it a glance. When she saw the parcel, her expression turned bright and happy again.

She put on her slippers and walked over with a smile. “This must be my birthday present from Yuning.”

“He sent you a gift this early?” the nanny said in shock. She carefully placed the parcel on the ground in fear that it was something fragile.

Zhao Yuan smiled. Zhao Yuning must have purposely feigned a look of dejection and ignorance toward her just now so he could give her a surprise. “Help me open it.”

“Alright.” The nanny went off to take a pair of scissors.

The parcel was very quickly opened.

When Zhao Yuan saw a corner which revealed a ball of fluff, she couldn’t help but to touch it. It was very soft. She liked it very much.

However, before the nanny could finish opening it, she paused abruptly and said, “Miss, I don’t think you are the recipient.”

Zhao Yuan furrowed her brows and quickly snatched the courier receipt to take a look.

When her vision focused on the three words ‘Zhao Mingxi’, she went stiff.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yuning who was on the second floor heard the commotion downstairs. He hurriedly ran down with his slippers. When he saw that the present which was nicely wrapped at the mall had been opened by the nanny, he was enraged, “Who allowed you to open my things?”

The nanny stepped aside fearfully.

It was only then that Zhao Yuan realized that she had made a huge mistake. She stood up with a sour expression. She didn’t know if she wanted to appear awkward or angry.

She held herself together and asked, “Since it’s for Mingxi, why did you send it home? Shouldn’t you have sent it to school?”

As Zhao Yuning had always been bad at observing, he didn’t notice the expression on Zhao Yuan’s face. He said, “Isn’t Mingxi jie still mad at us? So I got this as a gift for her.”

Before Zhao Yuan could come back to her senses, Zhao Yuning had dragged the gift upstairs in a huff.

“…”

Both Zhao Yuan and the nanny were in disbelief. Zhao Yuning got a gift for Mingxi?

The nanny hesitated, but did not say anything. She took a glimpse at Zhao Yuan. She did not dare to say that it was Zhao Yuan who got her to open it, so she could only take the blame for it. Rubbing her hands together, she lowered her head before quickly heading toward the kitchen.

The sound of someone parking their car could be heard from outside the door.

Zhao Yuan calmed herself down. She looked toward the gates of their villa and saw Zhao Zhanhuai coming out from his car.

Zhao Yuan sat heavily on the sofa instead of greeting him at the door.

Her eyes were becoming bloodshot.

Zhao Zhanhuai entered the house and changed his shoes at the entry foyer. When he looked up, he saw Zhao Yuan’s back facing him as she sat at the sofa, hugging a pillow quietly.

If it was any day before today, he would have definitely noticed that Zhao Yuan was angry or feeling wronged, so he would quickly go up to her to ask if she was okay.

But today Zhao Zhanhuai’s mind was in a wreck. He didn’t know how to deal with Mingxi.

Also, he had spent the time coming home thinking about many details in the past— They were all small matters, like when Yuanyuan and Mingxi both tripped, he would always go up to help Zhao Yuan first.

Everyone saw how protective he was of Zhao Yuan. He didn’t think much of it himself either.

…But for Mingxi, this could’ve been the last straw for her before she completely lost her faith in the Zhao family.

Everything would’ve been fine if he didn’t notice how biased he was, but since he noticed, he felt that everything was wrong.

It was as if Mingxi who had severed all ties with their family was sitting across him on the sofa, watching him.

Furthermore, Zhao Zhanhuai guessed that nothing much happened to Yuanyuan, just that she might’ve been upset over the fact that he forgot to pick her up.

However, Zhao Zhanhuai who was currently in a very bad mood did not have the energy to coax her.

He hesitated, pulled his tie loose and directly went upstairs.

Zhao Yuan, who was seated at the sofa, waited for a long time until she heard the sound of footsteps behind her.

The corner of her eyes became even redder.

But what she didn’t expect was for those set of footsteps to turn and head upstairs.

She turned around in shock, but could only see Zhao Zhanhuai’s figure which was already halfway up the stairs.

Zhao Yuan immediately stood up. She couldn’t understand what she was seeing.