Inextricable

Only when Huai Jing went back to the hotel to attend the dinner party did Xu Xingxing return to her shop, with his umbrella. Du Yizhe, who was making milk tea, saw his boss with an extra item, and with a questioning look, asked her, “Is it raining heavily? Did you buy an umbrella?”

Du Yizhe’s eyes then fell on the black umbrella. It was a very beautiful umbrella, with a pitch-black surface and a thick handle. The whole umbrella looked exquisitely made in terms of materials and craftsmanship, and it didn’t seem like one that you could buy casually.

Seeing Du Yizhe look at the umbrella doubtfully, Xu Xingxing explained with a shy look, “It’s my friend’s. He came to see me.”

Du Yizhe’s girlfriend, Huangfu Yiduo, was also there and she was teasing Ah Jin. She raised her head when she heard this. She was wearing a dark green jungle-style tutu skirt that matched Du Yizhe today. She looked at Xu Xingxing with big and energetic eyes, and smiled while asking, “Is he your boyfriend?”

Xu Xingxing’s heart skipped a beat on hearing those words, but she smiled and said, “No.”

Du Yizhe and Huangfu Yiduo just looked at each other and smiled sweetly, and didn’t ask any more.

………………………

Next day, the first thing Chen Wanwan did when she came to the office was ask Xu Xingxing about her shop. “Yesterday’s business was not bad,” Xu Xingxing’s face bloomed like a flower while answering.

Seeing her smiling happily, Chen Wanwan raised her eyebrows teasingly, and said, “I’m so proud, Boss Xu.”

Xu Xingxing said, “It happened exactly according to leader Chen’s auspicious words. By the way, how was last night?”

“I met a lot of celebrities and models, but it’s a pity that I didn’t have any time to ask for autographs, I had to follow the product and promotion departments and translate for them all the time. I didn’t even get to eat enough.” Chen Wanwan sighed helplessly. 

Reaching out for the stapler, Xu Xingxing replied, “Don’t worry, anyways, you went to do work there.”

“That’s right.” Chen Wanwan also laughed, and concluded, “In general, except for Mr. Huai being late for the opening scene, everything else was perfect!”

The hand holding the stapler paused, Xu Xingxing blinked, and then stapled the documents with a “snap”.

“Your shop has also opened, so you should be free for a while after this, right?” Chen Wanwan asked after sorting out the information for Xu Xingxing.

Xu Xingxing carefully looked at the document, raised her eyes and told Chen Wanwan, “Xiao Yizhe has never run a store by himself before, so I have to help him out this week.”

“Tsk.” Chen Wanwan said with a smile, “It’s nice to have such a boss like you.”

Xu Xingxing replied, “It’s not just about making money.”

“By the way, Lao Zhan’s local rich friend gave him two tickets to Qingping Temple. How about we go there on Saturday to relax and seek luck?” Chen Wanwan suddenly suggested.

Qingping Temple was a famous place situated on Qingjiu Mountain on the outskirts of Xiacheng. This temple was built in ancient times, and was acknowledged as a sacred temple. Thus, there were many people who came here to seek wealth and marriage. In order to protect the ancient temple buildings, the Qingping Temple authorities had controlled the flow of people whenever it opened, making it difficult to get a ticket. Basically, only the rich and powerful people could visit it now.

Xu Xingxing’s mother believed in Buddhism, and had influenced her, so when she heard about the visit to the Qingping Temple, she was happy.

“Is Lao Zhan not going?” Xu Xingxing inquired.

“Him? That man of science and technology doesn’t believe in this.” Chen Wanwan replied, rolling her eyes.

Xu Xingxing agreed, “Okay, then I’ll go.”

……………………….

On Saturday, Mimi had been clinging to Xu Xingxing ever since she had awoken. She had neglected Mimi a lot during this busy time, so Xu Xingxing scooped her up and walked to the refrigerator to grab a box of canned food for it. She glanced at the calendar, stroked the top of Mimi’s head, and said, “It’s time to vaccinate you.”

She opened the can and set it down as Mimi’s face chased after Xu Xingxing’s hand.

When Xu Xingxing noticed Mimi eating happily, she realised that she was also starving. She checked the inside of the refrigerator. Unfortunately, there was nothing in it and since she hadn’t cooked in a while, she hadn’t had time to go and buy things. 

So, she prepared a dry toast for herself, while thinking about the vegetables she was going to buy at the vegetable market tonight.

‘Have to remember to buy a fish.’

When Chen Wanwan reached Xu Xingxing’s apartment, she called her to inform her of their arrival. Picking up her bag, Xu Xingxing got on the elevator. As soon as the elevator door opened on the first floor, a young boy leaped out from the side and exclaimed, “Hello!”

This “hello” was uttered very softly, as if the boy was frightened of startling her.

When Xu Xingxing heard the voice, she laughed and called out, “Kangkang.”

A smiling Zhan Jiakang was standing and waiting in front of the elevator for Xu Xingxing to come out. The little guy then opened his arms and flew towards her.

“Aunt Xingxing~”

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The sweet sound of “aunt” melted Xu Xingxing’s heart.

Chen Wanwan was still grumbling as Xu Xingxing entered the vehicle and assisted Zhan Jiakang in buckling the child seat’s belt.

“Everything is Lao Zhan’s fault! Originally Kangkang didn’t want to come with us, but after he mentioned that you are also going, this brat insisted on coming along. Qingping Temple is so big, I can’t take care of him.”

“I’ll stay with Aunt Xingxing, Mom.” As Zhan Jiakang spoke, his hand enthusiastically reached out to grab hold of Xu Xingxing’s. Five flexible fingers linked up with Xu Xingxing’s five fingers, showing Chen Wanwan that he wouldn’t be able to get lost in the temple.

Xu Xingxing touched the young boy’s head and said with a smile, “Okay, Kangkang is so good.”

Chen Wanwan looked at her son and her friend seated in the back, and just smiled and said nothing.

It took more than two hours to drive to Qingping Temple. When the traffic light finally turned green, Chen Wanwan took a book out of the front storage box and gave it to Xu Xingxing, telling her, “He will be sleepy by the time we get to Qingping Temple, so you should tell him a story and let him sleep for a bit now itself.”

The book was a translation of a famous Japanese children’s book on dinosaurs, “You Look Yummy.”

[TL Notes: The book is called ‘You Are Umasou’, written by Tatsuya Miyanishi. For more info, check these out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/You_Are_Umasou and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZvhJ-IqGvs]

Although the story had its ups and downs, the thoughts expressed were all true, kind and beautiful. When Xu Xingxing read it aloud, Zhan Jiakang was not afraid at all, and even pointed to the picture book and asked questions.

“Is this little red fruit delicious?”

“The sea water is salty, what about the sea breeze?”

“Will it hurt to bite it if it puts it in its mouth?”

Xu Xingxing felt overjoyed while listening to the child’s words. She looked at the big dinosaur with the little one in its mouth, and said with a smile, “No, because it loves it, so it won’t bite it.”

After she said this, Xu Xingxing had a flashback— it was the image of a certain man biting off neck.

The two hadn’t seen each other for three weeks now, and those previous bite marks had all disappeared, there was no itchiness anywhere anymore. Speaking of which, his bite didn’t really hurt.

Xu Xingxing’s face turned slightly red, but Zhan Jiakang didn’t notice it because he was already a little sleepy. Holding Xu Xingxing’s hand in his small hand, he closed his eyes and yawned a little.

“Aunt Xingxing, will you pick up a little dinosaur?” His sleepy voice floated in the car.

Xu Xingxing looked at the dinosaur in the picture book, and her heart trembled slightly. ‘Zhan Jiakang hoped that I would pick up a little dinosaur to accompany me, right?’

The corners of her lips twitched slightly as Xu Xingxing closed the picture book and gently stroked the little guy’s hair.

‘How kind this little boy is….’

As Chen Wanwan drove the car, she kept glancing at the rearview mirror and soon noticed that Xu Xingxing was looking down at Zhan Jiakang with love in her eyes. Chen Wanwan felt her heart being pricked by arrows. 

Xu Xingxing preferred having children rather than getting married. In other words, the fact that she was unable to have children made her fearful of marriage and unwilling to begin a new relationship. Such a fate was really inhuman for such a kind woman.

“Is your period still irregular?” Chen Wanwan asked after slightly clearing her throat.

Xu Xingxing came back to her senses, and looked towards the front. “No, it hasn’t been so since I came to Xiacheng.”

Chen Wanwan sighed lightly, and asked, “I’ll accompany you to the hospital tomorrow.”

“No need.” Xu Xingxing smiled, opened the picture book again, and said softly, “I have gotten tests for everything that needs to be checked, it’s useless.”

Chen Wanwan clenched her teeth at this.