To be honest, if Xia Che grows up to be a well-mannered and excellent student, that would be great.

That's true OOC (out-of-character) and a real character breakdown.

After all, how can someone who was so bad as a child change their personality when they grow up?

Tang Yanyan didn't believe it at all.

Tang Yanyan actually finds it reasonable that he has grown into the evil blond guy he is today.

"Who told you to be so sarcastic and never stop talking..."

Xia Yuxin looked away guiltily, but then realized what she had done and glared back defiantly. She had already been criticized for so long, so what was wrong with saying a few more words back?

Why should you keep letting yourself get scolded?

"In short, I have absolutely no good feelings for Xia Che, and after seeing him degenerate, I have even less. I don't need love. On the contrary, are you sure you want to get too deeply involved in this forbidden love?"

Tang Yanyan said calmly, "Real life is not like playing games or reading comics. There is no room for forgiveness for incest. Once it is discovered, your crush will be regarded by everyone as an unforgivable monster, and it will end up harming Xia Che."

Xia Yuxin's feelings for Xia Che were something many people realized back then, as they were childhood playmates.

Even if everyone was young at the time and some people didn't understand love and romance, when they grew up and looked back on that childhood experience, everyone understood.

So, the Xia family's daughter is in love with the Xia family's young master?

This forbidden love that is happening right before their eyes...

Even if some of their childhood playmates realized it, they all tacitly kept quiet, not daring to reveal the slightest secret.

After all, this is just their speculation, even though everyone knows there might be something to it, but...

Who dares to mention it?

Who dares to bring this matter out into the open?

Unless they feel their life is going too smoothly and they don't want to live anymore...

If the parties involved deny such a thing, then it is considered a rumor against the Xia family's children. Anyone who dares to start this will have to bear the Xia family's wrath. And during the Xia family's heyday... who would dare to do this?

They're probably tired of living.

Tang Yanyan knew from the beginning that Xia Yuxin, when she was young, was very outspoken in front of her friends after they became close, and she would reveal all her secrets.

Although she wouldn't say it outright, if she had such obvious clues and still couldn't figure out that Xia Yuxin liked Xia Che, then Tang Yanyan felt that she was being incredibly stupid.

The room suddenly became quiet.

For the first time, Xia Yuxin shut her mouth, slowly suppressing her excess emotions, and her expression returned to calm.

Tang Yanyan didn't urge her.

She planned to give Xia Yuxin plenty of time before listening to what she intended to do.

Such forbidden love stories have occurred not uncommon even among aristocratic families.

However, most of these occurred in the last century and have disappeared by modern times.

After all, everyone knows that.

Forbidden love between blood relatives will never lead to anything, will bring shame to the clan, and the child born will have a high probability of being born with a Tang surname, although there is a very slight chance that the child might mutate into a genius...

But everyone knows that.

No one dares to gamble on such a minuscule probability.

"No one would know, how could anyone know? Even he himself doesn't know..."

After a long silence, Xia Yuxin gave a self-deprecating smile. It was a bitter smile, like that of an honest person who had been bullied to the point of desperation, powerless to fight back, and could only stammer, "Why?"

"I understand all the pros and cons you've mentioned... That's why I've only ever dared to have a crush on you secretly. Oh well... Most of my childhood playmates have forgotten about this. Even if a few have good memories, they wouldn't really take those feelings seriously. Only you know the real story, so there's no harm in telling you."

Xia Yuxin rubbed her messy hair, revealing an undeniable weariness.

During this period, Xia Yuxin has hardly had a single night of peaceful sleep.

My brother is still in China, surrounded by danger, and I can't bring him to New York. Now he's under house arrest...

That clandestine crush ended with Xia Che remaining unaware, while he endured hellish torment every day, unable to find peace of mind for even a moment.

perhaps……

This is the best outcome.

Only by tormenting yourself can the person you love be freed.

"Can't we give up?"

Tang Yanyan frowned slightly and said impatiently, "There are plenty of men in the world who are better than Xia Che. I can assume that your feelings for him were just childish naivety, but now that you understand how serious the consequences of this matter are, why not just give up?"

"Anyway, Xia Che doesn't know either, so you might as well let go of your feelings for him and pretend nothing happened."

Tang Yanyan really couldn't understand what qualities Xia Che possessed that could make her so infatuated.

At first, she thought Xia Yuxin was being misled, perhaps unaware of the consequences of this forbidden love.

After all, biological knowledge about procreation is not widespread in China, and given Xia Yuxin's age of around 18, it's quite possible that she wouldn't know.

But now it seems... this girl already knew?

Then why not give up?

"Tang Yanyan, if one day you also have someone you like, but you can't be with them for various reasons, you'll be just as foolish as I was."

Xia Yuxin's lips twitched, her smile poignant.

Everyone knows what the consequences of this relationship will be; how could she not know?

only……

I just can't let it go.

"I won't. I have absolutely no interest in romance. Dating a man is... better to die than to me."

A hint of disgust flashed across Tang Yanyan's brows.

Perhaps it was because of the things Xia Che did to Tang Yanyan when she was still in her childhood, when her understanding of relationships was still immature, that led to Tang Yanyan's behavior as an adult...

She has an almost instinctive aversion to men.

She even started to hate men.

How could someone with misogyny tendencies fall in love with a man?

Xia Yuxin's assumption was nonexistent from the beginning.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, or you'll easily run into trouble."

Xia Yuxin's gaze was deep and thoughtful: "My brother said that those people who guarantee they will never do this or that... are actually the same kind of people as those who popped champagne at halftime. Both of them set a flag, and it was only a matter of time before they crashed and burned."

"Stop trying to fool me with your brother's words. You should worry about yourself instead."

Tang Yanyan rolled her eyes at Xia Yuxin, downed the tea in her cup in one gulp, then placed the empty cup on the coffee table and said indifferently, "In short... as a former friend, I still advise you to give up your feelings for Xia Che as soon as possible, that would be best."