Chapter 14

In the darkness, Chen Yan curled up on the bed and cried secretly.

The mattress was incredibly soft, the softest he had ever slept in in the ten years he had lived, but he couldn't fall asleep. He felt guilty, worried about his mother-in-law in the hospital room, and fearful of the unknown future.

But he also knew very well in his heart that after this night, he would no longer be Chen Yan, but Chen Yan...

*

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the villa. Xiang Wan was sitting by the French windows eating breakfast when she saw someone slowly walking down the stairs, at which point she put down her tablet.

Good morning, Xiaoyan.

The other person paused for a moment, then spoke after a second: "Good morning, Miss."

Xiang Wan blinked. She didn't know why, but every time the little devil called her "Miss," she felt strange.

She thought and thought, "From now on, just call me 'older sister'."

"..." Chen Yan's eyes flickered for a moment. "Good morning, sister."

"Sit down and eat. See what kind of breakfast you like, and we'll have the kitchen make it for you next time."

"good."

After finishing her meal, Xiang Wan took her private car to school. Chen Yan's student registration hadn't been finalized yet; she would transfer him to Bei Yi Affiliated Primary School in two weeks to start fourth grade. She didn't need to worry about any of this; Li Xia had already arranged everything.

In the car, Xiang Wan looked at yesterday's international news bulletin. A foreign politician was exposed for a scandal, but it was all something that had happened in her previous life, so it was pretty much the same.

She looked up from the tablet and glanced at Wang Yidong in the passenger seat: "Take Xiaoyan to the mall and buy her some clothes that fit."

Before Wang Yidong could reply, Xiang Wan changed her mind again: "Never mind, I'll take her this weekend."

"Isn't Miss going to the horse farm this Saturday?" Wang Yidong asked.

"It's not too late to go to the horse farm after you buy the clothes."

"Then I'll make the arrangements."

*

Saturday morning.

Xiang Wan rode Longyuan around the horse farm several times until the sun went down before she stopped. She dismounted and led the horse back at a leisurely pace.

Looking at the sky bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun and feeling the early autumn sunshine, her face was full of contentment.

Looking at the time, it was already late. Xiang Wan led Long Yuan back, fed it some food herself, and then returned to where Wang Yidong and the others were.

Wang Yidong and Xia Yueshen were eating dessert when they saw her coming over. Xia Yueshen handed her a bottle of mineral water and asked, "Why did you ride for so long today?"

Xiang Wan took the water and drank a couple of sips, then wiped her sweat with the handkerchief Wang Yidong handed her: "It's been a long time since I rode a horse."

Xia Yueshen asked, puzzled, "Didn't they just come here two weeks ago?"

Xiang Wan, 12, had just visited the horse farm two weeks ago, while Xiang Wan, 26, hadn't ridden a horse for almost a year.

The year she passed away was a crucial time for the Xiang Group to enter the automotive industry. In addition, she also had to worry about her wedding with Zhou Chengze. That year was extremely busy for her, and she hardly had any time to rest.

Her only vacation was when she went to the estate to play golf, but it was during that trip that she suffered a heart attack and died.

If it were truly due to illness, that would be one thing, but she ended up learning the truth: her death was merely paving the way for the male and female leads, propelling their romantic relationship forward.

Xiang Wan felt annoyed and didn't want to answer the question directly or lie, so she changed the subject: "Where's the kid?"

Xia Yueshen gestured with his chin toward the artificial lake: "They're watching the swans there."

"Swans?" Xiang Wan followed her gaze and saw Chen Yan sitting alone by the lake, quietly watching the swans in the lake, lost in thought.

The profile view is quite sad, but it looks a bit strange on the face of a ten-year-old child.

Xiang Wan smiled, walked behind him, and sat down next to him: "Are you thinking about your pet?"

Arriving alone in a faraway and unfamiliar place at such a young age, it's no wonder he's homesick. Without even asking, she could guess that he must be missing that wicked little-eyed man.

She turned her head to look at him, but saw a faint glimmer of water in his eyes. She turned her head away, pretending not to see anything, and looked at the lake in front of her.

“Its name is Green Fur. Its eggs can supplement my mother-in-law’s nutrition. Our family is very poor and can’t afford to buy eggs. I found Green Fur in the mountains. It’s not a pet, it’s my family.”

His voice was cautious, as if he was terrified that she would be angry, yet it carried a childlike stubbornness.

"And what about you?" Xiang Wan asked, looking into his eyes.

Chen Yan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she wasn't angry, but he was puzzled by her question: "What about me?"

"Then how will you supplement your nutrition?" There was no disdain in Xiang Wan's eyes; it was as if she was genuinely asking a question.

Upon hearing this, Chen Yan was somewhat stunned, as if he had never considered this question before. His eyes first showed confusion, followed by an unconscious attempt to put on a brave face: "I am very healthy and do not need nutritional supplements."

A ten-year-old child is at an age where he needs to supplement his nutrition. While other children are pampered by their parents and grandparents, who feed them meat, vegetables, and fruits in turn, for fear that they will lack nutrition, he has to rack his brains to figure out how to supplement his grandmother's nutrition.

Zhou Chengze still had his crown prince mother to protect him, but Chen Yan had no one to rely on except for a mother-in-law who was not related to him by blood.

Xiang Wan didn't speak, but simply sat beside him, the two of them quietly watching the lake, each lost in their own thoughts...

On the other side, Xia Yueshen and Wang Yidong were also watching the two from behind.

As if she had been holding back for a long time, but still felt she had to speak out, Xia Yueshen glanced at the backs of the two children, and then looked at Wang Yidong.

"Are all kids these days so precocious? Or is it just your young lady who's like this?"

"What's the meaning?"

Xia Yueshen's voice carried a hint of suppressed amusement, mixed with disbelief: "Your young lady is only 12 years old, yet she calls a 10-year-old a brat?"

"If I'm not mistaken, they're only two years apart, right? Aren't they all kids?"

"..." Wang Yidong was silent for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh out loud.

On the way back in the private car, Xiang Wan leaned against the backrest, but out of the corner of her eye she noticed Xia Yueshen glancing at her from time to time, and trying to get away with her clumsy acting skills.

She thought she was suppressing her laughter naturally, but in fact, the corners of her mouth never actually disappeared.

"..." Xiang Wan originally wanted to pretend she didn't see anything, but when she saw Wang Yidong doing the same thing, she looked away from the window and said in a light tone, "What are you laughing at?"

"I wasn't laughing at anything," Xia Yueshen said stubbornly.

'...If she believed that, she wouldn't be surnamed Xiang.' Xiang Wan turned to look at Wang Yidong, who was making a better breakthrough, but before she could ask, Xia Yueshen across from her couldn't help but chuckle and said, 'Why don't you call her little devil anymore?'

"..."

Xiang Wan clearly realized what the two childish kids were laughing at her for. Although her body was only 12 years old, she was actually 26 years old, so it was perfectly normal for her to call a 10-year-old kid a little devil.

But they didn't know about her rebirth, and she couldn't say anything, so she could only let out a cold laugh to express her displeasure: "Heh."

Xia Yueshen's smile had already subsided considerably, but seeing her cold sneer only made him laugh even harder.

Seeing the person laughing so hard, Xiang Wan's forehead instantly creased with a few black lines. Xia Yueshen, that childish brat, was the same way in her previous life when she was over 30. Her threshold for laughter was so low that she could laugh nonstop even if someone told a lame joke.

She turned her head to look out the window, ignoring her teasing, but overlooking Chen Yan in the back seat, who was also staring thoughtfully at the back of her head...

*

When the car stopped at the Xiang family villa, Xiang Wan was still a little dazed. She had just fallen asleep in the car, and it wasn't until the cold wind blew into the car after the window was rolled down that she became more awake.

Xia Yueshen had also fallen asleep. Feeling the car stop, she asked groggily, "We're here already?"

"Mm," Wang Yidong replied.

Xiang Wan was completely wide awake. Just as she was about to open her car door, she met the gaze of a pair of mischievous, beady eyes outside the car: "..."

As early as yesterday, when she came home from school, she saw a little kid sitting in the courtyard, staring blankly at the trees. His eyes, like those of a wet kitten, were so pitiful that it was hard not to feel sorry for him.

At that time, she sent someone to Lijia Village to bring back that evil little-eyed, dim-witted goose.

But to everyone's surprise, the first person that evil little-eyed creature sought out upon arriving in Beiyi was not its owner, but her.

The man and the goose gazed at each other, just like the day they first met.

Xiang Wan only breathed a sigh of relief when Chen Yan found it and called out its name.

"Green Hair, what are you doing here?"

Even a brat who can't show his emotions is still just a child at heart, and everyone can feel his joy. He got out of the car, knelt down on one knee, hugged the green-haired boy's neck, and looked at Xiang Wan with misty eyes: "Thank you, sister."

The word "older sister" was pronounced haltingly, with a hint of shyness in her voice.

Xiang Wan smiled without saying a word, while Xia Yueshen circled the goose in surprise: "Is this a pet goose?"

Few people keep geese as pets, and it's normal for her to be surprised when she first saw one since she didn't go to Lijia Village with them.

“His name is Green Hair, and he’s a member of the kid’s family,” Xiang Wan explained casually.

"All right."

Xiang Wan didn't watch the geese with them. Instead, she went straight to the study by herself. It was still early before bedtime, and she wanted to read for a while longer.

The study was spacious, with walls lined with bookshelves crammed with books, most of which she had already read. She lingered on the shelves for a while before finally picking up a psychology book.

After learning about Zhou Chengze's ambitions in her previous life, Xiang Wan gradually became fascinated by human nature. She naturally knew that human nature was inherently evil, but as she gained more experience, she felt that human nature was also complex.

She was so engrossed in her book that she didn't realize it was already 10:30 until Wang Yidong knocked on the door with a glass of milk.

She took the milk and drank it all in one gulp, only to find that there were two cups of milk on the tray. Wang Yidong took the empty cup from her and asked, "Should I go and give the milk to Chen Yan?"

"I'll go instead."

"good."

As soon as Xiang Wan arrived at the little devil's room, the door opened before she could even knock. She was a little surprised and only after pushing the door open did she find Chen Yan standing behind it.

He didn't speak, but just looked at her with his smiling eyes. Unable to bear this puppy-like gaze, Xiang Wan unconsciously smiled as well.

"Xiaoyan, why aren't you asleep yet?"

He remained silent, but the meaning in his eyes was clear: 'I'm waiting for you.'

After he finished drinking his milk, Xiang Wan turned off the light for him: "Goodnight, Xiao Yan."

Just as she was about to close the door and leave, she heard a soft whisper from under the covers: "Why..."

"Um?"

"Why don't you call me 'little devil' anymore, and instead call me 'Xiao Yan'?" He peeked out from under the covers and stared into her eyes as he asked.

Xiang Wan was taken aback by the question and pondered for a few seconds before replying, "Because you will be my adopted sister from now on."

"My sister..." His voice was very soft, so soft that only he could hear it.

"Huh?" Xiang Wan asked, not having heard clearly.

'When she finds out she lied to him, will she still call him Xiao Yan so tenderly?' Chen Yan forced himself not to think about sad things, but his eyes couldn't help but look downcast.

"nothing."

In the darkness, Xiang Wan couldn't see his expression, but she could hear him say, "Goodnight, sister."

Goodnight, Xiaoyan.