Chapter 282, Part 2

282:

Both of them deliberately avoided the topic, and the matter was thus glossed over.

Ye Qingxi acted as if nothing had happened, ate pancakes with Mu Shaowu that evening, and then went to sleep.

He sent a message to Feng Que just before going to sleep.

He wanted to meet Feng Que at noon on Monday, hoping that Feng Que would wait for him at a dessert shop near their school around 1 p.m.

Upon seeing this message, Feng Que guessed that it must be related to today's events.

"Okay," he replied.

Ye Qingxi: [But you can't tell my dad about this, okay?]

Phoenix Palace: ...

Ye Qingxi: [If Uncle Feng doesn't agree, I won't be able to meet you.]

Phoenix Palace: ...

Having no other choice, Feng Que could only agree again: 【Okay.】

Ye Qingxi: [If Uncle Feng tells my dad, then I'll be punished by getting last place in the midterm exam.]

Phoenix Palace: ? ? ?

Why are you being punished? Shouldn't I be the one being punished?

Ye Qingxi: [Because I was the one who invited you, I'm being punished.]

Ye Qingxi: [It's okay, Uncle Feng. As long as you don't tell my dad, I won't get the lowest score.]

Feng Que: ...This child is far too clever.

"Fine," Feng Que said helplessly.

Ye Qingxi was satisfied and then exited the WeChat chat window.

He gently touched the jade leaf pendant on his hand.

He felt the gift was too precious and that he, who only had a casual acquaintance with Old Master Feng, was not worthy to accept it.

Now, he can finally return it to him.

Perhaps, he should never have had it in the first place.

Ye Qingxi closed her eyes and quietly drifted off to sleep.

The next day at noon, Ye Qingxi had lunch with Mu Shaowu, Qin Luan, and Qin Cheng as usual.

The four finished their meal before 1 p.m., and Ye Qingxi, Qin Cheng, Mu Shaowu, and Qin Luan said goodbye and returned to their student dormitory.

Having only sat in the dormitory for a few minutes, Ye Qingxi figured that his father should have already left, so he said to Qin Cheng, "Brother, I'm going out for a bit, I'll be back in a little while."

Qin Cheng asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to see an uncle."

"I'll go with you." Qin Cheng stood up.

Ye Qingxi shook her head, "Brother, don't worry, it's an uncle you know, he's the director of our film crew."

Qin Cheng: ?

Qin Cheng asked, puzzled, "Didn't you finish filming? Why do you still want to see him?"

"I have something to tell him."

Qin Cheng understood now.

Ye Qingxi wouldn't let him go, definitely because she didn't want him to know what he wanted to say.

“Then how about this,” Qin Cheng looked at him, “I’ll go with you, and you two can talk your way. I won’t listen; I’ll sit on the other side.”

Ye Qingxi: "Huh?"

Qin Cheng nodded, "Anyway, I definitely can't let you go alone."

Ye Qingxi: ...

Well, Ye Qingxi sighed helplessly; what could he do when his brother was so protective of him?

"Then you must promise me that you will not tell anyone else about this, including your father, mother, uncle, grandfather, aunt, and uncle."

"And my father too," Ye Qingxi emphasized.

Qin Cheng: ...What is it? Nobody else can know.

He nodded. "Okay."

Ye Qingxi then took him to a nearby dessert shop.

Feng Que had already arrived. When he entered the store, he waved to him, and then he saw Qin Cheng following Ye Qingxi.

Why did you bring his brother along? Feng Que wondered.

Qin Cheng was worried about Ye Qingxi, and Ye Qingxi was also worried about him, fearing that something might happen to him sitting alone.

But he didn't want Qin Cheng to know that his father was pretending to be Feng Que's boyfriend—after all, his father didn't seem to want others to know.

So after seeing the location Feng Que had chosen, he specifically selected a window seat for Qin Cheng that was neither too far nor too close, a seat where Qin Cheng could have a good view.

Qin Cheng saw that he could see him from this spot and walked over with satisfaction.

Feng Que: ? ? Why did you go to another seat?

As he was pondering this, he saw Ye Qingxi walking over.

"Uncle Feng, have you eaten?" Ye Qingxi smiled at him and sat down opposite him.

"I've eaten, what about you?"

“I ate it too.”

Feng Que pushed the dessert she had ordered for him earlier in front of him, "Then have some dessert after dinner."

After saying that, he waved and ordered a dish for Qin Cheng, which he then had the waiter deliver.

Ye Qingxi did not refuse.

He took a bite of the tiramisu in front of him; it tasted pretty good.

"So, do you like it?" Feng Que asked.

Ye Qingxi nodded, "It's delicious."

"Then see what else you want to eat, and I'll buy it for you."

"No need," Ye Qingxi said with a smile. "I invited you here today, Uncle Feng, not so that you would treat me to something."

"That is...?" Feng Que asked in confusion.

Ye Qingxi lowered his head and took out the box containing the jade pendant he had been wearing on his wrist.

—He took it off and put it inside right after he got back to his dorm.

The reason they didn't pick them in the morning was because they were afraid Mu Shaowu would notice and become suspicious.

“Uncle Feng, this is a gift from your grandfather. He didn’t know that my father was an actor. He thought he was really your boyfriend and that he might be my great-grandfather in the future, so he gave this to me.”

“But my father isn’t, and neither is he, so I hope you can help me return it to him.”

Phoenix Palace: ...

Feng Que hadn't expected that he had invited him here for this reason, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.

“Xiao Xi, what happened between you and your father has nothing to do with you and your great-grandfather.”

How could that be? Ye Qingxi thought to herself, then why didn't Grandpa Feng give it to Qin Cheng?

Looking back now, when Grandpa Feng first met him and Qin Cheng, they were all children, complete strangers to Grandpa Feng. Yet, Grandpa Feng gave him the jade pendant he always wore close to his body.

This in itself is a signal of closeness.

At that time, he probably already thought he was his future great-grandson.

"Uncle Feng, there's something I want to tell you, and you might be angry, but I still want to say it." Ye Qingxi looked at the person in front of her and said seriously, "You should go and apologize to your grandfather."

“Your father and I are acting, it’s not real, but your grandfather isn’t acting. He really has always liked me, wanted to be close to me, and has always cared about me and taken care of me.”

"The gifts he gave were real, the time he spent was real, and the feelings he had were real."

"But he shouldn't have done all this for me."

"Uncle Feng, you shouldn't lie to him."

Ye Qingxi looked at him, her tone very gentle.

He and Old Master Feng shouldn't have any connection whatsoever.

But now, the other party has done so much for him.

How would he feel if the other person discovered that everything he had done was a mistake and that they had no relationship with him at all?

He must be feeling terrible.

However, he could have avoided this pain if Feng Que hadn't lied to him.

Ye Qingxi couldn't bring herself to ask Mu Shaowu to apologize. His father didn't want him to know about this, and he wanted to keep it completely untraceable. Ye Qingxi loved him, so he subconsciously wanted to do as his father wished.

But he wanted Feng Que to apologize to his grandfather.

To end the sacrifices that Grandpa Feng has made for me.

What's past is past and can't be changed, but what's future and hasn't happened yet can still be prevented.

"Please return this jade pendant to your grandfather and tell him that I am not his future great-grandson. He can give it to him when he has real great-grandchildren."

Phoenix Palace: ...

Hearing his words, Feng Que felt a tightness in her chest.

He said, "I'm sorry, Xiaoxi."

"It's okay." Ye Qingxi smiled. "It's always been my great-grandfather who has been good to me. I haven't done anything or given him anything, so it's really nothing to me."

"Don't your feelings and time count?" Feng Que asked him. "Don't your concern for him count?"

Even when Ye Qingxi left the film crew, she would remember to tell him to go home after he finished his work and to visit his grandfather. How could he have done nothing and contributed nothing as he claimed?

“If I hadn’t let you two have any contact from the beginning, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Ye Qingxi looked at him with a smile and said, "I'm not in pain."

"Besides, you're the grandson."

How could a grandson possibly stop his grandfather?

Feng Que's heart felt even more choked up in an instant.

He was being considerate of himself.

He said he wasn't upset, and I really hope he doesn't blame himself.

But who will understand him?

Feng Que had never seen a child so considerate of others.

He is always thinking of others.

For his father.

For his grandfather.

Even for him.

But not for himself.

Feng Que felt sorry for him.

It's heartbreaking to see him so young yet wanting to care for everyone around him.

He didn't want to be upset.

He genuinely didn't want Ye Qingxi to be upset.

"Then I'll go first, Uncle Feng," Ye Qingxi said softly. "I have class this afternoon, I have to go."

“Alright,” Feng Que said, “I’ll see you off.”

"No need, Uncle Feng, my brother and I will go together."

Feng Que looked at him, remained silent for a long time, and finally agreed.

"Can we still chat in the future?" he asked Ye Qingxi. "If I want to find you, can I still do so?"

"Of course," Ye Qingxi said to him, "You're still my Uncle Feng~"

Feng Que managed a forced smile.

He saw Ye Qingxi and Qin Cheng out of the dessert shop, watched them enter the school, and then slowly returned to his car.

Feng Que sat in the driver's seat, but did not rush to start the car. Instead, he sat quietly and silently.

He wondered, why did it turn out this way?

Initially, he wanted Mu Shaowu to pretend to be his boyfriend, just to appease his parents.

He didn't think it was a big deal.

But unexpectedly, things snowballed, getting bigger and bigger, more and more troublesome. Now that the matter has been exposed, the first to be hurt are Ye Qingxi and his grandfather.

One was young, the other old; they should have been the most protected, yet they suffered pain because of him that they shouldn't have had to endure.

He clearly didn't mean to hurt them, so why did he make them unhappy?

What can he do to get everything back to normal?

They all seem as if they've never been hurt.

Feng Que thought for a long time, and suddenly, something flashed through his mind.

What if he and Mu Shaowu weren't a fake?

If they do indeed become lovers, each other's boyfriends, then Ye Qingxi and her grandfather's relationship will naturally remain unchanged.

Ye Qingxi can still be close to his grandfather.

His grandfather can still continue to show his love for Ye Qingxi.

As long as he is Mu Shaowu's boyfriend.