"Yanbo, can you give me some time to think about it..."
Tong Xiaohuai knew that Yan Bo was not wrong, and she also knew how deep Yan Bo's feelings for her were.
She couldn't bear to vent all her anxiety and unease on him, but she also couldn't act as if nothing was wrong and interact with him as she used to.
At least for now, she can't do it.
She thought her request would be rejected.
Unexpectedly, Yan Bo on the other end of the phone was silent for a while, and then agreed with her with a bit of helplessness.
"Okay, I'll text you in the next couple of days. If you've figured it out, or if there's anything you still don't understand, feel free to ask me."
Tong Xiaohuai hummed in agreement, and then heard Yan Bo speak.
"Xiao Huai, you have to believe me, I can't live without you. Even though you might think our backgrounds are completely different, none of that matters. What matters is that we love each other deeply, and that's enough!"
Tong Xiaohuai listened carefully to Yan Bo's words, "I know..."
"If you're tired, take a good rest. I'll text you later."
Yan Bo didn't try to pester Tong Xiaohuai. He said goodbye gently and hung up the phone.
Tong Xiaohuai threw the phone onto the bed and sat down beside it, staring blankly at the carpet.
Her family probably wouldn't object to her dating Yanbo.
After all, someone like Dad couldn't possibly be unaware of Yanbo's background and family history.
However, she couldn't understand why her father kept it from her if he knew.
She can ask her father to confirm this.
But how does the Yan family view their precious son dating the rich heiress?
Will they break up the couple just because she is the daughter of a wealthy family?
Tong Xiaohuai's mind was like a tangled mess; no matter how she tried to sort it out, she couldn't make sense of it.
She sat there blankly by the bed until she heard a knock on the door and her mother's voice.
"Xiao Huai, Uncle Guan has cooked some sweet soup and is keeping it warm in the pot. Get up and eat it in a bit."
Tong Xiaohuai replied, "Okay." He then instructed his mother through the door, "Mom, you should go to sleep. You don't look well."
"I'm going to sleep now, you should sleep for a while too. Tell Uncle Guan what you want to eat tonight."
Even if you put all the delicious food from all over the country in front of Tong Xiaohuai now, she probably wouldn't be able to taste anything.
At dinner, Tong Xiaohuai looked like a seedling with its leaves withered by frost, keeping her head down and only focusing on eating. Tong's mother and eldest son thought she was not feeling well and tried to ask her indirectly, but they couldn't get any information out of her.
The couple knew their daughter well; they knew she was very tight-lipped, and if she didn't want to talk, no one could pry her open her mouth to get any useful information.
After dinner, the couple, worried that their daughter might get sick from being bored, suggested that she go for a walk with them.
Tong Xiaohuai shook her head. "Dad, Mom, let's not go for a walk today. Let's chat for a while."
The Tong couple exchanged a glance, and a hint of worry appeared in each other's eyes.
Tong's mother held her hand, her inquisitive gaze fixed on her face.
"Should I only talk to Mom, or with Dad?"
Tong's mother is almost certain that her precious daughter's illness is not physical, but psychological.
Let's go together!
Tong Xiaohuai and her mother went to the living room and sat down on the sofa.
Afraid that her frail mother would get cold, Tong Xiaohuai specially asked the maid to bring over a blanket. The mother and daughter snuggled on the sofa, covering their feet with the blanket.
Having been automatically excluded, Boss Tong consciously sat down on the single sofa next to him.
"Dad, did you know about Yanbo's family situation all along?"
Tong Xiaohuai stopped beating around the bush and went straight to the point.
Tong Laoda was stunned for a moment, but quickly realized what was happening.
"Yes, I knew about his background and origins back when he first sent you flowers to congratulate you."
Tong Laoda had considered keeping it a secret, but now, it was undoubtedly impossible to hide it any longer.
My daughter isn't stupid. Instead of coming up with a bunch of lies to explain, it's easier to just admit it directly.
Tong's mother, however, was completely confused. She looked at Tong Laoda, then at Tong Xiaohuai, and finally asked Tong Laoda.
"What background or family history? Isn't he just the descendant of an official?"
Tong Xiaohuai glanced at Tong Laoda; it was clear she had passed the buck to the other side.
When it comes to his wife, Tong Laoda is particularly prone to losing his composure. Just now he had a calm and collected expression in front of his daughter, but now he stood up nervously and sat down next to Tong's mother on the other side.
Then, he took her hand, which had been icy cold ever since autumn began.
“Weiyao, Xiaoyan is a descendant of an official, but not an ordinary descendant of an official.”
Shen Weiyao stared at him. "How unusual is it?"
Under his wife's intense gaze, Tong Laoda scratched his head and finally answered sheepishly, "The third son of the most famous Yan family in the capital..."
Shen Weiyao gasped. "You mean, the Yan family in the capital?"
Tong Laoda nodded with a forced smile, "That's right... it's the Yan family."
Shen Weiyao fell silent.
Old Master Tong held Tong's mother's hand, turned his body to the side, and glanced at Tong's mother before finally landing on Tong Xiaohuai's face. "Girl, you know, don't you?"
Tong Xiaohuai nodded silently. She really wanted to question her father about why he hadn't told her about this from the beginning.
But what's the use of questioning now that things have come to this? It won't change anything at all.
"Did that brat Yanbo confess to you on his own initiative? He really wasn't very kind of him; how could he keep such a big thing from you?"
Seeing that his beloved daughter didn't seem to blame him, Tong Laoda started complaining about Yan Bo.
It's as if he, as a parent, can be forgiven for deliberately concealing things.
"It wasn't him, it was his childhood friend who said it unintentionally."
Tong Xiaohuai had no intention of saying anything about Tao Jia; she just wanted to understand why her father had chosen to keep this matter a secret.
"Dad, you knew perfectly well that his family was so prominent, why didn't you tell me sooner? Why didn't you remind me?"
Although my father had dealings with many officials, those officials were naturally different from those in the Yan family.
There is indeed a gray area between black and white, but a powerful family like the Yan family is obviously on the white side and would never mix with black.
Tong Laoda frowned slightly, stared at his daughter, and asked, "If I had told you from the beginning, what did you plan to do? Would you have put him on the list of people you would refuse to associate with from the start? Or would you have had some superficial contact with him, but not a deep relationship?"
Tong Xiaohuai didn't quite understand her father's logic, so she frowned and glared back at him.
“Dad, isn’t this inevitable? If I had known from the beginning that we were on completely different paths, I would never have had so much interaction with him, let alone developed the relationship we have today.”
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