Chapter 79 Ancestral Hall
"Okay, okay."
The assistant had been with Chen Fu Ji for three years and did not know the story behind this property.
He took a quick look at the layout of the house. "Many of the residents here have moved away. Young people generally live in the east part of the city now. Mr. Chen, it might take some time to sell it."
"Yeah." Chen Fu Ji didn't say anything else, went straight out and got back into the car.
——
The ancestral hall of Xie's house is deep and quiet.
Sandalwood incense floated slowly in the air, and the candlelight reflected the golden words on the tablet, emitting a cold light.
Xie Siyan had been kneeling on the mat for three days, his knees numb. He took advantage of the break between the night watchmen's shifts to secretly have his cell phone delivered.
When charging, the blue light from the screen was particularly dazzling in the dim ancestral hall.
He swiped open the lock screen, and Mu Jia's message popped up -
Where are you?
Just three words, no unnecessary questions, no anxious urging.
Xie Siyan stared at the screen for a few seconds, pursed his lips slightly, and finally turned off the screen.
This time, Xie's mother was really angry, and even Chen Fu Ji's persuasion was of no avail.
"Do you want me to tell Zhou Xu?" Chen Fu Ji stood at the door of the ancestral hall, his voice very low.
"No need." Xie Siyan said in a hoarse voice without raising his head.
After nightfall, the ancestral hall became even quieter.
Xie Siyan called Mu Jia.
The moment the call was connected, he heard a slight nasal sound coming from her.
"Xie Siyan?"
"I'm locked up here and can't go out, so I didn't receive the previous news," he whispered, his voice particularly clear in the empty ancestral hall.
Mu Jia's voice immediately became clearer: "Where are you? Can I make a video call?"
"It's very dark here." Xie Siyan said.
"It doesn't matter."
Mu Jia's video call came in quickly.
Xie Siyan adjusted the camera and let it sweep across the ancestral hall - the dim candlelight, the cold and hard tablet, and the cushion where he had been kneeling for three days. After a circle, Xie Siyan himself finally appeared in the camera.
Mu Jia's gaze ignored his face, which was still extremely outstanding even when it looked depressed, and fell directly on his hand.
"Your hand," she said, her voice slightly tense, "has anyone changed the dressing on you recently?"
Change dressing?
Xie Siyan looked down at his wrist wrapped in gauze.
The wound aches slightly.
During these three days, he was lucky enough to have someone bring him a meal every day. Who would remember to change his medicine?
But at least she hadn't completely forgotten him.
I won't die. He smiled, his voice light and airy, as if he was talking about the weather today. But before the corners of his mouth could fully open, he saw Mu Jia's face on the other side of the screen wrinkle.
She didn't speak or smile.
Those always bright eyes were now fixed on the bleeding gauze on his wrist, her lips were pursed until they were pale, and Xie Siyan could even see her slightly trembling eyelashes, casting a small shadow under the light of the screen.
"Mu Jia," he suddenly said, his tone deliberately frivolous, "Are you going to drop your little pearl?"
This sentence seemed to have revealed something.
Mu Jia sniffed sharply, and after hearing what he said, her nasal tone became even heavier.
Xie Siyan couldn't help but smile, his eyes looking especially gentle in the candlelight. "Your reaction," he whispered, "was beyond my expectations."
"What's the reaction?" Mu Jia's voice was muffled.
Xie Siyan's gaze passed through the screen, as if looking into her heart.
He recalled her hurried back as she turned to the bathroom that night, and his voice softened unconsciously: "I thought you didn't want me anymore."
Mu Jia's fingertips unconsciously clenched the corner of the quilt, and her eyes did not move away from his face.
Hearing Cheng Yuan's words gave her a great shock.
Later, after Xie Siyan left, she thought about it -
First of all, that was just Cheng Yu'an's one-sided statement; she didn't quite believe that she was so charming that Xie Siyan would plot against her.
Secondly, their relationship is stable now, so just think that she is just craving this short-lived tenderness.
She didn't want to face Cheng Yuan's words now.
The dim light in the ancestral hall made Xie Siyan look a little more haggard than usual, but her eyes were still surprisingly bright, as if she wanted to engrave her appearance in her memory.
"Don't worry," he suddenly changed his tone to a relaxed one, and tapped the screen lightly with his fingers, as if touching her face from a distance, "I should be out in a few days."
The two chatted for a while, mostly with Xie Siyan teasing her and talking about insignificant gossip.
It wasn't until late at night that Mu Jia reluctantly hung up the phone. The moment the screen went dark, the smile on Xie Siyan's face also disappeared.
He stared at the black phone screen, on which was reflected his blurry image - the corners of his mouth still lingered with tenderness.
Outside the ancestral hall, the moonlight shone coldly on the bluestone slabs.
Xie Siyan slowly curled up his injured hand, and the stinging pain from the wound made him extremely sober.
The image of Mu Jia's red eyes still lingered in his mind. This realization made his heart feel like it was being tightly gripped by something, making it feel sore and swollen.
This is what it feels like to be cared for.
——
The day Cheng Yuan sent people to the villa to pack up things was a Saturday.
He didn't come in, but just told his men to pack up the things.
Xie Ling woke up and saw the group of people coming in and out of their bridal chamber, and hurriedly chased them out the door.
Then he found that it was Cheng Yuan standing outside the door.
The night wind blew up her thin nightgown, and her exposed ankles were dazzlingly white in the moonlight.
"Brother Yu'an..." Her eyes fell on his face, and she glanced at those people slightly, "Are you,... planning to separate from me?"
This sentence is difficult to say.
Cheng Yu'an stopped but didn't look back. He helped put the things in the car before turning back and saying, "I want to be alone for a while."
Xie Ling's fingers slowly loosened, and the hand that was pulling on his sleeve slipped away.
Sang Er was the only one who came. He was very quick and nimble, and quickly packed up everything. Cheng Yu'an took inventory, making sure nothing crucial was left out. He turned and got into the car without saying goodbye to her.
Xie Ling watched the two cars disappear from her sight, and suddenly remembered that on their wedding day when he put the ring on her finger, his expression seemed to be the same as today.
It is possible that you cannot keep someone by any means necessary.
Xie Ling suddenly thought of what Chen Fuji said in the hotel that time -
If it's yours, don't fight for it.
If it’s not yours, there’s no point fighting for it.
She now just proved the second half of the sentence: her marriage was an absolute joke.
Xie Ling suddenly began to doubt whether he had been wrong from the very beginning to pursue that tenderness by any means necessary.
Her parents died when she was young. Her mother treated her very well, but they maintained a proper relationship between master and servant. Chen Fu Ji always responded to her requests, but he was much colder in nature.
The appearance of Cheng Yu'an gave her the illusion of being cared for.
But now, she found that the care he showed at the beginning seemed to be just the simple feelings of a brother for his sister.
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