Chen Xu noticed that many people were looking at the windows on the second floor of the sales office, and asked, "Are those your colleagues up there?"

"Don't worry about them, let's go."

Yang Jinxia let go of his hand, looked at him, and said with a smile, "You look more energetic after getting your hair cut." She pulled up the collar of his shirt, "Your clothes are new, too, right?"

Chen Xu raised his arm and sniffed the jacket, which had a unique smell of new clothes, and asked, "Is the smell strong?"

"It's okay." Yang Jinxia took him and walked to the back of the sales office where her car was parked.

Before getting in the car, she handed him the keys.

Chen Xu did not refuse. He took the key, got in the car, and asked her, "What do you want to eat for dinner?"

"You decide."

"Okay, I'll take you to eat something special today."

Chen Xu drove to the riverside and turned into a street. Most of the residential buildings in this area were built in the 1990s. They were neither new nor old, and they were all self-built, with each building housing one family.

The car stopped in front of a restaurant.

"This place is opened by a relative of a high school classmate of mine. The pork belly chicken here is pretty good. After the college entrance examination, our class had a party and we ate here once."

Chen Xu took her into the restaurant. The decoration inside was a bit old, but it was very lively and almost full.

"It seems there are no seats left. Do we have to wait?" Yang Jinxia asked.

"No need." Chen Xu took out his cell phone and called the classmate. After finding out everything, he said to the waiter, "My name is Chen Xu. I've booked the Qingsong private room. Could you please take me there?"

"Wait a moment." After confirming, the waiter took them to a private room.

After sitting down, Chen Xu saw Yang Jinxia looking at him thoughtfully and asked, "What's wrong?"

She said, "I just didn't expect you to be so thoughtful and arrange everything before you came."

"It's better to be prepared. Make more preparations so that you won't be panicked when the time comes." Chen Xu said as he unpacked the two sets of bowls and plates, took the kettle of hot water, and washed the bowls and chopsticks.

Yang Jinxia watched his movements with a change of expression in her eyes, and said softly, "It seems that I need to get to know you again."

Chen Xu smiled and said, "Even if you regret it now, it's too late." Then he placed the washed dishes in front of her.

"I have a gift for you."

He took the box from his pocket and handed it over.

"What's this?" She took the box with a look of surprise.

"Open it and take a look."

There was some anticipation in her eyes. She opened the lid, looked at the necklace between the yellow brocade, looked at him happily, and said, "It's very beautiful."

"As long as you like it."

She took out the necklace, placed it in her palm, and looked at the sun-shaped pendant. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it. With a smile on her face, she said, "Put it on me."

Chen Xu stood up and walked behind her. She lifted her hair with one hand, revealing her slender white neck.

He took the necklace from her hand, unbuttoned it, put his arms in front of her, held one end of the necklace with one hand, and slowly pulled it closer.

When buttoning her shirt, he ran the back of his fingers across the skin on the back of her neck. The pink touch made his heart flutter slightly.

"Okay." He withdrew his hand and returned to his seat.

Yang Jinxia let down her hair, took out a makeup mirror from her bag, and looked at herself in the mirror.

Chen Xu was very happy to see that she really liked it.

To be honest, he used to send gifts to his ex-girlfriend, but every time he was rejected, he was accused of having a straight male aesthetic. After a few times, he stopped sending gifts. When they broke up, this became one of his faults, saying that he never sent gifts on holidays and birthdays.

Yang Jinxia finally put down the mirror in her hand and picked up the chopsticks.

The two of them ate and chatted, talking about a variety of topics under the sun.

When Chen Xu was with her, he was always very talkative. No matter what topic he talked about, she would always listen patiently, sometimes replying with a few words, and even if she couldn't, she would not show an impatient expression, let alone interrupt him.

This feeling is really great.

Of course, he wouldn't talk all the time. When he found that she didn't respond much, he knew she was not interested and quickly changed the subject.

Halfway through his meal, his cell phone rang. He picked it up and said, "It's my mom. Let me pick it up."

"Um."

On the phone, my mother first asked him where he was, and then asked about his girlfriend. Her words implied that he should bring her back.

"Mom, I'm eating. Let's talk when I get back. Okay." Chen Xu said and hung up the phone.

Yang Jinxia asked, "What did Auntie say?"

"Nothing." Chen Xu picked up a piece of meat for her and said, "Eat quickly, the food will get cold soon."

Yang Jinxia asked curiously, "Are you not very close to your aunt?"

"Why do you ask?" Chen Xu was a little puzzled.

"I've seen other people say similar things to their parents over the phone, and they all sound a little impatient," she explained. "You were a little too polite when you said it just now. It was more like you were talking to a friend."

Chen Xu was startled, put down the chopsticks in his hand, crossed his hands, and said, "Do you think this is bad?"

She said, "I just don't understand why you have to restrain yourself like this, to others, to me, to grandma, and to your parents."

Chen Xu talked about an old story. "I have an uncle who loved me very much when I was a child. He also had a very good relationship with my family. When I was in high school, he and my father had a quarrel over business matters, and we said some rather excessive things to each other. After that, he never interacted with our family again. Whenever he saw me, he had a cold face. When I asked him questions, he ignored me."

"In fact, it was a very small matter. My dad calmed down not long after that. But he didn't expect that my uncle still remembers it. The relationship between the two families can't be restored. He is my mother's biological brother."

He said this and sighed, "This incident has touched me deeply. In fact, the people who hurt you the most are often the ones closest to you. The people who look down on you the most are also likely to be the ones closest to you."

“I kept wondering, why is this happening?”

"Later, I began to understand that human habits are terrible. It is easy to get used to the kindness of your parents and relatives, and then take it for granted. When a person thinks that another person should treat him in a certain way, it is the beginning of the destruction of the relationship."

"You are my parents, so you should buy me a car and a house. I gave birth to you, so you should listen to my arrangements. You are my boyfriend, so you should give in to me... If he doesn't get what he wants, he will be disappointed, angry, and sad. Then he will get mad at him."

"Just listening to me say this, don't you think it's outrageous? But such things happen all the time."

"The person closest to you is often the one you ignore the most. In front of him, you can take off all your disguises and use vicious words to hurt him without any scruples. And you don't even realize it."

"Sometimes, when I think about how I treated my parents and relatives in the past, I feel guilty."

"I didn't want to hurt them at all, so I just listened to them."

"But it didn't take long for me to realize that this wouldn't work. Because I also didn't want them to hurt me like this."

"I would rather step back and give each other some distance. I respect you and I hope you can respect me. Isn't that good?"

Yang Jinxia listened to him quietly, without saying a word from beginning to end, but her expression was a little shocked, and her eyes contained something that Chen Xu could not understand.

Finally, she said in a very gentle tone, "I wish I had met you earlier."

PS: In this last chapter before the book goes on sale, the protagonist tells his philosophy of life. Finally, the next chapter will be after 12 o'clock tonight. I hope everyone can subscribe. Thank you.

(End of this chapter)