099 Teacher Xie, would you be willing?
The village chief was completely baffled. "Does President Huo know about Xiaoman's recent news?"
“I know, and I also know where she is.” Huo Yanxi stood in front of the houseboat. “Village Chief, do you still have the blueprints for the houseboat? I want to rebuild this place.”
The traces of the fire are still there.
He always thought that Manman had set fire to the houseboat just to decisively break up with him.
He only realized now that she wasn't as heartless as he had imagined; at least after they separated, she was still willing to have their child.
The village chief said, "Yes, yes, I led the craftsmen to build the boat house for Grandma Chi back then. The blueprints are still at my house. I'll look for them later, and I should be able to find them."
"Thanks."
The village chief scratched his head. "Why are you being so polite with me? Without your investment, our little fishing village wouldn't be where it is today. You've changed our lives."
Huo Yanxi said calmly, "You don't need to stay with me. I want to stay here by myself for a while."
"Okay, please let us know if you need anything. We'll be going now." The village chief left with the others.
Huo Yanxi walked slowly to the main entrance of the boathouse. The weeds around the house had been cleared away, and tulips were blooming in the yard.
Half of the houseboat was severely burned, and after being exposed to wind and sun, half of it collapsed.
Huo Yanxi stood at the door for a while, then walked up the steps and sat down on the ground.
With the sea breeze on his face, he really wanted to make a video call to Manman so she could see their home.
He took out his phone and looked at Xie Yaoyao's profile picture on WeChat, which showed Xie Ziyu and Doubao.
The profile picture is newly changed; a person and a dog are sitting next to a rockery, with sunlight shining through the gaps in the rockery—a peaceful and serene scene.
Huo Yanxi opened the chat window and made a video call.
Xie Yaoyao was preparing her lesson when she heard her phone ring. She glanced at it.
Upon seeing Huo Yanxi's video call request, she hesitated for a moment before swiping to answer.
Soon, Huo Yanxi's face appeared on the other end of the phone. Xie Yaoyao looked at him through the lens and felt something was off.
"What are you doing?" Huo Yanxi asked.
Xie Yaoyao picked up her phone and waved it at her computer, saying, "Prepare lessons."
Huo Yanxi scanned a few keywords, none of which were related to Huo Zidu's Chinese lesson preparation.
He said, "Is this the lesson you prepared for those children abroad?"
"Yes, their Chinese has improved, so I've decided to broaden their knowledge and let them learn about Chinese culture," Xie Yaoyao said proudly when talking about her work.
Back when she was still in school, the most popular song was called "Chinese".
She finds the Chinese language incredibly appealing and wants to contribute to its global promotion.
Huo Yanxi looked at her chubby face on the phone screen. Only after confirming that she was Manman did he realize how blind he had been.
Actually, no matter how much weight she gained, she was still quite sturdy.
He was stuck in his own mindset, thinking he knew her well enough that she wouldn't allow herself to gain weight, much less allow herself to appear in front of him.
"Teacher Xie is truly great!"
Xie Yaoyao: "So-so, third in the world."
Looking at her smug expression, Huo Yanxi felt a bit like he was back in the old days.
He stared intently at her. "Teacher Xie, do you know where I am right now?"
The entire screen was filled with Huo Yanxi's large head, and Xie Yaoyao couldn't see anything else.
"Where are you?"
Huo Yanxi said, "Would you like to see the place where I grew up?"
Xie Yaoyao's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't Huo Yanxi's childhood home a small fishing village?
What was he going to the small fishing village for?
Before Xie Yaoyao could speak, Huo Yanxi had already turned the camera around and aimed it at the magnificent sea outside the courtyard.
Xie Yaoyao only goes back to her grandmother's house once a year, on the eve of her death anniversary, always going and returning at night.
She didn't even dare to appear near the boathouse, fearing that the group of people who wanted to kill her back then hadn't given up and were waiting for her to appear near the boathouse.
This was the first time in five years that she had seen a houseboat, and her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.
Afraid that Huo Yanxi would notice, she quickly blinked, suppressing the heat in her eyes.
"Where...is this?"
Huo Yanxi heard a hoarse voice coming from the phone. He said, "The boat house in the small fishing village, I used to grow up here."
Xie Yaoyao saw the screen shaking. Huo Yanxi stood up, and the phone moved with him. She saw the tulips in the yard.
White, pink, red, purple, orange...
They fluttered in the wind, and she could even imagine Grandma Chi carefully taking care of them.
Her eyes grew redder and redder, but fearing that Huo Yanxi would notice something was amiss, she suppressed her emotions and said, "The tulips in the yard are growing so well."
On the anniversary of her grandmother's death, she wanted to cut a bunch of flowers and send them to her grandmother's tombstone so that she could smell their fragrance.
Huo Yanxi said, "Yes, this was planted by my maternal grandmother. Now that no one is taking care of it, I didn't expect it to bloom so well."
"By the way, it's my maternal grandmother's death anniversary in a few days. I'm thinking of cutting a bunch of tulips and putting them in front of her tombstone. I wonder if she would like them?"
Xie Yaoyao's vision blurred. "President Huo's filial piety will surely make her happy."
"Then... on the anniversary of his death, could you come with me to cut a bouquet of flowers for the old man?" Huo Yanxi asked tentatively.
If he wanted to hold a grand celebration for his grandmother's seventh death anniversary, Manman definitely wouldn't show up that day.
But this day was very important to her, and he didn't want her to miss it and regret it for the rest of her life.
He made a special trip to the small fishing village today just to give Manman a way out.
She doesn't want him to know that she is Manman, so he will do as she wishes and pretend he doesn't know.
Xie Yaoyao sniffed. "Can I...?"
"Of course, Grandma would be very happy to see you, Teacher Xie. Would you like to?"
The camera pans, and Xie Yaoyao sees Huo Yanxi's face. Even in a close-up shot, he is still outrageously handsome.
Huo Yanxi looked at her quietly, his eyes full of expectation.
Xie Yaoyao was originally worried about how she could appear in front of her grandmother's tombstone without attracting anyone's attention or suspicion.
Now we have a perfectly legitimate reason.
She nodded slightly. "Okay, if I'm free that day, I'd be happy to go with Mr. Huo."
Huo Yanxi's brows relaxed, and he smiled slightly, "Thank you, Teacher Xie."
Xie Yaoyao said to him in her heart, "No, I am thanking you for allowing me to appear openly in front of my grandmother's tombstone on such an important day."
After hanging up the video call, Huo Yanxi walked out of the courtyard and stood by the sea. The sea breeze billowed his clothes, making his figure appear even more solitary.
An elderly man with a cane walked over and patted him on the shoulder. "Are you Xiao Huo?"
Huo Yanxi turned around and recognized the silver-haired old man in front of him at a glance.
"Are you Grandma Deng?"
Grandma Deng smiled kindly and gently, "It's kind of you to remember me. Did you come back alone? Didn't that girl Manman come back with you?"
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