Chapter 365 Brother, are you hungry?
"Yinyin was born without a mother. Can't my cousin be Yinyin's mother?"
As he said this, Xie Huaiyin held Xiao Qinghe's hand tighter, his little face full of anticipation and nervousness.
She was only three years old, and even though Xie Zhang had deliberately guided her in saying these words, they were more of her instinctive desire for maternal love.
Xiao Qinghe felt distressed, but shook her head firmly: "No."
"Why?"
Xie Huaiyin curled his lips, and his voice became tearful, as if he was about to cry.
Xiao Qinghe rubbed her head and said seriously: "Because your father loves you and your mother very much, and I also need to be loved."
Xie Huaiyin understood Xiao Qinghe's rejection and burst into tears. She hugged Xiao Qinghe's legs and said loudly: "Cousin, you are Yinyin's mother. Yinyin will love you very much. Is that okay?"
Xie Zhang had already been waiting behind the hanging flower gate at the junction of the outer courtyard and the backyard.
Today he was wearing a sky-blue brocade robe embroidered with pine needles, and his cuffs were accidentally stained with ink while he was teaching. Now he was standing in the night holding a lantern, blending in with the night, which was quite artistic.
From several steps away, Xie Zhang could hear Xie Huaiyin's soft sobs.
He held on to the lantern tightly, and when the two of them, one big and one small, came to him, he couldn't wait to ask, "Yinyin, what happened? Why are you crying?"
Hearing his voice, Xie Huaiyin immediately let go of Xiao Qinghe, threw herself into his arms and cried loudly, crying and saying, "Daddy, go home, Yinyin wants to go home."
Xie Huaiyin has always been obedient and sensible, and this is the first time he has cried and asked to go home like this.
Xie Zhang was heartbroken and couldn't help asking Xiao Qinghe, "Cousin He'er, what happened? Why did Yinyin suddenly want to go home?"
Xie Zhang's tone was serious, revealing a hint of blame.
Xiao Qinghe said truthfully: "Yinyin wanted to sleep with me at night, but I refused. Although I like Yinyin very much, I am not her mother after all."
In front of Xie Zhang, Xiao Qinghe said the same thing, and Xie Huaiyin cried even harder.
Xie Zhang somewhat disagreed with Xiao Qinghe's approach: "Yinyin is just a child. Cousin He'er can talk to me if she has anything to say. Yinyin shouldn't be forced to face this."
Because he felt sorry for his daughter, Xie Zhang's tone unconsciously carried a hint of blame.
Xiao Qinghe didn't feel guilty. She looked into Xie Zhang's eyes and said, "It's precisely because Yinyin is a child and has a pure nature that I don't want to coax her and let her misplace her trust, which would lead to further loss and pain in the future."
Without waiting for Xie Zhang to explain, Xiao Qinghe added, "Yinyin is indeed very cute, but she shouldn't be used as a tool to achieve her goals, Cousin Xie."
Xiao Qinghe directly exposed Xie Zhang's words, and the words on the tip of his tongue were choked back.
Xiao Qinghe finished his words, took two steps back, nodded, and said, "It's getting late, cousin Xie, please take Yinyin to rest."
After saying this, Xiao Qinghe turned and left without hesitation.
In the night, Xie Zhang's eyes were dim.
Cousin He'er is more perceptive and decisive than he imagined. If such a woman could become Yinyin's mother, she would definitely be able to teach Yinyin to be a model of a noble lady.
It’s a pity that he only has Yin’er in his heart and can’t spare any room for her.
Elsewhere, Xiao Qinghe was about to go back to the courtyard when Quezhi suddenly reminded her, "Miss, General Xiao said today that he had something important to tell you in person. Did you forget?"
Xiao Qinghe paused.
She really forgot.
When she heard An An fall, she didn't care about anything else. Later, Xie Huaiyin attracted all her attention and she completely forgot that Xiao Yechen wanted to see her.
Xiao Qinghe immediately turned around and walked towards the garden.
Quezhi couldn't help but say, "It's getting late now. General Xiao may have already left. Miss, you can send someone to the General's Mansion to explain and arrange another time to meet."
Xiao Qinghe insisted: "It's in the mansion anyway, so it doesn't hurt to go and take a look."
Although the Xiao family is rich, they are not extravagant. After nightfall, there is no one in the garden, so there are no lights on and it is pitch black.
When they reached the garden entrance, Quezhi was still persuading: "Miss, General Xiao should have gone home. Let's go back."
Xiao Qinghe took the lantern from her hand and said in a deep voice, "I'll go in and take a look. You wait here for a while."
Without waiting for Quezhi to speak again, Xiao Qinghe walked into the garden with a lantern.
The garden was quiet. The flowers and trees that were trimmed beautifully during the day turned into strange black shadows at this time. Only the dim light of the lanterns in people's hands could make people feel warm.
Xiao Qinghe raised the lantern and carefully examined the scene before him.
After looking around, he didn't see Xiao Yechen.
Really went back?
Xiao Qinghe breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave, but stopped after taking two steps and said tentatively, "Brother, if you keep hiding, I won't see you again."
As soon as he finished speaking, a tall figure appeared out of nowhere.
Xiao Yechen said hurriedly: "Sister He'er, I didn't mean to avoid you, I just... I just didn't expect you to come over so late."
After waiting for most of the day, the young lady didn't show up, and there wasn't even a message. The courage that Xiao Yechen had finally mustered was instantly gone. He had even thought about how to ask for permission to garrison at the border in two days.
He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice it was getting dark. He was just about to leave when he saw lights at the entrance of the garden. Xiao Qinghe came in the night with a lantern in hand, and every step she took weighed heavily on his heart.
His mind was blank. He had no idea what the young lady was doing here at this time, and he had no idea what to say when they met, so he hid himself.
He was very confident in his martial arts skills and didn't know how the young lady discovered him.
After saying that, Xiao Yechen felt as if someone was strangling his neck, his tongue was tied, and he could no longer utter a word.
Xiao Qinghe raised the lantern high, stared at him carefully for a while, and asked softly, "Brother, you haven't had dinner yet, are you hungry?"
"Not... not bad."
Just as I finished speaking, my stomach growled twice.
Xiao Qinghe smiled and led him to the kitchen.
There was someone on duty in the kitchen at night and the food was heated up quickly.
After a mouthful of hot soup, Xiao Yechen felt warm all over, and his mind started to work. Before he could figure out how to explain his foolish behavior of waiting in the garden until late at night, he heard Xiao Qinghe say, "I was going to come see you when I received the news, but An An accidentally fell and bled a lot. I forgot about it in my haste and didn't send anyone to tell you. I'm sorry."
It turned out that the eldest lady was not unwilling to see him, but was delayed by something.
Xiao Yechen felt relieved and blurted out, "It's okay, I don't really have anything important to do."
"Are you serious, brother?" Xiao Qinghe raised an eyebrow. "If it wasn't something important, why would you wait from daytime till now?"
Xiao Yechen: "..."
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