18. Night 18: Go Back
In the bustling ramen restaurant, the fragrant smell filled the entire shop. The three of them sat in the corner. Lu Xi had a dull expression on her face. Arsenite sat next to her, and Du Chusheng sat opposite her looking at the menu.
"Look around and see if there's anything you want to eat. It's my treat."
"No, we'll each pay for our own bill."
The smile on Du Chusheng's face froze. He didn't expect Lu Xi to be so clear about the difference. "Just let me treat you once."
Lu Xi was wearing an apricot dress today, with her hair casually tied behind her waist. A few strands of hair cascaded down from her forehead, highlighting her eyebrows and eyes that seemed to be painted with ink. Her face without makeup had a unique beauty, and coupled with her cold temperament, she looked like a plum blossom standing proudly in the snow.
Du Chusheng looked at her, lost in thought again.
Suddenly, he felt a malicious gaze and subconsciously looked in the direction of it, but saw the little boy looking down at the table. He was also very handsome. They were indeed siblings, with really good genes.
Maybe... it was just my illusion.
They ordered three servings of signature ramen, which arrived quickly. Arsen asked for spicy ramen. He had been living and eating at Lu Xi's place for a while and had fallen in love with spicy food, but his physique couldn't handle spicy food. He always drank water while eating. I don't know what he was trying to do.
"It's so spicy, haha..." His eyes were red.
Lu Xi looked at the moist corners of his eyes and frowned slightly. The mermaid's tears turned into pearls, which could not be concealed even with magic.
"Stop eating." She rubbed the corners of his eyes until they turned a little red, then she realized that she had used too much force.
The little mermaid was very beautiful, and looked very much like the cartoon characters Lu Xi had seen on TV before. Her fingertips trembled involuntarily, and she pinched his smooth face, then withdrew her hand without making a sound.
But then she met his innocent gaze, and her fingertips felt a little hot. No one knew that Lu Xi actually had no resistance to cute things, but she usually acted very serious just to maintain the image of a housekeeper, and the original owner was an icy beauty.
Lu Xi paid for the meal in the end. She was not used to owing favors to others, so she scanned the QR code before Du Chusheng paid.
"I won't go to the party, so don't come to me again."
"Why?" He didn't quite understand. "We haven't seen each other for so many years. If you have nothing to do, wouldn't it be nice to get together?"
"Not good." Lu Xi said bluntly.
They haven't seen each other for so many years, so what if they meet once? Besides, she came to this world to complete a mission, so she would avoid unnecessary things if possible and don't want to cause trouble for herself.
The wind blew her light skirt and made the hair on her forehead a little messy, but there was a kind of unconventional and casualness in her. She was like ethereal mist that would disappear if you were not careful.
"Oh, you really haven't changed at all."
Du Chusheng still remembers the first time he met Lu Xi. He fell in love with this beautiful girl at first sight. Having never suffered any setbacks in love, he blocked the girl's way that day.
"Can we have lunch together?"
"Can't."
"Why, aren't we classmates?"
"This whole class is your classmates." She looked at him coldly, "I don't have this obligation. Get out of the way. I'm busy."
"Can't I just do it once?" He didn't believe that his charm was ineffective. It must be because the girl didn't know him well enough.
Her eyelashes trembled and she raised her head. Du Chusheng thought there was hope, until his face fell after hearing what she said.
"If you don't move out of the way, I'll tell the teacher."
His body stiffened, and Lu Xi took the opportunity to leave.
Later, Du Chusheng thought Lu Xi was playing hard to get, so he deliberately stopped looking for her, hoping she would come back. However, it turned out that he was overthinking it, and they had no further contact after that. Perhaps due to his youthful arrogance, he never looked for Lu Xi again until graduation.
Time flies and many years have passed.
"I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
Lu Xi pushed the wheelchair and turned around, leaving no room for anyone to stop her. The autumn wind was blowing, sweeping the yellow fallen leaves on the ground, like a romantic rain, and the night quickly engulfed her figure.
They may never meet again.
During the time when she stopped working as a housekeeper, Lu Xi felt like she was on a long vacation, but she was not too worried. After all, it was her last task before retirement, and she was more patient than ever.
The day to send the little mermaid back was getting closer and closer, and this time they might not see each other again for a long time, so she became more and more indulgent towards the little mermaid, basically satisfying him in everything.
A few days later, Lu Man called.
"I'll send someone to pick him up tomorrow."
"Yeah." Lu Xi responded.
Then, there was silence on the other end for a long time.
"I thought you would try to delay."
"Will this help?"
"Well, it's useless."
Lu Man actually didn't understand Lu Xi very well. She had clearly concealed some of the little mermaid's data in order to keep him. If she had been so honest at the beginning, she wouldn't have ended up like this.
Speaking of this matter, Lu Xi did make a mistake before. She should have confessed it, but it's too late now.
Instead of regretting, think about what you should do next.
"However." Lu Xi paused and said lightly, "I'm only handing him over to you temporarily. I will be back."
"Oh? Really?" Lu Man raised her eyebrows. She knew Lu Xi would not give up like this. "What else can you do now?"
"The steward who places first in the annual assessment can apply for any cub under the age of ten. This year's assessment is coming soon."
"You're planning to..." Lu Man was shocked. "You want to get first place? Lu Xi, you really look down on others."
Lu Xi did not mean to look down on others. She knew that the other housekeepers of the Lu family were very strong, but she had to go all out.
After hanging up the phone, Lu Xi began to have a headache about how to tell the little mermaid about this. Suddenly, the little mermaid turned her wheelchair over.
"Is Miss Lu Xi's birthday coming up soon?"
"How do you know?" She was a little surprised.
"I saw it in the documents in the drawer."
Lu Xi just remembered that there were some unimportant documents in the drawer, and she didn't usually restrict him from rummaging through the drawer.
"They said on TV that people get gifts on their birthdays." He said with a somewhat embarrassed expression, "What gift does Miss Lu Xi want?"
Lu Xi was stunned. It was a birthday present. In her memory, the original owner last received a birthday present many years ago.
"You want to give me a birthday present?"
"Well..." He seemed a little embarrassed, pretending to be arrogant to cover up his embarrassment, "You tell me first."
Lu Xi's eyes softened, "No need."
Who knew he would frown and ask, "Why?"
"It's enough that you remember my birthday."
Arsenal saw the desolation on her face and for some reason felt very uncomfortable, and it was difficult for him to breathe as if someone was strangling him.
"Do you like paper cranes?" He looked into her eyes. "I can fold a lot of them for you, a room full of them."
"It's settled," he said to himself.
He didn't need Lu Xi's answer, he had already assumed that she agreed. With this decision in mind, he slept well that night.
Until the next day, his joy was shattered.
When Lu Man sent people over, the little mermaid had just finished breakfast with her. He didn't react when he saw her let a few people in until Lu Xi told him that these people were here to take him back.
"Take me...back?" Her silver-blue eyes widened, and her pupils contracted violently. "Ms. Lu Xi, you are lying to me, aren't you?"
"You should go back."
"Go back, where to..."
"Go back to the villa, that's where you belong."
"No, I won't go back." He roared in resistance, his eyes full of hurt, "I don't want to go back, Miss Lu Xi, I won't go back, please don't send me away..." He held her arm tightly.
Under his pleading gaze, Lu Xi pried open his white fingers bit by bit and stood a few meters away from him.
"Don't you want to become stronger? The Lu family has a lot of resources. Going back is the best choice. They will help you awaken."
"I can also awaken if I stay..."
"Asent, stop being so willful." Lu Xi showed the dignity of a butler, "You are the cub chosen by the Lu family. Whether you want revenge or not, you must work hard to become the head of the Yuan family, no matter which butler you follow."
This was the harshest Lu Xi had ever spoken to him.
The little mermaid's face turned pale and she forgot to struggle.
"Ms. Lu Xi, I don't want to go back..."
Lu Xi didn't look at him. Since the little mermaid had escaped, he definitely didn't want to go back, but this was not something Lu Xi could decide. She just watched him being taken away with a pale face, without a struggle or a glance back at her.
It was not until he was taken away that she felt that she had spoken too harshly. After all, he was deeply dependent on her.
She was the person he interacted with the most since he came ashore, and perhaps because of this, he developed a fledgling complex for her.
Lu Xi looked at the plate of breakfast on the table. She didn't like him to have leftovers, so he finished his meal every day. She didn't like him to be rude when eating, so he learned to use the knife, fork and chopsticks clumsily.
Even when he is not in the villa, he is slowly making progress.
Suddenly, without the interference of the little mermaid, Lu Xi resumed his morning run which he had not done for many days. After running, he came back to take a shower and read a book.
Everything became leisurely.
Just looking at the house where I was the only one left, I felt inexplicably empty, which was something I had never felt before.
It turned out that she had become accustomed to his presence.
But this feeling only lasted a few seconds. After all, she had experienced a lot of things, so much so that she could handle her emotions well. But she didn't expect to receive such a bad phone call. When the call came in, she was curled up on the sofa reading a book.
"Lu Xi, the car that just went to pick up the mermaid was attacked." Lu Man's anxious voice came from the phone.
Lu Xi's head suddenly buzzed, and it took him a while to find his voice, "What about him? Is he injured?"
"The little mermaid... he was kidnapped."
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