After finally managing to usher the gossiping collateral branches of the Yue family out of the room, Yue Chengfeng closed the door and turned to Yu Zixuan with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to have disturbed your rest."
"It's fine," Yu Zixuan said, shrugging with a smile. "Doesn't every family have a few meddlesome relatives? Don't take it to heart."
"Mmm," Yue Chengfeng replied, walking over to sit beside Yu Zixuan and taking her hand. "How are you feeling now?"
"Much better," Yu Zixuan replied with a gentle smile, squeezing his hand back. "It feels like ages since you last stayed with me for so long, perhaps months ago."
"I apologize; I've been a bit busy lately," Yue Chengfeng said, kissing the back of her hand. "We'll have more time together from now on."
"That's hard to say~" Yu Zixuan said with a smile. "I've been holding onto the loss from the last jewelry competition against you. Next time, at the Paris jewelry competition, I'm going all out. I might not have much time to spend with you~"
"Heh, then I shall eagerly await it," Yue Chengfeng chuckled, pulling Yu Zixuan into his embrace affectionately. "It's my fortune to know you."
"In this lifetime, all my luck might have been used up on being with you," Yu Zixuan leaned into Yue Chengfeng's embrace, her gaze shifting slightly, a hint of helpless vulnerability in her gentle smile.
"If that's your excuse for losing next time, I can accept it completely and find it utterly irrefutable," Yue Chengfeng said.
"Don't you dare! I won't lose to you again!" Yu Zixuan tilted her head up, looking at Yue Chengfeng with a beaming smile, and lightly punched his chest with a clenched fist.
Yue Chengfeng grasped Yu Zixuan's wrist, about to kiss her cherry-red lips.
Just then, a few knocks sounded on the door, and both Yu Zixuan and Yue Chengfeng wore a resigned smile.
"They just won't give up, will they?" Yue Chengfeng said helplessly.
Yu Zixuan merely shrugged and spread her hands.
At that moment, a clear female voice sounded from outside the door, "Future Aunt-in-law? Are you alright?"
"It's Qingtian~" Yue Chengfeng's tone immediately became lighter and cheerful as he got up to open the door.
Seeing the shift in Yue Chengfeng's attitude, Yu Zixuan smiled, but a sense of heaviness crept into her eyes.
As Yue Chengfeng opened the door, Xia Qingtian entered with a tray laden with snacks. "I've tried them all; they're delicious little treats. I hope you'll like them."
"Wow, they look really tasty," Yue Chengfeng said, ushering Xia Qingtian into the room and closing the door. "I've already heard quite a few people mention the mine incident. Should I congratulate you?"
"If you'd like to say it, I don't mind hearing it one more time," Xia Qingtian said, shrugging, and placed the tray on the small round table beside Yu Zixuan.
"Even though you've heard it many times, your uncle and I still want to say it on our own behalf," Yu Zixuan said with a gentle smile, looking at Xia Qingtian. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Xia Qingtian replied gratefully, pointing at the pastries on the tray. "The cookies with yellow jam are passionfruit flavored, sweet and sour, very appetizing. The chocolate lava muffins are molten inside, so be careful when eating them. The white ones are macadamia nut cookies coated in white chocolate. The cookies without jam are all coconut-flavored. For drinks, I got you coconut lattes and berry-flavored Americanos. The cream rolls are highly recommended; you can save them for last, as a perfect ending to this snack spread."
"It looks like you've had quite a few," Yue Chengfeng said with a smile.
"Eating is an effective way to avoid awkwardness," Xia Qingtian spread her hands. "You know how awkward I was out there, right?"
"I can imagine," Yue Chengfeng said, having witnessed the nature of the Yue family's collateral branches. He fully believed that what Xia Qingtian faced was even more extreme than what he had encountered. "Don't mind them; this has nothing to do with them."
"Coincidentally, that's what I thought too," Xia Qingtian said with a smile. "By the way, you don't mind if I hide here for a while longer, do you? The main hall is really noisy."
"Not at all, come sit," Yu Zixuan patted the empty space beside her. "It gets easier after a few more experiences. When your uncle and I decided to get engaged, believe me, it was even more terrifying than this."
"I can imagine," Xia Qingtian said with a smile, sitting down beside Yu Zixuan.
Seeing this, Yue Chengfeng chuckled helplessly, picked up a cup of berry-flavored Americano, and took a sip, nodding in satisfaction.
"By the way, the police have been here, haven't they?" Xia Qingtian asked Yu Zixuan. "How are you? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine; having your uncle with me makes me feel much better," Yu Zixuan replied. "The police also asked for a general account. The other party probably bit down on the poison pill hidden in their mouth."
Saying this, Yu Zixuan gave a wry smile. "I never thought a scene like this, only seen in movies, would actually happen in front of me."
"It's a good thing you learned some self-defense techniques beforehand, otherwise, I don't dare to imagine what might have happened," Yue Chengfeng still felt a bit shaken.
"Alright, it's all over now," Yu Zixuan proactively took Yue Chengfeng's hand, smiling gently and demurely.
Yue Chengfeng's tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
Xia Qingtian watched the two of them with a smile, happy that Yue Chengfeng had found his soulmate.
"Try this," Yue Chengfeng picked up a coconut-flavored cookie and fed it to Yu Zixuan. "How is it?"
After tasting the cookie, Yu Zixuan chuckled softly. "Heh, it's quite good."
"!" Xia Qingtian jolted as if struck.
The words she had heard during her most desperate moments flooded her mind.
"Wouldn't it be better if your entire Xia family died? Only then could the copyrights for ['Ye Yue'] ['Bu Mian'] ['Zou Ming Qu'] truly return to the Yue family."
"Heh, quite good."
Heh, quite good.
The same tone, the same intonation, the same voice...
Xia Qingtian immediately looked at Yu Zixuan, and a sudden realization dawned on her.
So, the person who had been indifferent to her and ignored her pleas for help in her past life was this woman who was about to become her "Aunt-in-law" in this life.
"Qingtian? You try it too?" Seeing that Xia Qingtian wasn't reacting and was merely staring in Yu Zixuan's direction, Yue Chengfeng called out again, "Qingtian?"
"I apologize," Xia Qingtian said, snapping back to reality. "I just remembered my father wanted me to tell Mr. Gu something, and I... I forgot to mention it. I'll go and attend to that now. You two chat."
After saying this, Xia Qingtian offered a faint smile to Yue Chengfeng and Yu Zixuan before leaving the room.
Closing the door behind her, Xia Qingtian lowered her head, her brow furrowed, her mind becoming increasingly chaotic.
"Interesting," Yu Zixuan murmured, a slight smile playing on her lips as her gaze followed Xia Qingtian's retreating back until the door was shut.