Zhixi lowered her eyes and walked over without saying a word, sitting down across from him.
The table was set with xiaolongbao, vegetable porridge, and tea eggs—all items she often ate. However, she remembered that this man rarely ate Chinese-style breakfast.
Her heart stirred, and she subconsciously looked at him.
He Jingyao seemed to know what she was thinking and explained lightly, "Xiaobao loves these, so the breakfast they’ve been preparing lately is . Don’t you like it?"
Zhixi shook her head and stuffed a xiaolongbao into her mouth.
Yes, it was because of Xiaobao, not specially prepared for her. What was she fantasizing about?
She chewed hard, struggling to swallow, then took a sip of porridge and couldn’t eat anything else.
Zhixi put down her chopsticks and looked at the man across from her, "About Xiaobao..."
He Jingyao smiled nonchalantly, "Hmm?"
"You agreed to let me take him, so his custody belongs to me." Zhixi pursed her lips and spoke slowly, "In a while, I will take him back to Country S. Since you are his father, I won’t stop you from visiting him. If you wish, you can have him stay with you for a few days every few months, as long as it doesn’t add up to more than a month in a year."
"A month?" He Jingyao raised an eyebrow and laughed, "You’re really generous."
"If you find it inappropriate, we can discuss it further." Zhixi felt her voice tighten and took deep breaths to calm herself down, "In any case, everything will be based on Xiaobao’s wishes. If he strongly wants to, I don’t mind him spending more days with you... Of course, whether you come to pick him up or I take him back, I hope we can avoid meeting as much as possible."
He Jingyao didn’t speak, just quietly watched her.
With no makeup, her face basked in the warm winter sun looked almost translucent.
Her black hair was tied up simply, fluffy and lazily, with her lush lips tightly pressed together, betraying her nervousness and unease.
A torrent of warmth suddenly surged through his heart.
In reality, nothing had changed. Perhaps her appearance had slightly altered, but she was still Su Zixi.
The man’s throat moved, and when he spoke again, his voice was tinged with huskiness, "No need, let’s do as you said."
Zhixi, hearing his voice, silently breathed a sigh of relief.
"So, there’s nothing else between us now, right?" she asked softly.
He Jingyao glanced at her, smiled faintly, "That’s right. Legally, the identity of Su Zixi is dead, so we don’t even need to go through any formalities."
Zhixi’s heart twitched.
She clenched her fists tightly and grunted, "When... can I go and pick up Xiaobao?"
"This afternoon," he replied without hesitation, "the sooner, the better."
"...Okay." She nodded, "I agree, the sooner the better."
The quicker they severed all ties, the sooner she could give up.
Zhixi was about to take her leave when suddenly the doorbell rang.
She glanced at the man across from her, but He Jingyao looked just as surprised.
"Wait here for a moment," he said, standing up.
Zhixi watched him walk to the door, pick up the intercom—uncertain what the security guard said—but he raised an eyebrow.
Then, the man opened the door and stepped out.