Jiayou hadn’t left yet when he saw a taxi stop downstairs, and a familiar figure stepped out and stood in front of the four people.
Looking at the person he had been with for four years, Jiayou smiled, "What brings you here? Is it really okay to leave your guest behind?"
"It’s not what you think, he isn’t..." Just as she began to explain, she noticed the three obviously spectating people behind her and frowned slightly, "Can we go somewhere else to talk? Let your sister go home first. It’s not good for her to be out this late."
"It’s okay, we just ate too much and came out to clear our minds. Plus, we have in our company a ’protector of flowers’. I appreciate your concern," replied He Wenyu, unwilling to leave, pushing Xu Tianyi forward.
Calmly standing by Xu Tianyi, Luo Qianqian said, "Uncle Lin asked me to watch over my brother, so I can’t leave him." This was said under the intimidating gaze of Jiayou, clearly indicating that Jiayou wanted to avoid any one-on-one contact with her.
Seeing how his sister complied, Jiayou sighed in relief, thinking to himself that he should buy her something tasty. Yet, he gently said, "A girl must be polite. One shouldn’t just abandon their guest alone. Look at my sister."
Luo Qianqian, feeling guilty, lowered her head. Was it often that she left people behind?
"Don’t call me that anymore. Such endearments should be saved for the man you will marry in the future." While Jiayou maintained a gentle expression, he reeked of alcohol, causing Luo Qianqian to feel a chill down her spine, prompting her to lean closer to Xu Tianyi.
"I won’t. I only want to marry you."
"Does the man you brought here know that? Does your boyfriend from school know that? Does your boyfriend from work know that?" Jiayou spoke softly, but his words drained the color from the lovely face opposite.
"You’re investigating me?!"
"Is it that you think too highly of yourself, or too lowly of me?" Jiayou laughed loudly, "With that money, I’d much rather buy something tasty for my siblings. It’s my fault I never noticed anything amiss. Your phone is often off at night, and I thought it was just out of battery. You said you were sleeping, and I wouldn’t contact you. Now it seems you weren’t just idly passing the time."
"Is this my fault? I told you to attend the same school as me, but you wouldn’t. And now you blame me? Even when it rained, you couldn’t pick me up. When I was upset, all you could do was offer words of comfort. Have I ever complained? If it weren’t for them, do you think we could still be talking calmly now?" she sneered, then added, "Who knows what you’ve been up to there? I never asked."
Jiayou said through tears, "Suddenly I recall a high school teacher saying something very true. There can be many reasons for love to fade, possibly because of a gesture, a turn of the head, or even a catchphrase. Yet there’s only one reason to look for a cause: it’s not love anymore. If it’s not love, why stay together? Sending messages to me while you’re with them, don’t you feel guilty?"
"Not love? I’ve been with you for four years and aborted two of our children; did I not love you?"
Hearing this, Xu Tianyi frowned, took Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu away from there, and said, "Kids shouldn’t be listening to this," yet he saw Luo Qianqian remaining silent, her aura growing somewhat somber, the next second her soft body falling into his arms.
With tears in her eyes, Luo Qianqian said, "You mustn’t be close with anyone else; you are mine."
Xu Tianyi couldn’t help but smile bitterly. How did this turn to them? Then, seeing He Wenyu silently walking towards the store as if he had heard nothing, he shook his head and chuckled, "Hmm, I am yours."
"Brother Jiayou had been in a long-distance relationship for just two years and they could still meet, but we have five years, five years, five years," Luo Qianqian said, becoming more aggrieved as she spoke. "Not only is it long-distance but also international. I’m scared."
"I am scared too," Xu Tianyi lightly patted Luo Qianqian’s back. "But you should trust me."
"I trust you..." Luo Qianqian’s voice grew fainter, "but I am still scared."
She had thought about what would happen if they were to break up, but seeing what was happening with Jiayou, she was terrified. What if? If Xu Tianyi, being so outstanding...
Xu Tianyi felt warmth in his heart; his little girl was afraid of losing him.
He gently lifted the bracelet on Luo Qianqian’s wrist, illuminated it with his phone, revealing the beads engraved with a faint ’Yi’.
Luo Qianqian was stunned for a moment, flipping through Xu Tianyi’s beads, and sure enough, there was a "Qian" on it.
She smiled broadly but immediately said with a stern face, "It’s locked now, no flirting with others."
Xu Tianyi’s finger gently traced Luo Qianqian’s nose bridge, his voice soft, "I only want you." So, grow up quickly.
Luo Qianqian, her face flushed with joy, touched her little bead. Soon after, He Wenyu came back with four bottles of water, looking at Luo Qianqian’s grinning teeth, laughed, and said, "What? Not sad anymore?" Then he handed the water to the two, and Xu Tianyi took it and helped her open the bottle.
On the other side, Lin Jiayou seemed to have finished his talk, watching the figure squatting on the ground and the upright figure now approaching the three, Lin Jiayou laughed, "Truly thoughtful, even thinking to buy water for Brother."
He Wenyu handed over the water when he heard this; it was indeed bought for him.
"Is it settled?" Luo Qianqian, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes, asked.
"Yes," Lin Jiayou didn’t speak, just poured water into his mouth and responded nasally.
"Brother Jiayou, tell me, why did you two part ways? Was it distance?" He Wenyu asked.
Lin Jiayou set down his water, looking up at the sky filled with countless stars, "Maybe it’s loneliness? Feeling alone without someone by your side? Actually, when you’re busy, you don’t feel it that much." Lin Jiayou smiled and looked down at Luo Qianqian and He Wenyu, "Don’t worry, not everyone you meet is , it’s just a personal circumstance."
"I think if one day I and the person I like were to part ways, it would surely be because he fell for someone else," Luo Qianqian said in a low voice, her voice so soft that only Xu Tianyi, standing behind her, could hear clearly.
He said, "Don’t worry, that won’t happen." I only like you.
"How long will Qianqian stay this time?" Lin Jiayou asked, as if unfazed, sitting beside a flower bed without even looking in that direction.
Luo Qianqian looked around; she had already stood up and left.
"I’m here to play for a couple of days before I go back," Luo Qianqian said with a smile. "So, do you want to go home? Otherwise, you won’t see me if you go home."
"I’ll treat you guys to dinner tomorrow night," Lin Jiayou immediately said.
Luo Qianqian shook her head, "I have plans with friends tomorrow night, the night after tomorrow..." Should I leave then?
"It’s an evening flight," Xu Tianyi whispered.
"The night after tomorrow will work," Luo Qianqian promptly said. The day after the day after tomorrow, that would mean one more night.
"Brother, let’s go home. Tianyi and I will share a room, and I’ll share a room with Xiao Yu," Luo Qianqian directly pulled Lin Jiayou and began to act coy, while a flicker of elusive light flashed through Xu Tianyi’s eyes.
"He’s staying at our place?" Lin Jiayou, belatedly realizing, pointed at Xu Tianyi.
He Wenyu nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Of course, Qianqian is bringing someone home to meet the parents."
Lin Jiayou was speechless, wishing it weren’t so; he had just had a breakup.
"Are you sure?" Knowing this sister always had her own opinions, but as a brother, it was not good to say much, it was fine to ask one more question.
Luo Qianqian looked at Xu Tianyi, her gaze tender, "Yes, I’m sure."
In the moonlight, the girl made her firm oath. Years later, the boy, now a father, would still recall this moment with a soft expression on his face, for she was his girl.