After saying this in one breath, Xiao Ying nervously waited for his reply.
Cheng Yang’s expression changed as he hugged her waist and said, “Okay, I promise. You can’t leave me either.”
There was a hint of heaviness in his voice. Xiao Ying did not understand, but she could still sense his low spirits.
She hugged him back but didn’t know what to say.
A silent warmth spread between them.
Xiao Ying stroked his hair and comforted him.
After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, “Ying’er, she won’t be a threat to us. She can’t interfere with my decisions.”
He did not say it explicitly, but Xiao Ying knew that he was referring to his mother.
She did not understand why his relationship with Mother Cheng was so tense.
She had realized back at the Cheng manor that Cheng Ya was not very close to her mother either.
Cheng Yang gave Xiao Ying a promise and stopped talking.
Xiao Ying was afraid that she would cause him to be sad, so she did not ask further.
Until one day, Cheng Ya suddenly asked her out.
Xiao Ying had been by Cheng Yang’s side for the past few days. She informed him she was going out and left.
Cheng Ya was waiting at the entrance of the Minglan Building in her car. When she saw Xiao Ying coming out, she teased, “Is my brother finally willing to let you out?”
Xiao Ying smiled embarrassedly and asked, “Sister, what do you need?”
Cheng Ya smiled mysteriously and said, “I’ll take you to a good place.”
The car shot out like an arrow.
Xiao Ying was not prepared for this and a trace of fear appeared on her face.
Cheng Ya laughed and said, “That’s how you drive!”
Xiao Ying said with some disapproval, “That’s too dangerous.”
Cheng Ya looked at her and said, “Indeed. You still have to live well.”
With that, she slowed down.
Xiao Ying calmed herself down and felt that her words had been a little strange.
What did she mean by she had to live well? Did Cheng Ya not want to live?
She looked at Cheng Ya strangely, but her expression had returned to normal.
Soon, they reached the good place Cheng Ya had mentioned: a dilapidated teahouse.
The two of them walked in. The outside looked dilapidated, but the inside was even more dilapidated.
Even the wooden table was filled with holes.
The owner was an old man. He looked at Cheng Ya with muddy eyes and said in surprise, “It’s been so many years since we last met, but you still came over.”
Cheng Ya also smiled nostalgically and said, “I didn’t expect Uncle Wang to still remember me.”
The shopkeeper, who was addressed as Uncle Wang, smiled and waved his hand. “I’m old and can’t remember anything. It’s just something from the past. I keep seeing it in front of my eyes. I can’t forget it even if I want to.”
Xiao Ying looked at their familiarity and felt a little strange. Their words sounded like a pair of old friends that she had not seen for a long time, but she felt that something was wrong.
Cheng Ya brought Xiao Ying to the innermost table and sat down. She took out a tea tray and tea set from under the table with familiarity. After washing up, she poured a cup of tea for the two of them.
Xiao Ying took it and placed it in her hand, waiting for Cheng Ya to speak.
Cheng Ya drank cup after cup, as if she were drinking alcohol and not tea.
After a long while, Cheng Ya put down the teacup and smiled. “I’m so embarrassed about this. When I was young, I often came here. At that time, this place was not so dilapidated. Instead, it had an artistic air to it and was even called the Capital of Arts by the people in Beijing. What a pity…”
Before she could finish speaking, she looked at Xiao Ying and said, “Xiao Ying, I am very grateful to you.”
His serious tone left Xiao Ying at a loss.
Cheng Ya did not give her a chance to speak and continued, “Cheng Yang was not like this when he was young. He was very obedient and like a little angel, but he had experienced the cruelest thing in the world.”
She drank a cup of tea, and her expression became agitated before calming down. With reddened eyes, she said, “After that, he changed. He became cold and unwilling to speak.”