Chapter 78 part2

If You Are a Dodder Flower Chapter 78 part2

He watched her grow up and had even seen her getting into her first sweet relationship. He really had no clue. Under his care, when had she… let someone into her heart other than himself and Wei Qi?

And that person – who was it, exactly?

About the matter of Xia Rou escaping out of the country, Cao Yang’s little brothers never said a single word about it in front of Cao Yang.

Though their father wasn’t planning to explain it to them, they could guess that something had happened between Cao Yang and Xia Rou.

Cao Yang lit up a cigarette at the dining table. Translated by The Novelst

He raised his gaze and saw Cao Bin sitting across from him. His heart jumped all of a sudden. He catalogued them with his gaze slowly one by one: Cao Bin, Cao Xing… His younger brothers were all remarkably handsome.

At the very end, his eyes locked on to Cao An, who was sitting beside him.

He had to admit that though Cao An was the weakest among the four brothers, he was the best looking among them. He was also similar to Cao Xing, tied neck and neck in terms of their playboy mannerisms. And most importantly, his closeness with Xia Rou wasn’t any less than Cao Yang’s.

Oh boy. It couldn’t be that big brother suspected him as part of Xia Rou’s plan to run away. He really hadn’t helped! Xia Rou didn’t tell him anything! She really had guts, running away without even a word!

Xiao Rou had run away. Big brother must have been in a bad mood. Cao An was afraid that he might say something wrong and provoke Cao Yang. He wiggled uneasily in his chair, trying to bear the tingling scalp and pretended not to notice Cao Yang’s gaze on him.

Cao Yang didn’t want to see him, either.

He turned his head away, fiercely blowing out a mouthful of smoke.

It had better not be what he was thinking!

The Cao Family must not be caught in such an embarrassing situation!

He had gotten used to having a girl’s presence in the house, and her bright sunshine smile. Even when she started studying at university and living there, he would bring her home every weekend. Towards Cao Yang, this was one of the great pleasures he looked forward to.

When this habit was stopped all of a sudden, what he had to face was the withdrawal symptoms.

Not to mention the heavy addiction that she had planted in him before she left.

Every night it was torment for Cao Yang to sleep alone in the dark. It made him gnash his teeth in hatred.

He called her two or three times a week. Most of the time it was night where she was and morning where he was, or it was morning where she was and dawn where he was.

In the beginning, Xia Rou seemed to be avoiding the calls. She wasn’t willing to say too much or stay on the call for too long with Cao Yang.

Even though he didn’t want to pressure her more, he couldn’t bear the thought that she lived so far away and that he didn’t know anything about her current situation.

“Unless you’re not coming back forever…” he said, “You’ll still have to face me sooner or later.”

Xia Rou had no choice. She could only follow his requirements and report her life and study situation to him sometimes.

The exchange program between the two schools had been in place for quite a few years. They had an already-established practice, so it was all well-organized. Xia Rou’s life there was very peaceful.

Slowly, she became used to reporting to Cao Yang and didn’t resist any longer.

She would take initiative at times and call Cao Yang herself. Sometimes she would reveal that she was homesick.

He was more blunt. No matter if it was dawn, midnight, whatever time – he would tell her how much he missed her, the dreams he had of her at night.

These words would make her cry sometimes.

Her tears made his heart feel sour, but… it was much better than if she forgot about him and thought about others instead.

Children like her who left the house and went to a foreign land would at first feel excited when everything was filled with novelty and surprise. When the novelty of their surroundings wore off, their homesickness would grow.

Xia Rou began to enter that phase once two months had passed.

There were several times that Cao Yang wanted to tell her: just come back, then.

Inside his heart, he felt that if she came back it would be more important than anything else. Studying was not as important as her staying by his side.

But he remembered the way Cao Xiong scolded him. Even if he wanted to be together with Xia Rou, he couldn’t strip away the life she had, nor deprive her of the process of growing into a mature adult.

That’s why he endured it all, instead patiently consoling her.

One day, Xia Rou called him telling him that she missed home.

Cao Yang comforted her for a long time, only then hanging up the phone.

He raised his head to look at the shining sun outside, realizing that it was probably midnight for Xia Rou.

He couldn’t help but ache for her, hating the fact that she had wanted to run away from his side and went to suffer alone outside.

Slowly, the number of calls from Xia Rou increased.

Cao Yang would comfort her, or advise her to sleep early so that she wouldn’t disrupt her routine.

One day, he became suddenly aware of it. Translated by The Novelst

“Rou Rou,” he said, “Are you an insomniac?”

“Mn…” Xia Rou’s voice was nasally. “I can’t sleep. I keep having dreams… and I wake up every time…”

“I dreamed that you were angry with me…”

“I dreamed that… I died…”

“I dreamed that… I’m alive…”