CH 30.2

The man’s warm lips lingered on hers, the unexpected kiss making Xu Xingxing’s heart shudder slightly. She met Huai Jing’s smiling eyes, which were telling her to take a look at Mimi.

Mimi instantly turned even more vicious when it saw Xu Xingxing being kissed. It raised its front paw once more, purred from its throat, and planted this firm paw on Huai Jing’s hand.

Xu Xingxing: “…”

“It’s safeguarding you,” Huai Jing murmured while kissing Xu Xingxing.

He kissed her long and softly this time, rubbing his lips against hers. Xu Xingxing looked at the man in front of her with wide eyes. When the tip of the man’s tongue entered her mouth, Xu Xingxing tasted sunshine and subconsciously closed her eyes.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were blurry, and she was a little out of breath after the long kiss. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest as she noticed the gentle light in the man’s eyes.

Xu Xingxing was a little perplexed when Mimi’s paw once more slapped Huai Jing. She gave Huai Jing a look and spoke in an anxious voice, thinking that he was angry with this cat’s actions, “Why are you competing with a cat? Are you naive?”

The man snorted and replied, “Who is competing with it?” He looked at her slightly frowning eyebrows and thought about the hand that had been just scratched as he continued, “All I want to do is kiss you.”

………………………………………….

When Chen Wanwan heard that Xu Xingxing planned to perform at the company’s annual meeting, she couldn’t help but smile. The fact that Xu Xingxing agreed to perform in front of so many people was quite a significant step forward.

“What do you intend to perform?” Chen Wanwan smiled and grabbed her friend by the shoulder before asking.

” Bach’s ‘Prelude in C major’.” Xu Xingxing eventually gave up and recited the name of the piano piece.

“Bach?” When Chen Wanwan heard it, she was surprised and wondered, “Is it easy to play with the xun?”

Looking at Chen Wanwan’s surprised face, Xu Xingxing smiled and said, “I’m playing the piano.”

“Wow!” Chen Wanwan clearly expressed shock when she heard Xu Xingxing. “You can play the piano? When did you learn it?”

Xu Xingxing smiled awkwardly when asked about this, and whispered, “It’s just… recently…on weekends…”

“Oh~ That’s why you’ve been busy during the weekends.” Chen Wanwan then grabbed her and continued to inquire, “Which school are you taking this training at? How much does it cost? Do they offer lessons for children? I’m asking for Kangkang, he can be your junior that way.”

Xu Xingxing was caught off guard by these rapid questions, and quickly changed the subject of their conversation by asking, “Aren’t you going to find Lao Huang? Please hurry.”

“Lao Huang is not here today.” Chen Wanwan shrugged and said, “Today is our chairman’s 50th birthday, so he went to Yinzi International Hotel early in the morning.”

“Today is the chairman’s 50th birthday?” Xu Xingxing asked.

“That’s right.” Chen Wanwan said, “Didn’t expect it, did you? Our chairman is so young, and he manages such a big company. Generally, chairmans of big companies’ are old men who are sixty or seventy years old, tsk tsk.”

Xu Xingxing remembered that Huai Jing had told her that they couldn’t have a practice session today because of a prior commitment he had. From this point of view, he should have gone to the chairman’s birthday banquet.

Huai Jing’s father had passed away, with Huai Changchao as the head of the Huai family now, and he clearly intended to cultivate his son, Huai Yangping, as the next head. So the relationship between Huai Jing and his second uncle and cousin should be quite complicated.

Xu Xingxing pursed her lips and didn’t think about it any further. No matter what, the relationship between her and Huai Jing hadn’t reached the point where she could worry about it.

After getting off work, Xu Xingxing bought groceries and returned home. After eating, she hugged Mimi and started to practise the piano. She had bought an electronic piano for herself, just to practise her fingering. The sound of the electronic piano was crisp as Xu Xingxing flipped her fingers back and forth on it. Mimi, who was in her arms, also pressed the keys from time to time with its paws, amusing Xu Xingxing.

While this person-and-cat pair were enjoying themselves, Xu Xingxing’s cell phone rang. Hearing the ringtone, Xu Xingxing’s brows softened, and she got up with Mimi in her arms and went to the dining table to get her mobile phone. Seeing the name displayed on it, Xu Xingxing smiled and picked up the call.

“Sister,” Xu Xingyuan called out to her with a smile on his voice from the other end of the line.

“Yeah.” Xu Xingxing hugged Mimi, sat cross-legged on the sofa and asked, “How is everyone in the family?”

She and her family would talk on the phone twice a week, mostly just discussing daily routines.

“Very good.” Xu Xingyuan replied, “Our mother’s wrists are also much better. I asked her to hire an aunt to help at the shop. The family’s business is good in winter…”

While Xu Xingyuan was rambling on, their mother, Lin Meihui suddenly “cut in” and said helplessly, “What do you keep talking about me? Talk about your own business.”

Lin Meihui’s voice was very low, but Xu Xingxing heard it and asked, “Hey, what happened?”

“Ah.” Xu Xingyuan lowered his voice, he seemed a little embarrassed, and asked in a hesitating and shy tone, “It’s…it’s me…”

“Mom?” Xu Xingxing called out anxiously.

Lin Meihui answered the phone with an “oops”, and answered with a smile, “Why are you being so shy with your sister?”

Xu Xingxing listened to the tone her mother and younger brother were talking in, and it seemed that nothing bad had happened. She relaxed a little, hugged Mimi and asked again, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Meihui was much more quicker than Xu Xingyuan, and she said, “Tongtong’s family said that they want to hold the engagement ceremony in the first lunar month.”

“Really?” Xu Xingxing laughed and said, “This is a good thing, why is Xingyuan being so shy?”

When she first met Zhou Tongtong’s family, Xu Xingxing didn’t feel anything special. Now that her younger brother was getting engaged, she really felt that Xingyuan had grown up.

“When?” Xu Xingxing asked for details. She raised her eyes and looked at the calendar. Their company’s vacation started from the 23rd of the first lunar month. This holiday was very long, and she might be able to catch the engagement ceremony.

“The twenty-fourth day.” Lin Meihui elaborated, “This is the day that Tongtong’s mother and father have selected, and they said it was good for both children.”

“I can be there.” Xu Xingxing was happy, and she said, “I will take the late bus back on the twenty-third night.”

“Hey, that’s good, that’s good…” After Lin Meihui said a few words, her voice fell silent again.

“Mom?” Xu Xingxing called out.

“En.” Lin Meihui responded shallowly, and after hesitating for a long time, asked cautiously, “Then… the relatives from your paternal side, do we still invite them?”

The smile on Xu Xingxing’s lips vanished after hearing her mother’s question.

An engagement ceremony was a major event, and relatives of both parties must participate. Huaicheng was a city where old traditions and customs were valued, and that aspect was especially important. But Xu Xingxing really didn’t want to invite those relatives of the Xu family.

When she divorced, everyone in the Xu family had advised her not to leave her ex-husband. After the divorce, knowing that she had gotten a large sum of money as alimony, they had kept introducing one blind date after another to her. She had left Huaicheng to avoid such blind dates, along with those relatives who kept gossiping behind their backs. However, since Lin Meihui had asked her this, she must want to invite them to the ceremony.

Lin Meihui was a very traditional woman. Xu Xingxing’s father had died early, and her mother hadn’t remarried for two reasons. First, she was afraid that the Xu family would not let her enter the Xu family’s ancestral grave to accompany Xu Xingxing’s father after her death. Second, she was afraid of Xu Xingxing and Xu Xingyuan being excluded by not only the Xu family, but also by the new relatives after remarriage. In her heart, if they didn’t leave that family, they had roots.

Moreover, if they didn’t invite the Xu family to the ceremony, it would look awkward, for the Zhou family would be full of relatives, but there would only be the three of them on the other side.

“I told you there’s no need to invite…” Xu Xingyuan spoke up at this time.

“Mom…it’s ok. Let’s invite them,” said Xu Xingxing.

“Okay.” Lin Meihui was relieved to have Xu Xingxing’s support. When Xu Xingxing heard Xu Xingyuan still nagging that he didn’t need to invite them, she said, “Why don’t you invite the extended Xu family too?”

Xu Xingyuan lost his voice.

Although inviting the Xu family members was a little scary, Xu Xingxing was even more happy that Xu Xingyuan was getting engaged. She hugged Mimi, kissed it twice, and then said with a smile, “Mimi, Mimi, I will be an aunt soon~”

She couldn’t have children, so if she had a nephew or niece, she would definitely treat them the best she could.

Just as she put Mimi down, the phone rang again. Xu Xingxing picked up the phone while petting Mimi. “Hello.”

The woman’s voice was filled with happiness. Huai Jing smiled and asked, “So happy. Why?”

Huai Jing was attending his uncle’s birthday banquet tonight, and if he was able to call her, it seemed that he was not very busy. Xu Xingxing, who was in a good mood, pinched Mimi’s ears, and replied happily, “Yeah. My brother just called and told me he’s getting engaged.”

Xu Xingxing had been to Huai Jing’s house, but Huai Jing knew nothing about Xu Xingxing’s family.

Infected by Xu Xingxing’s laughter, the man also smiled and asked, “How old is your brother?”

His sister was much younger than him, so Huai Jing wanted to know how older Xu Xingxing was compared to her younger brother.

“Twenty-three years old,” Xu Xingxing said.

“Getting engaged at the age of twenty-three?” Huai Jing asked in a surprised tone.

Xu Xingxing caught his surprise and explained, “We get married early in Huaicheng, some people even get married at the age of 20, then wait until they reach the legal age to get a marriage certificate.”

Listening to her detailed explanation, the smile in Huai Jing’s eyes deepened.

“Your younger brother is getting engaged at the age of twenty-three itself, do you have the nerve to get engaged too?”

The man’s tone was tight, as if he was implying that she would be getting married before her brother. However, Xu Xingxing knew he was joking about marriage with her.

She blushed, squeezed Mimi’s paw, and yelled on the phone anxiously, “You… you are older than me, aren’t you embarrassed?”

Even when she yelled at someone, she did it in a small and soft voice, with a quick tone, which felt like a wisp of gentle wind that passed over his heart in one fell swoop.

It was so soft… that he softened his brows and eyes.

“President Huai,” Xu Xingxing called him from the other end of the phone.

“En.” Huai Jing rubbed the rim of the glass with his fingertips. He smiled at the woman on the phone, and pretending he hadn’t heard her last words clearly, asked in a deep voice, “What did you just say?”

“I didn’t say anything.” Xu Xingxing muttered, afraid that he would really hear it the second time.