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The scenery around here is very beautiful. Strictly speaking, it is a manor.

It's just a gimmick of farm stay.

-Duan

Baiting put down his things and started to clean up the room.

In fact, the waiter had already come before. But his obsession with cleanliness prevented him from completely giving his trust to a stranger.

When traveling, Secretary Qin would change the hotel sheets and pajamas in advance.

Duan Baiting is particularly resistant to objects that have been touched by others and any objects that may retain the other person's scent.

This is a private trip, and there is no Secretary Qin to take care of everything for me.

So he had to do it himself.

Duan Baiting is also surprisingly skilled in doing housework, all thanks to his wife who has never done any housework.

Song Wanyue grew up in a honeypot, and her biggest worry during her adolescence was the college entrance examination.

The windows are made of wood, probably to fit in with the "rustic" theme.

Duan Baiting pushed them open to allow the room to get adequate ventilation.

Looking out from here, the view is broad. The river in front is called Chunxi River.

Duan Baiting often feels that the love he gives to Duan Zhiwan may not be enough. He was not one to express his emotions.

In fact, he is a little slow in this regard.

When he realized that he had fallen in love with Song Wanyue, his feelings had already penetrated deep into his bones. It's not that the first impression is so unforgettable. Rather, he has been trying his best to restrain himself.

Perhaps the body's protective function was passively triggered subconsciously, so the brain deliberately wanted to hide or even erase this relationship that has not yet seen the light of day.

Even after that, he was just like a toddler, expressing and venting his love in his own way.

He had already given all his love to Song Wanyue.

So when treating Duan Zhiwan, he tried hard to be a good father.

Of course he loved her, too, instinctively, from the bottom of his heart.

When Duan Zhiwan was three years old, he fell seriously ill and had a high fever all night long. Song Wanyue cried until she lost her voice. Duan Baiting hugged her and coaxed her gently: "It's okay, nothing will happen."

All the relevant experts came and held a meeting overnight to study the treatment plan.

Song Wanyue couldn't sleep and kept crying. Duan Baiting was worried that she couldn't handle it, so he coaxed her to sleep first, and then went to the ward to visit Duan Zhiwan.

She lay on the hospital bed with her eyes closed, wearing an oxygen mask, quiet and peaceful, neither crying nor making a fuss.

Seeing Duan Baiting, she smiled at him.

Duan Baiting sat down beside the bed and touched her face: "Don't be afraid, Zhiwan, nothing will happen."

She nodded: "Yes, I'm not afraid."

After seven whole days, she was finally out of danger and transferred to the general ward.

Duan Baiting, who had been trying to comfort Song Wanyue, smoked a cigarette for the first time.

That was the only time he broke his vow in all the years since he quit smoking.

It was not until that moment that the heavy stone in his heart finally fell. He tried to comfort Song Wanyue calmly and steadily, but in fact his nerves had been stretched to the point where they looked like they could break at any moment.

Like a string.

Just apply the final force and it will collapse completely.

---------------

"Have you ever thought about marrying me and having such a lovely daughter?"

When Song Wanyue asked him this question, Duan Baiting shook his head without hesitation.

At that time, he and Song Wanyue were completing the home-made handicraft assignment assigned by the teacher to Duan Zhiwan.

——Make a Christmas tree out of waste.

No matter what your status is in the outside world, no matter how much respect and flattery you receive. In the parents' group, there can only be Zhiwan's mom and Zhiwan's dad.

No matter how busy you are at work, even if you earn tens of millions of dollars a second, you still have to find time to complete the homework assigned by the teacher.

Although it was said that parents were required to complete it together, Song Wanyue was just a complete slacker.

At best, I could help Duan Baiting pass some glue and a pair of scissors.

"Then do you know what I was thinking before?"

Duan Baiting glued the leaves on one by one with glue: "What I was thinking."

Song Wanyue was unhappy: "You are perfunctory."

Duan Baiting put down everything in his hands and asked her in a less perfunctory tone: "Then what do you think?"

Song Wanyue replied with a smile: "Actually, my standard for choosing a partner has always been very consistent, that is, the most powerful one in the crowd. Either the most outstanding or the most eye-catching."

In short, she, like all adolescent girls, has a psychology of admiring the strong.

Duan Baiting recalled what she had once told him about the people she had briefly crushed on when she was in school.

He didn't really want to hear her tell it again.

No.

It's not that he didn't want to listen, it's just that he had absolutely no desire to listen and was resistant.

So he lowered his head and continued to stick the leaves.

Duan Baiting is very good at hiding his emotions, and those things that Song Wanyue can see are what he wants her to see.

Including now, he hoped she could see that he didn't want to hear her go on.

But Song Wanyue enjoyed it.

People like Duan Baiting are repressed and keep everything to themselves.

Only when his emotions reach their peak will it be possible for him to be like a soda bottle that has been shaken for a long time and then suddenly opened.

By that time, it will be impossible to conceal the emotions.

So Song Wanyue continued with a smile: "If you had studied in our high school, I would definitely pursue you. A strict person like you can only experience the joy of premature love by being with me. Let me tell you, that kind of secret love affair behind the backs of teachers and parents is very exciting, and you even have to hide from kissing."

"You know so much about it, have you experienced it before?" Duan Baiting suddenly asked her.

Song Wanyue was stunned by the question and paused for a few seconds.

Before Duan Baiting, all her knowledge of love came from romance novels.

But she has never been willing to lose when it comes to talking tough: "Of course, I'm the school belle. At that time, a film crew came to the school to find me. But I'm not interested in the remuneration for filming, and I'm too lazy to waste that time."

Duan Baiting was unmoved and saw through her lie: "Yeah."

Song Wanyue frowned: "What's your reaction?"

He raised his eyes, smiled and asked back: "What should my reaction be?"

"Don't say I'm surprised, at least I have some emotional fluctuations." Song Wanyue was even more unhappy.

She felt uncomfortable with the feeling of punching cotton.

Very unhappy! !

All forces are mutual. Duan Baiting's calmness is like a pool of gentle water, containing all the forces.

Song Wanyue started to act unreasonably, saying that he didn't care about her.

He found it funny: "How can you tell? I don't care about you."

She said: "You didn't react at all when I said this."

Duan Baiting often felt that her thoughts were still stuck in the time when she just left school.

There is nothing wrong with this. Duan Baiting has his own selfish motives, no matter how bad or dark they are.

He hoped that she would never grow up and become mature enough to survive on her own without his protection.

It would be better for her to depend on him all her life.

Duan Baiting put down the half-made Christmas tree in his hands and hugged her: "Say it again, I will definitely react this time."

This tone, which was obviously meant to coax her, made her lose all interest.

"From now on, don't talk to me for the next two days!"

--------------

It's winter again, and North City is experiencing the coldest temperature in nearly twenty years. Even Duan Zhiwan's school was closed early.

Duan Baiting stays at home whenever he has free time.

Of course, I would occasionally go out and have a drink with Xi Yang and the others.

Xi Yang smiled and teased Duan Baiting: "You still dare to drink, aren't you afraid of being scolded by your wife?"

Duan Baiting added ice cubes to the glass and his eyes fell on the ring finger of his left hand. The wedding ring that I had taken off long ago was put on again without me noticing. Although not the previous one.

Duan Baiting asked him, "Are you happy about something?"

Xi Yang lowered his eyes, smiled and took off the wedding ring: "I'll wear it for fun."

This may be okay to fool others.

Duan Baiting chuckled, with a look of knowing mockery in his eyes.

Xi Yang shrugged: "It's really boring to be friends with smart people. You can't hide anything from them."

Shang Heng automatically identified himself with the person he was talking about: "That's true. But I must criticize you. You have been friends with a smart man like me for so many years, but you haven't become as smart as me."

Xi Yang smiled and pushed him away: "Go away. If I become like you, my brain must have degenerated."

Shang Heng clicked his tongue twice: "How can you talk like that?"

Xi Yang lit a cigarette and asked Duan Baiting when he would bring Duan Zhiwan out: "I haven't seen the little girl for a long time. I miss her a little."

Duan Baiting refused mercilessly.

Xi Yang asked him how could he be so heartless: "I didn't think so before, but the older I get, the cuter I think children are. Sometimes I really want to sneak into your house and steal Zhiwan."

Duan Baiting raised his eyes: "If you like, just give birth to one yourself."

Xi Yang sighed with emotion, and his deliberately elongated tone was his usual casualness: "That's so easy to say. I do want to have a baby, but the problem is who to have it with."

He smiled and shook the wine glass, and the light refracted through the ice, leaving streaks of light on his hands.

The old scars on his wrists had long been covered by the metal watch strap. There were several scars that were clearly recent.

He looked at Shang Heng and smiled: "Why don't you introduce one to me?"

Shang Heng wanted to introduce him to someone, but Xi Yang seemed to have completely given up on love recently.

Especially after Yun Wei got married, he became casual and playful, becoming more casual in other aspects except when it came to feelings.

No matter how much his family pressured him, he remained unmoved.

Yun Wei got married last year. After she retired from the entertainment industry, she left Beicheng and returned to her hometown.

He cut off all connections with Xi Yang and only maintained intermittent contact with Song Wanyue.

I heard she opened a bookstore.

She told Song Wanyue: "My previous dream was to open a bookstore, and now it has come true."

Entering the circle and becoming an artist was just a small episode.

But who could have known at that time that this little episode would actually change her life.

Yun Wei said: "I actually didn't like the name Yun Wei before, because it made me feel too empty, like a cloud, weightless and insignificant. But later I found that it was just my disgust for myself and that I was used to putting myself in a lower position than others. But now it's different, I accept myself and this name."

Song Wanyue was very happy for her.

Some people live for others all their lives, and she was happy that Yun Wei finally lived for herself.

She let go of her past obsessions and eventually found her own happiness.

In fact, she did not send an invitation to Xi Yang, not because she still cared about her past relationship. But she felt that this was unfair to her husband.

What kind of scene would it be if your ex-lover, with whom you have been entangled for years, came to your wedding?

But Xi Yang still knew about it, and he tactfully didn't disturb her.

Instead, he called her.

"Happy wedding,"

he said.

That was five years after they separated.

Yun Wei, who had long lost the halo of a big star, became an ordinary person. He knew she opened a bookstore.

She said a long time ago that her dream was to open a bookstore.

Xi Yang didn't care too much at that time.

He doesn't have a deep understanding of dreams. For him, human destiny has already been determined from birth to death.

His life was lived step by step, according to the arrangements of his parents. He never thought of resisting because he didn't feel anything was wrong.

After all, they have been tamed into the puppet minds they want since the day they were born.

Obedient and sensible.

Meeting Yun Wei at the age of eighteen was the first deviation in his life.

Choosing to follow his heart at that time, he went over to greet her with a smile.

When they met for the first time, she was cold but still accepted the business card he handed over.

In fact, Xi Yang knew that their first meeting was not pure.

She was attracted by his background.

In the entertainment industry where people flatter the powerful and bully the weak, he just raised his hand and paved a smoother path for her.

And he coveted her appearance. Isn't it said that all love at first sight is just based on lust?

He fell in love with her at first sight.

A bad first encounter, but ended up with uncontrollable love.

They actually did a lot of things that only couples do. After the heavy rain, the ground was full of water, and he carried her across most of the campus.

He said with a frivolous smile: "How could I let your shoes get dirty? A princess should be clean."

He also secretly put a love letter and a ring into her bag on April Fool's Day.

Obviously young and innocent, he said it in a joking way.

Xi Yang is nice to everyone. Some people say he is well-educated and a gentleman.

Some people also say that he has central air conditioning.

Xi Yang never thought that what he did was wrong, including getting married.

He was just neglected in that unfavored family, so he tried his best to seize every opportunity for himself.

Those connections that can be utilized in the future and opportunities to move up.

He chose the latter between love and career, so he deserves to bear all of this.

"Happy wedding." Eighteen-year-old Xi Yang could never have imagined that one day he would say these words to Yun Wei.

Yun Wei recognized his voice and there was silence for a few seconds. Then she smiled and said, "Thank you."

That was the first contact between the two after a long separation.

He went to see her halfway. I just watched from afar to see how she was doing recently.

He knew that there was no possibility for them to be together, so he accepted his fate and decided not to disturb her life.

In that small town, he slowly lit a cigarette. Looking at the busy streets.

I remember the last time they came here was seven years ago. She went back to her hometown to visit her grandmother's grave, and he accompanied her.

Yun Wei stood in the cemetery and told her grandmother that his name was Xi Yang and he was her boyfriend.

After Xi Yang burned incense for his grandmother, he smiled and assured her that he would treat Yun Wei well.

But did he treat it well?

Xi Yang lit another cigarette, his thoughts became confused, and he felt his memory going into a revolving lantern mode.

So he asked Duan Baiting with a smile: "Do you think I am dying soon?"

Duan Baiting did not answer him.

Xi Yang covered his chest and pretended to be serious, saying that he was so cruel for ignoring him.

Duan Baiting took the wine that was in front of him and refilled countless times, and just said in a calm voice: "Zhiwan will have a holiday the day after tomorrow."

--------

Duan Zhiwan was on holiday because there were guests at home. It's Uncle Xi Yang.

She came over with the doll in her arms: "Uncle, let's play the princess game."

An hour ago, her father told her: "Uncle Xi is in a bad mood recently, try your best to coax him."

Duan Zhiwan nodded.

So there is this scene now, Xi Yang plays the princess game with her.

Duan Zhiwan is the maid beside the princess, and Xi Yang is the princess.

Looking at the princess dress she had wrapped around her waist, Xi Yang didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "You didn't tell me to be a princess before I came."

Duan Zhiwan clapped his hands and praised him: "Uncle Xi is the most handsome princess in the world."

The smile in Xi Yang's eyes deepened. He bent down and rubbed her hair with his hands.

Do you really think he is a fool? A five-year-old child can fool him?

This is not the way to coax people.

Xi Yang followed up her words and asked, "What about Dad. Is Uncle Xi good-looking, or is Dad good-looking?"

If it were normal times, then Dad would definitely be good-looking. But today Uncle Xi is the protagonist.

And she promised her father that she would make Uncle Xi happy.

So she lied seriously: "Uncle Xi is more handsome."

An uninvited guest suddenly appeared, and Song Wanyue went downstairs yawning. Duan Zhiwan saw his mother and changed his words: "Mom is the prettiest, Uncle Xi is the second most handsome."

Xi Yang smiled and said, "I love you in vain."

Song Wanyue was confused by this inexplicable remark: "How come I am on the same track with you?"

Xi Yang raised his chin slightly: "Your daughter is participating in the contest for the most beautiful princess in the world."

Song Wanyue glanced meaningfully at the princess dress that did not fit his waist, and a fleeting look of disgust flashed in her eyes: "No way... you wouldn't give up on yourself to this extent."

Xi Yang: "..."

What's going on with this mother and daughter?

With the addition of Song Wanyue, this princess game became a game with two female protagonists.

Duan Zhiwan became a maid for the two princesses. Song Wanyue didn't understand what was going on. She was forced to become a princess just because she went downstairs to drink some water.

"What are you doing?" She looked at Xi Yang in confusion.

The latter shrugged, indicating that he didn't know either.

However, Duan Zhiwan is really good at coaxing people. She serves tea and pours water, and she fulfills the duties of a maid to the end.

Xi Yang suddenly felt that the princess dress she was wearing was not so annoying anymore.

He reached out and pinched her face: "Just be Uncle Xi's daughter. Uncle Xi promises to be good to you and only you."

Princess No. 2 Song Wanyue frowned vigilantly: "You are a human trafficker, stay away from my daughter."

Xi Yang corrected with a smile: "Human traffickers steal, what I do is to persuade with love."

Duan Baiting had a very important meeting to attend and did not come back until the evening.

This is what I saw when I opened the door.

The petite Duan Zhiwan considerately massaged Xi Yang's legs and served her tea while she was wearing a princess dress. Song Wanyue looked unhappy standing by.

After Xi Yang touched Duan Zhiwan's head and thanked her, he went to talk to Song Wanyue with a smile: "Don't be so stingy."

It seemed as if they were a happy family.

Duan Baiting's face turned dark and he drove the man out of the house.

Xi Yang didn't even come out of the role of princess, and just moved from the warm castle to the cold outside.

The phone vibrated and a message was received.

He unlocked the screen.

The message was sent by Duan Baiting.

——Don't come to my house anymore.

Hey hey.

Xi Yang replied to him.

——Did you go to buy the vinegar factory today? I could smell the vinegar on you even when you were outside.

The red exclamation mark that popped up above the screen silenced him for a few seconds.

It shows that the other party has deleted him.

In the "castle", Duan Zhiwan said obediently: "Dad, I coaxed Uncle Xi today."

Song Wanyue told her: "Now it's time to coax Dad."