Chapter 105: Chapter 69 (part 1)

Han Yanyan considered it and then wrote, "It wouldn't be good."

When Tang Ke got the note a week later, he was left dumbfounded. He puzzled over it for a whole week before leaving her a message the next Monday saying, "What should I call you?"

A week later, she replied: "You can give me a name. I think I'll call you Little Star. Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are? Your eyes are as pretty as stars." When she was done writing, she rubbed the goose bumps on your arms. That name really fried one's brain cells.

Yet another week passed and she received a reply. "Little Fairy."

Han Yanyan was left quite speechless upon receiving this nickname. Tang Ke had once said that she was as beautiful as an angel. So was this a little angel in the left arm and a little fairy in the right?

Although he was currently being projected as a child, this deity was a bigshot who had lived through countless storms. Even projected into this world as a child, one's nature remained unchanged.

Alright then. But now that you had your little fairy, no more thoughts about the little angel.

 

Little Fairy.

Tang Ke repeated the name before going to bed, feeling like life had become better ever since he had returned to the Eastern District with his mother. He had an angel older sister, and now he also had a little fairy.

When he went home during the weekend, he finally told Xinya about the little fairy. Xinya was surprised, amused and pleased. It reminded her of the beautiful, innocent memories of her childhood, and she couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness. Stroking Tang Ke's hair, she told him, "Get along well with her."

Tang Ke nodded and asked his mother, "How was work?"

Xinya's hand paused it's stroking. "I went for an interview yesterday, but it hasn't been finalized yet."

At first, Patriarch Han had come to see her very often, but then one day, the frequency dropped. When she thought about it, he probably wouldn't have much time for her after the novelty had worn off. Xinya was quite relieved.

Recently, Patriarch Han had only been over looking for her once or twice a week, so Xinya had been thinking about going out to work. She had actually passed yesterday's interview. The only reason why she hadn't yet made a decision was because she hadn't yet asked for his permission. He came to find her whenever he felt like it, so she didn't dare arrange her time without first asking him.

Sunday night when she sent Tang Ke back to the manor, she braced herself and knocked on his study door. So many terrible things had happened to her in this room that when she pushed open the door, she felt her body tense up.

She prayed that Han Yanyan would be in the study. Han Yanyan often took care of affairs with her father here at night. These last few weekends, she had been able to leave safely after sending Tang Ke back to the manor all because Han Yanyan had been here in this study.

But luck did not favour her this time. Patriarch Han was the only one in the study.

"Absolutely not," he immediately refused. "All of your time is mine."

Xinya's head drooped. "I have to give the child a reason, or I won't be able to explain our financial state."

"I'll arrange everything," said Patriarch Han. "You don't need to worry about a thing. If you're bored, pick up one of your old hobbies. Didn't you always use to like painting? Do you still paint?"

Even after marriage, and even after the death of her parents, Xinya had still been able to live a life with music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, full of poetry and fine wine. But all those things had left her the moment her husband collapsed.

"I haven't touched a brush in years," she said softly, "It was all put aside."

"That doesn't matter." Patriarch Han walked up, caressed her face and told her, "You can always pick it up again."

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His words were gentle, and the hand touching her cheek was warm.

Xinya looked up at him. She had been afraid to look at him for so long, but tonight, his tenderness gave her courage.

"Cousin, you..." Her voice quivered a little. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Patriarch Han smiled slightly and lifted her chin.

"The way you just looked at me reminds me of how you were before. That's how you were taught to behave when you were young, with your chin slightly raised, just like that. So as not to appear arrogant, but still reserved. When you rejected me," he recalled, "It was raised a little higher than usual."

"It was beautiful." He smiled. "Very beautiful. I've always remembered it."

There was no tenderness in his smile. A chill crept up Xinya's back, and she lost the courage to look at him. Her chin broke away from his fingers and dipped to her collarbone. When her head hung down, the back of her neck bent naturally in a beautiful arc.

Patriarch Han's hand caressed her neck.

"Later, when you came back, you often hung your head before me. This arc..." His thumb slipped from the roots of her hair to the bumps of her spine that stood out from her neck, gently stroking, "It's beautiful too. But it's a different kind of beautiful."

Unwilling to part with her slender, fair neck, he lowered his head close to her forehead and told her gently, "If you must to ask why, all I can tell you is..."

"A wolf strolls through the forest with no intention of hunting."

"Until a rabbit appears."

"A rabbit is born weak. Her very existence is an invitation to the wolf."

"Because killing is his instinct."

"Xinya, that day... you wanted to run away, didn't you? You wanted to give up?" he asked.

"Yes," Xinya replied in a trembling voice.

"Why? You knew that this was the best way."

"But it wasn't the only one." Xinya closed her eyes, feeling pain. "The price to be paid was too high. I was afraid. I couldn't do it. So... "

So at the very last moment, she had decided to give up this approach. The other road might be difficult, might be hard, and perhaps the heights that it could reach at the end might not be so high, but it wasn't impossible.

But he was no longer that the young man at the beginning who could let her go.

"But you didn't resist. Even if you had put up a little bit of resistance, I might have let you go," said Patriarch Han. "You just ran. What happens to prey that turns its back to a predator?"