Han Qing remained silent, the look in his eyes was dark and obscure. Then, he leaned over and unfastened the seat belt around Little Bean. “Go on; go to your Aunt Yan.”
Little Bean did not move. Instead, he lifted his head and looked Han Qing straight in the eye. “You have not answered my question, Uncle Qing. How did you know this is where Aunt Yan is staying?” His expression indicated that he refused to leave until he received an answer.
Thus, Han Qing pursed his thin lips expressionlessly. “With my abilities, it’s not hard for me to figure out where a person lives. If you understand, then get out of the car. I still need to head back to the company.”
“But, I don’t know which unit Aunt Yan is staying in. Can you bring me there, Uncle Qing?”
Han Qing glared briefly at Little Bean. This little guy is pushing his luck—give him an inch, and he’ll take a mile.
“Uncle Qing is all-knowing, so you must know which unit Aunt Yan is staying at, right? Please bring me there, Uncle Qing; I don’t dare to go by myself.” Then, Little Bean threw himself onto Han Qing’s arm and refused to let go; he was acting coy on purpose.
If he didn’t send Little Bean to Yan’s door, he probably wouldn’t stop acting out, but if he did… In truth, Han Qing didn’t know which unit she was staying at either. After a brief consideration, he opened the car door and got out together with Little Bean. Excitedly following behind Han Qing, Little Bean thought his uncle would bring him to Aunt Yan’s house immediately. To his surprise, Han Qing brought him to the security guard to ask for information instead.
Little Bean was disappointed. What? Seems like he really did not know.
After confirming it with the security guard, Han Qing brought him there.
After Yan arrived home, she sat in front of her dressing table in a daze. Later, she applied an ice pack to her eyes. Once she saw that her eyes were not as swollen as before, she finally let out a breath of relief. Although her eyes were still reddish, it would be better by the evening. By then, her parents would not notice anything different about her.
It was still early, but Yan had lost her motivation to do anything else, so she went online to browse for decorations for her store. Mr. Lin was an affable man; he might not allow her to make renovations, but he didn’t mind additional furnishing. After entering the website, she browsed intently. Thus, time passed quietly.
Ding-dong. When the doorbell rang, Yan was stunned, and she lifted her head from the screen. Was it her imagination? Did the doorbell ring? She glanced at the time. Who would come at this hour? Is it Mrs. Zhang from next door?
Placing the mouse down, she got up to open the door. When she opened the door, she froze at the sight of the person standing in front of the door. “Little Bean?” Why is he here? Isn’t he eating with Han Qing at the restaurant? Why…
“Aunt Yan!” As Little Bean called out to her, he glanced over at the figure standing by the stairs out of the corner of his eyes. When they heard the sound of footsteps approaching from inside the house, Han Qing had withdrawn to the corner. At the same time, he told Little Bean to keep mum about his presence there so that nobody else would find out.
Although Little Bean did not say a word about it, his eyes kept glancing over to where he stood. Scowling subconsciously, Han Qing knew that if this continued, things would go awry. So, before she noticed him, he quickly entered the elevator and left.
Sure enough, Yan noticed that Little Bean’s expression was odd. She seemed to realize something and was about to inadvertently stick her head out to look. However, another possibility came to mind, and she froze—not daring to take another step forward.
“Aunt Yan!” he called again, pitifully.
Coming back to her senses, she smiled brightly and moved aside. “Since you’re already here, why don’t you come in?”
There was a trace of disappointment in his eyes. He did not expect Uncle Qing to leave so quickly. Moreover, she seemed to have no intention to go out to take a look. Just what happened recently?
Upon entering, Yan quickly closed the door. He wasn’t sure whether it was his imagination or not, but he felt that Aunt Yan had slammed the door shut rather forcefully.
“Little Bean, is there anything you want to drink? Shall I pour you a glass of juice? No, the weather is too cold for juice; it’ll be bad for your digestion. I’ll make you a cup of warm milk tea instead.” She finished her sentence and entered the kitchen without waiting for an answer from him.
For a while, he stood there blankly. Then, he finally moved his short, little legs and headed toward the kitchen. Leaning against the door of the kitchen, he watched as she made him a cup of milk tea; he could tell that she seemed really unhappy.
“What’s wrong, Aunt Yan?” he asked. In the end, he couldn’t stop himself from blurting out the question.
Her hands froze while making the milk tea. The only answer he got from her was a long silence that dragged on—so much so that even the air seemed to become quiet. After a long time had passed, she poured the milk tea into a cup and walked toward him. The milk tea was steaming in the cold air, making her expression in the rising steam seem blurry.
“Here.” She bent down slightly and pushed the cup into his hands. “Be a good boy and drink this. You’ll feel warmer after drinking this. Coming over at this time, you must not have eaten yet. Shall I make something for you to eat? Hmmm, how does a simple bowl of noodles with some meat sound?”
“Aunt Yan…” Little Bean couldn’t bring himself to smile, nor could he answer her. He instinctively felt that, despite her smiling expression, she looked as if she was in great pain. Reaching out his hands, he touched her face lightly. “Stop smiling, Aunt Yan.”
Yan’s smile froze in place, then her eyes reddened. However, she quickly noticed that she was losing control of her emotions, so she hurriedly turned her back to him before her tears could fall. “I’m fine, Little Bean. It’s just that… in the future, I can’t be your aunt. You won’t blame me for that, will you?”
Saying nothing, Little Bean simply hugged the cup of milk tea to his body.
“In the beginning, I thought of becoming your aunt so that I had a justifiable reason to spoil you even more. However, now that I think about it… I can continue to spoil you without becoming your aunt. In the future, if you miss me, just give me a call. I will immediately pick you up. Nevertheless, your Uncle Qing is a busy man; something like what happened today should not happen again in the future, okay?” She tried to make it sound as neutral as possible—as if it had nothing to do with her.
Little Bean became upset upon hearing those words. “Aunt Yan, have you given up?”
She froze. Given up? That’s right; it’s time for me to give up after being delusional for so long. If I don’t give up now, I will lose the last bit of self-esteem I have left… If that happens, how can I continue to live on?
Be that as it may, Yan did not want to force her sorrowful emotions on Little Bean. Therefore, she replied in a light voice, “It’s not that I’m giving up, alright? I just realized that there are many other interesting things in life. Besides, I’m going to open my own shop soon; I’m going to be very, very busy. With all that’s going on, I won’t have the time to be thinking about becoming your aunt.”
