It was five days later that Lu Xi finally finished her design drafts and remembered to look at the properties list.
It was Xie Yizhao who reminded her again. Otherwise, she would have delayed further.
She had been too busy these past few days. Aside from working on her drafts, she had also gone to the factory for discussions. And in her free time, she visited Xie Heng at the hospital.
At noon that day, Lu Xi found the folder that Li Xiao had sent her in her study.
It was full of information on Xie Yizhao’s real estate properties.
Li Xiao was meticulous. He had even prepared an electronic version for her.
Lu Xi flipped through the documents absentmindedly, not particularly enthusiastic about moving.
But as she turned a few more pages and saw all the beautiful houses, her interest piqued.
She couldn’t help rubbing her hands together.
Xie Yizhao sure owned a lot of properties!
Not just in this city, but in other provinces, even several overseas.
As she skimmed through them all, she suddenly caught on to the underlying message.
There was no way he intended to move somewhere else.
So, showing her all his properties like this… That was interesting.
Lu Xi thought of those wildlife documentaries where male predators would deliberately showcase their strength and hunting skills to attract mates.
*Cough*… Though the analogy was a bit inappropriate—comparing Xie Yizhao to a wild beast seemed unfair.
But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
She chuckled to herself for a while, amused by her own thoughts.
Shaking off the distraction, she was about to continue reading when her phone chimed with a new message.
Blue-haired Brat : [Old Xu and Old Song brought me some pan-fried buns from the school gate. If you come over now, there are still some left.]
Lu Xi was momentarily stunned.
That didn’t seem right.
Since when was this kid so considerate? Saving her food on purpose?
His appetite was huge. Even after surgery, now that he was finally off porridge, the butler had sent him ribs and dumplings yesterday. If the doctor hadn’t stopped him, he could have eaten three big bowls.
Another message popped up.
Blue-haired Brat : [If you’re coming, bring me a bowl of beef noodles from the kitchen too. Extra meat, please.]
He even added a puppy begging emoji.
Lu Xi : ?
So, the so-called ‘saving her some buns’ was actually just a ploy to trade for beef noodles…
—Little brat.
She wanted to refuse, but then an image popped into her mind—of Xie Heng as a toddler, sucking on a pacifier, clutching a teddy bear, drooling while staring longingly at the adults eating delicious food.
“…”
Damn it.
It was all Xie Yizhao’s fault for mentioning that old photo. She hadn’t even seen it yet, but her maternal instincts were already acting up.
Smiling, she closed the folder, packed it into a sturdy paper bag, and headed downstairs.
An hour later, Lu Xi entered Xie Heng’s hospital room, carrying the bag in one hand. Behind her, a bodyguard followed, holding three bowls of beef noodles.
As expected, the three little rascals were all inside, sprawled out playing video games.
Even the usually refined and composed Xu Jiaming was half-reclining on the sofa in a relaxed posture. But the moment he saw Lu Xi, his expression stiffened, and he quickly sat up straight.
Lu Xi smiled, unfazed. She gestured for the bodyguard to place the noodles on the table and said lightly, “Here, I brought you some food. Eat while it’s hot.”
Song Siyang, who had already lost the game, immediately tossed his phone aside and grinned at her. “Wow, thanks, CEO Lu! It smells amazing!”
Xu Jiaming was equally appreciative. He set down his controller, unwrapped the packaging, and smiled politely. “Thank you.”
“…You two are unbelievable,” Xie Heng muttered, speechless.
Among four teammates, two were already eliminated, and one just gave up entirely, and he was the only one left who was still fighting. Why should he?
Screw it. If he was going to die, he’d do it on his own terms. Rolling his eyes, Xie Heng pulled out a grenade and blew himself up in the game, ending his match.
He had recovered quite a bit over the past few days. Instead of lying in bed, he was now either leaning against the wall or slouching on the sofa.
Now, seeing Lu Xi, he slowly dragged himself over to the couch, grumbling as he shoved Xu Jiaming and Song Siyang aside. “Move over. I have no space.”
He sluggishly unwrapped his food and glanced at Lu Xi. “The sofa is crowded. Sit on my bed instead—it’s clean.”
Lu Xi couldn’t help but laugh.
Would she really mind sitting on a bed her own kid had slept on? Without hesitation, she stepped forward, lifted the blanket, and sat down.
Xie Heng handed her the pan-fried buns, but just as she was about to take them, he paused.
Then, as if remembering something, he got up and went to the kitchen to heat them in the microwave for two minutes before bringing them back.
Song Siyang suddenly raised his head. “CEO Lu, hurry and eat! Xie Heng specially saved those for you—he didn’t even let me have one just now!”
Xie Heng shot him a glare. “Shut up. Can’t even eat without running your mouth?”
He sat down in anger.
He glanced at the two guys next to him and suddenly felt annoyed.
Why were they always hanging around Lu Xi lately?
It was like they were competing with him for attention.
And Ms. Lu too. Why did she have to bring them food too? Giving them beef noodles made his own portion seem so ordinary. Not special at all.
He had been craving the kitchen’s beef noodles for days, but now, as he picked up his chopsticks and took a big bite, he found it…
Not as good as before.
It must be because it’s too bland, not even a single chili… He wants to give a bad review!
After finishing her pan-fried buns, Lu Xi went downstairs to get herself a cup of coffee. She sat down and drank it leisurely, then glanced at the time. It was almost one o’clock. Estimating that the other two boys should be heading to school by now, she finally made her way to the hospital room.
Opening the door, she found the sofa empty, the table tidied up, and the room quiet.
Under the covers, there was a noticeable bulge. Someone was asleep, completely wrapped up with only a tuft of fluffy blue hair sticking out.
Lu Xi’s heart trembled at the sheer cuteness of the scene. Unable to resist, she walked over and ruffled Xie Heng’s hair.
“What are you doing? I’m sleeping. Go play by yourself.”
A muffled voice came from under the blanket.
Lu Xi cleared her throat, took out a folder, and tapped it lightly on his blanket.
“We’re moving. Come pick a house. Do you want to help choose?”
Not even a second later, Xie Heng poked his head out from under the covers.
He stared straight at Lu Xi. “Just me? Only I get to see?”
Lu Xi froze for a moment.
“Well, duh. Who else is here besides us?” She shuddered at the thought. “Don’t even start—sounds creepy.”
Only then did Xie Heng’s eyes light up. He sat up, put on his jacket, and as he slipped his arms through the sleeves, he suddenly paused and asked in confusion, “Wait, you said we’re moving? Moving where?”
Weren’t they living just fine here?
Lu Xi didn’t bother explaining much. She simply pulled out the folder and said, “These are all our properties. Take a look and pick where you’d like to live.”
Xie Heng picked up the folder from the bed and weighed it in his hands. It felt like a small booklet, with some heft to it.
He flipped to the first page, skimmed it, then kept flipping.
Page after page, he lost count of how many he had gone through. At least twenty or thirty…
The boy couldn’t help but exclaim, “So many houses? Damn, my Dad is really loaded!”
Lu Xi stared at the silly goose in exasperation.
“You’re just realizing this now? I thought this was common knowledge.”
Xie Heng pouted.
Of course, he knew his Dad was rich. But just how rich, he had never really looked into it or cared. Now, with his Dad’s assets laid out clearly in front of him—and knowing this was only a fraction of them—it was genuinely shocking.
He didn’t say much and continued flipping through the properties with Lu Xi. But as they went through them, he found himself unable to choose.
With Xie Yizhao’s keen eye and connections, every property he invested in was in a prime location with excellent surroundings. There were no bad choices.
Ironically, having too many great options made the decision even harder.
For a while, both Lu Xi and Xie Heng were stuck in indecision, flipping through the pages without reaching a conclusion.
By the time they finished, they hadn’t spoken a word about it, but they both shared the same thought:
Compared to Xie Yizhao, the two of them were total peasants.
Xie Heng closed the folder. He didn’t want to look at it anymore.
His expression was a bit uneasy, as if a cloud had settled over him.
After some hesitation, he couldn’t help but ask, “Do you think I’ll ever be able to make as much money as my Dad?”
Lu Xi was slightly taken aback. Noticing the gloom in Xie Heng’s mood, she immediately understood.
Ohhh, so that’s it. The kid saw his Dad’s massive success and started worrying about his own future. He was having an emo moment again.
Lately, he’d been having these moments often. Maybe it was just teenage existential angst.
Lu Xi chuckled and asked, “Tell me, do you think money is important?”
Even though he had been acting like a little money grubber lately, Lu Xi felt that deep down, Xie Heng didn’t actually care that much about wealth.
Xie Heng thought for a moment before answering, “I don’t know. Money is definitely important, but… not that important.”
Lu Xi had the urge to ruffle his hair again, but since they were having a serious conversation, she held back. Instead, she said calmly, “Exactly. You’re still young. You have time to find your own path. Maybe one day, you’ll discover something more important than making money.”
She paused, then added, “But what that is… you’ll have to figure out for yourself.”
This was a journey everyone had to take. No parent or teacher could make the choice for them—they could only offer guidance.
Xie Heng pressed his lips together.
Finding the answer on his own…? That seemed really hard.
He wasn’t as smart as Xu Jiaming, nor as carefree as Song Siyang, who never seemed to worry about anything. Could he really figure it out by himself?
But Lu Xi looked like she had complete confidence in him.
Somehow, that made Xie Heng feel a lot better.
Before Xie Heng could figure out his life’s purpose, and before Lu Xi could decide which house to move into, something unexpected happened—
The two little ones that Xie Heng had saved earlier somehow managed to find his hospital room on their own.
That afternoon, Xie Heng had two final exams to take in his hospital room.
The school had sent a teacher to proctor the tests.
From 1 PM, with a break in between, he took exams all the way until 5 PM.
As soon as the teacher collected the exam papers and left, Xie Heng tossed his pen aside, feeling completely relaxed. He planned to go back to bed and take a nap while waiting for Ms. Lu to come and feed him.
He had barely closed his eyes when two little kids appeared at the nurses’ station.
They were so short, and their voices were soft and childish. It took them several tries of calling out ‘Nurse Sister’ before someone finally noticed them.
The nurses on duty were all stunned, staring at the two little ones, assuming they were family members of a patient. One of the nurses crouched down patiently and asked, “What’s the matter?”
The little girl spoke confidently, introducing herself, “Sister, my name is Zhou Ningning, and he’s Zhou Chichi. We’re here to find our Brother.”
“What’s your Brother’s name? Which ward is he in?”
Zhou Ningning shook her head. She didn’t know what their Brother was called.
But that wasn’t a problem. They had pictures.
The nurse watched as the two kids pulled out two drawings from their little backpacks and generously introduced them, “Our Brother looks like this.”
She looked down at the drawings and almost got struck by lightning.
In the little girl’s picture, there was a huge golden sun in the sky, and a wild-looking stick figure was grabbing another stick figure. It seemed like they were fighting.
In the little boy’s picture, the same golden sun was present, but the stick figure was in an abstract Picasso style, with its eyes, nose, and mouth seemingly unacquainted with each other. However, it was wearing underwear over its clothes, looking a lot like Superman.
The nurse forced a smile.
These two kids were so cute… but why did their Brother look like this?
Just then, another nurse leaned over and immediately had an idea. “Look at this one, he has blue hair. Could it be that handsome guy in Room 607?”
Zhou Ningning jumped excitedly. “Yes, yes! My Brother has blue hair!”
The nurse’s mouth twitched.
That guy looks so good, and yet they drew him like this? Are they sure he’s their real Brother?
The nurse led the two kids to the ward and knocked on the door.
It took a while before Xie Heng lazily got up to open it. He thought it was Lu Xi—otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered.
When he opened the door, the first thing he saw was the nurse. Then, looking down, he spotted the two little kids.
“Police Brother!”
“Superman Brother!”
Xie Heng instinctively wanted to close the door. How did these two little things find him? No way—if he let them in, it would be way too noisy.
But just then, Lu Xi arrived, carrying a food container.
“What are you doing standing in the doorway?” She then noticed the two little kids and paused.
Who were they?
Seeing Lu Xi’s confused expression, Xie Heng sighed and explained helplessly, “They’re the kids I saved the other day. I have no idea how they found their way here…”
Lu Xi blinked, looking at the two soft little figures.
The kids were also staring at her intently—especially Ningning. The moment Lu Xi appeared, her big round eyes seemed to glue themselves to her, unable to look away.
Lu Xi handed the food container to Xie Heng. “Hold this.”
He took it, a little puzzled.
Meanwhile, Lu Xi was already overwhelmed by how adorable the two kids were. She couldn’t help but reach out and pat their heads. They were obviously twins, with similar features—but double the cuteness.
Ningning’s eyes widened, and suddenly, she threw herself at Lu Xi, hugging her tightly. In a soft, sweet voice, she asked, “You smell so nice. Can you be our Mommy?”
Lu Xi froze.
Xie Heng’s grip on the food container tightened, the veins on the back of his hand twitching.
That’s his Mom!
Even little brats aren’t allowed to steal his Mom!