Cen Yun watched as Xie Heng dashed out like a little wolf cub, shielding Lu Xi as if forbidding her from getting close. His stance was rather intimidating.
Her lips trembled, and she instinctively wanted to put on the airs of an elder and lose her temper.
But the cold wind in the cemetery quickly sobered her up.
Put on airs? Among the three people in front of her, which one would actually give her any face? Even the niece she had watched grow up had clearly grown distant. Since her return, Lu Xi hadn’t even bothered to visit them. If Cen Yun hadn’t taken the initiative to call her over, she wouldn’t have even greeted them.
Soon, Lu Yuehua arrived. He quickly pulled Cen Yun back and plastered a smile on his face as he spoke to Lu Xi. “It’s nothing, your Aunt just wanted to check on you. No other intentions.”
Lu Xi couldn’t tell what they were after, but her expression remained indifferent as she nodded.
“Thank you for your concern, but we still need to pay our respects to my parents,” she said.
Lu Yuehua, a businessman of decades, was sharp and quick to react. Immediately, he pulled his wife aside so they wouldn’t be in the way.
As Lu Xi approached the grave, the two men who had been standing there also stepped back, watching her with complicated expressions.
They were Lu Xi’s cousins.
One was thirty-five, the other around thirty. Both of them looked impatient, making it obvious that they hadn’t wanted to come today.
Interesting.
They were grown men with their own careers. If they truly didn’t want to be here, Lu Yuehua wouldn’t have been able to force them. And yet, the whole family showed up together—coincidentally at the same time as her.
Lu Xi hoped she was overthinking it.
Lu Yuehua was, after all, her father’s younger brother. Blood ties still existed between them. Coming to pay respects to the deceased should be an act of sincerity, not driven by ulterior motives.
She quickly dismissed the thought.
Seeing them begin their rituals, her uncle’s family didn’t linger. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Cen Yun hesitating, reluctant to leave, but in the end, she was coaxed away by the others. Lu Xi simply acted as if she hadn’t seen anything.
For today’s memorial, they hadn’t brought anyone else—just the three of them. As Lu Xi was about to kneel, Xie Heng stopped her. He glanced at her long coat and said, “We’ll do it. You don’t want to dirty your clothes.”
Before Lu Xi could respond, he was already skillfully setting up the offerings they had brought.
Watching both Xie Heng and Xie Yizhao work with practiced ease, Lu Xi’s gaze flickered slightly.
As the two men busied themselves, Lu Xi stood before the gravestone in silence for a long time.
She had noticed Xie Heng’s nervousness toward her all the way here. He was young and wore his emotions on his face. Earlier, when she had yawned and teared up from waking up too early, he had hurriedly handed her a tissue as if she were about to break down, making her both amused and exasperated.
Even Xie Yizhao, while driving, kept glancing at her a little too often.
Initially, Lu Xi’s mood had been quite heavy. But thanks to this father and son duo fussing over her, a lot of her sadness had dissipated. She felt much calmer now.
She knew. They were afraid she would cry.
But it had been so long… She had been just a child back then. Even at that time, she hadn’t cried. How could she cry now?
She had been three or four when it happened, too young to understand anything. One night, her uncle had suddenly come to take her to his home, saying something had happened to her parents.
It wasn’t until the funeral that she realized her parents had died in a car accident.
But to a child that young, the concept of death was incomprehensible.
As she grew older and began to understand, she learned that they had died in a car crash.
She never spoke about it, but a shadow remained in her heart—one that stopped her from ever learning to drive.
And ironically, in her original fate, she too was meant to die in a car accident…
Was it some eerie twist of fate?
A cold wind blew, and she shivered slightly.
Xie Yizhao stood beside her, unwrapping his scarf and draping it around her neck, threading it through the loop to block out the wind.
The scarf carried the warmth of his body and the clean, woody scent that always clung to him.
Xie Heng, seeing this, prepared to take off his own coat, only to realize he was wearing a fleece hoodie. If he took it off, he’d be left in just a short-sleeved shirt underneath.
He wasn’t afraid of the cold.
But he was certain that if he took off his coat, Lu Xi would pinch his cheek and tell him to put it back on.
So, he silently gave up and stood at her right side, deliberately positioning himself in the wind’s path.
Lu Xi still crouched down, unconcerned about her coat getting dirty, and finished burning the offerings for her father. Then, the family moved to the neighboring grave and did the same for her mother.
She noticed that her mother’s grave was empty—not a single other offering or even a bouquet of flowers.
Her brows furrowed slightly in discomfort.
She thought about it, then let it go.
After all, they weren’t related by blood to her mother. If they had cared, it would have been kindness; if they neglected it, she couldn’t blame them. In the end, this was her own responsibility.
Once everything was done, Lu Xi stood up, and the two men flanking her immediately reached out to support her.
While she had been burning offerings, Xie Heng had quietly been holding up the hem of her coat for her.
She turned back to look at the boy, and finally, a faint smile appeared in her eyes.
After a moment of thought, she stood between the two gravestones and, in a voice only the three of them could hear, said,
“Dad, Mom, don’t worry. I’m doing well now.
“Xiao Heng has been very well-behaved. He even improved by fifty-seven ranks on his last exam.”
Xie Heng was suddenly called out and couldn’t help but ruffle his blue hair. He tried to act indifferent but failed, his lips curled up into a smile. Realizing it might not be appropriate, he quickly suppressed his grin and spoke earnestly, “Grandpa, Grandma, just wait and see. My grades will definitely improve more!”
He paused before adding, “And also, I won’t let anyone bully Ms. Lu. Outsiders can’t, and even family… can’t either.”
As he spoke, he sneakily glanced at Xie Yizhao.
The hint was far from subtle.
Xie Yizhao shot him a warning look, and only after Xie Heng tactfully averted his gaze did Xie Yizhao allow a faint, composed smile to surface.
He looked at the two tombstones before them, then at Lu Xi’s calm profile. His lips pressed together slightly, his gaze carrying a deep and distant emotion.
After bowing to the elders, they left the cemetery as the rain stopped.
It was almost lunchtime.
Although Lu Xi hadn’t cried today and appeared composed, she was too quiet, barely speaking. Xie Heng scratched his head and, in an attempt to distract her, pulled out his phone and casually asked, “What are we eating later? I’m starving. Are you guys hungry?”
“That’s a good idea,” Xie Yizhao completely ignored his son’s input and gently asked Lu Xi, “What do you feel like eating?”
How could Lu Xi not see through their intentions? She blinked and smiled at Xie Yizhao. “Anything?”
“Yes.”
Xie Yichao’s reply was firm.
In truth, even if Lu Xi said she wanted to fly to the other side of the world for a meal, he could make it happen.
But her actual suggestion caught him completely off guard.
“I’ve always heard that Xie Corporation’s cafeteria rivals Black Pearl restaurants. CEO Xie, do you mind taking us there for a taste?” Lu Xi asked with a bright smile.
Xie Heng was stunned. Was that even a thing? Why had he never heard of it?
But today, whatever Ms. Lu said was law. So the boy shamelessly played along, pretending to be interested. “Yeah, I heard that too. CEO Xie, take us to broaden our horizons.”
Xie Yizhao : “…”
As if he couldn’t tell what this little brat was up to.
Expressionless, he reached out and pushed Xie Heng’s head back before glancing at Lu Xi with a half-smile.
She was looking at him innocently.
But why did he feel like she had planned this all along and just waited for the right moment to bring it up?
Besides… was the cafeteria really that good? Why had he never heard about this?
Xie Yizhao had never eaten at the cafeteria.
He had only visited on special occasions—to inspect the food and greet employees. He wouldn’t normally go there.
But today was different. He wasn’t going for work—he was taking his family to eat. So he simply drove to the company, parked in the parking lot, and led Lu Xi and Xie Heng inside without even informing his assistant.
At 11:50 AM, Li Xiao had just finished his tasks. He removed his glasses and rubbed his temples, ready to head to the cafeteria for lunch.
Suddenly, a group of colleagues surrounded him, staring at him in shock.
“Why is CEO Xie at the cafeteria? And you’re not with him?”
“Is there some company event today?”
“I heard he even brought his wife and son…”
Li Xiao froze.
No way.
Why on earth would Mr. Xie go to the cafeteria for lunch—with his wife and son?
He quickly checked his phone. No messages from Mr. Xie.
Then he glanced at the calendar and was even more confused.
It wasn’t April Fool’s Day, so his colleagues couldn’t be pranking him… right?