Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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Xie Yuan’s home in Wuting was a large flat-floor western-style building with one staircase and one floor. The living room was extraordinarily transparent, and the style of home decoration was quite simple. It could be seen that the interior decoration was very tasteful.
Xie Yuan wore a white turtleneck sweater, he liked to wear casual clothes at home, which was completely different from suits and leather shoes he wore on weekdays, and his temperament felt much softer.
He took Jiang Yu to visit a room, and at the same time turned on the record player and played Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”.
“Uncle Xie, your home is really nice. It’s big and beautiful.”
“As long as you like it.” Xie Yuan took her to the study, pointed to a whole shelf of the bookshelf and said, “There are a lot of books on the bookshelf. You can read the ballet collection and other books at will, I’m going to the kitchen to prepare the New Year’s Eve dinner.”
“Uncle Xie, do you need my help?”
“No, at my home, you don’t have to do this.”
After Xie Yuan left, Jiang Yu began to flip through the thick books on the book shelf. She found that the books were yellow and old, but well preserved.
Jiang Yu casually flipped open an English book “The Origin of Romantic Ballet”, flipped through a few pages, and found that there were densely sketched notes, and graceful handwriting was annotated in the corner, which looked like a girl’s notes.
Jiang Yu turned a few pages and saw an old photo of a couple standing on the rails, and in the distance were the dark Cangshan Mountain.
The girl was wearing a cute frock with a ponytail and was hugging the man’s waist as if she was going to kiss him on the face. The man, on the other hand, had a very serious expression, as he looked at the camera, and took pictures with a straight face.
Jiang Yu recognized that the girl in the photo as Bu Tanyan, and the man as Xie Yuan when he was young.
The two of them used to be a really good couple.
Looking at their sweet and happy appearance, Jiang Yu felt very warm and sad at the same time.
Why were such people separated forever?
In the kitchen, Xie Yuan took the spatula to fry the garlic moss meat in the pot.
Jiang Manyi folded her arms, leaned against the door, and looked at his busy back: “Mr. Xie can still cook?”
“I used to open a food stall before.” Xie Yuan said calmly: “My cooking skills are not bad, wait a minute. You and Xiao Yu can try it later.”
Jiang Manyi rolled her eyes: “It seems that you came prepared today, knowing that my daughter is a big foodie, you want to tempt her with food.”
“You don’t always have to think of conspiracy theories.” Xie Yuan tilted his head and said, “I just want to be nice to my daughter.”
Jiang Manyi hurriedly stuck her head out of the kitchen, made sure Jiang Yu was not outside, closed the door, and warned him, “I advise you to not talk nonsense, she’s not your daughter, she is mine!”
“I’ve checked it all out.” Xie Yuan tasted the soup in the casserole and said calmly, “But you can rest assured, I’m not an unreasonable person. You brought her up, so I appreciate and respect you.”
Jiang Manyi gritted her teeth and said angrily, “What right do you have to say that she is your daughter, when Yanyan needed you the most, where were you? When she gave birth, you didn’t even appear. In the most desperate two years before she left, you were not by her side, and now you come back to ask for her daughter. Let me tell you, it’s impossible!”
Xie Yuan put down the spoon in his hand, closed his eyes, and said solemnly: “I was in prison.”
Jiang Manyi paused, but did not speak.
“You look at me now, I am very bright, with a company, assets in billions, and a big house. But those two years was the lowest point in my life, I had just gotten out of prison. At the worst, when I met the best girl, my low self-esteem was real.”
At that time, he had nothing, worried that his prison history would affect her, he finally chose to leave and start his own business from scratch.
He opened a food stall restaurant in the back street of the university where Bu Tanyan studied, earning money while studying for the adult self-examination.
At that time, Bu Tanyan was the most beautiful girl in the school. She could dance ballet. Every year, she danced gracefully at parties, and many boys liked her.
Xie Yuan never imagined that such a girl would notice him.
For a long time, she came to eat at his food stall, wearing white ripped jeans, ordering a small bowl of fried rice, standing beside him with the bowl, chatting with him and teasing him while eating.
Who would have thought that the “white swan” of Beicheng University, the unreachable goddess school flower, like a little sister, would come to his shop to eat and drink for free whenever she was free.
She didn’t mind that he had been in prison, or that he had nothing, and she didn’t even mind his terrible temper.
Later, on a New Year’s Eve, after the “white swan” attended a high-end dinner party, wearing a white dance dress, she ran to his rental house in the snow all the way, just to wish him: “Happy New Year.”
In the cramped and cold rental house, when Xie Yuan opened the door, he saw the “white swan” with snow on her temples, as she jumped on top of him, and hugged him tightly.
She couldn’t stop talking in his ear: “I like you, I really like you, my body, my heart, every strand of my hair likes you.”
At that moment, every cell in Xie Yuan’s body gave up resistance.
He could no longer refuse this girl’s ardent sincerity and so many likes.
It was a crazy night. There was no heating in the rental house. Xie Yuan changed to the cleanest sheets.
They drank a lot and burned each other to the extreme.
“Later I went south to do business and started from scratch again, trying to be worthy of her. But she told me that no matter how hard I tried, we would never get the consent of her parents, unless she wore the first and only queen’s ballerina crown in China.”
Jiang Manyi sighed: “You missed her.”
“We made an appointment, to work hard together, I would work hard to earn money, she would work hard to dance, and when I came back, she would give me a huge surprise.”
Xie Yuan closed his eyes sadly, even after many years, talking about his first love again, he was still so sad: “I couldn’t wait for her surprise, and there would be no more.”
Jiang Manyi knew what the surprise was…
Bu Tanyan gave him a baby without telling the whole world. The cutest daughter in the world!
When leaving, Bu Tanyan entrusted her daughter to Jiang Manyi. No matter how much he blamed himself now, Jiang Manyi would never return her daughter to him.
“If you want to recognize your daughter, this matter will definitely come out.” Jiang Manyi said in a deep voice, “The Bu family will also know that Bu Tanyan gave birth to a daughter, what do you think they will do? After so many years, no one has ever won the queen position in the ballet world except Bu Tanyan…”
“You are afraid that they will take Xiao Yu away.”
Xie Yuan sneered: “Impossible, until I’m alive, this will never happen.”
Jiang Manyi knew, and now Xie Yuan was no longer the poor boy Bu Tanyan loved back then.
With his own strength, he was enough to compete with the Bu family, but…
Jiang Manyi couldn’t do it. If the Bu family wanted their granddaughter back, Jiang Manyi couldn’t stop them at all, just like she couldn’t stop Xie Yuan.
Xie Yuan was different from the Bu family. Xie Yuan had deep feelings for Jiang Yu, and because of this, he would not take her away forcibly.
That’s why Jiang Manyi reluctantly agreed to let them come in contact, but didn’t stop it forcefully.
At this moment, Jiang Yu pushed open the kitchen door and looked at them meaningfully: “You two, what are you talking about with the kitchen door closed?”
Jiang Manyi immediately said, “Looking at your uncle’s good cooking skills, I asked him to teach me how to cook.”
“Really.” Jiang Yu said with a smile: “Then there is no need to close the door.”
Jiang Manyi knew that Jiang Yu had misunderstood, and quickly pushed her out to avoid embarrassment.
“Don’t talk nonsense, I have nothing with Xie Yuan.”
“Did I say you have anything?” Jiang Yu added a little smile: “You are here without three hundred taels of silver.”
“Stop talking nonsense, I’m leaving, you can celebrate the New Year with him, I’ll go back and have a little wine, I’m too lazy to care about you.”
“Don’t, don’t, it’s so embarrassing for me to stay when you leave.”
When the mother and daughter were talking on the balcony, Xie Yuan had already put the sumptuous meal on the table: “It’s time for dinner.”
Jiang Yu walked over and saw the delicious food on the table, and exclaimed, “Uncle Xie, your craftsmanship is so good! I can see that you can actually cook!”
Usually he looked like an elite in the workplace and a corporate executive, but she didn’t expect him to be a “family man” at home.
Xie Yuan was very happy with the compliment given to him by his daughter, then he gave her a bowl of pea hoof soup[1]: “Drink the soup first.”
“Ah, this soup, I can’t drink it.” Jiang Yu looked at the oil flowers floating above the surface, although she was already hungry, she couldn’t bear it anymore, but she still pushed back and said, “This…I really can’t drink it.”
“Why can’t you drink it?”
Jiang Manyi said leisurely: “Controlling their diet is the basic quality of a ballet dancer.”
“When you are growing up, what diet should you control?”
Xie Yuan’s face sank: “Dad said you can drink it means you can drink it.”
“Then I’ll take a sip?”
Xie Yuan scooped another bowl for her, and removed the oil on the soup noodles.
Jiang Yu was blowing the heat and was about to open her mouth when she suddenly remembered something and looked at Xie Yuan: “Uncle Xie, what did you just say… Dad?”
Xie Yuan was slightly surprised: “Did I say it, no.”
Jiang Yu was pretty sure: “You said it, I heard it.”
“I… didn’t.”
Jiang Yu looked at Jiang Manyi: “He said it, right?”
Jiang Manyi: “I didn’t hear it.”
“Eh?”
On the New Year’s Eve, Xie Yuan and Jiang Manyi went to the terrace to set off firecrackers.
Jiang Yu took the mobile phone alone, went to the study secretly, and made a video call to Qiu Li to celebrate New Year’s Eve together.
However, after the video call was made, no one answered for a long time, and then it was hung up.
Jiang Yu made another video call which was also quickly hung up.
What happened? Didn’t he say it was good to celebrate New Year’s Eve together?
She called Qiu Li, however this time Qiu Li didn’t hang up, but picked up the phone, “Girlfriend…”
Jiang Yu heard that his breathing was a little heavy and noisy, so she asked, “Why didn’t you answer the video call?”
“There is traffic.” He cleared his throat: “Outside… watching fireworks.”
“Oh, so.” Jiang Yu had no doubts: “Did you wear the new shoes I gave you when you went out?”
“Yes, I wore them.”
“That’s good, it’s the new year, you have to wear new clothes and new shoes.”
“Well.”
“Then don’t hang up, wait for the countdown?”
“No.”
“Where are you? It’s so noisy, your voice has changed a bit.”
At the end of the damp alley, there were children watching fireworks and gun battles, bursting with laughter, however to him it was like another world.
Qiu Li sat on the ground with his back against the wall. There was a pile of remnants of ashes in front of him. There were black charcoal marks on his face, and there were many burn marks on his clothes, especially his arms. The burn marks were particularly obvious.
In his arms, he was holding the pair of AJ’s sneakers that Jiang Yu gave him. The glue of the sneakers was burnt black, and the shoelaces were also burned. Although the general shape did not change, it was obvious that it was already difficult to wear.
Qiu Li’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was holding onto the pair of shoes…
In the dark blue night sky, fireworks exploded in clusters, his eardrums roared, and his temples throbbed.
On the phone, the girl’s gentle and soft voice came: “Qiu Li, the countdown is about to start, let’s do it together, ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”
Qiu Li tried to suppress his pain and said with her: “Five, four, three, two, one…”
“Happy New Year! Happy New Year to you too!”
Qiu Li’s mouth raised unconsciously, but his eyes hurt very much: “Yes, our Xiao Yu is also…”
“Qiu Li, your voice doesn’t sound very good.”
Qiu Li lowered his head and kissed the pair of burned shoes, then wiped his dry eyes, and said, “It may be because your boyfriend misses you too much.”
Jiang Yu was a little worried and said, “Then let’s do a video call, and I’ll charge you the data fee.”
Qiu Li bit his fist hard, and because it was too hard, his body trembled slightly uncontrollably, “Xiao Yu, I love you.”
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Thanks for the chapter!!!!
A big foodie?
She eats less than a little mouse…