Chapter 51: Waiting Until That Kid Turns Eighteen

Early in the morning, Cheng Xingye was so stunned by Lu Yi’s question that he lay in bed until nearly noon before finally getting up. Although Lu Yi had only asked that abrupt question before hanging up, Cheng Xingye’s instincts told him that Lu Yi must have noticed something. Had he realized that Cheng Xingye harbored special feelings for Lu Qingyue? Impossible, surely? He thought he had hidden it quite well.

Cheng Xingye lay in bed dazed for a while, only remembering he had come back to the family home the previous night—and wasn’t in his own apartment—when he heard someone calling for him downstairs. He caught the sound of slippers padding softly over the tiled floor in the hallway, followed by a knock at the door and a woman’s gentle voice.

“Xingye? Still not up?”

No matter how formidable Cheng Xingye might be out in the world, at home he was just as obedient to his mother as ever. Hearing her voice, he sighed, threw off the covers, and got out of bed, lazily answering,

“I’m up.”

“If you’re up, hurry and get ready to come down. We have guests.”

“Alright.”

Prompted, Cheng Xingye didn’t dawdle. After taking his time brushing his teeth and washing up, he went downstairs and discovered that today’s guests were the Xu family—Xu Qian and her parents.

The Cheng family business was in medical implant devices, a leading name in the industry. Around this time every year, many partners would come by in person to offer New Year’s greetings. The Xu family happened to supply 3D printing materials and had begun collaborating with the Chengs in recent years, so some social calls were inevitable. Still, bringing a daughter along usually implied a hint of matchmaking, something everyone tacitly understood.

When Cheng Xingye descended the stairs, the Xu family was seated on the sofa, chatting and laughing with his parents. At the sound of footsteps from above, everyone turned. The room fell silent for a moment before Mr. Xu was the first to react, rising quickly to flatter,

“This must be Young Master Cheng? Truly, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree...”

Mr. Cheng, long accustomed to such pleasantries in his high position, merely smiled and took the opportunity to introduce,

“This is Uncle Xu and Aunt Xu. Their daughter is Xu Qian, I hear she’s at your university...”

Cheng Xingye sat down on the sofa, nodding politely to Mr. and Mrs. Xu.

“Uncle Xu, Aunt Xu.”

Xu Qian smiled sweetly and interjected,

“Actually, Xingye and I are in the same class. We’ve known each other for quite a while.”

Her words subtly suggested a close relationship with Cheng Xingye. Mr. Cheng feigned ignorance and exclaimed in realization, “So you’re classmates!”

Mrs. Xu, sharp as ever, immediately chimed in, “If that’s the case, we should foster more connections between our families. Both in business, and with a bond between the younger generation, there’ll be even more opportunities for cooperation in the future, don’t you agree, Mr. Cheng?” As she spoke, she signaled to Xu Qian to pour tea for the Chengs.

Old Mr. Cheng chuckled, accepting the tea without comment. But as Cheng Xingye watched the Xu family’s eager attentiveness, he saw right through their intentions. Their purpose today was now perfectly clear to him.

...

Once the Xu family had left, Mrs. Cheng couldn’t hold back her remarks any longer.

“Old Xu is quite the schemer. Bringing his daughter along today—he definitely came prepared.”

Naturally, Mr. Cheng understood the Xu family’s intentions. Ever since Cheng Xingye graduated high school, old friends and business partners often brought their daughters along for New Year’s visits under the pretext of business cooperation. Mr. Cheng was well aware of what they were after. What could he do? The Chengs were wealthy, and he had an outstanding son.

Now that Cheng Xingye was already twenty-three, such occasions would only become more frequent unless something was done. To put a stop to it, he’d have to settle his son’s marriage soon. With a sigh, Mr. Cheng finished the last sip of his tea and turned to his son.

“You and Xuanxuan are about the same age. Why not settle the marriage early, so those girls outside won’t keep thinking about you?”

The Chengs and the Ye family had known each other for over a decade, thoroughly familiar with one another. What’s more, Ye Zixuan was beautiful and upright in character. In Mr. and Mrs. Cheng’s eyes, Ye Zixuan was the perfect daughter-in-law, and marriage was only a matter of time.

Held in high esteem, Mr. Cheng’s word was law at home. Cheng Xingye had grown up under his watchful eye, with most of life’s major decisions made by his father. In his view, once he had chosen a daughter-in-law, his son would have to marry her.

But Cheng Xingye merely scoffed, leaning back on the sofa with a careless air.

“What sort of logic is that? Is marriage so casual a thing? ‘About the same age’ is enough? What if the age gap is a bit bigger?”

No sooner had he spoken than he paused. It wasn’t that big, actually—just six years. When that little one turned eighteen, he’d be twenty-four. If he waited two more years, she’d be of marriageable age.

A couple of years of dating before marriage wasn’t too late, was it? The thought drifted lazily through Cheng Xingye’s mind.

But seeing his indifferent attitude, Mrs. Cheng became anxious.

“What do you mean, ‘casual’? Haven’t you liked Xuanxuan for years?”

Cheng Xingye raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise as he retorted, “I’ve liked her for years? How come I don’t know about it?”

His past favor toward Ye Zixuan stemmed purely from gratitude to the Ye family; he had never entertained other feelings for her. Mrs. Cheng didn’t believe him. Fixing her gaze on his handsome face, she said confidently,

“Don’t try to fool us. If you didn’t like her, why would you have kept her childhood things for so many years...”

This time, Cheng Xingye fell silent.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the warm light of winter shone in, but his thoughts drifted back to that summer fourteen years ago when he nearly drowned.

He forced a smile, offering no further rebuttal.

Back in his room, he took out a key, opened the lowest drawer on the right of his desk, and retrieved a small wooden box. He had kept this box safe for fourteen years. Inside was a silver pendant engraved with a tiny ‘Y.’

That year, he had an accident at the seaside. By the time he was rescued, he was already half-conscious. Lying on the rough sand, he vaguely heard a little girl sobbing nearby. Later, her father arrived—skilled and calm, checking his breathing and heartbeat, staying at his side until the ambulance came.

The memory was fragmented—many details were hazy. But when he awoke in the hospital, he found a small silver pendant in his hand, likely dropped by the crying girl beside him.

As it happened, his hospital roommate was also a little girl admitted for drowning. The doctor later told him it was this girl’s father who had called the ambulance and brought both children to the hospital.

He later checked the girl’s chart and remembered her name—Ye Zixuan.

Perhaps because of this, the Chengs had always regarded the Ye family as their benefactors and had, intentionally or not, tried to link the two children’s fates ever since.

Yet Cheng Xingye’s feelings for Ye Zixuan had always stopped at gratitude. As for Ye Zixuan, she had never entertained any other thoughts about him, either.

Unable to resist their parents’ matchmaking, the two had no choice but to play along—dodging talk of marriage whenever possible, and postponing it when they couldn’t, until things had dragged on to the present.