Maybe what she was thinking was too absurd. Even when she looked at Xiao Yu now, he seemed so strange to her. Xiao Yu still looked back at her with that same doting look as before, but in her eyes, there was no trace of tenderness. Instead, it felt cold.
The photo that he had carefully treasured was like a fishbone stuck in Ye Yanxi's throat.
Perhaps due to overthinking, Ye Yanxi felt dazed when looking at Xiao Yu. Usually, he was gentle, doting, and took meticulous care of her. He was truly a perfect boyfriend. However, Ye Yanxi's state of mind had quietly changed.
She didn't know how much of Xiao Yu's kindness towards her was genuine and how much was fake. Maybe he was just treating her as the girl in the photo.
With this thought in mind, she ignored Xiao Yu's joking words just now. She simply looked at him and said calmly, "You're back?"
Xiao Yu already thought Ye Yanxi was acting strange today. Now, seeing her expression, it seemed that she was in a bad mood.
He reached out his hand worriedly, wanting to check if Ye Yanxi had a fever because she was not feeling well. "What's wrong with you today? You don't have a fever."
Ye Yanxi looked listless as she waved his hand away and lowered her eyes.
"I'm fine. I don't have a fever." To avoid further suspicion from Xiao Yu, she lied, "I just feel a bit dizzy. Maybe it's because of the hot weather."
"Then go and rest. Don't read anymore." Xiao Yu took the book out of her hand without hesitation.
Ye Yanxi had only been holding the book to pretend. Since she couldn't concentrate on reading anyway, she didn't say anything when he took it away. She went back to the bed and lay down to rest.
Xiao Yu watched as she walked from the desk to the bed, pulled the covers over herself, and lay down. His eyes darkened.
"You still have some work to do. Go downstairs. Don't worry about me." Ye Yanxi urged when she saw that Xiao Yu didn't leave. Every night when he came back, he would work in the study until midnight.
Xiao Yu still showed no sign of leaving. He stared at her face and asked, "Are you going to sleep here tonight?"
"Yes. I'm so tired. I'll just lie down for a while." Ye Yanxi didn't want to discuss this topic, so she replied.
Seeing that Ye Yanxi was insistent, Xiao Yu didn't say anything else. Instead, he walked over and gently tucked the covers around her. "Then rest for a while. If you don't feel well, call me. I'll take you to the hospital."
"Okay." Ye Yanxi replied and then closed her eyes. She didn't look at Xiao Yu again.
It was a very resistant posture.
Xiao Yu frowned and looked at Ye Yanxi for a few seconds. Finally, he walked out and gently closed the door.
As he went downstairs, he was still wondering what was wrong with Ye Yanxi today. Why was she suddenly so resistant to him?
In the living room, he picked up a glass of water and drank it while thinking. Then, he noticed some colorful flyers on the coffee table, like advertising brochures. There seemed to be these colorful paper advertisements all over the neighborhood today.
These must have been brought back by Ye Yanxi, too.
He walked over and flipped through the flyers. After taking a few glances, the exaggeratedly colorful design caught his eye. The big words "Double-Seventh Valentine's Day Carnival" immediately fell into his sight.
Xiao Yu raised his handsome eyebrows slightly and pursed his lips. His inky black pupils were unfathomable. It was hard to tell what he was thinking.
Double-Seventh Valentine's Day. Why did he see these advertisements everywhere? He never had much interest in such festivals. Most businesses just took this opportunity to stimulate consumer spending and make a fortune. As for the other meanings, he didn't really care.
However, since these advertisements were brought back by Ye Yanxi, it meant that she still cared about it to some extent.
The promotional flyer was for a Western restaurant. There would be a one-day Valentine's Day carnival tomorrow, including discounts and some couple activities. Of course, there would also be a candlelit dinner at night, with all kinds of romantic dating arrangements.
Could it be that... Ye Yanxi liked this kind of activity?
Carrying the advertising flyers back to the study, Xiao Yu was still thinking about this question. He impatiently unbuttoned his shirt, and his beautiful collarbone was faintly visible. After thinking for a while, he picked up his phone and dialed Chen Moshu's number.
The phone rang several times before Chen Moshu answered. Xiao Yu almost hung up the phone immediately.
"Yu, you workaholic. Why do you suddenly call me?" Chen Moshu's voice was very loud, almost shouting. Unintentionally, the deafening music in the background could be heard. It was obvious that Chen Moshu was hanging out in some entertainment venue again.
"It's this late, and you're still out?" Xiao Yu raised his eyebrows.
"I'm not like you. You work during the day and at night. For me..." Chen Moshu paused for a moment and then laughed, "This is just the beginning of my nightlife."
"You're busy with company affairs during the day, too. Aren't you tired of staying up so late every day?"
"Wrong!" Chen Moshu immediately retorted, "You're wrong about this. Nightlife is the highlight of my day. I'm so tired during the day, so I definitely need to relax at night. Only in this way can I have the energy to deal with company affairs the next day."
Everything seemed reasonable when it came out of his mouth. However, it was really unexpected for Xiao Yu that the company of Chen Moshu's family not only didn't decline but also thrived under his management.
"Has Aunt Chen been giving you free rein recently?"
Chen Moshu seemed to snort. "Yu, when we're talking, can you not mention other people, especially family members?" He almost gritted his teeth when he said the word "family members".
It was obvious how afraid Chen Moshu was of his mother.
Xiao Yu laughed and casually said, "Do you really want to keep living like this?"
"Do you think it's a good idea to find a woman, get married, have children, and then live a boring and uneventful life? I, Chen Moshu, can't stand it!" His tone was full of disgust.
"When you meet the person you like, you won't say that anymore."
"Come on. Why are you acting like a love consultant? I know you have your goddess. Don't show off in front of me, a single person." Chen Moshu changed the subject and immediately said, "If I could find a girl like your goddess, I would consider getting married and having children. Are you going to give your goddess to me?"
"Do you think that's possible?" Xiao Yu's voice turned cold.
"Okay. I'm just joking. Can't I just have some fun with my words?" Chen Moshu muttered to himself.
"Cut the crap. Do you know what day it is tomorrow?"
"Is this even a question?" As soon as Chen Moshu mentioned this, he immediately got excited. "I've already made an appointment with several of my female friends. I'm going to have a really romantic time tomorrow. We must take Double-Seventh Valentine's Day seriously. Since I don't have a girlfriend, I'll just have to make do with my female friends."
This playboy, Chen Moshu, was actually going to celebrate Valentine's Day.
"Do we really have to celebrate Valentine's Day?"
"Of course. It's Valentine's Day, a day for lovers." Chen Moshu seemed to remember something and immediately shouted, "You're not going to celebrate Valentine's Day with my goddess, are you?"
Xiao Yu was silent for a moment.
Chen Moshu had grown up with him since childhood and knew exactly what he was thinking. When he heard the silence on the other end of the phone, he immediately guessed everything. Then he raised his voice in surprise and shouted, "Really? You're not going to celebrate Valentine's Day with my goddess? That's great. Since you don't have any plans, I'll go and accompany her. I can definitely cancel my appointments with those female friends."
"How dare you!" Xiao Yu's face darkened. "When did I say I won't accompany her on Valentine's Day?"
"Then do you know what to do on Valentine's Day?" Chen Moshu asked Xiao Yu lazily.
"What else can we do?"
Chen Moshu shook his head like a rattle and clicked his tongue. He teased, "Yu, I really didn't expect that you, a double doctorate holder, would not know this."
"..." Xiao Yu's face completely darkened. "Have a meal together during the day and sleep together at night. Isn't that enough?"
Chen Moshu was stunned for a moment and then disagreed. "Yu, you really don't know what romance is."
Xiao Yu didn't answer and waited for him to continue.
However, after waiting for a while, Chen Moshu on the other end of the phone didn't seem to be going to say anything. After a long time, his gloating voice came through. "Yu, do you really want to know? Haha... But I just won't tell you. I hope you'll mess everything up tomorrow, and then your goddess will break up with you. Then I'll have a chance. Don't forget to call me when that happens."
Xiao Yu hung up the phone with a dark face.
He really had made a bad friend. Right in front of him, this guy was so blatantly coveting his woman.
After hanging up the phone, Xiao Yu looked even more annoyed. His brows were knitted tightly.
Thinking about Ye Yanxi's expression when he came back and what Xu Bei had said to him in the car, he wondered if Ye Yanxi was looking forward to Valentine's Day tomorrow.
Rarely did his usually shrewd mind feel so confused. He even began to doubt if there was something wrong with his thinking.
However, he had never celebrated Valentine's Day before. How could he know what to do? Sometimes, it was really hard to guess what girls were thinking.
Just then, Jiang Ye's phone call came in.
Looking at Jiang Ye's number, Xiao Yu immediately knew what he was calling for. However, since he and Jiang Ye had a good friendship, he answered the phone without hesitation.
"What's the matter?" he asked directly.
Jiang Ye was stunned for a moment and then said, "Do you have to be so cold? At least say a few polite words."
"Do you want me to say 'Hello' or 'Welcome' to you?"
Jiang Ye mumbled something incoherently and then said, "Where are you now? Is Ye Yanxi with you?"
As long as Ye Yanxi didn't recognize Jiang Pinzhen, he had no proper reason to force Xiao Yu to call him uncle.
He was almost obsessed with hearing Xiao Yu call him uncle.
"What do you want from her?"
"I'm not looking for her. I'm looking for you." Jiang Ye rolled his eyes impatiently. "During this special period, do you think I can directly look for her?"
"You know that. Then why are you still calling?"
"I called because I want you to..." Jiang Ye paused for a moment. "You're not being ungrateful, are you? Anyway, I've helped you a lot. When Ye Yanxi's adoptive father was sick, it was me who found the kidney donor. And now you..."
"So, you're asking me to help you?" Xiao Yu interrupted his words.
"Yes. I'm convinced by you. I won't beat around the bush anymore. Just help me this time!" After saying that, Jiang Ye was afraid that Xiao Yu would refuse, so he immediately added, "It's just a matter of you saying a few words."
"If you've called me yourself, it can't be that simple."
Jiang Ye got angry, too. "Yu, I won't say much else. So, are you going to help me or not?"
"Who told you to call me?"
"Me. No one else." Jiang Ye calmed down his tone. "You don't know. My sister has been feeling so depressed these days. She really regrets not recognizing Ye Yanxi before, and she regrets misunderstanding her at He Man's wedding even more."
"Did she tell you that she took out her anger on Xiaoxi and even slapped her at that time!" Xiao Yu questioned.
"What!" Jiang Ye was shocked. "You mean my sister slapped Ye Yanxi? When did that happen?"
"At He Man's wedding. Xiaoxi was even kicked out and didn't attend the wedding. I guess you didn't know about this."
From what Xiao Yu said, Jiang Ye quickly understood.
"You mean it was my sister who kicked Ye Yanxi out of the hotel at that time?" Jiang Ye was confused. "It's impossible. My sister wouldn't do that, let alone hit someone."
"Then you should ask your fake niece what she said to your sister and what your sister did to Xiaoxi. I think she should know very well."
So, maybe this was the reason why Xiao Yu had always disagreed with Ye Yanxi going back to the He family.
Jiang Ye hesitated for a moment but still wanted to persuade him. "But after all, my sister is Ye Yanxi's biological mother. Considering this, she..."
"Why should she just accept all these unfair things willingly? If Xiaoxi doesn't want to recognize her, I'll support her. Anyone who wants to force her... will be against me, Xiao Yu!"
Xiao Yu's stance was clear now.
Jiang Ye understood. Even if he wanted to say more, Xiao Yu wouldn't help him anymore.
"Okay. I understand." Jiang Ye said helplessly, "It seems that I'll just accompany my sister well on Double-Seventh Valentine's Day tomorrow."
Even Jiang Ye knew about Double-Seventh Valentine's Day.