Ziyue turned to Yuchuan immediately. The moment she saw his snarky smile, her heart fell.
Yuchuan was Zixi's maternal great-grandfather. Usually, the older generations loved children.
However, Ziyue could tell from Yuchuan and Zixi's first interaction today that they did not jell with each other. In fact, Yuchuan did not seem to like Zixi. She shuddered when she thought about why Yuchuan wanted to take Zixi to Country J.
Regardless, she would not agree to Yuchuan's request, whether or not he was joking.
"It's better for children to stay with their parents. Furthermore, I believe you would enjoy peace and quiet. Children are quite noisy." Ziyue countered gently, trying to hide her emotions from the older man.
"I was just joking. Poor girl – you're so surprised!" Yuchuan chuckled. Ziyue laughed quietly as well but quickly fell silent.
I have never won an argument against Yuchuan. The less I speak, the better it'll be.
Yuchuan observed Ziyue's silence. Bored of the lack of banter, he rolled his eyes at her and left.
His disdain for Ziyue had transferred over to Zixi. Without Muchen, spending extra time with Ziyue was a waste of time.
Sensing Yuchuan's departure, Ziyue finally felt like she could breathe freely.
She never understood Muchen and Yuchuan's relationship.
She had only encountered two types of familial bonds. Her own family would associate with each other only to get something beneficial out of the interaction. On the other hand, she witnessed how loving and sacrificial Enyang was toward his sister.
However, Muchen and Yuchuan did not behave like family – they behaved like opponents.
Ziyue had a feeling that their relationship was too complicated to describe. Muchen almost broke ties with his grandfather over Ziyue, but it was not a full-blown disagreement.
She believed, in the end, no matter how bad their relationship was, blood was still thicker than water.
And yet, she had a feeling that Yuchuan had more tricks up his sleeve, especially after the off-handed remark he made about taking Zixi away.
She would not let him take her child away.
"Mom…" Zixi's voice pulled her back into reality.
Turning back to Zixi, she offered him a smile as she picked him up. "What's up, my dear?" She whispered as she put the boy on the sofa.
"It was my fault. I didn't hold the glass properly…" He blinked at her, while trying his best to explain what had happened.
Ziyue realized that his eyes were wide, but his drawn-down brows indicated that he was trying to be very careful with his words.
He is trying to explain what happened with the broken glass. Zixi does not have a bad temper – he will not throw things about.
"Ah, yes. I know you didn't do it on purpose."
Zixi nodded to himself before adding quietly. "I don't want to go with great-Grandpa."
"Don't worry, Mom won't let great-Grandpa take you away." Ziyue smiled at her child. Her reassuring words comforted him, making him giggle.
…
Ziyue and Zixi spent the whole day in Yuchuan's presidential suite. They did not see him apart from when having dinner together. However, Ziyue was not curious about what he did in his room and what was happening in the banquet hall. Instead, she felt quite content being ignored.
Muchen appeared only when night fell. Ziyue heard someone walking in and looked up to see Muchen trudging in – pale and obviously exhausted.
"Is everything done?"
Muchen took a deep breath as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself just in time. "Yeah."
"Dad!" Zixi called out as he wrapped himself around Muchen's leg.
Muchen looked downwards at the boy hugging his leg, and his tiredness melted into affection.
"How are you? Did you like great-Grandpa?" Muchen asked as he picked the boy up. Ziyue raised an eyebrow – she managed to catch on the lilt of anticipation in his voice. She was certain that Muchen wanted his son to say he liked the old man.
Zixi's beaming smile broke the moment he heard Muchen's question. He did not have to say anything – his silence spilt his opinion out to his father.
Muchen might be crestfallen but he put his son down without revealing his emotions. "Let's talk to Grandpa for a moment, then we can go home."
"Mhmm," Ziyue responded plainly, but displeasure was written all over her face. Despite being unhappy, she reached for Zixi's hand and guided him to Yuchuan's room without complaint. "Let's talk to great-Grandpa, then we can go home, okay?"
Although Zixi did not like the grumpy old man, he was a young child who trusted his mother.
Detecting her displeasure, Muchen was going to change his mind about greeting his grandfather, but Ziyue and Zixi were already approaching Yuchuan's room.
As they entered the room, they heard Yuchuan speaking in a foreign language on a phone call, which was most probably an international call.
When he heard the door opening, he turned around to see Muchen and his family waiting for him. With a few quick responses, he ended the call to talk to his grandson.
As he put the phone away, he glanced at the family of three questioningly. "Ah, so you're done with your business, eh?"
Ziyue held Zixi's hand and slinked silently to the corner of the room. The question he asked was directed toward Muchen, but since he did not bring up anything about her and Zixi, she would not going to stir up the hornet's nest.
"Yes, I'm done with my work. We're going to go back now. We'll see you again tomorrow." Muchen's answer was business-like.
I find it miraculous that they can maintain a family relationship. They are never intimate or vulnerable with each other! Ziyue thought as she observed their interaction.
Yuchuan scoffed. "I took a long-haul flight here. My body is aching everywhere, and I will need to take some time to recuperate in Yunzhou City. Are you going to just let me stay in the hotel the whole time?"
Ziyue stared at the old man fearfully. Is he trying to weasel his way into staying with us at Cloud Bay Hilltop Villa?
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