They should have been the closest of people, yet they wished to stab each other until they were dripping with blood.

Hearing his words, Lu Zhongyue frowned but suppressed the fire in his heart. "Today is your grandfather's 70th birthday. He wants you to come to the old residence for a meal."

Lu Xixiao frowned, looking impatient, but in the end, he still said, "Got it."

Old Master Lu, though already 70, had very little white hair and was still hale and hearty, full of vigor.

Lu Zhongyue was not an only child; he had an older sister, Lu Qilan.

Usually, in such large family enterprises, the business is left to the son, but Old Master Lu was not a conventional person. He had no such old rules and valued his daughter equally.

In the current Lu Group, Lu Zhongyue served as the general manager, while his older sister was the vice president. However, they held the same number of shares and had equal power. Who the Lu Group would ultimately be handed over to was still up to Old Master Lu.

This was also why Lu Zhongyue couldn't bring Jiang Yan back to the Lu Family with a proper status.

He still needed to rely on Old Master Lu's favor.

Lu Xixiao was the last to arrive at the old residence; he was the only one missing at the table.

This birthday wasn't a grand celebration, just a family meal together.

"Ah Xiao, come quickly." Old Master Lu beckoned to him. "Come sit next to me."

After Old Master Lu retired, he enjoyed only calligraphy and painting in his spare time. Lu Xixiao, catering to his tastes, had prepared a top-quality wolf-hair brush as a birthday gift.

The old master beamed with joy. "I knew it was Ah Xiao who understands me best."

Lu Xixiao replied nonchalantly, "Well, you and I are the only two idle people at this table."

Lu Zhongyue said in a deep voice, "Ah Xiao."

A warning tone.

He had even used a form of address he never used outside.

Lu Xixiao's lips curled into a sarcastic smile.

The old master waved his hand. "It's fine, what's wrong with that? I happen to enjoy chatting with Ah Xiao."

Lu Qilan smiled and turned her head to ask, "Ah Xiao is in his second year of high school now, right?"

"Mhm."

"Then your studies will only get heavier. But thankfully, you have someone to take care of you now, so your aunt can rest assured," Lu Qilan said.

At this table, one could say they were speaking whatever the occasion called for.

How could Lu Qilan not know about Lu Xixiao's grades, and how could she not know that Lu Xixiao had long since moved out? What "take care of you" was there to speak of?

Lu Qilan then looked at Lu Zhongyue. "By the way, Zhongyue, it's Dad's birthday today, why didn't you bring Little Guo along? We haven't even met her yet."

Lu Zhongyue smiled and waved his hand. "She's clumsy with her words, let's forget about it on a day like today."

"How old is she?"

"Four years younger than me."

This surprised Lu Qilan.

With Lu Zhongyue's wealth and status, a new girlfriend shouldn't be a woman in her forties.

But with a second thought, she understood. He could have many young and beautiful women, but the one he could mention publicly had to be mindful of her influence and reputation.

And for that Guo Xiangling to have come this far, she must have her own extraordinary qualities.

"That's good. Being older means she's more mature and can take good care of Ah Xiao. By the way, does she have any children?"

Lu Zhongyue: "I think she has a daughter, but she doesn't live with her, they're not in much contact."

Lu Qilan smiled and turned her head to ask, "Ah Xiao, how are you getting along with your stepmother?"

Lu Xixiao shot her a cold look.

Having weathered the great storms of his life, how could the old master not hear the underlying meaning in those words? "Alright, it's my birthday, why are we talking about them? Let's all eat."

The old master knew his grandson's temper and spoke up at this moment to save Lu Qilan some face.

But Lu Xixiao had no intention of giving her any.

He put down his chopsticks with a crisp clatter and chuckled lightly. "Aunt, I'd rather you not worry about me. If you have the time, you should worry more about yourself."

Lu Qilan's face turned pale in an instant.

Lu Xixiao looked at her, his gaze frivolous. "After all the scheming it took to marry into the Mo Family, if they knew about your affairs outside, wouldn't the Mo Family want your life?"

Lu Xixiao had grown up seeing these things.

Hostility, frame-ups, duplicity, and, betrayal.

After finishing her homework, Zhou Wan packed up her pen and paper and looked at the leaves being swept down by the wind outside the window.

Her thoughts drifted far away, lost in random musings.

Just then, the vibration of her phone interrupted her thoughts.

She lowered her eyes and stared blankly for a moment.

It was a call from Lu Xixiao.

Why would he call?

Zhou Wan cleared her throat and answered the phone, "Hello."

He didn't speak. She could only hear the whistling wind and the roar of a motorcycle engine on his end.

"Lu Xixiao." Zhou Wan closed the window to make the room quieter and asked softly, "Did you drink?"

Lu Xixiao still didn't answer.

But the sound of his breathing was right by her ear. Zhou Wan knew he was listening, that it wasn't a wrong number.

Zhou Wan didn't know what to say, but felt it would be rude to hang up just like that, so she let the call continue. She packed her schoolbag, washed her hands, and climbed into bed.

She lay down in her soft bed and said, "I'm going to sleep, Lu Xixiao."

"..."

A few seconds later, she said, "Good night."

"Zhou Wan."

Her fingertips paused. "Mhm."

Lu Xixiao exhaled a puff of smoke. "Will you betray me?"

This time, it was Zhou Wan's turn to be speechless.

She thought, Lu Xixiao must be very drunk.

Otherwise, he wouldn't call her late at night, nor would he ask her this question.

He was Lu Xixiao, after all. Free and unrestrained, wild and flamboyant, people came and went around him, he was always the center of attention, always in control.

A person like that wouldn't care about this question at all.

Not hearing Zhou Wan's answer, Lu Xixiao laughed instead.

Many years later, Zhou Wan would often recall Lu Xixiao's laugh at this moment—lazy and light, its meaning unclear, but filled more with gentleness.

This was the first time Lu Xixiao had shown her his true gentleness.

A gentleness that belonged only to him.

Even though the words he spoke at that moment were hard to consider gentle—

"Forget it, it doesn't matter."

Lu Xixiao said faintly, "Just remember, if you dare to betray me, I'll kill you."

There's a saying that youth is always particularly beautiful because of its ignorance.

But the grown-up Zhou Wan wished countless times that she could change things.

If she could do it all over again, she would realize that the relationship between them had truly begun to change at this very moment.

Although Lu Xixiao was still verbally unforgiving, in reality, the boy who was like a god in the hearts of countless girls had stepped down from his high pedestal and slowly walked before her.