His father's question surprised Lin Xian. Confused. This wasn't the first time someone said something similar. Previously, Ahn Yue had said something along those lines. It made Lin Xian start recalling the events before he fainted in the cave during the test.
One thing he remembered was entering a long corridor. At the end of the corridor, he saw a hut in a barren place. As he stepped forward, he suddenly fell and briefly saw a horned creature.
"Is that the creature Father and Ahn Yue meant?" Lin Xian wasn't entirely sure.
That was all he could think of. He looked back at his father, wanting to ask. Lin Xian had opened his mouth, but suddenly someone pushed open the front gate. Everyone immediately turned in the same direction. A young girl in elegant clothes appeared, with beautiful eyes and flowing hair. She really looked like a noble princess.
The girl walked in. She smiled and took a seat. She sat right beside Lin Xian. Everyone fell silent, nothing came out of their mouths due to surprise. It was all too sudden.
"What are you doing here?" Lin Xian complained.
Ahn Yue stood and bowed. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Ahn Yue. You may call me Yue'er." She looked at Lin Huangzi and showed her best smile. "I'm your son's girlfriend, Elder. Nice to meet you."
Everyone there was shocked. All eyes turned toward Lin Xian. They waited for confirmation directly from him. It made Lin Xian a bit pressured. He had never been in this kind of position before. He was confused about how to respond.
He poured tea into each person's cup. After that, Ahn Yue sat back down. She displayed very polite behavior and gave off a good impression.
"What does all this mean?" whispered Lin Xian.
Lin Huangzi was still staring at Lin Xian. "Explain what's going on! You never told me you had a new girlfriend. Since when did you two start dating? I want to hear everything," Lin Huangzi said firmly.
Lin Xian nodded. He was ready to explain everything, that what Ahn Yue said was a lie, but his foot was suddenly stepped on by Ahn Yue. She shook her head as if asking Lin Xian to lie.
Lin Xian didn't understand what Ahn Yue wanted. However, he took a deep breath and exhaled. Then he put on a wide smile and a happy expression.
"We are indeed dating, but only since yesterday during the third test." Lin Xian politely pointed to Ahn Yue. "She saved me. That made me fall in love, and I confessed my feelings. That's more or less how it happened."
Lin Huangzi was stunned to hear that. He even slapped the table. Several plates and cups shook. Some even fell to the floor.
"You're amazing, my son." He tried to contain his laughter. After calming down, he continued, "You chose a very beautiful girl. You've got good taste, except for the part where her chest is small. That's a bit different from your old man."
Lin Huangzi laughed again. Lin Xian was shocked by his father's words. But the one who was even more shocked was Ahn Yue. She even showed a slightly annoyed expression. However, she kept smiling, though it made her smile look a bit awkward.
Lin Shuyin just watched. Her face looked a little sullen. She wanted to say something but held back. Meanwhile, Qingran stayed silent. He didn't really care about what was happening in the Lin family. He was just a guest there. He didn't want to comment, fearing it might disturb other matters.
"Father, don't go too far," Lin Xian scolded his father, who had been laughing nonstop. "Control yourself, or your condition might return."
Lin Huangzi nodded. He began to regulate his breath and calm himself. After a few minutes, he finally returned to normal. The situation there became awkward. Everyone fell silent, and no one touched the food anymore. Lin Huangzi noticed that and tried to lighten the mood again.
"Come on, eat! If you don't finish this food soon, it won't taste good anymore," he said enthusiastically.
At first, it was still awkward, but after Lin Xian started eating, the atmosphere returned to normal. Everyone ate heartily. Lin Xian was still curious why Ahn Yue suddenly did this.
A quiet girl, seemingly emotionless like Ahn Yue, suddenly doing all this was strange. Especially when she smiled and showed signs of interest.
"She must be trying really hard."
Lin Xian appreciated what Ahn Yue did.
***
The small feast ended, and everyone had returned to their respective places, except for Lin Shuyin, who was cleaning up Lin Xian's residence. He had asked her to go home since he could do it himself, but Lin Shuyin still insisted on helping.
Xian didn't keep pushing his little aunt to leave because it would leave a bad impression, as if he didn't like her presence there.
Now, Lin Xian was walking to the kitchen carrying plates. He wanted to hand them to his little aunt, who was washing the dishes.
But when he arrived at the kitchen, Lin Xian saw his little aunt's face blushing. Her eyes looked slightly unfocused.
"Is she drunk?"
Shuyin walked toward Lin Xian and pushed his body against the wall. She gently held both of his hands. Then she gave a small smile before showing sadness.
"Are you really dating that Yue girl?" his little aunt asked.
"Aunt, I think you should go home and get some rest. You've had enough."
Shuyin shook her head. She cupped Lin Xian's cheek, but then sat on the floor. Curling up like a child. She stayed quiet for quite a while, about three minutes.
Then she finally said, "I don't like you getting close to other girls. It makes me upset. You always do that."
Lin Xian was shocked by the words coming from his little aunt's mouth. He didn't expect to hear something like that.
What was even more surprising was that Lin Shuyin shed tears. She cried.
Seeing that, Lin Xian immediately squatted down and wiped his aunt's tears. He smiled, trying to comfort her.
"It's just pretend. We're not really dating," said Lin Xian.
Little Aunt—or Lin Shuyin—looked up. Her eyes stared straight into Lin Xian's. The two of them looked at each other for quite a while. Until finally, Lin Shuyin collapsed and fell asleep from being too drunk.
Lin Xian carried her body and brought her to the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed.
Lin Xian was about to leave, but suddenly his hand was held by his little aunt.
"Don't go!" said Lin Shuyin.