It was as though Xiao Yuanmu had activated his love talk skills without any external instructions during his recuperation period.

Every day when they got up, Song Xuanhe would always get a kiss the second after he opened his eyes. After that came Xiao Yuanmu’s voice, which was somewhat hoarse after just waking up, “I heard that the people who kiss good morning every day have the happiest days.”

Xiao Yuanmu always ate less than Song Xuanhe. Recently, he ate even less because he had to watch what he ate due to his injury. Although he didn’t eat much, he was still keen to cook despite his injured leg, and his favorite thing to do every day was to watch Song Xuanhe finish what he’d cooked, then praise that it was delicious. At this time, he would say, “I hope that I can cook for you for a lifetime.”

Maybe it was because of his injury, but he had less work to deal with and slept earlier than usual. During this period of time, he would always go to sleep together with Song Xuanhe. Before they fell asleep, he would always look at Song Xuanhe with his beautiful eyes, then smile and say, “It’s really good to have you.”

After a few days went by like this, Song Xuanhe started to suspect that Louis had given Xiao Yuanmu books to read, like ‘love talk secrets’, or ‘how to please your partner’, but he couldn’t find them despite searching through the whole apartment.

Just before Song Xuanhe started to doubt whether or not Xiao Yuanmu had changed personalities or been reborn again, Xiao Lin came to the United States from Country D.

His health still wasn’t very good, but no one could find any major problems with it when he appeared in front of outsiders. If it hadn’t been for the system’s reminder, then Song Xuanhe wouldn’t have noticed his weakness at all.

Xiao Lin came to Xiao Yuanmu’s apartment alone, without Madame Xiao or any bodyguards around him. His usually solemn face was still serious, and his body was still full of momentum.

He first greeted Song Xuanhe, saying, “I’ve heard about you for a long time, Mr. Song. If there’s a chance in the future, then I hope we can talk.”

Song Xuanhe smiled and nodded, greeting him very politely and calling him uncle before going to wait downstairs.

He’d thought that Xiao Lin had come here specifically to talk to Xiao Yuanmu for a while. After all, many things had happened recently, including the amputation of his younger son’s legs, the two brothers’ insistence that the other had framed them, and Madame Xiao’s sudden illness.

However, Xiao Lin came back downstairs after less than fifteen minutes. He greeted Song Xuanhe again politely, then left.

Song Xuanhe watched him enter the elevator, then immediately turned and went upstairs.

Inside the study, Xiao Yuanmu was standing by the French window, his figure seeming cold and his back straight. He looked out the window, and it was like he was watching ants scurry on the ground, his gaze indifferent and calm.

This was an expression that Song Xuanhe hadn’t seen in a long time. Or it could be said that Xiao Yuanmu didn’t show this expression in front of him.

Song Xuanhe stood at the entrance for over ten seconds but Xiao Yuanmu didn’t respond, so he could only call out to him.

“Xiao Yuanmu.”

In most cases, when the two of them were alone, Song Xuanhe would call Xiao Yuanmu by his full name, while Xiao Yuanmu addressed him by different names, completely depending on his mood. Sometimes, he would call him Xuanhe, sometimes it was He Baby, but more often, he would just stare at him silently. This was often because one look was enough for Song Xuanhe to notice, and then the two of them could directly start talking while skipping any form of address.

At this time, Xiao Yuanmu’s eyelashes trembled when he heard Song Xuanhe calling him by his full name. The black fog that shrouded his eyes receded slightly, and then his eyes focused on Song Xuanhe, who stood at the door with his back against the light.

He paused for a moment, then asked, “Why did you come up?”

Xiao Yuanmu’s voice was a little hoarse, like someone who hadn’t spoken for a long time suddenly speaking again. It was also like someone who’d finally calmed down after choking for a long time, but his voice still leaked with his emotions.

At almost the same time, Song Xuanhe discovered that Xiao Yuanmu was in a bad mood.

He thought of Xiao Lin’s expression as he left, and he couldn’t help the worry from rising up from the bottom of his heart. He walked over to Xiao Yuanmu quickly, but he heard a voice ring out in his mind after he’d only taken two steps: [ Don’t go over there. ]

Even before he could ask why, Song Xuanhe heard the system continue, [ At this time, Xiao Yuanmu’s mood value is indeed really low, but there’s no point in you going over there. It’s true that you can comfort him now, but what about fifteen days later? Have you forgotten that you will be leaving him in fifteen days? Compared with his current mood fluctuations, I think that his mood fluctuations will be even more serious in a dozen or so days. At that time, you won’t be able to comfort him. Letting him get used to that now will help improve his immunity against it. ]

Song Xuanhe’s footsteps paused when he heard this, but he ignored the system and continued walking towards Xiao Yuanmu.

“Don’t come over here.”

Xiao Yuanmu turned around, showing Song Xuanhe his back. His voice was a little heavy and hoarse.

He continued, “I want to be quiet for a moment.”

This was the first time that Xiao Yuanmu had ever refused his approach. It left Song Xuanhe a bit stunned.

The system’s words hadn’t stopped Song Xuanhe, but Xiao Yuanmu stopped him.

“What happened?” Song Xuanhe stood there frozen for a long time before asking this question softly.

“I just want to be quiet for a while.” Xiao Yuanmu didn’t turn around, and there was a trace of fatigue in his voice as he spoke, “Just let me be alone for a while, okay?”

There was no way for Song Xuanhe to refuse when he heard this ‘okay?’.

He nodded, then realized that Xiao Yuanmu couldn’t see it and vocalized it.

After speaking, Song Xuanhe stared at Xiao Yuanmu’s back figure, looking forward to something in his heart. However, Xiao Yuanmu didn’t move, and he didn’t show the slightest intention of turning around at all.

Song Xuanhe’s slightly pursed lips tightened, and then he turned and walked out, step by step.

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly remembered a dream that kept repeating over these past few nights as he reached the door.

In the dream, he still looked like a child. His parents had taken him out for a picnic, and there had been a little girl who wanted to fly a kite with him. He’d driven the little girl away and even made her cry.

His mother had come over to ask him, “Why did you drive that child away?”

He’d replied, “I don’t like her.”

His mother had been disapproving, “Didn’t mom tell you to be nice to your friends?”

He’d clutched at a kite that was bigger and taller than he was, pursing his lips as he said, “But she’s not my friend. I don’t know her.”

“Then you can treat her as a new friend that you’ve just met.” His mother had smiled as she rubbed his hair. She asked curiously, “But mom thinks that that little girl is very cute. Why don’t you like her?”

In the dream, he’d pursed his lips again and replied loudly, “I already have someone I like. Of course I can’t like others.”

His mother’s expression had been very surprised, but there was a smile in her eyes, “Can baby tell mom who you like?”

“Xiao Yuanmu.”

Song Xuanhe would wake up every time he spoke Xiao Yuanmu’s name.

This was a dream, but in fact, it was also one of his few memories of his parents. The only difference between his memory and the dream was in the answer he’d given after his mother asked him why he didn’t like the little girl.

In his memory, he’d answered: Because he didn’t want anyone else to play with his kite. He liked the kite very much.

In the dream, his answer became ‘Xiao Yuanmu’.

In the dream, his mother would immediately smile and say something after he answered, but at that time, he was about to wake up and couldn’t hear anything clearly.

So, over the past few days, Song Xuanhe had been thinking about what his mother would say to him if she knew that he was together with Xiao Yuanmu.

He’d thought about it for a long time, but couldn’t come up with anything because while his memory of his mother was deep, it had been too long ago. It was so long ago that he couldn’t have the same kind of mutual understanding as other children, who had dozens of years of time with their parents.

In his memories, his mother had always been gentle and kind, but when he grew up, he’d learned that most mothers were gentle and kind in front of their children. The few memories he had weren’t enough to allow him to completely piece together a person’s character.

So, he’d returned to the house where he’d lived with his parents for the first time when he was eighteen years old and found three diaries in his mother’s room. One diary had been written by his parents when they fell in love, one was a pregnancy diary, and one was a record of his growth, made by his parents after he’d been born.

In the diary of his parents falling in love, they’d written of their deep love, the roads they walked and the scenery they saw, and of their feelings for each other.

His mother’s pregnancy diary recorded everything from the surprise she’d felt the moment she learned she was pregnant, to the moment before he was born. Each stroke of the pen showed how much she was looking forward to it, and the love she felt for the child in her belly.

As for his growth diary, it was full of his parents’ expectations for him. They had very little expectations for him, and it was completely different from the expectations other childrens’ parents had, which gave their children pressure. They hoped that he would be happy, kind, brave, never regret, and have the ability to love and be loved. Then, they hoped that he could go through and experience the roads and scenery they had seen when they fell in love for himself.

More importantly, they wanted him to know how much they loved him.

Song Xuanhe had somewhat forgotten how the 18 year old him had felt when he saw these things. However, he firmly remembered the day that he took these three diaries to his parents’ cemetery and told them that he wouldn’t let down their expectations. After he graduated from college, he would walk the same path and fulfil their wishes.

––Revisit the same roads and scenery that his mother and father had travelled when they fell in love was his parents’ expectation of him, and it was also a promise that Song Xuanhe had made when he reached adulthood.

This commitment had once been Song Xuanhe’s belief, and it had supported him as he continued forward alone.