Wen Lan Sheng quickly followed Fan Xia into the bedroom, feeling uneasy. His parents might not be able to tell, but Wen Lan Sheng, who had been with Fan Xia for so many years, could see that Fan Xia was unhappy.

Their two-person world, which originally belonged to them, had already become noisy and crowded with his parents. It was inconvenient to do anything. Now Wen Jing was added to the mix.

“Xia Xia, I really didn’t know Dad would suddenly let Jing Jing move in. I really didn’t want her to come.” Wen Lan Sheng locked the door and hugged Fan Xia tightly. Her faint fragrance enveloped him, soft and intoxicating like a deep sea.

Fan Xia’s hands embraced his back, gently stroking up and down his spine. The warmth of her palms penetrated through the thin summer clothes, warm and reassuring.

“I know this wasn’t your intention.” Fan Xia’s voice was soft, but mixed with an almost imperceptible sigh.

In that faint sigh, there seemed to be helplessness, fatigue, and compromise, which frightened Wen Lan Sheng more than any sharp words. It was as if in an instant, Fan Xia, whom he was holding tightly, was thousands of miles away from him. A sudden fear arose.

“Xia Xia, I will make Wen Jing move out. Trust me, I definitely won’t let her move in.” Wen Lan Sheng was panicked and flustered, his fingers cold, tightly hugging Fan Xia’s waist like a drowning man desperately clinging to a lifeline, drawing warmth from her body to alleviate the terror in his heart.

“We’ll talk about it later.” Fan Xia pulled away his hands and unlocked the door.

Wen Lan Sheng grabbed her wrist, his fingers frighteningly cold: “Xia Xia, where are you going?”

“I’m going out for a walk.”

“You just got home, you haven’t even sat down, and you haven’t eaten dinner yet.” Wen Lan Sheng’s voice was tense.

“Just going out for a stroll.” Fan Xia brushed off his hand, her movements still as gentle as ever. Wen Lan Sheng’s hand fell dejectedly as he watched her leave without looking back.

The front door opened and closed. The cold mechanical lock struck his heart. Fan Xia’s detachment loomed over him like a huge shadow. Wen Lan Sheng looked blankly towards the direction of the front door, then at Wen Jing who was contentedly watching TV in the living room. Suddenly, his anger flared up, burning hotter and hotter.

He strode towards the living room, grabbed Wen Jing’s phone, and smashed it against her suitcase, shouting: “Get out! Get out and go back to your own home!”

Wen Jing looked at her phone split into two pieces. Xie Cen also rushed out, yelling: “What are you going crazy for! Fan Xia has agreed to let Jing Jing stay, what are you making a fuss about!”

“She agreed, but I don’t!” Wen Lan Sheng was furious, shaking with anger.

He shouldn’t have brought his parents over in the first place. Even if it cost some money to hire someone to take care of them, it would have been better than causing all this trouble and creating distance between him and Fan Xia.

In the hallway, Fan Xia leaned quietly against the wall, listening to the fierce quarrel, mutual accusations, and insults coming from inside. They seemed to have used up all the dirty words they knew in their lives. Fan Xia left with a thin smile on her lips.

She went to the supermarket to buy some fruit, then drove to the suburbs. This area was mostly factories. As the factories relocated, people moved away too. The old factories were now overgrown with weeds up to knee height.

Fan Xia entered through a small path and came to an old brick house. Although the house was old, at least it didn’t leak wind or rain. An old-style incandescent light shone from inside.

Fan Xia knocked on the door.

“Sister!” Lu Cha excitedly opened the door and pulled her in, holding her hand.

“Sorry, I had something to do and came late.” Fan Xia put the fruit aside.

Lu Cha smiled brightly, holding the fruit like a treasure: “Not late, not late at all. Dad and I just finished making dinner. Sister, please sit down and eat.”

With that, Lu Cha ran to the kitchen to wash the fruit.

At the dining table sat a middle-aged man. His appearance was haggard and aged. No one could imagine that he was only in his forties, but due to years of raising a child alone without support, he looked like he was in his sixties.

“Uncle Li, Lu Cha has signed with a basketball team. He can stand on his own feet now. You should feel relieved.” Fan Xia smiled.

Although the salary of a men’s basketball team was far less than that of a women’s team, it was still much higher than that of the average working class. It was enough for Lu Cha and Li Zhou to live a comfortable life and move out of this old house.

Li Zhou looked at Lu Cha washing grapes in the kitchen with satisfaction: “My whole life has been lived for him. I don’t ask that he becomes famous, just that he’s safe and happy.” After saying this, Li Zhou’s aged eyes looked at Fan Xia: “You just came from home, right?”

Fan Xia smiled slightly: “Yes.”

“How long until the wedding?”

“About a month and a half.”

Li Zhou nodded, with deep meaning in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes: “It’s soon.”

“What’s soon?” Lu Cha came out of the kitchen.

“Nothing.” Fan Xia smiled and raised her glass: “Congratulations to Lu Cha for signing with the basketball team. May our Lu Cha soon become a key player on the team and win the championship!”

Lu Cha unconsciously smiled, his eyes clear as jewels without a trace of impurity.

After dinner, Fan Xia left.

Lu Cha leaned back in his chair, staring blankly in the direction she had left: “I originally wanted to buy a gift for sister, to thank her for taking care of us all these years. But when I went shopping, I suddenly realized she has everything. Brother Lan Sheng takes very good care of her. It seems like anything I give would be superfluous.”

“…Dad, I envy him so much.” Lu Cha’s voice was muffled, his slightly downturned eyes moist and pitiful.

Li Zhou gently stroked his son’s hair: “You don’t need to envy Wen Lan Sheng. They won’t last long.”

Lu Cha looked up: “Dad, what do you mean by that?”

Li Zhou shook his head: “Anyway, you don’t need to be sad, and you don’t need to envy Wen Lan Sheng. They will never be possible.”

After having dinner at Lu Cha’s house, it was almost ten o’clock when she returned home.

Fan Xia opened the door. The balcony, which had been full of Wen’s parents’ clothes, was now empty, and Wen Jing was nowhere to be seen.

Wen Ming Yue, who would usually be sitting in the living room watching financial news at this time, was also gone. The house was pitch black.

Fan Xia felt her way to the bedroom in the dark. Before she could turn on the light, a familiar iris fragrance enveloped her from behind, tightly wrapping around her.

“Xia Xia, I’ve already gotten rid of Wen Jing. She won’t come to bother us anymore. Xia Xia, please don’t be angry with me anymore, okay?” Wen Lan Sheng’s voice carried a fragile sob, and hot tears wet her back.

Fan Xia turned on the light and cupped Wen Lan Sheng’s face, looking at his swollen eyes with concern: “Why are you crying?”