Don’t Ignite It chapter 62
Waiting
Xia Yu waited in Lu Zhao’s car until 2am.
“I have to go back. I might not be able to meet you for the next few days. If there’s anything…” Xia Yu pursed his lips. “If there’s anything, you can call me.”
Lu Zhao nodded.
His hand was still covering Xia Yu’s hand, and with a slight force, he pulled Xia Yu closer and kissed him in the narrow and enclosed car compartment.
Xia Yu’s body had warmed up, his face was no longer pale, and his cheeks were flushed. His eyelashes trembled continuously.
It was unclear how long they kissed, but Lu Zhao finally let go of him.
Lu Zhao didn’t say anything more. Promises meant nothing if they couldn’t be fulfilled.
He kissed Xia Yu’s cheek again and opened the car door for him. “Wait for me.”
After returning home, Xia Yu didn’t sleep well all night. The next morning, he was absent-minded during breakfast. Xu Zhan hadn’t come down yet, and he sat alone at the empty table.
He played with the ring that Lu Zhao had given him between his fingers.
The sapphire was exquisite and clear, as blue as a deep sea, frozen into a small stone, worn on his finger.
He also remembered the “Eyes” that he had been bought by someone else, also the same shade of blue. He wondered whose home it was hanging in now.
Lost in thought, he suddenly heard the sound of a chair being pulled out beside him.
Xu Zhan sat down across from him with a tray of food. He seemed to be in better spirits today, dressed in a soft knitted sweater, but his complexion was still somewhat pale.
“Is that the ring Lu Zhao gave you?” Xu Zhan asked casually when he saw the sapphire on Xia Yu’s finger.
Xia Yu’s fingers curled slightly. “Yes.”
Xu Zhan silently cut his toast on the plate.
In fact, he had also considered proposing to Ruan Sen. He wanted to wait until he had divorced Xia Yu, obtained the divorce certificate, and then openly discuss everything with Ruan Sen—his marriage, his feelings for Ruan Sen.
He wanted to ask Ruan Sen if they could end the arrangement and if Ruan Sen would officially become his boyfriend.
But Ruan Sen didn’t give him that chance.
Xu Zhan’s eyelashes quivered.
Even now, he found it hard to believe that the young man he had fallen in love with had turned into a con artist.
But he shook his head, unwilling to dwell on thoughts of Ruan Sen. He looked at Xia Yu and asked again, “Did Lu Zhao come to see you yesterday?”
Xia Yu hesitated for a moment and nodded.
He put down his spoon and took a sip of coffee, feeling a lack of appetite.
“Lu Zhao said he would talk to my brother and asked me not to give up on him. He said he would try to handle everything.”
It sounded reasonable to Xu Zhan.
Actually, he didn’t have high hopes for Lu Zhao, but now, looking back, who could say for sure that there was someone in the world more suitable for Xia Yu than Lu Zhao?
“Actually, I don’t have much confidence in Lu Zhao either, but if you really love him…” Xu Zhan looked at Xia Yu and said gently, “I hope you’re luckier than me.”
………………………………..
Lately, Xia Jin had been feeling a bit frustrated.
He stood on the third floor of his own house, watching the figure standing straight in the garden outside, feeling an inexplicable sense of annoyance.
He took out his phone and glanced at it. The screen displayed the current temperature as -5 degrees Celsius. It was bitterly cold outside, with a layer of ice on the ground. Even during the daytime, it was bone-chilling.
Bai Ning was also standing by the window, frowning.
Their garden was spacious enough, with lush greenery even in winter. Bulbous plants, sage, and goldenrod were planted in a neat arrangement. Along the gravel path that led outside, there was a heavy black iron gate, and there was a blurry figure standing motionless outside the gate. From afar, it almost looked like a frozen black road sign.
She couldn’t help but worry, “It’s so cold today. If he stays out in the cold for too long……………”
Xia Jin’s gaze remained cold. “If he has a problem standing out in the cold, then he should leave. He’s almost thirty years old, doesn’t he know it’s cold?”
The one waiting outside was Lu Zhao.
For the past few days, Lu Zhao had been standing outside their gate every evening, waiting to talk to Xia Jin.
Xia Jin almost wanted to drive his car into Lu Zhao the first day he saw him outside their house.
Over the years, he had met Lu Zhao a few times, but every time, he had wanted to punch that cold, indifferent face. But social interactions in the business world were always superficial. Three years ago, he had indeed punched Lu Zhao once, but there was no reason to do it again, and so he only nodded coolly, treating it as a casual greeting.
To be fair, no one could judge matters of the heart. Lu Zhao had not loved his brother back then, and no one could blame him. It was Xia Yu who had been stubborn.
But if there was no love, then there was no love. So, what was Lu Zhao doing now?
Xia Jin bit the unlit cigarette in his mouth, furrowing his brow, feeling a sense of frustration.
Lu Zhao had been waiting outside for the fourth day in a row.
Every evening, Lu Zhao would faithfully stand outside his house, sometimes waiting for hours, and the waiting time grew longer each day.
Xia Jin could clearly see Lu Zhao’s intentions. If Lu Zhao really wanted to force a meeting, there were many ways he could go about it. While he and the Lu family had no direct business dealings, the social circle in Chuan City was small. He could choose not to give face to Lu Zhao, but he couldn’t afford to offend other business partners. Lu Zhao could easily arrange a dinner and invite him over, or even hire someone to mediate.
But Lu Zhao hadn’t done that.
Lu Zhao stood outside his home, which meant that this was purely a personal matter.
He needed Xia Jin’s consent first before there was any possibility of negotiation.
And now it was almost ten o’clock, and Lu Zhao was still standing outside in the freezing cold, with the temperature dropping below zero, and ice forming on the ground. Even the birds had flown into their nests for the night, but Lu Zhao remained standing there like a lonely ghost.
Bai Ning couldn’t help but shake her head. She didn’t feel much sympathy for Lu Zhao either. She was Xia Yu’s sister-in-law, and over the years, she had gotten along well with Xia Yu. Her kindness toward Lu Zhao was limited.
But because she cared about Xia Yu, she advised Xia Jin, “You should let it go. Back when you came to my house to propose, my dad didn’t leave you outside.”
Xia Jin sneered, “Am I the same as Lu Zhao?”
He hadn’t done anything wrong to Bai Ning.
“You’re not the same,” Bai Ning replied calmly. “But Xia Yu likes Lu Zhao just like I liked you back. If you really don’t want Lu Zhao to come over, the most direct way is to pressure Xia Yu, make Xia Yu demand that Lu Zhao never comes again, let Xia Yu break up with Lu Zhao in your presence. If you want to be even more extreme, you can send Xia Yu abroad for a couple of years. But are you willing to do that?”
She knew her husband inside out after several years of marriage.
She could see through Xia Jin completely.
If Xia Jin really didn’t intend on meeting Lu Zhao, his attitude would be a hundred times more intense than it was now.
Xia Jin put away the unlit cigarette and looked outside through the window, where white mist had appeared at some point.
“I really don’t understand what Xia Yu sees in Lu Zhao,” he said in a low voice. “He’s not considerate, not gentle, not charming, and he doesn’t seem like someone who can go along with him. The only thing he has going for him is his looks.”
He had every reason to suspect that Xia Yu was attracted to Lu Zhao solely because of his appearance.
Bai Ning chuckled. “How do you know what Lu Zhao is like in front of Xia Yu?”
Perhaps it had been true in the past that Lu Zhao had not been considerate or gentle, but given how much Lu Zhao seemed to care for Xia Yu now, he might have learned how to be a loving partner.
Lu Zhao didn’t think he was suffering much while waiting.
During those three years abroad, in the endless sleepless nights, he had learned the art of waiting.
Compared to the pain of imagining Xia Yu sleeping with someone else, and the suffocating feeling of thinking he could never get close to Xia Yu again, the current discomfort was negligible.
However, he had been hospitalized just last month due to a stomach condition and fever, and standing in this frosty snow, he didn’t feel very well. The wind was biting, and it gave him a slight headache.
He didn’t know how long he had been waiting, but he heard a slow creak as the iron gate in front of him opened.
Lu Zhao’s spirits lifted, and he looked ahead.
Stepping out from inside was Xia Jin.
Xia Jin scrutinized Lu Zhao. They had been college classmates, and when things hadn’t soured between Xia Yu and Lu Zhao, he had admired Lu Zhao’s professional abilities.
But now, after six long years of twists and turns, seeing Lu Zhao again as an older brother, his feelings were too complex to put into words.
“You stand outside my house every day. Are you trying to freeze to death and then blackmail us, or are you staging some kind of act to make Xia Yu soften up?” Xia Jin asked coldly.
Lu Zhao smiled. “I have no such intention.”
As he spoke, he coughed lightly.
“I just want to have a proper conversation with you. But when visiting someone’s home, you need the host’s permission first.”
He wanted to marry someone else’s younger brother, so he needed the older brother’s approval first.
Xia Jin made an ambiguous, cold hum in response.
He felt nothing about Lu Zhao’s lowered stance. He was naturally cold-hearted and only cared about his own family. Lu Zhao freezing to death or even dying right in front of him wouldn’t make him blink an eye. At most, he would say a perfunctory word of condolence.
In a sense, he and Lu Zhao were similar kinds of people, both with limited conscience.
But they both cared about Xia Yu.
“You can go back,” he said to Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao showed no sign of surprise. Xia Jin was now actively driving him away, so he would leave, but he nodded and said, “I’ll visit again tomorrow.”
As Xia Jin had expected.
He had never seen Lu Zhao act so shamelessly in his life.
“You don’t need to wait here tomorrow. Go to the old residence,” Xia Jin said coldly. “I’ll have the steward take you to the training ground. You visited it when you were in college. Do you still remember?”
Lu Zhao’s heart stirred.
He had visited the Xia family mansion several times during his college years. Xia Jin practiced mixed martial arts from a young age, and the Xia family had a fairly large training ground. He had even sparred with Xia Jin a few times during his visits.
At that time, Xia Yu had been on the sidelines as the audience, torn between his brother and his secret crush, not knowing whom to cheer for.
“Okay.”
Lu Zhao gave a slight bow to Xia Jin. “Thank you.”
Xia Jin gazed at him indifferently, said nothing more, and turned back into the house. The heavy iron gate closed again, as if it had never been opened.