Chapter 20: You’ve Been Avoiding Me

Chapter 20 You've Been Avoiding Me

Chi Xingcun had already asked Xie Yean to come over yesterday.

As long as Xie Yean showed up in front of Mom and Dad Chi tonight, they'd definitely sense something was off, dig into it, and expose the True Young Master's identity in no time.

Back at the Chi house, Fu Chenzhan walked in with him, but Mom and Dad Chi weren't home—they'd gone to the main office downtown to deal with some stuff.

Chi Xingcun was about to head to his room, but as he passed the garden, Fu Chenzhan called out to him.

Fu Chenzhan handed him a gift: "This is your birthday gift from before. Sorry, I'm only giving it to you now."

This was probably the most humble Fu Chenzhan could get.

Chi Xingcun froze, his eyelids fluttering as he stared at the gift. A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, making it hard to breathe.

He looked up, forcing a considerate, understanding smile, his voice soft: "It's fine, my birthday's already passed. You don't need to give me a gift... Sorry for making things awkward for you before."

After those brief words, he turned and ran upstairs, his steps light, as if all the emotions and burdens weighing him down had vanished.

Fu Chenzhan stood frozen in place, not moving a muscle. It was a long while before he lowered his hand.

His face was expressionless, his eyes dark and indifferent.

Who was this person standing in front of him?

Was this the Chi Xingcun who'd adored him desperately since childhood, who insisted she'd marry no one but him?

How had he gotten so well-behaved?

How could he even say "sorry" to him?

......

In the afternoon, Chi Xingcun went to school. When he got back, both Mom and Dad Chi were home.

Xue Xue hadn't seen Chi Xingcun in so long she nearly burst into tears. With tear-filled eyes, she pulled her son into her arms.

"Mommy missed you so much, my precious boy." Xue Xue fussed over Chi Xingcun for a long time before letting go, then took his hand and led him inside.

Father Chi, Chi Hanxin, looked refined and polite, with gold-rimmed glasses. He handed Chi Xingcun a gift he'd prepared: "Take a look at what Mom and Dad got you. Do you like it?"

Chi Xingcun smiled and took it. When he opened it, he saw it was a brand-new gaming console. His face lit up: "Thanks, Mom and Dad."

Father Chi reached out and hugged him.

Chi Xingcun's eyes suddenly welled up—this would probably be the last peaceful moment between him and Mom and Dad Chi.

He also felt like he was truly despicable. The person who should've been happy was Xie Yean, but he'd stolen it all, and yet he was still being selfish and refusing to leave.

Father Chi let him go and ruffled his hair, his gaze full of affection: "This is just one of the gifts from Mom and Dad. There's more."

He led Chi Xingcun into the living room, where gifts of all sizes were scattered all over the floor.

"Go on, open them." Father Chi's tone was full of anticipation.

Mother Chi held Chi Xingcun's hand: "Your dad's been busy with work and hasn't had time for you in so long. These are his way of apologizing. So, what do you think? Is your dad sincere enough?"

Chi Xingcun broke into a smile, his eyes glistening: "More than enough. Dad, I don't blame you. Thanks, both of you."

Hearing this, Mom and Dad Chi suddenly paused. The room went oddly silent for two seconds, then Father Chi snapped back to normal: "Alright, open them up."

For the rest of the time, Chi Xingcun sat on the floor, unwrapping gifts one by one. Most were gifts he'd received in his past life, with only a few different ones, and there was one extra—an expensive model.

Chi Xingcun pretended to love each one while thinking, would Xie Yean like these? Which one would he like? He'd probably like them all, since they were from his parents...

He also thought he could give some of these gifts to Xie Yean in advance, not just because they originally belonged to him, but because it would bring him closer to Xie Yean.

"Son, Mom said you seemed a bit off lately. Did something happen?"

After the gifts were unwrapped and the housekeeper took them back to his room, Father Chi pulled Chi Xingcun aside, looking concerned.

Father Chi's tone was gentle, but a sharp glint flashed in his eyes—if anyone dared to mess with his son, they were asking for it.

He'd keenly sensed on this trip back that his son seemed different—his face showed happiness, but his behavior and reactions were completely off. In the past, he would've bounced around hugging him and his wife. Now he clearly had something on his mind, so his happiness wasn't wholehearted. And... he hadn't said a single "I like it," only "thank you." Why was his son being so formal with them?

What bothered them most was that they'd been away for so long—he for a month, his wife for half a month—yet their son hadn't once reached out to them on his own.

Before, his son was clingy, video-calling them every day, telling them all sorts of happy or sad stuff.

This time, it was them sending messages to their son, and he'd only reply hours later.

It broke their hearts.

This made them both sense something was off and start worrying whether their son had run into some kind of problem.

"Nothing's wrong..." Chi Xingcun hesitated, wondering if he should bring up calling off the engagement now. But wouldn't that seem weird? Why would he suddenly mention it?

"Mom, Dad, I just feel like I..."

He was cut off.

"Uncle, Auntie." Fu Chenzhan walked in carrying gifts.

His smile was still faint, like a son-in-law humoring in-laws whose daughter he didn't love.

Seeing him arrive, Mom and Dad Chi could only go over to greet him. They didn't particularly like Fu Chenzhan either, but their son liked him, so what could they do?

While dinner was being made, Chi Xingcun sat on the swing in the courtyard looking at the stars. He treasured every chance he still got to sit on this swing.

Fu Chenzhan came out to the courtyard later and saw Chi Xingcun looking up at the moon.

He walked slowly to behind the swing, reached out and grabbed the armrest, lowered his gaze, and spoke softly: "Want me to push you?"

Chi Xingcun looked up, froze, then looked down and said, "No need."

He wanted to ignore Fu Chenzhan, but he still felt uneasy. He stood up to leave, but Fu Chenzhan stopped him: "Did something happen recently?"

Chi Xingcun stopped in his tracks.

"You keep avoiding me."

Hearing this, Chi Xingcun tried to play it off: "No, I haven't..."

Fu Chenzhan walked up behind him, a meter between them: "If it's because I didn't give you a birthday gift, I don't think you'd have acted like that just now. Other than that, I can't think of anything that happened recently that would make you avoid me."

Chi Xingcun should've been angry, not fake-smiling.

Chi Xingcun kept his head down, feeling heavy and a little hurt inside. It wasn't intense, but it made his chest feel tight.

He felt upset. Didn't Fu Chenzhan know? How could he not know? He'd never been good to him, and yet he had the nerve to say he didn't know...

It was probably because he'd loved him so deeply from the very beginning that Fu Chenzhan only thought about what happened recently...

But that was normal too. Until Fu Chenzhan kicked him out of the house, he'd always trusted him, never once thinking about his flaws...