Lin Xingwan felt flattered, and even at Xu Jingkuan's sincere expression, she didn't know what to say.
"Sit down and eat quickly while the hot pot is still hot. If it gets cold, it won't be good and will upset your stomach."
After Xu Jingkuan finished speaking, he was the first to sit down next to Lin Xingwan.
Lin Xingwan didn't stand on ceremony and started eating after sitting down.
"How is it? Delicious, right? I think you should like it." Xu Jingkuan watched Lin Xingwan look so happy and joyful, like a cute little foodie.
Although Xu Jingkuan still wanted to see the face that inherited all the good qualities of him and Helian Lingruo, upon seeing that this girl would wear such a mask unless she had no other choice, he swallowed all his questions.
Besides, in the long time since they finished the hot pot, Xu Jingkuan had learned a lot about Lin Xingwan.
Xu Jingkuan's heart was filled with mixed emotions. If it weren't for his momentary lapse in judgment, this child wouldn't have suffered so much, and Lingruo's ending wouldn't have been so tragic.
"It's very delicious, the taste is very good," Lin Xingwan praised with certainty.
"Your mother used to love these strong flavors. When I was with her, she would eat hot pot two or three times a week, and every time the broth was very spicy. Do you know what the final outcome was?"
"What was it?"
"In the end, I got hemorrhoids and was bedridden for a month, but your mother had no problems. However, later when we went out to eat again, your mother didn't eat so spicy anymore."
Xu Jingkuan's words made Lin Xingwan burst into laughter, "This is the first time I've heard of someone getting hemorrhoids from eating hot pot. Mr. Xu, you're truly amazing."
Xu Jingkuan nervously ran his hand through his hair and explained, "Back then, I just didn't want to lose face in front of your mother. But who could have imagined she was too beautiful? Every time I saw her looking at me, I would lower my head and eat hot pot furiously. In the end, I had to rest at home for a day after every meal. It was a feeling of exhaustion, like my body had been hollowed out."
It was a pity that it wasn't the woman he loved most who hollowed out his body, but the hot pot he loved most.
Following that, Xu Jingkuan told Lin Xingwan many stories about when he was a subordinate following Helian Lingruo.
They were all funny memories, and as Xu Jingkuan recounted them, he seemed to become younger and more vibrant.
Lin Xingwan laughed heartily, feeling as if the mask on her face was about to fall off.
"If my mother had been with Mr. Xu back then, I believe my mother would still be alive and well, and you would have doted on her like a little princess."
Lin Xingwan's tone was full of emotion. After she finished speaking, Xu Jingkuan shook his head.
"When it comes to feelings, no one can be sure. I never received a loving response from your mother, so in my heart, your mother was a goddess on high, and no woman could replace her importance to me. But what if I had gotten your mother? I wouldn't even dare to guarantee that I would always like her. Just like Cen Jue, when Cen Jue was pursuing your mother, he did many things that were considered sensational, but in the end, it still ended in tragedy. For men, the white moonlight is a goddess suspended in the sky, and the cinnabar mole is a confidante who ventures through the martial world with him. When they get the white moonlight, life feels bland and tasteless, and they miss the fiery passion of the cinnabar mole; when they get the cinnabar mole, they envy the stable life they had with the white moonlight. This is the inherent flaw of men."
Xu Jingkuan sighed, and Lin Xingwan didn't know what to say.
Her own emotional life was a mess, let alone managing other people's.
Seeing Lin Xingwan's mood suddenly dampen, Xu Jingkuan immediately apologized, "Look at my mouth. You eat well, I won't talk anymore, or I'll spoil your appetite."
After saying that, Xu Jingkuan added, "But I really want to hear you call me 'Dad'."
"Cough... cough cough..." Lin Xingwan coughed violently upon hearing this.
She knew Xu Jingkuan was fickle, but she didn't expect his topic-jumping ability to be so strong.
One moment he was talking about her emotional issues, and the next he was discussing appellations.
"Eat slowly, eat slowly, I won't talk anymore..."
Xu Jingkuan was also startled, especially seeing the pain in Lin Xingwan's eyes. Xu Jingkuan wished he could slap himself.
He really was bringing up the most sensitive topic.
Lin Xingwan coughed for a long time before replying, "I'm sorry, I think it's better to call you 'Mr. Xu'. We're not here to acknowledge kinship, but to seek your help. You were once a good friend of my mother's, and I hope that one day when my mother's name is cleared, you can also resolve the nightmares in your heart. Other than that, I truly have no other intentions."
How could Lin Xingwan not know that Xu Jingkuan was her biological father?
But whether it was Lin Hanhai in the past or Xu Jingkuan now, Lin Xingwan didn't want to call them 'Dad'.
Lin Hanhai was selfish, and although Xu Jingkuan wasn't like that, in her twenty-plus years of life, during her most desperate and helpless moments, Xu Jingkuan had never offered her any help.
Now he wanted to pick up the pieces? Lin Xingwan couldn't convince herself.
"I know my request is abrupt, and I don't even have the right to say these words. Because of my infatuation, your mother was slandered by the world; because of my stupidity, you have suffered so much outside all these years. But life is long. I, Xu Jingkuan, swear to heaven that I didn't participate in your life for the past twenty-plus years, but I will be with you for the next twenty years, and the twenty years after that. Even if you don't acknowledge me as your father, in my heart, you are my daughter, Xu Jingkuan's daughter!"
After saying these words, Xu Jingkuan probably felt it was too emotional. He stood up from his chair and said, "Eat slowly, I'm leaving."
Without waiting for Lin Xingwan to speak, he fled in a hurry.
"Miss Xu, please eat slowly." The old man also left, and in the vast room, only Lin Xingwan remained.
Just a moment ago, Lin Xingwan felt she had a good appetite.
But for some reason, when the room became quiet, Lin Xingwan felt no desire to continue eating.
Her gaze fell on the colorful homemade wines that Xu Jingkuan had brought in. She then picked up a bottle and started drinking.
At the same time, in Duan Muxing's room, a scene was unfolding.
Duan Muxing, sitting in a wheelchair, was on the balcony, looking up at the full moon in the sky.
Qingluan stood behind Duan Muxing and couldn't help but ask, "Does Young Master have something on his mind?"
Duan Muxing let out a soft "Mm," and then said indifferently, "Yes, everything is developing in a good direction, but for some reason, I feel worse day by day. It's as if I want more, but I don't know what I want, because those things don't belong to me."
Duan Muxing's tone conveyed no joy or sorrow, but this man seemed to be born with a heart full of despair and sadness. Just looking at his back would evoke a sense of regret.
"Perhaps Young Master doesn't know how to fight for it. I think if there's something I want, I'll fight for it. I don't care if the thing I want in the end belongs to me, but as long as we try our best in the process, there will be no regrets."
After Qingluan finished speaking, Duan Muxing sighed, "Regret is common, and throughout our lives, no matter what choice we make, we will always have regrets. So I think regret is the norm. If the final outcome is not as desired, then no matter how hard I try, it will be meaningless. The process will only make me feel like a foolish joke."
Duan Muxing's tone was filled with self-mockery. After speaking, sensing that Qingluan still wanted to say something, he spoke first, "I'm tired, I want to rest."
Hearing this, Qingluan carefully pushed Duan Muxing to the bedside.
As usual, Duan Muxing would get into bed with Qingluan's help, but today he pushed Qingluan away and lay on the bed by himself.
"In this state, don't I look like a pathetic wretch?"
Seeing that Qingluan hadn't hurried to leave, Duan Muxing's tone became even more self-mocking.
"No, Young Master. I... I'll go down now."
Qingluan didn't know what Duan Muxing had gone through to become so aggressive, forming a stark contrast with the gentle and steady young master in her memory.
Duan Muxing watched the door close and finally closed his eyes helplessly.
It seemed... he was becoming less and less like himself.
"Lin, Xing, Wan!" This was the name Duan Muxing murmured to himself before falling asleep.
The night deepened.
Lin Xingwan didn't even know how much wine she had drunk.
But she felt that no matter how much she drank, her mind was still incredibly clear.
This feeling of being half-drunk was very uncomfortable.
It would have been better to be completely drunk or to have blacked out.
Lin Xingwan felt very depressed and took a bottle of green wine, leaving the room.
Anyway, this mansion was very large, and the moonlight was pouring down tonight. She shouldn't stay in her room.
Lin Xingwan walked and stopped, not knowing where to go.
Until she reached a small pavilion, Lin Xingwan sat on the edge and looked down at the koi swimming in the pond.
These koi thought they were going to be fed. When Lin Xingwan's reflection appeared in the water, they all swam towards her.
Under the moonlight, lotuses bloomed, and koi swam in schools. The scene looked as beautiful as a painting.
Lin Xingwan quickly finished the wine in her hand. When she was about to sway and get up to leave, she unexpectedly found that the moonlight above her head was completely blocked.
Lin Xingwan slowly raised her head and saw a tall man standing in front of her, blocking all the moonlight that should have been shining on her.
Lin Xingwan couldn't see the man's face clearly, but she felt a sense of familiarity.
However, her mind was too slow, and Lin Xingwan couldn't recognize the man in front of her.
Zhou Jinbai lowered his head and frowned, looking at the woman who was drunk and unconscious. He felt as if his heart was being torn apart by something, a suffocating pain that made him want to embrace the woman in front of him immediately.
"You don't have a good tolerance for alcohol, so why did you drink so much?"
The man's voice was full of helplessness. He had originally intended to go for a walk, but who knew that fate would send such a great treasure to him.
"What? Alcohol? Drink, come on, drink, hahaha." Lin Xingwan tilted her head and looked at the man with innocent eyes, but there were clearly tears in them.
Zhou Jinbai's brows furrowed even deeper.
To him, he even felt that this woman was too stubborn and independent.
"Go back to sleep." The man spoke, not giving Lin Xingwan a chance to reply, and directly picked her up horizontally.
With a violent dizziness, Lin Xingwan felt as if the wine in her stomach was about to come up. Her head was spinning, and she instinctively grabbed the man holding her.
As their positions shifted, Lin Xingwan saw the man's face clearly.
"Zhou Jinbai... Husband... Why are you here? Husband... Hehe, my husband..."
Lin Xingwan's expression became incredibly happy, as if she had discovered something amazing. In the moonlight, the woman's smile was so innocent.
"You know to call me husband now? When you deceived me, why didn't you think of me as your husband?"
Zhou Jinbai felt the softest part of his heart begin to ripple because of this woman's soft and sweet "husband."
"Husband... I miss you so much, husband..." Lin Xingwan even reached out her hands to knead the man's face. Zhou Jinbai, because he was holding Lin Xingwan, could only let her do as she pleased.
Soon, the man sent Lin Xingwan to the door of her room.
However, from the other side of the corridor, Xu Jingkuan also walked over. When Xu Jingkuan saw that the man holding Lin Xingwan was Zhou Jinbai, he was completely stunned.