Chapter 197: Chapter 189: Cousin 2
Grandpa again...
Just as Bai Shunyuan was about to ask why his apology depended on her grandpa,
Su Xiaomeng called out to him, "Cousin, hehe. I won’t hold it against you!"
Cousin... brother?!
Bai Shunyuan was stunned for a moment. Was Su Xiaomeng stupid? Or was she kicked in the head by a donkey?
What did she call him?
"You—"
"By the way, grandpa’s having dinner with us tonight, do you want to join? Grandpa said he hasn’t seen you for a while."
Since Bai Shunyuan apologized so earnestly, Su Xiaomeng had no choice but to reassess the "cousin" relationship.
She naturally assumed Bai Shunyuan already knew they were cousins, so she rambled on without noticing the confusion beneath Bai Shunyuan’s frozen expression...
He was completely in the dark.
"Oh, right, have you met my mom yet? Hmm... according to your terms, you should call her... Aunt, right?"
What... mom, what... aunt?
Bai Shunyuan’s heartbeat quickened.
He wasn’t emotionally intelligent, but... he was quite a genius otherwise.
And his reaction time was impeccable.
As Su Xiaomeng said this, his mind immediately recalled what his parents had told him... about the return of an aunt he had never met.
"What’s your mom’s name?"
Bai Shunyuan’s palms were already sweating, and he stared at her intently, his heart racing off the charts.
He kept repeating in his mind, it better not be that name, it better not be that name, it better not be—
"My mom’s name is Bai Sixian, you..."
Su Xiaomeng found his question odd, and what was with his awkward, stiff expression?
It was as if Bai Shunyuan’s heart plunged from above the sea surface straight into the deep, dark ocean floor!
Before him was a vast darkness, his brain buzzing...
Yet strangely, he could still hear Su Xiaomeng talking, still feel the winter cold, still... realize what he had done, and who he had fallen for...
"You... you didn’t know, did you?"
Su Xiaomeng’s voice was kind of sharp with surprise when she asked, after all... how could this be possible?
If he didn’t know they were cousins... then what was the reason behind all his actions?
Bai Shunyuan looked at her, moved his lips, and later, couldn’t recall how he managed to say it out loud...
"Of course, I knew... I just forgot Aunt’s name."
"Oh oh!"
Su Xiaomeng laughed, "So, cousin! Want to join us for dinner tonight? Grandpa and my parents booked a really nice restaurant!"
Cousin...
The word echoed in Bai Shunyuan’s ears, so grating that it drove him mad.
Bai Shunyuan clenched his fists, then suddenly turned and ran off!
Su Xiaomeng stood there, blinking... by the time she realized, he was already deep in the woods, out of sight.
"What the heck... what’s he up to?"
Su Xiaomeng scratched her head and shouted, "Cousin!"
She called several times and could only continue to walk inward...
They hadn’t noticed, but someone else was in the woods... watching and listening the whole time.
The small grove in the Wutong Avenue area wasn’t large, not very wide, but a few hundred meters in length.
At the edge of the woods was a sports field, separated by a pedestrian path and a wire fence, then a basketball court.
Bai Shunyuan’s hand trembled as he held his phone, and Bai Sidong said, "Oh, you just found out now?"
It sent Bai Shunyuan directly into hell.
On the other side, Bai Sidong was lounging in the office, reclined in a leather chair, with a face quite similar to Bai Shunyuan’s, smirking, "Son, surprised, right? Didn’t expect that, did you?"
Bai Shunyuan’s teeth ground against each other, listening to the tone of Bai Sidong on the phone, he knew... Bai Sidong did this on purpose!
This bastard of a dad definitely did it on purpose!
He knew he had bullied Su Xiaomeng before, so even though he knew Su Xiaomeng was his cousin, he didn’t say it, just waited for Bai Shunyuan to find out from Su Xiaomeng herself!
The awkwardness of this was even worse than hearing it from this bastard, pervert of a dad!
But, but... but this bastard dad didn’t know... didn’t know how he felt about that little girl...
"Yes, I didn’t expect... I never expected you, Bai Sidong, to be so childish!!"
Bai Shunyuan shouted and hung up the phone, trembling with anger all over...
Cousin, haha... cousin?!
She was Bai Sixian’s daughter; she was actually Bai Sixian’s daughter...
Bai Shunyuan leaned weakly against a large tree, not intentionally striking a picturesque, melancholy look, but he felt like if he lowered his head a bit further, he’d want to bury it in the ground!
What... stupid things had he done?!
Haha... developing romantic feelings for his own cousin...
Bai Shunyuan wasn’t a traditional person; those feudal moral codes never restrained him.
So even though he realized he had developed feelings for a married woman, he didn’t feel there was anything shameful about it.
Modern society in the 21st century isn’t like the era of grandparents. Back then, even a single night together or a peck on the lips was a lifetime commitment.
Now, there’s no binding that can completely tie two people together for a lifetime.
In a relationship, people break up just like that; in marriage, people divorce just like that.
No one can guarantee that the married woman you love now won’t become single one day and fall into your arms.
Of course, Bai Shunyuan wasn’t despicable enough to actually destroy Su Xiaomeng’s family.
But he wasn’t saintly enough to stay far away from Su Xiaomeng just because she was married, fearing to disrupt her original life.
He just wanted to let things take their natural course.
Since they were in the same school, there was no reason not to increase his presence in front of her.
Since he had a liking for her, there was no reason not to get to know her further.
Maybe her relationship with her husband wasn’t that good, maybe... she wasn’t as perfect as imagined.
Maybe he would grow to like her more, maybe... he would also come to dislike her.
He didn’t intend to be deliberate, just found being around Su Xiaomeng comfortable during this period, even if it meant bickering and debating with her, that too was very comfortable...
Yet, how could he have foreseen that their personalities weren’t the biggest barrier, their unpleasant start wasn’t the biggest barrier, her marriage wasn’t the biggest barrier.
The greatest, deepest, and widest barrier was... bloodline.
It felt as if all the strength in Bai Shunyuan’s body had been drained, leaving him with a deep sense of powerlessness.
Looks, personality, identity, family, status, and all sorts of factors that others deem as unavoidable in a relationship never mattered to him.
But even such a free-spirited, wild Bai Shunyuan has a bottom line in his heart.
Bloodline, ethics, heh...
"Hey! What are you doing? Suddenly bolting off like that?"
While Bai Shunyuan was still infinitely distressed, gazing at the sky at a steep angle, Su Xiaomeng had already approached. She tapped Bai Shunyuan’s arm, wide-eyed and speechless, staring at him.
Bai Shunyuan came back to his senses and looked at Su Xiaomeng.
"Why are you staring at me like that? It’s creepy, alright?"
Su Xiaomeng shivered under his gaze.
Bai Shunyuan shifted his gaze, only his lips moved, not really knowing what he could say to that face...
"Hey!"
She tapped him again, unable to figure out what was up with him.
"What?"
What? Didn’t he just ask her what she was doing? Su Xiaomeng felt like giving him a slap!
Who was the one who dragged her over saying he had a Christmas gift for her?
"Why are you turning your face away again?"
Su Xiaomeng frowned, was the sky that fascinating?
Bai Shunyuan impatiently looked at her, snapping, "Didn’t you say it’s creepy when I stare at you?!"
The word "creepy" hit his sensitive nerve.
Su Xiaomeng was a bit scared by his shout. "You, you staring at me like that... I, I..."
"You what? Why can’t I stare at you? Do you think I’ll devour you or something?!"
Bai Shunyuan stared at her with increasing rudeness, his eyes squinting, "Oh, I see... You think I’m a beast, right? You think I would make a move on my own cousin, huh?"
"Bai Shunyuan, are you insane or what?"
His aggressive attitude aroused a burst of disgust in Su Xiaomeng. Did he have to change faces so quickly?
"Yeah, I’m insane, so what?"
Saying that, Bai Shunyuan grabbed Su Xiaomeng’s arm, pulling her against a tree, "Afraid of me?"
Su Xiaomeng took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, "I don’t know which nerve of yours is faulty again. To think I sincerely accepted your apology just now, but now I see it was just a prank from start to finish!"
Bai Shunyuan’s throat tightened but he didn’t deny it...
"I acted like an idiot expecting you to give me something... cousin, huh! I am stupid or something to call you cousin even twice!"
"Who told you to call me that? You’re just naturally stupid and silly!"
"Bai Shunyuan, if you want to go crazy, go crazy by yourself, but don’t include me!"
"I’ll include you, what can you do about it?"
Su Xiaomeng was infuriated, her eyes rolling, trying to think of the most threatening thing...
"If you bully me like this again, I’ll tell Grandpa! I’ll tell uncle!"
"Hehe..."
"Why are you smirking? Don’t think I won’t rat on you?"
"How could I dare think you wouldn’t rat on me? Everyone knows about how I’ve bullied you before, don’t they?"
Bai Shunyuan snorted.
Su Xiaomeng felt like she was in the most uncomfortable and oppressed position ever, being made to lean against a tree by him.
Raising her hands, she fiercely pushed him away, "You can go crazy by yourself, go crazy, I’m leaving."
Su Xiaomeng walked off without a backward glance!
Christmas gift... Despite a million voices in her heart screaming that there’s something amiss, there was still that one voice saying: After all, he’s a dutiful cousin.