As they walked through the corridor and arrived at Robert's study room, they looked inside and saw Robert writing freely away. There were already several completed calligraphy couplets on the floor.
"You're back!" Robert put his brush down and looked towards the door.
Arya let go of Xavier's hand and went over. She glanced at the couplets on the floor and smiled,
"Grandpa, your calligraphy is looking great. They look very energetic."
"I practiced a little... Just killing some time."
Robert's skinny figure walked past the table and went towards them.
"Grandpa," Xavier greeted politely and Robert nodded.
"I thought the both of you were going to just let me and your mother pass New Year's Eve alone. I'm glad to know that you have some conscience in you!" Robert seemed glad when he saw the matching couple before him. He stared at Arya.
Before Arya could reply, Xavier replied,
"Grandpa, she's always missing you and Mother everywhere she goes. She's your favourite granddaughter after all. You're more important to her than anyone else, including me."
Arya was stunned and she stared at him in shock. Not only were his words sweet, but he had also quickly conquered her grandpa, Robert!
As expected, Robert laughed happily when he heard Xavier's words and he nodded.
"That's right. There's no way you could top me! I've been taking care of her for almost the past twenty years. It's not something to be forgotten easily. Of course, I'm more important! Let's go, Xavier, we'll have a match of Go. I didn't play enough the last time!"
Before the young couple could react, he walked outside the study room with his cane and continued,
"Arya, the Pu'er tea your mother brought back this time was pretty fragrant. Take some back and try it with Xavier. Aunt, Aunt! Get me that jade Go set. I'm playing a match with Xavier. Aunt, where are you? Uncle! Uncle!"
Towards the end, he started yelling instead. Arya just shrugged as she looked at Xavier beside her.
After a moment, Uncle got the jade Go set out. Robert sat down and started setting it up. Soon, he already started his first move using a white piece without asking Xavier.
"It's your turn. Let me test you out."
Xavier sat down casually opposite him and picked up a black piece to put on the Go board. Arya was boiling some water to prepare tea for them as she observed the match.
Robert was an expert in Go himself. Arya had learned from him, and she soon got better and he was unable to defeat her anymore.
Arianna used to think about raising Arya into a little princess that was fluent at multiple musical and artistic talents, yet Robert disagreed. Arya was not really fond of those things as well. The only thing she was somewhat interested in was Go. As for musical instruments, she did not really know anything else aside from a little bit of violin. Literature-wise, she barely received a passing grade, but at least, she read comics...
At one point, Robert felt troubled. Back then, her mother Arianna and Father Benjamin were the two top students of the school. They always held onto the first and second place in the whole school. Although both of them were at the pinnacle with both their grades and appearance, this girl did not seem to inherit anything from her parents except her mother's beauty.
Did things move back when they reached an extreme?
After some time, Arya was done boiling the tea and the war started. The two generals were fighting ferociously.
Apparently, the man was pretty skilled at Go as well, so Robert was unable to get an advantage playing against him. His expression looked calm as ever. On the other hand, Robert face darkened slightly.
"Grandpa, have some tea." Arya handed a cup of tea to him.
"I don't want it. Don't interrupt me. I'm thinking what should I do. Hmm... You, come here and take a look. What should I do?" Robert waved his hand as he said.
Arya bent over slightly and glanced at the board before pointing at one of the boxes,
"Here!"
"Mmm, right! Here then!" Robert quickly placed one of his pieces there.
Arya suddenly thought of something. She turned towards Robert and said,
"Grandpa, I have something to talk to you about."
"What is it?"
She sat down beside Robert and sipped some tea, then she continued,
"On the 7th day after the New Year, we are having an opening ceremony for Imperial Sky Entertainment City. Can you please come? Johnson is still on holiday anyway."
"It's been years since I last attended events like this one," Robert gave a short reply to Arya's request, and Xavier looked at her in shock.
"Grandpa, it's a great opportunity. I think you'll be interested in a project under Glory World, but it'd be unfair if I tell you about it, so you should come and take a look for yourself. I think you'd be satisfied." Arya threw out a bait, causing Robert to stop moving his hand that was holding a Go stone. He raised his gray eyebrows and glanced at Arya. "
What project?"
Arya pursed her lips and glanced over at Xavier, smiling.
"I won't tell you for now. You'll find out on that day. Go and take a look. I'm in charge of this project. I heard from Uncle Lan that you've been pretty interested in South River recently."
"So, does Glory World have some ideas on the South River too?"
Robert seemed interested now. He glanced at Xavier, and then looked back at Arya. Giving it some thought, he replied,
"You know, Martinez Corporation and Smiths contacted me recently. However, I am indeed interested in South River."
Smiths?
Arya frowned when she heard the name. Of course, she did not forget what happened. Although she had never dealt with Smiths before, she heard from Vice President Liu during the anniversary celebration that Glory World had conflicts with Smiths before when collaborating with several other companies.
"Anyway, Grandpa, you should just come. On that day, there'll be others aside from Smiths and Martinez Corporation attending. Also, can you convince Mother to attend along together with you?"
Arya actually hoped for Arianna to put up a tough act since Kristina was shameless enough to look for her. She would not just give up so easily and she wanted Arianna to portray a sturdy attitude, especially on this matter.
"Your mother?" Robert became alert when he heard Arya's request. He looked at Arya, slightly shocked.
"Mmm," Arya sighed before she nodded with a heavy expression as she sipped some tea.
"Forget about it. You know your mother dislikes events like these. I understand that you youngsters have fresh ideas, but let her live in peace and don't bother her. It's not been easy for her to keep on going after so many years. If something else happens to her again, I don't think I can be responsible and tell your dead grandma about it."
Robert placed his Go piece down with a disappointed expression on his face.
"She has a knot in her heart, and you know exactly what that is. Let her forget all about the unhappy past. It's not a bad idea living a little more carefreely."
"But..."
Xavier stopped her when she was about to continue.
"That's enough, Arya. Listen to Grandpa. Grandpa, it's your turn now."
Robert's expression softened as he picked up another piece...
At that moment, there were sounds of footsteps outside followed by Aunt's voice.
"Madam, do I take all of these into the kitchen?"
"Mmm, wash the vegetables. I'll handle the fish."
Arianna's figure appeared before Arya's eyes.
After receiving a call from Xavier in the morning and finding out that her daughter and son-in-law were going to come for dinner, Arianna had gone out after a light breakfast. Aside from buying ingredients for dinner, she had also bought some New Year goodies too.
As usual, Arya became Arianna's helper in the kitchen. When she saw Arianna's frosty expression, there seemed to be tension in the air. Arya was not able to bring up the matter about Victoria going to look for her before.
The atmosphere around the mother-daughter pair was getting awkward and no one said a thing.
After some time passed while they prepared several dishes together, Arya, who was preparing the seasoning, looked at Arianna. She hesitated for a moment and then said quietly,
"Mother, Father made me bring you something. There's also a document..."
Arianna stopped her movements for a brief moment, then she continued,
"What document is it?"
"I didn't look at it. He asked me to pass it to you by hand. If not, he'd look for you personally. Yesterday was Ethan and Victoria's engagement... He came to Glory World and I followed him over. He didn't know about Victoria going to look for you. James told me he left New York City after the engagement party and will only be back after the New Year," Arya observed her carefully as she spoke.
She was expressionless as she gave it some thought.
"If you don't like it, I'll give them back to him."
"It's fine. Bring them to my study room later."
"Mmm."
Her brief reply ended the conversation.
The dinner was ready. It was a very sumptuous feast for just five people. They sat around the big table and things seemed much livelier than before.
They opened several bottles of champagne. Arya gulped a few glasses down while Robert chatted to Xavier from time to time about topics ranging from chess to geography to astronomy. Arianna joined in the conversation sometimes and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.
On the other hand, Arya did not really speak much and just listened. She would just eat whatever the man put into her bowl. When they were done, she noticed that she had eaten a little too much while the man barely ate.
After dinner, the family sat in the living room and watched TV while enjoying some tea. Robert went back to his room after watching some news. Arya got Xavier to go and shower first, while she brought the stuff Benjamin had given her into Arianna's room.
After she knocked onto Arianna's door, she saw that her mother had just come out of the shower and was sitting at a sofa in the corner doing some reading.
"You don't have to be considerate about me and your father's past. I just hope you can live a more carefree life than me." Arianna grabbed the document from Arya as she looked at her calmly, her voice sounding gentle.
Arya's eyes met with hers as a part of her struggled deep inside. The words that were stuck in her throat finally came out of her mouth.
"Mother, have you always... been... missing Father? If not, you..."
She would never have asked about what happened between Arianna and Benjamin because she knew that it acted like a needle in her heart. Just touching the topic would hurt her.
Arianna's eyes darkened like the stars in the skies suddenly hiding behind dark clouds when she heard her question.
After some time, Arianna still did not reply. Arya struggled inside, and after a long silence, she ended the conversation between them like many times before. She stood up slowly.
"It's pretty late now. Get some rest soon."
She then exited the room.
"I only have these much feelings in my whole life, and I gave them all to your father. It doesn't matter if I miss him or not. You're all grown up, so you shouldn't always be worrying about me. Worry more about yourself. Your married life has just begun. Arya, I hope that you can treat yourself better. That'd be great."
Arianna stood up from the sofa and went into the study room.
"Help me close the door when you leave."
...
Arya was distracted for a moment. In the end, she nodded and left quietly.
Xavier was done with his shower when she returned to her room. He was reading a stack of yellowish papers in his sleeping robe.
Arya noticed that something was not right and she went over with a frown on her face.
He was looking through her test papers during high school!
Where did he get them?
She remembered that she had put all of them on the top shelf of her bookshelf. She did not expect him to find them so easily. As she was reminded of the pathetic marks on her papers, her face blushed as she dashed over.
"Don't you look at it. I'm not letting you!"
A faint fresh scent wafted over as a tiny figure ran towards him. He raised his arms high and Arya could not reach them. She almost fell down, but luckily she caught his sleeve.
"Give it back to me!"
She frowned at him and her voice sounded angry. She grabbed his shoulder and jumped several times, but still could not reach them.
He was pretty tall himself along with his long limbs. She could not do anything with her height, and she aggravated her injury slightly and felt pain flare up near her wound. In the end, she glared at him as she yanked on his sleeve.
The man raised his left arm high, throwing her a glance as he grinned. He laughed when he saw her nearly exploding.
"You shamelessly got such a score but you're ashamed when people see it?"
Arya was fed up with him. She glared at him knowing that he would not give it back to her, so she plopped onto the sofa.
"Look all you want then..."
Xavier glanced at her as he flipped through the test papers, sitting down beside her.
"These scores are too pathetic to even look at. You can even make mistakes on spelling. Can't you even do well in memorizing?"
"I told you I was always bad at studies. I especially hated things that need memorizing. They wanted us to memorize countless articles and this section was only 5% of the exam. It's such a small portion throughout the three years of high school. Don't you think..."
Arya did not finish her sentence because Xavier's eyes made her feel that at that point in time, he seemed like a strict disciplinary teacher staring at her...
He covered the test papers and looked at her.
"Really? That's unexpected."
Arya stared at him as she snatched the test papers away.
"Super top students like you would never understand people who are never good at studies. Don't you dare mock me about this in the future."
He laughed and put his arm around her shoulder.
"What are you thinking about? Have you never heard about the phrase 'pair a top student with a bad student'? Everyone has their advantages and disadvantages. I'll make anyone who mocks my wife suffer!"
Arya put on a grin, she laughed,
"That's right, being bad at studying doesn't mean a dark future is ahead right? You think..."
She raised her head and looked at him. As she did, she gazed into his deep, dark eyes and could clearly see her reflection from his clear eyes, the hidden stars suddenly appearing so mysterious and distant.
She suddenly realized —
He was really dapper and very gentlemanly. She wanted to use the phrase "very pleasant to look at" to describe his smile, but she had no idea whether if it was appropriate.
"Xavier, has anyone told you that you're actually quite a beautiful man?"
She was not sure why she said that. However, her words surprised Xavier.
Was this little woman teasing him?
He laughed delightedly. Being praised by his own woman as "beautiful" was something to be happy about indeed. He raised his large, dry hand and patted her head before leaving a light kiss on her forehead.
"Missus, you're really beautiful as well. Okay, go and get washed up. I've prepared the bath for you. Remember to change the dressing for your wound too. I've brought it over and put it on the dressing table. Be careful."
He had not missed her frown caused by the pain from her injury just now and worried for her. He wanted her to stay safe and free from any injuries as she stayed by his side.
He respected her and cared for her all because he wanted to have a decent start with her, especially because they had decades to walk together ahead of them.
Him and her, safe and peaceful until the end of their lives. That would be ideal.
However, could they be like many others? Could they become a family first before possessing feelings of love for each other?
Arya was stunned for a moment as she looked at him with a serious yet gentle expression. She thought about it and then said,
"Thank you for treating me so well, Mr. Knight."
"You're my wife. Who else should I treat well if not you?" He replied almost instantly before grabbing the test papers in her hands and putting them back onto the bookshelf. She stood up when he turned around, her eyes seeming distracted. She was probably thinking about something else. In response, he opened the bathroom door and looked at her questioningly.
"Go in and take a bath. Get to sleep soon. We have a lot to do tomorrow, alright?"
His gentle tone had a certain degree of firmness to it, so Arya stopped her mind from wandering around as she nodded and then slowly walked into the bathroom under his supervision.
...
When she came out of the bathroom, he was already in the bed lying on his side. The light was switched off and only a dim yellow light was left in the room.
She looked at him as she stood beside the bed. Pulling the sheets aside when he did not give her any reaction, she turned off the lights and then slowly got into bed...
After some time, she called his name out, "Xavier..."
"Mmm?" He replied quietly.
Her eyes hidden in the dark sparkled slightly and her lips hesitated a little. She turned her body around and looked at his back facing her. After thinking for a bit, she turned back again.
Xavier turned around when he heard behind him. He called out to her and pulled her into his arms when her back faced him. A slightly humid and deep voice reached her.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing... I just wanted to try calling... Mmm!"
Before she could finish, the man's minty kiss came down from above her. His unique scent rushed towards her.
"It's not too much for me to get a good night kiss, is it?"
His voice sounded charismatic as ever and without waiting for her reply, he kissed her rosebud lips once again. At the same time, he carefully sent her the gentleness hidden deep within his heart.
Afterwards, Xavier thought to himself: he asked for it!
Although he usually had strong self-restraint, he had pulled off such a risky stunt. He took deep breaths as he prevented Arya from moving, and then...