Chapter 271 - Commemoration ceremony?

...

The next couple of days went by in a blur. As usual, Xiao Lei would put on her work clothes and sent Xiao Zhihao to school. She would then go to the office. However, she was there to meet Han Ye instead of working. 

She had a feeling that her son might not like Han Ye at the moment, especially after Xiao Zhihao's behavior during his father's funeral ceremony, so she decided not to overwhelm him by letting him know that she was given a few days off work. If she told him, Xiao Zhihao would undoubtedly want to skip school to accompany her, but his reason might not be as pure as what she would want. 

She did not mind him skipping school. After all, she wanted him to rest as well. However, Xiao Lei had a feeling that Xiao Zhihao would skip school to stop her from meeting Han Ye instead of taking a break for himself. 

From how her son had been behaving lately, Xiao Lei could understand that Xiao Zhihao did not want her to move on so fast, but Xiao Zhihao did not understand that Xiao Lei did not intend to move on just yet. 

Her heart was still very much with her husband. 

Sure... Xiao Lei knew about Han Ye's feelings for her; she wasn't blind. And after his not-so-secret drunken confession the last time, she definitely knew about it. And to be honest, she had some feelings for him as well as some "what if" questions, but it was not enough for her to act on it.

She did not think that she could move on so quickly for now.   

Thankfully, Han Ye had been holding himself back so as to not cross the boundary, which she appreciated as she did not want to hurt him. If he were to confess to her now, she would be forced to do something drastic. 

Xiao Lei loved her son, and she wanted to make him happy no matter what. However, she did need to have an a.d.u.l.t with whom she could pour her heart out to. Of course, she could have talked to Kai Xin, An Xin, or any of the female friends that she met recently. They were really kind to her, but no matter what, she had just met them, and she wasn't comfortable with talking about the things that were bothering her with them just yet.

As for Han Ye, he was her longest friend, and he knew about her true identity. Furthermore, he had seen her grief-stricken face as well as all her other ugly faces, so she felt more comfortable talking to him. At the very least, if she wanted to cry, she wouldn't have to force herself to hold back.   

"How's Zhihao?" Han Ye asked once Xiao Lei safely strapped down in the car with him. 

Xiao Lei sighed softly before replying him, "He still thinks that Yunije would be coming back one day. To this day, I haven't even seen him cry yet... But I can tell that he's affected. He's more withdrawn nowadays, and his words are getting fewer and fewer per day. I'm actually quite worried about him."

Han Ye started to drive. It took him a while before he had enough courage to ask, "Do you think he needs to see someone?" 

As an outsider, he did not know if it would be appropriate for him to suggest such a sensitive thing.

Xiao Lei stared at him for a few seconds before asking, "Like... a shrink?"

"It's nothing shameful..." Han Ye said with a meaningful glance. "Phillip was Lyle's shrink previously, so I can vouch for his skills..."

Upon hearing him, Xiao Lei frowned a little. "Exactly what is his specialty? Isn't he an OBGYN?" 

Han Ye chuckled. "He's a genius with multiple PhDs. As long as he's interested in it, he would study it, and it wouldn't take too much of his time." 

Xiao Lei nodded with an impressed expression. She then thought about it before shaking her head. "Regarding finding him a shrink... Maybe not now... I don't want to force him into anything at the moment. I want to give him a bit more time first."

She placed her elbow against the door and rested her chin on her palm before saying with a sigh, "I've told him about the commemoration ceremony at Imperial High next week."

"What did he say?"

She closed her eyes, as if she was bothered for something.

Han Ye noticed that she wasn't talking, so he looked at her through the rearview mirror briefly. When he saw her with her eyes closed and in a pained expression, he asked in a concerned voice, "Xiao Lei, are you alright?"

She nodded before saying in a soft voice, "He's not going to take the award. Zhihao refused to accept Yunjie's passing. He said that I could go and take it, but he's not going to get up the stage to accept the reward." 

Xiao Zhihao had almost shouted at Xiao Lei when Xiao Lei told him about the commemoration ceremony that the Du Family would be holding for Xiao Yunjie. She had mentioned it in passing during dinner, but it was not well received by her son. 

"Why did you keep saying that Dad's gone?! Do you really want him to be gone?!" Xiao Zhihao snapped at Xiao Lei before running to his room and slamming the door. 

That was the first time in a while that Xiao Lei had seen him express his anger, albeit only for a while. 

"Maybe we should postpone it?" Han Ye asked. "I can talk--"

"No. We can just go ahead and do it." Xiao Lei leaned back in the chair with her eyes closed. "He can't run from it forever. Sooner or later, he would have to accept the fact." 

She wanted to protect her son from pain, but no matter what she did, he kept getting hurt. And over the last few days, she had been thinking even more. She could not hide things from her son any longer, especially with her identity. She decided to tell Xiao Zhihao about who she was in a couple of months time, when she was in the second trimester of her pregnancy. 

Han Ye glanced at Xiao Lei who was thinking deeply. He had often watched DX reach over to caress his wife's cheek whenever she was worried about things, and Han Ye wished he could do it for Xiao Lei, just to comfort her. 

But he knew he couldn't. 

Xiao Lei wasn't the only one who could tell that Xiao Zhihao might not like Han Ye; Han Ye himself could see it. Ever since they told Xiao Zhihao about his father's demise, Xiao Zhihao had been really cold toward Han Ye. Han Ye accepted the boy's cold treatment, but that not mean that he would let things end here.

Everytime he saw Xiao Zhihao, he would greet him with a genuine smile. Even when Xiao Zhihao ignored him, Han Ye would still do his best to maintain a one-sided conversation. 

"Han Ye..."

Upon hearing his name being mentioned, Han Ye glanced at Xiao Lei briefly and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Please don't be mad at Zhihao. I know that you said you were not mad at him, but are you really not angry?" she asked while staring at him with a curious expression. 

Han Ye smiled. "I'm not mad at him... I know what he's feeling now. He's feeling threatened. I never liked any men who..."

He stopped himself before he said too much, and he quickly amended his words, "I mean, I never liked any men who were near my mother. " 

"But..."

Han Ye chuckled and waved a hand nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it. Let's think about what to do for the next few hours."

When Xiao Lei did not press on, Han Ye breathed an inward sigh of relief. He had nearly said, "I never liked any men who were trying to court my mother."