Chapter 311 - I know you well enough

...

"Erm..." Tian Le looked at Han Ye and Xiao Zhihao. "You guys aren't doing anything? She looked really upset." 

Xiao Zhihao shrugged and picked up his chopsticks. He then continued to eat as he said, "She's being unreasonable. I can't go to her now or she will talk her way into doing things her own way."

His mother was very sensible and mature, but at times, she would still behave like a child. Though... It had been a while since his mother behaved in this manner. In the past, she would usually do this to mess with his father.

Xiao Zhihao glanced at Han Ye. He wondered if his mother was doing this to annoy Han Ye. It was kind of annoying to think that way... 

When Han Ye saw Xiao Zhihao looking at him, he immediately smiled and said, "It's fine. She's an a.d.u.l.t, so she can handle it. She's just throwing a little tantrum at the moment." 

"I know. She's my mother, so I don't need you to tell me anything about it," Xiao Zhihao said curtly before looking away from Han Ye. 

"Erm..." Tian Le glanced at Lu Ziyan, who signaled him to stay out of it. Using his eyes, he tried to transmit a message to Lu Ziyan: Are we really letting this be? What if their relationship gets worse? 

It's a battle between a boy and his future stepfather. Stay out of it... Lu Ziyan replied with his eyes as well. 

Both of them then kept their heads down as they continued to eat quietly. 

After about 5 minutes of quiet eating, Xiao Zhihao suddenly said to Han Ye, "Thank you." 

"Huh?" Han Ye looked at him. "What?"

"For the other day... At school..." Xiao Zhihao said. 

"Oh... Don't worry about it," Han Ye reassured him. He then added, "But we need to talk about him. If you--"

"I don't want to talk about him." Xiao Zhihao immediately cut him off. 

"Zhihao, you knew what happened. It's not a good idea for you to keep looking for him. He's not-"

"Do not say anything about him!" Xiao Zhihao glared at him. "I don't care about his past. He was good to me!" 

Han Ye wanted to say something, but in the end, he merely sighed and nodded. "Just so you know, I don't approve of it, not that you care. But if you ever need my help, just let me know."

"I won't, don't worry." 

Seeing as things were about to get worse, Tian Le shot another glance at Lu Ziyan: Are we really not going to help?  

Lu Ziyan narrowed his eyes and shook his head once: No.

Thankfully, both of them were spared from being with those two by themselves when Xiao Lei and An Xin came back and sat down on their respective seats. 

She looked at her son first, before looking at Han Ye.

"I'm not budging on this," Han Ye said before she could even speak a word. "I can let you do a lot of things, but not this."  

Xiao Lei humphed. "Fine. An Xin and I had a quick talk about it anyway... And she's right... I shouldn't take the risks now that I'm an expectant mother of two, not even if it's just a small risk..." Xiao Lei said with a resigned expression. "I'll be good..."

Xiao Zhihao picked up a piece of braised pork ribs with his chopsticks and placed it on his mother's bowl. "You must be hungry after getting upset earlier. Eat more. You love ribs." 

Xiao Lei smiled and quickly went back to eating, as if what had happened earlier was nothing but a small hiccup. 

Meanwhile, Han Ye felt like there was something wrong with it. "She got upset for a small thing... and she got over it so quickly... Did I miss anything?"

He looked at An Xin, who had a grin on her face, and he wondered if Xiao Lei was planning something. After dinner, Xiao Zhihao went over to the unit next door to play games with Tian Le, and not long after they left, Lu Ziyan and An Xin, who was watching TV in the living room, suddenly went over to Xiao Lei and Han Ye, who were washing the dishes and cutting fruits.

"Hey, the weather is quite nice, so we are going to take a walk downstairs..." Lu Ziyan said to those two. 

"Oh..." Han Ye looked down at the platter of fruits that he was preparing. "Then I'll leave some for you guys..."

After they left, Han Ye quickly finished arranging the platter of fruits before moving over to help Xiao Lei. 

"It's ok, I can finish this by myself," Xiao Lei said when Han Ye suddenly appeared next to her. 

"I will help you dry them," Han Ye said nonchalantly before picking up a dry cloth. He then started to wipe the water off each plate carefully. After a while, he asked, "Did you do that on purpose earlier?"

"What are you talking about?" she asked with an innocent expression as she looked up at him. 

"Earlier... About you not using stunt double. Was that on purpose?" Han Ye asked while looking at her intensely, seemingly as if he were trying to see through her. 

Xiao Lei gulped. "Erm... No?" 

With his eyes narrowed, he then closed the distance between them. With only mere inches between them, Han Ye could feel Xiao Lei's breathing around his neck. "Xiao Lei... Wushuang... Don't lie to me..."

She turned away from him and continued to wash the utensils before asking, "Are you mad at me?"

To her surprise, she suddenly felt a warm body pressing up against her back. She was so startled that she dropped the utensils back into the sink. 

"Han..."

A pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist while he rested his chin on her shoulder. 

"I'm not going to go any further than this... But just for a while... Can we just be like this for a while?" Han Ye mumbled in a low voice. 

Xiao Lei did not reject him. She merely nodded. "Em."

She then slowly raised her wet hands. After clumsily patting them dry on her apron, she turned around. 

Han Ye looked at her, wondering if he had crossed the boundary. "I... Are you angry?" 

To his surprise, she hugged him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist while her head rested on his chest. 

Like a little boy on Christmas day, his smile quickly lit up his face as he buried his face in the crook of her shoulder. "You smell nice..."

"I smell like sweat..."

"I still think that you smell nice..." Han Ye said. He tightened his arms around her shoulders as they continued to stand in the kitchen while in each other's arms. 

After a while, Han Ye said in a low voice, as if he were afraid that people would hear them, "Thank you... I know you're trying to put me and Zhihao on the same side..."

"How..." She looked up at him. 

"I know you well enough..." Han Ye said with a gentle smile on his face. He leaned forward slightly, clearly intending to do something.  

However, Xiao Lei lowered her head. She then pressed her forehead against his chest as she said in a soft voice, "Not now... I know what you're feeling toward me... But it's still too early..." 

Just as Han Ye was a little disheartened, she looked up at him again and added, "But I want you to know... that I have some feelings for you too."

...