Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Yang Zheyan was meeting up with his parents for lunch.
He stepped into a glamorous restaurant with an outdoor setting, it had a pathway bridge with water on both sides. The water wasn"t the type that you can swim in it, it was filled with lily pads and pink lotus flowers. Up ahead, he saw his parents already seated at their usual table near the water.
"What is the occasion today?" Yang Zheyan asked, sitting down across from his father. It was rare for his parents to ask him out during lunch when they know how busy he is.
Usually, he"ll be eating by himself while working on his project. Sometimes Lu Weisheng will force him to have lunch with him by literally kidnapping him out of his office. Then there will be the super rare cases where he"ll have lunch with his clients, only if necessary. It was best to avoid messy scandals, and that was how the rumor he was a saint started.
"What? I can"t call for my son when I miss him?" Yin Yingtai, his mother, pouted. She has not seen her son for the past few weeks, and this is the first thing he says to her.
Lately, he has been too busy with who knows what. He never makes time to come see her anymore. She missed those days when he will have no choice but to return home since he was not an "adult" yet. However, right after he turned eighteen, he got up and moved out of the main house, and it became harder to just hear his voice.
"I"m sorry for not visiting much these past few days..." Yang Zheyan apologized, although he wasn"t sure if it has days or months since he last saw his mother.
He never had this real attachment for his mother as other kids should. It might be because she could never hug or hold him to form that bond. Perhaps, it could be because he feels disgusted when a woman comes near him. He tried coming up with many reasons, but none of them seems to fit the picture for him either.
"Fine, you"re forgiven." Song Liqin immediately gave in, she couldn"t stay mad at her only son.
She had many blessing of being pregnant but was never able to deliver any of those children. Even when she was extra careful to do nothing excessive to her body. She would always get a miscarriage during her third or fourth month. They went to many doctors for help, but it all came back with the same result. Eventually, she gave up on the idea of having another child and paid her full attention to Yang Zheyan.
This is why Yang Zheyan was highly doted upon and used to getting his way every time. It wasn"t just his mother who will give everything to him, this includes everyone in his family. Which only consist of his grandfather, father, and mother. Making him the sole heir to the entire Yang inheritance.
While catching up on the most recent event happening in their life, the waiter came out with their food. Yang Zheyan didn"t bother asking for a menu when he arrived. It was a habit of his mother to order ahead of time, so it"ll be ready by the time he gets there.
"We do have a reason to call you out here today," Yang Chen, his father, put down his fork and knife.
Yang Zheyan paused for a second from cutting his stake. Then smiled, there it is, why they honestly called him out today.
Yang Chen handed his son a piece of paper with something written inside, "We have set up a date for you to meet with your fiancee, Xiong Jingfei."
Song Liqin frowned, losing her appet.i.te instantly, "Why does father have to force this upon Zheyan!"
"Shut up! This was arranged a long time ago, and you cannot change it." Yang Chen rebuked, he wasn"t happy about this either, except it was long decided by his father.
Yang Zheyan and Xiong Jingfei"s grandfather were childhood playmates. It was actually Yang Zheyan"s grandfather who brought up the arranged marriage, and Xiong Jingfei"s grandfather didn"t have a reason to not accept it either. Just like that, they tied the knot. Xiong Jingfei"s grandfather"s first granddaughter must get engaged to Yang Zheyan. It had to be a granddaughter, Yang Zheyan was already born into the world. So that"s how it came to be Xiong Jingfei, who was the first granddaughter of the Xiong family.
"I will go ask father again to reconsider this marriage!" Song Liqin refused to give in, only this time will she go against Yang Chen"s father.
She was not satisfied with Xiong Jingfei being their daughter-in-law. Her family background is in good standing, but...
"You think I haven"t tried?" Yang Chen sighed, wiping the corners of his mouth with the snow-white napkin.
"But... She"s a mute!" Song Liqin shouted, forgetting she was still in a fancy restaurant.
Yang Zheyan dropped his ever so kind smile, "Mother, she was never a mute, to begin with."
He already did his research on his to be wife, Xiong Jingfei. He only did it at first when he found out her name, it was funny how she was named after the story, "The love of the general daughter." He wasn"t interested in her in the slightest. He only wanted to know what was he getting himself into. It was predetermined she"ll be a woman he"ll never touch in his life, not as he could anyway.
Then without realizing, he became fascinated when he found out she became a mute at the age of seventeen. He began to investigate more, it happened right after she ate a salad with borage blossoms in it. According to the record, she coughed violently after taking a bite of the salad before fainting on the spot. When she regained consciousness, her voice was gone.
It all happened so quickly.
A full examination was made, and there was no swelling or anything wrong with her throat. There was no real explanation for the cause of losing her voice. The doctors are a.s.suming she lost her voice due to being traumatized by suffocating after eating. They were told her voice eventually will be back, yet it has been four years since then.
"Yes, at least that doesn"t mean she won"t ever talk again." Yang Chen drank the last of the wine in his gla.s.s cup. "We can put her into speech therapy."
Yang Zheyan grinned. As if the Xiong family did not try that method already. It wasn"t effective, no matter how many times they put their daughter into speech therapy.
"She also dated someone else while being engaged to our son!" Song Liqin narrowed her stormy eyes, "Who knows if she did anything-"
"Mother! If this it, then I"ll be taking my leave first. I still have things to wrap up." Yang Zheyan cut her off and got up from his chair. Not without grabbing the piece of paper on the table.
There was something about Xiong Jingfei that is drawing him to her, especially when he finally met her.