"It"ll be fine as long as you don"t tell anyone else. Thank you. Since you"re being such a good child, is there anything you want? Tell me, I"ll buy it for you." Cao An seemed to be the big bad wolf trying to lure in Little Red Riding Hood. He even stretched out his wolf claw and patted Xia Rou"s head.
Her hair was almost dry, so his hand felt a little moist and thick. It felt… quite fluffy!
Xia Rou was speechless and pushed away his claw. "I don"t need anything, but if I did I would go to Brother Cao Yang instead."
"Yo, are you trying to use my brother to pressure me?" Cao An gave a teasing laugh.
Among the four brothers of the Cao Family, Cao An was the best looking, the most attractive.
But it was to bad that Xia Rou was completely immune to his charms.
She knew that she wasn"t really close to him in this life, so she shouldn"t speak out now. But no matter what, she still felt close to him in her heart, especially looking at him putting on such an act, she became a little angry.
"Your relationship, when are you planning to tell uncle?" she asked deliberately.
Cao An"s smile immediately dropped. Translated by The Novelst
"That isn"t something that a child like you should concern yourself with." He was a little irritated.
Xia Rou pouted.
Actually, Cao An"s personality had always been immature. Compared to Cao Yang, Cao Bin and Cao Xing, he didn"t seem to resemble his parents at all.
But because of that, he and Xia Rou had managed to become close to each other.
Having a little girl look down at him, that was so annoying!
Cao An gritted his teeth, saying in a deadpan tone: "You"re still young so you don"t understand. Sometimes you can"t just do what you want! Anyways, it"s late now. You should get some sleep. Thanks for keeping my secret."
He stood up and prepared to leave.
Xia Rou looked up at him. He was so tall, but… he didn"t have the courage that his stature seemed to imply…
Xia Rou always felt that, after her rebirth, the way she looked at others had changed from the past.
Actually, in her past, she was well aware in her heart what kind of person Cao An was. But because she was the closest to him, she subconsciously made excuses for him. Now, after her rebirth, she seemed to be able to disentangle herself from situations. Looking again at the people and things she had experienced, she could see more clearly now than in the past.
This fourth brother ah, he wasn"t able to become a responsible man like big brother.
She looked at him, feeling disappointment in her heart.
She stood up to walk him to the door, but couldn"t help saying to him: "If you"re like this, isn"t it… a little unfair towards Brother Chengzhe?"
Although before he had said to her that he just wanted to live happily, Xia Rou felt that he was unable to obtain that happiness he wanted in the ten years they knew each other.
An all of his unhappiness, in the end, was rooted in the fact that he didn"t dare speak the truth to Cao Xiong. In other words, he was a wimp! A scaredy-cat!
Every time He Chengzhe came around, they could only hang out in secret, not daring to be open about it. So even within those years, He Chengzhe was also very unhappy. The two kept breaking up and getting back together.
He Chengzhe was like Xia Rou; he was born to an ordinary family. There were many times he wanted to leave Cao An, but… if the most headstrong fourth master of the Cao Family didn"t agree to it, He Chengzhe couldn"t leave even if he wanted to.
After that, Cao Xiong realized that Cao An wasn"t young anymore. Using his connections, he was able to obtain plans for the future from the upper cla.s.s. So he started to learn about the future prospects in the area, finding huge benefits. And so he arranged for Cao An to work in real estate.
At first, Cao An had resisted, but Cao Xiong used He Chengzhe and his fashion company to threaten him.
The Cao Family had many contacts in all sorts of industries, both bright and dark. The fashion company was a hobby to Cao An, but to He Chengzhe, it was years of effort.
Luckily, in the end, Cao An capitulated and Cao Xiong let them off the hook.
But this was a fatal blow to their relationship. Cao An and He Chengzhe had their most serious breakup then.
If the two had ended there, then maybe their parting would have left them with a feeling of relief.
However, Cao An didn"t want to let go.
In actuality, both men were bi. After that breakup, they both dated around, having boyfriends and girlfriends. Cao An himself wasn"t serious about any of the partners he met. But if he learned that He Chengzhe was serious about any relationship, no matter the gender, Cao An would definitely think of a way to destroy them.
He Chengzhe had even moved the company to Yu City in order to avoid Cao An.
After that, he met a nice woman, and even though she knew of his past, she still accepted and loved him. In the end, he decided to get married to her.
Even Xia Rou felt that this was a good marriage.
It was too bad that it was destroyed by Cao An. Translated by The Novelst
Xia Rou received a call from He Chengzhe and drove all the way to Yu City to pick up Cao An, who was already dead drunk.
Before she left, He Chengzhe had woodenly said to her: "Ask him for me if he can"t even bear to see me happy?"
Because of Cao An"s dark history, even though Xia Rou was very close with Cao An, she found herself too ashamed to answer.
In the end, He Chengzhe ended up not getting married to that woman. He and Cao An, until Xia Rou"s death, were entangled together and their relationship remained unclear.
By that time, Xia Rou had ignored Cao Yang"s opposition and moved out of the Cao Family house into the apartment that she had lived with Cheng Wan. In the state Cao An was in, Xia Rou was afraid that Cao Xiong might notice his condition if she sent him back home, which would mean Cao An would be soundly beaten with a belt. So instead, she brought him back to her apartment.
The morning after, Cao Yang suddenly came by and knocked on her door.
She thought he was looking for Cao An. But she was wrong; he told her he had something to discuss with her.
Before he could say anything, a hungover Cao An came down the stairs, his hair wet and his body covered only with a towel, shouting for Xia Rou to ask if she had any food.
Xia Rou had never seen Cao Yang"s face go so white and ghastly.
Cao Yang didn"t say anything and left immediately, leaving Xia Rou and Cao An to gaze at each other uncomprehendingly.
In the end, Xia Rou didn"t get to hear what Cao Yang came to tell her on that day.
After the next half month, though, she learned that on that day, Cao Yang had officially gotten divorced.
Proofread by: Hannah