"He talks about me ?", the girl was surprised as her brows raised up, involuntarily."I can"t say that he speaks to us a lot.", Li Jungah nodded as she smiled wryly, "But you see, your uncle and I had a love marriage. I can naturally sense love. And no matter how less time I spent with Yuan, he is still my son. I know him.
"I could tell he was in love. And when I asked him about it, he wouldn"t stop talking about the girl he liked. About you. You were our first conversation, Xinghe. I had a real conversation with my son, after what, more than ten years, because of you. About you."
"I"ve never seen Yuan so happy, so carefree before this, honey. And I can only thank you for that."
Soon, the girl realized that the Xi elders had no ill intention behind this meeting and that they wanted to genuinely meet her. Not once had they tried to make her feel uncomfortable. They felt close. They felt.. like family. Most importantly, they seemed to care about Xi Yuan a lot. They had his best interests at heart, she could tell. Thankfully.
At least, they had one thing in common with her. They cared about the same person she did. She could see that they loved Xi Yuan; cared about him dearly. But mostly, they "missed" him. They missed their only son. She could see that longing and the pain in their eyes.
Xi Chongkun soon handed over two cups of tea to the two ladies before he sat down beside Li Jungah, "Try it.", he said, trying to act as "least nervous" as he could. That, made Rong Xinghe smile.
"It is amazing, Mr. Xi.", the girl was really impressed, "You used the Ancient technique to brew the tea, didn"t you? It is rarely used nowadays, though. That"s a shame."
Xi Chongkun was taken aback by the girl"s knowledge as he smiled at her with a slight nod, "It is even rarer for the younger generation to have such deep knowledge about the Ancient times. How do you know about it ?"
Rong Xinghe let out a small laugh, "Well, it was during one of the Military missions that I had to stay in a remote village in China for one month. So I learned about this technique from there."
"Ah, I see. The Military.", muttered Xi Chongkun, "Isn"t it difficult? The profession. Your position. It is a risky and dangerous one, right ?"
"Yes.", the girl didn"t deny, "It is. Leading the three major forces of the Army all by yourself isn"t exactly easy. But then again, I love my work."
"That"s good.", Xi Chongkun smiled at the girl appreciatively, "Always enjoy what you do."
For a moment, Rong Xinghe thought that the old man would oppose her decisions. The older generation always did. People were still used to see "men" serving the armies. Even today. Very few people approved of a woman as young as her controlling the exterior security of their country.
But he didn"t. He respected her choice, instead. No wonder Xi Yuan was his son. Looking down on women wasn"t something the Xis" did. They were far above such narrow-minded beliefs.
A few minutes later, Li Jungah got up from her seat and placed her cup on the table in front of her. She then glanced down at Rong Xinghe with a warm smile, "Can I speak to you alone ?"
Xi Wei, who had been silent all this while, spoke up at this time, "Auntie, can"t you just-"
"It is alright, Wei. Don"t worry.", Rong Xinghe waved her hands at the man and stood up as well. She then followed behind Li Jungah in the backyard of the house silently.
"What is going on ?", Xi Wei turned to Xi Chongkun, worried.
"I have no idea.", the old man shrugged, "Let women handle it themselves."
_____________
"Yes, Mrs. Xi ?"
"Xinghe," the woman turned to face the girl and inhaled sharply, "Just listen to me first, okay? I need to let it out."
"Go ahead.", Rong Xinghe smiled.
"Initially, when Yuan told me about his feelings for you, I was extremely delighted. I have shared the same University with your parents, after all. You are just the reflection of them.
"But then, I heard about your past. About the train incident. And about your struggles. You"ve had spent five years of your life with unknown people, getting trained for such a frightening position. I wouldn"t lie to you, Xinghe. I had my doubts about you since then.
"As n.o.ble and selfless they are, we can"t forget that soldiers are soldiers. They are trained to--"
"Kill? To die?", Rong Xinghe finished the woman"s sentence.
"Yes.", Li Jungah sighed, "Yuan has lost the people he has loved the most before. And he was just fifteen then. I still remember how he never spoke of that night again. I remember how he never smiled again.
"So when I got to know about you, I was scared. Frightened. I couldn"t imagine the consequences of anything happening to you. I couldn"t watch him break down again, Xinghe. As a result, I wasn"t really supportive of this relations.h.i.+p after that.
"But then-", the old lady smiled, "Yuan was attacked after the International Business Summit. By those monsters from the "Werewolf Crew". My child was struggling between life and death for four months. And I couldn"t do anything. Neither could his father. We both could just sit helplessly, in a corner of that hospital.
"That"s when I realized how much you loved him. I could see how you were managing the Xi Corporations and the Military, altogether. All alone. I could see how you used to visit Yuan daily and how used to talk to him for hours. You never gave up on him. No one, even his family, even us, were as stubborn as you then."
"So you accepted the idea of "us" after that ?", asked Rong Xinghe.
"No. I gained respect for you after that incident.", Li Jungah corrected the girl, "I acknowledged it just a few days ago. After you underwent that migraine stroke."
"Sorry, I didn"t--", the girl looked at the woman, muddled. Confused.
"When you were going through the surgery, Yuan approached me and his father. And he made a request to us ."