CHAPTER 470: CHAPTER 470

Fu Youhan actually knew that Jiang Moxi’s sudden initiative to kiss him was definitely to avoid the topic they had just been discussing.

So he felt even more that the conversation Jiang Moxi had with Feng Yu was anything but simple.

He really wanted to push Jiang Moxi away and press her for a clear answer.

But it had been so long since he last enjoyed Jiang Moxi’s initiative that Fu Youhan found himself completely unable to refuse her kiss.

After that, as they continued to kiss, things got out of control.

Even though Fu Youhan really wanted to restrain himself, fearing that he might reopen the wounds that had just healed on Jiang Moxi’s body, it was to no avail...

*

On the other side, Ye Chen parked the car at the entrance of the Yu Family Mansion.

Just a glimpse through the car window at her former home was enough to bring tears to Yu Dingding’s eyes.

Seeing Yu Dingding’s tear-filled eyes, Ye Chen’s voice couldn’t help but become gentler.

"Get out and take a look inside."

"Do you have the keys?" Yu Dingding asked him.

"Yes! I’ve bought this place back, and now it’s been transferred to your name."

But concerning the latter part, Yu Dingding didn’t say anything, simply taking the keys that Ye Chen handed her and getting out of the car.

The moment she opened the door, Yu Dingding felt the scenery in the courtyard was so familiar it pained her heart, and her tears involuntarily fell.

Yu Dingding couldn’t resist stepping forward to touch the stone table in the courtyard and her favorite potted lucky bamboo. Everything seemed just like before, as if the Yu family’s tragedies had never happened.

Ye Chen watched Yu Dingding cry as she wandered and touched things around the Yu Mansion, and he suddenly felt that his decision to stay and clean up the place, restore the potted plants in the courtyard, and recreate the scene from when Yu Dingding lived there, was quite worthwhile.

At least, Yu Dingding looked truly happy now.

After touring the courtyard, Yu Dingding entered the rooms. Besides spending a long time in her own room, Yu Dingding also visited Yu Tongshu’s former room.

Yu Tongshu, who was born in a scholarly family, had collected many calligraphies and paintings in his room, including an ink stone and various oddly shaped brushes.

As Yu Dingding touched the ink stone, she was speaking as if to Ye Chen, but it was more like she was lost in her own memories, murmuring to herself.

"When I was a kid on weekends, my father loved to study calligraphy here. He had me help grind the ink, perhaps to cultivate my sentiments. But back then, what I yearned for the most was to run wild outside. Every time I got caught and had to grind ink, I felt so dejected..."

Listening to Yu Dingding’s description, Ye Chen couldn’t help but picture little Yu Dingding standing in front of the ink stone, grinding ink with a downcast expression.

He thought young Yu Dingding must have been adorable, quirky and clever.

If only he had known Yu Dingding back then, how wonderful that would have been.

While Ye Chen was pondering these thoughts, Yu Dingding whispered, "What I thought were the most unfortunate moments as a child, now seem to be the most beautiful times in my life when I look back."

Yu Dingding’s reflection brought Ye Chen’s wandering thoughts back.

Ye Chen said, "Dingding, all the hardships have passed, and for the rest of your life I will give my all to protect you."

He even stepped forward, intending to hug her from behind.

But Yu Dingding had been spending quite some time with him and certainly knew what Ye Chen wanted to do, so she simply took a step forward, leaving him unable to embrace her.

"Baby..." Ye Chen, with empty arms, felt even emptier inside.

"Don’t call me that, it sounds disgusting," said Yu Dingding.

"But Dingding, you are my baby."

In the past, Ye Chen thought the word "baby" was nothing more than a term for flirting with women.

But since being with Yu Dingding, he found it difficult to associate the word with any other woman.

But Yu Dingding didn’t respond to his words, simply saying: "Ye Chen, I actually think that owing each other nothing and thriving separately is the best conclusion for us. Don’t you think?"

Her tears had dried, and her beautiful eyes remained calm and waveless even when facing Ye Chen.

It felt as if Yu Dingding had completely walked out of that romance.

But Ye Chen hadn’t moved on and didn’t want to. With reddened eyes, he told Yu Dingding.

"I don’t agree. When I, Ye Chen, like someone, I won’t let her be with anyone else. All that noble sentiment about being happy if she’s happy, I don’t have it! I just want to be with you, for a lifetime."

Yu Dingding thought this was the breaking point of their relationship.

So she said, "Alright, since we can’t come to an agreement, let’s not talk about it."

Yu Dingding dropped those words, took a deep look back at the Yu Family Mansion, and then turned around to leave.

Ye Chen felt bitter being rejected again, but he quickly followed her.

"Get in the car, I’ll take you back."

Yu Dingding was aware that the area around the Yu Family was filled with either the rich or the noble, and it would take a long time to call for a ride-sharing service at night.

Concerned about returning late and causing Yu Tongshu worry, she got into Ye Chen’s car.

During the ride, Ye Chen kept trying to find topics that interested her, hoping to chat with her again.

But Yu Dingding ignored him, quietly watching the landscape out of the car window all the way until she got out.

Just arriving at the hotel she was staying at, Yu Dingding immediately opened the car door and got out, intending to leave without looking back.

But Ye Chen got out too, frowning as he surveyed the surroundings of the three-star hotel.

"Why not just move back to the mansion with your uncle? It’s your family home, it’s familiar and more convenient to live in."

"No need, I’ve been looking for a house recently. I’ll move there once I find one." Yu Dingding kept moving forward without even a glance back at Ye Chen.

Ye Chen could only follow her, explaining: "I’ve already transferred the Yu Mansion to you; it’s your property. You shouldn’t feel any psychological burden because that house was always yours and your uncle’s to begin with. If it wasn’t because of me, you wouldn’t have been forced to leave in the first place."

But Yu Dingding felt that if she accepted the house, her entanglement with Ye Chen would surely become more complicated.

So, her steps paused briefly, but she quickly walked into the hotel elevator.

Ye Chen wanted to follow, but Yu Dingding swiftly pressed the lift’s close button.

Ye Chen tried to get on the next lift, only to find out that one needed a room card to select a floor.

In the end, Ye Chen had to dejectedly leave the elevator...

*

Early in the morning, Jiang Moxi was woken up by Xie Ling’s phone call.

"Miss Moxi, the great designer! Are you awake?"

Jiang Moxi had just answered the call when Xie Ling on the other side sounded extremely agitated.

"What’s wrong?" Jiang Moxi asked with sleepy eyes half-closed.

"Looks like you’re still sleeping! Get up and check the news."

Xie Ling on the phone was frantic, but Jiang Moxi was still half-awake and didn’t move.

So Xie Ling added rapidly, "Oh my ancestors, that foster daughter of yours is going against you, and you still have the nerve to sleep? Get up quickly and clean house."

Jiang Moxi’s brows knitted slightly, about to say something, when the man behind her snatched her phone, speaking to Xie Ling on the other end, "Call back later. She went to bed late last night and isn’t clear-headed right now."

The man had also just woken up, his voice deep and slightly hoarse, tinged with a lazy drowsiness characteristic of early morning.

How to describe it?

It was like poppies, instantly intoxicating.

Xie Ling nearly let out a shrill chipmunk cry, but she controlled herself, asking the man only one question, "Are you Driver Fu?"