CHAPTER 456: CHAPTER 453 [GIVE UP]

[Chapter Four Hundred and Fifty-Three: Give Up]

In the living room of the luxury suite, four girls sat on the sofa.

Looking at the Perrier water in the green glass bottle on the coffee table in front of her, Xiao Yu actually felt a bit constrained and anxious.

This hotel was the most luxurious and expensive one in Jinling City, and this suite was also the priciest tier in the hotel.

Although Xiao Yu’s family ran a wedding business, it was just a small company, still far from being a wealthy second-generation family. Her daily life was fairly good, limited to shopping carefree with friends, buying clothes, or getting a new phone without stress.

In a word... she still had a mortgage to pay!

She would envy luxury cars on the street!

She had never stayed in a top-tier suite in a luxury five-star hotel like this one.

In the past, her family’s wedding company had encountered clients from decent financial backgrounds who held weddings in this five-star hotel, with the bridal suite also set up in the hotel—but they were always ordinary rooms, at best a minor suite.

Such top-tier suites—Xiao Yu’s family’s wedding company wasn’t of a high enough caliber to attract that level of clientele.

And then there was the Perrier water in the green glass bottle on the coffee table in front of her.

Back in 2002, this item was a rarity not yet sold on the market, and a luxury hotel would charge 80 yuan a bottle.

Wow!

In 2002, the average person in Jinling City made around 800 yuan a month.

An average person’s monthly salary could only afford ten bottles of water—where was the logic in that?

It wasn’t even a famous wine, just fizzy water!

Moreover... it actually didn’t taste good.

The bottle wasn’t big, and the glass was thick, running out after just a few sips.

More importantly... facing the three girls before her, Xiao Yu actually felt somewhat apprehensive.

After all, they weren’t familiar.

After a moment of silence in the room, Niveer spoke first.

"May I ask if you’re looking for me for something?" Niveer’s words carried a hint of probing. "Is... Mr. Zhu Dazhi in need of our help?"

Xiao Yu frowned slightly. "I came to find you; Zhu Dazhi doesn’t know."

The three girls exchanged glances.

"It’s not that I need your help with anything, don’t get me wrong," Xiao Yu quickly added.

After a pause, Xiao Yu took a deep breath and said with a wry smile, "Speaking of which, it’s really a bit awkward... you asked me to come find you."

"???"

"???"

"???"

Looking at the three girls with question marks written all over their faces, Xiao Yu shook her head. "I don’t know how to explain, but I’ll just say it as you told me to."

Li Yingwan wanted to ask something, but Niveer pulled her back, then turned to Xiao Yu. "Please go ahead!"

"Last night, before we left that space, the three of you called me out and spoke to me. Then you entrusted me with a task."

Xiao Yu carefully chose her words, pointing to Niveer. "It was mainly you; you were the one who spoke to me. You said that once we were out of danger, it was very likely that all three of you would forget this memory. Then you asked me to find you to tell you something. But you also said that after coming out, because you would lose your memories, you wouldn’t remember asking me for help. So, the situation would definitely be quite awkward, and you would surely doubt the truth of what I’m saying. Therefore, I first had to gain your trust."

"Gain our trust? How?" Xicheng Xun asked calmly.

Xiao Yu’s face turned a bit red. "Then I’ll really say it, okay? You better not mind! And seriously, these are all things you told me..."

The expressions of the three girls changed slightly, as they all felt a sense of foreboding.

"Miss Niveer, when you were very young and read some romance novels, you were very curious about what love was, not knowing what it meant for a man and woman to kiss intimately... So, when you were a child, you liked to hide in your room and kiss yourself in the mirror..."

"..." Niveer’s face instantly turned ashen!

Next to her, Li Yingwan’s expression suddenly stiffened, then she burst into loud laughter. "Hahahahahahahaha..."

Li Malang pointed at Niveer, laughing so hard she was bent double. "Kissing yourself in the mirror? Hahahaha, did you use your tongue to lick the mirror? Hahahahahaha... So you’ve done such silly things too... Hahahaha..."

Nearby, Xicheng Xun watched Li Yingwan mock Niveer without saying a word, then coldly asked, "Why did you say ’too’?"

"...Ugh!" Li Yingwan’s face instantly changed, and she covered her mouth with both hands.

Niveer’s eyes were murderous. She glared fiercely at Li Yingwan for a moment, then ground her teeth and asked Xiao Yu, "Is there more?"

Xiao Yu swallowed then looked towards Li Yingwan. "You told me... when you were a child, you didn’t understand what it meant for a man and woman to get married, or where a husband came from... So you asked your mom. Your mom told you that if you buy a puppy and raise it until it’s eighteen, the dog will turn into a man and then become your husband. So your family got a puppy, and until you were six, you called that dog ’husband’."

Li Yingwan was dumbfounded!!!!!

"F*ck! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!" Now it was Niveer’s turn to laugh so hard she was in tears. "Raising a puppy that grows up to become your hubby? Hahahahahaha! Li Yingwan! You actually called your family’s pet dog ’husband’ for several years?!!! Hahahahahahahaha..."

Li Yingwan gritted her teeth. "Shut up!" Then she turned her head to glower at Xiao Yu. "You! You..."

"It’s what you told me!" Xiao Yu quickly gestured with her hands.

Then, Xiao Yu turned her glance towards Xicheng Xun.

Xicheng Xun suddenly panicked! Her complexion changed, and she quickly blurted out, "Enough! Stop talking! My things don’t need to be said!"

"No! You must say it!" Niveer reacted.

"Right! Tell us!" Li Yingwan lunged forward, hugged Xicheng Xun tightly to restrain her, and turned her head to Xiao Yu. "Go on, tell us! If we’re going down, we’re going down together!!!"

Xiao Yu took a deep breath. "She... when she was at school, she didn’t like going to public showers and changing rooms for girls. Even if she joined the school’s volleyball team or anything like that, she would never bathe at school. Because..."

"Stop talking!" Xicheng Xun’s face turned frantic. "No! Damn it! Mmmph mmmph..."

Her mouth was covered by Li Yingwan, and Niveer also came over to help hold her down, saying to Xiao Yu, "Hurry up and tell us!"

"Because she has no hair in a certain place. So she felt very embarrassed. She also secretly inquired if there was any way to stimulate hair growth. She even applied ginger to that area..."

"AH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Xicheng Xun screamed and freed herself from the two girls holding her down. Then she immediately jumped up and dashed into her room.

Li Yingwan and Niveer were stunned for a moment. Then, their faces lit up with excited curiosity, and they both turned to look at Xicheng Xun, who had run into the room.

"I don’t believe it!"

"Right! I don’t believe it either, unless you let me check!!"

"..." Xicheng Xun’s eye twitched. "Assholes! One licking herself in the mirror! The other one calling out ’husband’ to a dog for years! What right do you have to laugh at me! Assholes!!"

BANG!

Xicheng Xun slammed the bedroom door shut.

Watching Li Yingwan and Niveer laughing uncontrollably, looking at the tightly shut bedroom door...

Xiao Yu couldn’t help but sigh.

Alright...actually... These three girls are so harsh on themselves...

"Um..." Xiao Yu picked up her water, took a sip to calm her nerves, and then asked, "Should I continue?"

"Our things don’t need to be said; we all trust you!" Li Yingwan quickly said.

If they let Xiao Yu continue, who knows what else she might reveal.

"No, no, no, about your own matters, each of you only told me one thing; I don’t know anything beyond that." Xiao Yu shook her hands repeatedly. "Since you all believe me, can I then tell you the messages you entrusted me to pass on to you?"

"Hmm?" Niveer asked curiously. "The messages we entrusted you to tell us?"

Xiao Yu nodded. "Yes. You said that you would lose your memories after coming out, so you had some messages for me to tell you afterwards."

Niveer and Li Yingwan looked at each other and simultaneously sat back down. "Then go ahead and tell us."

"Uh... should we call her out?" Xiao Yu asked with a wry smile, eyeing the firmly shut bedroom door.

"It’s okay. Knowing her, she’s definitely eavesdropping with her ear against the door right now! Plus, her hearing is very sharp; she can hear everything clearly even through the door," Li Yingwan said, waving her hand. "Just go ahead and speak."

Xiao Yu nodded. "Alright. Actually, this also involves Chen Nuo."

WHOOSH!

The bedroom door was abruptly flung open!

Indeed, Xiao Yu’s last sentence was more effective than anything. Hearing it involved Chen Nuo, Xicheng Xun could no longer be bothered with her embarrassment and directly opened the door.

"What exactly is it that’s related to Chen Nuo?" Xicheng Xun asked through clenched teeth, standing in the doorway.

Xiao Yu nodded, slowly glanced around at the three girls, and took a deep breath.

"You entrusted me to find you after I came out and tell you a message. That message is..." Xiao Yu said this, then slowly added with a bitter smile, "Give up! Whatever you are hoping for in your hearts, just give up. The best thing to do is to simply treat Chen Nuo as the closest companion and family member in this world. Otherwise, there will be no happy ending, and it will cause pain for everyone... Here, ’everyone’ means not only will you suffer, but Chen Nuo will also be put in a very difficult position."

After these words were said, the room suddenly fell into silence.

For a full half-minute, silence filled the room, during which Xiao Yu stealthily observed the three girls, holding her breath.

Xicheng Xun, standing at the bedroom door, was the first to speak.

Her expression was calm, her tone cool. "So... the message we had you relay to ourselves is... give up..."

"...Yes," Xiao Yu nodded earnestly.

「Night fell.」

Chen Nuo’s behavior throughout the day seemed just as normal as ever.

In the afternoon, Little Candy brought Lu Xixi home. Chen Nuo then went out to buy groceries with the baby and returned to cook dinner.

By evening, Ou Xiuhua had picked up Xiao Yezi from school. When they got home, the whole family ate dinner in a harmonious atmosphere.

After dinner, Ou Xiuhua cleared the table and washed the dishes. Chen Nuo helped Xiao Yezi with her homework, and then they watched some TV together.

At eight o’clock, Ou Xiuhua took Xiao Yezi and Little Candy next door to sleep.

But there was one difference tonight.

"Let the baby sleep here tonight," Chen Nuo requested.

Faced with Chen Nuo’s request, Ou Xiuhua was momentarily stunned.

To give her son and Lu Xixi some private space, the baby had been sleeping with Ou Xiuhua for the past few days.

However... Ou Xiuhua didn’t ask any more questions.

After all, it was normal for parents to want to have their child sleep with them; perhaps it was out of parental affection, Ou Xiuhua thought.

After seeing off his mother, his sister, and Yu Naitang, Chen Nuo closed the door. He turned and went back to the living room, where he saw Lu Xixi sitting quietly, gazing at their daughter in the cradle.

He glanced at the time; there was still a while before Lu Xixi usually woke up each evening.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, then went to the kitchen to wash some fruit and cut it up. After thinking a bit more, he opened a bottle of red wine he had bought from the store on the way back from grocery shopping earlier that day and let it breathe.

Finally, he fed the baby, changed her diaper, and even held and played with her for a while.

Lu Xixi, sitting beside him, just watched quietly the entire time, without any reaction.

Later that evening, Chen Nuo put their child back into the cradle and pushed it into their room. He then carefully set up two spiritual power barriers around it before returning to the living room.

Lu Xixi was sitting there, seemingly in a daze, gazing at the night sky through the window.

Chen Nuo sighed inwardly. He slowly walked over and, without speaking, quietly sat beside Lu Xixi, joining her in looking out the window.

In the stillness of the night, Lu Xixi, who had been motionless, finally stirred. Her eyes, which had been fixed on the view outside the window, flickered.

"Awake?" Chen Nuo turned his head, looked at Lu Xixi, and smiled gently.

"Mhm." Lu Xixi let out a long breath. She then turned, suddenly opened her arms, and gently hugged Chen Nuo.

Her soft embrace enveloped him.

"What’s wrong?" Chen Nuo asked, smiling calmly.

Lu Xixi quietly looked into Chen Nuo’s eyes, then shook her head and whispered, "There’s something on your mind."

"Hmm?" Chen Nuo responded.

"Throughout today, you seemed very normal. Your mother didn’t notice, and Little Candy didn’t notice either. But I noticed. It’s just that during the daytime, my consciousness is withdrawn. I can understand things, but I can’t speak."

"I thought... I acted quite normally," Chen Nuo said with a wry smile.

Lu Xixi frowned, thought carefully, and still shook her head. "It’s precisely because you were *too* normal."

"...And?" Chen Nuo prompted.

"Also, the cat from our home is missing," Lu Xixi said softly. "So, did something happen?"

Chen Nuo smiled, reached out, and touched Lu Xixi’s cheek. Then, he used his fingers to sweep a seaweed-like strand of her messy hair from her forehead behind her ear.

Lu Xixi’s heart stirred... She felt that the way Chen Nuo was looking at her right then was with unprecedented tenderness.

"There are some things I want to tell you—I’ve always wanted to tell you, and I’ve never told anyone else. But today, I think it’s time to tell you everything."

Lu Xixi didn’t seem surprised. She just softly "Mhm’d" and leaned gently against Chen Nuo. "If you want to talk, I’ll listen. Whatever you want to tell me, I’m willing to listen."

Chen Nuo took a deep breath, then after a moment of contemplation, finally began to speak.

"It’s mid-October 2002 now.

I can tell you that on the twenty-fifth of this month, a world-shocking terrorist hostage incident will occur in the Bear Country.

Then, in December, the new President of South Korea will be Roh Moohyun.

And at the end of December, Huaxia will launch the Shenzhou IV spacecraft into space."

Lu Xixi’s expression gradually turned to one of surprise. "Wait, wait a minute! What you’re talking about is... Hold on, it’s mid-October right now. Today is..."

"Today is October 19th," Chen Nuo stated.

"But the things you mentioned are all..."

"All events that will happen in the future," Chen Nuo said, smiling calmly. "Not just this year, but in the days to come, all the way up to twenty years from now, I know what will happen. If no one does anything to alter the course of history, I could be the most impressive prophet in the world for the next twenty years."

Lu Xixi’s eyes widened.