Liu Anran’s meaning was clear: he wanted the Old Man to do as they had discussed earlier in the Hospital Room, and take out the Senior Phone he had long stopped using to give to Liu Xie.
So how did our Old Dean respond?
He looked at Liu Anran, saw the other’s gaze signaling him, and furrowed his brow tightly.
He had forgotten.
This was actually a very normal thing.
Rather, someone like Liu Anran who made plans should never have entrusted the execution of those plans to a forgetful old man.
Of course, if there had been anyone else available, Liu Anran would not have resorted to this.
“Granddaughter-in-law, why was Anran blinking so much before he left just now?”
The Old Dean turned and explained the situation to Liu Xie, while also offering considerable concern.
Liu Xie tilted her head and thought for a moment. “Maybe he got struck by karma and grew a Stye.”
Her words were not without basis.
In The Nest where she and Liu Anran lived together, there was that particularly unbearable bathroom.
That bathroom was the thing Liu Xie found most absurd, especially that one-way visibility bathroom door.
Strangely enough, she had not felt that way before.
But after confirming her relationship with Liu Anran, through that bathroom door, she always felt that Liu Anran would be peeking from outside.
But that claim seemed a bit unfounded.
Yet it was a strange feeling.
Every time she came out of the bathroom steamy and flushed, she felt like a rosy Peach of Immortality, coveted by countless gazes.
Of course, only Liu Anran was in the house, and Liu Anran was usually there handling company affairs, either on the Phone, or sitting before his laptop, clacking away at the keyboard.
But she just felt that Liu Anran had peeked.
Otherwise, how could her body, enough to make anyone’s blood boil, elicit not the slightest interest from Liu Anran when she was right in front of him?
It was not as if Liu Anran had problems in that department. She had verified that long ago.
So she had reached her conclusion.
This guy liked to do things secretly, liked that thrill.
It had to be that.
As for evidence for this claim? Was the fact that she still had not discovered anything amiss not evidence enough?
He had hidden it far too deeply.
So one day, after coming out of the bathroom again, she said to Liu Anran, “If you dare peek at me while I’m showering, I’ll gouge your eyeballs out.”
Then, perhaps feeling it was a bit bloody and cruel.
They still had a life to live together, so she could not gouge his eyeballs out.
“Then if you dare peek, you’ll get a Stye.”
Those were the final words Liu Xie left him with, settling Liu Anran’s fate.
But she had not expected Liu Anran to actually get a Stye.
Had she known, she would have chosen something else.
Now she actually felt a bit sorry for him.
She sighed quietly to herself, but the Old Dean beside her caught it precisely.
“What’s wrong? Granddaughter-in-law?” The Old Dean took a sip of tea. “Did Anran upset you?”
“Huh? No, no.” Liu Xie quickly waved her hand.
Then she paused, and spoke again. “Rather, I’m afraid I might upset him.”
An inexplicable touch of dejection, like a little sun obscured by dark clouds.
“Why would you think that?” The Old Man poured some tea onto the Tea Pet beside him.
“Uh, a feeling?”
“Then that feeling is wrong.” The Old Man chuckled.
“That boy Anran, ever since he was little, never really knew how to consider others’ feelings. If love is a journey appreciating beautiful scenery along the way, that brat thought from the very start that the beautiful scenery was at the destination.”
“He doesn’t know how to take care of people. He only knows to rip out his entire heart and offer it to the other person. I believe he’s doing the same for you.”
Liu Xie listened, and was stunned for a moment.
She did not know what Liu Anran was like, but not knowing how to consider others’ feelings and always wanting to give everything to her were true.
She still remembered the last time, when Liu Anran, to ensure the plan went smoothly, chose to keep her in the dark from the start.
That was completely failing to consider her feelings.
He probably discovered later that she was shedding little pearls and could not bear it anymore, so he had to come clean.
As for always wanting to give everything to her, that was something he said almost constantly.
“Anran, actually, rather than receiving, he prefers giving. So you might not see his other side. He likes to take the lead in everything, ever since he was little. As long as you’re still in his life’s trajectory, he’s already happy enough.”
Liu Xie fell slightly silent.
Then, she raised her head.
“Liking to give doesn’t mean he can’t receive. He likes to give, so I like to give too.”
Liu Xie’s desire to help Liu Anran with things did not fade with the Old Dean’s words, nor did she become complacent. Instead, she became even more resolute.
And the Old Dean? Those kind eyes of his gleamed.
“A girl like you, even in my era, was rare. This old man met one once too, but unfortunately couldn’t hold onto her. Now it seems Anran is far more capable than this old man.”
He chuckled, patting his white-haired, yet still fairly thick, head. “Old, I’m old.”
Then suddenly the freshly poured tea burned his mouth.
Liu Xie really wanted to say the Dean was not old at all. He had just been burned into a grandson.
But that seemed a bit inappropriate.
Just then, Liu Anran, who had gone out earlier, pushed open the door and looked at the two who had not moved from their spots the entire time.
He sighed.
Then, he walked to Liu Xie’s side, took her hand, and headed toward the Old Man’s room.
Liu Xie stumbled two steps at first, then followed along. She gazed at Liu Anran’s back, unable to figure out what nonsense Liu Anran was up to now.
This guy, after getting a Stye, was not going to hold a grudge against her and try to fight poison with poison, was he?
Liu Xie was afraid.
“Wait, calm down first. Anyway, I’m actually very sad about this too, but I think you should consider whether you have a problem too. After all, you know, it takes two to tango—”
Liu Xie chattered on, causing Liu Anran to furrow his brow and turn his head back involuntarily.
He said nothing, merely took out a Senior Phone.
Liu Xie glanced at it. “Is your hypnosis software on the Senior Phone?”
“This has contact information for some of the parents who adopted children.” Liu Anran said, holding the Senior Phone out in front of Liu Xie.
Liu Xie was stunned.
She looked at Liu Anran, then at the ancient Senior Phone.
“Alright, hand it over.” Liu Xie snatched it directly.
Liu Anran looked at Liu Xie.
He had figured it out.
Perhaps, just like caring for the Dean, getting along with Liu Xie also required yielding to the other’s initiative at times.
Otherwise, all-encompassing doting was also a form of disrespect.