The cold water splashed against her face, helping her come back to her senses.
Xia Rou wiped her face and raised herself to look at her reflection in the mirror.
A girl in her youth, with skin smooth like a peeled egg, so flawless.
Don't think anymore, Xia Rou.
Just take the past as a dream. A stumbling dream full of mistakes.
You dreamed it, but now you've woken up. You should understand that what's in front of you is reality now, and think of how to proceed to your next step.
Don't ever fall again. Translated by The Novelst
Don't ever disappoint those people who care about you again.
……
He Lili didn't say goodbye to Xia Rou and left for Fen City.
Lady Fang and Xia Rou had also gone back to their previous relationship where they were both polite to each other. The close atmosphere between the two in the early days couldn't be recovered.
Because Xia Rou used cold water that day, her stomach started to act up in pain on the second day. She laid in bed the entire day.
It was the housecleaner, Sister Yu, who noticed. She asked Xia Rou how she was, and went into the kitchen and told Old Zheng about it. Old Zheng cooked a bowl of hot soup for Xia Rou and passed it to Xiao Yang.
Cao Yang didn't see Xia Rou at dinner, so he asked about her. Only then did he find out what happened from Xiao Yang.
He even specially came to her room to visit her.
"I'm fine," she said weakly. "Sometimes my stomach hurts when I touch cold water. It's normal."
"You know you'll be in pain but you still touch cold water." Cao Yang said with a stiff face.
Most women Cao Yang met were usually slim but healthy. He hadn't met a girl that was as weak as Xia Rou. The little girl's face was pale and she seemed so in pain that her lips were white. She was already so skinny, but looking at her curled up in bed, it made him even more worried.
But it was a womanly ailment, he couldn't help at all.
Cao Yang had a sharp eye. With just a look he knew there was a change in the atmosphere between Lady Fang and Xia Rou. Then he remembered He Lili, and it wasn't hard for him to guess what happened.
He skipped Lady Fang and found Sister Yu instead to ask her to take care of Xia Rou.
Since it was a special request from Cao Yang, of course Xia Rou was very well taken care of. Although it was so painful she almost fainted and revived, she recovered immediately after her period ended.
The weather was so hot she couldn't stand it when she went for her morning run, so Xia Rou changed to swim at the underground pool.
When Cao Yang went underground, he saw Xia Rou happily cruising in the water. Snowy white skin, straight slim legs; she seemed like a little mermaid under the blue-tinted water of the pool.
Noticing Cao Yang's arrival, she immediately swam to the side, took off her goggles and wiped her face. She raised her head and addressed: "Brother Cao Yang."
Cao Yang squatted down: "Your swimming isn't bad. Who did you learn from?"
You.
Xia Rou smiled: "There's a swimming class at school."
"You, little mermaid!" Someone got off of the elevator.
"Brother Cao Bin, you've returned? What about Brother Cao Xing?"
"He had dinner plans today, probably won't be back until tomorrow." Cao Bin said, grinning. "How is it, are you still getting used to it around here?"
Xia Rou spoke a few more words with him and went back to swimming.
After a lap or two, she saw Cao Yang and Cao Bin both sitting on the wicker chairs beside the pool. She realized they might have something important to discuss, so she got out of the pool, greeted them, and left first.
Before the elevator doors closed up, she looked at the pair beside the pool.
Both the brothers were wearing straight-leg suits, revealing their long legs. Their abdominal muscles and the muscles in their shoulders and arms looked beautiful. The brothers resembled each other, both were handsome. Cao Yang was more masculine, while Cao Bin exuded a sense of maturity.
Each had his own forte.
She recalled Cao Xing and Cao An again.
The four brothers of the Cao Family, also popularly known as the four golden bachelors. Even the ladies from wealthy families would go after them like a flock of ducks.
All four were smart in nature. They also had a better background when compared to most. They were fated to be that stand-out phoenix out of many.
They weren't people that could be desired by girls like He Lili or herself.
Xia Rou thought she actually did have something in which she was stronger than He Lili. She at least knew the difference in distance between herself and the four brothers.
That was why in the past, although she might have thought she could even have caught the moon, she never even thought of having one of the four brothers.
Cao Bin looked at her as she boarded the elevator.
"She's quite tactful. She could read the atmosphere." He turned his head to speak with Cao Yang. "How is she? Is she troublesome?"
Cao Yang responded: "Very obedient. She's a good child."
Cao Bin added: "Just afraid that she might turn into someone like He Lili someday. That would be troublesome."
"She won't." Cao Yang lit a cigarette. "He Lili doesn't have anyone to teach her, but there's still me for Xiao Rou."
Cao Bin made a "ho!" sound. "How long have I been away? She's already to your liking?"
"Get lost," said Cao Yang. "If she's taught properly, she's definitely a good girl."
Then he paused, adding: "Father likes her a lot. When she's around, he eats more than usual."
Both brothers remained silent for a while.
"Fine," Cao Bin said. "Just for this one reason she's worthy to raise, then."
He didn't continue asking on how the Cao Family should raise her.
Although he was still someone who could make decisions outside, in this house there was still Cao Yang above him, and above Cao Yang was still Cao Xiong.
So it didn't really fall in his hands.
Cao Yang didn't like to hear Cao Bin talk about Xia Rou like that, like she was just a car or a dog.
But he didn't say anything. Translated by The Novelst
Proofread by: Hannah