“Pei Xiuyuan, are you messing with me?” Lu Man ignored his plea. At first, he did not mention that Wang Yunxi was his younger sister. Now, he did not even mention that he had a grown-up child!
Was he serious in this marriage?
“Manman, why do you have this kind of thought?” Pei Xiuyuan was slightly stunned.
“Why can’t I think like that? You didn’t tell me that Wang Yunxi is your younger sister because you said that you wanted to build a deeper relationship with me first. That was logical. But, now you didn’t even mention that you have a son!” She was stunned truly.
“Do you still remember me telling you about my family members? I told you that I’ll introduce them to you one day. I just did not manage to do that first.” Pei Xiuyuan did not want to lie to her. He just wanted to introduce them to her then.
In fact, he had planned to tell her the truth before his grandmother returned from Canada. But, he had never expected that his grandmother would come back so soon. Then, Xiao Chen suddenly appeared in front of them. He was unprepared for all of those sudden incidents.
Lu Man thought for a long time. It seemed to make sense. But…
“Why didn’t you tell me that you have a son even though I did not ask you?” He had a son and it was a huge thing. Why did he not mention it earlier?
“I didn’t consider everything properly. I’m sorry.”
Pei Xiuyuan’s apology forced Lu Man to swallow all of the things that she wanted to say. He had apologized for his mistake. What else did she want?
She was still sad. Somehow, she felt that she was wronged.
She felt that she could never beat him in an argument. He always had his own logical explanation even when he hid something from her.
She felt that she needed to thank him for what he had done even though she was the one who was wronged in the first place.
“I still have some accounts to tend to. You go ahead and rest first.” She was annoyed with him and she did not want to face him for now.
“Let me stay with you.”
“You don’t have to!”
“Manman, are you angry at me?”
Lu Man’s lips twitched. He always acted like that! He always asked her something directly when he knew very well that she was angry!
“I’m sorry, Manman.” He held her hand with his slender fingers. He looked at her seriously and uttered his apology with extreme solemnity.
Lu Man could not stay angry at him when she saw how sincere he was.
“Don’t you hide anything from me anymore! You need to tell me everything as long as it’s related to me even if I don’t ask you about it!” Fine, she could forgive him for whatever had happened in the past. But, she would never forgive him if he still acted like that in the future!
Although he sounded logical, he still hid the truth from her. It was an indisputable fact.
“Fine.” He readily promised.
Lu Man was quiet for a moment. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Who is Xiao Chen’s biological mother?”
For a long time, she did not get any response from him. She thought that he was not going to answer that. She planned to stop him from forcing himself when he replied with a deep voice, “Xiao Chen’s mother is not around anymore.”
“Not around?”
“Yes, she passed away after he was born.”
“Uhm… I’m sorry…” Lu Man did not know what to do now. She should never have asked him that question. It reminded him of his painful past.
He smirked. “It’s fine. It was a long time ago.”
Although he was smiling, Lu Man felt that his smile was filled with a sense of deep pain. It might be something that was really sad to him. Was Xiao Chen’s mother the woman whom he had loved deeply before?
“Let’s hit the sack now.” Lu Man felt rather awkward. She did not know how to console him.
“Okay.”
Pei Xiuyuan was already in bed when Lu Man was done showering. She pulled back the blanket and crawled into bed. Then, she lay down on the bed.
“Sleep tight.” Pei Xiuyuan switched off the light and slept with his back toward her.
Lu Man looked at his back. She felt that he was just like a mountain now. She felt suffocated.
After their marriage, he had never let go of any chance of being close to her when she moved into their home. He would always sleep with his arms around her. This was the first time he slept with his back toward her. She would surely be delighted if it had happened in the past. He was not clinging onto her and it was what she always wanted. But, now…
It happened after she had asked that horrible question.
How he behaved showed that he was feeling the great pain he had in the past. He was having a hard time.
Pei Xiuyuan had treated her nicely. He was even better than Mu Yunhai at that. He was the only person who treated her nicely other than her mother in this whole wide world.
She was the kind of person who would treat others nicely if they treated her nicely. She would repay their kindness with more than what she had received from them.
Now, he was feeling sad and anguished. How could she go to sleep?
But, she did not know how to console him.
Although they had been a married couple for almost two months now, they had done whatever a married couple would do together, still…
He was a stranger to her.
She only found out what his favorite food was from looking at what kind of food he left behind on his plate. She knew nothing about him other than that.
She knew nothing about him because she did not want to. It was not because he had prohibited her from doing so. She was serious toward their marriage but it was only that. She wanted to remain as a wife and she did not want to know more about him. She hoped that they could be the kind of couple who respected each other sincerely.
But, he was like that now because of her.
She was his wife and it was her responsibility to care for him.
She was hesitant for a long while. Then, she turned her body slowly and stretched her hands out. She slowly hugged him from the back. She hoped that she could give him some warmth.
He smirked when he felt her soft hands. But, he did not move at all.
“Just go to sleep.”
His deep voice sounded rather hoarse that day.
Lu Man felt that he was indeed grieving and she became very guilty for what she had done. She hugged him tighter. “I cannot sleep…”
“Count the sheep.”
Lu Man was speechless.
Suddenly, she did not know what else to do.
But, she felt that it was not a nice thing to do if she stopped hugging him and ignored him.
There was only one way left.
***
After that, he still slept with his back toward her. He did not show any response.
She gritted her teeth.
She needed to continue whatever she was doing.
Finally, he showed some response.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
If he showed no response, she did not know what else to do!
“Xiuyuan, I can’t sleep…” Lu Man blushed deeply after expressing her desire directly.
It was her own fault indeed! Why did she go and ask him that question all of a sudden?
“Call me darling…” His deep voice was subdued.
They had been married for some time now but she had never addressed him with any endearment.
Lu Man was speechless. It was too intimate for her even when she addressed him as Xiuyuan. She did not even call him by his name when she did not have to. Now, he was asking her to call him her ‘darling’.
It was very difficult for her.
She did not do as he wished and he soon became cold again. He did not show any response now.
The person in her arms became cold all of a sudden just like an ice mountain that had been asleep for a long time. She became anxious.