For the reunion dinner, Xia Xingchen picked up Xia Dabai and went together.
When she was pregnant and gave birth, the old lady was not satisfied with Xia Xingchen in many ways, but she still liked Xia Dabai. After all, the child was cute, and he was the blood of their Xia family. During the meal, the old lady picked up many dishes for Xia Dabai, who buried his head and ate with relish.
"Come on, I have survived a disaster this time, let's have a drink together as a family." Xia Guopeng raised his glass, very happy.
Xia Xingkong hurriedly poured a glass for Xu Yan who was sitting next to him. The family members all raised their glasses. Xia Dabai also slid down from the chair and held up the small teacup to clink with the adults, but his arms and legs were too short to touch it no matter how he jumped. Xu Yan smiled and leaned over to clink his glasses with him. Xia Dabai grinned, "Thank you, uncle."
The word "little uncle" made Xu Yan pause his smile. Xia Xingkong seemed very happy, his eyes and eyebrows flying, "My little nephew has a very sweet mouth."
Xu Yan didn't say anything, but glanced at Xia Xingchen quietly, with a complicated expression. Xia Xingchen pretended not to notice, and raised his head to drink the wine in the glass clean.
Xia Guopeng was in a good mood today and drank a lot of wine. Li Ling was afraid that he couldn't handle it, so she advised him to drink less, but he didn't listen. Xia Xingchen had a very low alcohol tolerance, but he also drank a lot with Xia Guopeng today. Soon his face was red and he was a little tipsy. As for Xu Yan, he seemed to be worried. He sat at the table all night without saying much, but he drank a lot of wine.
"Okay, you three, what's wrong with you today? I've given you a pound of wine." The old lady took the cup from Xia Guopeng's hand, "You just recovered from your illness, you are not allowed to drink anymore."
"Yes, my dad and brother Xu Yan won't allow us to drink." Xia Xingkong said coquettishly and took the wine glass from Xu Yan's hand.
Xia Dabai looked at the red-faced woman beside him with concern, sighed, and imitated the adults to move the wine glass in front of her away, coaxing her softly: "Dabao, everyone else is not drinking, so you are not allowed to drink either. Be good and listen."
"Just let your mother drink." Xia Xingkong chuckled, his tone as gentle as possible, "They say drinking wine can help you drown your sorrows. Your mother has been sad recently, so it's only right for her to drink some wine to ease her sorrow."
"Relieve sorrow?" Before Xia Xingchen could speak, Xu Yan took over. His eyes were a little dazed and confused, staring at the transparent liquid in the cup, and then raised his head and drank it in one gulp, "How can wine relieve sorrow?" If wine could relieve sorrow, he wouldn't have been unable to sleep all night.
Xia Xingchen was groggy and didn't quite understand what Xu Yan was saying. She just picked up some food for Xia Dabai with chopsticks and smiled softly, "Mom won't drink anymore, you eat more..."
As he spoke, he was obviously drunk.
"Stupid Dabao, you insist on drinking even though you can't. I really can't do anything about you." Xia Dabai felt helpless and distressed.
Xu Yan's eyes fell on Xia Xingchen, and he couldn't move them away for a long time. She looked very cute when she was drunk. He thought of the scene when they were together when they were the most innocent and ignorant. When he first saw her under the pear tree, she was also so pure and innocent, as if she was not stained by dust.
Perhaps he was bolder after drinking, as he looked at Xia Xingchen without any hesitation. Not only did the other parents nearby notice something was wrong, but even the little brat Xia Dabai found it strange.
"Uncle, why are you always staring at our Dabao?" Xia Dabai asked innocently with his eyes wide open.
Xia Xingchen raised his head dazedly and blinked at Xia Dabai, "What?"
Xia Dabai touched her face with his little hand and said, "It's none of your business. Eat something quickly, or you'll have a stomachache."
"Okay, Mom will listen to you." Xia Xingchen smiled, her smile was bright and moving.
Before Xu Yan could pull his eyes away, Xia Xingkong's face was already quite ugly. He tightened the chopsticks in his hand and hesitated to attack. Li Lingyi was unhappy. She put down the bowl and chopsticks, "Xu Yan, don't blame auntie for speaking directly. Since you are here today, I have to ask you, you and our Xingkong have been engaged for so long, why is there no follow-up?"
Xia Xingkong bit his lip and put down his chopsticks.
Li Lingyi continued, "There has been no movement from your parents. Is it because your family is dissatisfied with our family? If it is because of Uncle Xia's illness, then now that he has recovered completely, I think it is time to put your marriage on the agenda. Mom, what do you think?"
The old lady glanced at Xu Yan with a sharp gaze, then looked at the faces of the sisters Xia Xingchen and Xia Xingkong, and then nodded solemnly, "It's time to put the marriage on the agenda. Since you are engaged, Xingkong is a member of your family. You are both of marriageable age, so get your mind together. I will choose a date and discuss it with your parents to get married."
Xia Xingkong was delighted and said quickly, "Thank you, grandma. I knew you loved me the most."
She turned around again and took Xu Yan's arm, "Brother Xu Yan, go back tonight and talk to your uncle and aunt about our marriage, okay?"
Xu Yan was stunned for a moment, but in the end, he pulled Xia Xingkong's hand away from his arm. Xia Xingkong's face darkened, and Xu Yan said, "I'm sorry, Grandma, Uncle Xia, in fact, the reason I came here tonight is to say sorry to you solemnly."
At this moment, even Xia Guopeng's expression changed.
Xu Yan glanced at Xia Xingchen before saying, "I'm sorry... I can't marry Xingkong."
When Xia Xingkong heard this, a tear fell from her eye socket. Her fingers were almost broken from the hand clasped on the table. In fact, Xu Yan had been rejecting her recently. But she didn't give up, just wanted to get back together with him. She was happy that he agreed to come to the reunion dinner today, thinking that there was still room for maneuver between them.
did not expect…
She glared at Xia Xingchen hatefully, feeling even more resentful in her heart.
As soon as Xu Yan said this, everyone was stunned. Xia Dabai was chewing a chicken leg, and it fell from his hand into the bowl. Xia Xingchen was in a daze, but when he heard Xu Yan's words, he was awakened a little.
"I know that this is wrong, and I really deserve to die. But... I don't love Xingkong. If I really marry her like this, I will be irresponsible to her."
"But we're already engaged! If you don't love me but Xia Xingchen, why did you get engaged to me? Do you think you're responsible to me?" Xia Xingkong screamed, and her face was almost distorted when she mentioned Xia Xingchen.
"You said, he loves Xia Xingchen?!" Li Lingyi was also very angry. She stood up suddenly and pointed the finger at Xia Xingchen.