They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Separate Rooms

The group was led to a private room by the waiter.

“My surname is Cui, and my name is You. May I ask how I should address all of you?” Cui You picked up a new pot of wine and poured a cup for everyone in turn.

Yun Qingwu subtly observed Cui You, introduced everyone, including himself, one by one, and then asked: “I noticed Brother Cui seemed a bit troubled just now. Did something happen?”

Cui You sighed lightly, picked up his wine cup, and drank it in one go: “It’s a long story.”

Seeing Cui You’s demeanor, Liu Yu made a guess based on his own experience: “Troubled by love?”

Cui You nodded: “It seems you and I are indeed fated.”

Cui You returned to his seat, put down his wine cup, picked up his chopsticks, and reached for the pea pastry, which was two dishes away. But before his chopsticks could land, Leng Lici preemptively moved the entire bowl of pea pastry, placed it in front of Xiao Dao, and used his chopsticks to offer her a piece, firmly discouraging her from using her hands.

Cui You was stunned but didn’t mind, turning instead to pick up a piece of fish.

Seeing this, Yun Qingwu felt helpless. He got up and ladled a bowl of chicken soup, placed it in front of Leng Lici, and, using the tabletop as a shield, squeezed the back of Leng Lici’s hand as a gesture of comfort.

Leng Lici, refusing to be placated, withdrew his hand, grabbed a piece of pea pastry for himself, and took a big, angry bite.

Yun Qingwu sat back down and looked at Cui You.

“Brother Cui, perhaps you could tell us the details? Maybe we can help you.”

Cui You stared at the distant pea pastry and sighed again: “My wife wants to divorce me.”

!

Liu Yu was shocked: “You have a wife?”

Yun Qingwu’s mind quickly turned. He confirmed: “Is your wife’s name Liu Qingyue?”

Cui You looked up, surprised: “Brother Yun knows my wife?”

Yun Qingwu looked at Leng Lici, meeting his gaze. Yun Qingwu’s lips curved slightly, and his eyes brightened for a moment: See? These experiences are not fabricated.

Leng Lici looked away, impatience in his eyes: So what.

Because of their subtle interaction, Cui You noticed that Leng Lici had been aloof from the conversation. He raised his wine cup: “Brother Leng, do these dishes suit your taste?”

Leng Lici glanced indifferently at Cui You, as if he hadn’t heard, and continued to drink his chicken soup.

Cui You, who was usually smooth in social situations, had never encountered such a cold reception and felt quite awkward for a moment.

Yun Qingwu poured a cup of wine and raised it toward Cui You, mediating: “Brother Cui, please don’t mind him. My brother doesn’t drink.”

Then he looked at Liu Yu: “As for your wife, Brother Liu was her neighbor, correct?”

Liu Yu was secretly wondering how they could have mistreated Leng Lici, their biological son, to the point of such resentment. Could it be because they found out about the brothers’ unethical relationship and were trying to separate them?

If so, they did absolutely nothing wrong.

Hearing Yun Qingwu’s words, he pulled back his thoughts. Although his background was only memory, these memories happened to be useful now.

Wait, wasn’t he running away from marriage? How did he end up married to Liu Qingyue? And he’s about to be abandoned?!

“Yes, I wonder if it’s convenient for us to meet your wife?”

He wanted to meet this fictional fiancée.

Cui You took a sip of wine without much enjoyment and continued to sigh: “Yue’er returned to her maiden home. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so worried. To be fair, I can’t blame her. Our marriage was merely a pretense, and I broke the agreement by falling in love with her.”

Yun Qingwu was thoughtful. This memory connected with Liu Yu’s story. If Su Xiaozhu and Liu Qingyue were the same person, why did Su Xiaozhu become Liu Qingyue?

These questions could only be answered by spending more time with Cui You.

With this in mind, he said: “Brother Cui, don’t worry. Matters of the heart are never settled until the very last moment.”

Cui You nodded: “I’ll take Brother Yun’s words as good luck.”

“By the way, it seems there aren’t many inns here in Yuelin City? We barely saw any on the way here,” Yun Qingwu mentioned opportunistically.

Leng Lici looked up at Yun Qingwu, frowning.

Yun Qingwu picked up his chopsticks, placed a piece of lotus root with sweet sticky rice into Leng Lici’s bowl, and brushed his fingers as he withdrew, using their telepathic link to explain: “The closer we are to him, the faster we will find a breakthrough.”

Leng Lici was silent for a moment, then said coldly: “I want more chicken soup.”

Yun Qingwu knew this meant consent. He immediately got up and ladled another bowl of chicken soup.

Liu Yu looked at the two of them with a serious expression, then glanced at Cui You, who was curiously observing their interaction.

He’s going to make this man his ally!

Cui You, however, wasn’t thinking as much. He merely sighed: “You two brothers have a truly good relationship.”

He then picked up Yun Qingwu’s earlier topic: “The location here is remote, so most people are locals. If you don’t mind, you are welcome to stay at my house for a few days.”

“Of course we don’t mind. We appreciate the trouble, Brother Cui.” Yun Qingwu achieved his goal and felt much more at ease.

“No trouble at all. My house… it’s better when it’s lively,” Cui You also ladled himself a bowl of chicken soup.

…

Yun Qingwu somewhat understood the meaning of those words after arriving at the Cui family home.

As the major merchant family in the area, the Cui family owned a large mansion, but the household was sparsely populated. Only a few servants could be seen walking in the courtyard, making it seem especially empty.

“You brought people home again?! Did you tell them you have a runaway wife again?!”

As the group entered the door, an elderly man in simple clothes, with prayer beads around his hand, walked out and questioned Cui You.

Cui You didn’t mind. He walked up and took the old man’s arm: “Dad, these are friends I just met. They couldn’t find an inn and want to stay for a few days.”

Cui Ming scrutinized the group, his voice stern: “Hmph. Do you think the Cui family’s money grows on trees? It’s not enough for you to live here for free. You have to play the philanthropist and bring people home all the time, going crazy every day!”

Cui You looked slightly offended: “Dad, I’m not going crazy! Why can’t you remember Yue’er?”

Cui Ming impatiently shook off Cui You’s hand: “Mention Yue’er one more time, and you and your friends can roll out of my house!”

Hearing this, Yun Qingwu understood. This Liu Qingyue, like Liu Yu’s home, was nothing more than a shared dream.

Liu Yu also understood, feeling somewhat relieved in his heart. Fortunately, fate wasn’t so absurd.

Leng Lici watched the scene with cold eyes, still looking indifferent. On the contrary, Xiao Dao let go of Leng Lici’s robe and toddled toward the arguing father and son, saying haltingly: “No fighting!”

Cui Ming, who had been angry, immediately softened at the sight of Xiao Dao. His expression eased. He reached out to hug Xiao Dao, but Leng Lici, who had stepped forward, beat him to it.

Cui Ming regretfully withdrew his hand and walked toward the kitchen: “Alright, I’ll go prepare some food for you all.”

Cui You awkwardly poked his head with his fan handle: “My dad is a nice person, just a little temperamental. Please don’t take offense.”

He pointed to the veranda on the left: “This way, I’ll show you to the guest rooms.”

Upon reaching the guest rooms, Leng Lici, holding Xiao Dao, was about to follow Yun Qingwu into the room, but Liu Yu stopped him just as he stepped inside:

“You can share a room at the inn, but isn’t it too conspicuous to share a room at someone else’s house?”

Leng Lici frowned, staring at Liu Yu, his eyes dark: “Mind your own business?”

Liu Yu felt a little guilty under the stare, but he firmly stood his ground: “I’m your father… at least a part of him. Why can’t I mind your business?”

Leng Lici’s voice dropped another degree of coldness: “Are you looking to die?”

Cui You, seeing no one followed him to the second room, walked back, confused: “What’s going on all of a sudden?”

Yun Qingwu, who had already entered the room with Xiao Dao, also walked out. He moved to Leng Lici’s side, and using the cover of his robe, he squeezed Leng Lici’s hand and whispered: “Trust me.”

Leng Lici glared at Yun Qingwu, transferring some of his anger onto him, and said flatly: “I want to stay in this room.”

Cui You thought the dispute was over the room, so he mediated: “My house has plenty of rooms. Brother Leng, why don’t you look at another one?”

Yun Qingwu immediately said: “I won’t stay in this one. A’Ci can stay if he wants to.”

Cui You gave an “Oh,” and pointed to the room next door: “Then how about Brother Yun stays in this one?”

“I’ll take this room!”

Liu Yu quickly claimed it, then looked at Yun Qingwu: “Qingwu, you wouldn’t fight me for it, would you?”

Yun Qingwu looked at Liu Yu, unable to refuse. After a moment, he nodded and walked out of the room: “It’s fine, I’ll take the next room.”

As soon as he said this, the door that had been ajar immediately slammed shut with a bang.

Cui You looked at Yun Qingwu and Liu Yu. Liu Yu looked quite satisfied: “It’s fine. Don’t worry about him.”

Yun Qingwu felt a little apprehensive, but he actually had another plan. However, if he said it now, Leng Lici probably wouldn’t calm down. So he decided to wait until everyone was settled.

Leng Lici returned to the room, his face cold as he sat on the bed.

“Tsk tsk tsk. It seems in his heart, you are still not as important as his father—oh wait, your father,” the bone sword, which had been unable to speak for a long time, finally found an opportunity to watch the drama unfold.

Leng Lici sneered: “What does that have to do with you?”

“I’m just being sympathetic toward you. It’s the first time I’ve seen you care about someone so much.”

Leng Lici’s face darkened further, almost dripping black liquid. He drew the bone sword and began channeling his demon power.

The bone sword yelled: “I’m doing this for your own good! You’re repaying kindness with enmity and don’t know what’s good for you—Ah—!”

“Get lost,” Leng Lici immediately intensified the flow of power.

“Do you really want me to get lost?”

Yun Qingwu’s slightly wronged voice suddenly rang out. Leng Lici was momentarily stunned and quickly withdrew his demon power. He saw Yun Qingwu had suddenly appeared in the room.

Leng Lici looked away, saying stiffly: “Was I talking to you?”

“Then who were you talking to?” Yun Qingwu cautiously looked around, confirming no one else was in the room, and then slightly relaxed.

The bone sword said maliciously: “I was talking to myself, of course. You can’t hear me anyway.”

“To the sword.”

Yun Qingwu walked up and examined the bone sword: “Does this sword have a sword spirit?”

Leng Lici didn’t answer the question, his tone instead becoming sarcastic: “Why are you here? Don’t you need to listen to your Father God?”

Yun Qingwu leaned closer, forcing his face in front of Leng Lici’s, deliberately dropping the corner of his eye slightly: “My original plan was to come find you at night when they weren’t paying attention.”

Leng Lici snorted: “What? Are you ashamed to be seen during the day?”

“If we openly share a room during the day, it might cause controversy for this Number Two Father God. I don’t want any unnecessary complications,” Yun Qingwu admitted frankly.

The bone sword’s mocking words were still echoing in Leng Lici’s mind. He could believe that Yun Qingwu held a grudge against others in the Heavenly Realm, but Yun Chuan was different. He didn’t care about Yun Chuan, but Yun Qingwu did.

He looked up and stared directly into Yun Qingwu’s eyes:

“If Yun Chuan regains his memory and refuses to acknowledge our relationship, what will you do?”

Yun Qingwu was startled. He hadn’t expected Leng Lici to think so far ahead. He composed himself and looked seriously into Leng Lici’s eyes:

“A’Ci, as things stand, you are the only one that matters to me.”