If he decided to share a vehicle with Yun Xi and Mu Feichi, there must have been something he had wanted to say to Yun Xi. Yun Xi gave Mu Feichi’s arm a light pinch. The man nodded, understanding as he climbed into the front passenger seat and left the back seat for father and daughter.
The engine started with a rumble, and a row of black sedans sped down the highway one after another.
Once the three had settled down in the car, Xiao Jinglin turned and gently held Yun Xi’s arms. “How is it?” his voice and expression were full of worry. “Does it still hurt?”
Yun Xi withdrew her arms instinctively. “It does hurt a little in this cold.” She added a small reassuring smile that said it was nothing she could not handle.
If it was anyone else, they would have said they were in pain to gain some form of sympathy and comfort from those around them.
However, Yun Xi was concerned she might cause more worry if she denied the truth of her condition. Honesty was the best policy, and if she stated the facts, she did not need to worry the others unnecessarily.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been treated so it will heal fast…”
She thought it was strange that she felt more comfortable when Xiao Jinglin was only Mr Xiao to her. Now that she knew who she was and who Xiao Jinglin was, she seemed a lot more awkward and at a loss of what to do.
Xiao Jinglin seemed to have picked up on this as well. He sighed resignedly as he regarded Yun Xi’s slightly awkward demeanour. “Funny how you start using formal speech after you find out I’m your father. Is it awkward to talk to me?”
“It’s not that…” Yun Xi’s words trailed off. It will take a while for her to adjust to her newly-discovered status. She had no idea how to interact with her biological father.
Their relationship was so different from the one she shared with Yun Yuanfeng in her last life. She had never seen him as a father figure. He was a loathsome man who saw her as a tool for his career advancement, and Yun Xi had nothing but contempt for him.
Xiao Jinglin, on the other hand, truly cared about her. He cared and worried for Yun Xi out of the sheer fatherly love he had for his child. The sudden love had caught Yun Xi off guard, and she did not know how to get used to it.
“You see, my dad in the Yun Family was different. I had to be very wary of him as everything he did had an ulterior motive. I didn’t want to become his pawn so I kept my distance. But this is different…”
Yun Xi was sure Xiao Jinglin had learned part of her story from Mu Feichi, so he had a rough idea of the living conditions in the Yun Family. Yun Xi did not see a point to lie to him either.
“But you have been good to me without any motive. I have never interacted with a parent that saw me as their child and not a tool, so I’m a little out of my depth…”
They had been separated from each other for over eighteen years. All the precious times they could have shared as father and daughter were lost. Rather than keep her suffering to herself, Yun Xi thought it was better to be honest and live without second-guessing the relationships around her.
She knew the importance of time more than anyone else. Miscommunication was something she did not want to waste her time on.
After all, she would never know what could happen and when she would lose the ones she had grown to love.
“I’m sorry, this is really my issue…” Yun Xi nodded as she stopped speaking and everyone in the car fell silent. Her explanation was a simple one, yet Xiao Jinglin was too full of heartache to say another word.
His daughter deserved the world, but what had happened all those years ago had only brought her pain and suffering.
Suddenly aware that she had rubbed salt into a deep wound of Xiao Jinglin’s, Yun Xi spoke up again, “Really, this isn’t your fault. You would not have known what would happen.” She lifted her hand and gave his shoulder a light pat. “It’s all the past. We don’t need to talk about it.”
The last eighteen years were a shared trauma for the two of them. It was an open wound for both Xiao Jinglin and Yun Xi.
“Yeah, it’s in the past.” Xiao Jinglin nodded, and his eyes met Yun Xi’s. “Let’s go back to how we talked to each other before! Do whatever you’re comfortable with. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. I’ll be happy to hear you calling me Mr Xiao again too!” he added with a small smile.
