Xiao Qian could not help but admit that she was indeed moved by Xu Jia Ning's words.
For a girl who looked like Xiao Qian with such a figure, she could easily beckon and there would be crowds of mature, wealthy men willing to flatter and pursue her like flies.
A sincere, ardent heart was always more attractive than cold, hard materialism no matter what.
That was also why she could not ultimately let go and naively begin a relationship purely for materialistic reasons.
Her brother came from the same background as her and his fate was even more winding, yet he still tried so hard. What right did she have not to strive?
She wanted to rely on herself to live a better life.
"Shall I take you back?" Xu Jia Ning interrupted her thoughts.
"There's no rush to go back. I don't want my brother to worry."
"Okay."
Xu Jia Ning thought for a moment before starting the engine and driving to a desolate riverside. He then turned on the heater and surround sound stereo system.
His music was all English songs from overseas. The melodies were gentle and soothing, perfect for a rainy day like this.
For a while, neither of them knew what to say so they just sat in silence.
In such a cramped yet ambiguous space, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward.
After thinking for a bit, Xu Jia Ning climbed from the front seat to the backseat.
Xiao Qian reacted immediately, shrinking into the corner warily and looking at him, "Why did you climb back here again?"
"To sit next to you and ease the awkwardness," Xu Jia Ning said with a smile. "I won't do anything to you, sister. I'm still just a kid."
"You're a kid..."
Just an eighteen or nineteen year old kid full of hormones.
"You've climbed back here three times in less than half an hour."
Xu Jia Ning was completely unbothered as he sat down next to Xiao Qian, staring intently at her, "Sister, let's chat."
"What do you want to chat about?"
"Let's chat about your criteria for choosing a spouse and expectations for your future other half. I'll share mine too."
"..."
Xiao Qian said, "I don't date kids, thanks."
Xu Jia Ning laughed. A dimple emerged on his left cheek, clean and sweet, "Then let's change topics. How about we talk about each other's life experiences and things from the past? Is that okay, sister?"
"Do you have to chat with me?"
"We don't have to chat either. I'm happy just sitting here like this and looking at you."
With him staring so fixedly at her, Xiao Qian felt somewhat flushed and shy. She might as well entertain his suggested topic, "My brother and I are both orphans. When I was six, I was abandoned by my family."
"Why?"
"Why else? Because I was a girl," Xiao Qian said helplessly. "My family already had an older sister. Later, when they had a son, they couldn't support me anymore so they sent me away. The relatives who took me in were originally childless but later had their own child so they sent me away again. After bouncing between a few families, I ended up at the orphanage."
Listening to her calm tone, it was as if she was recounting an extremely ordinary matter.
Xu Jia Ning listened in silence, his heart twisting again and again.
It was very distressing and heartbreaking.
He had always felt he was unfortunate. His parents divorced when he was young. Later, he grew up alone in a foreign country living under his aunt's roof.
His mother, Mrs. Jiang Ru Xuan, found her true love even if the man wasn't wealthier than his father. But she was very happy.
To maintain her own family, she never cared for Xu Jia Ning, even intentionally avoiding his existence.
As for Old Xu, his parenting was always ruthlessly severe, believing that only beatings could shape him into a proper heir. He had been under the harshest, strictest control all for the sake of making him a qualified successor in the future.
For a long period when he was studying abroad, he had always been shrouded in loneliness and sorrow.
Later, Xu Jia Ning became selfish. His outward manners were polite and mild but inside he was aloof and cold. He used his own so-called gentlemanly code of conduct, never treating anyone with true sincerity.
Yet after hearing Xiao Qian's experiences, he realized that his trivial grievances were nothing.
He had never truly experienced... being abandoned without kin or care.
"What happened after that?" Xu Jia Ning asked again, "What happened after?"
"I'm a few years older than my brother. He doesn't like to talk much. He's very smart and likes tinkering with things, taking apart TV remotes and power strips. He was often scolded by the teachers at the orphanage and disliked by the other kids who ostracized him."
As Xiao Qian recalled the past, her expression softened, "Although he was withdrawn, whenever adoptive parents came to choose a child, he would immediately become lively and talkative, laughing and trying his best to impress them... He really longed for a family to come take him away because this made the other children dislike him even more."
"I want to hear about you, sister," Xu Jia Ning interjected a little jealously, "Yet you keep talking about Xiao Yan."
"Because from then on, our lives became intertwined. He later became someone very important to me."
Xiao Qian said, "There was a security guard at the orphanage, a middle-aged man who was extremely disgusting. He would always sneak peeks at the girls' bathroom... That time when I went to the bathroom, he followed me. It was Xiao Yan who saved me by shouting and attracting many teachers over."
Xu Jia Ning's hands tightened. Her story had drawn him in completely, "What happened next?"
"That man seemed to have some connections. Even though the orphanage leadership knew about his problems, he wasn't fired. After that incident, he started targeting Xiao Yan often, beating him, bullying him. On several occasions, decent families wanted to adopt Xiao Yan but that guard would tell them that he was prone to violence."
"Scumbag!"
"Not long after, Xiao Yan was specifically adopted by a family. As you may have heard, after his adoptive father went to prison, his family abandoned him. In the dead of winter, with no clothes to wear, looking no different from a little beggar, he was directly dumped on the streets."
"By then, I had just come of age. At orphanages, kids who don't get adopted by 18 have to leave and fend for themselves. I was working at a factory then and saw the news report about Xiao Yan. Knowing he was sent back to the orphanage, I returned and told the director I wanted to adopt him."
"You adopted him? How old were you then?"
"The same age as you now." Xiao Qian looked at Xu Jia Ning, "After experiencing something like that and losing an organ, it was impossible for Xiao Yan to be adopted again. The orphanage conditions were also very poor back then, similar to animal rescue shelters nowadays. Without someone adopting him, Xiao Yan wouldn't even get to go to school and learn. His entire life would be delayed as he could only do manual labor like me."
Xu Jia Ning was deeply moved. Having grown up in the UK, he could not even imagine such hardship and misery. He could not fathom how this girl the same age as him had already taken on the full burden of life back then.
"After that, Xiao Yan lived with me and I took care of him like a mother. Without proper medical treatment and somewhat malnourished, his health was very poor. My salary could only support myself but I had to raise money for his treatment and recuperation. Otherwise, this kid probably wouldn't have lived long."
"So I quit my job and started doing business, going into debt for the family. Fortunately Xiao Yan was very capable, always finding odd jobs and contributing to the family expenses. Slowly, our situation improved. We opened a shop and were close to paying off the debts. Now he's about to start university too."
As she spoke of the present, Xiao Qian's eyes brimmed with hope, "I'm attending night school now to pick up some skills so I can earn even more money in the future."
"So learning to model is also to make more money?"
"That's right. With money, I can support myself without worries about food and shelter. Then maybe I won't be in such a hurry to get married."
"Oh, sister must keep at it!" Xu Jia Ning's eyes lit up, "Strive on your own, don't get married!"
Until I grow up.
Xiao Qian smiled, "But I also really want a family to accept me, want to have a baby, want to have blood relatives of my own."
"No need to rush," Xu Jia Ning hurriedly said, "Few men are any good, with frequent domestic violence and affairs. It's too common."
"Saying that, you're no good either, right?"
Xu Jia Ning said without hesitation, "I'm different."
"Let's not talk about this."
Xiao Qian immediately changed topics, "I've told you my story. It's your turn now."
"My story is simple. When I was little, my parents got divorced and sent me to live with my aunt in England. My aunt was hot and cold towards me - when my dad's business was doing well, she was nice to me, but when he hit hard times, she would turn on me immediately."
Xu Jia Ning shrugged. "In middle school, I tried to become independent and not have to keep reading people's faces to survive - I worked washing dishes at a restaurant. But when Old Xu found out, he scolded me severely and forbid me from wasting time on things like that. By then his business had started improving, so he hired a special nanny to take care of me, making sure I could focus entirely on my studies without any other distractions."
"That sounds so nice!" Xiao Qian was very envious. "If I had a dad like that, I'd be smiling even in my sleep!"
"To each their own when it comes to warmth and cold," Xu Jia Ning said with a helpless laugh. "I like music, so I secretly studied it without telling Old Xu. Just a couple years ago, I entered a music competition and won a prize - 1,000 pounds in prize money. I used that to start some small businesses at school and earned my first bucket of gold - 40,000 pounds. Then I bought myself a watch."
"Oh right!" He suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly took off his Cartier watch, holding it out to Xiao Qian. "I bought this with my own money, not family money - I want you to have it!"
"Why are you suddenly giving me this?" Xiao Qian didn't reach for it. "I don't want it."
"I originally gave it as a birthday present to a girl in my class," Xu Jia Ning said honestly. "But she gave it back to me later."
Xiao Qian laughed. "Because she likes you?"
"Yeah." Xu Jia Ning had always known about Lu Tian Bai's feelings, but he had rejected her directly. "I don't like her - she and Xiao Lin are like sisters to me. When she returned the watch, she told me I should give it to someone I truly like and who really deserves it."
"I don't want it," Xiao Qian rejected just as directly. "I'm not that person."
"You are," Xu Jia Ning insisted stubbornly, pulling her hand over. "I've decided - it's you."
Seeing how stubborn he was, Xiao Qian threatened, "If you give it to me, I'll just turn around and sell it, you know."
"Then I'm not giving it to you," Xu Jia Ning immediately snatched the watch back. "I'll sell it myself - this watch is pretty valuable. I'll sell it and use the money to buy you a nice pair of high heels."
"......"
Seeing that he was serious and really might sell off something so meaningful just for money, Xiao Qian took the watch after all. "Fine, I'll take it, but I won't wear it."
A gentle smile spread across Xu Jia Ning's face. "Whatever makes you happy."
Meanwhile, his phone kept buzzing and buzzing as Old Xu called him repeatedly, nearly blowing up his phone.
Finally, Xu Jia Ning simply turned his phone off completely and said to Xiao Qian, "Sis, will you wait for me a moment?"
"What?"
"Just wait for me a moment, it won't take long, I promise." Xu Jia Ning looked at her solemnly. "Really, I can give you a better future than any other suitable match out there...will you take a chance on me...and just wait for me a little while?"
After saying this, his originally pale face flushed red in an instant, his heart thumping loudly.
Xiao Qian clutched the watch silently for a long time before speaking. "Kid, even if you graduate university without going to grad school, it will still take at least four or five years. Do you know how old your sis will be by then? Thirty."
"That doesn't matter!"
"By that time, you'll have great looks, education, skills, and family background - tons of young, pretty girls will be infatuated with you. Will you really give up all those bright prospects to be with a thirty-year-old, uneducated woman who might not even be as pretty as now?"
"I will."
"But do you know how big of a risk it would be for me to believe the immature vows of a boy?"
Xiao Qian looked at him rationally. "Don't be silly."
Xu Jia Ning clenched his fist tightly, then relaxed it, then clenched it again...
Indeed, Xiao Qian's calm, mature words instantly doused the fire in his heart. Putting himself in her shoes, he wouldn't readily believe in this seemingly beautiful future either.
"If you're not happy, I won't be happy either," he said, his voice trembling.
"Little Ning, you're so wonderful." Xiao Qian reached out and lightly traced the contours of his face, moved. "But we really are...not meant to be."
If they had met a few years earlier when she was 18, she would have loved him deeply.
Outside, the rain had stopped.
"Take me home."
Just as Xiao Qian was about to withdraw her hand, Xu Jia Ning suddenly grabbed her wrist. "Good looks, education, skills, family background..."
She froze, as he continued, "I'll study hard, work hard, help you get an education, let you do anything you want to do. I'll give you a home, no domestic violence, no cheating, won't even glance at other pretty girls. I'll cherish you, love you, respect you, have a child with you - boy or girl, I'll love them, but I'll love you most. So will you take a chance on me...and bet on this?"
