Master's Untamed Wife

1055 Slow With Emotions

To be honest, Xia Zhao did not expect that one day someone of Raelle’s age would straight up tells him that he lacked a partner. Even the people who knew him for years didn’t talk about this topic.

Xia Zhao smiled at her and said, “You really don’t hold back, eh?”

“Should I?” she asked in return.

He shook his head, “There is no need to. This is what makes you different from others. I quite like your personality. It’s not Yanzi even though she raised you.”

“You really think I’m not Yanyan?” asked Raelle.

Xia Zhao nodded his head in agreement, “You’re indeed not like her.” He stood up and walked to a table. Raelle watched him open a drawer and take out an exquisitely carved wooden box as he continued to talk, “Yanzi looks daring but she backs out when she has to confront her feelings. You don’t do it. Even when you don’t understand the feelings, you’re not scared of the unknown. So, I must say, you’re a lot more daring than Yanzi.”

Since his back was towards her, she didn’t see what he was doing with that wooden box. She only saw him coming back with the wooden box and placing it in front of her, “Here. It’s for you. The spirit-calming incense.”

Raelle looked at the box. The workmanship of the wooden box was intricate and lifelike. It made her look at it again carefully. But she didn’t move to take the box just yet. Instead, she looked up at him, “Why do you say Yanyan is not daring? When did she back out? When she should have confronted her feelings for you?”

Xia Zhao shook his head, “Do you think she dropped out of medical school just for no reason? That was her backing out of a confrontation. Of all people, she didn’t want to argue with a man she considered her friend. So, she chose to walk out. It didn’t mean she was scared. It’s just he was someone she trusted for a long time and questioning him would mean she had been wrong all along for trusting the wrong person. And let me tell you a secret, Yanzi doesn’t like facing her mistakes. She doesn’t like it when she is wrong. She doesn’t like it even more when she loses.”

.....

Raelle didn’t argue with him on this topic. Because she knew he was right.

“You seem to know her way too well,” commented Raelle. “She might not know herself that well.” 𝗳𝓇ℯe𝓌𝚎𝚋𝓃𝚘𝚟𝘦𝑙.𝑐𝚘𝙢

“That’s because she doesn’t pay attention to herself that much,” he answered. “She pays more attention to people around herself. For instance, you. Ask her anything, she’d know the smallest detail regarding you but the same might not be true when you ask about herself.”

Raelle recalled how she had said the same thing to Mu Chenyan just the other day.

“I think I like you, Uncle Zhao,” commented Raelle which caught him off guard once again.

“Huh?”

“I really do,” added Raelle. “You know my Yanyan too well. And you seem to care about her a lot too. I happen to like people who genuinely think about her.”

Xia Zhao had to say that Mu Chenyan hadn’t doted on Raelle for nothing. This young woman was certainly more concerned about Mu Chenyan than any one else. It just indicated what kind of a bond these two shared. Even without a blood relationship, they were the irreplaceable part of each others’ lives.

“Do you mind me asking you a question?”

Xia Zhao looked into her blank eyes and nodded, “Sure. You can ask me anything.”

“You’re single, right?”

“Yes.”

“Have you been waiting for her?”

“I have,” he answered without any hesitation.

“You really are?” asked Raelle. She couldn’t understand it for a moment. Because she was still new to the concept of love, she didn’t expect someone to wait their whole life for another person. She wanted to understand, why?

Xia Zhao gave her a nod, “At first, I waited because she challenged me she’d never come back. She said she won’t look back. It was the first time, I made a bet with her instead of the other way around. And the bet was, she’d come looking for me on her own initiative.”

“You won, right?”

Xia Zhao smiled in response, “Honestly, it was the first time in my life when I was actually happy that I won the bet. Before that, whenever I won, I couldn’t feel happy. I only felt bad seeing her so worked up. But this time, when she came to look for me, I really realized what happiness was in winning. What she was actually after all those years.” He took a pause and added, “But as I said, I only waited for that bet. At least, that’s what I thought.”

“Now, your thoughts are different?” inquired Raelle.

“It’s very different,” answered Xia Zhao. “Because I’ve realized that all this while, I was in love with her. I was just unable to understand it at all. Can you believe it? At my age, I couldn’t even understand my own feelings.”

Raelle wasn’t surprised to hear that. It was an answer she had expected. And he had answered so straightforwardly to her, she could understand the reason too. She was straightforward and he didn’t want to go around in circles with her since she won’t like it. Apart from that, she was Mu Chenyan’s darling Elle, he didn’t want to lie to her.

It was strange but Raelle could actually tell that Xia Zhao paid attention to her all because of Mu Chenyan. As they say, love the person, love its dog. It was the same concept being applied here.

“I know,” said Raelle. “The last time, we met when you came to our house, I could tell that you hadn’t understood things. You just followed your heart without knowing what it meant.”

“You knew?” Xia Zhao raised his brow at her inquisitively. Was he even slower than Raelle Xiang who was known for being slow with emotions?