My Exclusive Dream World Adventures

Chapter 133: If only I had met you sooner, 133

Chen Xu noticed that in the windows of the second floor of the sales department, quite a few people were looking this way and asked, “Those above are your colleagues, right?”

“Forget about them, let’s go.”

Yang Jinxia let go of his hand and sized him up, smiling, “You look much more refreshed after a haircut.” She casually straightened his upturned collar, “You also bought new clothes, didn’t you?”

Chen Xu lifted his arm, sniffed his jacket, which had the distinct scent of new clothes, and asked, “Is the smell too strong?”

“It’s fine.” Yang Jinxia pulled him along to the back of the sales department, where her car was parked.

Before getting into the car, she handed him the keys.

Chen Xu did not refuse, taking the keys and after getting into the car, he asked her, “What would you like for dinner?”

“You decide.”

“Ok, I’ll take you somewhere special today.”

Chen Xu drove to the riverside and turned into a street. This area was mostly residential buildings constructed in the ’90s, neither new nor old, and all of them were self-built, with one building for each family.

The car stopped in front of a restaurant.

“This place belongs to a relative of a high school classmate of mine. The pig maw chicken here is pretty good. After the college entrance exam, our class had a gathering and ate here.”

Chen Xu took her into the restaurant, which was a bit dated in decor but very lively, nearly full.

“It seems there’s no space left, should we wait?” Yang Jinxia asked.

“No need.” Chen Xu took out his phone, called that classmate to confirm and then told the waiter, “My name is Chen Xu, I booked the Pine Room, please take us there.”

“Just a moment.” After the waiter verified, he led them to a private room.

Once seated, Chen Xu saw Yang Jinxia looking at him thoughtfully and asked, “What’s on your mind?”

She replied, “I just didn’t expect you to be so attentive, to have everything arranged before we came.”

“It’s better to be prepared, to avoid being flustered when it matters,” Chen Xu said as he unwrapped two sets of dishes and took a pot of hot water to sterilize the tableware.

Yang Jinxia watched his actions, her gaze shifting subtly as she said softly, “It seems I need to see you in a new light.”

Chen Xu smiled and said, “Even if you regret it now, it’s too late.” Then he placed the cleaned tableware and cups in front of her.

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“I have a gift for you.”

He took the box from his pocket and handed it over.

“What is it?” she asked, taking the box with a look of surprise.

“Open it and see.”

Her eyes filled with anticipation, she lifted the lid and gazed at the necklace amid the yellow brocade, looking at him joyfully, “It’s beautiful.”

“As long as you like it.”

She took out the necklace and laid it in her palm, admiring the sun-shaped pendant more and more, a smile playing on her lips, “Help me put this on.”

Chen Xu stood up and walked behind her. She lifted her hair with one hand, revealing her slender, pale neck.

He took the necklace from her hand, unfastened the clasp, and looped his arms around her front, pulling one end of the necklace close.

When fastening the clasp, the back of his fingers skimmed over the skin of her neck, the delicate touch sending a slight thrill through his heart.

“It’s done.” He withdrew his hand and returned to his seat.

Yang Jinxia let her hair down and took a makeup mirror out of her bag to look at herself in the mirror.

Chen Xu saw that she indeed really liked it and was pleased in his heart.

To tell the truth, whenever he’d given gifts to his ex-girlfriend, she would always despise them, calling him a man with straight-guy aesthetics. After a few times, he just stopped giving them. At the time of their breakup, this became one of his faults, as she claimed he never gave gifts for holidays or birthdays.

Before long, the dishes arrived.

Yang Jinxia finally put down the mirror in her hand and picked up her chopsticks.

The two of them chatted while eating, discussing a variety of topics.

Whenever Chen Xu was with her, he always felt particularly engaged. No matter what he talked about, she would always listen patiently; sometimes she would add a few words, and even if she couldn’t follow, she never showed impatience or interrupted him.

This feeling was really very good.

Of course, he wouldn’t just talk incessantly. When he noticed she wasn’t responding much, he knew she wasn’t interested, and he would quickly switch to another topic.

Halfway through the meal, his phone rang. He picked it up and said, “It’s my mom, I’ll take this.”

“Mhm.”

On the phone, his mom first asked where he was, then started inquiring about his girlfriend. Between the lines, she was clearly suggesting he bring her back home.

“Mom, I’m having dinner, let’s talk when I get back, okay, sure,” said Chen Xu as he hung up the phone.

Yang Jinxia asked, “What did auntie say?”

“It’s nothing.” Chen Xu served her a piece of meat and said, “Go ahead and eat, the dishes will get cold soon.”

Yang Jinxia asked with some curiosity, “Are you not very close with your aunt?”

“Why do you ask that?” Chen Xu was somewhat puzzled.

“When I see others talking to their parents on the phone with similar conversation, they always have a kind of impatient tone,” she explained. “When you just spoke, you were a bit too polite, more like you were talking to a friend.”

Chen Xu paused, put down his chopsticks, folded his hands together, and said, “Do you think this is not good?”

She said, “I just don’t understand why you have to restrain yourself so much, with others, with me, with grandma, with your parents as well.”

Chen Xu then talked about a past incident, “I have an uncle who was very fond of me as a child. We also had a good relationship with him. In my high school years, he had a bit of a quarrel with my dad over business matters, and they both said some quite excessive things to each other. After that, he never interacted with our family again. When he saw me, he would just wear a cold face and wouldn’t acknowledge me if I asked him about it.”

“Actually, it really was a very trivial matter. Not long after, my dad’s anger subsided, but he didn’t expect that my uncle would remember it to this day. There was no way to mend the relationship between the two families. He was my mother’s own brother.”

He sighed as he reached this point in his story, “This matter had a deep impact on me. In fact, those who can hurt you the most are often the people closest to you. The ones who look down on you the most may also be the ones nearest to you.”

“I’ve always wondered, why is that?”

“Later on, I sort of understood. The habits of people can be terrifying. It’s very easy to take the kindness of parents and family for granted, and then, it becomes an expectation. When one person feels entitled to how another should treat him, that’s the beginning of the destruction of their relationship.”

‘”You’re my parents, so you should buy me a car or a house. You’re the child I brought into this world, so you should listen to my arrangement. You’re the boyfriend, so you should always indulge me…’ If the other party doesn’t deliver what they want, disappointment, anger, and sadness ensue, leading them to lash out against the other.”

“Just by listening to me say this, don’t you think it’s outrageous? But things like this are happening all the time.”

“The people closest to you are often the ones you take for granted. In front of them, you can drop all pretense and freely use venomous words to hurt them without even realizing it.”

“Sometimes, when I think about how I used to treat my parents and relatives, I feel quite guilty.”

“I didn’t want to hurt them at all, so I was always obedient to them.”

“But not long after, I realized that it didn’t work. Because, similarly, I did not want to let them hurt me.”

“I’d rather take a step back and leave some distance between us. I respect you and I hope you can respect me too. Isn’t that a good thing?”

Yang Jinxia listened quietly to his words from beginning to end, never intervening, her expression showing signs of being deeply moved, her eyes containing something Chen Xu couldn’t quite understand.

Finally, in a very soft voice, she said, “If only I could have met you sooner.”

PS: In the last chapter before the book goes on sale, the protagonist shares his philosophy of life. Next chapter will be after midnight tonight. I hope everyone will subscribe. Thank you.