Drunken Lotus: Fated With The Rogue Hidden Dragon 29 Newfound Cousin - 8.5

Thinking back to what happened the day before, Fan Hui Zhong was making his way to his daughter's courtyard along with his nephew; Fan Li Jie.

A weird silence enveloped the two since both were thinking on how to ask the other about something that was lingering in their minds.

Finally, Fan Hui Zhong got annoyed with the building tension that he suddenly stopped in his tracks which made Fan Li Jie lool at him inquiringly.

"Alright boy, tell me what's been bothering you?" Fan Hui Zhong asked with a pointed look which made Fan Li Jie sigh in resignation.

"It's nothing serious, Uncle Zhong. I was just wondering about what happened yesterday to make Xia'er react like that back at the pergola..."

Hearing his nephew trail off, Fan Hui Zhong couldn't help but shake his head slowly before walking forward again with a slightly slower pace while Fan Li Jie trailed after him, staying silent while waiting to see if Fan Hui Zhong will respond.

His silence paid off when Fan Hui Zhong opened his mouth and spoke in a low, gruff voice and said in a voice laden with regret, "It was my fault."

"What do you mean?" Fan Li Jie asked, a bit confused since he was used to his uncle being cool and decisive, not like what he's seeing right now.

"I made your cousin feel doubt in her heart... made her doubt her place in our family."

Frowning when he heard his uncle's response, Fan Li Jie asked, his voice a bit distant, "What did you do?"

Glancing at his nephew, a bit surprised at his cold demeanor, Fan Hui Zhong chuckled wryly and said, "She got you too, huh?"

Narrowing his eyes, Fan Li Jie asked stiffly, "What do you mean?"

"Oh don't look at me like that, boy! You know what I mean... no need to feel ashamed of it. That's exactly how I felt when I first found her." Fan Hui Zhong replied softly with a melancholic smile on his lips and a distant look in his eyes.

Seeing that his nephew stayed quiet, Fan Hui Zhong continued and musingly said, "Xia'er just exudes this air that just makes you want to bundle her up and keep her safe... it just makes you want to do everything just to see her smile doesn't it?"

Returning his uncle's probing look, Fan Li Jie broke off his gaze and stared ahead of them before murmuring softly, "Yeah, it does..."

Smiling at his nephew who was avoiding meeting his eyes, Fan Hui Zhong just shook his head and told Fan Li Jie in a soft, emotion-filled voice, "Xia'er just has that effect on people. It's not like she means it but it's just that she's someone who has a very gentle and innocent soul and yet life decided to put her through h.e.l.l that cause her to be how she is now..."

"What do you mean?"

"The Xia'er that you met yesterday wasn't the same one that I found all those years ago... In some ways she's better but to those who may have known her before I found her, to them, she would've undoubtedly be different from the one they knew. It's one of the reasons why I took her in. She looked so broken and alone... she reminded me of how I was when I lost your aunt during childbirth."

Sighing deeply, Fan Hui Zhong closed his eyes for a minute before opening them up again, looking pained as he said, "Seeing her cling to you yesterday reminded me of how she was with me when I told her that I'll always be there for her... that I will be her family and yet I made her doubt my words just because I hesitated."

"Hesitated?"

"I know that you have an inkling of an idea on what happen to your grandfather, after all, you were old enough to get the gist of things and I'm sure you now realize how complicated things are."

"I do..." nodding, Fan Li Jie a.s.sented even though his eyes were still filled with questions.

"Xia'er asked about that."

Surprised, Fan Li Jie turned to look at Fan Hui Zhong and asked, "She asked about grandfather?"

"Yes, she did..."

"Why would she ask that? It's not like she would've had any knowledge about grandfather."

"Of course not! She only asked because your father brought it up while she was there and when she asked and both of us hesitated to answer her, we unintentionally made it seem like we didn't want to tell her but in truth, we just didn't know how to explain it properly."

"Is that why she felt like she didn't belong? That we wouldn't like her?"

"It probably is."

Glancing at each other, both let out frustrated sighs as they ruminated on yesterday's events.

Breaking the silence that once more fell upon them, Fan Li Jie tried rea.s.suring his uncle and said, "I'm sure if you explain to her why you can't tell her will help her understand why you reacted the way you did."

"I sure hope so, she is my daughter after all."

Meanwhile, on their way back from the city's market, Jin Meng Yao couldn't stop himself from staring at his friend in shock and disbelief as he thought back to what Fan Xian Liang did.

The moment they arrived at the market, they made a stop at each and every store that sold high quality wine and then to his surprise, Jin Meng Yao watched as his friend demanded to have the stores bring our their best wines bo matter what the prices were and as soon as he saw and checked the quality of each one of them, he proceeded to buy all of their stocks, leaving only a couple of jugs unbought due to the store owners pleas.

Fan Xian Liang did this to all the stores they went through with no exceptions and Jin Meng Yao couldn't help but just stare in bewilderment at how much wine his friend was buying.

When he asked Fan Xian Liang why he's buying so much wine if it's only for his cousin, he just shrugged and then replied in a nonchalant manner, saying, "Xia'er likes wine."

After hearing his answer, Jin Meng Yao was left stupefied on what exactly his friend was thinking. Which is why even now that they were on their way back to Fan Xian Liang's home, Jin Meng Yao still couldn't get over his surprise.

Finally, Fan Xian Liang couldn't take his staring anymore and turned to him and asked, "What is it Meng Yao?"

"Nothing... it's nothing." Jin Meng Yao said in reply while shaking his head slowly while still keeping his gaze trained on his friend.

"Then why are you still staring at me?" Fan Xian Liang asked, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Well it's just..."

"Just what?"

"That was a lot of wine!" Jin Meng Yao exclaimed, his hands waving along with his words making him look a bit comical which made Fan Xian Liang snicker.

"It's not funny Xian! You really bought a lot, I mean, can your cousin even drink all that?" Jin Meng Yao grumbled indignantly while Fan Xian Liang continued to chuckle at him.

"It doesn't really matter if she can drink all of it, what matters is that we bought it for her. Besides, Eldest Brother might get annoyed if he finds out that I didn't follow his instructions."

"And those instructions would be?"

"To make sure that I buy all the best wine in the imperial city." Fan Xian Liang replied with a bemused grin which left Jin Meng Yao completely flabbergasted.

"I'm sure he didn't mean ALL of the wine!" Meng Yao protested weakly.

Ignoring his friend, Fan Xian Liang just mused aloud in response and said, "It's better to be sure my dear friend... After all, I've never seen Eldest Brother so attentive to a female before."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see when we get there."