Marriage Seduction Addiction

It turned out to be the case.

Some people will follow your car as soon as they see it at the intersection, while others will never think of coming back to see you even after leaving you for eighteen years.

Perhaps this is the difference between people.

Different relationships lead to different treatment.

Tang Xu leaned quietly against Yan Shiyu's chest for a long time before whispering, "I don't want to drive anymore. Can I hitch a ride back with you?"

"it is good."

The two got into the car, and Tang Xu still leaned against Yan Shiyu's chest, seemingly exhausted, and remained silent the whole time.

Yan Shiyu didn't say much either, just let her lean against him until she gradually fell asleep.

……

When Tang Xu finally awoke from her dazed slumber, the sky was already beginning to lighten, and the car she was in was still moving.

This realization startled Tang Xu, who immediately sat up, looked up, and saw Yan Shiyu's clear-headed and calm face.

"woke up?"

Perhaps because he hadn't spoken for too long, although he was awake, his voice was slightly low and hoarse.

Tang Xu turned his head and saw a rolling field and forest.

The car was traveling on an unnamed highway.

The environment and roads felt very unfamiliar to Tang Xu.

"Where is this?" Tang Xu couldn't help but ask. "Where are we going?"

“We’re almost there,” Yan Shiyu replied.

Tang Xu looked up and saw a road sign ahead, pointing to an exit named "Qingxi".

The driver quickly turned on the turn signal and prepared to drive towards the exit.

Tang Xu remained bewildered. What was "Qingxi"? Why had she never heard of it before?
As the car passed the highway toll station, Tang Xu glanced at the toll sign and her eyes widened slightly. She turned to Yan Shiyu and asked, "How long have we been driving? How far have we gone?"

“One thousand kilometers,” Yan Shiyu replied casually.

Tang Xu couldn't help but take a deep breath.

While she was asleep, he drove her a thousand kilometers in one night.
"Are you crazy?" Tang Xu couldn't help but retort, but at the same time, a strange excitement was stirring within her. "It's Tuesday today, don't you have to work? Even if you don't, I still have to go to work!"

"I've taken the day off," Yan Shiyu replied matter-of-factly, then added, "Why don't you call home and ask for leave too?"

"You're really crazy!" Tang Xu couldn't help but glare at him, but the next moment, she turned to look out the window. "So, what are we doing here?"

"Eat breakfast."

Three simple words conveyed a startling effect.

Tang Xu stood there stunned, unable to utter a single word for a moment. After a long while, she reached out and gave him a thumbs-up.

After exiting the highway, Tang Xu realized that Qingxi was actually a small town, a small town with green mountains and clear waters, simple and quiet.

A small river flows through the town, with houses lining both banks. Occasionally, wisps of smoke drift from breakfast shops that open early in the morning.

The car stopped at the entrance of a small alley outside the river. Yan Shiyu took Tang Xu's hand and walked into the riverbank, entering a slightly cramped, old-fashioned wonton shop.

At this moment, the shop, which has only four tables, already has six or seven customers, who are probably regulars from the neighborhood, chatting in their local dialect while eating breakfast.

The moment Yan Shiyu led Tang Xu in, the shop fell silent for a moment.

All eyes were on them, partly because of the unfamiliarity they brought, but Tang Xu was still a little embarrassed, feeling that she had just woken up and was too disheveled to be seen.

There happened to be a small supermarket nearby, so Tang Xu turned around and went in. She bought some toiletries, borrowed the restroom from the owner, tidied herself up a bit, and then returned to the wonton shop.

Yan Shiyu had already ordered two bowls of wontons and was sitting quietly at the old wooden table that seemed out of place with him, waiting.

The diners, who had been talking loudly just moments before, suddenly fell silent for some reason. When they did speak, it was only in quiet whispers.

Tang Xu sat down opposite Yan Shiyu, glanced at him, and whispered like the others, "Is this a shady place? Why are they all silent as soon as we arrived?"

Yan Shiyu glanced at her, and Tang Xu had already started laughing. She turned to look at the elderly couple who owned the shop and were preparing the food in the open kitchen.

The couple, one responsible for wrapping wontons and the other for cooking them, exuded a sense of history through their black roof beams, old-fashioned aluminum pots, and wrinkled hands.

Tang Xu looked away, but couldn't help glancing at Yan Shiyu again.

From any perspective, Yan Shiyu was completely out of place in this restaurant. She even wondered if someone like him would really not find the food and tableware here offensive.
Yan Shiyu met her gaze, his eyes revealing a calm acceptance, though no answer was in them.

In that instant, Tang Xu couldn't help but think that perhaps at this moment, he would answer any question she asked him.
However, the thought only flashed through their minds for a moment, and the next moment, the shop owner, who was over seventy years old, brought two bowls of wontons to their table.

Perhaps fearing they wouldn't want to use the store's chopsticks, they also provided two extra pairs of disposable chopsticks.

Tang Xu has never liked using disposable chopsticks, so she chose the wooden chopsticks placed in the chopstick holder next to her.

Surprisingly, Yan Shiyu made the same choice as her.

While picking at the wontons in front of her, Tang Xu couldn't help but observe Yan Shiyu's movements out of the corner of her eye.

Fluid and natural, at this moment, he was perfectly integrated.

Of course, except for that custom-made suit.

Noticing Tang Xu's gaze, Yan Shiyu also looked up at her. Tang Xu quickly looked away and took a bite of the still-hot wonton.

"Delicious." After tasting it, Tang Xu turned to look at the elderly couple who were still busy around the stove. "It tastes really good."

Perhaps because they rarely received such solemn praise, the elderly couple seemed a little flustered, only smiling at Tang Xu as if they didn't know how to respond.

Tang Xu looked away and heard Yan Shiyu ask in a low voice, "Is it that delicious?"

Actually, they were just ordinary wontons, with nothing special in terms of ingredients and seasoning.

Tang Xu said, "We have to act like we've never seen anything like this before, otherwise it would be too strange for us to come all this way just to eat this bowl of wontons."

Yan Shiyu listened, but simply smiled and offered no comment.

Tang Xu couldn't help but ask again, "How do you know about this town? Have you been here before?"

"Mm," Yan Shiyu responded.

"You've been to this store before, haven't you?" Tang Xu asked again.

Yan Shiyu still responded.

"Then they should remember you." Tang Xu secretly pointed to the elderly couple who owned the shop. "Why are they acting like they've never seen you before?"

"Why don't you ask them?"

Tang Xu immediately straightened up and turned to speak, but the next moment, Yan Shiyu fed her a wonton, silencing her.

Tang Xu glared at Yan Shiyu, but said nothing more.

After finishing her wontons, Tang Xu was about to pay when she realized that the shop owner only accepted cash. She couldn't help but turn to look at Yan Shiyu, only to see him pull out his only hundred-yuan bill from somewhere and put it into the money box next to the stove.

"Please keep your change, sir. Two bowls of wontons cost 20 yuan." "Keep the change," Yan Shiyu replied.

"How can that be?" The shop owner got anxious as soon as he heard this and hurriedly stepped forward. "You only ate two bowls, I can't charge you that much."

As he spoke, he reached out to find his own money, but Yan Shiyu closed the money box just as his hand reached out.

The shop owner couldn't help but look up at him, and upon seeing him, he suddenly froze for a moment.

While he was still in a daze, Yan Shiyu took Tang Xu's hand and turned to leave.

Tang Xu couldn't help but turn around and saw the shop owner involuntarily follow him out of the shop, but seemed to have forgotten what he was supposed to do, his gaze only fixed on Yan Shiyu.

The old woman's voice could still be faintly heard from inside the shop: "Old man, what are you doing? Why aren't you giving the customer change..."

Tang Xu quickly looked away and took a few steps, then said, "He seems to recognize you. Did you forget to pay when you came to eat last time?"

Yan Shiyu had already pulled Tang Xu to the car, opened the door and pushed her inside, then got into the car from the other side himself.

The car started quickly and left.

Tang Xu felt he hadn't guessed wrong; he must have come last time without cash and had to pay on credit, so he brought a 100-yuan bill this time to pay off his debt.

"When was the last time you came?" Tang Xu asked. "Was it a long time ago? But that doesn't make sense. You've only been back in the country for a short time. The shop owner seems so energetic. He shouldn't be so forgetful..."

While she was still muttering to herself, Yan Shiyu had already looked at the driver who was hesitating at an intersection and said, "Go south."

"Ok."

The driver responded and turned around.

The town was too small; it only took two or three minutes to leave the densely populated area. After driving for a few more minutes, a blue-green lake suddenly appeared before us, reflecting the rising sun and the small hills and dense forests on the opposite bank, presenting a beautiful scene where brilliance and tranquility intertwined.

The driver stopped the car by the lake, and Tang Xu pressed her face against the car window, unable to look away.

She had been living in the concrete jungle for too long and hadn't seen such a natural landscape in a long time.

"It's so beautiful," Tang Xu couldn't help but exclaim. "The air is so fresh, and it's so quiet... How did you find such a secluded place?"

The answer is actually quite obvious—

They drove a thousand kilometers south, and in such an unfamiliar place, they could find such seclusion in any unknown town.

Perhaps Yan Shiyu once did something like this on a certain night: he drove a thousand kilometers to this unfamiliar town, ate a bowl of wontons, and then, not having cash to pay, had to buy it on credit...

As Tang Xu thought this, she couldn't help but want to laugh.

However, the next moment, she heard Yan Shiyu's different answer—

"You can find it naturally in the place where you grew up."

Tang Xu couldn't help but freeze, turning to look at Yan Shiyu.

Her first reaction was that she had misheard, and then she thought he was joking.

"What did you say? The place where you grew up...this place?" Tang Xu asked, tilting her head.

Yan Shiyu nodded slowly.

Tang Xu narrowed her eyes slightly, then asked, "Which house did you live in before?"

“No more,” Yan Shiyu replied. “The day I was found and brought back to the Yan family, this house was razed to the ground.”

His voice remained calm, yet beneath that usual tranquility lay a subtle, almost imperceptible emotion—

That's the emotion of reminiscing.

At that moment, Tang Xu realized that he was not joking.

But she still couldn't believe it and couldn't help but ask again, "You grew up here? And you were found here and brought back to the Yan family?"

"Ah."

"But, according to rumors, you were born abroad, have always lived abroad, and have never returned to China?"

"So, which do you think is more credible, me or the rumors?"

Tang Xu couldn't help but bite her lip.

The answer was obvious, but even when he said it himself, even when he brought her to see it with her own eyes, she still couldn't believe it.

Yan Shiyu actually grew up in this small town?
That's why he knew about this small town, that wonton shop, and this tranquil landscape...

"So, the shopkeeper actually recognized you, but after so many years, he couldn't be sure, which is why he froze?"

"Probably," Yan Shiyu said.

Tang Xu couldn't help but move closer to him again, scrutinizing him carefully from head to toe, still in shock.

When did you leave here?

"15 is old."

"Grandpa Yan found you, had you acknowledge your ancestors, and then sent you abroad?" Tang Xu suddenly remembered something. "What about Gao Yan? He said he grew up in an orphanage, but he also said he'd been by your side since he was a teenager..."

“I had a hard time adjusting to life abroad for the first two years, so he found Gao Yan in the orphanage and sent him abroad as well…it was a kind of companionship.”

Tang Xu breathed at an extremely slow pace, as if she was still trying to absorb this information.

"So, before that, who did you live with?"

After a long silence, Yan Shiyu finally answered again: "My mother... and my sister."

He actually has a younger sister?

"And...what about them?"

Yan Shiyu turned to look at her and said calmly, "They're all gone now."

Tang Xu's heart suddenly tightened, as if it had been gripped tightly by something. When it loosened, a little pain began to ripple through her.

She stared into Yan Shiyu's calm gaze, then suddenly leaned forward and reached out to hug him.

At that moment, besides feeling sorry for her, she felt an even stronger sense of empathy and mutual understanding.

She originally thought that no one could understand the loneliness she was enduring.

She had nothing left; all she had was herself.

But at this moment, she clearly perceived, understood, and empathized with his loneliness.

It turns out, he was just like her...

So he knew it too.

He knew her confusion and pain these past two days, he knew her struggle and unease, he knew that all her calmness was a facade, a pretense, and that she was already on the verge of suffocating, losing control, and going insane—

He knows everything.

Because he may have already experienced everything she went through... (End of Chapter)