The night breeze is blowing, the moon is bright and the stars are scarce. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

In the empty courtyard, Cheng Yan was dressed in home clothes and stood alone on the stone steps at the door of the study.

The dim light cast down from the open door to reflect his tall back, which was still not old despite his age.

He stared at the jade bracelet in his hand, which was wrapped in a plain brocade handkerchief, but had been broken in half.

As the frowning brows gradually stretched, as if touching the scene for a while, a heavy sadness appeared in the depths of the eyes.

After being silent for a long time, suddenly, there was a strange movement behind him.

His eyes trembled, and he was very vigilant and closed the brocade handkerchief in his hand again, and turned around with a restrained expression.

I saw Cheng Xuan standing quietly behind him on tiptoe like a thief, and there was a porcelain jar used to hold soup on the tray in his hand.

As soon as he saw Cheng Yanzheng looking at him very dissatisfied, his eyebrows jumped immediately, and he hurriedly took a few steps back, and made a junior salute to his father with a little weakness.

"You sneakily do what you want to do in the middle of the night, and you really don't know any rules. ”

Cheng Yan rebuked very dissatisfied, although his tone was a little serious, there was no obvious gloom on his face.

In fact, as a father, if it weren't for Cheng Xuan's sometimes being too rebellious and disobedient, he wouldn't want to be angry and scold his son at every turn.

"That's... My mother boiled a bowl of black chicken cordyceps soup in the dining room and specially asked me to send it over. ”

Although they all live under the same roof these days, Cheng Xuan has not been alone with Cheng Yan so calmly for a long time.

After all, usually the father and son get together, even if they don't tear down the roof, there will inevitably be some quarrels and disputes.

Now such a peaceful and stable atmosphere makes Cheng Xuan a little unaccustomed, and even speaking seems very awkward.

"Put it down, I'll drink it later. ”

Cheng Yan raised his chin towards the house, and naturally knew in his heart that the reason why the Zhang family did not come in person, but let Cheng Xuan send him off, was also to cultivate and increase the relationship between their father and son.

"In the future, whether it is how you behave in the world, or just your usual behavior, you will give me a little more uprightness, what does this look like secretly. ”

"Yes, my son remembered. ”

Cheng Xuan nodded obediently, stepped into the study and put the tray on the rosewood table next to a few cases, looked up and saw that Cheng Yan was still standing outside the door, so he also walked out again.

"Dad, won't you go in? Before I came, my mother told me that I had to watch you drink the soup while it was hot. ”

Cheng Xuan cautiously said tentatively, but saw Cheng Yan's eyes wandering, and then he didn't have a good airway.

"Your mother is not here now, and besides, you dare to disagree with my father from time to time, what are you afraid of your mother doing?"

Hearing Cheng Yan's words, Cheng Xuan shrugged his shoulders and couldn't help but flatten his mouth speechlessly.

Immediately, as if he had thought of something, his face showed a mysterious and curious expression.

"By the way, you just... The ...... I just watched."

"You saw it all?"

Cheng Yan glanced at him with displeasure when he heard this, and saw Cheng Xuan waving his hand again and again in a panic: "No, no, I... I actually just glanced at it, but I didn't know what it was. ”

"Well, it doesn't hurt to tell you. ”

After pondering for a while, I saw Cheng Yan take a deep breath gently, take out the square brocade handkerchief from his sleeve again, and lift the corner of the handkerchief, revealing the jade bracelet that was split in half.

"This bracelet looks like a good southern Xinjiang jadeite, but since it's broken, why do you have to keep it?"

Cheng Xuan took two steps closer, lowered his head and stared at the jade bracelet in Cheng Yan's hand very curiously, his eyes full of confusion.

"And... No matter how you look at it, it looks like something that my daughter wears. ”

He said thoughtfully, his face suddenly stiffened, and then he looked at Cheng Yan with wide eyes and disbelief.

"Dad, do you say... You're all so old, and you're still hiding it from the big guy!"

"Bastard, what are you thinking about, such a disrespectful thing, you dare to say it in front of your father. ”

Cheng Yan raised his voice and scolded, so frightened that Cheng Xuan hurriedly dodged for a while, and after making sure that there was no threat at this distance, he leaned on the pillar beside him with his hands around his shoulders, and the look of doubt in his eyes was even worse.

"So what is the origin of this bracelet? If you don't say anything, it won't make me think about it. ”

"This is what your third aunt wore before she died, and I accidentally turned it out of an old box when I was tidying up the study a few days ago. ”

Cheng Yan said with emotion, his eyes were slightly condensed, as if he was immersed in a memory, and his eyes suddenly became unfathomable.

"Third aunt... You mean, Mother of the Golden Branch. ”

Cheng Xuan tightened his cheeks in surprise, as if he had heard a big secret, and unconsciously approached Cheng Yan.

This is the first time since the death of Cheng Jinzhi's biological mother Qin that Cheng Yan has mentioned her in front of people so unabashedly.

In the eyes of all Cheng family members, the Qin family is a concubine who is not favored and neglected by her husband, nothing more.

Whether it was during her lifetime or after her death, Cheng Yan's feelings for her were as indifferent as water, even more indifferent than treating a subordinate.

So much so that even if Cheng Yan ignores Cheng Jinzhi's daughter, and even treats her life like a mustard, no one thinks there is anything strange.

At this moment, I suddenly heard him mention this old man who had long been forgotten by many people, and what he held in his hand and what he was chasing in his eyes was still the relics of this old man.

Cheng Xuan suddenly thought that he had heard it wrong.

"Speaking of which, it seems like I haven't heard her mentioned in years.

Cheng Yan's eyes condensed slightly, and then unhurriedly lifted the hem of his clothes and sat down on the stone steps, a fragile look of exhaustion suddenly flashed in his eyes.

"If you don't like to mention it, we won't mention it. In fact, to be honest, except for Jin Zhi, after so many years, who would have thought of her. ”

Seeing this, Cheng Xuan also sat down beside Cheng Yan, and always felt that the father in front of him was different from usual compared to ordinary times, which made him feel surprised in his heart, and he was a little confused for a while.

"Dad, you suddenly mentioned the third aunt at this time, presumably because this jade bracelet makes you see things and think about people, right?

"But what?"

Seeing Cheng Xuan's face embarrassed, and he stopped talking, Cheng Yan glanced at him sideways.

"But... Don't you dislike her?"

Cheng Xuan scratched his head tentatively, then tightened his face and slowly lowered his hand, casting his gaze to the corner of the empty courtyard not far away.

"But I always remember very clearly, late at night on the day of the third aunt's death, you also sat on the stone steps like today, but you looked very sad. ”