The Overnight Chosen Wife: Darling, Kiss Me Deeper

That weekend.

The party was held in Xiehan's mansion. It was a simple party with only nine people. Ji Huifen had gone on a vacation with his wife so Xiehan did not invite them. In the end, it was just The Jiangs, Li Yuming and her daughters, and Lin Jian.

"Who is the ninth person?" Lanni asked Xiehan as they cooked together in his kitchen. She had done her math and there should be eight people.

"I don't know. That punk will obviously bring a girl along." Xiehan guessed, and Lanni knew he was talking about Lin Jian.

"I wonder who the unlucky girl is. Poor thing…" Lanni mumbled under her breath as she chopped a radish on the chopping board. Xiehan had said that he would personally cook all the food so she had gone over to help him. Because Xiehan was much better than her at cooking, she did the small tasks like washing and choping vegetables and preparing ingredients for him while he cooked.

Their coordination was perfect and before long, they had managed to prepare several dishes.

Just as they finished setting the table, the doorbell rang and Lanni went to answer it.

Madam Jiang had arrived with her husband. When the former saw Lanni, she hurriedly pulled her into a hug. "My dear, you have become prettier."

"Thank you, aunty." Lanni returned the hug warmly then welcomed the two of them into the house.

"Hello aunty, uncle." Xiehan greeted them with a spatula in his hand.

"Good job, Xiehan." Madam Jiang praised, referring to the dishes he had prepared. Of course, she didn't forget to nag him to take good care of Lanni.

"Are the two of you really my parents? How could you ask me to wait for you then leave on your own?" A whine signified Jiang Xingyu's arrival.

"Oh please. Why would we hitch your ride? We just wanted to distract you so we would arrive before you." Madam Jiang responded smugly.

Lanni burst into laughter as she watched the Jiangs. These three were obviously a pair of parents and their son but those who didn't know would mistake them for siblings. Their banters were too cute.

Soon, Li Yuming arrived with Luna in tow. They were both silent and looked somewhat odd. Lanni raised an eyebrow when she looked at them. What was going on between these two this time?

Luckily, Jiang Xingyu hopped over to Luna and pulled her to his side, successfully breaking the awkwardness.

Because Lanni and Xiehan had been wearing aprons while cooking, their clothes and hair were still neat so they just took off the aprons before joining the others at the table.

"Lin Jian isn't here yet?" Lanni observed.

"He sent me a message and said that he would be late." Jiang Xingyu answered.

"Then I guess we should start eating." Xiehan suggested. That punk was probably flirting with a girl somewhere—probably the same girl he was going to come with.

Initially, Lanni and Xiehan had been worried that they had cooked too much. But not too long after they started eating, there was barely anything left on the table. In the end, Lanni and Xiehan decided that they would cook a few more dishes for Lin Jian and his girlfriend later.

Too full to move, everyone happily sat in the living room to watch television.

Madam Jiang slotted herself next to Li Yuming to watch while discussing whatever it was that future mothers-in-law discussed together. Jiang Xingren sat next to Xiehan and Lanni while Luna kept to herself.

At first, no one noticed that Luna had been trying hard to keep up with everyone when she was actually lost in thought. It was only a little later that Jiang Xingyu realized that there was something wrong with her. She was barely watching the movie on TV and when she couldn't keep up the pretense anymore, she simply left the living room and went to the backyard.

Jiang Xingyu followed her out a few seconds later and watched from a short distance away. Luna stared into space for a while before sitting on a bench and burying her head in her arms.

Jiang Xingyu walked over carefully and sat beside her then gently tapped her shoulder.

Luna looked up expressionlessly and raised an eyebrow to inquire if anything was wrong.

"Is anything the matter?" He gently asked.

"Nothing. I'm just tired so I came out for a breather." She responded expressionlessly.

If he had not seen her staring into space, he would have believed her words. Seeing as she didn't want to talk about it, he stopped asking and simply sat there, wordlessly letting her know that he was there if she needed someone to talk to.

For a while, she ignored his presence then before she knew what she was doing, she leaned a little to her right so her head was slightly touching his shoulder.

It was rare for her to willingly get close to him so Jiang Xingyu was pleasantly surprised. He shifted his body away from her, making her disappointed for a moment, but she felt better when she felt him pull her closer to him and plant her head into his chest. So he had only moved to make her more comfortable.

The two of them sat together on the bench in silence, the only sound in the air was that of crickets and the occasional cars and planes in the distance. It was soothing and she soon became comfortable in his embrace. "I just realized that the distance caused by two decades of separation cannot be overcome that easily."

She had spoken too suddenly, and it took a while for Jiang Xingyu to understand what she was talking about. "Are you talking about your mum?" He gently asked, then he felt her head bump against his chest as she nodded.

"She still doesn't trust me." She continued, a slight laugh of self-mockery escaping her lips in the process. "She still thinks I would hurt my own sister."

Jiang Xingyu's fingers found their way to her hair and he tousled it ever so gently to comfort her. "Maybe you're overthinking it? Did she say that she doesn't trust you?"

"She asked to go shopping with me so she would spy on me and when that didn't work out, she sent someone to follow me." Luna chuckled to expel the sadness from her heart.

Jiang Xingyu's eyebrows furrowed. First, she rejected Luna and now when everyone thought that she had accepted her daughter, she didn't trust her? What was wrong with Li Yuming? In his opinion, it would have been better for her to completely reject Luna than hurt her feelings like this. His fist that was away from Luna clenched as he considered having a word with Li Yuming.

His other hand ran through Luna's silky, long hair. She didn't show any discomfort or push his hand away, which made his heart fill with happiness. "Forget about her. Let me show you something beautiful."

"What?" Luna raised her head to peek at him curiously.

"Just come with me." He gently pushed Luna off him and stood up. In the next second, he looked down at her and offered his hand to her.