Chapter 37 Main Story End: She Began Accepting That She and Him…

Chapter 37: She Began to Accept Him…

Both women had already named their mulberry seedlings, leaving only Gao Yan without one.

Gao Youhe asked her brother curiously, “Brother, what name are you planning to give your mulberry seedling?”

Gao Yan glanced at Lu Yingxiao and replied with a smile, “Yuanyuan. My mulberry seedling is called Yuanyuan.”

Upon hearing this, Gao Youhe didn’t hesitate to tease him: “Brother, you’re so lazy—just taking the name I didn’t want! Be careful your mulberry seedling gets mad at you and doesn’t bear a single fruit next year.”

Gao Yan merely smiled, looking completely unruffled.

But since he was her brother, after teasing him, she worried his mulberry seedling might truly get angry and refuse to bear fruit next year—so she squatted in front of his seedling and earnestly pleaded on his behalf: “Actually, ‘Yuanyuan’ isn’t bad at all. Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan—how lovely it sounds! And stroke-count-wise, it’s far more than ‘Duoduo’ or ‘Youyou.’”

Picking up a nearby dry twig, she began writing the characters for “Duoduo,” “Youyou,” and “Yuanyuan” on the ground, stroke by stroke.

As she wrote, she counted aloud.

Once finished, Gao Youhe used the twig to point at the characters she’d written, solemnly explaining to the mulberry seedling:

“Look—‘duo’ has six strokes, ‘you’ also has six strokes, but ‘yuan’ alone has twelve strokes—the sum of ‘duo’ and ‘you.’ This proves Brother put real thought into naming you ‘Yuanyuan.’ So you really shouldn’t be angry with him. Next year, you absolutely must—Huh?”

Mid-sentence, Gao Youhe suddenly let out a sharp, doubtful sound—directed straight at the characters on the ground.

The sound caught Lu Yingxiao’s attention. She leaned in curiously and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Gao Youhe gave her a mysterious smile. “Sister-in-law, I’ve discovered a little secret of Brother’s.”

Lu Yingxiao frowned, puzzled. “A little secret? What kind of secret?”

At the same time, she turned her head to look at Gao Yan, standing just beyond Gao Youhe.

Gao Yan smiled faintly, his expression unchanged.

Gao Youhe, too, looked up at him—then winked playfully and asked, “Brother, tell me—should I reveal your little secret to Sister-in-law?”

Gao Yan curled the index finger of his right hand slightly and gently tapped Gao Youhe’s head. “You’re the clever one.”

Gao Youhe rubbed the spot he’d tapped and chuckled.

Lu Yingxiao looked from Gao Yan to Gao Youhe—and finally her gaze settled on the three names Gao Youhe had written on the ground with the dry twig:

*Duoduo, Youyou, Yuanyuan.*

Individually, they seemed unremarkable. But together, they formed the phrase *Duo You Yuan*—“How Fated.”

This could not possibly be coincidence—otherwise, Gao Yan wouldn’t have reacted the way he did to Gao Youhe’s teasing.

Lu Yingxiao looked at Gao Yan again.

Gao Yan met her gaze.

They held each other’s eyes in quiet stillness—until Lu Yingxiao was the first to smile.

Seeing it, Gao Yan’s lips lifted into an exceptionally bright, radiant smile.

Sometimes, unspoken understanding between adults needs no words—only a glance, a gesture, can convey volumes. From Lu Yingxiao’s smile, Gao Yan understood: she no longer disliked him—and had even begun accepting their fated connection.

He smiled and stepped toward her.

He was tall—his shadow enveloping her completely.

In the past, Lu Yingxiao would have felt afraid, intimidated. But now, her perception had shifted. She tilted her head slightly, glancing past Gao Yan’s shoulder—the sun blazed overhead. Facing it directly, the glare would have been harsh on her eyes—but Gao Yan’s tall frame blocked most of it for her.

It also shielded her from the increasingly biting winter wind.

Gao Yan stood quietly before Lu Yingxiao, patiently waiting as she slowly processed the shift within her own heart.

When Lu Yingxiao looked up at him again, Gao Yan extended his hand. “It’s lunchtime. Let’s go back for lunch—and plant the mulberry seedlings this afternoon.”

Lu Yingxiao gazed at his broad, open palm—and without hesitation, gently placed her hand in his. “Okay.”

Hand in hand, they walked toward the villa.

Gao Youhe stood utterly bewildered.

She felt slow on the uptake—though she’d been present the whole time, the rapid deepening of her brother’s and sister-in-law’s intimacy had taken her entirely by surprise, leaving her thoroughly flustered.

Still—it was undeniably a good thing. After standing dazed for a moment, Gao Youhe hurried to catch up. “Brother! Sister-in-law! Wait for me!” Once she reached them, she squeezed herself between them, nearly half her body dangling off their interlocked hands. “Hehe—don’t even think about leaving me behind!”

Lu Yingxiao affectionately rubbed Gao Youhe’s head with her free hand. “Silly—you know we’d never leave anyone behind, least of all you.”

Hearing that, Gao Youhe threw her arms around Lu Yingxiao, hugging her tightly around the waist. “I knew Sister-in-law is the best to me! I love Sister-in-law the most!”

Gao Yan gently tapped Gao Youhe’s head. “So now that you have a sister-in-law, you don’t want your brother anymore?”

Gao Youhe stuck out her tongue at him.

The three burst into hearty laughter—their walk filled with unrestrained joy.

Butler Zhan hid in a corner, frantically snapping photos.

Seeing them so happy, his own face lit up with smiles. Especially witnessing Lu Yingxiao grow steadily less resistant to Gao Yan—and their physical closeness deepen—he was overjoyed. He even recalled earlier that day, when Sir had cautiously asked him to delete several photos, fearing Madam might see them and grow wary of him again. It had been utterly unnecessary.

Madam wasn’t nearly as resistant—or as unwilling to accept him—as Sir imagined in his heart.

After lunch, Lu Yingxiao and Gao Youhe returned to their respective rooms for a nap.

Gao Yan didn’t sleep. He went to the warehouse, selected a piece of pear wood, gathered his carving tools—and began meticulously engraving names into the surface.

So absorbed was he that he lost all sense of time passing.

When the two women awoke and noticed Gao Yan hadn’t emerged from his room, they assumed he was simply exhausted. Without discussion, they decided not to knock and disturb him. Instead, they sat chatting in the living room—time slipping by unnoticed. Glancing at the wall clock, it was already 3 p.m. Only then did they realize Gao Yan’s nap had stretched unusually long.

Gao Youhe rose from the sofa. “Brother never sleeps this long—I’ll go check on him!”

Lu Yingxiao followed close behind. “I’ll come with you.”

The two stood outside Gao Yan’s door.

Just as they raised their hands to knock, the tightly closed door swung inward from within. Gao Yan stood there, smiling at the pair at his threshold—and apologized, “I lost track of time.”

Gao Youhe pouted. “Brother, you scared us!”

Gao Yan reached out and gently ruffled her hair, repeating softly, “I apologize.”

Gao Youhe waved a dismissive hand. “Forget it—I forgive you.”

Gao Yan turned to look at Lu Yingxiao again, "Sorry to worry you."

Lu Yingxiao carefully observed the expression on Gao Yan's face. Seeing his eyes bright and not looking ill, she replied, "I'm just glad you're okay."

They all walked toward the garden together.

Unlike their morning trip to the garden, where they walked either one behind the other or side by side, this time, they were walking hand-in-hand.

Gao Yan was like any man. Now that the woman he liked no longer rejected his closeness, he naturally took every chance to have more physical contact with Lu Yingxiao. Holding hands was the most everyday form of physical contact. As soon as they left the room, he took the initiative to hold Lu Yingxiao's hand. His grip wasn't forceful, but it was secure.

Seeing this, Gao Youhe naturally had to squeeze in and join the fun.

However, this time she didn't squeeze between Lu Yingxiao and Gao Yan. Instead, beaming, she took Lu Yingxiao's other hand.

They had already dug the holes for planting the mulberry seedlings in the morning. In the afternoon, they just needed to plant the seedlings.

After planting the mulberry seedlings and watering their roots, all that remained was routine care. Then they could wait for the seedlings to bear fruit next year.

Gao Youhe's face was full of anticipation, "I wish time would just fly by."

Lu Yingxiao: "So impatient?"

Gao Youhe: "Yes! There's a real sense of accomplishment in eating mulberries you grew yourself. Oh, right, the seedlings don't even have buds or leaves yet; they look so bare. Should we decorate them a bit? Or hang a little sign with our names on each one? That way, they won't look too bare, and it'll be easier for us to tell which seedling is whose."

As she was speaking, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Gao Yan was pulling something out of his pocket.

Gao Youhe bustled over curiously, "Brother, what are you taking out?"

Looking closely, she saw Gao Yan holding three palm-sized wooden plaques. Each plaque was carved with the name of one of the three mulberry seedlings, and a single red silk ribbon was tied to the top of all three plaques.

Gao Youhe's eyes immediately lit up, "Brother, you read my mind! I was just thinking about wanting plaques like these, and you pull them out of your pocket." As if suddenly realizing something, her face lit up with understanding and she added, "No wonder you slept so late for your nap, you must have been busy making these!"

"Brother, that's so thoughtful of you."

Lu Yingxiao also went over to look and also thought Gao Yan was very thoughtful.

Gao Youhe excitedly distributed the plaques, "Let's hang these plaques on our respective seedlings right now."

The three plaques were connected by a single red silk ribbon. After the three of them hung the plaques, although each plaque was on the seedling corresponding to its name, the connecting red silk ribbon, much like their joined hands, made the three seedlings, which were somewhat apart, look almost as if they were planted in the same hole, looking especially close.

Gao Youhe noticed this. She stepped back a few paces to stand beside Lu Yingxiao, then took her hand and had Lu Yingxiao take Gao Yan's hand. "Brother, sister-in-law, look! The three seedlings with the plaques are just like us now, as if they're also holding hands."

"Hmm, they are," Lu Yingxiao agreed, then turned her head to ask Gao Yan, "Another one of your little ideas?"

Since Gao Yan hadn't cut the red silk ribbon, he had clearly anticipated the effect of hanging the three separate plaques on the three separate seedlings.

Gao Yan didn't deny it.

Lu Yingxiao said to him, "You really have a lot of these little ideas."

That's what she said, but she didn't dislike it. Because Gao Yan's "little idea" wasn't a derogatory term; it carried a positive meaning, representing that Gao Yan had a delicate and romantic heart.