An offer of a partnership

The next morning, Xinyi woke up to see Zhiyuan and Siying still asleep. The father son pair slept in the same position with their right arm raised on top of their head and the left knee pointing out and bent forward.

She silently chuckled and kissed Siying's forehead.

Xinyi freshened up and after taking a nice warm shower, she first sat down to open her diary. She poured out all her emotions - the shock of seeing Caihong and Xiaosi and knowing the truth about Chyou, the panic when Siying and Chyou ran away, the happiness to see Shuang again, the pain of seeing Zhiyuan hurt after his failed conversation with Caihong and the giddiness of sharing that intimate moment with him last night.

Xinyi flustered a little as she wrote,

'I hope Zhiyuan didn't find me strange after he...he held my waist. It felt so warm and tingly when he held me. But I am an Idiot. I got so nervous and flustered that I panicked he might realize my feelings for him. The simplest of your partner's touch affects you when you are in love.

But I don't want to burden him with my feelings. Things are good as they are between us now. Zhiyuan is a good husband which is enough for me.

So, I need to be careful now. If I get flustered like this so easily, he would definitely figure out that something is wrong and I don't want that because…'

Xinyi gulped in nervousness and glanced at Zhiyuan.

'He is a kind and gentle man, but he is dangerous with his thirst for answers.

Xinyi shook her head. She thought about what Xiaosi had said to her last night.

"The true despair starts now."

She clutched the pen in her hands.

'I don't know what Xiaosi has in his mind, but I have decided to always protect Zhiyuan. I will not let anybody hurt him and to this end, I promise to myself that I will try my best to know what happened to make Caihong leave Zhiyuan seven years back.

If Zhiyuan wants answers then I will do everything I can to find about them.'

Xinyi closed her diary and let out a breath. 

I promised that I will find the truth but how…?

The how question got Xinyi seriously worried. Xiaosi and Caihong didn't look like they would share anything. 

Xinyi pursed her lips. 

Maybe I need some fresh air to think.

She looked at the sleeping Siying and Zhiyuan and she got an idea to draw them in her small drawing book she carried. It was the same book she had shown to Chyou yesterday.

She chuckled.

Their chibi characters would look so cute in this position.

Xinyi grabbed her notebook and quietly stepped out.

---

Outside, Xinyi sat on a small bench on the deck. The vast sea spread as far as she could see that shone brilliantly under the golden and warm sunlight. The cold wind gushing past her was also just at the perfect temperature.

"So beautiful…"

As she began to draw and shade the sketch of Siying and Zhiyuan, a soft smile curved her lips up.

"Ooooohhh that's hella cute."

Xinyi jolted and looked behind to see Shuang curiously peeking over her shoulder and looking at her drawing book.

She always felt too embarrassed to let others see her scribblings so she never showed it to anybody and here she thought that she was alone.

Xinyi quickly shut her drawing book. "Y-You Shuang...Good morning…"

"Hey. Why did you close it? Let me see the drawing."

Xinyi defensively protected her book with all her might.

"What drawing? T-They are just scribblings…"

Shuang narrowed her eyes. "I can see some skill there. Show it to me."

Xinyi vigorously shook her head.

"No, no! It is just something I do to pass my time-"

But Shuang shamelessly grabbed her book.

"Shuang! Please give it back!" Xinyi looked at her in horror. The two adults were playing tag like little kids.

Shuang raised her hand. "Stop. If we keep running like this, you're never gonna get your book back. Not until I see it."

"You…"

"Just let me see it or should I plot against you and seduce Zhiyuan as Mom wants?"

Xinyi's brow twitched and she grimaced.

Shuang grinned. "Hehe~ Good girl. Now stand like that."

She quickly opened her book and flipped through the pages. Xinyi bit her lips and lowered her head in embarrassment.

Shuang raised her brows. Her drawings weren't half bad. She easily recognized Siying and Zhiyuan in many of the drawings, and Xinyi was skilled enough to make them resemble the real father-son pair. She had also drawn some other cute characters too.

She brightened.

"Hey, will you draw some characters like these for my games? Of course, I will pay you."

"Huh?" The conversation changed so quickly that Xinyi couldn't keep up.

"I mean I run a game company, and we need new characters in the different games we make. I like your drawings. They are perfect for animating game characters. You design the characters and we animate them. What's say?"

Xinyi was taken aback by the sudden offer. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times. 

"Shuang, t-that's impossible. My drawings aren't that serious at the level you want, and I am not a certified artist either. It's just something I like to do in my free time."

Shuang rolled her eyes. "That means it's your hobby and trust me, you are good at this. Why not make some money out of it too? Basically, my games are awesome, but we suck at the creative art part."

"But it's better you hire a professional artist…"

"I did, but their art didn't sit well with me or with the theme of my game."

Her eyes sparkled. "But yours do! If you help me, my company will be at the top in no time, and I can finally shut my Mom's mouth. Though she will still be angry that I collaborated with the wife of the man I was supposed to seduce but duh, who cares about that?" She shrugged.

"So, so, so! Let's become partners!"