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HMPS: Chapter 45 Part 1

Under the sun, the gleaming and beautiful candy wrapper stayed in the palm of his hand for a long time before being taken by the person in front of him.

Chi Xueyan watched He Qiao take the crumpled candy wrapper. However, He Qiao didn’t throw it into the garbage bag but left it in his palm.

Chi Xueyan asked, “Why aren’t you throwing it away?”

He Qiao said, “It is the first candy you took away. It should be collected.”

Chi Xueyan stared at him for a while before chuckling and looking away. He didn’t speak again.

He had already recognized love but now wasn’t the right time to announce it.

In this life, Chi Xueyan was very picky about many things. Except for his three meals a day, he never compromised. No matter whether it was people or things, he often demanded some type of beauty and pleasure beyond worldly standards.

God seemed to be partial to him and was willing to realize his every wish generously. He spent more than 20 brilliant and fortunate years.

The first time he tried bungee jumping, he saw the most beautiful world when he fell.

The first attempt at love should be the best confession written before the poem unfolded.

This was a psychological activity that his crush didn’t need to know about.

He just had to wait.

This wait wouldn’t be long because Chi Xueyan had always been a very simple person.

Before he officially mentioned love, he had something he wanted to settle completely.

—The novel that made him and He Qiao enter the contract marriage.

The cleaning was officially over and the two of them went outside together to throw away the garbage bag.

After experiencing the cold wind and returning to the warm house, a type of happiness that belonged to winter surged up.

There was also a slightly false surprise.

Chi Xueyan and He Qiao passed by the kitchen and acted as if they hadn’t realized Chi Zhongyuan was here until this time.

Once Han Zhenzhen heard the movement, she immediately took the spatula from her husband’s hands and explained casually, “Today, Aunt Ling is resting and your father came to eat. He decided to give me a hand.”

Chi Xueyan felt the nonsense that occasionally came from his mouth was probably inherited from his mother.

In order to avoid being discovered, Han Zhenzhen quickly changed the topic and randomly grabbed a vegetable from the kitchen countertop that suddenly became the focus of attention.

“By the way, I’ve never seen this type of ingredient before. It looks weird but the reviews say it tastes good.”

She spoke while sincerely praising her son’s other half. “That APP is pretty good for shopping. The icons are cute and there are different decorations for different holidays.”

There was a familiar icon printed on the shopping bag placed casually on the ground. There were three small, childlike saplings. They had extra embellishments that were full of a youthful flavor.

At Christmas, the three small trees wore red and white hats. Now that the Spring Festival was approaching, the red blessing characters were pasted on the trees in advance and it was quite festive.

The topic shift was very clever and natural but Chi Xueyan still had to remind his mother, who was chatting with a spatula.

His tone was also sincere. “Mom, look at the pot. It is smoking.”

“……”

Han Zhenzhen immediately couldn’t care about the two of them and turned around to ask for help in a hurry. “Old Chi! It is smoking!”

The flustered Old Chi hurriedly took a bowl and rushed toward the sink, turning on the tap. “Add water, add water!”

“Hey hey, did you add too much?!”

“…It seems to be, but it doesn’t matter. It will boil down in a while.”

It sounded reasonable, but it felt like something was wrong.

Han Zhenzhen was silent for a second but she felt that the priority was to drive away the onlookers first. “The two of you have finished cleaning? I’ll wash some fruit for you. Go sit outside and rest. Watch TV.”

Looking at the scene in front of him, it was He Qiao’s turn to hesitate to speak.

Forget it, there were chestnut sandwiches anyway.

The two of them returned to the living room obediently and let the two elders toss about the kitchen.

Chi Xueyan casually turned on the TV and sighed. “I hope I can eat that bowl of strange-looking food tonight.”

—Rather than seeing it lying in the trash.

He Qiao thought about it seriously. “If it is a simple stir-fry, it shouldn’t be bad.”

Chi Xueyan dispelled his illusions. “My method will definitely pick a complicated dish.”

Therefore, He Qiao restrained himself from commenting on Aunt Han and instead promised, “If you want to eat, I will make it for you tomorrow.”

Chi Xueyan said with a smile, “Put it in a sandwich instead of lettuce?”

“…I didn’t expect this approach,” He Qiao said honestly. “I can try it.

Chi Xueyan thought that the chestnut sandwich living in his imagination was becoming stranger.

He liked the strangeness.

It was because it was only about each other.

The two of them might not be able to eat tonight but the fact that this rare vegetable of a remote origin could appear on countless ordinary people’s tables was directly related to the two of them.

This was the new featured section of the Three Trees app, covering a series of unusual but unique novelty products on the market. This attracted a lot of attention.

Going back even further, the app wasn’t called the Three Trees and it should’ve been a failed project that was about to be eliminated from the market.

It was ‘Chi Xueyan’ who saved the frustrated entrepreneur and gave the app a new name.

It was He Qiao who really implemented that ‘rescue’ and led the project to a broader path.

A butterfly gently flapped its wings and set off a storm in the distant future.

There were many beautiful things in this world but because they appeared in the wrong place and weren’t discovered by those who should love them the most, they could only rot alone.

So now, the rare vegetables were on the dining table, new equipment was on the farm and everything was going the right way.

It was all because of the appearance of the butterfly.

It was a butterfly that wasn’t known by a third party.

There were frequent movements and stillness from the kitchen. The TV played just the right lively background sound. In this everyday atmosphere, Chi Xueyan decided to mention the novel to He Qiao for the last time.

He started with three trees.

He looked at the person beside him. “During this time, you have managed your business very well.”

No matter whether it was the Wanjia Media he received from He Xiao or participating in the investment decision of Ye Qing, the former was working frequently while the latter developed rapidly.

The word ‘lucky’ could no longer be used to explain the whole picture.

As his biological parents, He Huaili and Sheng Xiaoyue were naturally more willing to believe that their son’s innate business talent had been brought out. His seriousness and diligence in the past few months were obvious to all.

‘He Qiao’ was just an innocent personality. In fact, he had more or less inherited the calm and delicate part of his father’s personality, just like his brother. There was also his tenacity and intelligence. He was indeed naturally suitable for business.

The influence of the romantic passion in his mother’s genes balanced his over-cautiousness, making his temperament more suitable for the advertising industry which required a certain amount of adventure and creativity.

As for the Three Trees APP, it was now experiencing explosive growth in its installation capacity. It had always been operated by Ye Qing’s own team. He Qiao’s biggest credit was that he accidentally met Ye Qing, who was at a low point, and introduced him to He Huaili.

His ability and good luck combined to create the current results.

This was a perfect, self-consistent logic in the eyes of his parents who were proud of their son. There wasn’t the slightest doubt.

The only one who wouldn’t be proud of him was He Xiao. On the contrary, he would definitely detect something strange.

He wasn’t like the ‘He Qiao’ from a few months ago.

At that time, He Qiao might’ve been smart but he had no ambitions or interest in doing business. He usually just hung out with his rich second generation friends, played games and had fun at parties. His life was relaxed but mediocre. It was a life that only the lucky ones born with a golden spoon could have.

His relatives and friends felt that it was the sudden love and marriage that changed He Qiao.

Thus, He Xiao decided from the beginning that this hasty marriage was just an unequal game.

The willful and powerful Chi Xueyan dominated He Qiao, who was unilaterally infatuated with him. This would inevitably bring the latter misfortune sooner or later. It was by no means such an exceptionally complete happiness and success as it was now.

So He Xiao must have doubts in his heart.

At the same time, Chi Xueyan found that He Qiao no longer deliberately concealed his behavior like before.

He no longer wrapped his career ambitions in the name of love, such as handing his father’s business card to a down-and-out entrepreneur whose details he didn’t know just because of a joke from his lover.

Now it was completely the other way around. In the name of his career, he secretly treasured his love.

Chi Xueyan thought about what Han Zhenzhen said before and immediately asked, “You only told your parents that the billboard was set up because the company is planning a promotional event?”

He Qiao nodded gently. “it is enough that you can see it.”

So there was no need to prove it out loud to others.

It was more like love.

It was also like a step-by-step foreshadowing before breaking free.

Chi Xueyan sighed. “I guess you are about to take revenge on him.”

The fairest way thought of earlier was an eye for an eye.

He Qiao didn’t deny it. “Yes, let’s say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.”

In other words, it would be completed before the official arrival of the new year.

Han Zhenzhen and Chi Zhongyuan had long been planning this two-person Spring Festival that came after more than 20 years. They could confidently play without their son for the first time and were likely to travel abroad.

So for this Spring Festival, if nothing else, Chi Xueyan would spend it with He Qiao and his family.

Thinking of this, He Qiao added, “It should be very peaceful and won’t spoil the New Year’s atmosphere.

Listening to his serious tone, Chi Xueyan couldn’t help smiling, “Do you want me to join you?”

He was looking forward to it.

He Qiao looked into his eyes. “If you want.”

Chi Xueyan replied casually, “Yes, I do.”

There was always a strange tacit understanding between them.

He Qiao chose to bid farewell to the biggest illness of ‘He Qiao’ before the arrival of the new year.

It was the same with Chi Xueyan.

In the kitchen not far away, the couple stood shoulder to shoulder. They stubbornly experimented with the heat and seasoning, vowing to make a decent table of dishes.

From time to time, he could hear Han Zhenzhen’s laughter and complaints.

It was a familiar voice that had accompanied him for over 20 years. It was fascinating even when listening from afar.

‘Mom’ seemed to be the most special word in the world.

No matter how old her son was, she always remembered to buy a bag of sugar-fried chestnuts when going home.

The fire in the fireplace flickered and there was a long-lasting warmth.

For Chi Xueyan, there was only one unsatisfactory place left in the unfinished story.

He thought for a while before saying softly, “I don’t want to know anything else in the novel. It doesn’t matter.”

“There is only one plot where I want to know the exact details of what happened.”

He paused and asked, “When did Lu Siyi’s mother have the accident?”

This was a ‘backstory’ that wasn’t very important for the romance novel. It stood to reason that it wouldn’t be described in detail and the specific time and place wouldn’t be written.

But he felt that He Qiao should know it.

Chi Xueyan guessed that since the big villain who secretly fell in love with his follower had told ‘He Qiao’ about the love photo, he should’ve told He Qiao about the details of the hatred.

If it was Chi Xueyan then he would’ve said it.

It was because there were two secrets located at the extremes of ‘Chi Xueyan’s life’ and they were all buried in his heart. If one of them was told to someone then the other one could no longer be kept.

The former represented the ‘I love you’ that was happening.

The latter represented ‘ I didn’t love him’ and ‘I used to not be that bad.’

They were words only spoken to his loved one.

The only one he loved.

The only one he didn’t want to misunderstand him.

‘Chi Xueyan’ wanted to tell ‘He Qiao’ that he wasn’t a person who would stop at nothing for love and that he didn’t do anything in that accident no one wanted to see.

The reason for his entanglement with ‘Lu Siyi’ for a long time wasn’t love, but anger. It was anger that his good intentions were misinterpreted and paranoia after his sincerity was left down.

It was unfortunate that the ‘He Qiao’ in the novel didn’t seem to understand the core part of these secrets—love.

Chi Xueyan was stunned by this.

There was also a subtle rejoicing.

In a novel that was sad enough for its villain, there was at least one tender part.

‘He Qiao’ didn’t know how ‘Chi Xueyan’ died.

So the current He Qiao didn’t know and today’s Chi Xueyan didn’t know either.

He thought it was fine.

At the same time, looking calmly at it from the perspective of an outsider, Chi Xueyan guessed that it must be a very special time that made the already stubborn ‘Lu Siyi’ lose his mind even more. This led to a series of erroneous speculations.

In this world, his chance encounter with Lu Siyi took place in August.

If it was like in the novel then after getting to know each other for a few months, the unilaterally chasing Chi Xueyan didn’t receive any response. He should feel annoyed and then simply let go.

But the accident happened and the fate of everyone changed by mistake.

It was probably around the Spring Festival when the family was supposed to be reunited.

Chi Xueyan’s reasoning was always correct.

After a short silence, He Qiao answered him in a low voice, “In the morning after two weeks.”

He saw Chi Xueyan lowering his eyes, as if thinking about something, so he asked, “Do you need me to go with you?”

It was a similar yet different question.

Chi Xueyan looked into He Qiao’s eyes and shook his head. “I will deal with it. Just tell me the specific details.”

This matter had nothing to do with He Qiao.

It had nothing to do with ‘He Qiao’ either.

It was his own farewell to the old to welcome the new.

After that, he would completely bid farewell to the novel full of sighs and face the life in front of him without any worries.

It made him want to cherish life more.

Now he hadn’t embarked on that self-willed path but he had a very clear understanding of the extreme cruelty of fate when he fell all the way.

It seemed to be a type of luck.

The luck where he had always been favored by God.

Chi Xueyan and He Qiao quickly ended their conversation about the novel.

It was because Han Zhenzhen finally couldn’t bear it and asked for outside help. Like her son, she couldn’t bear to let go of this strange-looking ingredient and hoped it would become an elegant and decent dish in He Qiao’s hands.

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