Chapter 235 - 234: Selfish

Xiehan heard what she had said and stopped at a red light to flick her forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?" She complained as she rubbed the spot he had flicked while glaring at him.

He glanced at her as he scolded. "What nonsense are you saying? You care about your father's health and are doing your best so he gets better sooner. How is that being selfish?"

"I'm clearly using you. Don't you mind it in the slightest?" She asked carefully.

"No, I don't mind." He grinned, and she leaned against his arm until the light turned green.

"When are you going to see him again?" Xiehan asked, knowing the turmoil in her heart.

"I don't know. Maybe I should go tomorrow or the day after." Lanni was confused by her own words. "I want to see him so badly. But I'm also scared he might see through me and find out that there is something wrong with Luna. I really don't know what to do."

"Why don't you think about it? You can decide later or tomorrow." Xiehan suggested.

She nodded to agree, so Xiehan dropped her off at home before going to work.

_

The following day.

Because she had only spent a little time with her father the previous day, Lanni wanted to visit him again.

Early in the morning, she wore an apron over her clothes and started busying herself around in the kitchen.

She made oatmeal congee and arranged an assortment of fruits into a basket. She was just about to transfer the congee into the flask when Li Yuming came in.

"This is a first. You are in the kitchen so early in the morning? Who are you cooking for?" Li Yuming assumed that she was cooking for Xiehan and smiled happily. How cute. Was she making him lunch so he would carry it to work? But when she saw the congee and the assortment of fruit, she realized that it looked like food meant for a sick person.

"Is Xiehan feeling unwell?" She worriedly asked.

"No, Xiehan is fine." Lanni realized that her mother must have thought that the food was for Ji Xiehan. "I didn't prepare this for Xiehan."

"Who is it for, then?" It couldn't be for Luna because prisons did not permit food from outside, so Li Yuming was confused.

Lanni put the dish in a silver food flask and tightened the lid. She slotted it into the basket with the fruits beside it then said, "it's for dad."

It took a whole minute for Li Yuming to process what she had heard and when she did, her face was pale. "What did you say? Can you say that again? Because I thought I heard you say that it was for your dad." Li Yuming even held her ear as though it was not working, with her eyebrow raised.

"Yes. That is what I said. I'm taking it to dad. He woke up the day before yesterday and I didn't know what his condition was yesterday, so I didn't make any food for him. Now that I know how he's doing, I decided to cook something for him. He is still unwell so he can only eat these." She ran her eyes over the food flask and fruits. "When he feels better, I will cook something more delicious for him." Lanni answered all so naturally.

Li Yuming was more stunned about how bluntly she was saying it than the fact that she was going to see that man. When she finally reacted, she grabbed the basket and set it aside. "You are not going anywhere."

"And why not?" Lanni asked the question whose answer she already knew.

"You are not going to see that man." Li Yuming gritted her teeth.

Lanni looked her blankly before asking again, "Why?"

Li Yuming exhaled a puff of air before saying what she knew she had already said many times before. "I'm only looking out for your safety. And by getting close to people from the Xia family, you are compromising that."

Lanni slapped her forehead as she felt her temples begin to throb. "Mom, I thought we were past this already."

"No we aren't. And we won't be unless you get it to the depths of your brain." Li Yuming looked at her sternly. " Xia Hanchen is not who he seems to be. In reality, he is a selfish scumbag. Do you really think he likes you, misses you and all that? He just wants to use you!"

"Mum…" Lanni didn't know what to say to her mother anymore. "Isn't that what you thought of Luna in the past, and weren't you proven wrong?"

"That was Luna. And she is my daughter, and I only didn't trust her in the past because she grew up in Xia Hanchen's care. I was worried she would become like him—but the fact that did not doesn't mean that he is any better than he was back then."

Lanni stared at her mother for a while, not making head or tail of what she was saying. In the end, she only waved her hands in the air as a sign of giving up. "Mom, I don't know what happened between you and dad but whatever it is, I do not wish to be a part of it."

"You are my daughter." Li Yuming barked.

Lanni grabbed back the basket. "Yes. And that is why you have to let me live my own life and make my own decisions."

Li Yuming could only watch her leave and because she did not wish to intensify the argument—or whatever this situation had turned into, she did not try to stop her.

"She is just as stubborn as her father." She could only sigh.

_

When Lanni arrived at the hospital, Ji Xiehan was already waiting. Since she decided to go to see her father today, she had also decided to bring Ji Xiehan with her.

Xiehan was leaning against his car. He was carrying the coffee he had just bought in one hand while a plastic bag swung loosely from his arm. She walked over to him with a bright smile. "Morning, Love."

Xiehan held the coffee away from her as she pressed a kiss onto his cheek. When she was done, he kissed her lightly on her lips before presenting the coffee he had bought for her.

He also held out the white plastic bag. "This is for you."

Lanni opened the plastic bag and saw a paper package which had been slightly stained with butter from whatever was inside it. She smiled on excitement as soon as she recognized it. "You got me croissants!"

Xiehan smiled, seeing that his guess had turned out to be correct. "I'm glad you like them. You can eat them in the car first then we can go in when you are done."

Lanni smiled as she opened the car door to sit inside. Xiehan entered the car too. He had already had breakfast so he waited as she munched her way into the croissant.

After that argument with her mother, she had not had breakfast before leaving the house and Xiehan just happened to buy her some. Was he a psychic? She swallowed what she was chewing then smiled in his direction.

Xiehan smiled back and raised a thumb to rub off the tiny crumbs at the corner of her mouth. "Are you a child? You are definitely eating like one."

Lanni happily munched on, not minding that she was being scolded. Xiehan could only speechlessly shake his head.

When she was done, he stopped her before she could open the car door. She looked at him curiously so he asked, "Is something wrong, did something happen?"

Lanni looked at him with raised eyebrows. He was officially a psychic.

Knowing what she was thinking, Xiehan chuckled lightly. "Aunty Li called me a while ago. She said that you were mad and left the house without eating anything, that's why I got you coffee and croissants."

Lanni stared at him, opening and closing her mouth but no word came out. Li Yuming actually did that? Why would she? Why was it so hard to understand her mother sometimes? She shrugged her shoulders and did not say a word about it.

Ji Xiehan was curious. Just what had happened between these two? He studied her annoyed expression and asked, "What happened?"

Lanni looked all the more irritated as she finished her croissant. "She doesn't what me to visit my dad. I mean, he is my dad and he is in hospital. He has no one else to take care of him with Luna in prison and I definitely cannot trust Li Xiyan to be there for him. That woman could even do something to hurt him. As his daughter, isn't it only right for me to be there for him?"

Xiehan nodded. Her words made sense. He reached for her hand and caressed it gently. "I don't know why she is trying to stop you but she cares about you."

"If she cared about me half as much as she makes it sound, she would let me do what I've always longed to do.." She scoffed.