Nan Xiao hesitated for a moment, then put the diary back and opened the photo album.
The first page of the album contained a photograph of Xi Bao when she was five years old.
It was with this photo that he and his father went to the compound to pick her up.
In the picture, Xi Bao's smiling face was framed by long lashes that adorned her large, childishly beautiful eyes. Her dark, lustrous pupils were as lovely as two crystal grapes.
What drew the most attention was the teardrop mole on the corner of her eye.
Nan Xiao gently stroked the mole on her face, and a sharp pang of sadness shot through his eyes.
He had read a legend about teardrop moles.
According to the legend, those who possessed a teardrop mole were destined for a life filled with tears, sometimes pouring like rain, sometimes falling like dew.
The tears were for the love of this life, the pain for the affection of the next.
This teardrop mole grew for the love of your life; it would sprout, grow, and finally wither.
If love could not continue in the next life, then the teardrop mole would accompany you through lifetimes, waiting until he discovered your sorrow.
Those with teardrop moles, once they met their destined person, would remain inseparable until their bodies and souls departed.
Nan Xiao forced back the tears in his eyes. For a long time, he believed he was the one Xi Bao was waiting for, but fate played its cruel tricks, and he was ultimately not the person she waited for with her life.
Nan Xiao slowly turned to the next page. This photograph was a group shot of Xi Bao with the uncles, aunties, and children from the compound.
Xi Bao had said that if she left, she wouldn't be able to see the uncles, aunties, and friends anymore, and it would be good to have a photograph to look at often.
So he asked his father's bodyguard to take this group photo.
Nan Xiao looked at the slightly melancholic Xi Bao in the picture and a faint smile touched his lips.
He recalled the scene of their first meeting.
That summer, nineteen years ago.
The Lingyun couple who had rescued him from the criminals sacrificed themselves while on a mission, leaving behind five-year-old Xi Bao.
That day, his father took him to the military compound to pick up Xi Bao.
Xi Bao completely ignored her tearful father and just stared at him blankly.
She looked like a little infatuated girl.
"Child, come here, go home with Grandpa."
His father, with tears in his eyes, extended his hand to her.
Xi Bao, perhaps frightened by his father, instinctively took a step back.
His father awkwardly rubbed his hands.
He took out a lollipop at the opportune moment and bent down to offer it to Xi Bao.
"Xi Bao, here!"
"Thank you, pretty brother~"
Xi Bao happily took the lollipop.
He, however, blushed at being called "pretty brother" by her.
He crouched down in front of her, softening his voice as much as possible.
"Will you come home with brother?"
Xi Bao's dark, big eyes blinked a few times. She was clearly tempted, but the next second she shook her head.
"No, if I leave, Mom and Dad won't find me when they come back and they'll worry!"
"Then let's leave a letter for your Mom and Dad. When... they come back and see the letter, they'll find you at my place."
He said this, his eyes reddening, and turned his face away.
He didn't want her to see the tears in his eyes.
Xi Bao turned to an aunt standing behind her. "Auntie, is that okay?"
The aunt, with tears in her eyes, nodded.
Xi Bao grinned, stood on her tiptoes, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Pretty brother, I like you, I'll go with you~"
Nan Xiao's face instantly turned red all the way to his ears.
He had just been kissed by a little girl!
"Hug~"
Xi Bao spread her arms with a smile.
He hesitated, but in the end, he picked her up.
From then on, he had a human-shaped pendant in his arms.
His mother disliked Xi Bao and couldn't stand him doting on her so much. When no one else was around, his mother would chide him countless times.
However, no matter how much his mother lectured him, he wouldn't talk back. But as soon as he left his mother's courtyard, he would spoil her as much as he pleased.
It wasn't just for repaying a debt of gratitude; there was also a feeling he couldn't quite explain mixed in.
He bought her the toys she liked, the lollipops she loved, and the little bear hair clips she adored.
But because of Xi Bao, he, who never argued with his mother, lost his temper with her severely once.
His sister-in-law, in her efforts to force Xi Bao to call her "Mom," said many inappropriate things.
Xi Bao, unable to bear it, jumped into the lake.
From the moment he pulled her out of the lake, half of his bed belonged to her.
Because he knew his sister-in-law disliked her, his mother also disliked her, and his father, who was the only one who liked her, lived in the military base year-round. If he didn't keep her close, she was very likely to be in danger again.
At that time, his mother and sister-in-law both disagreed with Xi Bao living with him. He, who was usually calm and composed, lost his temper for the first time.
In the end, his mother couldn't sway him and compromised.
He was still young then and didn't understand why he would defy his mother to protect her so fiercely. But as he grew older, and more girls sent him love letters, and he always compared those girls to Xi Bao, he suddenly realized that his feelings for her were no longer as pure as they were in childhood.
When did it start?
He didn't know.
In any case, his feelings for her changed as subtly as spring rain nourishing all things.
The day before her eighteenth birthday, she held his hand and said, "Nan Xiao, I'll be an adult tomorrow."
He suppressed his pounding heart and asked casually, "And then?"
She said, pretending to joke, "Then I can pursue you!"
He had raised her, and he knew better than anyone whether she was joking or not. He was glad that their thoughts were the same.
However, given their current relationship, he couldn't give her any promises, so he ran away.
That was the first time in his life he had ever been to an internet café.
He wanted to know if their kind of relationship was legally marriageable.
Yes! He was going for marriage.
Because all these years, a voice had been telling him.
In this world, other than Xi Bao, no other woman deserved to sleep in his bed.
Also, when he had those kinds of dreams, the female protagonist was always her.
He had hated himself for this once, thinking he was a pervert, but he couldn't help but have the same dream again and again.
To alleviate his guilt, he rarely went home later, but the less he went home, the more frequent the dream became. He knew he was completely beyond saving!
He clicked open Baidu and saw hope. As long as they dissolved the adoption, they could be together.
But from the perspective of social ethics, the parties involved might be affected by public opinion.
Xi Bao was still young, and he was a soldier...
Nan Xiao agonized for a long time before returning home. He wanted to ask her thoughts.
After Xi Bao's first menstruation, although she still lived in his courtyard, she stayed in their old room, while he occasionally returned home and stayed in a side room.
He avoided the servants and jumped in through the back window into the room where Xi Bao was staying.
But he never expected that it was so late, and she was still taking a bath.
Through the steam, he saw a graceful, slender body. Although not very clear, it still made his brain oxygen-deprived...