Who wants to be a male model after being reborn? I want to be a male god.

Chapter 436 Lemon Candy

Xu Wen looked at her, his gaze calm and focused.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the effortless ease and flickering unease in her eyes, reaching the deepest source of her inner unease.

"Xia Ning, look at me."

His voice wasn't loud, but it sounded exceptionally clear in the small room.

Xia Ning's eyelashes trembled violently, and her eyes darted away for a moment.

She tried to turn her face away, her gaze drifting elsewhere.

But Xu Wen's gaze remained fixed on her, never leaving her.

Finally, she gave up struggling, raised her eyes, and met his gaze.

The forced smile quickly vanished from her face.

In the end, all that remained was vulnerability and tension.

Xia Ning's lips moved slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

Only his fingertips trembled slightly in Xu Wen's palm.

“Your father’s affairs were never your fault. He didn’t go to pay off his debts because you made a mistake.” Xu Wen’s thumb gently stroked the back of her slightly cool hand.

His touch carried a hint of comfort.

Xia Ning's pupils suddenly contracted, as if she had been stung by those words.

She shook her head violently, her voice choked with sobs: "How could it not be? If I hadn't been so willful, so, so reckless back then, locking you up, Dad wouldn't have owed Gu Hong such a huge favor to save me! He wouldn't have done that later, he wouldn't have."

The words that followed stuck in her throat, turning into scalding tears that instantly filled her eyes, stubbornly refusing to fall.

“Look at me,” Xu Wen’s voice deepened, carrying an undeniable force, and his hand tightened slightly. “Look at me, Xia Ning.”

Xia Ning sniffed hard, trying to keep her eyes wide open to prevent tears from falling, her vision blurry as she focused on Xu Wen's face.

“Your father’s choice was not because you made a mistake, but because he is your father.” Xu Wen’s voice was not loud, but every word was clear. “Protecting one’s daughter is an instinct engraved in a father’s blood. It is a choice he would make without hesitation no matter how many times he had to do it again, just like Gu Hong.”

He paused for a moment, his tone still complex when he mentioned the name, but it had calmed down.

"The things he did, which ultimately led to that outcome, were all for Gu Xingruo. It had nothing to do with right or wrong; it was just instinct."

"Instinct," Xia Ning murmured, repeating the word. Tears finally broke free of their restraints and silently streamed down her face.

She remembered what her mother, He Shujin, said when they said goodbye at the airport, and the sentence in her father's letter, "This is my responsibility and pride as a father."

Those words, like distant wind chimes, finally rang clearly in Xu Wen's voice.

"So, stop carrying this burden. It's not your debt, it's..." Xu Wen reached out and gently wiped away the tear stains on her cheek with his fingers.

After careful consideration, he found the most fitting description: "It is a medal for his love and choice to protect you. Although it is heavy, it is by no means a shackle. You should carry it forward, not let it crush you in place."

Xia Ning stared blankly at Xu Wen, at her own disheveled reflection in his deep eyes.

The boulder that had long weighed on his heart, the heavy shackle of being the "culprit," seemed to have been loosened with a "click" from the key that Xu Wen's words had transformed into.

She suddenly lowered her head, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

The sobs were no longer suppressed, but burst forth like a flood, accompanied by a cathartic cry.

She no longer tried to suppress her tears, letting them flow freely, as if she wanted to pour out all the grievances, self-blame, longing, and the overwhelming sense of relief that had accumulated over the past six months.

She cried like a child who had been lost for a long time and finally found her way home.
Unrefined in appearance, yet utterly authentic.

Xu Wen neither stopped him nor offered any further words of comfort.

He simply sat quietly, one hand still gently resting on the back of her hand, offering silent support.

At this time, there is no need to speak; just stay quietly with them.

Xu Wen picked up the tissue box from the coffee table with his other hand and silently handed it to her.

The rain outside the window had subsided at some point, now just a light drizzle.

After an unknown amount of time, Xia Ning's crying gradually turned into intermittent sobs.

She took the tissue Xu Wen handed her and wiped her face haphazardly. Her nose was red, and her eyes were swollen like peaches.

But she seemed to have been relieved of a heavy burden; the gloom in her eyes had mostly dissipated, revealing a tired yet genuine ease.

Xia Ning blew her nose, her voice thick with nasal congestion, but her gaze was unusually clear as she looked at Xu Wen: "And what about your instincts?"

She asked abruptly, her tone slightly probing, "Is it also an instinct for you to transfer money to the Linjiang Second Prison account every month?"

Xu Wen was clearly taken aback when she suddenly asked this question.

He kept this very low-key; almost no one around him knew. He looked at Xia Ning, whose red and swollen eyes held a knowing look.

"Did your mother tell you that?" he guessed.

Xia Ning sniffed, picked up a pink strawberry milk candy, slowly unwrapped it, and didn't eat it immediately, but just held it between her fingertips and played with the glistening candy.

“I spoke to my mom on the phone, and she told me that Gu Hong receives monthly remittances while he's in there. Who else could it be but you?” Xia Ning’s voice lowered.
She raised her eyes and said softly, "My mother also said that Gu Hong sent a message through someone, just two words: Thank you."

Xu Wen remained silent for a moment.

It was indeed something he insisted on doing: sending money.

Gu Xingruo tried her best to protect the assets that Gu Hong left her; but she could not completely erase the image of Gu Hong.

That money, regardless of right or wrong, was more like a way of settling things down.

Or rather, it was a way of giving an explanation to Gu Xingruo's father.

He didn't expect Xia Ning to know, and he certainly didn't expect her to be moved by it.

“It wasn’t exactly instinct, but I had promised to take care of him, so I had to do something. After all, he is Gu Xingruo’s father.” Xu Wen’s voice was calm, as if stating a simple fact.
He avoided the somewhat heavy word "instinct" and chose a more pragmatic approach.

Looking at his calm profile, and at the openness and responsibility in his eyes, Xia Ning felt the last bit of awkwardness and bitterness in her heart quietly melt away.

She suddenly realized that this person in front of her, after experiencing so many complex and heavy things, could still clearly distinguish between responsibility and emotion, gratitude and morality.

This is precisely what makes him so admirable.

"Oh," Xia Ning responded softly, drawing out the last syllable.

She popped a pink strawberry candy into her mouth, and the rich milky aroma and the sweet and sour taste of strawberries instantly filled her tongue.

so sweet.

She squinted her eyes contentedly, like a cat whose fur had been stroked.

The only sound in the living room for a moment was the soft rustling of her eating candy.

The air was filled with the sweet scent of candy and a sense of tranquility after the dust had settled.

Xia Ning's gaze fell once again on the huge candy jar on the coffee table, its colorful candy wrappers shimmering under the light.

She suddenly reached in again, this time peeling back the top layers of colorful hard candy, her fingers probing the bottom of the jar as if searching for something.

Xu Wen looked at her actions with some confusion.

A few seconds later, Xia Ning pulled out a piece of candy from between her fingers.

The candy wrapper was just plain transparent cellophane, without any fancy printing, so you could clearly see the pale yellow candy inside.

A lemon candy.

She pushed the lone lemon candy in front of Xu Wen, a mischievous smile on her face, but her eyes held a clear and calm expression. "Found it!"

Xu Wen looked at the lemon candy that had once symbolized the countless awkwardness and entanglements between him and Xia Ning, and then looked up at Xia Ning's clean and relieved smile.

This time, he didn't frown, didn't push him away, and didn't show any displeasure.

He reached out and took the small candy.

He slowly peeled off the candy wrapper, revealing the pale yellow candy inside.

Then, under Xia Ning's watchful gaze, he calmly put the lemon candy into his mouth.

The intense sour taste exploded in his mouth, aggressively stimulating his taste buds, causing him to unconsciously frown.

But soon, after the sour taste, a hint of the lemon's own freshness gradually spread, dispelling the initial irritation.

Xu Wen's expression slowly relaxed. Meeting Xia Ning's bright gaze, he nodded slightly, giving a very brief but weighty assessment:
"good."

Xia Ning was taken aback at first.

Immediately, a smile bloomed on her face.

That smile was brighter and more dazzling than all the colors in the candy jar combined.

The rain outside the window had stopped sometime earlier.

A crack appeared in the clouds, and the cool moonlight shone through, illuminating the flowerpot beside the bed.

Xu Wen savored it carefully.

Xia Ning is just like that lemon candy.

After the initial sourness, only a refreshing taste remains.

(End of this chapter)