Xiao Bai lifted his chin proudly and said, "I can play any kind of chess! Especially Chinese chess, even Mom and Dad can’t beat !"
Mu Huajian widened his eyes deliberately, feigning disbelief, "Really? Grandpa doesn’t believe it!"
Mu Huajian’s words successfully ignited Xiao Bai’s competitive spirit. With a confident expression, Xiao Bai said, "If you don’t believe , I’ll spar with you and show you what I’m capable of!"
Mu Huajian quickly replied, "Sure! Let’s have a match then!"
"Then follow to the study!" As he spoke, Xiao Bai stood up from the sofa, placed the newspaper on the coffee table, put his hands in his pockets, and headed towards the stairs first!
Watching Xiao Bai’s departing back, Ye Anxin couldn’t help but smile and say, "Old Master, go ahead! When the al is ready, I’ll have the butler call you both down!"
"Alright!" Mu Huajian nodded excitedly, gave a glance at Mu Beiting, who hadn’t spoken a word, and then followed up the stairs with his cane!
It wasn’t until Mu Huajian and Xiao Bai went upstairs to the study that Ye Anxin couldn’t help but say, "Uncle, the Old Master rarely visits, you should at least greet him! The way you’re acting, the Old Master will feel hurt!"
Mu Beiting lifted his head from the newspaper, gave Ye Anxin a brief look, said nothing, and then continued reading the newspaper.
Seeing Mu Beiting’s silence, Ye Anxin said no more and turned back to the kitchen to busy herself!
Since there were many dishes prepared for the New Year’s Eve dinner, Ye Anxin had been busy for a long ti. Although she didn’t personally cook each dish, all the planning and decisions were made by her!
By lunchti, Ye Anxin casually served a few dishes and managed to have a simple lunch!
To avoid disturbing Mu Huajian and Xiao Bai’s ti together, Ye Anxin specifically asked the servants to bring their als upstairs!
Even though Mu Beiting was still unwilling, he said nothing!
After a simple lunch, Ye Anxin sat on the sofa, leaning her head on Mu Beiting to rest for a while!
In the afternoon, she resud her busy work!
After a day of preparation, the New Year’s Eve dinner was finally ready and served on the table!
A table full of delicious dishes that made anyone drool just by looking at it!
When everything was ready, Ye Anxin removed her apron and slowly went upstairs, holding the handrail, to personally call Xiao Bai and Mu Huajian down for dinner!
When she reached the study door, she gently pushed it open a crack to avoid disturbing them, peeked in for a while, saw Xiao Bai and Mu Huajian engrossed in a ga of chess at the desk, and couldn’t help but quietly walk in to observe the ga!
Xiao Bai was resting his chin on one hand, intensely focused on the chess board, trying to find a strategy!
Although Ye Anxin wasn’t familiar with chess, she could tell Xiao Bai was at a disadvantage and was earnestly trying to turn the tables!
Seeing Xiao Bai so absorbed, Ye Anxin couldn’t help but say, "Alright, stop thinking about it, co downstairs for dinner first, then continue later, alright?"
Xiao Bai shook his head, determined, "No, I want to finish this ga first! I refuse to believe I can’t win a single ga all day long!"
Ye Anxin hesitated, "But it’s cold now, if we don’t eat soon, the food will get cold!"
"It’s okay, I’ll be quick, I’m about to turn the tables! Just wait a little bit!" Xiao Bai responded absentmindedly, his gaze never leaving the chessboard!
Watching Xiao Bai’s focused expression, Mu Huajian couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction!
Seeing Xiao Bai so persistent, Ye Anxin decided not to say anything more and quietly stood by to watch the ga!
Xiao Bai stared at the chessboard, Mu Huajian stared at Xiao Bai, and Ye Anxin also focused on the board, curious to see how Xiao Bai would turn the tables!
However, after thinking for a long ti, as ti slowly passed, Xiao Bai still hadn’t found a way to break the impasse!
Ye Anxin glanced at the darkening sky outside and urged impatiently, "Xiao Bai, we’re out of ti! It’s already dark! If you can’t win, we need to go have dinner first!"
With Ye Anxin’s constant urging making it impossible to focus on the ga, Xiao Bai finally stood up, "Let’s call this ga a loss for , let’s go eat first, then continue after dinner! No matter what, I have to win a ga today!"
Mu Huajian readily agreed, "Sure! Grandpa can play with you as long as you want!"
"Let’s go eat first!" With that, Xiao Bai hurried towards the door!
Mu Huajian stood up with his cane and quickly followed!
Watching the large and small figures leaving, Ye Anxin couldn’t help but smile contentedly!
Children are children, they’ll always have their childlike natures!
Kids are actually quite easy to get along with, as long as you’re genuinely good to them and cater to their interests, soon enough you’ll be inseparable!
Mu Huajian and Mo Xuehong are the best examples! When Mo Xuehong was taken in, no matter how she tried to please him, Xiao Bai simply didn’t like her!
But with Mu Huajian, it was different. From their first eting, she could sense that Xiao Bai wasn’t as resistant to him as she had originally thought!
This proves there’s still a chance to repair the emotional gap from the past years!
As Ye Anxin thought about this, she followed them downstairs!
Seeing them co down, Mu Beiting put the newspaper on the coffee table, went to the bathroom to wash his hands, and then sat down at the main seat by himself!
Seeing this, Ye Anxin felt it was inappropriate, so she gave him a aningful look, hoping he would give up the main seat for Mu Huajian!
After all, the Old Master is an elder and Mu Beiting’s father! He should be the one sitting at the main seat!
Unfortunately, Mu Beiting seed completely oblivious to her signals and remained unmoving!
Taking in Ye Anxin’s expression, Mu Huajian smiled, said nothing, and simply sat in the seat next to Mu Beiting!
This scene made Ye Anxin sigh inwardly, so she quietly sat in the seat to Mu Beiting’s lower right.
Pointing to the table full of delicious dishes, Ye Anxin smiled and said, "Old Master, have more to eat! Uncle and Xiao Bai are used to eating bland food, I’m not sure if it suits your taste!"
Mu Huajian quickly said, "At my age, doctors advise a light diet! So, it’s just to my taste!"
"Then let’s eat!" Ye Anxin smiled gently and started eating slowly with her chopsticks.
In the past, she would eat in large mouthfuls without a care! But now, with elders present, she needed to restrain herself, so she tried to eat like Mu Beiting and Xiao Bai!
Halfway through the al, Ye Anxin suddenly paused in the middle of putting food into her mouth! Her previously rosy cheeks turned pale!
Noticing her unusual behavior, Mu Beiting’s expression darkened, and he put down his bowl and chopsticks, asking urgently, "What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
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