If You Are A Dodder Flower Chapter 54 Part2

Xia Rou was the youngest and weakest member of the Cao Family at the moment. She was unlike his siblings, who could grow up and be strong on their own. She would be as weak as she was now for her entire life and would need him to protect and look after her.

And so he would definitely not choose a woman who looked down on her as his wife.

w.a.n.g Man was out. Translated by The Novelst

Xia Rou had also guessed why w.a.n.g Man had suddenly changed her att.i.tude.

She felt a little sad.

This was because in this life, she really had worked hard in order to become a person that others would not dislike. She thought she had made enormous improvements, but in the end, the person who had been most disgusted by her in the past was still disgusted with her.

She could work hard to learn, to be obedient, and to not cause trouble for others. But there were still some things that no matter how hard she worked, she couldn't ever change.

Like her background.

Initially she had been full of confidence, believing that her life was moving upwards. But this incident had given Xia Rou an overwhelming blow.

She couldn't help but take a deep breath and try to hold back her tears.

Cao Yang was suddenly a little angry.

He had originally only disliked the fact that w.a.n.g Man looked down on Xia Rou, but now, seeing Xia Rou lower her eyelids and try to conceal her sadness, rage began to rise in his heart.

Who did w.a.n.g Man think she was, looking down at Xia Rou? Even if Xia Rou's surname wasn't Cao, she was still the girl he was raising and protecting carefully.

As long as he was here, n.o.body should dare even think about looking down on his girl!

He patted her head, saying softly, "Don't think too much. She's just like that and it has nothing to do with you. Haven't you heard Cao An complain about w.a.n.g Man's arrogance?"

Xia Rou had been hanging her head, but her emotions cooled after that. She raised her head.

No matter what, when comparing this life to the past, she had improved in a lot of ways. Now she could even regulate her own emotions better, and have the courage to confront the contempt of others facing her.

"Big brother," she said, looking straight into Cao Yang's eyes. "Don't tell me the reason you guys aren't happy together is me?"

"Who told you we were unhappy? We didn't meet that often, anyways." Cao Yang brushed her off.

"Big brother!" Xia Rou clutched Cao Yang's arm, her eyes looking seriously at him. "Tell me the truth. Is it true?"

Cao Yang stared at her for a while before answering firmly, "Of course not. When we meet up, why would you come up in conversations?"

He saw her visibly relax at that denial.

He suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in his heart.

"Why are you thinking so much?" He revealed a faint smile as he patted her head again. "What have you been imagining?"

Xia Rou's expression was hard to see through.

She lowered her head to speak, "I don't want to be a burden on you. If it was because of me… I-I'd definitely move out, this time… I won't listen to you anymore…"

Cao Yang was surprised.

"Xia Rou, what are you talking about?"

"Every girlfriend and wife hates their sister-in-law…" she said very softly. "But there's an even more annoying existence than a sister-in-law, which is someone like me…"

She used the way her colleagues had talked about childhood friends and femme fatales to describe it, only changing the source to one of her cla.s.smates, and told Cao Yang about it.

She said, "If Sister w.a.n.g Man doesn't like me, that's normal. That's how it is between women… It doesn't mean that she's not nice in person…. So, don't get angry with her only because of this…"

She wanted to persuade him to get back together with w.a.n.g Man, but Cao Yang didn't listen past the midpoint of her sentence.

His expression was serious, a 川 character engraved on his brows.

Cao Yang interrupted her to ask, "Xiao Rou, you wanted to move out. Is it because of this?"

Xia Rou paused slightly, not wanting to admit to it. But she had never been good at telling lies, especially in front of Cao Yang.

No matter how she answered, though, the answer was already very evident.

"Big brother," Xia Rou said slowly. "Do you still remember the talisman I gave you two years ago?"

"At that time, I prayed that you would be fine… That you would marry well and give birth to a few nephews for me."

"Big brother… I-I want, in twenty or thirty years, to still go back to that temple and have that wish come true."

Cao Yang's heart had fully transformed to mush.

He felt that as the eldest brother, he had a responsibility to protect and care for her. But he had never imagined that the girl he had seen as weak and needing protection for her whole life had already become mature beyond her years. She had sneakily, quietly, and even secretly wanted to protect him instead.

The look in her eyes as she gazed at him was the same as that night with He Chengzhe.

Gentle, like water.

Cao Yang was enlightened: she hadn't fallen for He Chengzhe, but rather hoped that all the people close to her were doing fine.

That desire of hers was soft and warm, a different kind of gentleness to it.

That gentleness of hers had touched the deepest parts of his heart, and produced an inexplicable palpitation like an electric current zapping through his body.

Cao Yang could barely suppress the palpitations and the impulse to fold her into his arms, instead taking her hand.

After years of training her body to exercise and not being picky when eating, her anemia and coldness had largely subsided. When he grabbed her hand, it was soft and warm.

He held on tightly. Translated by The Novelst

"Xiao Rou, don't concern yourself with these things. These are not what you should be thinking about." He used a tone so gentle that he himself was surprised inside. He continued to speak softly, "As long as I am here, you don't have to think of these things."

You just have to grow up slowly. You can take your time, there's no need to rush in maturing. Wait until you've grown to your most beautiful and try your best to bloom.

And no matter if it's before, after, or any other time: taking care of you, protecting you – that's all my responsibility.

Xia Rou raised her head to look at Cao Yang.

Xia Rou suddenly felt that this man was very different to her big brother, only looking the same.

She couldn't tell exactly what had changed.

The disparate faces of the two men overlapped slowly before her eyes; she could no longer differentiate the two.

Her snow-white face looked up at him, her eyes black at soot, her cheeks rosy.

Cao Yang's gaze then dropped to her soft pink lips…

Proofread by: Hannah