Drunken Lotus: Fated With The Rogue Hidden Dragon.

Newfound Cousin (5th)

Thinking back to what happened the day before, Fan Hui Zhong was making his way to his daughter's courtyard along with his nephew; Fan Li Jie.

A weird silence enveloped the two since both were thinking on how to ask the other about something that was lingering in their minds.

Finally, Fan Hui Zhong got annoyed with the building tension that he suddenly stopped in his tracks which made Fan Li Jie lool at him inquiringly.

"Alright boy, tell me what's been bothering you?" Fan Hui Zhong asked with a pointed look which made Fan Li Jie sigh in resignation.

"It's nothing serious, Uncle Zhong. I was just wondering about what happened yesterday to make Xia'er react like that back at the pergola..."

Hearing his nephew trail off, Fan Hui Zhong couldn't help but shake his head slowly before walking forward again with a slightly slower pace while Fan Li Jie trailed after him, staying silent while waiting to see if Fan Hui Zhong will respond.

His silence paid off when Fan Hui Zhong opened his mouth and spoke in a low, gruff voice and said in a voice laden with regret, "It was my fault."

"What do you mean?" Fan Li Jie asked, a bit confused since he was used to his uncle being cool and decisive, not like what he's seeing right now.

"I made your cousin feel doubt in her heart... made her doubt her place in our family."

Frowning when he heard his uncle's response, Fan Li Jie asked, his voice a bit distant, "What did you do?"

Glancing at his nephew, a bit surprised at his cold demeanor, Fan Hui Zhong chuckled wryly and said, "She got you too, huh?"

Narrowing his eyes, Fan Li Jie asked stiffly, "What do you mean?"

"Oh don't look at me like that, boy! You know what I mean... no need to feel ashamed of it. That's exactly how I felt when I first found her." Fan Hui Zhong replied softly with a melancholic smile on his lips and a distant look in his eyes.

Seeing that his nephew stayed quiet, Fan Hui Zhong continued and musingly said, "Xia'er just exudes this air that just makes you want to bundle her up and keep her safe... it just makes you want to do everything just to see her smile doesn't it?"

Returning his uncle's probing look, Fan Li Jie broke off his gaze and stared ahead of them before murmuring softly, "Yeah, it does..."

Smiling at his nephew who was avoiding meeting his eyes, Fan Hui Zhong just shook his head and told Fan Li Jie in a soft, emotion-filled voice, "Xia'er just has that effect on people. It's not like she means it but it's just that she's someone who has a very gentle and innocent soul and yet life decided to put her through hell that cause her to be how she is now..."

"What do you mean?"

"The Xia'er that you met yesterday wasn't the same one that I found all those years ago... In some ways she's better but to those who may have known her before I found her, to them, she would've undoubtedly be different from the one they knew. It's one of the reasons why I took her in. She looked so broken and alone... she reminded me of how I was when I lost your aunt during childbirth."

Sighing deeply, Fan Hui Zhong closed his eyes for a minute before opening them up again, looking pained as he said, "Seeing her cling to you yesterday reminded me of how she was with me when I told her that I'll always be there for her... that I will be her family and yet I made her doubt my words just because I hesitated."