Chapter 648 Mend Herself

Chapter 648 Mend Herself　　In her drunken stupor, Xiang Wai felt like everything that Mu Chenyan spoke was a mess. But her brain was still able to understand that mess at some level. No matter how strange that sounded.

She turned her eyes towards her brother who was silent as always. But currently, he had his eyes closed while rubbing the bridge of his nose. It seemed she really brought this upon herself and her brother by asking for this drinking challenge with her aunt.

Clearly, this aunt was a monster! Definitely not someone to be trifled with.

"Aunt!"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever been in a relationship?" asked Xiang Wai.

Mu Chenyan frowned. To be honest, she didn't like this question. No matter who was the one asking she never liked it. But everyone seemed to be curious about this detail for some bizarre reason. Thankfully, her Elle wasn't the least bit curious or interested in this topic and she never even asked her anything remotely similar. 

"Nope," answered Mu Chenyan. Even if she didn't like the question, she liked the person asking this question. So, she was willing to answer it.

"Not even once?" 

Mu Chenyan shook her head, "If we are talking about a romantic relationship, I never had been in one."

"There are other kinds of relationships?" inquired Xiang Wai.

Mu Chenyan nodded her head solemnly, "Yes! There are different types of relationships. Some begin with strangers, some are known as friends, some relationships are based on pity and some are based on dependence.  There are also some casual relationships and the ones built in times of need. So next time, make it clear what kind of a relationship you're talking about."

Xiang Wai's brain was processing slowly but she still understood what Mu Chenyan said. And she actually agreed with her as well. She felt like her aunt's words made sense.

"Then, to be specific, have you ever been in love? The one between a man and a woman?"

Mu Chenyan tsked, "No way! What a waste of time!"

"Is it?" 

Mu Chenyan sighed, "Not really. It's just that I never understood the love between a man and a woman."

"Why not? You look like a smart person," commented Xiang Wai. She felt confused, she thought her aunt knew everything and now that there was something that even Mu Chenyan couldn't understand, she didn't know how to feel about that. 

"Even if you're smart, what does it matter?" asked Mu Chenyan. "Your intelligence isn't enough when it comes to love. Or so, I've been told. When I was young, I thought love was a delusion our brain created just to lure us into reproducing for the sake of saving humanity."

Xiang Wai gaped at her in disbelief and blinked. Even Xiang Weimin opened his eyes to stare at Mu Chenyan with interest flashing in his eyes. He looked amused right now but Mu Chenyan wasn't embarrassed.

"What is your idea of love now, aunt?" This question came from Xiang Weimin.

"I'm still not very sure," answered Mu Chenyan. She pointed at her drunk best friend and added, "You look at Yue, she is someone who worshipped love like a god. But guess what, that same love is the reason why for the past two decades she has been suffering all alone. How am I supposed to understand this love when I feel like her choices were foolish?" She took a pause and thought deeply before adding, "If anything I'm certain about love is that, it makes you foolish. That's right. It lowers your intelligence. Even a genius can make the most idiotic choices once in love."

"Aunt has a strong opinion on love," said Xiang Wai. "But I agree. It really makes you foolish and vulnerable."

"Dear niece, who hurt you?" Mu Chenyan's eyes sharpened but no one noticed at this time.

"There was this guy I fell for," replied Xiang Wai. "Since he was always alone and a little gloomy, I thought I'll fit into his world. After all, I for once wanted to be the one and only in someone's life. I thought he lacked the same attention as I did and if I offered it to him, he'll reciprocate it. But I was wrong. After a ten-year-long tug and war, we both realized that we both weren't what we were looking for. Perhaps, he wasn't looking for attention from the beginning, or perhaps, my idea of love was wrong from the beginning."

Mu Chenyan's eyes narrowed as she listened attentively before saying, "Ah! Two young broken souls, trying to mend each other with a part of themselves. What a recipe for tragedy!"

Xiang Wai was surprised to hear that comment from Mu Chenyan and stared into her aunt's eyes.

Mu Chenyan flashed her a smile as she said, "Dear niece, you need to first make yourself your own one and only. Maybe the attention he needed in his life wasn't the same kind you were lacking. And there is also a possibility that you both had the wrong idea of love. But if you managed to drag it for ten long years, it means somewhere a part of you both wasn't willing to give up. And that's not love exactly. It means you both formed the relationship of dependence on each other." She extended her hand and patted Xiang Wai's head gently, "You did well. But now, it's time for you to learn without that dependence. It's a bit scary at first and a little difficult as well. But I assure you, it'll be worth it."

Xiang Wai honestly didn't know how to react to those words. Yes, it was true that she had grown a little too dependent on the relationship she shared with Zhai Yanjun. No matter what kind of a relationship they shared, they both had a strong dependence on it. And she was finding it a bit difficult to grow out of it in the past year as well. 

However, she also agreed with Mu Chenyan that she really needed to do this. She had to mend herself first.