Ten Years of Yearning. My Love, Let Me Protect You.

He smiled as he took the laptop from her and closed it. His smile became a little twisted as he looked at her. "So, in the end, your grandfather made you work in the company, huh?"

Luo Lixi gripped her dress tightly as she didn't answer him. There was obvious pain in her eyes as she looked at the ground.

In the past, she wanted to be painter, a big one at that. Her dream was to become a famous painter. She wanted people to admire her paintings, to see her creations.

Because her paintings were good, her teachers at the high school praised her for her talents in this area.

But her mother didn't want her daughter's main profession to be a painter. In their eyes, it was not befitting for a wealthy family's heiress to waste her time in such useless drawings. She told Luo Lixi that she could paint as a mere hobby but wasn't allowed to waste time in it. She had to learn many languages as well as study business from an early age. She couldn't do everything she wanted to.

After entering high school, she had made many friends. They could do what they wanted and their parents would never stop them. She also had the urge to be like them; carefree and to have the space to do what she wanted but the reality was opposite.

Before the day of her parents' accident, she had a fierce argument with her mother. In anger, her mother took all the paintings and painting materials from her room and burned those in front of her.

Luo Lixi was so angry that she rushed to her room with tears in her eyes and closed it from inside. She was so sad that she didn't open the door no matter how much her mother apologised to her later. Only after her father's continuous requests did she opened the door.

Her parents loved her a lot. They just didn't think it was worth it to waste time in it.

After cooling down, she went to her study and began to study seriously but didn't talk to them. Her parents became helpless by her behaviour and didn't disturb her. But Luo Lixi regretted it later.

In the last few days of their life, she didn't talk to them due to her stubbornness but when she saw their listless body, she cried frantically, apologised till her throat became hoarse. Luo Lixiang became scared when seeing her in that state. He hugged her as he was crying softly.

While listening to her relative's sad and crying voice, she gazed dazedly as their coffins were being buried in the ground. Many people consoled her, said her to remain strong in that bad time but only met with her silence. Her little heart regretted and hated her damn personality.

That's why when Sheng Ruming told her to stay with him, she agreed without hesitation. She didn't want to have any regrets in her life again.

After that day, she didn't dare to paint ever again as her mother's face would come to her mind whenever she thought about it. Her little hands would lose their strengths if she tried to touch them.

She couldn't touch those brushes as it was her mother's last wish to her to drop painting and to keep her mind only in the studies. She did as she was told to...never painting again.

.... ....

Sheng Ruming didn't press for an answer because he knew it in his mind. He looked at the table where the maids were busy placing foods.

"Let's go." He said as he stood up and led her to the dining table.

Both of them sat side by side. He filled her bowl with a lot of food. But Luo Lixi didn't have any appetite as she kept on remembering her past. On top that, her hands were injured which made it difficult for her to hold the chopsticks properly. Thus she only took the bowl with soup and drank it with a spoon with her left hand.

Sheng Ruming looked at her as he thought something. He stood up and placed the chair very close to her and sat down.

Luo Lixi didn't pay him any attention as she was busy eating her soup. After drinking some, she began to play with a pea which was floating in the soup bowl. She was distracted and her mind wasn't in there.

He saw her drifting face as leaned to her side and picked up a dumpling. He held it in front of her face but was ignored by her.

"It's for you. Eat it." He told her as he thought she didn't notice his hand earlier. She turned to him with a nonchalant expression.

"No need. Eat your breakfast. I'll just drink some soup." She told him as she looked down in her bowl. She took the spoon and hurriedly filled her little mouth with it.

Then suddenly she felt a hand on her face. Sheng Ruming turned her face towards him. He gently took out the metal thing from her mouth and shoved the dumpling in. He didn't just stop then but took additional two pieces with lots of meat and stuffed it in her mouth.

"Umm...ssoop et..." She couldn't speak properly as her mouth was stuffed full.

"Ssshh. Just eat. I am running out of time." He said.

He took the plate with meat in front of her and placed it by her side. Luo Lixi had very difficultly to even finish the ones in her mouth.

After gulping down the food, she turned to scold him but he decisively placed a whole egg in her mouth. She stopped chewing it and looked at him speechlessly while her mouth was wide open.

The maids standing at a corner, couldn't help but giggled silently as they saw her. When Sheng Ruming turned towards them, they immediately stopped smiling.

He just urged her to continue eating. She turned her face and looked at her little bowl with soup. She took and drank it as if she was drinking water while chewing the egg at the same time.

After finishing the bowl, she thought she was full thus tried to get up but Sheng Ruming forced her to sit down.

"I'm full now, I can't eat anymore." She said as she wanted to stand up but was forced down again.

"Don't lie. You've lost ten kilos in the past two months. Eat properly." she wanted to stop his chopsticks which were stuffing food in her mouth.

He nimbly dodged her hands and took another piece of meat before stuffing it in, he feigned anger as he chided her to stay still and eat properly. Luo Lixi couldn't help but let him do whatever he wanted.