“Wife. Zhaozhao. What is wrong?”
Lu Shiye’s smile faltered slightly. He raised a hand and touched his face. The dark bruising had faded. The cut at the corner of his mouth remained yet was healing well and no longer caused him discomfort. He fetched a mirror and studied his reflection. His eyebrows were fine and noble, his eyes bright and commanding. His features were distinguished and handsome. He could see nothing amiss. Why did his wife look upon him with such utter astonishment?
“Lu Shiye.” Yu Zhaozhao spoke his name, scarcely above a whisper.
“Present!” Lu Shiye replied promptly. “Wife, what has come over you?”
“Sister-in-law,” Hou Ziliang asked in confusion. “Is something wrong with Brother Lu?”
Lu Shiguang looked equally bewildered. “Why do you stare as though you have seen a ghost? You have seen my brother before.”
“No,” Yu Zhaozhao said quickly, regaining her composure. “In days past, he was always fighting four men at once or being set upon by crowds. His face was perpetually swollen and bruised. I truly never knew what he actually looked like beneath the injuries. I simply never expected that once the bandages were removed, he would be so remarkably handsome. You are truly a fine figure of a man.”
Lu Shiguang, Hou Ziliang, and Du Wen burst into hearty laughter.
“It is true,” Hou Ziliang said. “Brother Lu has always been the most striking figure among us.”
“Undoubtedly the most handsome officer in our entire regiment,” Du Wen agreed.
Lu Shiguang raised an eyebrow playfully. “I told you long ago that my brother was tall, distinguished, and handsome. From the very oldest to the very youngest, there has never been anyone who did not admire him.”
“Do not speak such nonsense,” Lu Shiye chided, though his face shone with unrestrained pleasure. He was clearly delighted by her words.
Within Yu Zhaozhao however, emotions churned. In her past life, after she had finally broken free from the mire of the Wang family home and gathered evidence of their crimes to present to the authorities, she had seen him there. He had sat in a wheelchair. Had he not spoken up on her behalf, she might never have brought the Wang family to justice.
She had suffered a broken leg and disfigured face, yet she had won compensation and endured those hard years. When the nation opened to reform, she had set up a small stall selling savory dishes, braised delicacies, and sweet soups. And he, confined to his wheelchair, had come again and again to patronize her stall. Even when pressed for time, he would order his food to go.
He had driven away bullies who sought to extort protection money. He had confronted those who sought to cause trouble. He had even spoken on her behalf to the city inspectors. She had heard others address him respectfully as Lu Ye. She had mistakenly understood it as meaning Sir Lu. Her stall had prospered under his quiet protection. Her business had flourished.
She had bought a house and a shop, saving steadily toward the day she might afford surgery to heal her face and her leg. Then upon her way home after closing her stall, she had seen an out-of-control vehicle bearing down upon a small child. Without a moment’s thought, acting entirely on instinct, she had rushed forward and shoved the child aside. There had been but an instant of blinding darkness and searing pain. When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to this life.
Rebirth was a blessing beyond measure. Yet the thought that upon her death all her hard-earned property would have passed to the Yu family under inheritance laws filled her with bitter resentment. Now that she had returned however, she swore that in this life, none of the Yu family would know peace.
And least of all had she expected that upon being reborn and marrying Lu Shiye, Lu Shiye would prove to be none other than the man who had protected her all those years.
With trembling hands, Yu Zhaozhao carried the paper-wrapped suit forward and approached him.
“Out you go then,” Lu Shiye said to the others. “Leave us. Do not crowd the room.”
Lu Shiguang and the others departed with knowing smiles, leaving the newlyweds alone.
“Shiye,” Yu Zhaozhao said, her voice trembling visibly. “I have bought you a tunic suit. I am certain you will look most distinguished in it.”
She held out the suit. Lu Shiye accepted it with one hand. With the other, he took her hand gently and drew her before him.
“Zhaozhao,” he said softly. “What troubles you? Are you unwell?”
“I am perfectly well,” she replied. “I am simply overcome with joy at seeing you.”
Yu Zhaozhao seated herself beside him and rested her head gently upon his shoulder. Her heart ached thinking of her past life. He had sat in a wheelchair. She had never learned when exactly he had suffered that injury. It certainly had not been this time. She had known him already able to walk upon meeting him in this life. To think of such a vigorous, powerful man confined to a wheelchair for the remainder of his days must have been a hardship almost beyond bearing.
“You are weeping?” Lu Shiye brushed a tear gently from her cheek with his thumb, his eyes filled with tender concern.
“I suddenly felt the need to cry,” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion.
“Then weep,” he said gently. “Let it all out. You shall feel lighter thereafter.”
Lu Shiye drew her into his embrace. Held securely against his broad chest, Yu Zhaozhao could no longer restrain herself. Tears flowed freely. She curled against him like a small, trembling creature, weeping quietly and striving to make no sound. Lu Shiye stroked her back with gentle, steady strokes, soothing her. Wrapped in his kindness and care, the heavy weight upon her heart began to lift.
“I shall stop now,” she said at last. She had thought herself long past the ability to weep, yet here she was, weeping unashamedly.
“There is no shame in tears,” Lu Shiye said softly. “I too have wept many times in years past.”
Yu Zhaozhao lifted her head from his chest and looked into his eyes, clear and bright through her tears. “You have wept often?”
“I have,” Lu Shiye replied. He leaned down and kissed her eyes gently. “Your eyes are most beautiful. They shine like stars.”
“Your eyes hold great beauty too when you smile,” she said. “When you are serious, they appear keen and commanding. In days past, I could scarcely bear to meet your gaze. Your eyes seemed fierce and unyielding, like those of a wolf.
It was as though a great and terrible beast lay hidden within them. And in those days, your face bore such sternness. You seemed far from a gentle child. You did nothing but fight from morning until night. And besides all that. You began to care for me when I was still so very young. You…”
Lu Shiye placed a finger gently against her lips to silence her before she could speak the word improper between them. “I was young as well,” he said quickly. “I am only three years older than you.”
Yu Zhaozhao could not help but smile. She recalled the years. Lu Shiye and Zhou Xiangyang had both been sixteen. Lu Shiye had enlisted immediately upon graduating high school.
Zhou Xiangyang had worked in the factory for two years before being recommended for university. Yu Zhaodi too was sixteen and in her first year of high school, though having repeated a grade, she stood one year junior to Lu Shiye and Zhou Xiangyang. Wang Baogen likewise shared Yu Zhaodi’s class due to repeating a year. Lu Shiguang had been in his third year of middle school. Yu Zhaozhao had begun first grade at the age of nine.
Thus when Lu Shiye and Zhou Xiangyang were in their final year of high school, Yu Zhaozhao had been but in her fifth year of primary school. Yu Yaozu was notorious for repeating grades. Though one year younger than Yu Zhaozhao, he had begun his schooling two years earlier. His mother Wen Zhihua had deliberately kept him held back and even arranged for a year of medical leave, fearing that upon completing high school he would be sent to the countryside.
In this manner, when Yu Zhaozhao turned eighteen and graduated high school, Yu Yaozu had been merely entering his final year of high school, attending class alongside Zhou Caixia. Under the pretext that her beloved son had yet another year remaining, Wen Zhihua had refused to spend money securing employment for Yu Zhaozhao. Yu Jianshe had naturally consented where his precious son was concerned. A stepmother brings forth a stepfather. Yu Zhaozhao had long since understood that truth.
She had never sought to compete with Yu Yaozu or Yu Zhaodi. They had their mother’s protection. She had none. Yet they ought never to have conspired to ruin her life. In her past life, she had truly resolved to travel to that island and drag them all down with her. But crippled, penniless, and alone amidst a strange and turbulent world, she had been forced instead to build her livelihood and endure.
“Lu Shiye,” she asked suddenly. “Do you believe in destiny?”
Lu Shiye nodded earnestly. “I do.” He believed it profoundly. Was not their union the very working of destiny?
“I believe it too,” Yu Zhaozhao said softly. The world was vast, yet somehow it was also small. Through every twist and turn, she had found her way to him and become his wife. Truly the bonds of fate were wondrous.