However, she turned her head too quickly to notice Chen Fei’s slightly sorrowful gaze.
“Ye Zi told me a lot about your university days,” Xiao Xiaoran said to Gu Ming with a hint of tipsy warmth.
“Yeah, I heard.” Gu Ming stared straight ahead, fully understanding what Xiao Xiaoran meant. Was it pity? Or perhaps mercy?
Xiao Xiaoran stubbornly turned Gu Ming’s head toward her. “Xiao Ming, I have so many regrets. During your most glorious years, I was never there. In the prime of your youth, I was so far away from you. When you were grieving, I was blissfully unaware, thousands of miles away. It was me who made you endure all that loneliness.” In Xiao Xiaoran’s eyes, Gu Ming seemed to see the confusion reflected in a room full of clinking glasses. “Do you know how I survived those years alone abroad? I missed you, every single second, longing to return as fast as I could. Xiao Ming, are you angry with me?” Xiao Xiaoran pressed her forehead against Gu Ming’s chest.
After a long silence, Gu Ming gently pushed Xiao Xiaoran away. “What are you talking about? It is getting late, let us go back.” Yet, the depths of her eyes surged with endless sorrow. Some things are left unsaid because mentioning them immediately unravels a tangle of endless thoughts, and after a lapse of five years, saying anything more is futile.
On the dark street, the streetlights cast a dim glow, and the occasional vehicle roaring past only added a touch of bleakness.
Xiao Xiaoran quickly caught up with Gu Ming, taking her hand. After walking a long distance in silence, Gu Ming heard Xiao Xiaoran’s barely audible voice, “Xiao Ming, I will never leave you again.”
In an instant, tears broke into a steady stream. She had imagined countless ways Xiao Xiaoran might explain herself upon returning, but she never expected that a single gentle sentence could dismantle five years of lingering sorrow and parting bitterness. Even if there was lingering resentment in her heart, it vanished in an instant because of that nonchalant yet uncompromising concession.
Was it because she loved too deeply, or because they had been together for so long that she had grown accustomed to her teasing? Even though you broke my heart, I still cannot bear to let you suffer even the slightest grievance.
I thought I could tuck you away safely in my heart, letting nothing make me turn back, but in the end, it took only a single sentence from you to make me throw down my armor and willingly bind myself to you.
Gu Ming turned her hand over and intertwined her fingers with Xiao Xiaoran’s slender, warm hand. So be it; this life is not long, and if I am to be wrong with you for the rest of it, I accept my fate.
“Xiao Xiaoran, never leave me again, or I truly will not have the courage to wait for you a second time.” In the end, Gu Ming compromised. If I knew all along that you were my catastrophic trial, I suppose I had nowhere to retreat and no way to escape my destiny.
Regarding the Jade
Gu Ming woke up early and looked at Xiao Xiaoran’s peaceful sleeping face. Her silk pajamas had slipped halfway down her delicate shoulders, revealing slightly bent legs and fair skin, which made her swallow hard.
Ever since Xiao Xiaoran started sleeping with her, she had not spent a single night sleeping peacefully. With a beauty right beside her, how could she possibly endure it?
Rubbing her bleary eyes, she resigned herself to getting up and preparing breakfast for her highness. If she did not cook for her, who knows when she would finally wake up.
When Xiao Xiaoran woke up, what she saw was Gu Ming bustling alone in the kitchen. Heaven knows how much she had missed times like this. Back in those days, they were still innocent of the world’s complexities, which is why they could point to the heavens and swear forever. Back then, they were still very young, and all their wounds and entanglements had not yet entered the stage, which is why they dared to love each other bravely without fearing worldly judgment. Those years were what her future self would yearn for with fierce nostalgia, making them feel all the more precious now that she possessed them once again.
She walked up behind Gu Ming and gently wrapped her arms around her waist. “Xiao Ming.”
The person caught in the embrace froze noticeably. “Yeah? What is it?” Even Gu Ming herself did not realize how tender her tone was when she spoke those words.
“Do you blame me?”
Gu Ming reached back to touch the hands wrapped around her waist. “Why are you bringing this up again? If I blamed you, could I still be here with you?”
“Really?” Xiao Xiaoran found it hard to believe, knowing that even if she were in Gu Ming’s shoes, she would find it hard to let go.
“Really.” Gu Ming placed her hand over Xiao Xiaoran’s hands that were still embracing her waist.
Xiao Xiaoran turned Gu Ming’s head around, hooked her arms around her neck, and kissed her lips. Gu Ming did not refuse; she obediently bent down, wrapped her arms around that slender waist, and kissed the person she had yearned for day and night, inch by inch, tracing her contours with the tip of her tongue. When the kiss ended, the two of them looked at each other, breathing slightly heavily, their flushed faces prompting them to exchange a shared smile. Everything felt as tender and intimate as their first kiss at age seventeen.
The two of them were enjoying a sweet breakfast when the doorbell suddenly rang. “Who could that be this early?”
Opening the door, she was greeted by a white suit, a black tie, and a large bouquet of bright red roses that deeply overwhelmed Gu Ming.
“Tian Ge, what is this?”
Chen Tian handed over the roses, but Gu Ming did not reach out to take them.
“Tian Ge, if this bouquet is purely out of friendship, I will accept it immediately. But if it carries any other meaning, I will not take it,” Gu Ming said with a stern expression.
“Xiao Ming, you are really not giving me any face here!” Chen Tian stood awkwardly at the door. He had anticipated that Gu Ming might react poorly, but he never expected her to be this blunt. Now, handing them over felt awkward, and pulling them back felt worse; the two of them remained locked in a stalemate.
“Xiao Ming, what is he doing here?”
Xiao Xiaoran noticed that Gu Ming was taking a long time to return to the table, so she came over to check, only to witness the exact moment Chen Tian handed over the roses.
When Chen Tian saw Xiao Xiaoran, his disappointed expression vanished instantly, replaced by a surge of agitation as he pointed at Gu Ming. “Gu Ming, do not tell me the two of you have been sleeping together these past few days?”
“Sleeping in the same bed,” Xiao Xiaoran replied unconcernedly, casting a cold, provocative look.
“Damn it.” Chen Tian slammed the bouquet fiercely onto the floor, scattering bright red rose petals everywhere, and raised his hand to slap Xiao Xiaoran. Before his hand could land, Gu Ming intercepted it with one swift motion.
“Chen Tian, I respect you and call you brother, but do not push your luck. Before you hit someone, you better check whose person she is. I do not care what you meant by raising your hand, but as long as you dare to lay a single finger on her, I will not let it rest.” The raw fury on Gu Ming’s face caught Chen Tian off guard. In his memory, Gu Ming was always a carefree and lively woman, and he never imagined she could be this easily enraged.
Chen Tian stared fixedly at the two of them, as if trying to see right through their souls, before finally letting out a defiant laugh at Gu Ming. “Gu Ming, you will regret this.”
Gu Ming slammed the door shut, terrified that if she stayed a second longer, she might accidentally punch Chen Tian.
Xiao Xiaoran anxiously stroked Gu Ming’s reddened hand. “Why did you use so much force? Does it not hurt?”
“What on earth is going on between you two? I do not remember your relationship ever being this terrible. Why does he seem to target you at every turn?”
Why, you ask? Wasn’t it because he found out about our relationship back then? Ever since that day, our relationship went downhill, eventually deteriorating to the point where he tried to use it as leverage against me. However, Xiao Xiaoran kept this to herself. Some truths were not yet meant to be spoken aloud; since she could endure it for a moment, she did not mind enduring a bit longer. As for Chen Tian, they say a gentleman takes revenge ten years later, but a woman can wait just as long. Sooner or later, she would make him pay for what he did back then.
“Why ask so many questions? Just eat.” Pulling Gu Ming along, she resumed their breakfast, determined not to let someone like that ruin her morning.
“My hand hurts,” Gu Ming said, pouting aggrievedly after sitting down.
Xiao Xiaoran said nothing more and good-naturedly picked up a piece of pickled radish, holding it right up to Gu Ming’s lips.
Gu Ming stretched out her neck, opened her mouth, and bit down on the radish, making a loud, crunchy sound. Once she finished chewing, she did not forget to lick her lips. This routine repeated itself, effectively doubling the time it took to finish breakfast purely because Gu Ming kept acting spoiled.
Meanwhile, things were far from smooth for Chen Tian. Storming out of Gu Ming’s place in a fit of rage, the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. In a burst of fury, he kicked his car, drawing curious stares from passersby. “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen someone dealing with heartbreak?”
His heart burned with unquenchable anger. Five years ago, he had gone to great lengths to drive Xiao Xiaoran away, even getting into a massive physical fight with his own younger brother over the matter. He had assumed that once Xiao Xiaoran went abroad, the whole ordeal was over, but over the past five years, he had poured endless effort into winning Gu Ming over, yet she never showed the slightest romantic interest in him. Instead, she had grown increasingly wary of him. Today, he had planned to bring flowers to win her favor, only to leave with a stomach full of anger.
Chen Tian simply could not understand it. He was such an eligible bachelor, being handsome, educated, and with a thriving career. With his background, he could easily find a dozen girlfriends anywhere he went; why on earth couldn’t Gu Ming see his worth?
Still, as for Xiao Xiaoran, five years ago he feared her only because of the powerful person backing her up. But now that person was long gone, and she was simply someone who had walked straight into a tiger’s den alone. How hard could it be to take her down? With that thought, Chen Tian’s fiery anger subsided slightly, and a cracked smile twisted across his gloomy face.
“Miss, these are the items you asked for. I brought all of them over from the house for you.”
“Oh, Uncle Jiang, you can just leave them there. I will tidy them up later myself.”
“Miss,” the man stood by the doorway looking hesitant.
“What is it, Uncle Jiang? If you have something to say, just say it directly,” Xiao Xiaoran said, putting down her documents and looking at the man standing at the door.
“Is the Miss really not returning to the Xiao family? The old matriarch misses you terribly! Just the other day, she was still asking when you would be coming back.”
“Grandmother?” Xiao Xiaoran muttered thoughtfully to herself.
Seeing that Xiao Xiaoran’s stance had softened, the man pressed his advantage. “These past few years, the master has also been…”
Before he could finish, Xiao Xiaoran interrupted him, her traditionally gentle face turning cold. “Uncle Jiang, you do not need to say anymore. What he did back then was far too unforgivable, and I do not want to hear anything related to him. So please, spare yourself the breath. As for Grandmother, I will carve out some time to go visit her. Thank you for your trouble today, Uncle Jiang. If there is nothing else, you should head back first.”
Realizing he could not push the matter further, the man replied, “Then Miss, I will be heading back now.”
“Yeah.”
Once the man left, Xiao Xiaoran stood up, walked over to the door, and opened her suitcase. Inside were mostly small trinkets, yet though these items looked inexpensive, they were the most precious things in the world to Xiao Xiaoran.
She took out an antique wooden box and opened it. Resting quietly inside was a pair of white jade pieces that, when joined together, formed the shape of a lotus flower. Xiao Xiaoran picked up one of them, gently tracing the character “Ran” carved into its surface, inch by inch, as if trying to feel every detail of the jade into her soul.