Stepping out of the Friendship Store, Xiao Yunting still wanted to take her to the State-Run Department Store. The place in Pagoda Tree Alley was already being tidied up; once the little girl moved in on her own, she would need plenty of daily supplies.
“There’s no rush for that. Even if we buy things now, we’ll have nowhere to put them. We can always get everything later when I move in. By the way—do you know where I can buy seeds? I’d like to pick up some seeds.” Yu Wanzhi had absolutely no desire to shop right now. The Yanjing Department Store carried everything one could wish for; once she lived alone, it would be easy enough to bring whatever she needed out whenever she pleased.
Xiao Yunting turned to look at her, bewildered. “Seeds? What on earth do you need seeds for? Are you planning to farm? We do have an empty plot at home. A few years ago Qin Mengshuang wanted to plant flowers there, and Grandfather gave her a proper scolding—said she was acting like some petty bourgeois socialite.”
“Not there! I noticed that house of Fu Zhoujing’s is quite spacious. Once I move in, I’ll plant them there!” Yu Wanzhi kept the truth to herself. In reality, she intended to cultivate the hundreds of acres of fertile black soil inside her private space. Even if trading farm produce remained forbidden these coming years, she could still stockpile everything she grew—and nothing would ever spoil inside that space.
Xiao Yunting didn’t doubt her words for a moment, but farming was simply out of the question.
“Farming? You just focus on resting and taking good care of yourself. What delicacy can’t you get in the capital? There’s no need for you to do such laborious work.” Her hands were as soft and delicate as fresh scallions; the very thought of her doing heavy chores made him ache.
A sweet smile spread across Yu Wanzhi’s face. “You’re making it sound like you intend to keep me, aren’t you? You’re just as stubborn as ever—ready to take full responsibility for me at the slightest disagreement!”
Xiao Yunting paused, stunned. “Just as stubborn as ever…? What do you mean? Did I… in my past life… take care of you like that?” Hadn’t he always thought of her as his wife? Why did it sound as though he’d been keeping her as a mistress?
He prided himself on being an upstanding young man raised under the red flag—surely he would never have done anything so improper.
“I did mean that, at the very beginning. After all… in that life, you were twenty years older than me.”
“Hold on—how much older?” Xiao Yunting was thoroughly confused. She had told him they were married in their past life, but she had never mentioned such a large age gap!
Yu Wanzhi blinked. “Twenty years. Did I forget to tell you?”
As they talked, they happened to pass a small park. Xiao Yunting chose not to press her further just then. Instead, he led her down a tree-shaded path to the lake, bought two boat tickets, and helped her step gently aboard a small boat.
Summer in the capital was scorching hot. The little girl had wilted under the sun, and he could not bear to drag her wandering any longer. Out on the water, the air would be cool and pleasant. Besides, what they had to discuss was private—far out in the lake, there was no one around to overhear.
Sunlight danced across the rippling water, and a gentle breeze carried a refreshing chill. Xiao Yunting rowed the boat beneath the shade of an arched bridge, glanced all around to ensure they were alone, then spoke softly. “When exactly did I ever tell you I was twenty years your senior? Is this true? If so… wouldn’t I have been an old man chasing after a young girl…?”
Resting comfortably in the boat and feeling the cool water and soft wind, Yu Wanzhi’s spirits lifted instantly.
She giggled merrily at his words, her voice soft and warm. “An old man taking advantage of a young beauty? More or less! Back then I hadn’t even graduated from high school. I was working my way through school, and life was so hard—especially right before the college entrance exams. Some days I only got two or three hours of sleep.”
“One day I was so exhausted I fainted right there on the street. You happened to be passing by and carried me straight to the hospital. When I woke up, you shoved five thousand yuan into my hand, bold as anything. I asked you then—are you planning to keep me? And do you know what you did? You got furious, didn’t say a single word… and flicked me right on the forehead! Hard enough to raise a great big lump!”
Recalling that memory, Yu Wanzhi’s heart still swelled with warmth. In his diary, Xiao Yunting had written that he had once found a beam of light. But to her, this man before her was the light itself. His existence alone had filled her plain, colorless world with brilliance.
“And after you flicked me?”
“Afterward? Well, I couldn’t possibly take your money for nothing! Later, seeing I wouldn’t take it directly, you gave the sum to my university teacher instead. You asked him to look after my daily needs—and to make sure I stopped working and focused entirely on my studies. By then, your Yanjing Department Store had just opened and you were busier than anyone could imagine. Yet you still found time to visit me at school, again and again. And so… this young girl, barely out of childhood, fell hopelessly under your spell. I clung to you, insisted on marrying you, refused to take no for an answer!”
Xiao Yunting’s face flushed bright red at her account. “Under your spell…? You make me sound like some crafty fox spirit…”
Yu Wanzhi smiled even more sweetly. Her almond eyes, glistening and luminous as deep pools, gazed intently up at him—long lashes trembling softly, lips curved in a smile she could not suppress.
That tender gaze made his heart race and his breath grow warm. Quickly he steered the conversation back. “And then? If you were just finishing high school when we met… and I’m twenty years older… that would mean I was already in my late thirties back then?”
“Thirty-eight, to be exact. After I confessed my feelings to you, you went ages without speaking to me. I suppose I was just too young, and you felt too old—after all, I used to call you ‘Uncle’. I understood perfectly why you turned me down! So instead, I went to Fu Zhoujing. Pestered him every single day, asking everything he knew about you.”
“He told me stories about your past, and why you’d never married even into your late thirties. Once I understood what held you back… I knew exactly how to win your heart. Before half a year had passed, you were mine!” A faint, shy glimmer crossed her eyes as she remembered her bold, foolish ways back then.
Curiosity stirred in Xiao Yunting’s chest. “Why had I never married at thirty-eight?”
Yu Wanzhi pressed her lips together. When she looked at him again, her eyes held nothing but tenderness and sorrow. “I’d rather not say. It would only hurt you to know.” It was a pain best left unspoken—why reopen old wounds?
But now that she had said so, Xiao Yunting burned all the more to know. “Was I… previously married?” Privately, he doubted it. He knew himself too well. He would never have entered marriage without finding someone who truly stirred his heart.
Yu Wanzhi shot him a sharp, fiery glare. “If you had been married before… I would never have come near you, no matter how much I loved you. My man belongs to me and me alone. I will never share him with anyone!”
That glare struck Xiao Yunting like a hammer to the chest—his heart thudded wildly, beating fast enough to burst.
Her eyes flashed with anger, and yet… his heart soared. Truly, when one is as handsome as he, even a glare holds its own breathtaking beauty.
“Did we… have children?” Distracted by her outburst, Xiao Yunting let the question of his past life remain, turning instead to what mattered most to him.
Yu Wanzhi sighed softly, her voice falling quiet and heavy. “No. For all four years of university, you insisted I give my full attention to my studies. By the time I graduated and longed to give you a child… it was you who asked me for a divorce…”