Liu Zhiheng happily returned to the Liu family’s small courtyard, carrying a basket of charcoal, and made sure to latch the gate behind her.
From now on, she’d have to be more careful. It wasn’t that she was worried about her reputation if someone saw her being so intimate with Xuelang—she just didn’t want to complicate things between her and Xie Tinglan.
Cheerfully, she entered the house, only to find Duan Wujiu sitting alone by the window.
Duan Wujiu was gazing blankly into the distance, lost in thought. He seemed enveloped in sorrow, as if he might shatter at any moment.
His eyes were slightly red, on the verge of tears. Who wouldn’t feel heartbroken seeing him like this?
“Xuelang, what’s wrong?” Liu Zhiheng asked anxiously.
She set the charcoal basket on the floor and hurried over to Duan Wujiu, crouching in front of him and looking up with concern.
Duan Wujiu glanced at Liu Zhiheng, forcing a faint smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
“Is A Heng done talking to him?”
“Yes!” Liu Zhiheng replied nervously. “I’m sorry, did I keep you waiting too long?”
Duan Wujiu’s lips curled into a self-mocking smile as a single tear fell, like a star dropping from the sky, landing with a soft plop on the back of Liu Zhiheng’s hand.
In a trembling voice, he said, “He’s your fiancé. Now that he’s here, A Heng doesn’t want me anymore, is that it?”
She was wronged!
Liu Zhiheng hadn’t expected Duan Wujiu to imagine so much in the short time she was gone.
“How could that be? Why would you think that?”
“But he only had to say one word, and A Heng immediately left me to go with him, didn’t you?”
Liu Zhiheng was speechless. She had to admit, her behavior just now did seem a bit heartless.
“Even when I held onto the hem of A Heng’s clothes, begging you to stay, you still left, didn’t you?”
Looking at Duan Wujiu’s reddened eyes and his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, Liu Zhiheng thought: I really am the worst!
All she wanted was to wipe away the shattered expression on Duan Wujiu’s face. Recalling how online playboys sweet-talked their way out of trouble, she immediately began pouring out flattering words as if they were free.
“It’s not that he can just call me away with one word. I went with him because there’s a difference between outsiders and those close to me. I have to be polite to outsiders, but I treat you like family, so I accidentally overlooked your feelings. It’s my fault.”
“I don’t care about him either—it’s just that I have no choice right now. I’m still counting on him to break off the engagement, so I have to humor him a little, don’t I? Once the engagement is called off, you’ll see if I even glance his way again!”
“I like Xuelang the most. Xuelang is so handsome, fair-skinned, tall, with long legs and soft lips. Everything about you is the best—no one else can compare!”
“I only like Xuelang. I don’t care about anyone else!”
Liu Zhiheng’s relentless barrage of sweet talk finally softened Duan Wujiu’s expression. He reached out and once again grasped the hem of her clothes.
“A Heng, are those words true?”
“I can swear it!”
Liu Zhiheng raised her hand to make an oath, but Duan Wujiu gently pulled it back down.
Still holding onto her clothes, he said gloomily, “There’s no need for A Heng to swear. Just promise you won’t coldly pull your clothes away from my grasp like you did earlier…”
“I won’t, I won’t! Never again!””Then promise me, A Heng, that no matter what happens, you won’t abandon me, alright?”
Duan Wujiu’s anxious and insecure demeanor made Liu Zhiheng both amused and exasperated.
“Why would you think that? When did I ever say I would abandon you? Just because I spoke with someone else, you think you’re being cast aside—that’s really being too petty, isn’t it?”
“But just now, A Heng said outside that I would be leaving before long. Doesn’t that mean A Heng wants to send me away?”
“You could hear that?” Liu Zhiheng asked in surprise.
Duan Wujiu gave a bitter smile, looking aggrieved.
“I know martial arts, so my hearing is better than most. You were just outside the courtyard, not far away, so I heard. I truly wish I hadn’t, then I wouldn’t be so upset…”
Liu Zhiheng sighed helplessly. She had indeed said those words, and she knew that Duan Wujiu really would leave in a few months.
On a day when the spring breeze melted the snow, he would wake up and suddenly forget the memories of the past few months.
Then he would recall his entire life, remember his identity as the Prince of Yan, and leave this small village without a second thought.
Seeing that Liu Zhiheng, who had been comforting him all along, suddenly fell silent, Duan Wujiu’s heart sank.
Could it be that A Heng really intended to send him away?
Liu Zhiheng lowered her gaze and spoke honestly, “I said those words to get rid of him. I promise you, as long as you don’t want to leave yourself, I won’t send you away, alright?”
Hearing this, Duan Wujiu breathed a sigh of relief, wondering if the sorrowful expression he had seen on Liu Zhiheng’s face earlier had been a trick of his eyes.
“I won’t leave. I want to be with A Heng for the rest of my life.” Duan Wujiu, knowing when to stop, gently tugged at the hem of Liu Zhiheng’s clothes again.
Looking at Duan Wujiu’s hand tightly clutching her clothes, Liu Zhiheng’s heart softened once more.
Xuelang truly was a good person. Ever since learning about her special constitution, he hadn’t dared to touch her, only holding onto her clothes, treating her with such respect and care.
Liu Zhiheng thought that even if it was only for these few months, being able to stay with him would bring her joy.
“Then don’t be sad anymore, alright?” Liu Zhiheng coaxed him again.
Duan Wujiu nodded and smiled once more, his smile as gentle as the spring breeze melting the snow.
“When will A Heng be able to break off the engagement with him?”
“Young Master Xie is a scholar who cares deeply about his reputation. Our engagement was an accident, and neither of us is fond of the other. It’s just that breaking off the engagement so soon after it was arranged would be hard to explain, so we’re delaying it. After he finishes the provincial examinations, we’ll end the engagement.”
Is that so?
Does he not like A Heng at all?
How could he believe that?
But judging by A Heng’s behavior, she truly didn’t care for that so-called Young Master Xie at all. Duan Wujiu felt there was no need to expose him.
It seemed that as long as that Scholar Xie didn’t do anything foolish, he could spare his life for now.
“How long until the provincial examinations?”
“Next year’s Autumn Examinations, so less than a year.”
“Then I’ll have to follow A Heng without any status for a whole year…”
Liu Zhiheng couldn’t help but laugh. This Xuelang, why did he act like a little wife?
“Alright, don’t be sad. Since there’s nothing to do during the day anyway and the snow has stopped, I’ll find my father’s mountain clothes for you in a bit, and I’ll take you hunting in the mountains. We’ll catch a few chickens or rabbits, and then tonight we can have hot pot together, alright?”Duan Wujiu relaxed his expression, smiled, and nodded.
Liu Zhiheng let out a long sigh of relief. It was truly not easy—finally, he had been appeased.
…