Xie Wanyin’s struggling movements came to a halt, and she tugged mockingly at the corner of her lips.
“No wonder you kept emphasizing that we never got a divorce certificate. So it turns out you’re getting remarried?”
Zhou Ruotan’s brows drew tightly together. “It’s not what you think.”
The moment he finished speaking, someone pulled open the car door from outside.
The smile on Yuan Qian’s face instantly stiffened. She froze for a moment, then curved her lips into an even wider smile. “Sister Wanyin, why didn’t you tell us you were back? Brother Ruotan and I have both missed you so much.”
Xie Wanyin had no mood to deal with the two of them. Taking advantage of the open door, she quickly walked away.
“Sister Wanyin.”
Yuan Qian suddenly called out to her. “Brother Ruotan and I are going to pick out wedding dresses. Your taste has always been great. Do you want to come with us?”
“After we finish choosing the dresses, we can have a meal together too. Sister Wanyin, Brother Ruotan and I have both missed you so much. It’ll be a good chance for us to catch up.”
Xie Wanyin’s heart suddenly sank, and her breathing stopped.
She secretly clenched her fists, then quickly returned to her indifferent expression. “No, I have something to do.”
The bitterness in her heart surged like a tide. She did not dare turn around, afraid of seeing the two of them acting intimately.
Once upon a time, she had believed she would be happy forever.
Yet a single earthquake had turned their relationship upside down from that point on.
Back then, she had wanted a divorce, but her parents had refused. They had said they could not afford to lose face, and that having a divorced woman in the family would affect her siblings’ marriages.
They had also said that her legs were ruined and could not be cured, so there was no point in treating them. They had transferred all the money in her account away for her younger brother’s education.
That period had been the darkest time of Xie Wanyin’s life. She had sought doctors everywhere, unwilling to give up even the slightest hope. Later, she had stayed abroad to undergo rehabilitation, but unfortunately, the results had been poor.
It was not until Father Xie was diagnosed with cancer that Xie Wanyin returned to the country.
Although she had had many unpleasant conflicts with her parents back then, he was still her biological father. She could not simply stand by and do nothing.
The cost of treating cancer, however, was simply too high, not to mention that her legs also required money for daily rehabilitation and care.
The savings she had accumulated while working as a dancer had dwindled to almost nothing over the years.
She could only find a suitable job and work hard to earn money.
What she had not expected was that she would run into Zhou Ruotan not long after returning and starting work.
As soon as Xie Wanyin was about to leave, Zhou Ruotan hurriedly got out of the car.
He instinctively followed her, but before he had taken two steps, someone grabbed him firmly by the arm.
“Brother Ruotan, where are you going?” Yuan Qian asked aggrievedly. “Have you forgotten that today is the day we’re choosing our wedding dresses?”
Zhou Ruotan looked straight at her with his deep-set eyes. “Why did you deliberately say that?”
Yuan Qian was caught off guard and startled. She bit down on her red lips. “Brother Ruotan, don’t forget that you were the one who knelt before my parents’ graves and said you would stay with me for the rest of your life.”
“Brother, are you trying to go back on your word? In your heart, I’m just a burden, aren’t I?”
The color in Zhou Ruotan’s eyes darkened slightly. “I will stay with you for the rest of my life. But, Qianqian, you know perfectly well that we aren’t really getting married. Taking wedding photos is only to fulfill your wish. Why did you deliberately bring it up in front of her?”
After Xie Wanyin had been discharged from the hospital back then, Yuan Qian’s adoptive parents had suddenly died in a car accident, and the Yuan family had fallen into chaos. It seemed as though all the pressure in the world had landed on his shoulders.
He had been found by Yuan Qian’s adoptive parents beside a river. He had been too young at the time and remembered nothing, except that his surname was Zhou.
Yuan Qian’s adoptive parents had reported it to the police, but they still could not find Zhou Ruotan’s relatives.
After careful consideration, they had decided to adopt Zhou Ruotan.
So many years had passed, and Zhou Ruotan had long since come to regard them as his family.
That was why Zhou Ruotan had not had any time to look for her during that period. He had thought there would always be another chance in the future, but he had never expected the days to pass one after another.
He simply had not expected that when they met again, three years would already have passed.
Yuan Qian leaned against him and sobbed in fits and starts. “Brother Ruotan, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t abandon me. Before they died, Mom and Dad told you to take good care of me. Do you remember?”
Tears dampened her eyes. “You’re the only family I have left, Brother Ruotan. I’m sorry. Before they died, Mom and Dad could never stop worrying about me. I only want to take a wedding photo for them to see, to tell them that I’m doing well. I’m afraid they won’t feel at ease if I take wedding photos with someone else. After thinking it over, you’re the only one I have. Brother Ruotan, you have to help me…”
Zhou Ruotan sighed. He raised his hand, and in the end, gently stroked the top of her head. “I never thought that way. Qianqian, although we aren’t related by blood, I’ve always regarded you as my younger sister.”
After Yuan Qian’s adoptive parents died, Yuan Qian lost her sense of security and became haggard and restless every day.
Later, Yuan Qian suddenly suggested that she wanted to try experiencing what getting married was like.
Looking at the rare light in her eyes, Zhou Ruotan could not bring himself to refuse her.
He lifted his eyelids and looked in the direction Xie Wanyin had left. A numbness spread through his chest.
Forget it. Three years had already passed, so what difference would another day or two make?
Zhou Ruotan pressed his pale lips tightly together and closed his eyes.
They still had plenty of time. There would always be a chance to explain.
Besides, Xie Wanyin had been kind since childhood. She would surely be able to understand him.
After returning home, Xie Wanyin took a comfortable hot shower.
She lay on the bed, just about to chat with her best friend about what had happened that day.
Suddenly, a message popped up on the screen.
“Holy crap, do you guys know? Xie Wanyin is back.”
Xie Wanyin narrowed her eyes slightly, only then noticing that this was the group chat Yuan Qian had created all those years ago.
The group had been silent for a long time. She had not expected anyone to suddenly send a message.
The conversation continued—
“How does Xie Wanyin have the nerve to come back? Could she have found out that Zhou Ruotan found his biological parents and decided to crawl back to him?”
“This is hilarious. Xie Wanyin probably still doesn’t know that Zhou Ruotan’s biological parents come from a renowned family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners!”
Xie Wanyin froze for a moment. She had not expected that so much could have happened in only three short years.
Yuan Qian’s adoptive parents were dead… Zhou Ruotan had actually found his biological parents…
She knew nothing about any of it.
The people in the group had probably forgotten that she was still in it, because their words grew increasingly vicious.
“That’s right. When Yuan Qian’s adoptive parents died, she ran off without even looking back. Who would have thought that only a few years later, Zhou Ruotan would be reunited with his biological parents?”
“I really don’t understand what Zhou Ruotan ever saw in Xie Wanyin. During the earthquake back then, just because he didn’t rescue her first, she actually walked away just like that. She has no sense of the bigger picture at all. If you ask me, Yuan Qian and Zhou Ruotan are much better suited to each other.”
As she scrolled farther down, someone with a yellow profile picture replied, “What nonsense are you talking about? They’re siblings.”
The person who had been rebuked refused to accept it and quickly replied.
“Tsk, who doesn’t know that Zhou Ruotan and Yuan Qian aren’t related by blood?”
Xie Wanyin lowered her eyes, and her nose stung.
Although she and Zhou Ruotan had grown up together as childhood sweethearts, Zhou Ruotan had always found her annoying.
When they were in school, Xie Wanyin would timidly tug on his clothing and pester him to sit at the same desk with her.
When she grew a little older, she wanted to go to and from school with him and do her homework with him.
Knowing that Zhou Ruotan suffered from a stomach condition, she reminded him every day to eat properly. Whenever his stomach hurt, she would warm her hands and gently rub his abdomen.
Zhou Ruotan found her annoying, but he had never refused her.
She had always thought she was special.
Until she learned that Zhou Ruotan had a younger sister.
It was clearly her birthday, but every time Yuan Qian made a fuss, Zhou Ruotan would return without a word to comfort her.
Even after they got married, whenever an anniversary came around, Yuan Qian would call him over one thing or another.
Zhou Ruotan never refused.
Only later did Xie Wanyin realize that, in Zhou Ruotan’s heart, no one could compare to Yuan Qian.
Memories of the past flashed before her eyes like scenes from a revolving lantern.
Xie Wanyin closed her eyes and was just about to leave the group when her best friend Qiao Yu suddenly sent her a link. “Wanyin, help me see which one looks better.”
She was about to follow the link and take a look when her finger slipped, and she accidentally forwarded it instead.
Her vision went black. Only then did Xie Wanyin realize that she had forwarded it to the group chat that had just been discussing her.
The entire group instantly fell silent.
Xie Wanyin became even more flustered. She hurriedly tried to retract the message, but accidentally clicked on the link again.
It was a purchase page for a revealing piece of erotic lingerie.
Xie Wanyin took a deep breath. By the time she finally exited the page and tried to retract the message, the retraction period had already passed.
Qiao Yu, you’ve really done me no end of harm!
The next second, Zhou Ruotan sent a voice message.
Each word was a question, uttered through gritted teeth.
“Xie Wanyin, what the hell do you mean?!”