After dinner, Shen Xi sat on the carpet under the Christmas tree with a mug in her hands. Leaning against the sofa, she looked up at the glowing lights and the colorful decorations hanging on the green pine needles. She smiled and looked at the man standing beside her. "You asked Mrs. Zhang to decorate it?"
"No..." Su Hang intuitively wanted to deny it but realized that he didn't have to hide such things anymore. He had already confessed. But he still felt a little awkward, so his ears were red as he nodded. "I did it."
Shen Xi's heart turned sweet. She looked at the embarrassed man and wanted to laugh.
"Come sit down." Shen Xi patted at the empty spot next to her.
Su Hang bent down and sat next to Shen Xi with his legs crossed. The distance between their bodies was minuscule. Su Hang felt that if he moved just the tiniest inch, he would be able to touch the corners of Shen Xi's clothes. It made his eyes gentle.
Chu Wu was a labrador, a genius dog. Because he was so smart, Chu Wu decided not to discuss past grudges with his father and instead laid down on the other side of the Christmas tree.
"Back in that small town, there was something you didn't properly explain. You should talk about it now." Shen Xi suddenly said.
"What did you want to know?" Su Hang asked.
"Do you remember what you said to me yesterday?" Shen Xi reminded him.
"I...I...." Su Hang glanced at Shen Xi, then bowed his head. After a while, he managed to look at her in the eye and say: "I like you."
"...." How come she never realized that Su Hang had such a pure and innocent heart, ah? It was so obvious. Look at him, trying to steal a glance. Shen Xi was amused by this little wife of hers. Shen Xi tamped down a chuckle and asked: "When did you start liking me?"
Su Hang hadn't expected Shen Xi to ask such a thing. He nervously picked at the carpet as he thought about it. In the end, he decided to tell her the truth. "A long time ago."
Sure enough. Shen Xi nodded and motioned Su Hang to continue.
"To be honest, we've met each other before." Su Hang started. "Although you may not remember it."
"Really? When?" Shen Xi knew that they must've met before. Otherwise, how could Su Hang have had a crush on her before their marriage? But when did they meet? Shen Xi really couldn't remember.
"You were in primary school. Grade two or three, I think. I was walking near your school, collecting mineral water bottles at the time." Su Hang explained.
Shen Xi blinked and tried to remember. She really couldn't remember. She had no recollection of primary school and mineral water bottles coinciding in her childhood.
"At that time, I didn't have, and ID card and couldn't get a proper job. I could only pick up garbage for money." Su Hang said. "Your school is pretty elite, and all the students have good family conditions, so your school's trash has a lot of good things."
"I picked up plenty: brand new pencil cases, school bags, dolls, a football with a little scratch on the side...I would take them off of the trash can and give them to the younger kids in my orphanage." Maybe it was because he had finally established a proper relationship with Shen Xi. When Su Hang talked about his past, he no longer had an inferiority complex.
"But the security of our school should be top-notch. How did you get in?" Shen Xi asked.
Su Hang answered: "Over the wall. The security guards of your school change shift at 3:00 p.m. every day. That's when I would climb the wall."
"Then, how did we meet?" Shen Xi asked.
"Once, when I was rummaging through a trash bin, you suddenly ran over to throw something. I was afraid of being found and climbed back up the wall to escape. But I got too flustered and accidentally fell down from the wall." Su Hang couldn't help laughing at his past self.
"Were you alright? You didn't get hurt?" Shen Xi hurriedly asked.
Su Hang looked at Shen Xi, and the image of the little girl ten years ago coincided with this woman in front of him.
"Brother, are you alright? Did you get hurt?" Little Shen Xi saw a big brother fall down from such a high wall. She dropped the things in her hands and ran over to the boy.
A young Su Hang got up to his feet. Fortunately, he only got a few scratches from his tumble. His bones were fine, and he didn't feel any sprains. He bowed his head and didn't dare look at the little girl hovering over him. He stood up and wanted to climb back up.
"Brother, you're bleeding." Shen Xi's baby face was full of panic.
The young Su Hang looked at the blood that flowed from his knee and down his calves. He casually wiped it away with his dirty sleeves.
"No, no, don't wipe it like that. There are bacteria!" Little Shen Xi cried out.
The teenage Su Hang didn't intend to pay this girl any attention. He raised his hand to climb back up the wall.
"I'll go to sister nurse. Brother, wait for me." Little Shen Xi knew that if she ever got injured in school, she needed to see a nurse.
Nurse! If the school found out about him, he would never be able to come back and rummage through their garbage dump again. The young Su Hang hurriedly turned around and chased after the little girl. He grabbed her chubby hand and said: "Don't go!"
"But, you're bleeding." The horrified young girl replied.
The teenage Su Hang felt that he shouldn't be bullying such a young □ □ year-old girl, but he couldn't lose this bountiful 'source of goods.'
"What's your name, Little Sister?" The young Su Hang patiently coaxed.
"My name is Shen Xi." Little Shen Xi replied. She thought that this big brother looked handsome and didn't seem like a bad guy, so she answered honestly.
"Shen Xi?" The young Su Hang immediately thought back to his childhood. This little girl's appearance was indeed quite similar to that child holding the rabbit doll in the past. He asked: "Is your father the one who started the Shen Charity fund?"
"My mother is in charge of that charity fund. I also help." Shen Xi corrected.
"Ah, that's wonderful." Having met an old 'acquaintance,' the young Su Hang became more gentle. "Little Sister, Big Brother isn't a bad person, ah."
Little Shen Xi nodded. He wasn't a bad guy.
"So, can you not tell the others that you met me today?" The teenage Su Hang asked.
"Why?" Little Shen Xi didn't understand.
"Because Brother is coming here to look for something. If you tell someone else, I won't be able to come back later." The young Su Hang continued to coax.
"We can all find it together." Little Shen Xi enthusiastically said.
"No, I won't be able to find it if you tell someone else." The teenage Su Hang didn't know what else to say.
The puzzled little girl tilted her head. As she did so, she finally noticed a black garbage bag nearby that was filled with mineral water bottles. Little Shen Xi instantly understood. She and her mother had done the same thing countless times when they were helping the charity. She knew that mineral water bottles could be sold for money and that some children in the orphanages would pick them up and sell them.
"But you're hurt." Little Shen Xi insisted.
"I'm alright. The blood will stop soon." The young Su Hang gave his wound another cursory wipe with his sleeve.
"Don't wipe it." Litte Shen Xi took out a small bunny band-aid from her pocket, then pasted it on Su Hang's wound. However, the little band-aid wasn't able to completely cover the injury, so Shen Xi stuck two more. "You have to remember to see a doctor after you go out."
"So you won't tell anyone..." The young Su Hang began to speak when he suddenly heard a sound in the distance. After briefly calculating the time, he realized that it should be the security guard patrolling the grounds. He was afraid of being found out, and without much thought, the young Su Hang grabbed Shen Xi and jumped inside the garbage dump, covering their bodies with some garbage bags.
Little Shen Xi's eyes widened in horror and afraid that she would start shouting, the young Su Hang covered her mouth with his hand. It was a very vivid scene of a kidnapping.
"Don't be afraid." The teenage Su Hang knew that the little girl must be terrified, but he could only appease her in this way.
Fortunately, the security guard left pretty quickly. The young Su Hang immediately released Shen Xi, but who knew that in such a short amount of time, the little girl would already have tears falling down her face. It made the teenage Su Hang go into a panic.
"Don't cry, don't cry." The young Su Hang was flustered and confused. "If you want to tell a teacher, then tell a teacher. I won't ever come here again. Don't cry."
"I-I won't tell a teacher." Little Shen Xi choked out. After she finished saying this, she turned around and ran without looking back.
The young Su Hang watched the little girl's retreating figure. He angrily grabbed at his hair, profoundly regretting his actions.
"I remember that." Shen Xi finally recalled the memory after hearing the story. "So, that was you."
"You remember?" Su Hang was surprised.
"I have a little impression of it." Shen Xi will never admit that the only reason she never mentioned it to other people was that she found the 'Big Brother' to be handsome.
"And then? Did you come back?" Although Shen Xi never told her teachers about it, she never went to the school's garbage dump again. Gradually, she forgot about the good-looking brother.
"After a week of observation, I found that the patrol route of your school's security guards hadn't changed. I realized that you hadn't told." Su Hang still felt a warmth in his heart at the thought of this. "I came back later."
"Then.... you liked me since then?" Shen Xi frowned. How old was he at the time? This guy isn't into children, ah.
"No." Su Hang shook his head. "When you cried back then, I felt really guilty. After that incident, I would often peek at you whenever you left the school gate. Then I found that you seem to trust other people a little too easily, so I..."
"So?" Shen Xi remembered that because her parents protected her so well, she would easily trust people when she was young. It wasn't until she met Yun Shu during junior high (Yun Shu had been transferred to her school because she had been nearly kidnapped in her previous school) that she began to understand the darker side of the world.
"I waited with you at the school gates every day until your family picked you up." Now that he said it out loud, Su Hang felt like a voyeur.
"Every day?" Shen Xi was surprised.
"Well, until I went back to the Su family and went abroad to study." Shen Xi's school was an escalator school that offered primary to high school education. Su Hang stayed with Shen Xi for four years until he had to leave.
Shen Xi opened her mouth, wanting to say something. But she didn't know what to say. On the one hand, she was moved that someone had silently protected her for four years. On the other hand, it felt a little weird.
"When I came back from abroad, I met you at a banquet." Su Hang continued. "Because of my identity, no one in the entire hall wanted to talk to me. Even their gazes were full of hostility. You were the only one who smiled at me."
Shen Xi thought that her smile to him back then was probably just out of politeness.
"You were already in college at the time. After just a few years, that little girl suddenly turned into a big beauty." Su Hang still remembered that amazing day in great detail.
"I don't know when I started to like you." Su Hang said. "Maybe it was because I looked after you every day for four years. Maybe it was because you smiled at me when nobody did. Anyway, all I know is that somehow, I unknowingly fell for you."
Su Hang had never told this to anyone. Li QingYuan only knew that Su Hang had met Shen Xi very early in his life, and not the actual process. Now that everything was out in the open, Su Hang felt quite embarrassed.
"So....the legendary girl you were in love with since you were young is me?" Shen Xi asked.
"Un." Su Hang nodded.
"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?" Shen Xi had imagined countless reactions she might have when she finally learned the truth, but now, her first thought was how angry she was feeling right now. She was furious on her past self's behalf.
"I-I've been looking for the opportunity to tell you..." Su Hang stammered.
"What opportunity? We're already husband and wife, yet people are still gossiping that you like someone else. Haven't you considered my feelings?" An emotional Shen Xi asked.
"I..."
"You scoundrel! Su Hang, you're a jerk!" Shen Xi yelled without much thought.
She felt wronged and aggrieved for her past self. If Su Hang hadn't waited for an 'opportunity' and simply told her the truth from the very beginning, her past life wouldn't have ended so tragically.
"Shen Xi..." Shen Xi's sudden outburst was very unexpected. Su Hang didn't know what he did wrong.
Shen Xi threw a pillow at the man's face, then turned around and ran back into her bedroom.
Su Hang sat there, petrified. After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't understand why Shen Xi became so angry. It's only been two months since their marriage, ah. It hasn't been that long. She didn't need to be so angry.
"Arf!" Chu Wu barked in sympathy.
The author has something to say:
This chapter had been changed around many times, but it always ended with Shen Xi's sudden change in mood. In the end, I can only write it like this. There's still a lot of room for this crab to improve...
In their last life, Shen Xi and Su Hang attended a wine party shortly after their marriage. After Su Hang exchanged greetings with the other guests, he went to look for Shen Xi. He found her chatting with Yun Shu.
"Do you know who Su Hang's secret love is?" Yun Shu asked.
"I don't know." Shen Xi replied. "And I don't care."
"Good. Caring about such things would be even worse." Yun Shu said.
So in the end, Mr. Su, who didn't know how to explain things, never said...