Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The cold breeze continued to brush past them, making the hem of their clothes flutter. She breathed in slightly and closed her eyes, then she opened them again. Gazing down calmly at the green fields, her clear eyes suddenly became a little dazed. A smile blossomed on her elegant face and she looked a little lonely.
"It's been more than 10 years. Every time I recall these things, I feel like I've been cursed. You don't know how inexperienced I was back then and had to face all of this, powerless. The kind of helplessness I felt almost made me fall apart. I even thought of jumping off the top of the military academy just to prove my innocence..."
When she said this, she suddenly looked at him, her eyes holding a gloomy and hopeless light. "But I told myself I couldn't die. If I died, wouldn't she get away with it then? What would my mother do? I even thought of all sorts of extreme ways back then...
"Who says that caring less would grant me happiness? I don't know why she hates me so much. She's not content with taking everything away from me by scheming. She even wants to push me off the edge. If it were because she was unhappy due to her identity as an illegitimate daughter from before, what about my mother? Aren't we wronged and innocent? Yet, she still..." The sound of her cough interrupted her monologue.
The crisp breeze poured in and dried her throat, so she could not help but start coughing. Her emotional tone weakened and her body subconsciously trembled lightly.
He quickly reached out to steady her while her hand that gripped onto the railing subconsciously tightened too. "He was usually someone who was easy to talk to. He received tons of love and respect from the students. That afternoon, the school was on holiday. He knew that I didn't usually like going out on holidays, so he made me get some documents from his private living quarters outside to distribute to my classmates. At the same time, I had to send over the details filled up by my classmates from the week before...
"When I went over, it was just him alone. I took the documents and was about to leave. Then, he took a diamond necklace out and asked me if I liked it. I said it looked pretty. After that, he said he wanted to gift it to me. He said that he had always admired and liked me. I immediately rejected him... Amidst the struggling, I..."
She gasped in short breaths and closed her eyes slightly. The tips of her fingers were unusually pale as she clutched the railing as if in agony.
It had been so many years, yet this was her first time completely recalling this unbearable past of hers in front of someone else. She still could not control her emotions.
"Initially, I didn't want to remember all these things too. Those who live in resentment usually suffer. I just want to live more peacefully..."
She touched the handphone in her pocket and inhaled deeply. A cold light shifted in her eyes. "Say, why can't people just live a little more simply?"
When she asked this, she glanced up silently at him.
His eyes darkened for a moment. Then, he reached out to put his arms around her frail shoulders, saying softly, "Where did all this sorrow come from? Because everyone has different desires, they'd want different things too. You have such pure thoughts like a silly girl. Others might not be like you."
She reached out and gently put her arms around his strong waist as she muttered, "No, actually I'm not that simple..."
"Hmm?"
He looked down puzzled at her, yet before he could react, he felt a sharp pinch on his waist!
"I told you to stop calling me silly. This is an insult to my IQ. Hmm!"
She raised her brows to provoke him. Seeing the way he tried so hard to endure the pain, she suddenly could not help but giggle as she pranced away. The smile on her face was as magnificent as a rainbow.
He lifted a hand to rub the part of his waist where she had painfully pinched him, yet he beamed and looked at her. As he watched her figure leave in the swaying wind, he stood unmoving for a long time.
"Let's go home. It's going to rain soon!"
She walked ahead for quite a bit, then she looked up to the misty sky and saw that it was starting to drizzle already, so she turned to him.
When she saw that he was still silently standing there, she frowned and thought about it before she hurled out a hand to him.
His calm face very quickly flashed with a satisfied smile. Then, he picked up his pace and walked over.
The slightly icy touch between their palms flowed into their bodies. In a heartbeat, she could feel a faint warmth instead: him.
"Hey, Mr. Mu, I want to ask if this thing really becomes huge, would Father be implicated very badly? After all, he did actually..."
She held onto his hand tightly and suddenly stopped walking to look up to ask. Her clear eyes faintly contained struggle and concern.
"What do you think? How would he be implicated?" He shot her a side look with interest.
She shook her head honestly. After thinking about it, she then answered, "I don't know. I'm ignorant about the law."
When he heard this, he immediately chuckled and said happily, "That's one thing we both have in common. I don't know about the law either. You can ask around. Even Mother can be upright and stubborn, but she's very sensible."
When Mu Yuchen said this, Xi Xiaye's beautiful brows immediately knotted tightly. Quite a while after that, she said, "I don't want to. It's best if you ask."
"Are you a little afraid of Mother?" Mu Yuchen suddenly looked at her meaningfully.
She was stunned for a moment, then she took a deep breath. "Not that afraid. When I first met her, I felt like her presence was too strong and that it was quite stressful to talk to her, but now I think it's pretty peaceful and she's a great conversationalist."
"As overwhelming as someone's aura might be, they're still just a little girl before their father. Don't you think so too? Mother is still pretty easy to talk to. Besides, they're all friends of many years, so they'd know what to do."
Mu Yuchen looked at her helplessly from the side. She was not worried about herself right now. Instead, she was worried about the others. When it came to these things, her EQ seemed to be able to instantly drop to negative.
"So, do you promise me then? To ask Mother about it?" Xi Xiaye squinted her eyes at him and asked softly.
He looked at her from the side and did not answer.
"Say something." She frowned and glared at him. "Don't look at me like that. It's just not convenient for me to speak up just in case Mother thinks I'm trying to pull strings for myself. I'm still trying hard to maintain this relationship between grandmother and daughter-in-law."
Mu Yuchen almost burst out with laughter from her lame excuse. "How do you think Mother would react if she heard you say this?"
However, just as Mu Yuchen said this, without waiting for Xi Xiaye's answer, the phone in his pocket finally buzzed. When he took it out, it was indeed from the Mu residence!
His handsome brows raised, then he handed the phone to Xi Xiaye. Her expression stiffened, her neat brows frowned. She did not reach her hand out either.
As Xi Xiaye expected, it was Wang Hui who called. It was because of what appeared in the papers, and it seemed that things were much worse than she thought.
"It's fine. I don't particularly mean anything. Come back tonight. Tell my granddaughter-in-law not to stress herself out. We'll face this together as a family!" Wang Hui's gentle voice reached them, warming Xi Xiaye's heart.
"Mmm, we'll head back now." Mu Yuchen then hung up and looked at the quiet Xi Xiaye. "Let's go back now so they don't worry."
She nodded and did not say anything. Instead, she just let him drag her ahead.
It was near evening when they reached the Mu Residence. Because it was drizzling outside, the air was humid.
Dinner was already served, so the couple went straight to the dining table upon entering the house.
Mu Yinan and Wang Hui were both around. However, Zhuang Shurong was on leave today while Mu Tangchuang had matters to attend to.
"Xiaye, we won't ask you what exactly happened. Your grandpa called us just now and told us about it. You really are a silly girl. We've discussed it and have decided to do a thorough investigation. Otherwise, your father might face a hard time."
Wang Hui studied Xi Xiaye preciously.
How could she believe that a strong-willed woman like Xi Xiaye would do something like that? It was obvious that she was framed!
Moreover, judging from the fact that she was the future heiress to Fuhua Properties was enough to shut everyone up. However, Shen Yue's made an odd decision to publicize her identity as his granddaughter only after her 28th birthday, and it was exactly because of this that Shen Wenna...
With Shen Wenna's pride as well as her undying love for Xi Mushan, she would never talk about that which eventually caused the tragedy after that.
Shen Yue had also been brooding over this matter, which was why he did not want to talk about it either.
Wang Hui truly understood the reason behind Shen Yue's actions. An experienced businessman like Shen Yue had seen too many kinds of people. He just wanted to protect his children regardless of whether his actions were right or wrong. It was obvious that he did not really care much about a person's family background; he preferred a man that would treat his granddaughter well.
Precisely because of this, Wang Hui investigated more about Xi Xiaye after knowing about her. The findings were satisfactory. She had always longed for a strong, kind, and positive girl as her grandson's partner.
"I heard that this matter has caused quite a negative effect, especially on your father. If it isn't handled properly, there might be an investigation into him. Recently, they've been pretty strict on governors' behavior. Your father was already pretty stressed out because of the orphanage issue, and now..."
Zhuang Shurong paused, her eyes showing concern. "Don't worry. It won't be a big issue if we're able to find out the truth. It's just that on your father's end..."
Xi Xiaye understood what Zhuang Shurong was trying to say. No matter what the end results were, her father Xi Mushan would still be affected one way or another, especially if she and Xi Xinyi were exposed. Including Shen Wenna and Yue Lingsi, it would cause a massive chain reaction! Throw Shen Yue and the current Mu family into the equation and things would be chaotic!
Xi Xiaye felt heavy inside. Suddenly, she had no idea what to reply.
Suddenly, the quiet Mu Yuchen spoke up, "It's fine. You guys don't have to do anything. Things will be clear soon enough. Let's just be as low-profile as possible and not overdo it. We'll just explain what happened to them. Ah Mo will be sending the documents to the court in a few days. After things are made clear, I'll request for a public apology from the people who handled this case in the military academy back then as well as demand punishment for the perpetrator."
As he put his chopsticks down and grabbed a napkin to gracefully wipe his mouth, he grabbed Xi Xiaye's phone and stood up slowly. "I'm done. You guys enjoy."
He then left the dining table swiftly after saying those words.
Zhuang Shurong and Wang Hui seemed a little gloomy when they saw Mu Yuchen left to sit on the sofa as if they remembered something from the past. Their eyes seemed complicated and they traded glances with each other before continuing with their meal in silence.
While Xi Xiaye was curious, she did not ask anything.
At almost 11 p.m., they went back to Maple Residence.
After a shower, she handed an envelope to him with her half-dried hair. "I'll give you these documents. I don't think I can handle them."
He looked up and glanced at her before taking the envelope. When he opened it, he saw that it was full of evidence gathered by Detective Zhang.
He slipped it back in and wrapped his arm around her slender waist, pulling her down on his lap. "Leave this matter to me in the future. Are you worried about me?"
Xi Xiaye sighed as she closed her eyes, "No..."
"Then, why?" He asked.
"Because I don't want you to know about these... I kind of feel like... I'm disgraceful..." Her voice was no louder than a whisper.
He took a deep breath and hugged her tightly. "Who cares? You're mine. I'll protect you. So many people want this, yet you're not appreciating it."
"So, I'll let you handle this matter then?"
"Mmm."
She hesitated for a while before saying, "Don't trouble Father and Mother. I just want to remove the stains on me..."
No matter what, she could not just leave Shen Wenna and Xi Mushan alone. There was not much that she could hold onto anyway and she was afraid that she would have nothing left if she lost anymore.
"Of course, it'd be best if we can take Xi Xinyi down, but it seems like there isn't enough evidence. And the Yue family... about Han Yifeng and her..."
"Don't you think it's a good idea if we give these to them as their wedding gift? Also, I'm putting in so much effort for you. Can you not mention that person's name in front of me? Mmm!"
He grumbled unhappily, but before he could finish his sentence, her cold, pink lips met his!