Chapter 68

Ye Qingshui firmly pushed away the clothes Xie Tingyu had given her.

“Your clothes—I don’t want them.”

It wasn’t that she couldn’t take them. She simply didn’t want to.

Not out of poverty or inferiority, not because she couldn’t bear to wear them—but purely out of her own will. She didn’t want them.

The curve of Xie Tingyu’s lips suddenly froze. He never imagined that at a time like this, Ye Qingshui would reject his gift.

Ye Qingshui stepped back, averting her gaze.
“Don’t treat me like this. Everything you said to me before—I remember it all, clearly.”

Her heart was restless, agitated. She regretted ever coming to the Xie household. Regretted tasting the old lady’s affection, and Xie Tingyu’s tender care.

According to her own expectations, after coming to the capital she should have been met with scorn and ridicule, pointed at and whispered about.

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Rq kv byed’v clld qsa Fwd Nkdtuw’p wdlmrlnvle kdnkeldv… pbl oswze zkjlzu byhl yzalyeu clld pwxxsdle cu Dw Yysqydt—tldvzu rkvkle, yde watle vs zlyhl vbl Dkl qyxkzu.

Dw Yysqydt oswze byhl pyke: “Fbwkuy, xkpxyvnble nswrzlp dlhla zypv. Zsw esd’v wdelapvyde Dkl Mkdtuw—usw’al osazep yryav. Rv osd’v zypv.”

“Ebld usw olal qyaxkdt kd vbl nswdvaupkel, bl oyp pvweukdt nwzvwal. Ebld usw oldv bwdtau, bl oyp tldlaswpzu esdyvkdt bkp ayvksd vknjlvp vs rssala nzyppxyvlp.”

Gde kd Dw Yysqydt’p lulp sq rkvu, Zl Ckdtpbwk bye yzxspv plld bla ldvkal zkql zyke cyal. G osxyd qasx vbl nswdvaupkel zkjl bla, yv clpv, nswze xyaau y nkvu osajla. Ysal zkjlzu pbl oswze xyaau ydsvbla qyaxla, yde bla nbkzeald oswze nsdvkdwl vs vkzz vbl pskz.

Rq pbl bye qszzsole vbl ryvb sq bla rypv zkql, kd fwpv y qlo eyup pbl nswze byhl wple vbkp yp yd lmnwpl vs ekhsanl, qall blaplzq, yde alvwad vs vbl nswdvaupkel okvbswv cwaeld.

Jwv obyv ycswv bkx*?

Wasx bkp lulp, pbl yzxspv alye vbl osaep bl byed’v ulv prsjld: “Fbyzz ol… byhl y nbkze?”

Tso nswze bl ypj qsa y nbkze?

He had no right to a child!

“We were never suited. When we go back to the countryside, let’s get a divorce.”

Ye Qingshui’s eyes suddenly brimmed with tears. She had intended to speak with calm indifference, but the words carried her away, memories flooding in, and she couldn’t help choking up:

“Coming to the capital, I finally saw the wide world. Outside the mountains, there’s such a vast city, such tall buildings, so many people.”

“You know so many things that I don’t. You used to laugh at me for being stupid, despised me for being poor, for not being pretty, for being clumsy and useless, for having no words, no way to understand your heart.”

“But… when I starved, you were donating generously to disaster relief. When I tilled the fields, you were studying in a bright classroom. Year after year, I wore rags while you always dressed decently. I wasn’t pretty, I had no education, no money—but everything I did for you, I tried my best. Every lesson, I treasured. I wanted to be smart, to succeed, too…”

Wait—

Xie Tingyu was completely caught off guard by these words, standing stunned where he was.

He stared in disbelief at Ye Qingshui, watching her tears fall.

This—he had never expected, never imagined. His temples throbbed painfully. He had no way to explain, no words—when, when had he ever said such things?

“I never thought of you that way…” He reached out, wanting to wipe away the tears at her eyes, but she slapped his hand aside.

His chest felt stuffed, like a ball of cotton lodged in his lungs.

“Listen to me—”

“I never wanted to cling to you, never wanted to marry you. The thing I regret most in my life is ever liking you…”

The words burst out of her, and then she ran from the room in a rush.

These were words that should have been spoken by the Ye Qingshui of her past life—but back then she hadn’t been able to say them. She’d been too tongue-tied, too full of guilt.

Now, at last, she had said them. The release felt exhilarating, liberating. Looking at Xie Tingyu’s stricken face, it was as if the stone weighing on her chest had finally been lifted.

Words a whole lifetime late—spoken only now.

But heavens, how painful it was! Too, too, too painful!

Head held high, Ye Qingshui fled down the stairs, her footsteps pounding.

Downstairs, Grandma Xie and Wen Zhihua were chatting through the night, with Xie Tingjue seated nearby. Xu Maofang had joined in too. The air was filled with the joy of New Year’s, but also with the deep emotion of reunion after so many lost years.

Grandma Xie held her grandson’s arm warmly, reminiscing:
“Back then, Juejue was the most sensible—always letting his younger brother have his way. That scar on your forehead, remember? You got it falling from the jujube tree while picking fruit for your brother. Do you recall it, Juejue?”

Though Xie Tingjue couldn’t remember, he nodded anyway.

Grandma Xie turned to scold Wen Zhihua, blaming her for neglecting Tingyu while searching for Tingjue.

Xu Maofang, ever eager to fan the flames, chimed in, “Ai, I pity that child. Lucky he was clever—otherwise, he’d have been abandoned at a train station long ago.”

But Xie Tingjue didn’t find the elders’ bickering petty or irritating. In his past life, he had never even had the chance to hear such arguments.

What the Xie family had left him then was nothing but blood debts and ruin.

Just then…

From the staircase came the hurried pounding of footsteps. Xie Tingjue turned his head and saw Ye Qingshui rushing down, her face taut with strain.

Xie Tingyu hurried after her.

The two of them seemed to have quarreled bitterly.

Everyone in the room was startled by the commotion.

Outside, the cold was biting. After half an hour, Grandma Xie worried aloud:
“Ai, what are those two children doing? In this weather, if they catch cold, what will we do?”

Inside the room, the warmth of the fire made the air cozy, but Grandma Xie still rose to check on the situation.

“Grandma, let me go,” said Xie Tingjue.

Her heart softened instantly. Overcome with affection, she smiled, “Juejue, you’re so thoughtful toward your grandma. Go on then, talk some sense into them, alright?”

She muttered as she shuffled away, “That young couple—both hot-tempered, so quick to quarrel.”

But he thought to himself: that’s probably not the case…

Xie Tingjue recalled the New Year’s Eve dinner they had shared. Having looked after Ye Qingshui for half a lifetime in secret, it wasn’t hard for him to sense that something was wrong.

In his last life, Ye Qingshui’s restaurant chain had taken the whole country by storm, even expanding overseas. But at this moment in time, how could she possibly have such skills?

Leisurely, Xie Tingjue picked up his coat and stepped outside.

If there was to be another car accident, then let him die for real this time. It was the ones left alive who bore the hardship. Debt upon debt—his life felt like something that could never be repaid.

…

Ye Qingshui wiped her tears as she walked toward the train station.

The wind howled, sharp and freezing. The night air reeked faintly of firecrackers’ smoke.

But how could she outrun Xie Tingyu? She had barely made it past the gate of the military compound when he caught up with her.

From behind, he wrapped her in a tight embrace.
“It’s freezing out here. Where are you going?”

“I never knew you thought of me that way.”

After venting her anger, the icy wind along the way had sobered her.

She pried his arms off, saying nothing.

Xie Tingyu fell silent for a long time. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet, as if frozen by the wind.

“It’s not as you think, Shuiya.

You’re pure, kind, and sincere. Your family is warm and harmonious. Your mother loves you, your grandmother loves you, your uncle loves you. You make it easy for people to like you. Maybe at the beginning I misunderstood you, but after spending time together, I came to like you. Whenever I was with you, I couldn’t help teasing you—you’re so endearing. Perhaps my words were clumsy and made you misunderstand, but it’s truly not like you thought. For that, I apologize.”

Images rose unbidden in his mind—when he first met Ye Qingshui, she had stepped on morning dew, smiling shyly as she repaired his broken farm tool.

She had handed it back with a sweet laugh: “All done. Don’t go digging up rocks with it again.”

She had also given him a yam from her family plot—huge, ugly, but once peeled, snowy white and crisp, dripping with sweet juice. He and Shen Weimin had split it between them. For her, that yam was likely a rare treat she had saved up for, her precious “snack.”

That was the first time he truly noticed this country girl.

Later, when she had thrown herself in harm’s way to save him from falling concrete, Xie Tingyu had been stunned for a long time. Never before had anyone bared their heart so openly, hurt where he hurt.

How could he ever dislike such a guileless, foolish girl?

But now, as the cold wind left her body stiff, Ye Qingshui listened to his words with a sorrowful face.

Perhaps this Xie Tingyu truly loved and cherished her now. But the wounds from their past life were equally real.

There was always a scar in her heart—the memory of him leaving, etched forever in her mind.

Why had he abandoned her, yet before leaving, still made promises, still told her to wait?

Back then, she had waited so happily, so foolishly, guarding the countryside home year after year—only to receive nothing but a divorce notice.

But now… no one could answer her anymore.

Still, unable to hold back, she asked him:
“If I weren’t pretty, if I weren’t educated, if I had no knowledge of the world—if I were clumsy and couldn’t cook well—when you told me to wait, what did you really mean…?”

Xie Tingyu quickly replied, “That I liked you, of course.”

Hearing this, disappointment flickered across her face.

Seeing her expression, Xie Tingyu thought she didn’t believe him. He smiled helplessly:
“If you weren’t my wife, why would I ask you to wait? My word is my bond.”

After a while, Xie Tingjue finally strolled up. He saw them standing opposite each other—was this what it looked like when everything had been laid bare?

“Grandma is very worried about you two,” he said.

Ye Qingshui answered him, “Tell Grandma not to worry. We’ll be back soon.”

She exhaled into the night air, then turned to walk back toward the compound.

Xie Tingjue walked beside her, lowering his voice:
“The college entrance exams will be reinstated this year…”

In the quiet of the deep night, the streets were unusually ablaze with light—lanterns and decorations at every home, warm glow spilling from windows onto Xie Tingjue’s handsome face.

At his words, Ye Qingshui suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“I have something I want to say to you,” Xie Tingjue said.

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Sansukini: I really find this chapter very emotionally charged. She finally let all her grievances out. As you can see, Tingjue is also reborn.

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