Chapter 356: 349: There's Nothing with Him

“A man who treats you well, looks after the family, and acts like your father, that’s what is important. That Qin Ziye, I see something in his eyes, something that’s not quite pure,” said my father.

Tang Yuxin wanted to laugh but instead, she wanted to cry even more.

It turned out that only she was blinded by the harsh realities of life. Tang Zhinian saw it, everyone noticed it. She was the only one deceived by her feelings, hoodwinked and led astray.

“Don’t worry, dad,” she smiled at Tang Zhinian, but her smile was pitiful.

“I haven’t done anything bad. There’s a sick person at Qin Ziye’s place over there. I haven’t left that door for days, and neither has Qin Ziye entered. As for the type of illness, you will know soon enough,” she explained.

“What about you and him?” The question Tang Zhinian probably wanted to ask most was about their relationship.

“There’s nothing between us, and there will be no encounters in the future. I will do as you said, dad,” she rested her head on Tang Zhinian’s shoulder, feeling the warm strength of her father.

“I will marry an ordinary man, with average looks, a normal job, a man who will truly love me.”

Tang Zhinian simply patted his daughter’s hair. After a sigh, he refrained from asking any more questions. As a young person, who doesn’t have some discontent with love? He had experienced it; he understood.

From now on, seeing human nature clearly, there won’t be any more deception and trickery.

“Dad, you should go back soon,” Tang Yuxin stood up, not wanting Tang Zhinian to stay in Beijing much longer. She knew in a few days, it probably wouldn’t be feasible to return.

“Why?” Tang Zhinian frowned, “Are you trying to send me away?”

“No,” Tang Yuxin could only laugh and cry at the same time. It used to be her father comforting her, but now it was her turn to comfort him.

“This place might soon be under quarantine.”

At this, Tang Zhinian felt a clutch of dread, “You mean, that contagious disease?”

Tang Yuxin put her finger to her lips, “Shush, dad, don’t speak of it just yet. My teacher told us in secret to be cautious. Recently, there have been many such patients. When you go home, be careful. I’ve buried some medicine under the large tree at home. Drink some of it with boiling water every day. The construction crew, they ought to stop for now. I bought some disinfectant and stored it in my room. We should have enough, and if there’s spare, we can distribute it to the neighbors.”

Tang Zhinian noted down everything Tang Yuxin said. She was very serious and of course, he wouldn’t take it as a joke. And who would jest about something like this? If indeed there’s such a contagious disease, it’d be as devastating as the plagues of old.

Tang Zhinian bought a ticket to return home immediately that night. Despite his worries for his daughter, if things were as Tang Yuxin had said, there’d be a lot for him to handle back home. He had no option but to leave his daughter alone in Beijing.

As Tang Yuxin had said, she was a student and she needed to return to school.

That night, Tang Yuxin fell into despair.

She had suffered from a failed first love.

What she had believed to be a lifelong commitment turned out to be an unattainable mirage, an illusion. Her dream had given her what little happiness it could but it was also a dream she never wished to remember again.

That night, in a room devoid of people, she hugged her knees and wept for the entire night.

She thought that upon her rebirth, there would be no more tears. She had promised herself to live a fulfilling life, to live well, yet here she was, in ruin.

The wind in Beijing still carried a hint of cold.

As if provoked by a ghost, she stood outside of the white house again.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

What did she want to see? What did she want to hear?

Did she want her heart to ache even more so that she could finally lose hope?

If her heart was already dead, why would it still hurt?

Maybe, her heart wasn’t completely dead yet, and she was still holding onto the hope that he had his reasons, his difficulties, such as his grandfather, his family, and those were the reasons he played this act with her.

If that’s truly the case, she might say, she lost fear. No matter what, it would finally get better, they would be together again.

She placed her hand on her chest, felt underneath the skin where her heart was beating, where there was a seed in slumber. Perhaps if she nurtured it, gave it time-

That seed would grow and sprout, and one day become a large tree.

Just then, the sealed door, opened with a loud creak.

A man carefully helped a woman out of the house.

Tang Yuxin’s hand gripped the side of a large tree, her fingernails digging into the bark.

“Are you feeling better today?” Qin Ziye carefully asked Guan Jing.

“Mhm, much better,” Guan Jing leaned on his shoulder, her eyes full of emotions, mostly apologies.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have come back. I didn’t know you had a new girlfriend. If I knew, no matter what, I wouldn’t have disturbed you.”

“Silly,” Qin Ziye held her hand tighter, then placed it on his chest, “Can you feel, my heart, my heartbeat?”

“Can you hear the sound of my heart? Every beat of my heart is for you, and only you.”

“Even without you here, there’s no future for me and her,” When he said this, for some reason, his heart that had been beating normally clenched painfully. But in the end, he chose to ignore it.

“I’m so sorry to her.” Guan Jing still felt guilty, “She saved me, but I stole her happiness.”

“Happiness?” Qin Ziye gently lifted her face, his dark eyes filled with warmth only for the woman in front of him, the same as it had always been.

“In my heart, there’s only you. Tell me, without you, how can there be any happiness? This isn’t your fault, I made a mistake. If there’s any apologies to be made, any reparations, it’s me who should apologize. I shouldn’t have tried to find a replacement for you. You are you, she is she, there won’t be another you in this world. Jingjing, will you marry me?” He held her hand against his face, “No matter what you become, you are my Jingjing, the woman I’ve loved my whole life, the woman I love with my life.”

Guan Jing suddenly covered her mouth, and she wanted to reject him, shake her head. But in the end, she found she couldn’t say anything or do anything at all. Perhaps after all these twists and turns, they had come back to their original places. They had been on parallel paths, but at last, they had converged again.