Chapter 398 Grief and Sorrow

Jiang Zhizhi remained silent, only looking at Zhou Xiye with tears in her eyes. Her mind was completely blank, and she couldn't even think straight.

Shangshang was happily leaning against her father's chest when she saw her mother crying. She tilted her head, then suddenly slapped Zhou Xiye's face with her little hand. Then, she stretched out her arms and cried, "I don't want Daddy, I want Mommy to hug me. Shangshang wants Mommy to hug me."

Little Zhou looked up, completely bewildered, not knowing what had happened. Hearing Shang Shang cry that she didn't want her father and wanted her mother, she immediately let go of Zhou Xiye's hand, rushed towards Jiang Zhizhi, grabbed her mother's clothes, and leaned against Jiang Zhizhi's legs.

She tilted her little face up and glared angrily at her father.

From his angle, he could only see a tiny bit of his father's chin, but that didn't diminish his fierce and endearing aura at all.

Jiang Zhizhi snapped out of her daze upon hearing Shang Shang's cries, mechanically took Shang Shang from her, looked at Zhou Xiye with teary eyes, and said in a hoarse voice, "You're back..."

His tone was very calm, as if Zhou Xiye had never traveled far from home or experienced life and death.

There was even a hint of unfamiliarity.

Zhou Xiye felt even more heartbroken upon hearing this, and raised his hand to stroke Jiang Zhizhi's face, wanting to wipe away her tears.

The moment his palm touched Jiang Zhizhi's skin, she turned her head, opened her mouth and bit Zhou Xiye's tiger's mouth tightly, biting hard as she sobbed and cried.

It was her grievances and sorrows over the past year.

For more than a year, she appeared to be doing well, but her heart felt like it had a hole in it. Every time she woke up in the middle of the night, a cold wind would howl through the hole, scraping like a knife, slowly torturing every corner of her heart.

She was in pain, but she dared not let anyone know.

Zhou Xiye looked at Jiang Zhizhi with tears in his eyes, letting her bite him hard.

Caught between the two, Shang Shang saw her mother cry out and her little mouth twitched as she also burst into tears, hitting Zhou Xiye hard with her hands as she cried, "No, Daddy! Daddy go away! Daddy's bad..."

Hearing her mother and sister crying, the little Zhou Ji below clenched her little fists in anger and stretched out her short legs to kick Zhou Xiye's legs as hard as she could.

Although he is young, he has a very clear sense of likes and dislikes!

This dad made his grandma cry, and now he's making his mom cry too. I don't need him.

Fang Hua, Zhou Chengyu, Shang Shiying, and Bian Suxi watched the family of four crying together and also shed tears.

He wanted to step forward to stop her, but Fang Hua stopped him, saying, "Let Zhizhi vent. This year has been the most difficult for her."

She often woke up in the middle of the night and saw the light on in Jiang Zhizhi's room, and she often saw Jiang Zhizhi holding her two children, lost in thought.

But in front of others, Jiang Zhizhi, afraid that they would worry, still acted as before, chatting and laughing.

Jiang Zhizhi finally relented, and only when she looked at the bloody mark on Zhou Xiye's tiger's mouth with tears in her eyes did she feel a sense of reality.

Zhou Chengyu and Shang Shiying came over and took Shang Shang and Xiao Zhou away.

Shang Shiying smiled and said, "Zhizhi, it's good that Xiye is back. Let's go inside and talk first."

After calming down, Jiang Zhizhi looked at the man again. The scars on his face and head made her feel heartache again. She could imagine how badly Zhou Xiye had been injured back then.

However, with her elders present, she could only look at him with tears in her eyes, unable to say anything.

Zhou Xiye, however, seemed to understand her and held her hand, saying, "I'm fine. My wound healed very well back then, and there were no aftereffects."

It was actually quite dangerous. He was issued critical condition notices many times. Even after the surgery, the doctors were not sure if he could become a normal person.

However, Zhou Xiye had a strong will to survive and overcame one obstacle after another. Before his injuries had fully healed, he went on another mission.

Thankfully, it's all over now.

Fang Hua was in a good mood and asked Sister Chen to cook more dishes that night so they could have a proper celebration.

The two children cried because of Jiang Zhizhi. They had been able to accept Zhou Xiye before, but now they couldn't anymore. They surrounded Jiang Zhizhi and wouldn't even look at Zhou Xiye.

Bian Suxi saw Jiang Zhizhi and Zhou Xiye sitting on the sofa, with a distance between them, and two children surrounding Jiang Zhizhi.

Neither of them spoke, but the way they looked at each other suggested they had a lot to say.

Having been through similar experiences, Bian Suxi knew that with so many of them around, it would disrupt the young couple's conversation.

Smiling, she whispered a few words to Shang Shiying, who then called out to Xiao Zhouji and Shang Shang, "Xiao Zhouji, Shang Shang, shall we go see if Uncle is back yet? Let's see what good things Uncle brought us today?"

The two little devils clung to their mother's side, refusing to move. Shangshang even shook her head earnestly, saying, "I won't go. If Mommy cries, Shangshang will comfort Mommy."

Little Zhou pretended not to see or hear, nestled in his mother's arms, and stared wide-eyed at his father.

In the end, Shang Shiying managed to coax him away with cookies.

Fang Hua and Zhou Chengyu, being very perceptive, went to the kitchen to help, and thoughtfully closed the kitchen door, leaving the living room to the young couple.

Jiang Zhizhi touched the sofa armrest, pondered for a moment, then got up and went back to her room.

Zhou Xiye also started to follow.

Once inside the bedroom, Zhou Xiye closed the door and hugged Zhizhi tightly from behind, saying, "Zhizhi... I'm sorry."

He bent down, buried his face in her neck, took a deep breath, and smelled her light fragrance mixed with a faint herbal scent. His heart finally calmed down.

Jiang Zhizhi's eyes reddened again, and her heart ached a little, this time because of happiness and joy.

She turned around, put her arm around Zhou Xiye's waist, pressed her face against his chest, listened to his strong heartbeat, and closed her eyes: "Actually, I guessed it, but I was afraid that my guess would be wrong, and that the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment."

“I want to come to you too, but the two children are too young, and I can’t bear to leave them.”

Zhou Xiye tightened his arms, wishing he could embed the person into his body, and large tears fell: "Zhizhi, I'm sorry."

He didn't know what to say except "I'm sorry".

Moreover, whatever is said, it carries far too little weight.

The two only hugged for a short while inside before Xiao Zhouji violently kicked the door open and rushed in like a little train engine.

Jiang Zhizhi quickly pushed Zhou Xiye away and squatted down to catch Xiao Zhouji who was lunging at her.

Little Zhou gave his mother a piece of candy, saying, "Mommy, eat this, Mommy, eat this."

Jiang Zhizhi smiled and hugged Xiao Zhouji: "Thank you, Xiao Zhouji, you even know to give Mommy candy."

As she spoke, she stood up while holding her son, Zhouji.

As soon as Xiao Zhou turned her head, she met Zhou Xiye's gaze. Instantly, her face tightened, and she glared fiercely at Zhou Xiye before angrily turning her head away and ignoring him.

Zhou Xiye felt somewhat helpless; the two children no longer liked him.

Xiao Zhou insisted that Jiang Zhizhi eat candy, but he didn't know how to peel the candy wrapper, so he could only stuff the candy wrapper into his mother's mouth: "Mommy eat, Mommy don't cry."

The little hand gently patted the mother's shoulder, just like when soothing a baby.

Even during mealtime, the two children stubbornly ignored Zhou Xiye!

When it's time to go to bed at night, the two children rarely fuss; they cry and insist on sleeping with their mother...