This was the first time Yunling had ever seen Pei Lin like this. He was like a wounded puppy, nestled against her shoulder, looking incredibly pitiful. Her emotions were in turmoil; she…

"Since you've said it's in the past, then it's in the past. Let's not bring up the past anymore."

"No, no, no, no."

Pei Lin hugged Yun Ling tightly, his tears soaking her shoulders, and he sobbed:

"It was my fault, it was all my fault. I'll do anything you want, just don't leave me, Yunling, don't abandon me, you're all I have left."

"Since the past is the past, we can't go back; we can only move forward."

Upon hearing the phrase "there's no going back," Pei Lin was immediately stunned, his breathing becoming shallow. Taking advantage of this moment, Yun Ling gently pushed him away, took a step back, and created some distance between them.

Pei Lin closed his eyes, tears streaming down his cheeks. He took a deep breath and then asked:

"Is it because of Lu Yinghuai?"

Yunling felt a slight prick in her heart, as if she had been gently pierced by a needle.

Seeing that Yun Ling remained silent, Pei Lin sighed deeply and said:

“He’s married and had children in Bianjing, and you still think about him.”

Yunling's heart skipped a beat. She felt like a terminally ill person clinging to their last breath, and now that breath was gone, she felt completely drained and her mind went blank.

She had considered this possibility, but each time she thought about it, she stopped herself because she found it too absurd. She didn't know why she found it absurd; she...

“I saw him in Bianjing. You weren’t standing next to him then, which I found strange. Come to think of it, if he truly cared for you, he should have immediately looked for you during the turmoil in Pingcheng. He shouldn’t have left you alone in danger.”

Yunling steadied herself and then retorted:

"Are you blaming Lu Yinghuai or belittling me?"

"Why should he immediately come to me when there is unrest in Pingcheng? What is our relationship? Did I marry him? Am I his family? No, we are nothing. If I had to say, I am just his close friend."

"In this situation, it's perfectly normal for him to protect his family and make arrangements for their escape route."

"Besides, why does he have to come to me? Don't I have the ability to save myself? Do I have to cling to him in order to get away and be saved?"

“I am not as weak and vulnerable as you imagine. Lu Yinghuai knows this very well.”

Pei Lin's feelings were mixed. The phrase "Lu Yinghuai understands very well" already marked him and Lu Yinghuai as unequal. Lu Yinghuai understood her, but he did not.

Pei Lin unconsciously took a few steps back. Although he had always been unwilling to admit this fact, he...

"Yunling, I want to ask you one last question: if I had admitted my feelings for you from the beginning, would things be different now?"

Yunling bit her lower lip and simply said:

"It's all in the past."

Pei Lin nodded. Under these circumstances, Yun Ling was still able to speak up for Lu Yinghuai and did not use him to annoy him, which showed the deep friendship between the two.

He lost. From the moment he refused to acknowledge his own feelings, he essentially pushed Yunling towards someone else, and he truly lost completely.

Since things had come to this point, there was no need for him to say or do anything more. Leaving quietly would be the best way to save face, so he turned and left.

Yunling watched Pei Lin's departing figure, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart. She and Pei Lin had been playing and fighting since childhood, and there must have been feelings between them. However, as time went by, things changed. That's what growing up is all about; it's inevitable.

Yunling planned to lie back down on the lychee tree and absorb some of its energy, hoping it would make her feel better. However, just as she was about to climb the tree, a voice called out from behind her.

"Lingniang~"

Yunling froze, she...she...was she hallucinating? Otherwise, how could she hear Lu Yinghuai's voice?

“Lingniang.”

Yunling slowly turned around, and the figure standing under the tree instantly came into her view. He... he seemed to have lost a lot of weight, his eyes were bloodshot, there were dark circles under his eyes, his stubble covered his chin, and his moon-white clothes had turned ashen. He...

Who are you? Do we know each other?

Lu Yinghuai, instead of being angry, laughed and replied:

"Of course we know each other, don't you remember? I'm that good man who was wrongly accused of marrying and having children in Bianjing."

Yunling immediately felt relieved, and her speech became lighter.

What are you doing here?

"I came here to find that young lady named Yun Ling, to tell her that I want to marry her, to be her family, and that she is the first person I think of when anything happens."

The words "marry her" carried a heavy weight. Upon hearing them, every cell in Yunling's body seemed to come alive. Her heart pounded, and her body felt almost out of control. She...

When Gangzi and Tangling saw Zifu, they grabbed him and held him down. When they heard him say that Lu Yinghuai had come to Yunling to express his feelings, their gossip was burning brightly.

Upon learning this, Zhang Shi, Yun Shenghua, Yun's mother, Yun's father, and even the Fan family all came up the mountain and, without prior arrangement, lay down in a spot not far from the lychee trees where they could be hidden by weeds.

"Lingniang, do you remember when we first met on the human traffickers' carriage?"

Yunling tilted her head, offering no response.

Lu Yinghuai smiled indulgently and continued:

"At that time, I thought you were very brave and wanted to be friends with you, so I told you about the twenty strings of cash. But I waited for a long time and you didn't come. Later, by a twist of fate, your aunt had an accident and your uncle came to the Lu family business. I gradually guessed that you were a member of the Yun family."

"After that, I was obsessed with finding you. I put in a lot of effort, but what I didn't expect was that I would fall in love with you in the process."

"Your wit, your way of handling things, your decisiveness, and your thoughtfulness surprised me. On our second meeting, I wanted to marry you."

"At this point, you must think I'm frivolous. I'm also curious why I've fallen so deeply in love. I'm afraid my feelings for you are just a passing fancy, so I keep going to see you. But it's only through these visits that I've become more determined to grow old with you."

"Do you know what a poppy is? To me, you are a poppy."

“When you like someone too much, you become possessive. I am jealous of all the men who are close to you. I try to get rid of them while praying to the gods to let us be together. No matter what the price, I am willing to do it.”