Upon hearing this, the man paused slightly in his hand holding the pen.

It made a clicking sound.

With a lowered gaze, he saw the ink from the tip of the brush fall onto the center of the Xuan paper, instantly blurring several lines of small characters. The man frowned slightly, glancing at the woman with some displeasure, "Don't say such things again. I have my reasons for finding a marriage partner for Xiao Jinhan."

This indifferent attitude directly brought out all of Xiao Chenshi's resentment, and her voice suddenly rose.

"Don't say it again? Why can't I say it?! Have you forgotten that you, Xiao Zhong, are now my man, Chen Yu's man, not that woman's man!"

I love you, so I've followed you since I was a young maiden. I accepted it all, without any formal betrothal or wedding procession. I also accept it if you register your illegitimate child with another woman under my name, treat it as your own, and have it call me "Mother" every day.

Over the years, I have tried my best not to think about your past with her. I have served you and obeyed you day after day for more than ten years. I have worked hard for you without complaint and borne you children. Haven't I done enough?

Even a heart made of stone should be warmed up by now, right?

But what about you?

As she said this, she raised her sleeve and angrily wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. She rushed to the man's desk and snatched the letter from it.

Gazing at the powerful words on the paper, a mixture of mockery and sorrow welled up in his eyes, and tears streamed down his face like raindrops. When he smelled a faint fragrance emanating from the paper, he chuckled softly.

"The fragrance of apricot blossoms... This fragrance of apricot blossoms is truly wonderful! Any more would be too strong, any less would be too weak, it's just right."

Writing a letter in spring smells of apricot blossoms, writing a letter in summer smells of lotus blossoms, writing a letter in autumn smells of osmanthus blossoms, and writing a letter in winter smells of plum blossoms.

Every time you wrote to her, you would always scent the letter paper with seasonal flowers well in advance.

Moreover, even though it's only a few dozen words, every time I write it once, I feel it's not enough. I have to revise and repair it countless times, ponder it in every way, and then carefully copy it before hanging it on the pigeons' ankles.

Even the bamboo tubes on the pigeons' feet, you would polish over and over again, for fear that the recipient might cut their hand.

Hahahaha... How many people in this world are as devoted as you?

Tell me, if you loved her so much, missed her so much, and thought about her so much, why did you break up with her in the first place?

Could it be that she ran off with some rich and powerful guy, and that's why she doesn't want you anymore...?

"Enough! Stop going crazy here! Give me back the paper right now!" Xiao Zhong stood up abruptly as he listened to the woman's increasingly loud words, his yellow eyes flashing with anger.

"Give it back to you? What would I do with it? Besides, I've already touched this letter. You must be disgusted with it. Why would I give it to her?" Madam Xiao Chen's eyes were red with anger, and she lowered her gaze slightly.

Stare at the three words in the upper left corner of the paper.

She was just a peasant girl fleeing famine, completely illiterate, but over the years, these three characters have been etched into her heart, stroke by stroke. She still doesn't recognize them, but she remembers them clearly.

At this moment, the rough, dark hands and the snow-white, fragrant Xuan paper placed together are truly ironic.

It's like the world of difference between her and that woman.

She followed him since she was in her early twenties, devoted to him, but she never managed to win his heart.

But that woman, just by standing there, without doing anything, had already won.

As she read, she suddenly tightened her grip on the letter.

Sizzle!

The letter paper broke in the middle.

Almost the instant the letter was severed, a gust of wind swept past, and the severed letter ended up in Xiao Zhong's hands, his eyes blazing with fury.

"Ha! It's just a piece of paper, are you going to hit me for it?" Xiao Chenshi looked at the man's clenched fist at his side, then raised her face and leaned closer, her red eyes filled with madness, "Hit me, hit me, hit me right now."

Anyway, I can't live like this for another day. You'd better kill me today, otherwise, I'll crawl to the capital and make everyone know that Xiao Jinhan is an illegitimate child.

Back then, you went to great lengths to bring that little bastard Xiao Jinhan all the way from the capital to this godforsaken place like Shanghe Village, just to protect that woman, didn't you?

"I want to see if her current man will have any good days left if he finds out that she and you had such a little bastard..."

She was speaking when Xiao Zhong, who was sitting at the desk, suddenly pounced on her like a wolf. With a flick of his wide sleeve, his large, iron-claw-like hand gripped her neck tightly, choking back the rest of her words.

In the silent room, the only sounds were the man's rapid breathing due to anger and the cracking sound of bones being squeezed.

Xiao Chenshi was being choked and could hardly breathe. Her neck was throbbing with pain, but she couldn't care less. She just stared blankly at the man in front of her, looking at the bloodthirsty murderous intent on his face, and suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity she had never seen before.

A single tear rolled down her cheek.

His voice was low and sorrowful, "You, you...you actually...want to kill me?"

Xiao Zhong's face was ashen and cold, showing no pity whatsoever. "From the day you followed me during the famine, I made it very clear to you that if you wanted to follow me, you had to keep everything about Xiao Jinhan a secret. Otherwise, I would never forgive you..."

Just then.

"Clang!"

The main door of the house was opened from the outside.

A boy of sixteen or seventeen appeared at the door. He was dressed in a blue camel robe and wore matching cotton shoes. He had delicate features, with dark blue eyebrows and a pair of amber eyes.

The light in his eyes was as clear and innocent as that of a child with his hair in a bun.

Holding a steaming hot chicken leg in her hand, she breathed on it as it burned, and tossed the leg back and forth between her hands. "Daddy, Mommy, Hui-niang just stewed a really big old hen. I came to get you a chicken leg to eat..."

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