Chapter 335 Regret

The yard of the dilapidated house was filled with piles of things, and gray, wet clothes were floating on the clothesline.

Chang was sitting in the yard, rubbing a basin of dirty clothes vigorously. When she heard the noise, she looked up and her heart skipped a beat: "Hui'er, what's the matter with you in such a hurry?"

Wen Hui was panting, with a very strange look on his face: "That, that person's second daughter became the Crown Princess!"

Chang knew exactly who this "that person" was referring to, and she immediately exerted force with her hands and tore the clothes she was washing.

She didn't care about the pain and stood up suddenly: "You mean that girl Lin Hao?"

Wen Hui nodded with a complicated expression: "It's her."

After he said that, he squatted on the ground and started to daze.

During the autumn examination last year, he was carried out halfway through the test because he could no longer bear the pain, and three years of hard work went to waste.

Resentment, pain, frustration, all kinds of negative emotions mixed together, which mostly destroyed his energy and spirit, and he often showed a dazed expression.

Seeing her son like this, Chang suddenly panicked: "Hui'er, Hui'er, don't embarrass yourself again--"

Wen Hui lowered his head, muttering in a daze: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault... If I hadn't been sick and hadn't finished the exam, our family wouldn't be in this situation..."

He raised his hand and slapped his mouth: "It's my fault, my fault-"

Chang loved her son the most. Seeing him like this, she hurriedly grabbed his hand and said, "Hui'er, you can't think like that. How can it be your fault? It's your sister who got into trouble, and you were busy with Qing'er's affairs and studying. That's why your body couldn't bear it. Woo woo..."

Chang cried, turned her head and shouted at the top of her voice: "Wen Qing, what are you doing in the house every day? Didn't you hear your eldest brother is back?"

Soon, an emaciated girl stood quietly on the steps, staring into the yard without moving.

Her long, dry hair reached her waist, covering most of her cheeks, but the hideous wound on her left cheek could not be concealed.

Chang was furious when she saw her like this. She yelled, "Don't you have any sense of duty? Why don't you wash the clothes? You just keep me busy!"

She had once been fond of her pretty and charming daughter. But her family was poor, and her daughter, disfigured and half-dead, was unable to marry and support her family, and she had to support her for the rest of her life. No matter how much she loved her, time wore her down and turned her into boredom.

Disgusted with my daughter and bored with my unsatisfactory life.

It’s all his fault!

Chang's hateful gaze shot towards the east room, and he rushed in with a distorted face.

On the bed, a man who was so thin that his bones were visible lay motionless, and his whole body exuded a foul smell that was a mixture of medicine and sweat. It was so pungent that it made people want to vomit as soon as they got close to him.

Hearing the noise, he moved his eyelids but did not open them.

"You just pretend to be dead! If it weren't for you, a consumptive wretch, Qing'er wouldn't have gone to Lin Hao to ask for money. If Qing'er hadn't gone to ask for money, nothing would have happened. If Qing'er hadn't been in trouble, Hui'er wouldn't have worried so much and fallen ill in the exam room... It's all your fault, it's all your fault. Why aren't you dead yet?"

When she got excited, Chang slapped Wen Rugui's arm frantically.

Wen Rugui opened his eyes slightly, as if he felt no pain, and was indifferent to Chang's madness.

This kind of situation has happened countless times in the past six months, and he has long been accustomed to it.

"Speak! Are you mute?"

"Crazy woman." Wen Rugui's lips moved and he uttered two words.

"What did you say?" Chang stopped and leaned over to listen.

This man hasn't responded to her beatings and scoldings for a long time, and she herself didn't even notice it. This is what makes her even more crazy.

"Crazy woman..."

When Chang heard this, she first opened her eyes wide in disbelief, and then became angry: "You called me a lunatic? Then what are you, a consumptive ghost? Let me tell you, your precious second daughter has become the Crown Princess, aren't you happy? Oh, I remember, her name is Lin Hao, it has nothing to do with you, hahahaha..."

"You, what did you say?" Wen Rugui moved his body and wanted to sit up, but he naturally couldn't do it with his physical condition.

He had no choice but to stare at Chang, trying to see the truth from her expression.

Seeing him like this, Chang felt happy: "Why would I lie to you? She married the Prince of Jing. When the Prince of Jing becomes the Crown Prince, she will become the Crown Princess and even the Queen in the future. It's a pity that all this has nothing to do with you, you idiot..."

"Crown Princess, Queen..." Wen Rugui murmured, his voice seemed rusty from not speaking for so long.

He tried hard to recall what his second daughter looked like, but he couldn't remember it, perhaps because he hadn't seen her for too long or because his illness had made his brain blurry.

What appeared in his mind was Lin's face.

He always thought that Lin Wanqing was spoiled, rude, and heartless.

But at this moment, the way she appeared in his mind was bright, cheerful and pure.

His and Wanqing's daughter became the Crown Princess.

Hearing Chang's sharp curses, Wen Rugui opened his cloudy and lifeless eyes and saw an ugly woman with a distorted face.

Ever since he was dismissed from office and left the Wen family mansion, the woman in front of him gradually became ugly.

He closed his eyes again, and the person he saw became Lin.

For some reason, he was very sure that if it were him and Wanqing who fell into poverty, Wanqing would never complain day after day, but would face the hardship more positively than he did, and they would support each other to get out of the predicament.

Only now did he fully understand that Wanqing was a vibrant tree, while Chang was a dodder that only knew how to desperately absorb nutrients from others.

What about him?

Hahahaha, Chang is right, he is a fool.

What a fool!

A tear flowed from the corner of the eye, washed across the dirty cheek, and slid into the collar with turbidity.

Chang noticed something was wrong, looked closely and was stunned.

Wen Rugui closed his eyes and stopped breathing completely.

Chang sniffed his breath and shouted, "Wen Rugui!"

She had been hoping for his death for a long time, and he died suddenly. Chang found it hard to accept the situation. Sometimes she called him Wen Rugui, sometimes she called him cousin, but more often she cursed and yelled at him rudely.

In the yard, the son squatted in a daze, and the daughter stood in a trance, as if they didn't hear their mother's crying and scolding, and neither of them looked into the house.

Wen Rugui survived the long cold winter, but died in the middle of spring in the eleventh year of Tai'an. Three years ago, he and Lin had broken up in the middle of spring.

Later, Lin heard the news of Wen Rugui's death.

At that time, she had just returned from her farm in the suburbs of Beijing on horseback. After hearing this, she was slightly stunned and ordered her maid Fangfei, "Go to the kitchen and bring a bowl of sugared curd to pour over the cherries. It's hot out, so you can cool down."

The cheese is sweet, and one bite washes away the faint melancholy that is not quite bitter.

Her future life will be like this bowl of cherries poured with syrup, still growing and still sweet, and those unhappy things should be forgotten.