Chapter 32 (Sunday and Monday chapters combined). ...

After three days, Ning Yao finally finished writing the love letter that Huo Li needed.

Actually, there was a small hiccup before this love letter was submitted.

Just as he finished writing, Ning Yiwen, who had been waiting nearby, snatched it away.

Ning Yiwen skimmed through the text, quickly finished reading, and then picked up his pen to make numerous revisions.

While revising, he instructed Ning Yao: "Look, this is how it should be written to make it more sincere and heartfelt."

Finally, after Ning Yiwen finished writing, he asked her, "Did you see it clearly? Do you know how to write a love letter now?"

Ning Yao nodded absentmindedly.

A love letter of one thousand words was revised by eight hundred words.

She couldn't even recognize whether this love letter was still her original one.

But when she asked that question:

"Brother Ning, the love letter you wrote yourself was quite good. Why did you ask me to write it for you?"

Ning Yiwen's face darkened, and he threw down his pen and left.

Ning Yao hesitated for a long time, but finally chose the love letter that Ning Yiwen had revised.

For her, it didn't matter which one she chose; they were all for someone else.

But she had a gut feeling that if she chose the version that Ning Ge had revised, he would be happy.

So Ning Yao copied it herself, and then found a stall owner to copy it for her. After erasing her own handwriting, she handed the message to Huo Li.

The two agreed to meet at a small pavilion in the courtyard next to the classroom when they had lunch.

The area around the small pavilion was overgrown with weeds and neglected. The weeds weren't very tall, but not many people passed by.

It's a good place to avoid being noticed by others.

The main reason was that Ning Yao did not agree to meet Huo Li outside of school. Huo Li had originally suggested a private room at a small restaurant on the next street outside of school.

Ning Yao refused.

It was Ning Yao who suggested this small pavilion. If anything seemed amiss in that place, she could simply shout and attract attention quickly, since the teachers' dormitory was right next to the courtyard wall.

However, the door faces an unusual direction, requiring a long detour to get directly to the teachers' dormitory.

As soon as school was over, Ning Yao went to eat first, and only after finishing did she leisurely arrive at the agreed-upon pavilion.

Just as she was carefully wading through the weeds, a cold voice rang out: "Finally decided to come?"

Ning Yao looked up, peering over the layers of weeds, into the pavilion.

Beside the pillars of the redwood pavilion, leaning against a man in a black suit vest, with sharp features and an expression of displeasure, was none other than Huo Li.

"You're here pretty early," Ning Yao said carelessly. "Men really do eat fast."

These words made Huo Li's face darken instantly, and even his leisurely mood for conversation vanished. "If you can't speak properly, then don't speak at all. Give me the love letter."

Ning Yao paid no attention to the anxiety in his words. She took a few more steps forward, folded the love letter without hesitation, and tossed it directly to Huo Li.

Huo Li reached out and took it, then opened it and began to read.

He frowned at first glance, "Why is your handwriting so messy?"

The page was filled with tiny print, and while it looked like it had enough text, it was all crammed onto one page, making it a headache to look at.

I don't know if it's a love letter or a provocative letter meant to make people dizzy.

Ning Yao blinked. "You didn't tell me to write neatly. This is how I write."

Completely ignoring the fact that while at the stall, he had been urging the stall owner to write faster.

Huo Li was not very patient and had intended to patiently read a few more lines.

Unfortunately, after looking at it a few more times, it felt as if the black words in front of me were moving on their own, and in the blink of an eye, I didn't know which line I was looking at.

"Never mind, never mind." He pouted. "As long as the word count is enough, feel free to ask me anything."

After saying that, he took out his pocket watch and glanced at it.

"You're a little late, there's not much time left."

These words came out of nowhere. Ning Yao saw his actions and her heart skipped a beat.

As for the question, I already knew it by heart: "How did you and Brother Ning meet?"

“It’s very simple. It’s not that I know him, it’s that he knows my family, and that’s how I got to know him,” Huo Li replied just as concisely.

But to Ning Yao, these words were as good as nothing at all.

"???Then what?"

She was able to get in touch with Huo Li because the two were classmates.

The Huo family is a merchant guild, and everyone in the family, regardless of rank, is also part of the guild. How could she possibly have the means to get to know them?

Huo Li spread his hands indifferently: "That's all. That's how I met him. As for how my family met him or what kind of cooperation we had, I really don't know."

The main thing is, he wasn't particularly interested in knowing these things.

Ning Yao: "..."

Ning Yao stared intently at the nonchalant Huo Li before her and fell silent.

For a moment, it was unclear who had fooled whom first—her carelessness or his perfunctory attitude.

Huo Li glanced at the pocket watch in his hand from time to time.

Soon, his gaze sharpened, as if he had seen something, and his playful smile vanished as he spoke seriously:

"Or... shall I go ask around for you?"

As he spoke, he stepped out of the pavilion, down two steps, and came to stand in front of Ning Yao.

At this moment, he was only one step away from Ning Yao.

Too close.

Ning Yao felt uneasy and subconsciously took a few steps back.

"Why are you getting so close when you're just talking?"

Huo Li gave a crooked smile, took a few more steps, and always kept a step away from Ning Yao.

"I was afraid you couldn't hear me, so I'm speaking closer."

The smug smile on his face was so dazzling that Ning Yao couldn't stand it anymore and shoved him.

Unexpectedly, she didn't hold back her strength. She didn't know that Huo Li, who was known for being ruthless in fights, was as light as a piece of cotton in her hands and could be pushed down with a single push.

Huo Li was pushed down and fell to the ground, his hands resting on the grass.

His eyes widened like saucers, and for a moment his voice cracked, "How can you be so strong?"

Ning Yao's eyes widened. "Why are you so weak? Are you trying to extort money from me?"

Huo Li: "..."

Ning Yao: "..."

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice rang out.

Ning Yiwen saw this scene as soon as he arrived.

The two of them were in the knee-deep weeds.

Ning Yao stood, while Huo Li sat on the ground. The two stared at each other, their eyes wide open.

Huo Li's face immediately turned red, and he quickly stood up.

His black suit was covered in weeds, and he didn't know whether to take a picture or not.

The moment Ning Yao saw Ning Yiwen, she immediately understood. She lowered her head and glared fiercely at Huo Li, "You betrayed me?"

Huo Li: "You even pushed me."

Ning Yao was furious, so she rolled up her sleeves and took a few steps forward.

With anger in his heart, Huo Li naturally walked with an imposing air, and subconsciously took two steps back to stand beside Ning Yiwen.

With a look of disdain, he asked, "How come your sister is so strong?"

He's a normal man, though he's a playboy at heart, he still has the strength a man should have.

But when Ning Yao pushed him just now, he inexplicably felt as if he were facing an immense force...

Ning Yiwen saw this interaction between the two and immediately made a pretty good guess about the situation.

He took a few steps, shielding Ning Yao behind him, and said to Huo Li with a dark face, "What business is it of yours!"

Huo Li: "..."

He pulled out the piece of paper covered in tiny handwriting, annoyed. "Your sister even wrote me a love letter!"

Ning Yao was furious.

Ning Yiwen reached out and grabbed the paper, stuffing it into his pocket without even glancing at it. "Where's the love letter?"

Huo Li: "..."

Ning Yao: "..."

The two fell silent, a rare occurrence for them.

When Huo Li came to his senses, he was so angry that he almost lost his mind.

"you……"

Before he could finish speaking, Ning Yiwen interrupted him: "Get lost if you have nothing to say. I'll have a good talk with your dad later."

Upon hearing this, Huo Li swallowed back all the profanities he was about to utter.

He turned and left.

His suit was black, and he hadn't even cleaned the grass off his back, making him look rather pathetic.

It was as if they had been bullied on this grassy area.

But it seems that he was indeed bullied by Brother Ning.

Ning Yao glanced at Ning Yiwen beside her.

"So you know Huo Li's father? The president of the Chamber of Commerce."

Ning Yiwen nodded, not paying much attention to her words, and took out the love letter from his pocket. He recognized it at a glance as the one he had revised yesterday.

"Tell me, what happened?"

Ning Yao pouted and turned to walk towards the pavilion. "You're so smart, just guess for yourself."

When she heard that Ning Yiwen knew Huo Li's father, Chairman Huo, she completely gave up on secretly investigating Ning Ge's affairs.

People should have self-awareness.

At her age and with her level of experience, she knows how difficult it is to befriend someone in charge of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. Moreover, someone with such a relationship who would directly threaten her child must have a relationship that is not ordinary.

It was far beyond her imagination.

She can no longer do this kind of behind-the-scenes investigation.

Ning Yiwen watched her retreating figure as she walked towards the pavilion, and laughed in exasperation at her nonchalant, "what's the use of this?" attitude.

"Wan Hongye is just another excuse you came up with, isn't it? Don't tell me you like Huo Li!"

That's what I said, but deep down I believed it was impossible.

But he couldn't help feeling afraid; what if...?

Even if there's only a one in ten thousand chance...

Whenever Ning Yiwen thought about that one in ten thousand chance, his heart felt as if it were being gnawed at, and it would clench tightly.

"How could that be!" Ning Yao turned around. "Do you think my taste is that bad?"

Huo Li was clearly the kind of person who didn't know how to respect others. Although he showed less arrogance towards her, it was still undeniable.

"So who do you like?" Ning Yiwen knew he shouldn't ask, but he couldn't help but ask anyway.

Ning Yao was getting a little impatient with the questions. She didn't want to dwell on whether she liked him or not; she was more concerned about the secret behind Ning Yiwen.

Instead of answering, he asked, "Brother Ning, don't you have anything to say to me? Like, how did you meet Chairman Huo, or how did you meet Captain Xu Zheng of the patrol department? How many things are you trying to hide from me?"

At this moment, Ning Yao was standing in the pavilion with two steps high, while Ning Yiwen was still standing on the grass two steps away from the pavilion.

For the first time, the two, who were originally of vastly different heights, became the same height.

All eyes are looking straight ahead.

She saw the restraint in his eyes.

He saw the impatience in her eyes.

Both of them fell silent.

After a long while, Ning Yiwen's slightly hoarse voice finally rang out, "Are you... angry?"

He kept a very low profile, and his eyes, like a turbulent sea, held a complex mix of emotions she couldn't understand.

Ning Yao didn't understand, but she was unwilling to accept his humble attitude, and her heart felt as if it had been squeezed by a large hand.

She lowered her eyes, somewhat regretting her words. "Brother Ning, please don't do this."

He has supported her and spoiled her all these years. She shouldn't be so ungrateful as to question him.

At that moment, she realized how incredibly willful she had been.

But her lowered head and downcast eyes dealt Ning Yiwen a huge blow.

He could clearly see the enormous chasm between him and Ning Yao at that moment.

Perhaps, he himself drew this chasm.

He stepped forward, trembling, but did not cross the steps. He simply raised his eyes slightly and said, "Ning Yao, look at me."

These words... Ning Yao's eyelashes trembled slightly. She raised her eyes and looked at Ning Yiwen, who seemed like a stranger to her today.

"Tell me, do you... still want to marry me?"

Ning Yiwen stopped speaking before he could finish.

However, upon further reflection, if Ning Yao were to agree so readily, he might forever remain fixated on whether she truly wanted to marry him or was merely a child bride.

After much hesitation, he finally asked, under Ning Yao's questioning gaze:

"Ning Yao, in your eyes, what do you see me as...?"

The question seemed a bit abrupt, but Ning Yao, relying on the "tacit understanding" they'd developed over the years, replied, "Brother Ning, you are my only, very, very closest family member!"

Ning Yiwen: "Relatives?"

Ning Yao nodded vigorously, afraid that Ning Yiwen would be unhappy if it was too late, "Yes! It's my brother!"

Ning Yiwen: "..."

When it reached his ears, it was like a bolt from the blue.

“Ning Yao…”

If he could, Ning Yiwen would like to go back to three years ago, to the time when Ning Yao first discussed marriage with him.

If he had agreed back then, he might already have two children in three years by now...

The thought startled Ning Yiwen.

How could he think like that?

He glanced at Ning Yao, whose face was still full of confusion, his throat tightened, and he opened his mouth several times but could not utter a single word.

He didn't know what to say, or what he could say.

His hands, hanging in his sleeves, trembled slightly and clenched into fists. He needed to use all his strength to restrain himself from hugging her.

No, he didn't want to scare her.

After a long while, Ning Yiwen said in a low voice, "Don't you have a lot of questions? Let me tell you."

The year he was reborn, he was ten years old, and Ning Yao was eleven.

That year, Ning's mother had just passed away.

He and Ning Yao were bullied terribly. Ning Yao had been strong since childhood, and with a stern face, she dragged a stick, looking like she was about to fight the villagers to the death.

Ten-year-old Ning Yiwen shielded Ning Yao from the blow, which struck her head directly.

Upon waking up, he became Ning Yiwen, who possessed the experiences of his previous thirty years.

In just half a day, he reached an agreement with the villagers and sold all the ancestral property in the village on a buy-and-sell basis.

Knowing the course of history, he knew that in the future, this village would be reduced to ruins.

But he felt no pity whatsoever; his only sense of guilt was towards Ning Yao.

Ning Yiwen, along with Ning Yao and all the money from selling their ancestral property, traveled over mountains and valleys to Shanghai.

He only did the hard and tiring work for half a year. In less than half a year, he became a legendary figure in the eyes of the shopkeeper thanks to his intelligence and talent.

The shopkeeper, being a member of the Chamber of Commerce, recommended him to a powerful figure within the Chamber.

In just two years, he rose through the ranks until he caught the eye of Chairman Huo.

He was only thirteen years old at that time.

But he never thought about getting lost in the business world. His goal in this life is neither money nor power.

He knew he was beset by internal troubles and external threats, and he knew that trying to stop them all by himself was futile, but he still couldn't help himself.

So he frequently appeared among scholars, blending in with them, and he even got to know quite a few people from Nanjing.

He partnered with people from that side to establish an underground secret newspaper, the River Daily.

In this newspaper, he used small, everyday events to illustrate and spread many of the ideas that would break with feudalism in the future.

What he is doing is spreading this spark little by little.

Moreover, he also knew that starting next year, the whole society would enter a period of chaos, with constant internal strife, and only warlords would have some self-protection.

And so, he met Commander Fan.

Ning Yiwen briefly recounted to Ning Yao how he met Chairman Huo and Marshal Fan.

Finally, he concluded, "Ning Yao, it's not that I don't want to tell you, I'm just afraid that knowing too much is not good."

Ning Yao was stunned and didn't come to her senses for a long time.

Even legendary figures in traditional storybooks wouldn't dare to be written like this.

Ning Ge actually managed to do that.

Ning Yao covered her mouth and exclaimed in amazement, "Brother Ning, you're amazing!"

She couldn't say anything else besides those words.

She even felt a little ashamed of herself for overestimating herself and presumptuously attempting to investigate such a person...

With a strange feeling in his heart, Ning Yiwen looked at the admiration in Ning Yao's eyes and coughed lightly, "Well, it's alright."

He was somewhat disappointed, unable to find any romantic affection in her eyes. But her undisguised adoration stirred his heart.

No longer drooping to the bottom of the valley.

Ning Yiwen's lips curled slightly. "So, you went to see Huo Li to ask him... about me?"

Ning Yao nodded, pouting as she apologized, "Brother Ning, I'm sorry, I was too presumptuous."

Ning Yiwen shook his head, organized his thoughts, and gave her some affirmation: "No, finding Huo Li is the best option you can make."

He paused for a moment, but finally followed his heart and took Ning Yao's hand, gently holding it in his palm.

My palm was slightly hollow, and I didn't even dare to use too much force.

He pulled Ning Yao to sit on the steps by the pavilion and analyzed the situation for her in detail.

“Apart from Huo Li, you won’t find a breakthrough with anyone else.” This affirmation boosted Ning Yao’s confidence.

Then, the tone shifted abruptly, "However, before you look for someone, you need to analyze their personality and determine if they are trustworthy. But you didn't, which was an oversight. But it's okay, you're still young."

As he spoke, many mistakes he had made in his previous life suddenly flashed through his mind.

"When you're young, you're bound to make mistakes. No one is always right. Some mistakes can cost you your life, but not many. Most mistakes, if you reflect on them, will become your wisdom and life experience."

Ning Yao's eyelashes trembled slightly. For some reason, when she heard Ning Yiwen say "at the cost of one's life," her heart clenched instantly.

It felt like being pricked by a tiny needle; the pain was intense yet fleeting.

He spoke as if he had committed the same offense.

Ning Yao clutched her chest and took a deep breath. She didn't even need to ask about this nonsense; she could rule out the possibility on her own.

"What's wrong?" Ning Yiwen asked with concern when he noticed that she suddenly seemed a little off.

Ning Yao shook her head. "It's okay. Brother Ning, I will work hard to grow, and one day in the future, I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with you."

As she spoke, she recalled the way Ning Yiwen and Miss Fan Ruoxuan walked and talked together in the courtyard that day.

He blurted out, "So, Brother Ning, is Miss Fan Ruoxuan, the daughter of Commander Fan, the sister-in-law you're planning to find for me?"

Ning Yiwen's hands clenched instantly. "What did you say?"

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Author's Note: The current year in the book is 1915, mentioned in Chapter 13. The so-called next year is 1916, the year Yuan Shikai's rebellion failed, ushering in the chaotic period of warlordism. Those interested can do their own research on history. And then, things quickly descended into chaos, and these lighthearted, everyday moments of reading were gone...