“Brother Asheng, it’s me, but so what?” Bai Yumei sighed and said softly.

“Yu Mei, you must have suffered all these years.” Chen Liansheng looked at Bai Yu Mei and said with emotion, “Although I don’t know what has happened to you all these years, I absolutely do not believe what the Huang family said before.”

Tao Wanniang sat quietly to one side, watching the scene of the two childhood sweethearts reunited.

"Yu Mei, are you back? You and your older sister... um, why are you still living here?" Chen Liansheng glanced at Tao Wanniang and said in confusion, "If there's anything I can help with, Yu Mei, just let me know."

"Brother Asheng, I'm doing well now. But how are you and your wife? And your aunt?" Bai Yumei also looked Chen Liansheng up and down. Judging from his clothes, he was probably living in dire straits.

Chen Liansheng's face stiffened, and then he said awkwardly, "What sister-in-law? I was divorced half a year after I got married."

“My mother’s health deteriorated over the years, and she passed away before the new year. I had planned to sell our ancestral home and go to the capital to make a living, but then I thought about what if you came back…”

Bai Yumei was somewhat surprised that so many things had happened.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Bai Yumei said apologetically.

"Yu Mei... do you... still want to go home?" Chen Liansheng asked tentatively.

“I’m not going back. The old Bai Yumei is long gone,” Bai Yumei said. “Brother Asheng, do whatever you want without worrying about me.”

"Yu Mei, um... what happened to you all these years, I... never mind, as long as you're alright." Chen Liansheng saw that Bai Yu Mei had covered her face, naturally not wanting anyone to see her, but apart from the mask on her face, her clothes and the place she was standing were much better than his.

"Brother, isn't your Shanhai Prefecture quite wealthy? Why are you selling your property to go to the capital?" Tao Wanniang asked.

“I have a cousin who does business in the capital. He has been asking me to come to the capital to help him out, but my mother is not in good health, so I have been putting it off.”

Chen Liansheng said truthfully, "Seeing Yumei today has fulfilled my wish. Yumei, don't you... have anything to say to me?"

Bai Yumei shook her head and said, "Brother Asheng, as you can see, I'm doing quite well. Since you have new plans, I wish you all the best in the future."

Seeing that Bai Yumei had no intention of revealing her experiences in the capital, Tao Wanniang remained silent as well.

"Well... well... I'll be going now." Chen Liansheng sensed Bai Yumei's distance and looked somewhat embarrassed as he spoke weakly.

"Yes, Brother Sheng, take care," Bai Yumei said calmly.

Chen Liansheng really left, turning back every few steps, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back. But seeing that Bai Yumei didn't intend to say anything more, he could only swallow his anger and leave.

"Are you just letting them go like that?" Tao Wanniang asked after they left. She looked at Bai Yumei and could tell that she still had some other feelings for Chen Asheng.

"Big sister, please don't make fun of me. He already has his own plans, so why should I say anything more?" Bai Yumei felt somewhat ashamed in front of Chen Liansheng, and she dared not have any other thoughts.

"Aren't we also heading back to the capital? Wouldn't you like to join us for a short trip?"

"Big sister, do you think there's any possibility between him and me? My face..." Bai Yumei touched her mask. "Brother Asheng is a good person. He was just implicated by his mother before, but Brother Asheng can meet someone better in the future."

The two of them were probably hiding something, so Tao Wan's mother didn't point it out. When her son and daughter-in-law returned, she went to the kitchen and made a plate of roast chicken and a pot of duck soup. On their first day back in Shanhai Mansion, the family enjoyed their meal to the fullest.

"You can take the rest of the chickens and ducks and sell them yourselves. The money you make will be yours," Tao Wan's mother said to her two sons after the meal. "Oh, and leave one or two for Xiao Lu."

"Mom, don't worry, we'll go early tomorrow morning." Ling Dapeng was especially enthusiastic when he heard that the money from the sale would be his.

"I'm full. You all clean up. I'm going for a walk," Tao Wanniang said, and then left the table.

Walking through the yard under the moonlight, I felt sorry for all the vegetables she had planted before!

As night deepened, everyone washed up and went to bed, but Bai Yumei tossed and turned. She had thought that the two of them would no longer be involved, but now they were both free.

As if guided by some strange force, Bai Yumei went out the door and headed towards her home.

My own dilapidated house was pitch black, but the Chen family across the street still had candles lit. Was Brother Asheng still awake?

"Yu Mei!" Just as Bai Yu Mei hesitated at the Chen family's door, the door opened.

"Brother Asheng." Bai Yumei's heart tightened; she was still not prepared to face it.

"Come in. I knew it was you as soon as I saw the figure outside the door," Chen Liansheng said with a kind smile.

Bai Yumei felt a little embarrassed, but she still went inside.

“Brother Asheng, I didn’t elope with anyone. During the years I was missing, I was actually living in that house.” Bai Yumei mustered up her courage and said.

"In that house?" Chen Liansheng was taken aback. "That house is rumored to be haunted..."

"It's me!" Bai Yumei removed her mask, revealing half of her face with hideous scars. "With such a face, and so fleeting, people mistook me for a ghost."

When Chen Liansheng saw Bai Yumei's scarred face, he gasped and then looked annoyed.

"Who is it, Yumei? Who hurt you like this?"

Bai Yumei briefly recounted what had happened to her, and then put the mask back on.

"Sister Tao has already avenged me; Madam Huang's fate was extremely tragic. Moreover, I now have a new identity and am no longer a concubine of the Huang family."

After hearing what Bai Yumei said, Chen Liansheng was stunned! The fact that such a sordid affair had happened to Bai Yumei filled him with both anger and pain.

"Yu Mei, if I had known you would end up like this, I shouldn't have let you become a concubine for the Huang family back then!" Chen Liansheng said regretfully.

Bai Yumei smiled and said, "That's impossible. You couldn't even come up with three hundred taels of silver to pay off my father's debts back then. Even if you could, I wouldn't be able to enter your house. Aunt Chen would never accept me."

For a moment, Chen Liansheng couldn't utter a single word of rebuttal. Yes, back then, there was nothing he could do but watch helplessly as Bai Yumei was carried into the Huang family's back gate in a sedan chair.

The two looked at each other, speechless for a moment. Finally, Bai Yumei spoke up: "When are you going to the capital?"

“This house already has a buyer in mind. We’re just waiting for the brokerage to arrange the sale date. Then I’ll be heading to the capital,” Chen Liansheng said, then fell silent. He didn’t know what the future held, and he couldn’t possibly care about Bai Yumei’s future.

"We're also going back to the capital. You can come find me when you get there." After telling Bai Yumei about her situation, she felt much more at ease.

Chen Liansheng was surprised, then cautiously asked, "Yumei, what kind of business are you doing now?"

“My older sister saved me, so I stayed at her house. They used to have a small restaurant, and I worked there as the accountant,” Bai Yumei said. “Speaking of which, Brother Asheng, I’m so grateful to you for teaching me when I was little.”

Chen Liansheng was even more surprised, but then he smiled and said, "Yumei, this is good."

"Yes, I'm doing quite well." Bai Yumei looked at Chen Liansheng and smiled.

"Then, we'll meet again in the capital." Their eyes met, and both smiled, their future looking promising!