Chapter 134 You are utterly hopeless
Achan looked at Chen Hui, who and Boss Lü hit it off immediately and had a very good relationship.
"Hui Niang, what exactly is going on?" A Chan asked softly from behind the door.
Chen Hui shook her head: "I don't know either. She rarely mentions family matters when we chat."
“It seems that this Mr. Lü is in the wrong,” Lin Sui interjected.
"When it comes to matters of the heart, how can anyone who isn't involved truly discern who owes whom?"
After Chen Hui finished speaking, seeing that the two of them were looking at her, she couldn't help but laugh: "You're still young, you'll understand later."
Although the door was closed, more and more people gathered outside to watch the commotion. At this time, the servants brought by Boss Lü's ex-husband began to drive people away. Seeing that the servants looked fierce and menacing, the onlookers knew that this was probably someone not to be trifled with, so they dared not linger any longer and dispersed in twos and threes.
Some people who were really curious ran to the other side of the street and stood on tiptoe to look this way. Even though they couldn't hear what they were saying, they could at least watch the excitement.
People who came out of the surrounding shops also tactfully went back inside, though they all secretly glanced towards the antique shop.
After all the irrelevant people had been driven away, Boss Lü's sister spoke up again: "I came here today not to argue with my elder sister about these past matters, but because Mother is worried about you, and you haven't been home to visit her for a long time. I'm just passing on her message that you should go back and visit her when you have time."
After saying that, she nodded slightly to the man beside her: "Brother Liu, I'll take my leave now."
She didn't give Mr. Lü a chance to speak before turning and leaving.
Mr. Lü watched her retreating figure, sneered, glanced at her ex-husband, turned around, went back to his shop, and closed the door.
She walked quickly behind the counter, reached out and took a stone cup from the shelf behind her. Before she could do anything, the shop door was pushed open.
Things had escalated to this point, and she thought Liu Xiangze would surely walk away and never speak to her again. But to her surprise, he came back.
"Does Lord Liu have any further instructions? If not, please step aside, as I am disturbing my business." Boss Lü placed the cup back on the shelf behind him, his tone indifferent.
Liu Xiangze stared at her for a moment before speaking, "Lü Ruhui, you weren't always so unreasonable. How did you become like this? Ruxin is your own sister. You fabricated a story about my relationship with her to humiliate us. If this gets out, how will she face anyone in the capital?"
"Am I not telling the truth? You all came here together to make trouble, and you're afraid of what others will say?" Boss Lü's face was full of sarcasm. "I must have touched a nerve with Lord Liu to make you so eager to stand up for Lü Ruxin."
“Lu Ruhui, that’s just your conjecture. I just bumped into her on the street. We didn’t make any plans. It was the same when we met last time.”
Boss Lü smiled and said, "Are you telling me that you two are on the same wavelength? And that I just happened to witness your destiny?"
Liu Xiangze angrily retorted, "You're utterly hopeless!"
Boss Lü turned his head away, no longer looking at the person standing in front of him, his voice cold: "That's better than being treated like a fool. Speaking of which, Lord Liu is truly the most affectionate person I've ever met. He lived with his sister, whom he didn't like, for more than ten years, yet he always kept his younger sister in his heart. If I had known you were so affectionate, I wouldn't have delayed you two."
"I didn't..."
"I've heard that Lord Liu never lies. Do you dare swear to heaven that you've never liked Lü Ruxin?" Boss Lü said sternly.
Liu Xiangze remained silent. He had indeed believed that he was going to marry the second daughter of the Lü family and had been full of expectations.
“It happened a long time ago,” he said. “I’ve moved on.”
"Let go? What you mean by letting go is being able to tell her every detail of your family life more than a decade later?"
"She asked."
"So you'll tell me?"
Liu Xiangze closed his eyes briefly: "This was my fault. I was so angry back then. An'an was badly injured because of you, but she wouldn't even look at him..."
Before he could finish speaking, Boss Lü suddenly interrupted him, his tone extremely cold: "Why should I go see him? Lord Liu, have you forgotten that Liu Yu'an is your son, not mine?"
Liu Xiangze felt that the woman in front of him was utterly unfamiliar and terrifying. He said incredulously, "An'an broke her arm because of you, and you don't even think you did anything wrong?"
Was my mistake in trying to stop him when he fell down the stairs?
"But he said you pushed him!"
"He said?" Boss Lü laughed angrily. "Liu Xiangze, in all these years of marriage, you've never believed a single word I said, yet you've placed complete trust in an adopted son. Has your brain been eaten by a dog?"
"He doesn't lie."
"So you think I would?" Boss Lu gasped for breath, pointing to the door and shouting, "Get out of here!"
Seeing that the other person refused to leave, she smashed all the porcelain pieces she could find at hand, finally driving them away.
After everyone left, she bolted the shop door and suddenly began to tremble all over.
She forced herself to walk behind the counter, picked up the stone cup she had been playing with earlier from the shelf. The cup was covered with a thin layer of liquid. Without looking at it, she tilted her head back and drank the liquid. Then, holding onto the stair railing, she slowly walked up to the second floor.
Because of this sudden farce, the antique shop next door remained closed that afternoon.
Lin Sui had dinner at A Chan's place but didn't see anything afterward. He left regretfully in the Lin family's carriage at the end of Shen Shi (3-5 PM).
When Achan saw Lin Sui off, she noticed Chen Hui looking at the shop next door and said to her, "We haven't seen Boss Lü come out yet, do you want to go and check on her?"
The shop next door wasn't hiring any employees, and Boss Lü didn't usually live here. In winter, it gets dark early, and by this time on weekdays, she would have already closed her shop and gone home.
"Okay." Chen Hui went up and knocked on the door, but after waiting for a while, she did not receive a response.
"Ru Hui, are you there?" Chen Hui continued knocking on the door.
There was still no sound from inside.
"Is she in a bad mood, or does she not want to talk to anyone?" Achan guessed.
Chen Hui did not answer. She leaned closer to the closed shop door and listened quietly for a while.
Seeing her like this, Achan quietly went over and listened for a while, but of course she couldn't understand anything.
"What's wrong?" Achan asked.
Chen Hui hesitated slightly: "There's a heartbeat, so she should be inside. But if she is, given her personality, she wouldn't pretend she didn't hear it."
"Why don't we go in and take a look?" Ah Chan suggested. "Boss Lü doesn't seem to be in good health. We don't want anything to happen to him."
Upon hearing this, Chen Hui no longer hesitated. She placed her hands on the door panel and with a slight force, the inner latch snapped.
The antique shop was pitch black, with some broken porcelain shards on the ground. Chen Hui was afraid that A Chan would get hurt, so she didn't let her in and stepped inside herself.
She followed the faint sound up to the second floor and saw Lü Ruhui lying on the ground at the door.
At this moment, Lü Ruhui seemed to be awake; her eyes were open, but she appeared unable to move.
There was only one couch on the second floor of the antique shop. Chen Hui carried the person onto the couch and heard A Chan calling from downstairs, "Hui Niang, have you found the person?"
"Found her, something's not right with her."
"Wait a moment, I'll go back and get the candles." Ah Chan turned around, ran back into the shop to get the candlesticks, and then returned to the antique shop.
When Achan came up with the candlestick, Chen Hui was guarding the bedside. When she saw her, she said, "She can't move, but she is conscious. She doesn't seem to be sick."
Ah Chan leaned closer and saw that the other person's eyes were still open, looking at them, so she asked, "Boss Lü, can you hear me?"
Lü Ruhui blinked.
"Should we go and fetch a doctor for you?"
He didn't blink.
To avoid any misunderstanding, Achan asked again, "Do you know what's wrong with your body?"
Blink.
It seemed that Boss Lü was very aware of his physical condition. Achan and Chen Hui exchanged a glance. She touched Boss Lü's hand, as if she had touched a piece of ice.
She suggested, "Mr. Lü, it's too cold in the shop. Would you like Hui Niang to take you to our home first?"
Lü Ruhui blinked, which meant she agreed.
Chen Hui carried Lü Ruhui downstairs, with A Chan following behind. When they left, A Chan found the lock and key in the counter and locked the shop door for her.
After bringing the person back, Chen Hui settled her in her room, and A Chan lit the charcoal stove used in the shop and brought it into the room.
After waiting for about an hour, Boss Lü, who could only blink before, was finally able to move his hands and feet and speak.
"What exactly happened to you?" Chen Hui asked only after seeing that she had almost recovered.
Looking at Chen Hui, who looked worried, and A Chan, who was full of curiosity, Lü Ruhui curled her lips and said, "It's nothing serious. I suddenly felt unwell and took some medicine, but I didn't expect the reaction to be so strong."
No normal person would believe such a thing. Chen Hui's face darkened: "What kind of medicine can make someone's whole body stiff? How many hours have you been lying on the ground?"
"Huiniang, I'm really fine." Lü Ruhui tried to avoid the topic.
"If you don't tell me, I'll have to call a doctor to treat you. If this happens again, you might freeze to death."
After a long silence, Lü Ruhui finally spoke: "It's not that I'm unwilling to say, but even if I did, you probably wouldn't believe me."
Ah Chan advised from the side, "Boss Lü, why don't you tell us first? If you refuse to say anything, Hui Niang will definitely not feel at ease."
"Alright." Lü Ruhui sighed softly and said to Chen Hui, "Do you still remember the stone wine glass I usually keep on the top shelf of the counter?"
“I remember you said you spent most of your dowry to buy it.”
“Yes.” Lü Ruhui smiled. “What I was actually drinking was the water that had condensed in that stone cup.”
Chen Hui frowned upon hearing this. When she first saw the cup, she thought it was an antique, which was why it was so expensive. But after hearing what Lü Ruhui said, it was clear that the cup had an extraordinary function.
She didn't understand these things, so she could only look at Achan.
"What kind of stone cup is it?" Achan asked.
Chen Hui described it as: "A white stone cup with black patterns on it, which is translucent when held up to the sunlight."
Achan pondered for a moment: "Black and white, and it can produce liquid, it sounds like a cup made from a stone core."
"Miss Ji actually knew?" Lu Ruhui's face was full of surprise.
“I know a little about these things.” Achan changed the subject. “As far as I know, stone cores can condense stone slurry, but stone slurry has no medicinal effect.”
"Yes, but it can relieve pain."
Seeing the surprised expressions on their faces, Lü Ruhui said calmly, "My illness... often causes unbearable pain. The medicine prescribed by the doctor is ineffective, and there is no other way, so I came up with this stone mortar to relieve the pain."
She paused, then continued, "It wasn't like this before, but recently after drinking the stone mortar, my body freezes and doesn't move. It recovers after two or three hours. You really won't freeze to death."
She was clearly explaining to Chen Hui, who remained silent.
Ah Chan spoke up to warn, "If you continue drinking, this situation will likely worsen until... your body becomes completely stiff."
Humans are always curious about things that defy their common sense, but many things are more dangerous to humans than poison.
Achan was worried that she had been scammed.
To everyone's surprise, Boss Lü said in a relaxed tone, "I know, the seller told me when I bought the cup. Whether I drink the stone slurry or not, I will die. At least this way of dying is more aesthetically pleasing."
For a moment, Ah Chan didn't know what to say. The message from Boss Lü's words suggested that there was probably no cure for her illness.
Drinking the stone nectar is like drinking poison to quench thirst, but if you don't drink it, you can only suffer in agony.
"How come you... have never said this before?" Chen Hui's throat tightened.
Previously, she only thought that Lü Ruhui was unwell, assuming it was like A Chan's condition, until today she realized that she was nearing the end of her life.
Yesterday, they even made a pact to go to Lü Ruhui's estate next summer to escape the heat. Will her body really be able to hold out until then?
Lü Ruhui forced a smile: "I'm sorry, Huiniang, I didn't tell anyone before."
"How long have you been doing this?"
“It’s been a few months.” Seeing Chen Hui’s low spirits, she actually comforted her, “It’s okay. Actually, after drinking the stone slurry, I’m just like a normal person. I don’t feel any pain or itching. I feel pretty good.”
"Aren't you going to tell your parents about your illness?" She knew that Lü Ruhui's parents were still alive, and that she had two older brothers, a younger brother, and a younger sister.
Lu Ruhui said in a calm tone, "I'd better not talk about it. They're angry with me because of my sudden divorce, and I haven't been back for a long time."
Achan could tell that this Mr. Lü was probably carrying a lot of worries in his heart. Since she wasn't very familiar with him, she didn't want to stay and listen to their conversation any longer, so she excused herself and went back to her room to rest, leaving first.
After returning to her room, Achan washed up, changed her clothes, and snuggled into the warm tiger-skin rug. She took out the storybook from beside her pillow, read a couple of pages, and then drifted off to sleep.
Opening her eyes, she found herself back in a familiar state of introspection. The six black chains that had once bound her now numbered only three.
To be more precise, there were two and a half chains. The chain around her neck was half broken and teetering on the edge, with a few incomprehensible runes floating on it from time to time. Unfortunately, it wasn't a real chain, so she couldn't pull it off and could only bear it for the time being.
She waited patiently for a while, and then the chain on her left hind leg rattled. She turned her head to look and saw that the chain first straightened and then broke completely.
Now, apart from the half-broken chain around his neck, all that's left is the chain on his right hind leg.
She was curious: what would happen after all the chains shattered? Would the person who had placed the chains on her appear?
Even if it is her mother as she guessed, it doesn't matter. At least tell her a reason, right?
Achan felt that her internal vision lasted a very short time, but when she opened her eyes, it was already dawn outside.
She lay in bed, subconsciously touching her forehead. She didn't have a fever, and felt fine, just a little hungry. Compared to last time, she seemed to be in better condition.
This was truly something to be happy about. As soon as Achan put on her clothes, she couldn't wait to run outside, shouting as she ran, "Huiniang, I want to drink meatball soup and steamed buns."
Chen Hui's voice came from the kitchen: "There are no steamed buns, only scallion pancakes today."
"Okay, then I'll add an egg."
Before long, Chen Hui brought out meatball soup and scallion pancakes with eggs. The meatballs were made earlier and frozen outside for easier access.
The two returned to their room. Ah Chan used a spoon to scoop up meatballs and ate one before suddenly remembering to ask, "Where's Boss Lü?"
"I left when I got up this morning, and I should be packing up the shop now."
"Even with her health like this, she still doesn't forget to open a shop?" Achan couldn't quite understand the other person's thoughts.
"It's probably because opening a shop is much easier for her than dealing with her family."
Recalling the stories Lü Ruhui had told her last night, Chen Hui couldn't help but sigh.
Lu Ruhui's marriage was something she forced upon herself.
Originally, her younger sister was engaged to Liu Xiangze, but the marriage changed because her family did not want her sister to marry into the Liu family.
She admired Liu Xiangze, and knowing that her sister's marriage had fallen through, she forced her parents to agree to let her take her sister's place in the marriage.
When she got married, Liu Xiangze was just starting out in officialdom, but now he is already the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies.
In the eyes of others, the only regret in her marriage was probably not having children.
Even so, Liu Xiangze did not take a concubine, but instead adopted a child from within his clan.
Their lives had their share of ups and downs, but overall they were harmonious. She thought the past was the past.
Everything changed this year when her younger sister returned to Beijing as a widow.
Whether it was her husband, whom she considered to have a deep and loving relationship with, or the children she had carefully taught, they all became strangers.
But everyone thinks that she's the one in the wrong.
Knowing that she was nearing the end of her life, she stopped trying to argue with people about right and wrong and instead chose to divorce.
Chen Huineng could tell that when she said those words, she was trying hard to let go, but she still failed.
Some knots in one's heart cannot be untied even by death.
"Spend more time with her," Achan said. "The effects of the stone mortar are significant. If she continues to take it, she might not make it past the Lunar New Year."
"I see."
Seeing Ah Chan looking at her with some worry, Chen Hui smiled and said, "Don't worry about me. I've come to terms with life and death, and Ru Hui... has already accepted it too."
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