Chapter 80 Sinking into Unrequited Love
The kiss was entirely hers, full of passion and initiative. Yu Wenxue grabbed his belt, giving him no chance to back down, and pinned him to the meditation chair.
She lowered her head and continued kissing him. Her belt came loose and slipped to the ground with a dull thud.
From childhood to adulthood, she was like a fragile porcelain doll, unable to do anything. But now she is vibrant and powerful, with the same body, yet experiencing something completely different.
She cherishes, yet fears losing, not only her healthy heart, but also the person before her.
Willing to indulge, willing to sink into depravity.
The last rays of the setting sun shone through the half-open window.
Gu Yun Shen closed his eyes, enjoying her initiative, and moved his hands up to hold her waist tightly.
Unlike his domineering nature, Yu Wenxue's movements were gentle and delicate. Even though she no longer suppressed her desire and gripped his shoulders tightly, one could still sense her vulnerability in her actions.
The kiss had a faint hint of saltiness.
She was trembling.
A sense of unease welled up within him, and Gu Yun Shen, unusually, didn't continue. "Still unwilling to tell me?"
Yu Wenxue bit his slightly parted lips.
Gu Yun Shen went along with her, patting her back very gently: "Even if you don't tell me, I still have ways of finding out where you went and who you met."
"I like you." Yu Wenxue didn't give him a chance to ask any more questions. She put her hands on his shoulders, threw herself into his arms, and clung to him.
She could repeat herself many times as long as he wanted to hear it.
Gu Yun Shen gripped her drooping hand, focused his gaze on her eyes, and stared at her intently: "Before, I always had to coax you to talk, but now, you know how to make me happy too."
Yu Wenxue didn't answer his question again; the best proof was her actions.
Her soft, long hair cascaded down, some falling in front of her chest, some spreading behind her back, intertwining and silently entwining.
Her embroidered shoes fell off, but she didn't have time to pick them up.
The meditation chair was spacious, enough to seat two people, yet it felt cramped and small. Excitedly, it poked its head out, eager to move; she boldly touched it, trying to soothe its restlessness.
Having gained her approval, it grew even harder, as if trying to prove itself. Infatuated, they both breathed heavily, and the drifting log finally found its way back to its lost direction.
The hem of her skirt fell to the ground, and the down cushions on the meditation chair were wrinkled and damp.
...
It rained for several days in a row in the capital.
The air was filled with a faint earthy smell, and it was cold and damp.
With less than six months until her wedding, Yu Wenxue has been feeling lazy these past few days and hasn't gone out, instead starting to prepare her wedding dress.
Back in Yidong, she had learned a thing or two from Lin Qingwan, but she hadn't practiced in a long time, so her technique had become quite rusty.
She divided the local specialties that Fan Zhuo sent last time into four portions. The portions for Gu Rongting and Lin Qingwan have already been sent, but A Tao's portion hasn't been sent yet.
Considering that she was pregnant, Yu Wenxue repeatedly confirmed that it was safe for pregnant women to consume before putting it in the box with peace of mind.
I wonder if her bloating has gotten any better.
After much thought, Yu Wenxue decided to go and see Atao herself.
Meanwhile, in a remote mountain village in the capital, Lin Qingwan and Atao were walking side by side on the road.
They arrived at an inconspicuous house and exchanged a glance.
After comparing it with the map in his hand, he finally mustered up the courage to knock on the door.
An elderly woman opened the door. She was hunched over, with sparse, gray hair and sagging skin covered in age spots. She squinted and asked in a hoarse, aged voice, "Who are you looking for?"
Lin Qingwan smiled faintly: "Excuse me, are you Granny Feng?"
"It's me." Granny Feng looked her up and down, her brows furrowing into a deep frown. She asked suspiciously, "What brings you here, young lady? I don't recognize you."
Atao gave a slight bow and said, "I'm sorry to bother you so abruptly, but... we're desperate and hope you can help us."
After saying that, Lin Qingwan slipped one tael of silver to Granny Feng.
Granny Feng had worked hard all her life and had never seen so much money before. One tael of silver was enough to support her family for half a year. She smiled, her wrinkles crinkling to reveal a set of missing teeth: "This old woman can also help the two young ladies?"
Lin Qingwan's voice choked with emotion: "Excuse me, could you please give us a scrap of cloth?"
Seeing this, Granny Feng suddenly realized: "Young lady, you want to sew a patchwork quilt, don't you?"
"That's exactly right."
Grandma Feng didn't ask any more questions. She turned around, went back into the house, rummaged around for a long time, and returned the one tael of silver along with the scraps of cloth.
“Covered with a blanket from a hundred families, this child will receive the protection of a hundred families. With your love, this child will surely have everything go smoothly and will be safe and sound.”
Lin Qingwan wanted to insist, but no matter what she said, Grandma Feng refused to accept it.
Over the past three days, they split into two groups. Gu Rongting and Yan Liang went west of the city, while she and A Tao went east. They visited dozens of places with elderly people, asking each household for a scrap of cloth in order to sew a quilt for Yu Wenxue.
Lin Qingwan looked down at the piece of cloth in her hand and said softly, "We'll make it up for her when she was little."
Atao's emotions were unstable during her pregnancy, and she was prone to crying. As she spoke, her eyes welled up with tears again: "Qingwan, is Wenxue really incurable?"
"She, she was so young..."
Atao really didn't want to believe that a perfectly healthy person could have contracted an incurable disease.
Lin Qingwan suppressed her emotions and hugged Atao, offering a few words of comfort.
The words of comfort to others are always reasonable, but when it comes to oneself, one just can't let go of this knot in one's heart.
Before sunset, Gu Rongting and Yan Liang came to pick up the two of them and take them back.
Atao sniffed, her voice muffled: "How much did you collect today?"
Yan Liang said seriously, "Twelve, and counting those from a few days ago, there should be more than seventy."
"Adding what we have on hand, that's enough." Lin Qingwan patted Atao's shoulder: "You're pregnant and shouldn't overwork yourself, so let me do it."
"No." Atao shook her head, protecting the bamboo basket in her arms. "I'll sew half, and you sew the other half."
Lin Qingwan didn't refuse again and agreed, "Okay."
*
"Madam Gu, the master and madam will be back shortly. Please wait here for a moment."
The Yan family was small, and even with Yan Liang's salary, it would be difficult to afford a large house in the capital. This small house, though not large, was full of life.
Yu Wenxue didn't just wait inside; she came out for a stroll and squatted down to watch the little fish in the pond.
There was a rocking chair in the yard, so she sat down and rested for a while, waiting for Atao to come back.
Back home, Atao went straight to the front hall, unable to contain her emotions, and hugged Yan Liang, crying uncontrollably: "Why, why do kind people not get good rewards? Why does God treat her like this..."
Yan Liang held A Tao in his arms, his expression also becoming downcast.
"She's only nineteen, just nineteen years old, and she hasn't even had a chance to get married or see our baby..."
"She said she would teach our child to write and draw when she grew up... How could she leave us first..."
Yan Liang patiently coaxed her and soothed her emotions: "You can tell me everything you want, just one thing, you mustn't cry and hurt your eyes."
"Life and death are predestined, and some things cannot be forced. Madam Gu would not want you to be so saddened by her."
"She simply couldn't stay with you in her physical body any longer, perhaps she transformed into the wind, or became a cloud, and will always be by your side..."
After listening to Yan Liang's comforting words, A Tao quickly regained her composure and spread out the strips of cloth she had obtained, cutting them into squares of the same size.
“I don’t believe she only has six months to live. I want to wait for her to teach our children to read.” Atao carefully marked the fabric with each stroke: “Lord Gu offered Wenxue the best longevity lamp in the temple. She will surely live to be a hundred years old…”
At that moment, Yu Wenxue, who was standing outside the door, heard the entire conversation between the two people inside.
The hand hidden under the sleeve quietly clenched the handkerchief in its palm, crumpling it into a ball before unfolding it again.
This is what they were keeping from her.
She covered her lips tightly, trying hard not to let the tears fall, and stood there for a long time, unable to calm down.
It turns out that Lin Qingwan's so-called porridge distribution was for her to pray for blessings and accumulate merit. Gu Rongting suddenly donated a large sum of money for incense offerings, which was to offer her a longevity lamp at the temple.
They weren't family, but they were closer than relatives, loving and caring for her without reservation. Everyone was working hard for her, desperately wanting her to live...
Yu Wenxue left, dejected and heartbroken.
Before she knew it, she had come to the old banyan tree again. The fountain pool was full of copper coins, and several ragged children were struggling to reach out and grab a few coins.
"System, I want to spoil the plot. Please help me predict the story."
[System: There is only one Foresight Card. Which part of the plot would you like to know?]
Yu Wenxue took a deep breath and said, word by word, "Please tell me, what do I need to do to achieve a 100% happy ending?"
The system fell silent.
A crackling sound of electricity filled her ears. She covered her throbbing ears and repeated, "Please answer my question."
[System: Kill the villain, and the Happy Ending progress will reach 100%]
The villain was killed.
That short sentence was like a thunderbolt from the blue.
Yu Wenxue stood there blankly, asking incredulously, "Why? So many things have changed. He hasn't turned evil, he hasn't hindered the male and female leads from being together. Why do we need to kill him to complete the mission?"
[System: Host, even if you change the plot and the character settings are on the verge of being out of character, the overall ending will not change. This is the original setting...]
The characters in this book are all fictional; they do not actually exist in this world. You don't need to feel any pressure; just think of it as a game where you level up and defeat monsters.
[Given that your physical condition has not resulted in death, the mission was successful, and you will unconditionally and permanently gain the right to good health.]
Host, please make a choice:
1. Kill the villain and return to the modern era.
2. If I don't kill you, you will die before the age of twenty, as set in the original book, at an uncertain time.
“They are not fictional, they are living, breathing people, they are real!” Yu Wenxue sneered, her nails digging into her flesh as if she felt no pain.
She asked, "What if I refuse to choose?"
[System: If you choose not to participate, everything will proceed according to the original book's setting, and the villain's ultimate fate will still be death.]
Yu Wenxue's heart tightened, but she maintained her composure: "What...was his fate?"
In the original book, before the villain Gu Yun Shen was taken in by his master, he was secretly trained as a test subject for medicine to help the former crown prince recover from his illness. The toxins in his body were deeply accumulated and could not be eradicated.
Over the years, he has been using acupuncture to detoxify, but the toxins have already invaded his internal organs. As for his fate, it is unknown.
[System: Host, you've worked so hard for so long, and you're only one step away from regaining your health. You absolutely cannot give up now...]
Yu Wenxue's face showed a sneer: "So, you mean that whether I kill him or not, he will die. And you want me to kill him so that I can live?"
The system fell silent again.
After a long silence, the cold, electronic voice sounded again: "Please make a choice, host."
"I remember I still have two rewards I haven't used." Yu Wenxue took a deep breath, looked up at the sun in the sky, so dazzling and bright, without the gloom of the previous days.
The system says they are fictional and do not exist, yet in less than a year, each person's existence has been so vivid and real.
"Now, I request to use all the skills I have left, as for the rest..."
She smiled, her gaze more resolute than ever before, her voice clear and loud: "Only children make choices, I want both."
Author's Note: We're nearing the end of the main story. There are expected to be several tens of thousands of words left before the main story concludes, with many side stories. If you have any side stories you'd like to see, please let us know! [pity][pity]
Thank you everyone for your support and companionship [hugs]
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