Chapter 263 The Way Out
There was a person sitting with their back to the door in the room. Xie Xuchuan was puzzled and followed Cui Cheng into the room.
Perhaps the noise caught the man's attention, for Xie Xuchuan saw the man slowly turn around, revealing a face he knew all too well.
“Yulin…”
Xie Xuchuan murmured, then his voice sharpened after a moment: "Yu Lin?"
He was utterly shocked: "You're not dead? You survived at sea?"
With red eyes and a look of guilt, Cui Yulin said, "After I boarded the ship, I was too scared and regretted getting off."
"You disembarked?"
Xie Xuchuan stared blankly at Cui Yulin, his tone full of confusion: "You came down? What do you mean you came down? You got off the ship? You didn't die at sea?"
"Xu Chuan, I...I'm so sorry..."
Xie Xuchuan looked at Cui Yulin, his mouth agape, unsure of what to say.
His mind went blank; all that echoed in his ears was Cui Yulin's words, "They've disembarked from the boat."
So Cui Yulin didn't die at sea at all; he... he's still alive and well.
Suddenly, Xie Xuchuan burst out laughing.
Cui Yulin saw Xie Xuchuan laughing louder and louder until he bent over laughing. A moment later, he saw a water stain on the ground.
"You didn't get on the ship...and you didn't die at sea..."
Xie Xuchuan murmured, then raised his head, his eyes bloodshot: "Yu Lin, why didn't you die?"
"You should have died at sea... If you hadn't died, what would all I've done have meant?"
How could he just come back like this?
How could it just suddenly come back to life like that?
Xie Xuchuan stood up, gripping Cui Yulin's shoulders tightly with both hands. He shook his head, laughing and crying, "How come you... didn't die at sea?"
"Cui Yulin, you should be dead!"
After saying that, Xie Xuchuan swung his fist and slammed it at Cui Yulin.
Cui Yulin had just recovered from a serious illness, and Xie Xuchuan actually managed to knock him out with that punch. He fell to the ground, and Cui Cheng was so shocked that he rushed over to help his son up.
"Xuchuan, Yulin didn't mean to lie to you."
Cui Cheng wiped away his tears and pulled Cui Yulin tightly.
Xie Xuchuan then noticed that the other person's legs were limp and hanging down on the ground, and he couldn't stand up at all.
He stood there with his mouth agape, breathing heavily, unable to vent his anger, which made his eyes red with rage.
"I'm sorry, Xuchuan, I... I didn't mean to lie to you. I didn't know what would happen after I got off the ship, and I only found out much later that the Liu family's ship in Taicang had a problem."
"I took the goods and silver you gave me to the border, but I never expected to encounter bandits."
"Xu Chuan, I'm sorry."
Cui Yulin knelt down and pulled Xie Xuchuan's legs. Xie Xuchuan gritted his teeth and looked at him for a long time before finally helping him up.
When the brothers reunited, their hearts were filled not with the joy of a reunion after a calamity, but with an unyielding sorrow.
Cui Cheng picked up the chair that had fallen to the ground, and Xie Xuchuan placed Cui Yulin on the chair.
Cui Cheng said, "I'll go ask the waiter to boil some water. You two... can chat for a while."
After saying this, Cui Cheng left, leaving only Xie and Cui in the room.
After a long silence, Xie Xuchuan finally asked, "What happened to your leg?"
Cui Yulin smiled wryly and pulled up his trouser leg.
The winding, ugly scars were exposed. Although the wounds had healed, the injuries were so severe that the flesh was twisted and the feet were contracted and deformed.
Xie Xuchuan watched, his cheeks taut.
"Xu Chuan, I'm sorry."
Cui Yulin choked up, looking at the person who quickly calmed down, and gritted his teeth without saying a word.
He understood and had experienced the silence that follows great sorrow.
The past six months have been difficult for both of them.
Cui Yulin wanted to ask Jiang Wansu, but he didn't dare to speak at this moment.
After a long while, he asked Shen Yuanzhu: "I didn't dare to come back before, so I went to Songjiang Prefecture with my father. I wanted to go to the shop there to ask about things at home, but I didn't expect to hear so much."
"You and the Shen family..."
Xie Xuchuan looked up at him, feeling a pang of sorrow in his heart.
He opened his mouth, but felt a bitter taste in it, and couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
At that moment, he knew nothing more than to say that fate had played a cruel trick on him.
The room grew colder, and Xie Xuchuan remained silent until Cui Yulin bent down to pick up the soft blanket from the floor. Only then did Xie Xuchuan say, "Wansu has miscarried..."
Cui Yulin's hand tightened: "Why..."
Xie Xuchuan said, "At that time, the Xie family was in a lot of trouble, and the two of us... had an argument. She was already pregnant and her pregnancy was not going well. In her excitement, she miscarried. I am sorry to you."
"It's not your fault."
He and Xie Xuchuan grew up together and knew each other's temperament best. Since he had given up Shen Yuanzhu to marry Jiang Wansu, he would definitely not mistreat Wansu.
It must have been his death that caused Wan Su to be so grief-stricken that it broke her heart.
Having learned everything that had happened to the Xie family, he had been prepared for this journey.
Cui Yulin lowered his eyes and stared at his legs for a long time before asking, "How is she now?"
Xie Xuchuan suddenly remembered that last night, Jiang Wansu had leaned down in his arms and said that there would be such a day someday.
For some reason, Xie Xuchuan broke out in a cold sweat.
"She has been recuperating for a long time after the miscarriage, and her health is now quite good."
Cui Yulin gripped the soft blanket on his lap, and said no more.
After a long while, he whispered, "I heard that Miss Shen married Xie Qi."
Xie Xuchuan's eyes instantly reddened at the thought of Yuanzhu.
After a long, long time, he finally said, "It's all in the past."
Cui Yulin didn't know what else to say. Things had come to this point, and simply reverting to the wrong path wouldn't bring things back on track.
It's not that everything will be fine and we can start over just because he comes back.
But Xie Xuchuan had no intention of taking his friend's wife. He looked at Cui Yulin and said calmly, "What do you think about Wansu?"
"I……"
He gave a bitter laugh: "What can I think? Xu Chuan, I'll never be able to stand up again in this life, I've become a cripple."
What else can I think?
He lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.
Jiang Wansu has already married Xie Xuchuan; the two have paid their respects to heaven and earth and to their parents.
The fact that Jiang Wansu was able to successfully marry into the Xie family shows that Xu Chuan never revealed to anyone who the father of the child in Wansu's womb was.
How is he supposed to appear in front of Xie Boyu and Hua Nanzhi now and say that Jiang Wansu is actually his wife?
He grew up in the Xie family. His father was promoted by Xie San Niang, who saved his father's life during a famine. Xu Chuan treated him like a brother...
If he doesn't come back alive, he'll cause trouble for Xuchuan.
not to mention……
Cui Yulin looked at his legs and smiled bitterly.
In his current state, how can he be with Wansu? It would be better to let Wansu stay by Xuchuan's side, at least ensuring her a life of comfort and wealth.
This... was his selfish wish, and it was also the best way out he could leave for Wansu.
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