Chapter 134: Broken Strings and New Life
As the wedding day approached, the estate in Yangon became unusually busy. Craftsmen were constructing a ceremony table in the courtyard, decorated with lilies of the valley and red roses, while servants shuttled around carrying various gift boxes.
Savika walked into the bedroom and saw Su Lixia staring at the dressing table, her fingertips hovering above the phone screen for a long time.
He approached silently and hugged her from behind. "Should we send someone to pick up my parents-in-law?" His voice was lower than usual. "Special flight to and from China."
Su Lixia remained silent, then finally opened her long-unused WeChat account. In her message list, besides a few public account push notifications, there were only a few messages from her parents when she first returned to Bangkok:
"Xia Xia, the school contacted your family and said you haven't returned to school. What happened?"
"Call me back when you see the message. Your parents are very worried about you."
"Answer the phone!"
The last message was sent a few months ago. At that time, she was accompanying Ruan Xingchen in the manor to take care of her pregnancy, and her phone was turned off for a long time.
She clicked on the chat history of the family group and found that she had been removed from the group chat. In the historical messages, she saw the voice-to-text message of her aunt Su Yujuan:
"Brother, Xia Xia has been to places like Myanmar. Who knows what she's been through? Our Su family can't afford to lose this person."
"Just pretend you never had this daughter. You and your sister-in-law are only 48, why not try IVF and have another one?"
Followed by several relatives' expressions of agreement.
She clicked on her mother's circle of friends, and the latest post was a B-ultrasound photo with the caption "Belated Hope", and the gestational age showed that she was already 12 weeks pregnant.
However, the area below this post was unusually clean, with no trace of likes or comments. She tried to click on the Moments of several cousins and saw a horizontal line.
She recalled how her parents were proud of her when she was studying at Peking University and Tsinghua University Medical School; she recalled how her relatives would praise her for being smart and sensible at every family gathering.
But now, just because of an "unbearable experience" they imagined, she became the shame of the family.
"This bunch of bastards..." Savika put her hand on her shoulder, her tone dangerous, "Do you want me to 'persuade' them?"
Su Lixia shook her head and turned off her phone. "No need." She turned and looked out the window, where lilies of the valley swayed gently in the breeze. "They've already made their choice."
"Sad?" Savika lifted her chin and forced her to look him in the eye.
"A little bit." She said honestly, but soon raised a relieved smile, "But more of it is gratitude. Gratitude that I chose to come back, gratitude that I chose you."
She reached out and touched the bullet mark on Savika's shoulder, the mark left by the bullet he had blocked for her.
"In this world, some people, though related by blood, would rather believe the most vicious speculations; while some people," she said, gently stroking his heart with her fingertips, "are willing to lay down their lives for me."
Savika grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. "Then let everyone in the Mo family become your in-laws." His tone was overbearing, yet with a rare tenderness. "On the wedding day, all the dignitaries in Southeast Asia will be there to witness it. Let's see who dares to say a word against you."
"Okay." Su Lixia smiled, and this time there was no trace of gloom in her smile.
Three days before the wedding, Savika took Surishia to the Shwedagon Pagoda. He wanted her not only to bid farewell to her past before the Buddha, but also to have both the gods and the secular world bear witness that she was now the starting point of his bloodline.
In the morning light of the Shwedagon Pagoda, Su Lixia picked up a lock of her long hair. The sharp blade passed through it, and the strands of hair snapped silently. She tied the hair to the branch of a wishing tree and let it flutter in the wind.
"My body and hair are all given by my parents..." She looked up at her hair fluttering with the prayer flags and said softly, "Today I pay it back before the Buddha. The grace of raising me and the bond of blood are now cleared."
Savika threw a thick stack of US dollars into the donation box, shocking the monks and causing them to recite scriptures.
He knelt on one knee, his camouflage combat pants stained with incense ash. He tore open the collar of his military uniform and carved the Burmese word "Xia" on his heart with a dharmakshi knife.
"My blood will serve as a sacrifice for your past." Blood dripped down his muscular chest. "From now on, the Sa family genealogy will continue with you."
The sound of the bell shook the bodhi leaves off the trees, and they kissed under the witness of thousands of prayer flags. The severed kinship sank into the Irrawaddy River, while the new bond seeped into the bones with the blood in their chests.
She knew that at her upcoming wedding, she would have a more real family—
There is Ruan Xingchen who loves her like a sister, Mo Xiaohan who appears cold but silently cares for her, and Savika who is willing to make the whole world his enemy for her.
That's enough.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
