Cheng Muyun and Xu Zhuohua were both suffering just as much as each other.
This separation, a matter of life and death, was a significant blow to both of them.
Before this, Xu Zhuohua's love for Cheng Muyun was mixed with other things; she was fully aware that she liked Cheng Muyun.
But that's because Xu Zhuohua doesn't know anyone but Cheng Muyun herself, and in this chaotic world, she desperately wants to find a sense of security.
After learning that Cheng Muyun was a virtuous man who had been framed, Xu Zhuohua felt at ease and regarded him as a safe haven.
However, Xu Zhuohua was also aware that she was observing everyone she knew from the perspective of an outsider.
Although she talked and walked with them, deep down, Xu Zhuohua selectively interacted with them.
She knew of Xiao Wuxin's achievements, so she befriended him.
She knew Chen Hede was a good person, so she was more tolerant of him.
She knew Liang Shaozun was a scoundrel, so she was unwilling to get close to either the old or the current Liang Shaozun.
She knew that the Xu family would rise to prominence because of Xu Jixin, so she was willing to get close to him.
Therefore, Xu Zhuohua never really integrated into their group.
She is an observer, a recorder, and a verifier.
But this separation, whether it was the pain of illness or the longing, made her deeply realize how important Cheng Muyun was to her.
Xu Zhuohua used to ask herself sometimes, why Cheng Muyun of all people?
And now, she would ask, why can't it be Cheng Muyun?
In this world, finding someone who loves you and whom you love is something that is rare and incredibly difficult to come by.
Xu Zhuohua, being a modern person, is certainly aware of this.
When she saw Cheng Muyun again, she felt not only excitement but also guilt.
Isn't her deliberately not returning to Xinhai City another way of testing the waters?
If Cheng Muyun weren't single, would she have given up on her seemingly impossible plan to save him?
She wasn't sure.
Because Xu Zhuohua knew that her sincerity could not withstand being tested.
If she and Cheng Muyun had switched places, she might not have gone so far as to give up her life.
Therefore, Xu Zhuohua should apologize, and she is willing to accept all of Cheng Muyun's emotional backlash.
Cheng Muyun's arm was wrapped tightly around Xu Zhuohua like an iron hoop, his knuckles turning white from the force.
Scalding tears fell onto Xu Zhuohua's neck, one after another, trembling erratically, like someone suddenly snapping the string of beads, causing the beads to fall in a rush, wetting the fabric on her shoulders and burning into her heart.
The surrounding air seemed to freeze at that moment.
People who were whispering to each other or preoccupied with their own thoughts froze in place, their words stuck in their throats.
No one had ever seen Cheng Muyun like this before—the man who always held his chin high, with a look that was three parts nonchalant and seven parts arrogant, was now like a child whose candy had been taken away, burying his face in the neck of Xu Zhuohua, who was half a head shorter than him, with even his shoulders trembling slightly.
Xu Zhuohua could feel the gazes coming from all directions, some surprised, some inquisitive.
She gently patted Cheng Muyun's tense back, her fingertips gliding along his sweaty nape, and led him to the most secluded corner.
The moment their palms touched, Cheng Muyun instinctively clasped her hands, their fingers intertwined tightly, as if afraid that if he let go, the person beside him would disappear.
The light in the corner was dim, just enough to cover Cheng Muyun's reddened eyes.
Xu Zhuohua raised her hand and gently wiped away the tears clinging to his eyelashes with her fingertips.
Those eyes, usually so deep they seemed to hold storms, were now veiled with a layer of water, like obsidian dampened by rain, all their sharpness gone, leaving only a fragile base.
Her fingertips paused, and her heart felt as if something was gripping it, a mixture of sourness and tenderness.
Cheng Muyun abruptly turned his face away. The moment Chen Hede's guilty face flashed through his mind, he couldn't help but tremble all over.
The fear was so real, like icy seawater rising from his feet, instantly engulfing his mouth and nose, making it hard for him to breathe; it was also like wildfire spreading in his chest, burning his internal organs with pain.
"Cheng Muyun." Xu Zhuohua's voice was soft, but it carried an undeniable firmness.
She cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her.
Her eyes were strikingly bright, beautiful almond-shaped eyes filled with tiny sparkles of light, like stars scattered across the sky. But deep within that starlight lay a debt known only to her—a debt of waiting for him, a debt of his current anxiety.
“I swear,” she said, emphasizing each word, her thumb gently tracing his trembling lips, “I will never leave you.”
Cheng Muyun's eyelashes trembled slightly like butterfly wings fluttering in the wind, her gaze fixed on the clear light in Xu Zhuohua's eyes.
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down his neck, with a barely perceptible heave. He tightened his grip on her hand, his fingertips almost digging into her palm.
He stared intently into her eyes, his voice hoarse as if it had been sanded: "Zhuohua, what I want is not your apology."
Xu Zhuohua lowered her eyelids, her long eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes, her tone heavy with an indescribable weight: "I know, Cheng Muyun." She paused, and when she looked up, her eyes were already covered with a thin mist. "Although neither of us has mentioned it, these past six months of separation are like a rusty thorn, deeply embedded between us. We can't pull it out, and we can't go around it; we have to face it head-on."
Cheng Muyun looked at her silently, his deep eyes like ink, his emotions unreadable, yet seemingly holding a thousand words, heavy and pressing in the air.
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