Ward 2
Xu Zhilian's eyes flickered, and he subconsciously defended himself: "What nonsense are you spouting? Don't try to sow discord between us!"
Seeing his wife staring intently at Yu Chunsheng, Xu Zhilian's anger flared even more, and he simply grabbed his wife's hand and walked out.
Liu Yufen shook off his hand, "Zhilian! Explain yourself before you leave!"
Xu Zhilian stood still, his cheeks slightly puffed out, his eyes filled with resentment as he looked at Yu Chunsheng.
He didn't want to talk about it, so Yu Chunsheng spoke up for him: "What? Haven't you ever told her how her underwear ended up in my basin? And how my soap pods disappeared?"
Liu Yufen's eyes showed disbelief as she shook her head slightly. "No way... Zhilian, this has nothing to do with you, right?"
Xu Zhilian remained silent.
Liu Yufen's slightly wrinkled eyes drooped instantly, and she sat back down on the bed listlessly. "Impossible..."
Seeing her like this, Yu Chunsheng pursed his lips and stood aside, not knowing what to say. Xu Zhilian, on the other hand, quickly knelt down in front of Liu Yufen and murmured, "It's all because I love you too much."
Normally, if he coaxed her like this, Liu Yufen would feel sorry for him, but now that he hadn't heard his wife say anything after talking for so long, Xu Zhilian was a little worried and secretly glanced at her.
Liu Yufen sat there stiffly, her heart filled with despair, her lips as if glued shut, unable to utter a word no matter what she did.
She looked up at "Kong Lin" again. The swelling on his face had gradually subsided, and the handprint on his neck was now only a light pink.
The word "love" cost someone a life in her past life, and in this life, it has caused someone to suffer unjust humiliation. How could she possibly bear such a burden?
She opened her mouth as if to say something, her right hand stroking Xu Zhilian's face, but then she thought of all the good things he had done for her over the years.
She couldn't blame him anymore.
She thought that she should blame herself for everything. Xu Zhilian had resorted to underhanded tactics because he loved her, and she had let this mistake continue for more than twenty years because of her cowardice and reluctance to stand up and tell the truth.
The person who deserves to die the most is actually her.
With this thought in mind, Liu Yufen slowly got up, like a soulless shell searching for a place to belong.
There was a railing by the window she couldn't jump down from. She looked around and fixed her gaze on the slightly yellowed wall. She rushed towards the wall, her eyes regaining their sparkle, her mind clearer than ever.
Xu Zhilian followed closely behind her. When he saw her about to crash into the wall, he was so frightened that his legs almost knotted. Without thinking, he rushed over and blocked her way.
The wall felt soft. Liu Yufen looked up, but all she saw was Xu Zhilian, whose features were contorted and whose face was deathly pale.
"Zhilian?" She panicked. "Why are you stopping me? Does it hurt a lot? Are your bones broken?"
"No...it's nothing," Xu Zhilian said through gritted teeth, pulling her into his arms and holding her tightly.
With a sob in his voice, he said, "I was wrong... It's all my fault. Please don't scare me like this anymore... If you die, I won't be able to live either."
Liu Yufen looked up at him, her eyes indifferent, and sighed, "Zhilian, we all deserve to die. This is what we owe them."
Xu Zhilian hesitated, looking at Yu Chunsheng with a confused expression.
Yu Chunsheng was also somewhat confused, but he had actually already forgiven Liu Yufen. From the moment he reunited with Liu Yufen, he had fully felt her guilt, and besides, he hadn't really blamed her over the years.
Back then, she was just a country girl who hadn't received much education and had never seen the world. It's understandable that she would be afraid when she suddenly saw the group of people who usually held the power of life and death surrounding her house.
She lacks her own opinions, and her words and actions are definitely influenced by someone. Although she is the root of all this and has unwittingly become Xu Zhilian's accomplice, it seems that she hasn't had a very good life these past few years.
If the name "Kong Lin" was a taboo for her before, from today onwards, this name and this face will become a nightmare she can't shake off.
He didn't want to hurt her like that.
In fact, he didn't want to harm either of them, after all... they were Xu Tangmian's grandparents.
Xu Tangmian hated Xu Zhilian so much simply because she loved him and because she was well-educated and had a clear sense of right and wrong.
How could a girl who is so clear about her likes and dislikes and has a strong sense of righteousness tolerate her husband killing her own family?
Yu Chunsheng didn't want to dwell on what was already in the past. What he wanted but couldn't get was nothing more than an apology from the instigator.
If he can't get an apology, that's fine too; he just wants to peacefully enjoy time with his family.
The most pressing issues are the bridge construction project and Luo Hui's reputation. He cannot allow Yilin City to miss out on this excellent project, nor can he allow that brave child to end up being labeled a "brat."
Everything, everything, came back to that person.
Yu Chunsheng turned his gaze back to Xu Zhilian, and unexpectedly, Xu Zhilian knelt down before him with a thud.
Could there be another conspiracy? Yu Chunsheng subconsciously took two steps back.
"I'm sorry." Xu Zhilian closed his eyes, just like he had half an hour ago.
"I'm sorry for everything that happened in the past, and for this period of time."
Yu Chunsheng: "..."
Two lifetimes of enmity, ended with just one sentence...?
He couldn't quite describe his feelings. Neither he nor Xu Tangmian expected Xu Zhilian to do anything good, and the couple hoped to turn the page and become strangers to them from now on.
Xu Zhilian apologized.
Yu Chunsheng suddenly felt a sense of loss.
He was somewhat lost and desperately needed someone to tell him what to do. Should he generously forgive him, or take the opportunity to ask him to agree to his previous demands?
Yu Chunsheng, what exactly do you want?
Suddenly, a child's cry came from outside the door.
The three looked outside in response to the sound, and Yu Chunsheng rushed to open the door as if he had grasped at a lifeline.
I haven't seen my child for a few days, and Qiushi has become even cuter.
Yu Chunsheng reached out to hug the child, his eyes red, whether from missing the child or for some other reason, it was unclear.
Eavesdropping isn't a good thing. It's fine if Yu Chunsheng scolds her, but it would be bad if it implicated Xiao Tao and Song Weidong. Xu Tangmian pointed to the two people next to her somewhat embarrassedly and said, "We didn't hear much either."
Song Weidong and Li Yutao, the couple, also nodded.
Yu Chunsheng glanced at them, then teased the child's face with his finger before asking, "Won't she catch it?"
“You’ve been in the ward for a while. As long as you don’t touch her, you should be fine,” Song Weidong said truthfully.
Yu Chunsheng then reluctantly handed the child back to her mother. Hearing Li Yutao cough twice, he remembered that there were two people in the ward who had been forgotten.
Liu Yufen remembered that they had mentioned before that the wife of "Kong Lin" who looked somewhat like her was her and Xu Zhilian's granddaughter.
Although it sounded like a fantasy, she felt a sense of kinship upon seeing this woman and, for a moment, abandoned all reason to believe it, her gaze towards her now tinged with other emotions.
"Is this your daughter?" she asked Xu Tangmian.
Xu Tangmian nodded, unsure how to face this person who looked like her mother at the same age, but was actually her grandmother.
"Can I have a hug?" she asked again.
Xu Tangmian blankly handed the child to her. Xiao Qiushi, who had been crying and fussing just moments before but had been soothed by Yu Chunsheng, grinned at her again.
It's likely that all mothers in the world feel a kind of love when they see a child, and Liu Yufen was no exception. Seeing the child's big, dark eyes staring at her without blinking and smiling incessantly, she was instantly melted.
She then thought of what Kong Lin had said before, that Xu Zhilian wanted to kill the child.
Such a lovely child, he knew it was his granddaughter's child, yet he still... Liu Yufen's eyes welled up with tears, but she suppressed her thoughts and handed the child back to Xu Tangmian.
There are still issues that haven't been resolved.
Xu Zhilian was talking to "Kong Lin" by the window when Liu Yufen slowly walked over, patted him, and beckoned him to come over.
She then pointed at Xu Tangmian and said to him, "You also owe her an apology."
The group was all taken aback.
Xu Zhilian stared wide-eyed at Xu Tangmian, a troubled expression on his face, "Yufen..."
Xu Tangmian knew that Xu Zhilian had just knelt down and apologized to Yu Chunsheng, and she also understood her grandfather's temperament, so she did not expect Xu Zhilian to apologize to her again.
In the end, even though Xu Zhilian didn't treat her like a granddaughter, before she transmigrated here, her life had indeed been sheltered from any hardship under his protection.
Fortunately, Qiu Shi was alright. If she had just been hit a few times by her grandfather, it would have been nothing compared to the good fortune she had enjoyed before.
Not to mention, compared to their long-standing grievances, the little grievances she suffered were utterly insignificant. Xu Zhilian had been lawless for so many years; she couldn't bear the consequences of letting him be humiliated repeatedly in one day.
With Song Weidong and Li Yutao watching, it was fortunate that his friend Sister Lan and the others weren't there, otherwise he would have been even more embarrassed. Well, she decided to save Xu Zhilian some face.
Xu Tangmian waved her hand, "Just settle your old scores, I just wandered in here by mistake."
That's actually true. If it weren't for what happened at her grandfather's funeral, she wouldn't have ended up here inexplicably.
Xu Zhilian coughed twice, glanced at Liu Yufen's face, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I will approve what needs to be approved. Let's... go home?"
"That's not enough," Liu Yufen said calmly. "I want you to go back and submit your resignation so you can just be an ordinary couple with me from now on."
"Yu Fen!" Xu Zhilian clearly disagreed. "I've struggled for half my life to climb to this position!"
Xu Tangmian also looked puzzled and looked at Yu Chunsheng with a questioning expression.
Yu Chunsheng quickly distanced himself, saying, "I didn't say anything."
"I knew it!" Xu Zhilian's face changed instantly. He glared at Liu Yufen with bloodshot eyes and shook her shoulders, shouting, "No matter what I do, it's wrong! No matter how I back down, it's wrong! Why!"
"Why do I always lose whenever I'm involved with him... Why is that!"
"Zhi Lian!" Liu Yufen remained unfazed, looking at him calmly. "If I were not as good as you in rank, why did you stop me just now?"
Seeing Xu Zhilian's pained expression, a hint of pity flashed in her eyes, but then she glanced at "Kong Lin," her granddaughter, and their daughter, and Liu Yufen felt that she shouldn't feel compassion.
Even if they forgive you, I cannot forgive myself, nor can I forgive the mistakes we made back then.
"Zhilian, if this matter blows up, you won't be able to keep your position either. Why don't you stop now?"
Xu Zhilian was completely oblivious to what they were hearing, his back turned to them, lost in thought. Suddenly, he turned and rushed towards Xu Tangmian, startling her and Yu Chunsheng, who both took a step back, fearing he was about to do something to Xiao Qiushi again.
Xu Tangmian winked at Li Yutao, who was watching the scene unfold, and the latter immediately understood, hurriedly leaving with Song Weidong while holding the child.
Xu Zhilian didn't even glance at the child, but grabbed Xu Tangmian's arm and asked him as if bewitched, "Weren't you from the future? Tell me, what was my final position!"
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