Ling Huanwu wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the warmth of his palms, and listened to him whispering about little things from the past in his ear.
He talked about the excitement he felt when he first saw her painting, the nervousness they shared on their wedding night in the countryside, and how he felt completely at ease seeing her pregnant now.
The steam from the spring water enveloped their breaths, and the aroma of dried vegetables and rice lingered around their noses. There was no dramatic scene, only the tenderness and dependence in each other's eyes.
Ling Huanwu initially thought Zhou Jiuzhen was just joking about cooking different dishes for her, but in the end she accidentally ate too much and was forced to call him "husband" countless times before he would let her go and finish washing the unfinished dishes.
While Zhou Jiuzhen was washing the dishes, Ling Huanwu secretly packed up the remaining dried rice and vegetables and quickly left the space.
When he emerged from the space, Qin Jinshen had already stopped his insults. Instead, he lay motionless in the haystack, staring blankly at the roof beam, like a puppet whose soul had been taken away.
His dejected eyes brightened again only when his gaze fell upon Ling Huanwu, who had suddenly appeared before him.
“Huanwu…”
He reached out his hand, his hoarse voice calling her name again and again, as if expressing the resentment he had harbored all these years.
Tears blurred his vision, and crystal-clear tears rolled down onto the dirty grass, where they were cut and shattered bit by bit.
But at this moment, his eyes were full of expectation, like a drowning person grabbing onto a piece of driftwood, begging for her rescue.
Ling Huanwu squatted down and handed the dried vegetables and rice in her hand to her.
Instantly, the man on the ground seemed to be re-energized, scrambling to his feet with shining eyes. His hands trembled as he took the bowl of dried vegetables and rice, tears streaming down his face.
"Huanwu, did you give this to me to eat?"
"I knew it, you have feelings for me, don't you? We've shared so many years of affection from our past lives, how could you not have any feelings for me at all..."
Qin Jinshen was disheveled, holding a bowl of dried vegetables and rice in one hand while quickly shoveling rice into his mouth with the other. His fingertips curled as he ate the bowl of rice that he would remember for the rest of his life, as if he was afraid someone would snatch the rice from his hands.
Ling Huanwu squatted down beside him, looking at the Hong Kong tycoon who had always been noble and elegant in his previous life, now reduced to such a wretched state, and felt a mix of emotions in her heart.
"Qin Jinshen, have you been waiting for me to come and find you?"
Ling Huanwu sat opposite him, watching him swallow the last bite of rice. When she looked up again, her eyes held a dark and unfathomable look that she couldn't understand.
Qin Jinshen wiped his mouth hastily with his hand, a self-deprecating smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "So see, I still waited for you to come!"
Are you wondering why I didn't get rid of Song Panmei, the girl you grew up with?
Ling Huanwu did not turn around, remaining noncommittal.
She couldn't understand his unpredictable and tyrannical nature.
Just as he couldn't understand why she would marry a rigid country bumpkin like Zhou Jiuzhen!
"I... I just wanted to have a way out for myself. If... if I can't take you with me, I don't want you to be sad or heartbroken..."
After Qin Jinshen finished speaking, he was glad that he had made that decision back then.
“I know he is your closest relative, and you will be heartbroken if he dies…”
"So, Huanwu, can you forgive me?"
He stammered and incoherently explained, as if afraid she wouldn't believe him.
As arrogant as he always was, even when he was arrested, he deliberately made a threat, saying that Song Panmei had been murdered.
It wasn't until Ling Huanwu accused him, word by word, of being controlling that he finally realized how ridiculous everything he had done was.
He just doesn't know how to love.
But his arrogance and his actions were seen by others as a desire for control.
If he could, he would like to spend another lifetime treating her with the same sincerity and down-to-earth nature as Zhou Jiuzhen, instead of hurting her under the guise of loving her.
Qin Jinshen's lips trembled, unable to utter another word. He simply waited quietly for Ling Huanwu's answer, like a judge delivering the final, decisive blow.
In the dim, dilapidated low house, a few specks of light shone through the cracks in the door, and tiny dust particles had nowhere to hide in those tiny gaps of light, dancing everywhere.
Ling Huanwu slowly stood up and looked towards the doorway.
Two soldiers could be vaguely seen standing guard at the entrance, their shadows stretching out long.
"Do you remember Iron Egg and Steel Cannon? And those who died with you in the storm surge? And those who died at your hands in the port city all those years ago, you should ask them, do they forgive you? And..."
Ling Huanwu recounted the innocent souls who had died at his hands over the years.
With each sentence Qin Jinshen heard, his face grew paler and paler.
It was as if those people were about to turn into vengeful ghosts and come to claim his life in the next second.
With a "bang".
Qin Jinshen crushed the bowl in his hand with his bare hands, interrupting Ling Huanwu's sharp words, "That's their life. What do I care about the lives of those unrelated people!"
"Furthermore, they all deserve to die, just like those villagers you tried to save. What good did it do you? Now they've all turned around and wronged you, completely disregarding how you saved them in the first place!"
"Huanwu, you should have left them long ago and gone to live your good life instead of staying here suffering with Zhou Jiuzhen..."
Qin Jinshen finally let out all the words that had been building up in his mouth over the past few days.
But Ling Huanwu's next sentence completely shut down all the words he was about to say.
"I didn't help the indiscriminate villagers; I helped the people who secretly handed me a bowl of hot porridge when I was being bombarded with their spittle! This isn't being a saint; it's remembering the good others have done and not wanting good people to suffer along with me!"
Therefore, neither she nor Zhou Jiuzhen felt upset when the villagers wronged her.
She can't save everyone; she just wants to have a clear conscience.
Ling Huanwu didn't look at him again and turned back to her space.
As soon as I landed in the space, before I could recover from my thoughts, I saw Zhou Jiuzhen sitting under a tree, his eyes red and lost in thought. It looked like there had been a downpour in the space, and the ground was wet everywhere.
Ling Huanwu's heart skipped a beat; she hadn't expected him to notice her absence so quickly.
"I just saw some leftover food, and it seemed a waste to throw it away, so I..."
"Give it to that guy surnamed Qin as a thank you for letting Song Panmei go?"
Zhou Jiu jumped up from his chair, his voice rising several octaves with grievance, "What exactly are you guys hiding from me? I always feel like you, Shuyao, and that Qin Jinshen are hiding something, and I'm like a fool, excluded from all this, unable to even get a piece of the action..."
Ling Huanwu lowered her eyes and let him vent his emotions.
She didn't actually want to approach Qin Jinshen and say those words.
Previously, Political Commissar Hao and his team had approached her, hoping she could persuade Qin Jinshen to hand over the wealth he had amassed in China.
Given Qin Jinshen's stubborn and arrogant personality, he would definitely leave that money to his sister.
Even though the higher-ups released Qin Zhizhi and sent people to follow her, they still found nothing.
In order to preserve state assets, Political Commissar Hao and his men deliberately sent her in, hoping to get close to Qin Jinshen and persuade him.
"Nine Shocks, actually I did it for..."
Ling Huanwu leaned closer to explain, but Zhou Jiuzhen brushed her hand away and took a few steps back...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
