Chapter 12 Seeing Yue's situation, Tang Suzi felt a surge of sadness in his heart...
Seeing this, Tang Suzi felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She gently patted the old man's back, giving him silent comfort.
After the old man calmed down a little, she asked softly,
"Old man, we are here to look for Miss Chen Weiyu. Is she at home?"
Hearing this, the old man's tears welled up in his eyes again.
"Weiyu... She's in the room, but I'm afraid it's not appropriate to see guests today..."
"What happened to her?"
Tang Suzi asked.
The old man sighed and slowly told the whole story.
"The young man who came to welcome the bride was a childhood sweetheart of our family's Weiyu, and they were deeply in love. That year, the two families were about to discuss the marriage, but it was all my fault that I was incompetent, and Weiyu was talented..."
At this point, the old man burst into tears.
"Now, that young master has married someone else, and Wei Yu... my poor daughter..."
Hearing this, Tang Suzi was moved. When she was about to ask to visit again another day, she was interrupted by Lin Xiangli.
"Old man, we only need to have a brief conversation with Miss Chen. Please be accommodating."
She desperately wanted to get an answer from Chen Weiyu and didn't want to wait any longer.
"this……"
The old man's eyes moved between the three people. After struggling for a while, he slowly stood up.
"Okay, kids, but please be careful and try not to make her too sad."
After saying that, he led them across the courtyard and into a small house.
As I stepped into Chen Weiyu's house, a quiet and slightly oppressive atmosphere hit me.
The moment the door opened, a crisp "meow" broke the silence in the room and attracted everyone's attention.
Following the sound, I saw a brown kitten sitting upright on a chair beside the bed. There was a vigilant light flashing in its round eyes, as if it was examining every uninvited guest.
Tang Suzi's heart was instantly touched by the kitten's tenderness. She couldn't help but smile at it, trying to ease the sudden tension with her smile.
The kitten seemed to sense the kindness, and although it remained vigilant, the light in its eyes gradually softened.
After walking a few steps forward, Tang Suzi's gaze fell on Chen Weiyu.
She was different from the one who attracted everyone's attention at Ningxiang Residence that day.
At this moment, she was sitting in front of the bed, leaning against the bed rails. She was still very beautiful, but her eyes were looking blankly ahead, as if the whole world had nothing to do with her.
Tang Suzi's heart was deeply touched at this moment.
She couldn't connect the haggard woman in front of her with the Chen Weiyu who was full of energy and loved life as described by the old man.
What kind of suffering did she go through to gradually extinguish her former brilliance and turn her into what she is now...
"Wei Yu, someone is here to see you..."
The old man's voice sounded in the house, with a hint of caution.
However, Chen Weiyu seemed to be in another world. He turned a deaf ear to his father's call, still with his head down, staring blankly at the ground.
Seeing this, the old man sighed softly, his eyes full of heartache and helplessness.
"Then you guys chat."
After saying that, he slowly closed the door and quietly left the room, leaving the space to them.
Inside the room, Lin Xiangli slowly walked towards Chen Weiyu. She tried her best to make her voice sound calm and sincere.
"Hello, Miss Chen. I am Lin Bowen's daughter, Lin Xiangli. I...I came here this time hoping to understand if there is any misunderstanding between you and my father."
Chen Weiyu's body trembled slightly when he heard this, but he did not respond immediately.
After a moment's silence, she finally raised her eyes, which were filled with complex emotions - hatred, resentment, and unwillingness.
She smiled coldly and asked,
"Misunderstanding? What do you mean?"
"I... I heard some things about my father, but I don't believe it's true. He was an honest official his whole life, caring about the people. How could he do something like that..."
Lin Xiangli's voice was a little choked. She tried hard to control her emotions and tried to keep the conversation going.
However, Chen Weiyu's emotions suddenly got out of control.
"Integrity? Caring about the people? Haha, what a joke!"
She sneered, her eyes full of anger and despair.
"You know, my father and I were honest vegetable farmers, just trying to make ends meet. But it's because of you, the so-called dignitaries, who, in order to satisfy your own selfish desires, have blocked our means of survival, plundered our bodies, trampled on our dignity, and forced us into a dead end!"
Lin Xiangli was shocked by Chen Weiyu's words. She shook her head repeatedly, trying to defend her father.
"No, that's not the case... My father... wouldn't be that kind of person... During the famine, he emptied his pockets and set up a soup kitchen to feed the hungry. When his neighbors were in trouble, he lent a hand, regardless of whether they were close or distant relatives... I remember when I was a child, many people praised him, saying he was the reincarnation of a living Bodhisattva..."
"Lin Xiangli, people's hearts will change,"
Chen Weiyu interrupted Lin Xiangli coldly.
"I really envy you. Why are you so innocent even though we are almost the same age? And I, because of your father, have fallen into endless suffering..."
"Go away, I don't want to see you again."
Chen Weiyu's voice was tired and resolute, as if he had exhausted all his strength.
Faced with her like this, Lin Xiangli didn't know what to say.
Just as they pushed open the door and were about to leave, the cat beside the door suddenly meowed a few times because of the movement of the door.
"etc,"
Chen Weiyu suddenly spoke,
"Help me get rid of this cat."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room was stunned.
Tang Suzi and Lin Xiangli turned around in surprise and looked at Chen Weiyu in disbelief.
Wasn't this the cat she had saved at all costs? Why was she abandoning it now?
"you……"
Lin Xiangli was speechless for a moment, too shocked to speak, while Ling An looked at Chen Weiyu with a deep expression.
The cat seemed to sense that its owner had abandoned it. It jumped to Chen Weiyu's feet and let out a shrill cry.
However, Chen Weiyu just moved his feet away coldly and repeated,
"Throw it away."
"You are totally unreasonable!"
Lin Xiangli finally couldn't help it, and walked over angrily to pick up the kitten, with red eyes.
"It's the kitten's misfortune to have a master like you! From now on, I will take care of it!"
After saying that, she angrily opened the door and left the room with the kitten.
The moment Tang Suzi and Ling An stepped out of the room, they turned back to look at Chen Weiyu at the same time.
Her figure seemed particularly lonely in the dim room, and her whole body seemed to be shrouded in a thick haze.
The two exchanged glances and then walked out of the room silently.
After saying goodbye to the old man, Ling An stopped and looked at Lin Xiangli who was walking quickly in front of him. He said softly to Tang Suzi,
"I'll take Xiang Li back. Here...please keep an eye on it."
Tang Suzi nodded.
She felt heavy in her heart. Chen Weiyu suddenly wanted to abandon the cat. This was not right. She felt that something was going to happen...
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On the way back, Lin Xiangli unconsciously slowed down her pace. She gently stroked the soft fur of the kitten in her arms. The fur shone slightly in the sunlight. The touch was like touching the finest silk, giving her an indescribable peace and comfort.
The spread of this touch gradually restored Lin Xiangli's mood to peace.
"Ling An, do you think what Chen Weiyu said is true?"
I didn't hear any response from the people around me.
"Ling An?"
Lin Xiangli turned her gaze away from the kitten in her arms and looked sideways at Ling An.
The winter sun was a little chilly, and their eyes met in the foggy scene.
The emotions contained in Ling An's eyes were complex and difficult to discern, as if no further words were needed.
"Are you also inclined to believe what she said?"
Lin Xiangli's voice was filled with disappointment. She slowly lowered her eyelids, her eyes slightly red.
"But I don't want to believe it... I can't believe it..."
She murmured to herself, recalling her father's warmth and care in the past. Those heartwarming scenes came flooding back like a tide, making her trust and reliance on her father difficult to shake.
"Even if my father is really at fault, but Chen Weiyu..." Lin Xiangli changed the subject, and the scene of Chen Weiyu's indifference to the kitten just now flashed through her mind, making her question,
"Can she be completely innocent?"
The inner struggle made her words seem intermittent. She wanted to defend her father, but she felt that her speculation about another girl was too harsh, so she finally chose to remain silent.
"Xiang Li..."
Looking at Lin Xiangli who was caught in self-struggle, Ling An felt heartbroken.
He understood that although Lin Bowen was burdened with sin, he seemed to be impeccable in his role as a father. In the clash between justice and emotion, no matter which side was chosen, it was bound to cause irreparable harm to the other side, and Lin Xiangli would inevitably be bruised and battered in such a choice.
Lin Xiangli didn't seem to notice Ling An's hesitation. She continued to immerse herself in her own thoughts and murmured,
"Ling An, let's give this little guy a name."
Looking at Lin Xiangli's fragile eyes, Ling An couldn't bear to say anything else, so he continued with her words,
"Okay, so what do you want to call it?"
Lin Xiangli pondered for a moment, a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes.
"Let's call it 'Furui'. I hope it can bring good luck and help my father get through this difficult time."
It seems that the balance in Lin Xiangli's heart still tilts towards family affection.
Ling An sighed softly to himself, and in the end, he just nodded slightly without saying anything more.
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The night was as dark as ink, deep and vast. Tang Suzi, wearing a thick black cloak, followed Chen Weiyu silently as if he was hidden in the night.
During the day, because he was worried about Chen Weiyu, he waited for a long time in the corner of her house wall.
Until the sun set in the west, the last ray of afterglow in the sky sank into the horizon, and night fell quietly. Feeling a little tired, she was about to go home, but unexpectedly caught Chen Weiyu walking out of the house in a trance.
Tang Suzi's heart tightened and he decided to follow her.
They walked one after the other, through the quiet streets and alleys, until they were far away from the human habitation and arrived at the river on the outskirts of the city.
The thin moonlight added a bit of chill to this lonely night. Chen Weiyu's figure gradually lengthened along the frozen river outside the city, appearing lonely and resolute.
The river was now covered with thin ice, gleaming with a cold and mysterious luster under the moonlight.
It was quiet all around, with only the occasional chirping of night birds. Chen Weiyu stood quietly on the river bank, her back seeming to blend completely into the deep night.
Gently, almost ritualistically, she slowly removed her cloak from her shoulders, letting it fall onto the snow behind her, where it was instantly covered by a thin layer of snowflakes.
As her cloak faded, her thin figure stood out in the cold wind. Snowflakes fluttered down, each one like a tiny teardrop sprinkled from the sky, landing on her hair and shoulders, then melting, only to be replaced by more snowflakes in the next moment.
Chen Weiyu seemed unaware of this. She began to walk step by step towards the center of the river.
The ice beneath her feet glowed coldly in the moonlight, and every step she took was accompanied by a slight cracking sound.
Tang Suzi's heart instantly jumped to her throat. She realized what was about to happen and couldn't help but scream.
"Wei Yu, stop! It's dangerous!"
However, Chen Weiyu's footsteps seemed to be pulled by invisible chains, and were not disturbed by the outside world at all.
Her eyes were empty and confused, as if she was in another world. She ignored Tang Suzi's call and continued to move step by step towards the unknown abyss.
Tang Suzi was extremely anxious. She quickened her pace and rushed towards Chen Weiyu. The snow was splashed with layers of mist because of her rapid pace, like white fireworks that suddenly bloomed in the night sky, but disappeared in a flash, leaving only the rapid and heavy breathing sounds echoing in the cold night.
Just when Tang Suzi was about to touch Chen Weiyu, the ice surface suddenly became extremely slippery. She staggered and lost her balance in an instant. She fell to the ground out of control like a kite with a broken string.
At that moment, time seemed to freeze, and Tang Suzi's heart was filled with despair and helplessness. She watched Chen Weiyu step by step towards the edge of the dangerous ice cave.
At this critical moment, Tang Suzi endured the pain in his body, struggled to get up with all his strength, jumped up with all his might, and clasped Chen Weiyu's shoulders tightly with both hands. The two of them slid out a long track on the ice and finally fell to the side.
"Let go!"
There was heart-wrenching despair in Chen Weiyu's voice. She struggled hard, trying to break free from Tang Suzi's tightly grip on her.
"Let me die... He has married someone else, and I am already a fallen woman. No one loves me, no one will ever love me again..."
Chen Weiyu was heartbroken. Every word he uttered seemed to be squeezed out from the deepest part of his heart, filled with endless sorrow.
Tang Suzi endured the pain from the fall and used all his strength to hold Chen Weiyu tightly, not letting her get close to danger again.
"Wei Yu, it's not like that. You are not alone. Your father, your father loves you very much. You love to put on makeup, so he carefully takes care of the red and blue flowers you love, and silently guards your passion. You are heartbroken because your lover turned away, but have you ever thought that your father, he is connected to you in heart, he is also heartbroken because of your pain..."
When Chen Weiyu heard Tang Suzi mention his father, tears welled up in his eyes and he couldn't speak.
Tang Suzi used all her strength to slowly climb up from the cold snow. She half-knelt in front of Chen Weiyu and hugged her gently.
"And the you of the past, who also loved yourself so deeply. Even when life was difficult, you never gave up the pursuit and yearning for beauty, and you still worked hard to bloom brilliant flowers in the bleak days."
Chen Weiyu's eyes were filled with tears. She shook her head in denial.
"No, it's beauty that ruined me. It's this face that made me lose everything."
Hearing this, Tang Suzi gently held her shoulders, his eyes piercing through the fog in Chen Weiyu's heart and looking straight into the depths of her soul.
"Beauty itself is innocent. The fault lies with those who trample upon it. Those who deserved death are still alive. How can you give up so easily?... Live on, Wei Yu! You are brave and kind. You risked your life to save a kitten. So now, can you save yourself, just like you once saved helpless lives..."
Save yourself...
Tang Suzi's words were like a burning torch, penetrating the cold air and endless darkness, and directly reaching Chen Weiyu's heart.
Finally, Chen Weiyu's tears burst out again. She hugged Tang Suzi tightly, as if she wanted to pour out all the pain and grievances of these years.
Tang Suzi patted her back gently, his eyes piercing through the clouds, gazing at the bright moon that illuminated the night sky again, and whispered comfortingly,
"The dark clouds have dispersed, and the bright moon is hanging high in the sky. Wei Yu, everything will be fine..."
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