Chapter 28: Something Still Isn't Right

A tall, straight figure in a military uniform stood in the living room, so handsome that she had to tilt her head to look up at him.

"Kuang Yunxiao?"

Wasn't he supposed to return at the end of the year? It was only mid-September; why was he back already? Looking at him, it seemed he had just arrived.

"Hmm, did you come over alone?"

The confusion in Kuang Yunxiao's eyes vanished the moment Weian whispered his name. Right, she was at the Kuang residence now. Oh my, she was still in her pajamas! She hadn't even washed her face, and she had just yawned when she came downstairs. Did she have sleep in the corners of her eyes? Was her hair a mess?

Weian suddenly realized her predicament, spun around, and hurried upstairs. "Auntie Liang, Kuang Yunxiao is back." By the time the words left her lips, she had already ducked into the bathroom.

Left behind, Kuang Yunxiao stood there, speechless. Had she lost the composure she displayed during their last meeting?

Weian didn't care what Kuang Yunxiao was thinking. For the first time in two lifetimes, she had been caught by a man while in such a disheveled state right after waking up. It was her own fault; she had heard Liang Suhua say that Kuang Yunfei and his wife had gone to work and that her brother-in-law had gone out for a stroll, so she hadn't bothered to dress properly. Who could have known Kuang Yunxiao would suddenly appear at home?

...

When Weian came back downstairs, the two older women were busy in the kitchen.

"Why didn't you reply to my letters?"

"Huh?" She certainly had her reasons for not writing back.

"And why didn't you write another one?"

Kuang Yunxiao was not a man of many words, and Weian’s retort left him momentarily at a loss.

"I thought you had some issue with me."

Weian went to get a glass of water and nodded. "Do you remember what you wrote in your letters?" Her refusal to reply wasn't just because she wasn't fond of him; it was largely due to what he had written. He had expressed his hope that she would follow him to the military base after they were married. And she, as it happened, had no desire to do so. She had been resistant to the marriage to begin with, so why would she ever agree to be tied to him, living together day and night at the base?

"You don't want to follow me to the base?"

Kuang Yunxiao understood now. "I won't force you. Whether you come to the base or not is entirely up to you." He paused, then added, "But if you don't come, we will be living apart. You will have to handle everything at home on your own, including raising children and taking care of both our parents."

Weian hung her head, staring at the top of her own head in front of Kuang Yunxiao. "Do these things have anything to do with whether I follow you to the base?" If she went to the base, would he help raise the children or look after their parents? Weian scoffed inwardly. She had no intention of having his child before his fated brush with death had passed. And even after that, whether they would have a child would depend on how he performed. But that wasn't the point right now.

"Are you sure you really want to marry me? Let's be clear: in my book, there is only widowhood, no divorce, unless you commit a fundamental error."

A fundamental error meant domestic violence or infidelity. Weian had seen enough news stories about women suffering from domestic abuse. She couldn't understand why they didn't choose to leave the very first time it happened. Were children or elderly parents more important than their own future? Wouldn't she and her children be better off if she were safe and happy?

As for cheating, she had never seen a cat that wouldn't steal fish unless it had never been allowed to taste it in the first place. Her grandmother, who lived in the countryside, once told her that she kept several cats. Two of them were never allowed on the kitchen counters, so even if food was left out, they would never dream of stealing it. The others were different; they had been allowed on the counters since they were kittens, so her grandmother had to hide everything, or they would find it. Her grandmother said that a cat that steals fish—and keeps doing it without remorse—is a product of being spoiled. Weian believed the same applied to people. Therefore, both domestic violence and infidelity were unforgivable, and she would never grant him a second chance. If he were capable of changing, he wouldn't have committed the error in the first place.

The two mothers, eavesdropping at the kitchen door, exchanged glances.

Liang Suhua thought: *Weian's logic is sound. Did you teach her this?*
Qu Xiurong thought: *This girl has finally grown a brain; I can't believe she could say something so profound.*

Kuang Yunxiao: "..." He felt like something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I have no objections." He couldn't voice any objections anyway, not with his mother glaring at him.

Weian glanced at him and nodded. As long as he had no objections, that was fine. She had laid her cards on the table, and she assumed that since he had agreed to the marriage, he must have thought it through. Marry him then. In fact, he should thank her; marrying her might even save his life from his impending doom.

She turned and pretended to have just noticed the two mothers at the kitchen door. "Auntie Liang, what delicious things did you make this morning? My stomach is growling."

Qu Xiurong wanted to cover her face. How had she never noticed that this girl had such thick skin? One moment she was talking about widowhood and divorce right in front of the boy's mother, and the next, she was acting as if nothing had happened, begging for food from his mother.

But it was exactly this straightforward nature that Liang Suhua loved about Weian. Her face beamed like a flower. "Your sister-in-law made red bean porridge this morning, and I steamed some rice cakes and boiled eggs. Oh, and there's fresh milk. If you don't want porridge, you can have milk instead."

Kuang Yunxiao, who had been heading upstairs, paused and glanced back at his mother. *Didn't you just say those rice cakes were steamed for me?* Never mind, he had long known he didn't hold a candle to Su Weian in his mother's heart.

Thinking of Weian, Kuang Yunxiao subconsciously looked at the silly, grinning girl. There was still something off. Right—she seemed to have gained a bit more, well, sharpness since the last time they met.

"Number Two, why are you still standing there? Go wash up and change your clothes so you can come down and eat. Don't keep Weian and Auntie Qu waiting."

Kuang Yunxiao hurried back, his long legs taking him up the stairs. His mother's complaints followed him: "Are you mute or is your mouth hurting? Can't you say a word when someone talks to you?"

Kuang Yunxiao: "..." Forget it, he was used to it. Whenever Su Weian was around, he might as well have been picked up from the side of the road. It had been like this since he was a child. Thinking of his childhood, he suddenly remembered a scene where he had declared he would marry Weian as his little bride, and his face turned bright red. It was strange—he had forgotten all about that, so why did it come back to him now?

"He's like a dog being chased. Weian, don't mind him; he's just shy."