Chapter 1033: The Expected Within the Unexpected

For a moment, the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The reason Miao Yiqiu became an aging unmarried woman was indeed because her fiancé had died saving her back then, and she had never been able to move past it.

After Han Chunyi—who had always been so attentive to her—disappeared, she volunteered to help look after Xiao Changjiang. One reason was wanting to distract herself through this matter; another was repaying Sister Chunyi. From start to finish, she had never thought Han Chunyi wouldn't come back; she just hadn't expected the wait to last several years.

She never married, and Xiao Yude never found Han Chunyi, but there were those with no sense who spread plenty of gossip about the two of them.

It was Miao Yiqiu who sought out Xiao Yude first and told him her thoughts. At the time, Xiao Yude didn't agree on the spot, but said he couldn't give her an answer right now—after all, he wasn't alone; he still had his son Xiao Changjiang.

Not until he received the news of Han Chunyi's sacrifice, and being constantly busy with work, unable to take good care of Xiao Changjiang, did the two of them agree to marry by arrangement.

Although things had started that way, after so many years together, Xiao Xiao Laoyezi Xiao had never expected Miao Yiqiu to be so resolute, and for a moment couldn't react.

After a long while, Xiao Xiao Laoyezi Xiao finally spoke: "Are you serious?"

Miao Yiqiu nodded gently: "I haven't forgotten the promise from back then. Now that Sister Chunyi has been found, naturally I..."

She didn't continue, but everyone in the room understood.

Xiao Xiao Laoyezi Xiao, however, didn't agree on the spot: "Let's discuss this with the children later before deciding."

Miao Yiqiu didn't press the matter either: "Alright."

Though she said that, in her heart she was still faintly pained. But Sister Chunyi had treated her like a real sister back then; thinking of her being alone in that place for so many years, she really couldn't take Xiao Yude away from her. And her young man was waiting for her too—that bold, carefree face was still fresh in her memory. With an arrangement like this, everyone would be better off.

Miao Yiqiu looked delicate, but inwardly she was strong. After returning to the capital, she directly contacted several of the children.

When Xiao Yude went out on an errand and came back, he saw the whole family waiting for him.

The moment he sat down, he heard his eldest son Xiao Changjiang say with a solemn face: "Auntie Miao, have you decided?"

Miao Yiqiu nodded heavily: "Yes."

Xiao Yude didn't need to ask to understand: "You..."

He had only uttered one word when Miao Yiqiu cut him off: "I've discussed it with Nianchun; she respects my decision."

Both having come through bullets and fire, after exchanging a look, Xiao Xiao Laoyezi Xiao also nodded his agreement. From then on, the matter was considered settled.

Strangely though, instead of the family growing distant over this, they actually became closer.

With the matter settled, work began quickly on the clan lands.

The day before Qingming, except for Liu Chuxue—who was to be married off next month—and Xiao Mu, who was heavy with child, no one went back to Willow Village.

The Xiao family brought several Xiao clan members along to Willow Village. Early the next morning, they went up the mountain, set off a string of firecrackers, and began relocating the grave.

Ignoring everyone's attempts to dissuade him, once Xiao Xiao Laoyezi Xiao found Han Chunyi's hastily buried remains, he personally pieced her bones together one by one into the newly prepared coffin: "Chunyi, I've come to fetch you. You must stay close to me."

By the time the villagers heard the noise and started asking around about the firecrackers on the mountain, Han Chunyi's coffin had already been carried by the Xiao clan members and the two sons down to the big Dongfeng truck waiting at the foot of the hill.

Xiao Xiao Laoyezi Xiao had secretly had someone calculate an auspicious hour. The moment the truck returned to the clan lands, people came to take the coffin and, beating the auspicious hour, reburied her.