Chapter 275: Don't Drag Me Into Your Self-Redemption

I'm just taking a sofa blanket.

You're too hot.

They spoke in unison.

Jiang Lai blinked slightly, seeing him take the small sofa blanket Mo Yi had just changed today and wipe his own head with it.

The bathroom only has your towel; I didn't touch anything.

Jiang Lai is someone very conscious of boundaries.

If she doesn't agree, he won't move randomly.

He then added, "I lowered the bathwater temperature; why do you use such high temperature for your shower?"

Hot?

Hot.

Because of physiological differences, males generate more heat from greater muscle mass, females are more cold‑sensitive and produce less heat, so their water‑temperature needs differ. Jiang Lai's tensed body gradually relaxed as she watched Ke Zhongyu finish wiping his hair; no water dripped, but it wasn't dry.

The hair dryer is upstairs.

"No need." Ke Zhongyu saw her rise and reached out to grab her hand.

They had already held hands three times that night.

Jiang Lai's mind was temporarily overloaded; unlike the previous two times, she didn't stay still, she pulled her hand away.

Mo Yi heated your dinner for you; eat it, then sleep early—I'm going to rest.

Good night.

In her seemingly calm tone, Ke Zhongyu still heard a hint of panic.

After returning to the bedroom, Jiang Lai immediately shut the door, looked at the tidy room, then gradually came to her senses, slowly walked to the bedside and sat down. After a while, she remembered she hadn't replied to Ke Zhongying's message, typed "okay," and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

The steam in the bathroom was still there.

She turned on the shower, tested the water temperature with her hand—just as usual—then looked at the thermostat; it was indeed the temperature she habitually used for winter showers.

Ke Zhongyu had turned it back for her.

He's a very detail‑oriented man.

When I first met Shen Xun, he was also detail‑oriented.

Jiang Lai stared blankly, waiting for the hot water to wet half her arm before she began to shower.

After washing and blow‑drying her hair, she went to sleep right away.

Before bed, Ke Zhongyu specially glanced outside; Shen Xun was still standing there.

How unlucky.

The bodyguards also went to rest; the two German Shepherds darted into their doghouses, and the whole villa fell into sleep.

Shen Xun stood in the cold night, punishing himself.

All the way until dawn the next day.

Shen Xun heard the sound of a vehicle; a small delivery van pulled up, clearly coming to move things.

Shen Xun didn't expect it to happen so early.

He watched as the front gate opened; a bodyguard reached out to push him aside, and if he stepped forward he would be shoved back again.

The bodyguards were also tired; facing such a shameless person, they didn't need to say anything—just forcibly block him.

After all, calling the police wouldn't help; the Shen surname holder didn't force his way in, security couldn't do anything either—after all, he's the owner.

Once Miss Jiang moves out, it'll be quiet.

Shen Xun normally isn't a match for the two bodyguards; after a sleepless night, frozen numb all over, even a little force from them makes him unsteady on his feet.

He could only watch helplessly as the movers lifted all of Jiang Lai's belongings onto the truck, stacking them box by box.

Before, Jiang Lai had silently moved out of the home where they had lived together for four years; Shen Xun noticed nothing, and by the time he found out, she and he were already divorced.

At this moment, watching Jiang Lai move, it perfectly makes up for Shen Xun's regret over not noticing her mood; if he had known earlier that she was secretly leaving, he would have decisively cut ties with the past and desperately tried to keep her.

Shen Xun thought this was a chance for redemption given to him by heaven.

It seemed that as long as he stopped Jiang Lai from leaving this time, he and she still had a chance—especially a chance to make amends.

If Jiang Lai moves away from here, he will truly find it hard to see her again.

He wants to make amends but doesn't know where to start.

Faced with Shen Xun's hoarse pleas and obstruction, the arguing made Jiang Lai's ears really hurt.

"What's the meaning of you begging me not to leave?"

"Jiang Lai, I can't bear not seeing you, please." Shen Xun still said those words: "I'm sorry to you, but could you give me a chance to make up for my mistake?"

Ke Zhongyu's veins bulged on the back of his hand as he listened.

"Shen Xun, do you remember when we first got married, we discussed together Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner? Everyone says it's a redemption story, but that's Amir's self‑redemption."

"As Hassan, his childhood playmate, suffered humiliation because of Amir's jealousy and weakness; Amir, unable to face Hassan, schemed to drive Hassan and his father away; in the end, the utterly sincere Hassan was gone, yet he still guarded his old home."

"In the second half of his life, unable to break free from the shackles of his soul, he embarked on the so‑called path of redemption."

"He rescued Hassan's son Sohrab, who shared a similar fate, and with the words 'For you, a thousand times over' he completed his self‑redemption—but what about Hassan?"

"The humiliated Hassan, the Hassan forced to leave, the Hassan who died protecting his home—who will save him? Who can redeem him?"

Jiang Lai held her breath, then slowly exhaled, and countered: "In this state, you want me to give you a chance, you want to make up for your mistake—you too want to complete your self‑redemption."

"Shen Xun, your self‑redemption doesn't need to drag me along."

"I really like this book by Hosseini, and I like his sincere, simple‑hearted Hassan even more—but I don't want to become Hassan."

As the words fell, Shen Xun's body froze in place, his blood seeming to solidify, all his strength drained away.

Even a gust of wind could easily blow him over.

Shen Xun no longer argued, nor did he obstruct.

After moving out, the bodyguard returned to Yi Hao Bie Shu.

As for Great Virtue and Little Shepherd, Ke Zhongyu had voluntarily taken on the responsibility of looking after the two dogs, because Jiang Lai's house was small and unsuitable for keeping two large dogs.

The most important reason is that keeping Great Virtue and Little Shepherd with him makes Jiang Lai think of them, and in the process also think of him.

It both helps Jiang Lai solve problems and lets her think of him, killing two birds with one stone.

Jiang Lai squatted in front of the two dogs, rubbing their heads: "Sorry, I can't bring you to live with me. You'll be better off with Ke Zhongyu, and I'll come visit when I have time."

Great Virtue and Little Shepherd rubbed their heads against her face.

Ke Zhongyu watched with a cold eye.

What's with the clinging!

He doesn't even get to cling.

The bodyguard led away Great Virtue and Little Shepherd.

Mo Yi was in charge of the follow‑up car, while Jiang Lai and Ke Zhongyu rode in Ke Zhongying's black Hongqi Car Car Car car.

The Hongqi Car Car Car car set off first, and the minibus followed.

Shen Xun watched helplessly as the cars drove away, watching the car Jiang Lai was in disappear completely around the corner.

Nanshan Shu Jiuhao returned to its former tranquility.

Shen Xun gave a self‑deprecating laugh, then lingered here for a long time; because the door was locked, he couldn't go in, so he could only keep looking from outside.

It seemed that by looking like this he could warp spacetime and catch glimpses of Jiang Lai's daily life here.

Reality only dealt him a heavy blow.

Apart from the dead leaves swirling in the cold wind and the swaying branches, there was nothing.

Shen Xun didn't know how he had gotten back, nor how he had collapsed in the living room; when he woke up it was already dark, he opened his mouth but could not speak.

He lay in bed.

The next second, Xie Yongsi brought in a doctor in a white coat, hurrying to say: "Give him an antipyretic injection, or I'm afraid his brain will burn out."

After the injection was administered, Shen Xun felt nothing, his gaze empty and lifeless.

Xie Yongsi looked at him like that, sighed, then pointed at him and scolded: "Brother Shen, if it weren't for the fact that back then nobody else wanted to jump in to save me and only you did, pulling me out, today I wouldn't be calling a doctor for you—I'd be slapping you twice."