Chapter 269: Three More Years

"Back then, in university, how well the three of us used to get along!"

Li Xuan recalled the best time of her life with a look of longing, "It's all because later on, you had so much, while I had so little..."

"Believe whatever you want to believe," Si Rong did not want to argue with a dying person, "That logic is as ridiculous as you robbing a bank, the police catching you, and then you saying it's because there was so much money in the bank while you had so little."

Li Xuan was silent for a moment, "Regardless of what you say, I am going to die."

She glanced at Si Rong; although they were both in their fifties, Si Rong was still composed and beautiful.

The difference between them was just as it had been when they first met.

"Si Rong, do you think we will have a next life?" Li Xuan looked at Si Rong with some hope.

"During that time you went to the Haidao to follow the army, I always felt like Shen Lan had come back."

Li Xuan thought she didn't believe her and half-propped herself up, "Really, I am truly not lying to you. I'm about to die, why would I still lie to you?"

"During that time, there was always someone following the three of us, plus Shen Mu—you remember that old hag, right? Someone gave her a sum of money; it was a strange man, yet he called her 'Mom.' Until the day she died, Shen Mu insisted her son wasn't dead, just living in the form of another person."

Si Rong certainly believed her; what she was talking about must be Shen Lan, who had undergone Rebirth into another person's body.

"Regardless of whether there is a next life, I have always felt that those who cannot live this life well shouldn't expect to live the next one well either."

Si Rong stood up, "Alright, I'm leaving."

"If there is a next life, Si Rong, I want to become you!" Li Xuan shouted hoarsely from behind, "You are so happy, born enjoying the glory and wealth that others could never enjoy, and your father and brothers all dote on you. If only I could experience a life like yours just once, that would be enough."

Her words sent shivers down Si Rong's spine.

Become her?

How terrifying; it was a pity that all of this was just Li Xuan's wishful thinking.

Li Xuan was dead.

In her life, she didn't even have a place to call home, and her only relatives were the two children she had borne.

After being collected from the hospital morgue, she was hastily cremated, and her ashes were placed in a simple urn.

Shen Chi and Shen Yuan knelt on the ground side by side.

"Yesterday I went to Kongque Zhen," Shen Chi began, "None of the uncles were willing to see Mom for the last time."

"Especially the third uncle, Li Dabao; he used a stick to drive me out of the house! He said, he said..."

"Said what?" Shen Yuan felt so much hatred in her heart, yet she didn't know what to hate.

"It was all just filthy language; you shouldn't listen to it."

He claimed that the thing on his body back then was bitten off by Li Xuan, otherwise, why would he be without a wife or children?

But he was Li Xuan's own brother; if she hadn't gone too far, how would Li Xuan have had the chance to touch such private parts?

One can only say, those who court their own ruin cannot be saved.

Shen Yuan kowtowed heavily, "Mom, although you weren't a good mother, I don't blame you anymore. I hope you can be a little happier in your next life and never meet people you don't like again."

A gust of wind blew by, and a butterfly flapped its wings and landed on Shen Yuan's sleeve, unwilling to leave for a long time.

"What are your plans?" Shen Chi thought that his little sister wasn't young anymore, "With Mom dead, it's just the two of us left. Don't drift around anymore; stay in Huaiyang and start a family!"

Shen Yuan leaned on her brother's shoulder, "Okay, I'll listen to you, Brother."

"And you, Brother? Are you still planning to just muddle along with Lin Meixi like this?"

This time, from Li Xuan's sudden illness to her burial, only the two siblings had been busy; Lin Meixi hadn't even shown her face—she didn't even want to keep up appearances anymore.

"I can only keep going for now," Shen Chi pursed his lips, "I have to find my daughter."

Even if Lin Meixi wasn't committed to living with him now, she was the child's mother after all; he planned to wait until his daughter was found before making other plans.

"I heard you say before that you had found her, didn't you?" Shen Yuan also wanted to see this niece she had never met but who looked so much like her.

Shen Chi shook his head, "We did a paternity test; it wasn't her."

"Then we'll keep looking!" Shen Yuan took her brother's arm, "I'll help you look together!"

Shen Chi still felt that Bai Mo was his daughter; he waited with his little sister at the school gate and pointed her out to Shen Yuan when school let out.

"Look! That's Bai Mo!"

Shen Yuan was slightly surprised, "Brother, don't you think she also looks a lot like Lin Meixi? Especially when she smiles!"

"Yeah, but the paternity test shows I have no blood relation to her."

Thanks to her mother, Shen Yuan knew a bit about these things, "Tell me, could it be that Lin Meixi was with another man back then, and the child she sent to the Fuliyuan wasn't yours at all!"

Now, looking at her brother, Shen Yuan felt he was wearing a green hat.

Shen Chi:...

His expression grew colder; given the conduct of a harlot like Lin Meixi, his little sister's guess was not impossible.

Immediately, Shen Chi went home and gave Lin Meixi a beating.

Only when Lin Meixi knelt on the ground, swearing on the lives of her son and her own mother that she had never cheated on Shen Chi back then, did Shen Chi stop.

He sneered and helped Lin Meixi up from the ground, "I'll believe you for now. From today on, let's look for our daughter together properly!"

Lin Meixi nodded, shrinking back in fear.

——————————————

Three years later.

Under the rhododendron trellis, two women sat opposite each other drinking tea.

"Your sword dancing is quite good now," Ming Zi commented with a smile, "But why did Jiang Cheng come along too? Doesn't he dislike these flowery, showy movements?"

Si Rong smiled faintly, "He's retired too; if he doesn't go, what is there to do idling at home all day?"

The truth was, Jiang Cheng had seen her dancing with other old men before, and after returning home, Jiang Cheng had been very passive-aggressive for several days.

Later, he simply started going to dance with her.

It was so annoying; he followed her everywhere she walked or sat, to the point where she could only be alone when she went to the bathroom.

"By the way, yesterday was the third anniversary of Li Xuan's passing," Ming Zi said suddenly.

Si Rong blinked her somewhat weary eyes, "Time really flies, she has already been dead for three years."

"Who would say otherwise, but after she died, those two children of hers have actually started living proper lives."

"Shen Yuan seems to have gotten married, she married an honest and dependable high school teacher; Shen Chi seems to still be doing business near the station, I heard he is still looking for his daughter everywhere."

Ming Zi said with a sigh.

"Do you think he will come looking for Bai Mo again?"

Si Rong shook her head, "I don't know, what is meant to come will come eventually."

"Bai Mo, wait for me!" Jiang Siyu ran to catch up with her, "Come to my house to do homework together tonight!"

"Tonight won't work," Bai Mo said, "Our history teacher asked me to go to his house for tutoring."

"That's favoritism! Why does he only tutor you, could it be that he likes...?" a female classmate suddenly leaned in and said.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Bai Mo said hurriedly, "The history teacher is already married."