Chapter 221: A Beautiful Misunderstanding

Alisha smiled, smiling very happily, and also very guiltily.

Although Shi Youxuan did not understand how her smile could contain so much, it was still quite pretty when she smiled; she stared at Alisha, and her gaze seemed to make Alisha a bit embarrassed, so she used her wide sleeve to cover her face.

"Ha—Alisha, you can still be shy?"

Shi Youxuan felt she was very interesting and started chatting with her: "Alisha, are you married?"

Sheng Hanyu nodded, but immediately shook his head.

Shi Youxuan was puzzled: "Married means married, not married means not married; what do you mean by nodding then shaking your head?"

Before he could answer, she "understood" it herself.

"Oh, I know."

"Alisha, did your husband die?"

Sheng Hanyu swallowed, almost choking on his own saliva, so he nodded, which was equivalent to tacitly admitting it.

"You are also a pitiful person."

Shi Youxuan subconsciously reached out to take his hand, wanting to comfort him, but Sheng Hanyu pulled away as if electrocuted.

He dared not; a face could be disguised, but hands could not be disguised.

Usually, when he worked, he would deliberately hide his hands; if Shi Youxuan touched them, she would know they were a man's hands with one touch.

Heaven knows how much he wanted to be held by her, how much he wanted to be close to her, but he just dared not.

Shi Youxuan didn't think much of it, just finding it funny: "You are so timid, yet you dared to defy me at the beginning; was it because of Xiaozhu?"

This time he nodded again.

Alisha was sincerely good to "Xiaozhu," and Shi Youxuan saw this in her eyes.

Generally, only those who have been mothers know better how to take care of children.

Alisha had a "husband" and should also have children, but she had been at Zhu Zhai for more than half a month, and she had never seen her ask for leave to visit her children.

Shi Youxuan was not a person who liked gossip; if it were normal times, she wouldn't ask, but now there was nothing to do, and since she was idle anyway, it was just right to chat.

"Alisha, do you have children?"

He nodded again.

"Oh, how old is the child, is it a boy or a girl?"

Alisha paused, then pointed at "Xiaozhu" who was playing wildly in the river.

So Shi Youxuan understood: "Oh, the same age as Xiaozhu, also a girl?"

He nodded again.

Shi Youxuan came up with an idea, which she thought was quite good: "Alisha, bring your daughter over too, let your daughter go to kindergarten with Xiaozhu, and live in the house..."

"Cough, cough..."

Sheng Hanyu couldn't hold it back this time and was choked by his saliva, coughing violently.

"Are you alright?"

He shook his head, indicating he was fine.

However, the "no problem" Shi Youxuan said didn't seem to mean the same thing as he understood.

Shi Youxuan said: "Since there's no objection, it's settled."

It's settled just like that?

"No problem" equals "no objection"?

Sheng Hanyu discovered that his understanding had deviated, and he hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands to indicate it wasn't necessary.

But the two of them didn't seem to be on the same page; Shi Youxuan said: "You don't need to be polite with me, and don't worry about the tuition fees; I'll cover it all. This matter doesn't need the Head of the Family's approval; I can make the decision."

Sheng Hanyu believed she could make the decision, but the problem was where was he supposed to get a child from!

There was no other way, so he had to continue explaining, explaining that he had no children.

"You said you had one just now, why don't you have one now? What kind of trick are you playing?" Shi Youxuan's face fell, displeased.

Once a lie begins, one will go further and further down that road.

To tell one lie, one needs to use a hundred lies to cover it up!

Sheng Hanyu was in that situation now; he explained that the child was in his hometown, being looked after by his grandparents.

Because his "husband" died, they wouldn't let her take the child away...

Poor Sheng Hanyu, a grown man, in order not to let Shi Youxuan be suspicious, had to package himself as a deserted wife with a miserable background, pitiful, and driven out by her in-laws!

Shi Youxuan was the softest-hearted; she couldn't bear to see or hear such things, and for the sake of a freshly baked story made up just to fool her, she shed tears of sympathy, moved to the point of being teary-eyed.

"I didn't expect you to be such a pitiful person; there are too many pitiful women in this world. Alisha, if you have any difficulties in the future, tell me; I will definitely help you if I can."

He nodded heavily.

After nodding, he even stretched out his right pinky finger to make a pinky promise with her!

Shi Youxuan stared at his hand and did not stretch out her own; instead, she looked thoughtful.

Sheng Hanyu thought it was bad; his hand was too thick and sturdy and was recognized.

Just as he was about to pull his hand back, Shi Youxuan stretched out her finger to make the pinky promise, her voice a bit choked: "Pinky promise, it won't change for a hundred years, whoever changes is a..."

She couldn't bring herself to say the last two words "little dog," so she turned her head and quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes.

Five years; she originally thought five years was enough to change everything, yet she would still inadvertently think of the past, think of the days spent with that person.

He should be married to Jian Yixin by now, right?

Over the five years, she deliberately avoided asking about his news, and did not allow anyone to tell her about him.

Everyone was deceived by her, all thinking she hated him to the bone, that she couldn't wait to eat his flesh and drink his blood to relieve her hatred.

But only Shi Youxuan herself knew that there was a place in her heart that couldn't be touched; touching it caused heart-piercing pain, just like now.

In the past, she would always childishly make pinky promises with him, making him keep his word to love her for a lifetime!

He had promised; that man looked at her with the most doting gaze in the world, causing her to lose herself in that look, unable to extricate herself, and even losing the ability to love anyone else.

Since he had already failed her back then, why travel thousands of miles to L Country to meet?

Sheng Hanyu came to Zhu Zhai to look for Shi Youxuan; she knew, but refused to see him, and she did not regret it in the slightest.

Let the past remain in the past forever; five years ago he could hurt her for the sake of Jian Yixin, but five years later, she would neither use, nor deign to use, schemes to snatch her daughter back from him.

There is no need; life must move forward, there is no need to look back.

It is just that her heart still aches.

Alisha approached her cautiously and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders; she rested her head against Alisha.

Alisha had sprayed on very heavy perfume, the scent so strong it was somewhat choking.

However, leaning on Alisha allowed Shi Youxuan to feel at ease, and she even fell asleep without realizing it.

Sheng Hanyu gently held her shoulders, his heart already shattered into pieces.

Shi Youxuan still loved him; he could feel it.

Or perhaps it could be said she still hated him, and hate was also fine; having hate meant there was still love, for he feared they had become strangers, where even if they met on the road she wouldn't want to glance at him, and then it would be all over.

……

Shi Youxuan woke from her slumber and discovered she was in a tent.

The sounds outside were very noisy—laughter, talking, the sounds of children playing... it was as lively as the vegetable market she used to visit when she was a child.

She found it very strange.

In such a noisy environment, how had she managed to fall asleep!

After that incident five years ago, she had been left with a very serious sequela—insomnia!

She often couldn't sleep, and even the smallest, most subtle sounds could startle her awake.

Therefore, Shi Youxuan's room at Zhu Zhai was custom-made, with the surroundings treated with high-quality soundproofing materials; as long as the doors and windows were closed, it was so quiet inside that there wasn't a single sound.

Yet now, she had actually fallen asleep in such a noisy environment!

Shi Youxuan raised her wrist to check the time on her watch; it was already noon, and judging by the voices outside, it sounded like it was almost time for a meal.