Chapter 5: Memories

Late at night, Yan Jiyue lay on the bed in his clothes, staring at the words on the divorce agreement with a moment of distraction. Everything happened so fast that he didn’t have time to digest this ecstasy.

Unknowingly, he fell asleep, and whispers entered his dream with the sound of the wind.

In the dream, the light was scattered and dreamy. Yan Jiyue seemed to see another ending for him and Su Mu.

At that time, they were not yet divorced. Su Mu often came to Hanlian Courtyard to show him kindness, knowing that he could not leave the Yan Residence. She frequently brought fresh things from outside to help him pass the time.

But at that time, Yan Jiyue disliked Su Mu and indulged Xiao Ping to mock her verbally. Su Mu’s eyes were disappointed and dim, but in the next second, she forced herself to show a hint of a smile, her eyes as bright as stars.

Although she was born a servant, her back was always straight as a pen. This was the only thing that Yan Jiyue liked about Su Mu.

But in front of Xiao Ping, she lowered her head for the first time.

Su Mu’s forbearance was actually seen by Yan Jiyue in the room, but he held a grudge in his heart. Seeing her being slandered by Xiao Ping without dignity, he hesitated for a moment and didn’t care about anything.

But he didn’t know that this was the last time Su Mu bowed down to please him.

A year after the wedding, Su Mu started doing business, spending more time outside and less time at the Yan Residence.

No one would bother to bring him fresh little things to pass the time anymore. Half a year later, Yan Jiyue wore out the last kite that Su Mu gave him, and he missed Su Mu, who used to often bring him fresh things.

At this time, Su Mu had some success in business, and it was heard that the outside world’s evaluation of her had improved a lot. The servants of the Yan Residence had also changed their attitudes greatly. Even his personal attendant Xiao Ping had an ambiguous attitude and dressed more seductively in private, as if waiting for someone’s appearance.

But Su Mu never came to Hanlian Courtyard again, always staying in her Luofeng Courtyard without going out. Even when she went to pay respects to her father, she would rather bypass Hanlian Courtyard.

Gradually, there were rumors in the mansion that Su Mu had picked up a foreign attendant from outside named Xie Yi, whom she loved very much.

The rumors reached Yan Jiyue’s ears, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart, which he couldn’t explain.

He went to the lotus pond in the garden to enjoy the flowers and relax his mind. From a distance, he saw Xie Yi, who was rumored to be loved by Su Mu.

He was holding a cluster of lotus flowers and ran towards Su Mu with joy, his green eyes more luminous than lotus leaves.

Su Mu took the lotus flowers, her eyes filled with gentle laughter.

The next second, Su Mu saw Yan Jiyue, and her smile instantly froze, distant and indifferent as she bowed to him.

Thinking of her previous attitude towards him, Yan Jiyue clenched his hands. After not seeing each other for half a year, she was so cold.

“Xie Yi, pay respects to your brother,” Su Mu said beside him. Xie Yi imitated Su Mu’s appearance and bowed to him.

Yan Jiyue’s eyes were cold, and he blurted out, “Where did this lowly thing come from? Who is your brother?” Xie Yi’s green eyes were flustered, like a child who had made a mistake looking at Su Mu.

Su Mu stood in front of Xie Yi, looking at Yan Jiyue with eyes that no longer held any affection. “It’s my fault for not teaching Xie Yi well. His Mandarin is not good, offending the young master. Please forgive him.” Yan Jiyue suddenly felt stifled and uncomfortable in his heart, and left with a sentence: “Keep your dog in check.”

“Young master. Young master.” Suddenly, Xiao Ping’s familiar voice came from the horizon, and the surroundings began to change. Yan Jiyue opened his eyes and saw Xiao Ping’s worried eyes.

“What are you calling me for?” Yan Jiyue was still immersed in the dream, and his attitude was not good.

Xiao Ping hesitated for a moment and asked, “Did the young master have a nightmare?” “What do you mean?”

Xiao Ping bit his lip and said with a look of facing death, “You called the young mistress’s name all night.” He had been guarding outside the room all night, awakened by Yan Jiyue’s murmuring of Su Mu’s name in his dream.

“Nonsense.” Yan Jiyue said angrily, “How could I call her name in my dream?” Xiao Ping quickly knelt down, “I also guessed it was like this. The young master dislikes Su Mu so much, how could he possibly dream of her? The only possibility is that he had a nightmare, and Su Mu was the one who gave you a nightmare.” Yan Jiyue was silent for a moment. “You can get up.”

He covered his chest, probably because last night’s dream was too real. Even after waking up from the dream, he could still vividly feel the suffocating humiliation that Yan Jiyue in the dream felt when faced with Su Mu’s sudden cold attitude, and when she defended Xie Yi, there was also a little pain.

Where did that pain come from? The Yan Jiyue in the dream didn’t know, and the Yan Jiyue after waking up didn’t know either.

Xiao Ping stood up as if relieved, and seeing Yan Jiyue’s reaction, he felt that he had just found the right time to speak, so he continued to scold Su Mu.

“In my opinion, it’s all Su Mu’s fault. If it weren’t for Su Mu, young master, you wouldn’t have nightmares all night long.” “Shut up.” Yan Jiyue scolded.

Xiao Ping’s heart was shocked, and he murmured, “Young master, what’s wrong with you?” Yan Jiyue choked. He didn’t know what was wrong with him either.

Perhaps it was because the dream had too great an impact on him. Yan Jiyue suddenly realized that Xiao Ping’s foul mouth was inseparable from the reason why Su Mu’s attitude towards him changed so quickly in the dream.

…Of course, it was also inseparable from the indulgence of the Yan Jiyue in the dream.

But anyway, they were already divorced, right?

Whether Su Mu’s attitude was cold or not was no longer important, and this inexplicable dream should be forgotten.

He calmed himself, looked at Xiao Ping’s confused eyes, and replied, “Nothing, don’t mention Su Mu again in the future. She and I are already divorced.”

“Stupid! How could I, Mo Hui, give birth to such a stupid son like you!” Yan Zhujun held a wooden stick and hit Yan Jiyue’s body again and again.

Yan Jiyue endured the pain without making a sound.

Xiao Ping hid outside the room, peeking out his head and seeing Yan Jiyue, who had always been aloof, being beaten so miserably. He shrank back tremblingly.

The wooden stick was broken, and Yan Zhujun’s anger had not been vented. He directly picked up his crutch and continued to beat Yan Jiyue, who fell to the ground with a pale face.

Ling Hua couldn’t bear to watch. Yan Zhujun was really angry to the point of attacking his heart and had laid a fatal hand on his own son. He wanted to help Yan Jiyue up.

“I’d like to see who dares to plead for him today!” Yan Zhujun was furious, poking his shoulder cartilage, “I’ve really been blind to dote on you these years, raising such an ungrateful son like you who divorced Su Mu.” Yan Jiyue lay on the ground, feeling that his bones were about to be smashed. He said in a weak voice, “Father, I just don’t like Su Mu.” “I don’t care if you like Su Mu or not.” Yan Zhujun blurted out, not caring if his son’s marriage could be happy, “Can you bear to see the family business left by your mother and sister being snatched away by those wine bags and rice bags? Will the Yan family still have a place for you and me to stand? Do you want your biological father to be homeless?” Yan Jiyue remained silent and did not answer.

Yan Zhujun angrily threw the crutch aside, and Ling Hua hurriedly helped Yan Zhujun calm down.

Ling Jing helped Yan Jiyue, who was almost beaten to a cripple, to his feet.

“Zhujun, calm down. Things have come to this point, we must hurry and think of a way to salvage the situation,” Ling Hua said.

Yan Zhujun immediately said, “No one can leak the news about the divorce.”

Ling Hua nodded, “Don’t worry, only a few of us know about this, and the news has been blocked.” Fortunately, Xiao Ping was the person they planted by Yan Jiyue’s side. After learning about the divorce, he immediately notified them. Otherwise, if Yan Jiyue didn’t say anything, they wouldn’t know how long they would be kept in the dark.

Yan Zhujun sighed, “It’s a pity that Su Mu has already taken the divorce agreement and left the mansion overnight. What else can I do? Find another wife for Jiyue? Not everyone is like Su Mu, who has no greed for the Yan family’s wealth. In recent years, you’ve heard of cases where the wife rebels against the husband.”

Ling Hua suddenly had an idea, “Since no one else can do it, why not bring Su Mu back?”

Yan Zhujun’s eyes lit up, but then he said with worry, “It would be best if Su Mu could come back, but will she? In the beginning, I had to swallow my pride and beg her to be the husband-in-law. Now, will she still agree to remarry?”

Yan Jiyue’s pale face was extremely colorless. It turned out that on their wedding night, her explanation was true.

But he slapped her in return.

“Su Mu will definitely agree,” Ling Hua said in a low voice, using a volume that only the few people present could hear, “Have you forgotten? You have the grace of saving Su Mu’s life. If it weren’t for your mercy back then, Su Mu would have died long ago and wouldn’t be here today.”

Ling Jing echoed, “Yes, you are the one who saved her life and gave her food to eat. With such great kindness and virtue, letting her repay by being the husband-in-law is not bullying her. If she refuses, she is really ungrateful and heartless.”

“I won’t remarry her,” Yan Jiyue said, his eyes dim and lifeless.

“That’s not up to you,” Yan Zhujun glanced at him coldly, “Xiao Ping, take care of your master.” Xiao Ping entered the room with trepidation.

Yan Zhujun got up with Ling Hua’s support, “Go find Su Mu.”

Su Mu studied late into the night last night. She hadn’t experienced this sense of fulfillment from staying up late to study for a long time.

She woke up groggily around 8 am.

As soon as she woke up, Xie Yi lifted the curtain and brought her water to wash up.

“Su Mu, wash water,” Xie Yi’s Mandarin still had a strange intonation, but only the two words “Su Mu” were pronounced particularly standard.

Su Mu put on her outer garment and smiled silently, “Not wash water, it’s wash face.” Xie Yi nodded, imitating the way she just spoke, and carefully said, “Wash face?” “That’s right, smart.”

Xie Yi seemed to understand that she was praising him. His eyes curved, and the dark green light shone through his thick long eyelashes, instantly making the dark room brighten up.

After washing up, Su Mu wanted to go to the kitchen to cook.

Although Xie Yi was of mixed blood, he had always grown up in the Western Regions. He probably wasn’t very good at making Chinese rice and noodles.

But in a second, Su Mu found that her idea was wrong.

Xie Yi brought out a bowl of fragrant vegetable porridge from the kitchen. Next to the porridge was a small plate with pickles that had just been scooped out of the pickle jar and cut.

“Su Mu, eat,” he said.

Su Mu took it with a smile. Seeing only one bowl of porridge, she asked, “Where’s yours?” Xie Yi was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn’t believe it, “Mine?”

Su Mu replied, “Of course, go get a bowl for yourself.”

A dark light flashed through Xie Yi’s deep green eyes. He obediently scooped a bowl of porridge from the kitchen and returned to the hall. The aroma of the vegetable porridge rolled into his nostrils.

He was so hungry that his stomach hurt after not eating all night.

“Eat,” Su Mu said.

Xie Yi held the bowl tightly in his hands, finally picked up the spoon, knelt at Su Mu’s feet, and began to eat.