Chapter 258 - 255: 3 Days

Chapter 258: Chapter 255: 3 Days

He parked the car, pushed open the main gate with Yanyan in his arms, and saw Grandma Li sitting in the courtyard, enjoying the sun. Hearing the gate, she turned and saw Li Xiu had returned with Yanyan. "You’re back so soon?" she asked, a little surprised.

"We drove, so it saved a lot of time," Li Xiu explained gently, noticing her surprise.

Li Xiu set Yanyan down, and the little boy trotted over to Grandma Li. "Great-Grandma, Yanyan’s back!" he chirped in his high, childish voice.

Hearing her great-grandson, Grandma Li’s confusion vanished instantly. A wide smile spread across her face as she looked at Yanyan, and the two of them, great-grandmother and great-grandson, began chattering away.

Far away in the Capital City, Zhou Lian and Nuonuo were thinking about them. Nuonuo looked up at her mother, who was reading a book, and asked softly, "Mom, are Daddy and little brother coming back today?"

Zhou Lian looked at her daughter, who was holding a pen and tilting her head. She put down her book and said softly, "I don’t think so. Your brother is still little, and Daddy wouldn’t want to travel with him on the road after dark."

"Then will they be back tomorrow?" Nuonuo pressed.

Zhou Lian smiled, stood up, and went to Nuonuo’s side. She gently pulled the girl into her lap and said tenderly, "Are you missing Daddy and little brother, Nuonuo?"

Leaning into Zhou Lian’s embrace, Nuonuo pouted and mumbled, "Yeah, I do. I haven’t seen Daddy and little brother for two days and a whole night. Mom, Daddy and little brother will definitely be back tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, Daddy and little brother will be back tomorrow. And they miss you too," Zhou Lian said tenderly, gently stroking Nuonuo’s hair. Her daughter had always been attached to Li Xiu. After two days, she truly missed her father and brother.

Lying quietly on the bed, Li Xiu listened to the steady breathing of a sleeping Yanyan and Grandma Li, but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t force himself to sleep. Gazing at the moonlight outside the window, Li Xiu sighed softly. ’I’m really not used to this. Not having my wife by my side... I’m just not used to it. This is the first time we’ve been apart since I told her everything. The longing is like a tidal wave, threatening to crush me.’ He let out a self-deprecating laugh. ’I’m never going to be apart from her again. This feeling of being sick with love is unbearable!’

Meanwhile, in the Capital City, Zhou Lian looked down at Nuonuo sleeping in her arms and also sighed softly. She missed Li Xiu. She missed his kisses, his smile, and most of all, the gentle, doting way he looked at her. Swallowing the ache in her heart, Zhou Lian couldn’t help but laugh at herself. ’Talk about eating my words. I still remember when I was first reborn. Back then, you could have killed me and I wouldn’t have believed that in just a few short years, I’d be drowning in longing after only two days without seeing him!’

Staring at the moonlight, she thought about how Li Xiu had spoiled her rotten over the past few years. ’Of course, I know what the upper echelons of the Capital City are saying about me. It’s just that Li Xiu protects me so well. But that doesn’t mean I’m completely in the dark. After all, I have my best friend, Zhang Hongying, feeding me information!’

’When I really think about it, I’ve been his downfall in two lifetimes. In my past life, if it wasn’t for me, would he have lost all his will to live? He lived such a mediocre life, and in the end, he even gave up his life to follow me in death. If we hadn’t been given this chance to live again, I’m afraid Master Yunqi would have chewed us out completely when we met him in the afterlife. Thankfully, the heavens were kind and allowed us to be reborn. When I think about Li Xiu’s accomplishments now and compare them to his past life... even if it’s not all my fault, I still have to take most of the blame.’

’Sometimes, I wonder what’s so great about me that made Li Xiu love me so profoundly for two whole lifetimes.’ She gave another self-deprecating smile. ’At times, I feel as if he’s been put under a spell, completely fixated on me across two lives. In our last life, it was hard to say who had wronged whom, or who had let the other down. But in this life, Li Xiu stands before me, almost humbly, offering me his whole heart and his very life. So, I will give him my whole heart and my life in return!’

Zhou Lian drifted off to sleep. A single tear escaped the corner of her eye, shimmering like a crystal in the moonlight. Her situation was perfectly captured by that poem: "An inch of deep red outshines the finest powder; what is old by nature cannot compare to what is new. A token of love now brings only sorrow, for inside, another’s heart has taken root. I light a lamp in the depths of a well, seeing only you; I’d walk the long road with my love, not play a simple game. Exquisite dice inlaid with red beans of longing—do you know how this love has pierced me to the bone?"

Li Xiu woke with a smile. Seeing the first hint of light outside the window, his heart soared. ’In my dream, my Bao’er said she missed me. She spent the whole night murmuring, "Exquisite dice inlaid with red beans of longing—do you know how this love has pierced me to the bone?" Could it be we’re connected heart-to-heart? Did she know how much I missed her and come into my dream on purpose to ease my lovesickness? Thank goodness I’m going back today. Once I’m back in the Capital City, I’ll get to see my beautiful wife and my dear daughter!’

They were halfway through breakfast when the first and third branches of the Li family arrived to see Li Xiu and Yanyan off. The car’s trunk and back seat had been stuffed to the brim by Aunt Li from the first branch and Aunt Li from the third branch. Li Xiu couldn’t help but sigh and rub his forehead. ’Oh well,’ he thought. ’It’s a token of their affection. I’ll just have to accept it, as undeserving as I feel.’

After saying his goodbyes to everyone, Li Xiu put Yanyan in the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt. He got in, started the engine, and gave a gentle wave to the crowd outside the car before slowly driving away from the village. Only when he could no longer see their figures in the rearview mirror did Li Xiu finally let out a long sigh. ’It’s like this every time I leave,’ he thought.

Just after lunch, Nuonuo couldn’t sit still. She kept looking at the time, then running out into the courtyard, fidgeting restlessly. It made Zhou Lian’s heart ache to see it. ’My daughter misses her daddy so much.’ She missed Li Xiu and her son, too. Checking the time again, she beckoned Nuonuo over.

Looking at her daughter’s little face turned up toward her, Zhou Lian gently pulled her into an embrace. "Nuonuo, it’ll still be a little while before Daddy gets back," she said. "Remember, your little brother is in the car, so Daddy can’t drive too fast. Why don’t you try to calculate what time he’ll be back, okay?"

"But Mom, how do I calculate it?"

"Well, it takes eight hours to get from our hometown to the Capital City, and that doesn’t include time to stop for meals and rest. So let’s say it takes nine hours on the road. Daddy and your brother have to eat breakfast before they leave, so let’s say they left at 8:00 AM. If they leave at 8:00 AM and travel for nine hours, what time will they get back?" Holding her daughter, Zhou Lian tried to find little things to help pass the time.

"Oh, 8:00 AM plus nine hours... so Daddy and little brother won’t be back until 5:00 PM!" Nuonuo answered almost without a second thought. But then her face fell, and she leaned her head against her mother’s chest, dejected. ’That’s still so long from now. It’s only 2:00 PM!’

Gently stroking Nuonuo’s small head, Zhou Lian said softly, "That’s my amazing Nuonuo, you figured it out in a flash!"

Nuonuo ignored her mother’s over-the-top praise. ’I’m eight years old, you know. If I couldn’t solve a simple math problem like that, my little brother would laugh me to death.’ She peeked up at her mother, then lowered her eyes and asked softly, "Mom... do you miss Daddy and little brother, too?"