When love draws near, it's like snow

Chapter 44

“I’ll go too.” Huaiyuan immediately stood up—his intention was very clear; he had ulterior motives.

"No need. Whether you or Wufeng go, it will only make her more unhappy. I'll go." I glared at him—just kidding, he's the last person I want to see right now, so of course I strongly rejected his suggestion.

The cold dew dampens my clothes, and the chilly moon shines upon me. I trudge along the lakeshore, my steps dappled with moonlight. The soft willow branches sway and dance in the night breeze, mirroring my chaotic thoughts. In the distance, I faintly hear a woman's sobs. I sigh softly; I can no longer ignore it—such a grand villa, and I deliberately chose this secluded lakeside location, yet I still managed to encounter her. It can only be described as a curse.

A slender figure stood lonely yet stubbornly on the arched bridge. The soft moonlight bathed her heaving shoulders, and the cool night wind carried her soft sobs to my ears. Having grown accustomed to her arrogant and domineering nature, seeing her so vulnerable and helpless suddenly stirred a strange feeling within me—to be honest, I much prefer to see her raise her whip. Sigh! Am I becoming a bit of a masochist?!

"On such a fine night, for whom do I stand in the wind and dew all night long?" I sighed inwardly, hesitating to move forward, unsure whether I should pretend not to see her and turn away, or offer her some empty words of comfort—I suppose she doesn't want anyone to see her at this moment? And me, no matter what I say, I'll inevitably be accused of hypocrisy and affectation.

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This book was first published on Xiaoxiang Novel Original Website. Please retain this information when reprinting!

[Volume 3: War and Chaos - Chapter 5: A Love Like a Lilac Knot]

Just as I was about to leave, my foot slipped. Looking down, I realized I had stepped on something. I bent down and picked it up—and there it was, the magnolia hairpin that Miss Lu usually wore!

"Who's over there?" While I was hesitating, Lu Rumei noticed my presence. She wiped away her tears hastily, turned her head and asked me in a sweet voice, her words containing a hint of anger.

"The courtyard is white with snow, crows perch on the trees, the cold dew silently wets the osmanthus blossoms. Tonight, the moon is bright, everyone gazes at it, but whose heart is filled with autumn thoughts?" I forced myself to emerge from under the willow tree where I had been hiding, pretending not to see her tears. I smiled and walked towards her. "Miss Lu, you have such refined tastes!"

"It's you? Why aren't you drinking at Feiyun Pavilion? What are you doing here?" Lu Rumei seemed relieved when she saw me, but then questioned me irritably—clearly blaming me for disturbing her peace.

"Ah, it seems Miss Lu doesn't welcome me. I'm so sorry, I'll be leaving now." I quickly bowed and turned to leave this minefield.

"Stop!" came her haughty shout from behind—what is it now? Just because we can't afford to offend her doesn't mean we can't avoid her? I muttered to myself, reluctantly turning around to face her.

"Hey, Ye, what are you holding in your hand?" Lu Rumei's beautiful eyes widened as she glared at me angrily.

"Nothing here?" I glanced down, puzzled. Ah! This hairpin! I quickly went to her side, handed it to her, and pretended to be clueless with a smile. "Oh, you mean this hairpin?! I just picked it up. Uh, it looks familiar. Could it be Miss Lu's?"

To my surprise, Lu Rumei didn't take the hairpin. Instead, she stared at me intently, clenching her teeth. "How long have you been here? You saw everything, didn't you?!"

"No, no, I didn't see anything. Ah, since this hairpin isn't yours, I'm leaving!" I waved my hands wildly, refusing to admit it—with that murderous look on her face, if I admitted to seeing her embarrassing state, wouldn't I be asking for trouble?!

"Hmph, you're happy to see me like this, aren't you?" Lu Rumei's voice was sharp and almost crazed. "You men are all bad! You're all fickle and greedy! You all deserve to die!" With that, she twisted her slender waist and tried to pounce on me.

Seeing the situation was turning bad, I turned and ran back the way I came. "Miss Lu, calm down! Men do deserve to die, but it seems you've picked the wrong target!" — Good heavens, what did I do to deserve this? Why did I have to pick up that hairpin? Now look what I've done, I've brought this upon myself!

Oh no, there's a lake in front of us, there's nowhere to escape! I had no choice but to turn around, raise my hands to her, and try my best to calm her down. "Listen to me, Master Jiang only said there's no rush, he didn't say he wouldn't marry you! You don't need to be so agitated! Wait... ah!"

To my surprise, she didn't listen to me at all. She turned into a red lightning bolt and charged straight at me. I screamed and instinctively bent over backward. Before I could even lean back, she had already swept over me and landed in the lake with a "plop," splashing a huge spray of water.

Whoa! That was close! Luckily, I have some dance background. If she had tackled me, I would have been seriously injured, if not killed! I patted my chest in shock, and while she was still thrashing about in the water, I quickly made my escape!

"Help! Help! Cough, cough...!!" Miss Lu thrashed about in the water, screaming incessantly—Tch! Do you think I'm stupid? Your Lu family's waterways are like a spider web; you practically grew up in the water. What are you yelling about? Trying to fool me? You always cause me trouble, and now, in this freezing weather, I've made you fall into the water. If you catch me, you'll skin me alive!

I ignored her and hurried on with my head down—wait, why is there no sound? I looked back and saw that Miss Lu had sunk into the water—she actually used a self-inflicted injury trick on me?! I was both angry and amused, so I stopped and decided to see what other tricks she had up her sleeve!

Wait a minute! Even if it was a ruse, she's been in the water for way too long! Could she really not swim? SHIT! I cursed under my breath and jumped into the icy lake.

"Qingyang! What are you doing?!" Huaiyuan and Wufeng exclaimed in surprise from behind.

Before I could explain, I plunged into the lake, searching for Rumei's body—thankfully, she wasn't far from the shore. I swam over, lifted her body, and brought her to the surface.

Huaiyuan lightly touched the ground with his feet, swift as a bird, and flew to my side, catching her. He lightly touched the water's surface, performed a graceful turn in the air, and leaped to the shore. "Rumei! Rumei! Wake up! Wake up!" He slapped Rumei's cheeks forcefully, his voice filled with anxiety.

It flew by like a dragonfly skimming the water, without any wind, and with a gentle stretch of its long arms, it steadily carried me ashore. I dragged my soaking wet body to Huaiyuan's side—no way? Rumei didn't seem to react at all.

"Get away!" I yelled, shoving Huaiyuan aside. I reached out and checked Rumei's breath—she wasn't breathing? I was stunned! I quickly laid her body flat, placing her hands at her sides, and reached into her mouth to remove the mud. I then loosened the clothes around her neck.

"What do you want to do?" Huaiyuan grabbed my hand.

"Get out of the way if you don't want her to die!" I roared back, ripping open Rumei's collar. I took a deep breath, pinched her small nose with one hand, bent down and pressed my head against hers, kissing her lips—and began to perform CPR. Then I performed chest compressions on her. After repeating this several times, Rumei coughed violently and finally regained consciousness.

"Alright! Alive..." I announced gleefully, looking up—uh, why are Huaiyuan and Wufeng looking at me so strangely?! Did I suddenly sprout angel wings?!

"You shameless!" With a sharp "slap," Lu Rumei, enraged and embarrassed, raised her hand with tears in her eyes and gave me a solid slap, silencing all my unfinished words.

"You! Why did you hit me?!" That slap was really hard! I was so shocked that I saw stars and fell to the ground, holding my burning cheek. I was so angry that I was about to cry but had no tears left!

"How dare you molest me?!" Her delicate hand pointed at me, her voice choked with sobs, and she screamed in a fit of rage, "You, you...!!" Then—she actually fainted? Is it really that dramatic? I'm not a ghost!

"Qingyang, what happened? How did Rumei fall into the lake?!" Liu Wufeng coughed lightly and asked me, puzzled.

"How should I know? She's crazy! No good deed goes unpunished! I should have just ignored her!" I replied angrily, my cheeks puffed out.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. It's so cold, Wufeng, why don't you take Rumei back to her room first?" Huaiyuan frowned slightly, using his body to shield me as if intentionally or unintentionally, and casually instructed, "I'll take Qingyang."

Wufeng didn't say anything, but gave me a deep look, picked up Rumei, and left.

A night wind blew, and my damp clothes clung to my body, making me feel as if I were in an ice cellar. My lips turned blue from the cold, and I curled up in a ball, hugging my chest, shivering all over. "Which road is the shortest? I need to hurry back and take a hot bath!"

"Can't you stop causing trouble for even one day?!" Huaiyuan's face was ashen, his voice tense. He reached out and placed his hand on my back, and a wave of heat rose up. Wow, that feels so good! Then, he hugged me tightly and flew towards Youhuang Residence.

"Is this my fault? She came to hit me, and it's illegal for me to dodge?!" I curled up, pouting, and countless bitter bubbles rose in my heart—I was wronged to begin with! This really had nothing to do with me!

"Brother Qingyang, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Xiaofeng saw Huaiyuan carrying me into the room from afar and followed anxiously.

"Go and fetch a bucket of hot water first." Huaiyuan put me on the bed, pulled the brocade quilt to wrap me tightly, and then turned to instruct Xiaofeng.

"Uh, I'm fine now, you can go back." I stammered, forcing back my heartache, tears welling in my eyes—why did he look so awful? Was he blaming me for arguing with Rumei? Or for accidentally revealing my whereabouts? Or did he really think I was responsible for Rumei falling into the water?!

Huaiyuan stared at me silently, then without warning, he pulled me into a tight embrace. His voice was filled with pain, his heart was pounding, and his hands were trembling. "Qing'er! My Qing'er! What am I going to do with you? Do you know? The moment I saw you jump into the lake, I thought my heart had stopped beating!"

I was immediately relieved—I thought he was angry with me, but it turned out he was just scared. A sweet feeling welled up inside me. I couldn't help but hug him back around the waist and softly comforted him, "Don't be afraid, I'm fine, I'm okay."

Again, without warning, he lowered his head and kissed my red lips, his kiss passionate and ardent, as if he wanted to pour out all the unease, fear, pity, and tenderness in his heart into that kiss. I slowly softened in his arms, forgetting Rumei, forgetting Grandpa Guan, forgetting all the contradictions and struggles, the sorrow and pain; only a gentle, flowing tenderness remained in my heart…