When love draws near, it's like snow

Chapter 83

When he saw me open my eyes, he paused for only a second before immediately changing his target, his pink little tongue licking my eyes without any politeness.

"It tickles!" I chuckled, dodging his attack—is this the legendary angel? So cute!

"You're awake?!" The man's excited voice was both unfamiliar and somewhat familiar. I turned my head in confusion, gasping—it was Lu Jianfeng?! To be honest, even seeing a dinosaur wouldn't have surprised me more than seeing Lu Jianfeng.

Lu Jianfeng really did disappear like a gust of wind, leaving me and that little angel staring at each other in bewilderment. "What happened?" I asked, completely baffled.

"Qing'er!" A familiar voice reached my ears. I looked up, unable to believe my eyes, tears instantly welling up in my eyes—Huaiyuan stood frozen by the door, his hand gripping the frame, one foot inside the threshold, the other still outside. Sunlight streamed in from behind, shrouding his features in a dazzling gold, making them indistinct. Only the faint glimmer in the corner of his eye betrayed his current emotions.

"Wah~!" The little one who had been rebelling on me suddenly burst into loud cries, breaking the spell between us.

"Jiang Yuanhang!" Huaiyuan rushed in, but tripped over the threshold and almost fell. He rushed in, picked up the little guy with one hand, frowned, and glared at him. I smiled slightly—no wonder he always uses the window; he must have a grudge against thresholds.

"Jiang Moli, get this nasty out of my sight right now, or I'll throw him into Taihu Lake to feed the fish!" With that, she turned cold and, without even looking, swung the little guy's limp body and threw him out the window.

"Huaiyuan!" I exclaimed—the little guy giggled and landed safely in Lu Jianfeng's, uh, Jiang Moli's, arms. The father and son had vanished in a flash.

"When did you become so close to him?" I asked curiously.

"Qing'er, we've been apart for so long, you shouldn't be asking about other men as soon as you wake up, right?!" Huaiyuan squinted at me with his dark eyes, his tone full of displeasure. But his eyes were smiling, his eyebrows were smiling, his thin lips were smiling, his gleaming white teeth were smiling, even the messy new mustache on his chin seemed to be smiling...

"Huaiyuan," I called softly, my eyes welling up with tears, and my heart began to fog up as well.

"Silly girl, you slept for so long, I was so worried." Huaiyuan hugged me tightly, as if he wanted to meld me into his body. I reached out and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my face against his chest. The steady, strong heartbeat thumped in my ear again, strangely calming my emotions.

"You must have been terrified!" I felt sorry for you—I know all too well the pain of suddenly losing someone you love.

"Nothing compares to witnessing you covered in blood, taking your own life with a knife, and collapsing before me—that moment was far more shocking!" Huaiyuan, still shaken, buried his face deeply in my chest. "I can't even imagine what would have happened if I had been a moment later!"

"Why didn't you come sooner? Now I've lost the baby!" I pounded him, tears streaming down my face. "Do you know? He was already moving! He kicked me, talked to me, played with me in my belly... I..."

"Qing'er, I'm sorry." Huaiyuan closed his eyes, hugged me, and tears slid down his cheeks.

"Big brother, uh, I mean, how is Zongwang?" After a long silence, I cautiously brought it up—that day, he was just drunk, he didn't do it on purpose.

"..." After a long and awkward silence, just when I thought he would never answer me again, Huaiyuan slowly spoke: "Your knife went very deep. Three days after we left, the Jin Kingdom announced that he died of heatstroke while playing polo."

I froze, tears silently streaming down my face—I had tried everything to save him from this calamity, but in the end, I took his life with my own hands. Why does fate always seem to be working against me?!

“This is not your fault, Qing’er,” Huaiyuan sighed and held my hand. “It can only be said that fate is playing tricks on us, and that is the will of heaven.”

"He must hate me, right? I didn't want him to die. Really, if he hadn't hurt the baby... I just wanted to stop him. I was so scared, so panicked, I... I didn't intend to kill him." I murmured, my heart trembling with pain.

“No, he doesn’t hate you.” Huaiyuan cupped my face and gazed at me with certainty: “The fact that he didn’t order troops to hunt us down, allowing us to leave safely, is the best proof. I think he is sincere towards you.”

"But I'm so sorry." I lowered my head, recalling his indulgence, his love, and his care for me, and the tears just wouldn't stop.

"It's all in the past, don't think about it anymore, okay?" Huaiyuan silently hugged me, quietly accompanying me through my sadness and self-blame, helping me move on from the pain of the past.

Later, Wufeng told me that during the fierce battle at Jinshui River that night, Jianfeng—uh, no, Moli (I always forget his new name)—was unexpectedly injured. When he was attacked from both sides, Huaiyuan took a fatal blow for him. After accidentally falling from his horse, Huaiyuan was slashed by the enemy. Although Grandpa Guan and Wufeng rescued Huaiyuan in time and broke out of the encirclement under cover of darkness, he was already on the verge of death, barely clinging to life. The handkerchief was probably lost in that chaos, wasn't it?

This is the price of being family. A burden you can never shake off. Mutually intertwined, yet mutually dependent. Sometimes sweet, sometimes painful; yet, people can never sever ties…

After Wufeng and the others settled Huaiyuan, they planned to return to Changzhuang to pick me up. However, they discovered that thousands of people throughout Kaifeng had witnessed a young woman dressed in white, riding a magnificent horse, jumping into Jinming Pond that day. It took them over ten days to retrieve the body, and Xiuyu confirmed that the clothes on her body were indeed mine—no wonder I never saw Zhuri again.

When Huaiyuan regained consciousness, three months had passed. Without even glancing at the body, he immediately concluded it was fake. His reasoning was that if it were truly me, Zongwang would never have abandoned me, leaving me soaking in the icy water; he simply wouldn't have done that. Although Wufeng and the others didn't believe him, they couldn't dissuade Huaiyuan's stubbornness, which led to their trip to Yanjing—and as it turned out, Huaiyuan was right.

The sky was blue, the lake water was clear, and the night breeze was gentle. Huaiyuan was fast asleep, his head resting on my lap. His long eyelashes gently covered his bright black eyes, casting a faint, curved shadow. I smiled as I gazed at his peaceful sleeping face, letting the small boat drift freely on the water. Feeling a little tired, I secretly stretched, not wanting to wake him from his sleep.

My hand, which was resting on his waist, was grasped by his warm, large hand. I lowered my eyes and met his bright, starry eyes. He winked at me, and with a slight pull, I slid down to rest my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, and looked up to see the twinkling stars against the deep blue sky.

"Huaiyuan, where is Gemini?" I couldn't help but test him on yesterday's lesson.

"That" was a vague, random gesture.

"Where?" I didn't see clearly.

"Over there!" Wow... that's fierce!

"But it seems you're pointing to the wrong side?" She carefully moved his finger to the correct position—she was really trying her best to teach him.

"I know!" (Hard decoration)

"What about Leo?" (Next question)

"……"silence

"Aquarius?" Still not giving up.

"Will this ever end?!" Oh no, I'm going crazy!

"You're so fierce," she squeezed out a tear.

"Qing'er, I didn't..." she panicked.

"You are it!" the accusation.

"..." He rolled over, pulled me into his arms, and silenced my incessant chatter with a passionate kiss.

The night is deep, the wind is gentle, and love is at its peak...

The End