Young Prime Minister, a Hermit

Chapter 99

Seeing that he did not answer, Garan tilted his head slightly, his left eyebrow raised gently, and he suddenly exuded a kind of natural majesty: "Why are the lamps not lit? Is there any news from Izumo Island? Is Derby willing to form an alliance with Kazein again?"

That innate majesty, the radiance on his face, sent a shiver down Xu Lie's spine. Almost reflexively, he grabbed Garan, who seemed about to disappear before his eyes. It took him a long time to calm himself before he could utter a steady voice: "Galan... what are you saying?"

"Xu Lie?" Galan's body stiffened slightly. Her cool little hand touched the back of his hand, but she immediately withdrew it as if she was startled, her expression filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Both of them felt awkward, and the atmosphere was heavy and oppressive. No one spoke for a long time.

Finally, Galan couldn't help but sigh and ask, "What time is it? What's the weather like outside?"

Xu Lie stared blankly at her flushed cheeks and her lifeless, slightly narrowed eyes. How much he wanted to ask her whose name she had just called? How much he wanted to ask her if someone else had already taken up residence in her heart. But he dared not. Deeply afraid of hearing an answer he could not accept, Xu Lie could only suppress all his emotions and answer, "Six o'clock in the morning, it was still very dark, and outside... there was a blizzard."

Xu Lie's words made Jialan's expression suddenly clear, as if some confusion had been resolved. However, it was only for a moment. Her brows furrowed, and she said in a deep voice, "Since it's not dawn yet, what are you doing in my room?"

After a moment of stunned silence, Xu Lie couldn't help but laugh out loud. This Jialan, despite her cold rejection and unfriendly tone, was real. He could hold onto her, he could feel her, unlike before when he almost had the illusion that she was about to disappear before his eyes.

An oval table sat in the spacious hall, and a fireplace, half-embedded in the wall, crackled and popped softly. Before a large wooden window frame stood a black leather sofa. A woman knelt quietly on the yellow cushions of the sofa.

Her slightly wavy long hair, her smooth, glowing skin under the white light streaming through the window, and the long, slender neck and pointed chin revealed when she tilted her head back—everything about her seemed so beautiful. A crack was secretly opened in the window, and a small hand stretched out. She shivered slightly at the cold snowflakes landing on her palm, but then a faint, almost radiant smile appeared on her face, as if she were savoring life.

As Xu Lie walked downstairs, this was the scene he saw. That smile made him gasp for breath, filled him with a longing to possess it, yet also a strange fear.

He walked to Galan's side, took her hand and pulled it back, enveloping her cold little hand in his own palm, and said softly, "You'll catch a cold."

Galan wasn't surprised, as if she had expected it to be him. However, despite her lack of surprise, she still resolutely pulled her hand back. As that soft, boneless, icy little hand left him, Xu Lie felt a sense of loss, as if warmth and longing had been instantly taken away.

"Aren't you going back to Shanghuai yet?" Galan asked, looking up at him. "The snowstorm will stop tomorrow."

Xu Lie frowned at her, his tone somewhat sharp: "Do you really want me to leave?"

She paused slightly, but didn't react much, only smiling lazily and saying, "Nothing of the sort. I can only say... do as you please."

That nonchalant attitude, as if he were a complete stranger, suddenly ignited Xu Lie's anger. No! It wasn't so much anger as it was the fear of being ignored.

Before he could even react, his hands were already gripping her shoulders tightly: "Galan! Why are you getting colder and colder towards me every day? Even just the cold words you uttered a few days ago would have been fine, you..."

"What are you asking me?" Xu Lie slowly relaxed his hand, a sudden feeling of desolate despair washing over him. Did he still have the right to question her now?

"Because I am growing." Galan smiled, a smile completely different from the faint smile before, a smile filled with endless sorrow, helplessness, and vicissitudes, a smile more pitiful than tears, "Day by day... I am growing."

She sighed, her smile fading. "Xu Lie, don't be silly. I'm not the Lin Jialan you loved back then. With each passing day, I grow more cold-blooded, and my love and hate for you fade away a little more."

"I won't give up!" Xu Lie suddenly hugged her tightly, almost in fear, and said in a hoarse but firm voice, "I will never give up! You are my only wife, you were, you are, and you will always be!"

The person in my arms went from soft to stiff, their body tense, and the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

"Hey! You brat, I told you not to take advantage of my sister. You deserve a beating!" Gaqi's angry shout came from behind, startling the two who had been stunned.

The person in his arms struggled, and Xu Lie tightened his grip, as if trying to meld her into his body. Galan's face turned cold, and she tilted her head back, saying coldly, "Whatever! Whether you give up or not is none of my business..."

Xu Lie looked down at the small face tilted up in his arms, her cheeks slightly flushed from arguing, her eyes listless yet slightly narrowed, her crimson lips slowly parting, and the ambiguous smile on her face. A surge of emotion welled up within him, and he leaned down, pressing his lips, like cherry blossoms, to hers passionately…

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Chapter Sixteen: No Return

Chapter Sixteen: No Return

Author's Note:

I'm exhausted... I can't update anymore since I'm going home tomorrow, so I rushed to finish this in the middle of the night. I have to go to work tomorrow, I can't stay awake any longer, I'm going to sleep.

Oh, and there's something else I'm sorry about. Chapter 58 was supposed to be locked on the evening of the 29th, but since I'm going straight home after get off work tomorrow without my laptop, I'm locking it earlier at midnight. I apologize to those who missed it, and I hope this won't be leaked. Thank you!

Regarding updates for Volume 3, they will begin on the evening of January 1st, or possibly January 2nd. I hope everyone will support us then. ^_^

---------------- ...

Um, wasn't the first volume supposed to be released in mid-December? But it's been postponed to mid-January because of the book release. I was originally planning to wait until the book was available before posting the third volume, but it seems like I can't keep everyone waiting any longer.

Um, I can't post the last two chapters of Volume 2 anymore. However, the first three chapters of Volume 3 are in flashback format, so you can actually see some clues in Volume 3. I'll probably start updating Volume 3 on Jinjiang around January 1st, and I won't delay any longer; I'll update regularly. I hope everyone will support me. Thank you!

"Slap—" The crisp sound of a slap echoed heavily in the room, accompanied by a slight stinging sensation on his face. Xu Lie's bloodshot eyes were still fixed on the woman in front of him, whose red lips were slightly swollen and who was trembling with anger.

Galan's voice trembled slightly: "Xu Lie, what right do you have?!" She questioned him with a trembling voice she hadn't used since their reunion, "What right do you have?!"

Xu Lie, still breathing heavily, gazed almost greedily at her brows, her eyes, her lips. For a moment, he felt completely numb to the pain on his face, the despair he had felt, and even forgot everything around him. He called her name again and again as he approached her, his eyes and brows brimming with barely concealed joy: "Galan... we can go back, we can, you just clearly..."

"Shut up!!" Galan roared, his once clear voice now hoarse and rough.

Xu Lie, who had finally found a glimmer of hope, wouldn't allow her to back down. He grabbed her shoulders and exclaimed excitedly, "You clearly felt it too! Why are you running away? Why won't you face it? You still love me!"

Garan lowered his lifeless eyes, raised his hand fiercely, and swung it in mid-air as if to strike again. But in the end, he slowly pulled it back, his tightly clenched fist gradually lowering, and then he suddenly took a step back.

Galan looked up, her head tilted back in an arc, her words quick and resolute, tinged with a bitter, agonizing pain: "Xu Lie, I admit, this body still harbors feelings for you. But it's just a body now! Here..." Galan pointed to her temples, her trembling fingers moving slightly downwards, then to her heart, her voice low and hoarse as if silenced for millennia, "And here, they've long forgotten you because of their past despair and pain. My soul will never love you again!"

"Not everything in this world can be undone, and not every hurt can be erased." Galan smiled unconsciously, but that seemingly bright smile concealed countless unspeakable tragic past events. "The deeper the love, the deeper the hate; the more fleeting the happiness, the longer the torment. Even if one day I can forget all the pain, it will be when I have completely forgotten my love for you."

Xu Lie stood there quietly, even in a daze, watching that frail figure slowly, step by step, leave his side, independent and strong.

That back view was so familiar, as she had held him in her arms every day; yet it was also so unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that she would never turn around to look at him again.

I remember someone saying: I once thought we could hold hands and walk together forever, but after letting go, I realized that we were just two parallel lines. When everything fades away, the parallel lines remain parallel. Even if we are not far apart, we are already at opposite ends of the earth and will never intersect again.

Galan, do you know that you weren't the only one who believed we could be together forever? I don't want to let go, I'm unwilling to let go, simply because I can't bear the day we become parallel lines.

A large hand rested on Xu Lie's shoulder, as if whispering something in his ear. Xu Lie was stunned for a long time before he realized that it was Jiaqi talking to him.

Gaqi glanced at him sideways and snorted, "You're not worthy of any sympathy. Let me make it clear, I have absolutely no sympathy for you! I wish you were punished by heaven! Do you know how miserable Lanlan was back then? In a single day, you abandoned her, lost your child, and went blind! Although I don't know exactly what happened between you two, I really wanted to kill you back then!"