Upon first hearing it, Yu Jingting did not believe it.
He thought Yu Shuilian was making up a story out of desperation to divert his attention as she was in a dire situation.
But when he returned home and carefully thought about it, he realized that something was not right.
Yu Shuilian’s story was detailed and consistent.
If she were simply trying to avoid punishment, there was no need to fabricate rumors that Yu Shuisheng was still alive.
Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for her to betray the relatives she had sold herself to?
Suizi understood the situation very well, but she didn’t want to reveal her thoughts too obviously. Given Yu Jingting’s intelligence, she felt he should know how to proceed.
Yu Jingting inquired about the situation in Yu Shuilian’s village and found that a bully named Ergou really had been missing for a decade.
His family had assumed he’d been eaten by wolves on the mountain, as he’d disappeared without a trace, dead or alive.
When he connected all these pieces of information, Yu Jingting experienced insomnia for the first time in his life.
When he turned over for the eighth time, Suizi spoke up.
"Can’t sleep?"
"Did I disturb you?"
"No, I just happened to need to go to the restroom - Jingting, would you accompany me to the public toilet?"
Her need to use the restroom was an excuse. What she really wanted was to comfort him.
The night sky was adorned with a gleaming crescent moon, its silver light illuminating the path in front of their house.
Yu Jingting waited outside the public restroom, gazing at the moon in the sky, feeling a strange restlessness.
The same moon, was it also shining on his father, whose fate was unknown?
Yu Jingting felt a sudden urge to smoke. He fumbled around his body, but realized that he hadn’t brought any cigarettes with him when he left home.
A pair of white, chubby hands stretch out from the side, holding a pack of unopened cigarettes in the palm.
"I noticed you didn’t bring any, so I brought them for you."
"You have cigarettes, but no matches?" Yu Jingting raised an eyebrow. She was really well thought out.
"With me here, you won’t light it anyway." Pregnant women shouldn’t breathe in secondhand smoke, so he only held the cigarettes in his mouth without lighting them, just to relieve his craving.
"So why bring the cigarettes?"
"The feeling of wanting something and not getting it is different from getting something you don’t want. I think, you deserve all the good feelings in this world."
Her comforting voice washed over him, delivering a double entendre at just the right moment.
She wasn’t talking about cigarettes, but his possibly still alive father. She encouraged him to bravely seek the truth.
Even if the truth was not what he wanted to see.
Looking up, he saw her bright eyes reflecting his figure.
He wanted to turn around and not look at her, not wanting her to see that he, who was used to being invincible, could also feel lost and vulnerable.
But he had a stronger desire to embrace this woman tightly, melding her into his soul and never letting go.
How could she be so understanding?
That’s what he thought, and that’s what he did, holding Suizi in his arms, leaning in for a kiss.
Suizi pushed his face away, although it kind of ruined the moment, she had to say-
"If you want to kiss, could we move a few steps forward?"
So it won’t smell so much like a restroom?
Yu Jingting silently looked at her.
It was like a flower blooming in the spring breeze, he smiled.
Suizi didn’t understand what was so funny about that.
Hand in hand, they strolled leisurely towards their home, their entwined hands swinging back and forth.
Just as they reached their doorstep, Yu Jingting suddenly asked.
"Is it because I’m too much trouble that he doesn’t want to come back?"
"How could that be? You’re great." Suizi’s hand gently touched his face.
Her small hands softly stroked his cheek, yet were unable to erase the confusion on his face.
For all the time that she’d known him, she’d never seen him look so disoriented.
For him to be so troubled, it was obvious how important his father was to him.
"You’re the only one who thinks I’m good." He smirked.
"But I don’t like the way you are right now." Suizi’s words sent him to hell, but in the next second, she pulled him back to heaven.
She placed his hand on her heart.
"I don’t like seeing you in pain, it hurts."
Her man should be undaunted, full of confidence and vitality.
Sorrow and worry were not emotions he should possess.
"Do whatever you want to do, no matter what your choice is, I will accompany you."
Yu Jingting admitted that he was moved by Suizi’s warmth.
But his hand seemed to have a mind of its own, squeezing her twice.
"Let me touch your ’conscience’, to see if you’re telling the truth."
"Does your ’conscience’ really that big, and you got two of them?"
"Hmm, they’re not small." He confirmed with his own hands, and he wanted to confirm again.
Suizi lashed out at him with little punches.
"Didn’t you say that you’d be willing to do anything?" He felt quite justified.
Still the same cocky and waggish face, but much better than his previous dispirited state.
She couldn’t bear to see him lonely, even if it was just temporary loneliness, she wanted to warm him with her presence.
No matter if the future is stormy or clear, she wanted to face it together with him.
Her dazzling eyes reflected his entire world, making Yu Jingting itch to hold her close and whisper:
"I must have been bewitched to be seduced by a wild pig spirit like you..."
Old Wang from next door came out of his house yawning, holding a flashlight. As the flashlight beam swung over, it illuminated a man and a woman standing in the middle of the road, hugging and kissing.
He even dropped his flashlight, thinking he had encountered a ghost.
Who would be out hugging and kissing in the middle of the night?
Picking up his flashlight and shining it again, there was no one on the deserted street.
Old Wang, who had studied the Book of Changes for half his life, reacted differently to such a scenario.
Surprisingly, he didn’t just turn around and go home.
He made a hand gesture, murmuring an incantation.
"Five-star regulation, light illuminates the underworld. Protect my true soul, all gods and saints!"
Suizi hid behind their tractor, her face burning as if it could cook an egg.
The chant that Old Wang was reciting was a Taoist exorcism mantra, she knew it!
All because he had mentioned being bewitched by a wild pig spirit - and sure enough, he summoned someone to chant an exorcism spell!
Suizi was feeling embarrassed and angry, while the man behind her was shameless.
Biting her ear, his hand was sneakily going under her clothes, ceaselessly "confirming".
Old Wang walked towards the restroom, chanting his spell. As he passed by the tractor, he stopped, using his flashlight to scan the area and muttering to himself.
"Could it be that I really encountered a fox spirit?"
These two minutes felt unbearably long for Suizi.
Especially since the man behind her refused to let her off the hook.
His hands became increasingly bold.
Suizi wished Old Wang’s spell could work and capture the big lustful ghost behind her.
Finally, Old Wang disappeared into the restroom and Suizi heaved a sigh of relief.
Yu Jingting, as always, was thick-skinned.
"Huh, it looks like our mother can’t continue to learn from him, her predictions are not accurate after all, what fox spirit?"
It was clearly a charming little pig spirit.
A pig spirit with two big "consciences".
"Let’s go!" Suizi pulled him, running towards their house.
When they got home, Yu Jingting pulled Suizi into his arms, his expression turning serious.
"Wife, I want to ask you something."
"Hmm." Suizi became serious too, influenced by his solemn demeanor.