"No, you just sit on that chair and talk."
With a façade like men and women should not touch hands when giving or receiving, Yin Shixiu left Su Xiaomeng in a whirl of confusion!
Before she could clear up this confusion, she already shouted at him, "Why can’t I lie on this bed?! Have you forgotten that you were the one who insisted we share a bed?"
"...The contract starts after we receive the marriage certificate—"
"Going to bed early or late, isn’t it the same sleep?"
As she spoke, Su Xiaomeng placed the pillow heavily, turned back the covers, and lay on the bed!
Covering herself with the quilt, she stared angrily at the ceiling!
Her eyes blankly fixed on the ceiling, her heart suddenly felt uneasy.
Initially, she was just a bit suspicious... but now, she’s about seventy or eighty percent sure.
After all, they’re his parents. What kind of parents produce what kind of children...
The Beautiful Grandma looks down on her, how could he truly take a liking to her?
Although she didn’t think he could genuinely like her that much, still... she couldn’t understand why, if he looks down on her, he’d still treat her so well from time to time...
Making her think... think that...
Ah—
She didn’t want to pay attention to him anymore!
What annoyed Su Xiaomeng most about Yin Shixiu was this one trait, making her feel sometimes he’s truly a good uncle, and other times just fooling around with her.
To Su Xiaomeng, thirty-two-year-old Yin Shixiu was always an incredibly formidable person.
Such a formidable person, it’s as if he could master everything, doing anything, to anyone, with such ease.
And her, at nineteen, just like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, could only be disposed of by others.
She turned over, Su Xiaomeng’s back to Yin Shixiu.
The question she originally wanted to ask him, she already had her own answer.
But evidently, this answer... left her unwilling, unwilling yet helpless, helpless yet heartbroken...
In her nineteen years of life, she had always lived passively, always being driven forward by someone else’s whip.
It’s the first time, the first time she consciously realized, that being not outstanding was such a terrible thing.
The first time she felt regret... why she hadn’t made herself more excellent.
It was also the first time since knowing Yin Shixiu that she felt the major issue of the deep chasm between them wasn’t Yin Shixiu, but her.
She curled her small body, leaning against the bed edge.
Her eyes open, filled with complex emotions.
The light suddenly dimmed, and Su Xiaomeng froze for a moment but didn’t think much of it.
Until—
Yin Shixiu reached over, hugged her waist, and pulled her into his arms.
The warm breath whispered by her ear, "What’s really going on?"
"..." Su Xiaomeng’s body stiffened slightly.
"Weren’t you here to chat with me?" Yin Shixiu asked softly, his low voice tingling over her ears, lightly scratching her fragile yet sensitive skin.
"I..."
Su Xiaomeng swallowed, "Uncle... aren’t we too close?"
Facing away from him, she definitely couldn’t see the unconcealed smile on Yin Shixiu’s face.
She only heard his slightly cool voice...
"Going to bed early or late, isn’t it the same?"
"...But not this close..."
"Are you here to chat or not? If not, then go back."
Su Xiaomeng puffed up her cheeks, and after a long while, she softly said, "...Let’s talk."
Yin Shixiu inhaled the scent of her hair, feeling satisfied.
With her big eyes wide open, Su Xiaomeng’s gradually adjusting to the dark vision, vaguely seeing patterns on the curtain.
Yin Shixiu’s hand was so warm, currently wrapping around her from behind, resting on her rounded belly.
"Uncle... Your parents are amazing people, aren’t they?"
"Why bring this up?"
"...They’re amazing people, well-educated, with rich life experiences..."
Su Xiaomeng murmured.
Listening, Yin Shixiu faintly had a suspicion in his heart.
"So even if they don’t like me that much, they can still hold my hand, listen to me speak those words that aren’t truly to their liking."
Yin Shixiu’s heart seized for a moment, then felt a bit regretful.
He should have noticed.
He should have realized the moment he saw her standing there holding his coat.
He should have realized when wrapping her in the coat and feeling her cold hands...
She had been standing there for quite some time.
"Uncle... am I that terrible?"
Su Xiaomeng asked, her voice genuinely dejected.
She always thought she was good enough, decent looking, lively personality, and even got into A University, a high-level institution...
But one word from the "Beautiful Grandma" and her proud assets... seemed to become nothing.
Why would "Grandma’s" words affect her so deeply?
Yin Shixiu softly exhaled a breath, then gently said, "My father was a soldier. He participated in those most brutal wars after the founding of the country. Even though he looks vigorous and strong now, his health is actually not good."
"Both of his knees had been shot, and back then, conditions were rough, they couldn’t get the bullets out, yet he had to continue fighting, and by the time they could, the bullets had grown attached to the flesh."
Just thinking of that image made Su Xiaomeng shiver.
"The bullets were removed later on, but my father’s knees became very weak, aching not just in rainy weather, but even when standing too long normally."
"...Is it still like that now?"
Su Xiaomeng was surprised.
"Yes, it’s always been like that."
"...Actually, with such a condition, wouldn’t it be possible for Uncle to use a wheelchair?"
"He’s lived his life with iron will, if he were to spend his final days in a wheelchair, he would rather die."
Swallowing, Su Xiaomeng felt a wave of admiration rising in her heart.
"My mother is an intellectual, she’s a true noble."
"...I knew it."
"She looks gentle and weak, but in her bones she’s as tough as any man. Once, because of two poems, she was imprisoned for four long years, and at that time she was so young, her body and spirit had been through torment."
"...Imprisoned..."