Side Story 1 - Deep Love, Short-lived Fate; The Parent’s Story (2)

Rebirth of a Fashionista: This Life Is Soo Last Season

Before he knew it, their daughter soon turned eight years old.

And in the villa where they had been living for the past five years, the whole family had a sweet birthday celebration for their precious child.

The night sky was filled with a clear moon and a few stars. He thought he would spend the night alone like usual, but tonight, Susu invited him to the open balcony.

“I thought that you would never initiate a conversation with me again,” Sheng Xun looked at her and said regretfully.

In the past few years, Susu had lost a lot of weight from taking care of Jiaojiao. Her originally round chin was now sharp, and those who did not know about her situation would have thought that she had undergone plastic surgery.

“I’m glad to see that you’ve made such a large fortune even though you started with nothing.” The smile on Susu made her look exceptionally beautiful today, “I apologize for my wilful behaviour in the past few years.”

Sheng Xun was left dumbstruck as he listened to her. He looked at the face that he still wasn’t tired of after eight whole years, and he carefully observed her. He was no longer the same Sheng Xun from eight years ago. When he heard her words that clearly indicated her intentions to reconcile with him, his first reaction was not joy. Instead, it was to check out her expression.

Peace could be seen deep within her eyes, and she seemed to have reverted to the person he had fallen in love with years ago. She was gentle and quiet, and there was not a single ounce of edginess or thorniness in her. Instead, what she had was a broad acceptance and tolerance that was as vast as the sea.

Before they met for the first time, he had already heard about her. He heard others talk about her wealthy father, Mr. Yang, who donated funds to renovate the school’s library. From his perspective, a young miss from a wealthy family would likely be slightly haughty and arrogant, and she would probably have an innate sense of superiority. This was similar to a certain someone who was pursuing him at that time. Before they stepped out of their houses, they would probably have to put on some delicate makeup, and they would probably drive a luxury car around, all for the purposes of portraying the image of a belle who occupied people’s dreams.

But Susu was different. She wore a simple but elegant long dress, as she sat on the stone chair under the trees while quietly reading a book. The look on her face was both focused and gentle, and when the early morning rays shone down through the leaves and landed on her, it made her look exceptionally dazzling.

At that time, he did not know that she was the wealthy young miss that everyone was talking about. He only intentionally restructured his jogging route so that he would run over to that area every day, and one day, whilst he was jogging past that area, she coincidentally stood up right as he was running past, and he knocked over the book in her hand. In that moment, he saw her name and class details, and made a mental note of it in his heart.

Yang Xiansu, Literature Faculty, Chinese Language Department, Chinese Language Class One, Year One.

So she’s the legendary wealthy young miss…

“I’m sorry for knocking over your book. Lately, whenever it’s sunny, I would always see you reading a book here. Usually, you don’t leave so early, so I didn’t expect you to stand up, which was why I accidentally bumped into you. You didn’t even put your book away when you got up. It seems that you really like reading chinese literature.” He handed the book back to her.

“Yes, I love it a lot. I grew up in the west, but I always had a great interest in our language. Hence, I chose to return to China. I’ve finally finished this book today, so that’s why I’m leaving earlier than usual. I should be the one apologizing, I totally didn’t notice you,” she said with a light laugh.

Sheng Xun did not know whether to laugh or to cry when he heard her last sentence. To think, after so many days of running around her, she never even noticed him at all. But if she had noticed him, how would they have bumped into each other now? With his character, he would never have intentionally created such an opportunity.

“This means that our meeting is fated. Hello, I’m Sheng Xun, and I’m a third year business student. The 'Sheng' in my name represents flourishing, and the ‘Xun’ in my name represents merit.” He introduced himself in an exceptionally detailed manner.

“Hello, I’m a first year student from the Chinese Language department. My name is Yang Xiansu, but my friends call me Susan.”

“Can I call you Susu?” He blurted out, only to realize that he was too brusque.

Perhaps, it was because she was brought up in the West, but Yang Xiansu was not really particular about how she was addressed, and she agreed coolly.

Even after many years had passed, Sheng Xun could still clearly remember her beautiful and touching smile.

Now, the Susu before his eyes and the one from his memory were merging together.

Sheng Xun had obviously grown past the phase when he acted like an impulsive young boy, but he still could not contain his excitement. He took Susu’s hand into his and gazed into her eyes, “Susu, I still owe you a grand wedding.”

“You can hold it next year, if we are still celebrating Jiaojiao’s birthday together!” Susu calmly withdrew her hands and smiled.

“Our family of three will always be together! I’ve got to tell Jiaojiao about the good news.” Perhaps, it was because something that he had been hoping for all along suddenly came true, but he was so overjoyed that he lost his composure. Otherwise, he would have noticed the tears welling up in Susu’s eyes.

“I’m sorry.” She stared at Sheng Xun’s back as he walked away, and she murmured, “I can’t be with you anymore.”

Yang Wenting, who came to the villa two days before, heard the father and daughter pair discussing the wedding, but he could not bring himself to laugh and join in the joy. Instead, his eyes fell on the standing lamp beside the sofa. His daughter had called him out of the blue two days ago, and when she said that she might not be able to endure it any longer, he was not surprised. It was a miracle for her to be able to persevere until today. If little Jiaoyang was not around, she might have been able to live a little longer, but since she was unwilling to give up on the little life in her womb, what else could he do? Of course he had looked forward to the birth of his granddaughter. If he, as someone who wasn’t even part of their immediate family, had looked forward to the birth of Jiaoyang so greatly, just how much did his daughter look forward to Jiaoyang’s birth?

Susan said that the little one was an extension of her own life, and she felt very apologetic for not being able to give her a healthy body, and for being unable to be part of her life going forward. She hoped that her father, Yang Wenting, would be able to watch over the little one as her grandfather, at least until she grows into an adult. People say that your children are here to reclaim the debts of your past life. Indeed, he already had one foot into his grave, but his daughter still entrusted a kid to him. It wasn’t like the little one didn’t still have her father…

Yang Wenting turned around to look at the joyous Sheng Xun. The happier you are now, the more miserable you will be in the future!

Both him and Susan had a good eye for appraising people, and they could tell that Sheng Xun was heavily sentimental. If Susan was healthy, both of them would definitely live harmoniously till a ripe old age. Unfortunately, this could not happen, as his wife had a hereditary disease. Nine years ago, his daughter was still extremely happy after she had learned of her pregnancy. However, the subsequent health examinations were not optimistic. If she was adamant about giving birth, not only would the hereditary disease be passed on to the child, she also had to risk the consequence of suffering from chronic heart failure because of it. Susan had hesitated as well, but eventually, she decided to give the little life a chance to be born into this world. Regardless of whether the child would be able to grow up smoothly, she must fulfill her duties as a mother, and not choose to abandon the yet unborn child.

Unlike the conventional Sheng Xun, Yang Wenting grew up abroad with his ancestors, and he did not pay much attention to life and death. Although he was still heartbroken when faced with his wife’s death, he was not depressed. He had travelled to small towns and even the mountainous areas before, and on one occasion, he witnessed a couple whose husband had passed due to an accident. Soon after, the healthy wife suddenly passed away as well. He even heard of a few other couples going through the same situation. Once the wife was bedridden with illness, the husband’s health condition would soon deteriorate, and they would both pass away, one after the other.

Yang Wenting let out a sigh and returned to his room with a heavy heart.

After an unknown period of time, he heard a knock on his door.

“Come in, the door isn’t locked.”

In came Yang Xiansu, who had already wiped the fake smile off her face. She entered the room calmly.

“Daddy.”

Yang Wenting reached out and hugged her, “My baby!”

“My heart’s getting more painful now, daddy. I might not pull through tonight.”

“Don’t you worry. I will take good care of Jiaojiao for you. As for Sheng Xun, I couldn’t care less about him.” Yang Wenting lightly patted Susan on her back.

“I know him. As long as you don’t tell him about my illness, he will be able to pull through this.”

“Because of this lad, you put on such an elaborate act for all these years. What for? Why don’t you just spend your remaining years happily…”

Yang Xiansu interrupted Yang Wenting, “It’s different, daddy. He’s different from you. I can’t gamble with the rest of his life, I can’t afford to. Li Xuan and Wanhui were only together for that short period of time, but she still followed after Wanhui.”

“Silly child, there was nothing else for Li Xuan to worry about. But Sheng Xun is different. He still has his parents, his daughter, and his company that he founded,” Yang Wenting sighed.

“There’s only the three of you in my heart. I believe that you will do your best to protect Jiaojiao well while also taking care of yourself, but I will not allow anything that could hinder Sheng Xun from recovering. It’s my selfishness that held him back, so I’d rather have him hate me.”

Yang Wenting stroked his daughter’s head, and said softly with tears brimming in his eyes, “Don’t worry. I will watch over them.”

The next day, Sheng Xun knocked on the door to his wife’s room, but he did not get any response. Just then, he could hear footsteps coming from behind him, and soon, he heard his father-in-law’s hoarse voice.

“Don’t bother knocking.”

Sheng Xun turned around to see his father-in-law donned in a black suit, and he noticed that his father-in-law’s eyes were red and puffy. His heart sank without him knowing why.

“Father, is Susu not in her room?”

Yang Wenting looked at Sheng Xun gravely, before he responded calmly, “She’s waiting at the front yard. Let’s go. As her husband, you have the right to send her off for the last time.”

Clank! The mug that Sheng Xun held in his left hand slipped and fell onto the floor.

“Susu…” His lips trembled, and he could not even finish his sentence.

“She took a huge amount of sleeping pills last night. When they found her, it was already too late,” Yang Wenting said rather quietly.

“No, that’s impossible. She even promised me last night…” Sheng Xun’s face turned pale. He recalled her exact words -- You can hold it next year, if we are still celebrating Jiaojiao’s birthday together! When she said that, she must have been ready to leave him.

But why did she choose to use such a method?

The Susu he knew was a strong and optimistic person. Their baby was only eight years old, so how could she be so cruel?

Sheng Xun ran down and rushed to the front yard, only to see a crystal coffin waiting for him. Nervousness clenched his heart as he approached the coffin. His Susu laid in the coffin with her eyes closed, looking so peaceful that it seemed that she was just in a deep sleep.

“You still haven’t told me what wrong I committed back then.”

“You promised me that we’ll be together forever.”

“How heartless are you to abandon me? Jiaojiao is only eight years old now! You’ve only looked at Jiaojiao for all these years. Why are you leaving her now as well?”

“You should have told me earlier if you wanted to leave. I would have let you go. So many years have passed already, so why did you do this? Is there nothing else left in this world for you to reminisce about?”

“Why did you give me hope last night?”

“Why? Why?! Susu, tell me--”

Sheng Xun slammed his head on the lid of the coffin, and hammered the coffin with his fists.

When he saw that Susu would never open her eyes again, Sheng Xun gritted his teeth, and the taste of iron filled his mouth. Even his gums were bleeding.

Yang Xiansu, why did fate bring us together?!