"Mu Qi, why are you crying?" Yun Shu Nian couldn't help but frown, her heart aching as she reached out to wipe away Mu Qi's tears.
Mu Qi turned his head, avoiding Yun Shu Nian's gaze, not wanting her to see his reddened eyes.
Mu Qi was known as the tyrannical ruler of the capital, never concealing his emotions in front of others. His power was immense, and everyone bowed to his will.
But with Yun Shu Nian, it was different. It was as if all of Mu Qi's patience was reserved solely for her, which was why Yun Shu Nian never feared him.
Yun Shu Nian knew Mu Qi would never truly harm her.
Thus, in their relationship, Mu Qi was actually the weaker one.
His fierce warning to Yun Shu Nian not to leave him stemmed from the fact that Yun Shu Nian was the entire meaning of his existence.
His restriction of Yun Shu Nian's movements, born from insecurity, was actually because he himself had become a prisoner within the cage called Yun Shu Nian, and he embraced it willingly.
In his previous life, whenever Mu Qi faced Yun Shu Nian, he wore a mask of cold indifference. This was his defense mechanism when facing Yun Shu Nian's rejection, scolding, and even her threats of suicide.
This mask was a fragile shield for his own shattered heart, hiding his fear and apprehension of Yun Shu Nian hurting him.
However, for Mu Qi, ever since their wedding night, Yun Shu Nian had suddenly changed.
She became accepting of his intimacy, and she began to speak sweet words.
Mu Qi couldn't believe it at first. It was too out of character, too unbelievable.
Mu Qi thought Yun Shu Nian was likely deceiving him again, preparing to elope with Zuo Nan later.
Or perhaps, this was a beautiful dream his soul refused to wake from, a dream where the love he yearned for was also loving him in return.
To Mu Qi, these two possibilities held no real difference.
If this was a deception, he wished she could prolong it.
If all of this was merely a dream, Mu Qi wished for the dream to have no end.
But when one is deceived for too long, they begin to believe.
When one dreams for too long, they truly believe the end will never come.
Eventually, all his emotions transformed into soft stones, blinding Mu Qi, who was guarding this deception, this dream, making him anxious about the storm-like events to come.
Mu Qi was not afraid of storms, yet he still feared someone might take away the only rose on his planet.
This was Mu Qi's tender love for Yun Shu Nian. He worried that this rose, Yun Shu Nian, might lack water, but he also feared this rose drinking from someone else's water.
This would mean that from then on, the little prince would no longer be special in the rose's eyes.
Mu Qi could not accept this, hence his intense reaction. Or perhaps, this beautiful dream, or this deception, had plunged Mu Qi into an illusion.
It made him believe that Yun Shu Nian had feelings for him.
So Mu Qi couldn't help but express his overwhelming sorrow in front of Yun Shu Nian, his gaze filled with unspoken questions.
He would never have done this before he married Yun Shu Nian.
Mu Qi wanted Yun Shu Nian to see how heartbroken he would be if she were with someone else. It was as if, subconsciously, Mu Qi knew Yun Shu Nian would indulge him.
Of course, Mu Qi had another, more rigorous interpretation of his own behavior: his illness was becoming increasingly uncontrollable.
Today, he was weeping with grievance in front of Yun Shu Nian; in a few days, he might be brandishing a knife, demanding she die with him.
***
"My brother likes Li Li? How is that possible? My brother doesn't even know Li Li."
Ning Jing was stunned for a moment when Young Master Wang said Ning Chen liked Li Li, then she vehemently retorted.
"Ning Jing, I have no reason to lie to you. Otherwise, why would your brother hit me? He only struck me after he knew I was with Li Li."
As the Young Master Wang spoke, he touched the wound on his head, his eyebrows furrowing like worms.
"Perhaps your brother met you a few times by chance and fell in love at first sight." Young Master Wang had excellent language skills, using this idiom particularly cleverly.
"Impossible, my brother joined the army so early. How could my brother like Li Li!" And why would he like Li Li?
Ning Jing's breathing became rapid, her eyes welled up with tears, and her lips began to turn pale.
How could he like her friend? An intense sense of grievance swept over Ning Jing.
Seeing Ning Jing's ghastly appearance, the Young Master Wang, who had just recovered from Ning Chen's previous assault, shivered fiercely in his heart.
"Ning Jing, please calm down. It's your brother who is persistently bothering Li Li, not you. I won't blame you. Can you calm down, Ning Jing?"
Seeing Ning Jing on the verge of fainting, the Young Master Wang quickly rang the bell on his bed.
Her brother liked Li Li, and Ning Chen even hit Wang Yi Xing because of Li Li?
Ning Jing knew that perhaps there would come a day when Ning Chen would like someone else.
But why didn't she have any time to prepare?
Why would Ning Chen like Li Li?
She hadn't done anything, had she?
Why would Li Li, who had done nothing, be favored by the man she had loved throughout her youthful years?
The moment she was led back to her hospital bed by the doctor, Ning Jing realized she had overestimated herself.
She thought she had long accepted the possibility of Ning Chen falling in love with someone else.
Ning Jing had always believed that, as she had envisioned, she would appear as usual, congratulating him with an unruffled expression.
Then, in the years to come, every time she thought of Ning Chen, she would heal herself.
But this feeling of her heart being ripped apart, of her being in unbearable pain, made it impossible for Ning Jing to maintain a poker face.
A profound despair silently seeped into her bones.
The white light before her eyes flashed again and again, and Ning Jing saw that striking vision that had taken root in her heart.
On the basketball court, the boy's forehead glistened with sweat, shining brilliantly under the sun.
That droplet of sweat slowly slid down the boy's delicate temple, past his high nose bridge, and finally disappeared into the elegant line of his neck.
With a flick of the boy's wrist, the basketball in his hand obediently and precisely sailed through the hoop.
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the boy walked towards Ning Jing, who was silently watching.
"Alright, let's go home."
He took the wet wipes from Ning Jing's hand, wiped his hands several times, which had gotten dirty from playing basketball, and then gently ruffled Ning Jing's hair a few times.
"Mhm." Ning Jing picked up her bag, quickly turned around, and in a place the boy couldn't see, her face secretly turned red from the sun.
...
Suddenly, the scene shifted, still on that scorching hot basketball court.
The boy did not take wet wipes from Ning Jing, nor did he ruffle her hair.
Instead, he walked straight past Ning Jing, lifted Li Li's chin, and amidst the crowd's cheers, passionately kissed Li Li.