CH 2

As she walked out of the small courtyard, Yao Zhi was halfway out when she saw a man in a military uniform rush over. As soon as he saw her, a smile immediately appeared on his cold and hard face.

“Zhi Zhi!” Yao Xian stepped forward and held his daughter in his arms. “What’s wrong with you? Ba heard that you ran out suddenly and didn’t dress well. Didn’t you fall down this morning?”

Yao Zhi grabbed Yao Xian’s clothes and began to cry uncontrollably again.

‘Dad…..’

‘It’s really dad….’

“Aigoo, what’s wrong?” Yao Xian hastily wiped away his daughter’s tears and lovingly asked, “Why is Zhi Zhi crying, Zhi Zhi has always been the best behaved.”

It was true that Yao Zhi had rarely cried since she was a child. She looked delicate and fragile on the surface, but she was actually very strong mentally  and always wanted to outdo others.

“I brought candies to Brother Shen…..” Yao Zhi whispered, “and saw Brother Shen being beaten …..”

Yao Xian froze for a moment and immediately understood what his daughter meant.

‘It was indeed a sin.’

He has seen the good child a few times before. But the marshal never cared for him and just threw him away to his mentally ill mother. This woman was ruthless in beating the child.

But it was the marshal’s family business, and he had no say in the matter.

“Did Zhi Zhi give Brother Shen candies?” Yao Xian asked.

Yao Zhi nodded, “Brother Shen’s courtyard is right below my window, and I saw him being beaten, so I came over to give him some candy to eat.”

The little girl’s eyes were moist as she looked directly at Yao Xian, explaining why she suddenly ran over.

Yao Xian’s heart immediately softened.

“Baba’s Zhi Zhi is a good and kind girl. From now on, if you want to give Brother Shen sweets, give them from the window instead of running over here, okay?” Yao Xian held Yao Zhi in his arms and coaxed her.

Yao Zhi also knew that she was too rude today, so she nodded obediently.

After calming the little girl down, Yao Xian walked out with his daughter in his arms and said to the guards behind him, “Take the calligraphy and paintings in my study to make amends to the marshal, and say that the young lady was a little playful and broke into the marshal’s house, and next time I will drink with the marshal to apologise.”

The guard answered, then sped off to get the calligraphies and paintings.

Yao Xian took Yao Zhi back to the governor’s house, told the servants to serve her, and called for someone to go down and prepare dinner to be delivered to the lady’s room later.

Although today was Yao Zhi’s fourteenth birthday party, and that there was another party in the evening, everyone knew that the little girl was injured, and with the title of Commander Yao, no one said anything wrong.

Yao Zhi went back to her room, took a shower, and changed her clothes. During dinner, Yao Xian sent her a gift for her fourteenth birthday. It was a beautiful and expensive necklace that she had wanted for a long time, but it was a limited edition. It had been sold out before, so he must have gone through a lot of trouble to get it.

Yao Zhi carefully put the necklace away, and after dinner, she kicked all the servants out on the pretext that she needed to rest.

She lived on the second floor, which was not very high. Looking down from the window, she could faintly see a tall young man cooking in the kitchen.

He was very skilled in his movements. He put the sun-dried branches in the large pot that was on the stove. Half of his face was illuminated by the bright orange flames, and it seemed to have cast a gentle halo over his cold, hard eyebrows. He slowly lowered his eyes, and the halo fell on his eyelashes. Yao Zhi saw him put his right hand into the pocket where he had put the candy she had given him, and held it there for a long time.

Yao Zhi laid back on the bed and closed her eyes. Tomorrow, she will go to school and give him more candies, well… And medicine.

At that time, the Republic of China already had a coeducational school where both she and Shen Xu attended. Although Marshal does not care about his son, he at least allows his son to study, otherwise he would lose his face.

However, Shen Xu had always been a loner in school. People looked down on him because he was a cripple. Even though they didn’t dare to insult him openly because of the Marshal, she knew that they had always laughed at him behind his back. His heart must have always been troubled, but he didn’t tell anybody. He liked to keep it to himself.

But it doesn’t matter. Everything will be fine. In her memory, Shen Xu’s mother, who always beat him, will die this fall. Shen Xu’s days will be a little better, and middle school will end soon, with about a year left. After Shen Xu finishes middle school, the marshal will take him with him.

In her last life, Yao Zhi went abroad to study. When she returned from abroad, her father was on his last breath, due to an accident. He entrusted her to Shen Xu and departed. At that time, Shen Xu was already a prominent figure and could cover up Beijing’s sky with one hand.

This time, Yao Zhi had no intention of going abroad, so she can be with her father and Shen Xu.

It’s only a few years, Yao Zhi said to herself, it won’t be that long.

Her teenager is tough and unyielding, like a scurrying seedling, she wants to jump into his arms and ask him to remove the cold facade.

Yao Zhi gradually fell asleep. She didn’t know that the boy in the small courtyard next door stayed up almost all night. He gently took a bite of the soft candy. As soon as the sweetness spread on the tip of his tongue, he carefully put the candy back in his pocket. He closed his eyes and held a small, rough sachet in his hand.

She gave him a candy

‘..…ah’

Shen Xu continued to sigh.

But how many people did she give candy to? If only such candy was given to only him……

He knew that he was thinking like a pervert. His Zhi Zhi loved to smile and was kind to everyone. Otherwise, he didn’t deserve her care.

Neither the sachet nor the candy was unique to him.

‘Zhi Zhi…’

Nor was it exclusive to him.

What dreams, Shen Xu? 

So out of reach.

Translator ramblings^^

Awww…. both of them are so cute lol. Don’t worry XuXu, your Zhi Zhi is already weaving her net to catch you, hehe^^ The thing is I still don’t know if Shen Dashai was the name of XuXu’s father or is it a mtl mistake…? Anybody please look into it and help me out…! 沈大帅 this is the thing, please help me understand whether it is a name or a official title or something like that…