Chapter 18 Scandal Exposed

“Sister Mu, if I don’t want to leave, will you still keep me?” Xie Yi lowered his head, his eyes unclear.

Although Su Mu was surprised that he would actively propose to stay, since he said so, Su Mu answered seriously, “You have no relatives or friends in Juan City. If I don’t keep you, where else can you go?”

Xie Yi’s voice was low and dejected: “Is it only because I have no one else?”

“Hm?”

“Nothing.” Xie Yi endured the bitterness in his mouth, sighing in his heart.

When he first met Su Mu, he hoped she would be a kind-hearted mistress. The fact proved that she was indeed as he had imagined, even more merciful than the Bodhisattva in the temple. She tore up his contract of sale, gave him candy, and was good to him wholeheartedly without asking for anything in return.

He felt like he had instantly fallen from hell into a thick, undissolvable honey jar. The sweet honey dizzied his brain, giving him the illusion that Su Mu’s gentleness was only for him.

Until Lin Xiaoxing appeared.

He discovered that Su Mu wasn’t just kind to him alone. Her gentleness was innate, ingrained in her bones. She was amiable and tender to everyone.

He wasn’t the only one, wasn’t an exception, just one of many.

Her kindness to him wasn’t because of his looks or flattery, but because of his tragic experience, merely out of pity… pity.

His honey became bittersweet, both sweet and bitter.

“The method of making green apricot wine is actually very simple. Just wash the apricots clean, then put them in a jar, alternating layers of green apricots and rock sugar, then pour in wine to fill the jar. Finally, seal it and place it in a cool place for about 15 days. Actually, the methods for making these kinds of wines are all similar. Once you learn this time, you can try making others in the future.” Su Mu taught him the method while explaining the steps.

But Xie Yi’s mind was buzzing, unable to take it all in. In the end, he only remembered ’15 days’.

“But after fifteen days, I’ll be gone and won’t be able to drink it.” Xie Yi felt empty inside, the restlessness in his heart reaching its peak.

Su Mu smiled: “It’s okay, I brewed a jar before.”

She took out a wine jar from the cool corner of the room. The wine carried a hint of sweet apricot fragrance. With the passage of time, the originally crisp apricots inside had turned yellow-brown.

Su Mu felt nostalgic: “I brewed this wine before I got married. Who knew that Yan Zhujun would visit soon after, and I hastily married and divorced Yan Jiyue. It felt like a lifetime ago, but it was actually just the time it took to brew a jar of wine.”

She casually sat on the doorstep, took two bowls and filled them with wine: “Come and taste?” Su Mu’s eyes were as clear as spring water as she extended the invitation.

Looking at her eyes, Xie Yi’s irritation instantly vanished. He also learned to sit on the doorstep like Su Mu.

Central Plains people have many rules and doctrines. The door is originally for passage, yet they insist on setting a high threshold that can’t be stepped on, only stepped over. When he first came to the Central Plains, he tripped over thresholds many times, his knees and elbows all injured.

He originally thought Su Mu was like most Central Plains women, though gentle in nature, but inherently adhering to these complex etiquettes.

But now, seeing her casually sitting on the doorstep, her head leaning against the door frame, lively and unrestrained, he realized that the Sister Mu he thought he knew actually had many unknown sides.

Sitting next to Su Mu, Xie Yi nervously closed his legs tightly, straightening his back, sitting formally for the first time in his life.

Su Mu placed a bowl of wine in his hand, gently clinked glasses with him, and drank it all in one gulp. Some wine rippled out of the bowl, spilling onto her red clothes, making the red even more intense where the wine touched.

Xie Yi watched as the wine overflowed from the corners of her lips, the transparent liquid flowing down the curve of her neck, reflecting a dreamlike iridescence in the dim lamplight.

Xie Yi silently swallowed his Adam’s apple.

“Not drinking?” After drinking a bowl of wine, Su Mu felt refreshed in her heart. She turned her head to look at Xie Yi, her eyes smiling.

“I-I’ll drink.” Xie Yi held the bowl with both hands and drank the wine in large gulps. Halfway through, he realized that he was now in the Central Plains, where men drink wine elegantly and gracefully. His current manner was too wild and uncultured.

Afraid of being looked down upon by Su Mu, he instantly wanted to stop drinking in large gulps, but because he was too hasty, he choked on the wine. His throat felt both spicy and burning, almost bringing tears to his eyes.

He drank half a bowl of wine, and his clothes drank the other half. Xie Yi kept coughing, his face turning red.

“You… don’t know how to drink, yet you drink so desperately. You’ve choked, haven’t you!” Su Mu was quite amused by his red face and laughed, lightly patting his back to help him catch his breath.

For some reason, when she was with Xie Yi, she just felt relaxed all over. Unlike being with Yan Jiyue, which felt like being locked in an airless prison, very uncomfortable.

Xie Yi blushed with embarrassment. Actually, he had a great alcohol tolerance, even his mother couldn’t outdrink him, but he didn’t dare tell Su Mu. He was lost in her smile, feeling the faint wine fragrance coming from Su Mu.

Only when the spiciness in his throat subsided did Xie Yi pour another cup of wine, thoughtfully filling Su Mu’s cup as well, and asked a question that had been troubling him: “Sister Mu, why did you marry Young Master Yan?”

With Su Mu’s personality, she couldn’t possibly have liked Yan Jiyue, so why marry him? Why marry hastily and divorce hastily?

And every time Su Mu mentioned her marriage to Yan Jiyue, there was no light in her eyes. Why?

He wanted to know so badly. This doubt had been planted in his heart since he was beaten by Yan Jiyue. He had been afraid to ask before for fear of angering Su Mu, until he became thoroughly familiar with her did he dare to ask.

Su Mu smiled faintly: “Actually, it wasn’t marrying, it was marrying into his family.”

She hadn’t told Xie Yi before because he couldn’t understand Central Plains language well and had limited comprehension. Now that he could speak quite well, she didn’t need to conceal it and directly revealed the cause and effect.

“That’s too much bullying!” Xie Yi slammed his fist on the doorstep, saying hatefully.

These two father and son of the Yan family, what kind of people are they! One takes advantage of kindness, the other is willful and overbearing. Just because Su Mu is kind-hearted, should she be bullied like this?

If before, when beaten by Yan Jiyue, Xie Yi only felt vengeful and defiant in his heart, now he felt hatred towards Yan Jiyue.

The difficulties, ostracism, gossip, and mockery that Su Mu had endured were like poisoned whips, lashing him one by one.