The woman’s jaw clenched in anger for several monts, prompting Aunt i to ask concernedly, "Is it an aftereffect of too many beauty injections?"
"Even though we don’t know each other, I must remind you, so people naturally have an aged appearance, so let’s not bla the beauty injections entirely."
"Nian—Zi—i!"
The woman gritted her teeth, clearly furious and wishing she could bite Aunt i to death, but her voice was low, as if afraid of being overheard.
Aunt i smiled flirtatiously, her disdainful gaze unmasked.
"All this over a man, still so immature."
The woman’s eyes widened, pointing at Aunt i.
"I know! I just knew!"
With a single finger, Aunt i lightly pushed the woman’s hand away and casually said, "Do you want to co in?"
That sentence struck a nerve, and the woman no longer dared to shout. Instead, she pleaded, "Let’s talk over there."
"Please."
With that one word, Aunt i followed, and behind them, Nian Shutong followed as well.
They reached a secluded corner, and the woman closed her eyes and reopened them, looking at Aunt i.
"Could you please leave? I don’t want you dining in my restaurant."
The woman hadn’t known it was Aunt i who reserved the table until she saw Aunt i after she ca in.
So dazzling, so charmingly elegant, she got scared, which led her to instruct the waiter to act that way.
"Cui Xiaoi, you haven’t changed a bit. The man you treasure like a jewel, I, Nian Zii, have no interest in, wouldn’t even glance at. It’s been a hundred damn years, what are you afraid of!"
Aunt i couldn’t hold back and cursed, launching a tirade at Cui Xiaoi.
"A hundred years ago, I made myself crystal clear, a hundred years have passed, and you still guard against ! Are you underestimating that much? What exactly does that man have that you’re so fixated on him!"
From behind, Nian Shutong heard Aunt i’s frustration and disappointnt in her.
Indeed, it was rare to see Aunt i’s emotions so exposed, but the woman before them was once her comrade-in-arms, with whom she could share life and death. Yet, a man turned them into enemies.
Opposite them, Cui Xiaoi wore a self-deprecating yet sorrowful smile, looking at the radiant Aunt i.
"Why? Just because he married , just because my na shares a ’i’ with yours, just because he married for being the one who knows you best."
Aunt i looked at this Cui Xiaoi, who was no longer the sa as the one in her mories, unable to reconcile the two.
"Cui Xiaoi, I’ll tell you one last ti, I’ve never liked Wu Hai, never have, never will, and never will in the future."
"Heh... I know... I know..." Cui Xiaoi raised her head filled with sadness.
"I’m begging you to leave, for the sake of the last bit of camaraderie we share."
Aunt i looked at Cui Xiaoi with righteous indignation but eventually agreed with, "I don’t understand, but I agree."
"Just like we agreed before."
With that phrase, Aunt i’s departing figure exuded a certain resolve as she turned to leave.
"Xiao Nian, let’s go."
At the ntion of Xiao Nian, Cui Xiaoi looked at Nian Shutong.
"Is she Nian Lan’s child then?"
Having turned away, Aunt i’s pupils seed to quake, but she turned back with a relaxed tone.
"My sister’s child died long ago, why would you think she is Nian Lan’s child?"
"I... I..." Cui Xiaoi spoke without thinking, only to realize sothing was off, stamring without speaking.
Aunt i smiled enchantingly and said, "Cui Xiaoi, you have the opportunity to confess. If not, I will certainly go into that kitchen today."
Aunt i’s gaze was unwavering and serious.
In her lifeti, her greatest pain was failing to protect their child after her sister’s demise.
A child the world deed dead.
Aunt i deftly hit Cui Xiaoi’s sore spot, knowing Aunt i wasn’t joking; she would truly do it.
Cui Xiaoi took a deep breath and said to Aunt i, "I found out myself."
"When the great battle hadn’t ended, you left first. I was afraid... afraid Wu Hai would seek you out, so I deliberately got injured, retreated from the battlefield, and followed you away."
"I found out afterwards."
At this point, Cui Xiaoi imdiately raised her head to prove her innocence and said, "But I swear, I’ve never told anyone."
"Really, I know I didn’t do well, but like you, I admired Nian Lan, she was our general!"
Aunt i didn’t speak, just looked at Cui Xiaoi for a long ti, then turned around, taking Nian Shutong’s hand as they left.
Behind them, Cui Xiaoi leaned against the wall and powerlessly slumped down.
It seed she’d lost sothing completely, never to be recovered.
As Aunt i left, she kept walking, holding Nian Shutong’s hand as she strode through a bustling street, unable to stop.
"Aunt, I’m still here."
Nian Shutong’s words finally made Aunt i pause.
When she turned around, her face was awash with tears, streaming down unchecked.
"I know, but Aunt still lost you, I lost you."
Aunt i’s self-reproach, the guilt in her heart was like an infinite abyss, continuously consuming her.
For so many years, she tornted herself incessantly.
Aunt i took Nian Shutong to a bench, where no one else was around.
"After leaving the battlefield, I was indignant, regretful, remorseful, yet still left."
"In the end, the entire army was down to a few people, and I was still the one who left first."
"I knew my presence couldn’t change the course of the battle but still wanted to die together with them, yet I had my mission."
"In the beginning, I really disliked you, even though you were just a one-year-old baby, unable to talk, not even able to see, I still disliked you."
"But after decades, you beca my only family in this world, my only attachnt. I don’t know when, but I poured all my feelings into you."
"But twenty years ago, I lost you."
Aunt i fixed her gaze intently on Nian Shutong, her eyes filled only with her reflection.
"I went insane, my heart was lost too."
"I couldn’t even find a reason to go on, finding you beca my only thought."
"From a toddler to a little girl of seven or eight, then a teenage girl, disappointnt ti and again."
Nian Shutong reached out her fingers to wipe Aunt i’s tears away.
"You’ve found . If I hadn’t been lost, I wouldn’t be who I am now, rely cold and empty like a box."
Aunt i chuckled, looking at Nian Shutong before her, saying, "You’re right."
Aunt i wiped her tears by herself, instantly returning to her usual self, emotions collected.
"I believe what Cui Xiaoi said, she hasn’t told anyone else."
"But Wu Hai is not just anyone."
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