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Join the ServerHow should he describe that feeling?
It was as if there were an extremely annoying little puppy that followed him around tenaciously every single day, insisting on recognizing him as its master, refusing to be driven away no matter what.
And this trailing had lasted for ten whole years.
Although he found her highly objectionable and felt repulsed, it was undeniable that he had slowly grown used to having such an unshakeable tail behind him.
He had even assumed that this little puppy would follow him forever, for his entire life.
Whether he liked it or not, and whether he was willing to admit it or not, she would only ever recognize him as her master.
Yet suddenly, one day, this little puppy unexpectedly didn’t want him anymore.
‘He seemed… suddenly unable to accept this?’
“Oh, I see.”
Shi Yanzhou stood up abruptly; without looking at Shi Kezhen, he strode toward the door, moving so fast it looked as if he were fleeing.
As he walked out, he pulled the room door shut behind him.
Shi Kezhen leaned back against the sofa, watching the closed door, and slowly closed her eyes.
The corners of her mouth twitched slightly—not in a smile, but in a bizarre, ironic curve that even she herself couldn’t quite define.
After a moment, she slowly stood up, walked to the window, and drew the curtains shut once more.
The room plunged back into dead silence.
***
After returning to his own room, Shi Yanzhou sat alone for a long time.
The image of Shi Kezhen leaning against the doorframe, her face as white as paper and her eyes devoid of light, repeatedly flashed through his mind.
His mind was a chaotic mess; he thought for a long while but still couldn’t make head or tail of it.
He stood up and went to Mother Shi’s room.
“Mother, I went to ask Kezhen.”
“She said she wants to leave the Shi family—is that true?”
Mother Shi was preparing to take an afternoon nap, sitting before her vanity to remove her earrings; her movements paused slightly upon hearing this.
She spared her son a glance from the mirror, then turned around and gestured toward the small sofa in the room with her chin.
“Sit down.”
Shi Yanzhou walked over to sit down, looking at Mother Shi.
Mother Shi let out a sigh, her tone resembling someone coaxing a petulant child.
“Yanzhou, Mom knows you don’t like her, and I also know you have a girl you like.”
“Rest assured, Mom won’t force you when it comes to your feelings.”
“Whoever you wish to marry in the future, as long as they are of equal social standing with our Shi family, Mom won’t oppose it.”
She paused, her tone shifting.
“However, Kezhen is the bride brought in to cure your misfortune; you two have performed the wedding ritual.”
“Whether you like her or not, she must remain by your side for the rest of her life.”
Shi Yanzhou knit his brows.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You can marry the woman you like openly and honorably,” Mother Shi spoke as if it were a matter of course.
“As for her, she will remain in the Shi family forever under the external guise of an adopted daughter, which is effectively equivalent to remaining by your side forever.”
Shi Yanzhou’s brow furrowed even tighter.
“You want to trap her in the Shi family for a lifetime, nameless and unacknowledged?”
His voice carried a trace of rigidity that he hadn’t noticed himself.
“Isn’t this… a bit too unfair to her?”
“Fairness?”
Mother Shi let out a laugh, though it held no warmth.
“What kind of fairness could she possibly want?”
“Could an powerless, parentless orphan like her actually harbor delusions of becoming the Young Mistress of the Shi family?”
“Since that is the case,” Shi Yanzhou’s voice rose slightly, “then why won’t you agree to let her leave?”
Mother Shi stood up, walked over to him, and looked into his eyes.
Her gaze was very calm, but beneath that calm lay a hint of madness that made Shi Yanzhou feel inexplicably intimidated.
“Was what I just said not clear enough?”
She spoke word for word.
“She is the one I specifically sought out to cure your misfortune based on the birth chart calculated by the grandmaster.”
“Since she is here for your health, how can we let her go?”
“If she leaves, it would be fine if you remained healthy, but if you were to suffer so much as a headache or a mild fever, it would be too late for regrets.”
Shi Yanzhou turned his head away, avoiding her gaze.
“You are far too superstitious.”
Mother Shi turned back to her vanity, picking up a comb to slowly brush her hair.
“I didn’t use to be superstitious either, but some things truly leave you with no choice but to believe.”
She paused, looking at her son through the mirror.
“Do you still remember the summer camp during your freshman year of high school?”
“That time, you adamantly refused to let her tag along.”
“I thought that your body was already different from when you were a child and was quite healthy, so I indulged you and didn’t make her go.”
Shi Yanzhou’s brow twitched slightly.
“And what was the result?”
Mother Shi’s voice grew heavy.
“Over twenty students went together, and everyone else was fine, yet you were the only one who suddenly developed a high fever at night that wouldn’t break, terrifying the camp teachers.”
“After being rushed to the hospital, the doctors gave you an IV drip and used physical cooling methods, but your fever simply wouldn’t drop, burning at a full forty-one degrees.”
Her voice trembled slightly; even though many years had passed, her fingers still tightened around the comb involuntarily when she brought up that night.
“Later, I brought Kezhen to the hospital to look after you… and it truly was miraculous.”
“In less than half an hour, your fever actually broke, and by the next day, you were lively and energetic once more.”
Shi Yanzhou remembered that incident.
“That time was because I sweated too much during the day and didn’t change out of my damp clothes in time, and later caught a chill from the wind, which led to the sudden cold and fever.”
“Over twenty students, which one of them didn’t sweat heavily that day?”
“Why was it that you were the only one who caught a fever?”
Mother Shi turned around, staring straight at him.
“You were taken to the hospital, given fever-reducing medicine, shots, and physical cooling—were the doctors unprofessional?”
“Why was it that your fever simply refused to go down?”
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