Chapter 918: I Don’t Want Your Kindness
Seeing that the woman had come around, Liu Yusheng patted her back gently. “Alright, wipe that expression off your face. Second Brother is injured. He’ll need your care in the days ahead.”
Liu Muqiu curved her lips into a faint smile, and just as the woman turned to leave, she suddenly spoke, “Zhiqiu knows I can’t get pregnant anymore, doesn’t he?”
Liu Yusheng froze for a moment and immediately turned to look at the woman.
Meeting her knowing gaze, Liu Yusheng cursed inwardly. She had forgotten that this Little White Lotus was once a master at playing tricks.
From Liu Yusheng’s subtle reaction, she had already discerned the answer to that unexpected probing question. No need for words.
For the past two years, Little White Lotus had clung to her Second Brother like a shadow, orbiting him alone. She had dimmed her brilliance, acting sweet and gentle, to the point where one could almost forget how clever and calculating she used to be.
“So Zhiqiu hurt himself because he found out about me,” Liu Muqiu stared at Liu Yusheng and said softly, “He did it for me, didn’t he? But now he can’t have children anymore…”
“No matter what Second Brother did or why, you know I don’t lie to our elders lightly,” Liu Yusheng forced herself to stay calm, offering a vague reply. “I’ve been out of the room too long. The two little ones are probably hungry. I’ll go feed them first. Later, make sure Second Brother takes his medicine. His injuries are serious.”
With that, she calmly turned and left. She hadn’t lied. She hadn’t told the elders a single untruth. At most, she had simply omitted certain truths.
The one who lied was Xue Qinglian. Yes.
The woman fled like she was escaping. Liu Muqiu stood rooted in place, staring at the vast blue sky in the distance, unmoving like a carved wooden statue.
Only when you got close could you see her entire body trembling. On her fair, delicate face, tears streamed down like a torrential rain.
Inside the side room, Liu Zhiqiu lay on the bed, witnessing—for the first time—his usually composed mother crying uncontrollably, tears and snot running down her face.
“Mom…”
“You little brat! There’s nothing you won’t risk your life for, is there? And now look at what you’ve done. You got yourself turned into a eunuch! What are you going to do from now on? And what about Muqiu? What’s she supposed to do with you like this?!”
“Mom… Dad… I’m sorry.” Looking at his parents, now both over forty, Liu Zhiqiu’s eyes filled with guilt. He hadn’t called them in for anything else. He just wanted to say he was sorry.
“You still know how to say sorry? If you had been this sensible earlier, your father and I would have half the gray hairs we do now!”
“Mom, you don’t even have gray hair yet.” She shot her son a fierce glare. This useless guy is still cracking jokes at a time like this!
She wiped her tears and said, “What’s done is done. There’s no point crying over it. Just focus on getting better. Life goes on! So what if you can’t have kids? It’s fate.”
Liu Erlin with red eyes nodded to comfort him, “If you die before me, I’ll handle your funeral. If I go first, the three little ones at home can do it for you. It doesn’t matter either way. Just take care of yourself.”
“Dad, seriously, maybe you should stop talking,” Liu Zhiqiu sighed helplessly, then looked at the couple and said,
“You’re both just in your early forties. What if you try again? You could have another child, a late-life baby?”
“If we end up with another one like you, I’d rather smack him into the wall the moment he’s born!”
Liu Zhiqiu, “…”
“Just focus on healing! And another thing, don’t keep dragging Muqiu down with you. We’ll have a proper talk with that girl. If she’s willing, you two can separate, and she can go find a good family to marry into. You’re a eunuch now. You can’t expect her to live like a widow for the rest of her life with no one to send her off in old age.”
“Dad, am I really your biological son?”
“You were picked up from a stinky ditch! Get lost!”
After the couple vented their frustrations in the room, their emotions settled down.
Such show of remarkable resilience both amazed and rendered Liu Zhiqiu speechless.
Yes—these were definitely his real parents.
Their son had just become a ‘eunuch,’ yet instead of feeling sorry for him, their first concern was for their daughter-in-law, possibly growing old alone with no one to care for her.
If it had been someone with a weaker heart, even if they hadn’t died from the fall, they’d have been angered to death by their own parents today.
Not long after the couple left, the door creaked open again.
“Little White Lotus.” Liu Zhiqiu’s lips curled faintly. He didn’t open his eyes.
The footsteps were soft and light, a rhythm he knew intimately. Quiet, cautious.
It had always been this way, ever since she met him. Careful, eager to please, always afraid of making him unhappy. He gave her a little, and she would be completely content.
A love so humble. And that humility was because she loved too deeply.
A faint fragrance wafted through the air. She quietly sat down beside him and gently took his hand in hers.
Liu Zhiqiu opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was a pair of swollen, tear-filled eyes. Her cheeks were still streaked with dried tears.
She cried again. He couldn’t help but frown slightly.
Perhaps because he frowned, the woman lowered her gaze.
“Brother Zhiqiu, I want to be your little shadow. No matter what you become, whether you like me or not, I won’t leave.”
“The first time I saw you, I was captivated. Back then, I thought, how could someone’s smile be so beautiful? Cleaner than the sky after rain, warmer than the April sun.”
“After that, I’d often sneak to the academy to watch you. I’d hide nearby, like a little thief. I felt shy and thrilled at the same time. Whenever you brushed past me, my whole body would tense with nerves.”
“Even though you never once looked directly at me, even though you didn’t know who I was, even though you didn’t remember that you once gave me a little sugar figurine… I still liked you.”
Liu Zhiqiu listened quietly, his gaze falling on the eyes that didn’t dare meet his, on the trembling eyelashes that seemed ready to take flight at any moment. As she spoke, his eyes gradually darkened with emotion.
“I schemed to get close to you. The first time I gave you that jade hairpin and got to talk to you face to face, I can’t tell you how happy I was. I smiled like a fool for two whole days.”
“I knew you didn’t like me. And even though it hurt so badly, I never dared to force anything. When you said you’d hate me for the rest of your life, it felt like my heart was being torn apart.”
“Even now, I still can’t believe I got to marry you, that I can truly be with you. Sometimes I feel like I’m dreaming. You’ve never said to me… never once… I…”
“I love you,” the deep male voice was soft, yet it echoed in the side room, echoed right beside the woman’s ear.
In that moment, the entire world seemed to fall silent, so still, you could hear a pin drop.
Her lips trembled even harder, yet she still didn’t dare look up. Barely audible, she asked, “…What did you just say, Brother Zhiqiu?”
“I owed you these words,” he said, as his hand gently closed around her cool fingertips. “I love you.”
A crystal teardrop fell onto the back of his hand, burning into his skin like fire.
“Was it because I never said this that you were always so unsure of yourself around me?”
“Little White Lotus, I’ve always known what you were like before. I know your true nature. I love you simply because you’re you, not for anything else. I don’t need you to be kind, I don’t need you to be a perfect noble lady. You don’t need to put on any masks in front of me. Just be yourself. Even if that ‘yourself’ is full of flaws, I’ll still love you.”
“You were exactly like that when I first fell for you.”
TL Note: A confession from our Zhiqiu finally!!! Muqiu deserved her happy ending ^-^
Peek-Aboo 
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