CHAPTER 249: CHAPTER 228: WISHING FOR TIME TO REWIND

Beside the Bodhi tree, there’s a long bench. Yin Shixiu took some fruit he had prepared earlier from the bag and handed it to her.

Then he urged her to watch the bag while he went to find a place to wash his hands and face.

Su Xiaomeng lifted the bag and walked to the large banyan tree. She quietly looked at the red ribbons.

How many have entrusted their longing here? And how many of those wishes are ultimately fulfilled?

"Amitabha Buddha, benefactress, is there something on your mind?"

The temple’s abbot approached her, fiddling with a string of beads in his hand, and spoke softly.

Su Xiaomeng did not look at the abbot, only murmured, "There is... it’s the most bittersweet longing in this world."

To hold the hand of one, and grow old with them.

"Amitabha Buddha, benefactress, you might as well entrust your grievances to the Bodhi. If fate allows, the most bitter longing in the world can also turn sweet."

Su Xiaomeng slightly curled her lips, "Entrust it to the Bodhi here? Tie on a red ribbon, and Buddha will hear my wishes?"

"Benefactress, what harm is there in trying?"

What harm is there in trying?

Su Xiaomeng turned her head, looking at the elderly monk in robes in front of her. In his hands, the Buddha beads slipped through his fingers one by one.

"Master, I have a question to ask."

"Please ask, benefactress."

"How can time... turn back?"

Tears shimmered in Su Xiaomeng’s eyes as she looked at the master, so helpless it was heart-wrenching.

The master had a pair of calm, elderly eyes, like a murky mirror, not clear yet allowing one to see a blurred reflection of themselves.

He clasped his hands together, murmuring, "Observing the Bodhisattva of Compassion, practicing deeply in the Perfection of Wisdom, illumined the five aggregates all empty, overcoming all suffering and misfortune. Sariputra, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. What is form is emptiness, what is emptiness is form. Perception, conception, volition, and consciousness are also like this..."

Su Xiaomeng listened...

Her heart slowly sinking, tears swirling in her eyes.

"Master... my heart is bitter, what should I do to feel a little better?"

Even just a little?

Tears welled out of her eyes.

"Benefactress, where there is desire, there is suffering."

When Yin Shixiu returned, he had a wreath woven from straw in his hand.

From afar, he saw Su Xiaomeng in a long dress, swaying with the wind, standing in front of the Bodhi tree.

The thin, lonely silhouette making one’s heart ache.

He walked over and placed the straw-woven wreath on Su Xiaomeng’s head, "What are you thinking about?"

Su Xiaomeng touched her head, then looked at him, "Why did it take you so long?"

"I met an old woman selling wreaths. I saw her weaving was beautiful, so I followed and learned to make one myself."

"Isn’t this something only little girls wear?"

"Aren’t you a little girl?"

Yin Shixiu put his arm around her shoulders, "Do you want to hang one too?"

"Didn’t you tell me not to believe in this?"

"But I want to know your wish."

Su Xiaomeng paused, meeting Yin Shixiu’s slightly solemn eyes, she smiled, "I’ve already hung mine up."

Yin Shixiu raised an eyebrow, his gaze instinctively searching, while asking, "Which one is it? Let me see, what wish did you make?"

Su Xiaomeng shrugged, pulling his hand, "Let’s go, down the mountain."

Yin Shixiu was naturally unwilling, following the slightly lower red ribbons in search. Su Xiaomeng wasn’t in a hurry either, she walked to a bench nearby, sitting down leisurely, waiting for him to find...

She did not write a name...

She believed every word Yin Shixiu said, trusted unconditionally.

Yet, what she hid was like a long, sharp thorn—once pierced into his heart, it would never be removed.

He loved her, she believed, he said it was unwavering, she believed.

But if Su Xiaomeng was no longer the past Su Xiaomeng, but someone no longer wholly belonging to him, someone full of stains...

Would he, who had a severe cleanliness obsession, still love like this?

The self she found disgusting, could he still love?

Su Xiaomeng’s heart was wrenched, the fear and struggle of many days calmed down before the Buddha.

She earnestly wished, Buddha, I am a nameless person among the masses.

This nameless person, she has never believed in any gods or religions. Even standing here before you she wouldn’t dare say she is your believer... such a lie.

But Buddha, you are merciful and compassionate, I ask that you help her, I ask that you hear this nameless person’s wish...

Yin Shixiu circled the large tree several times, unable to find the wish belonging to Su Xiaomeng, returning to her side, "Exactly which one?"

Su Xiaomeng continued to smile at him, getting up and standing in front of him, tiptoeing, lightly, lightly touching his lips.

Just that alone made Su Xiaomeng feel guilty.

"When the day the wish comes true, you’ll know. Let’s go down the mountain."

The two followed the original path down the mountain, Su Xiaomeng feeling much more cheerful than before, the heavy gloom on her face finally somewhat dispelled.

Where there is desire, there is suffering, not to mention her desires were so many, so greedy.

Two people who were not meant to be together, no matter how hard they try, would not be compatible. But even if it was a straw, she wanted to grasp it...

She would not let this thorn pierce his heart, even if it turned her into a beehive full of holes.

Su Xiaomeng thought, she would guard this thorn, even if it took all her strength...

Hold on, until one day she couldn’t hold on anymore... then she would leave.

She would never let this thorn pierce his heart, making him endure this grievance and frustration.

At that time, she would accept her fate.

Yin Shixiu watched Su Xiaomeng walking ahead of him, but he couldn’t calm his heart down for a long time.

The ribbons on the Bodhi Tree, Yin Shixiu was certain that Su Xiaomeng hadn’t written a name on hers.

She thought that by doing so, he wouldn’t find the red ribbon she had tied...

Yet she didn’t know that there were very few red ribbons without names...

Yin Shixiu saw only one ribbon without a name from start to finish, hung very close to the trunk, not high, hidden amongst the other ribbons.

On that ribbon was written: May time reverse, and I would never love him so truly and deeply.

When those few words entered his vision, it was such a heart-stopping shock.

So alarming that he didn’t even have the courage to verify it out loud.

At this moment, Yin Shixiu had a strong premonition, a premonition that Su Xiaomeng seemed to have made some decision, a premonition that...

Perhaps he would lose this beloved little woman in a way he could never imagine.

Or perhaps...

He had already lost her, without knowing it.

Yin Shixiu clenched his fists, he would find out, every detail she tried to hide, he would know it clearly!

After the two descended the mountain, it was already dark.

On the day Yin Shixiu and Su Xiaomeng went hiking, Rong Qiao was seeing Ren Yixuan off abroad...

In front of the security checkpoint at the international terminal, Ren Yixuan and Rong Qiao sat side by side on a bench.

Rong Qiao was reluctant, holding his hand, not wanting him to go inside.

Ren Yixuan had no choice but to sit there accompanying her.

She leaned on Ren Yixuan’s shoulder, her mind filled with too many complex emotions.

A project sending people to the United States for training, such a thing, Rong Qiao never thought it would be related to Ren Yixuan.

Yet upon waking, the news she got from her brother was that Ren Yixuan would take a few people to train in the United States for a year.

Rong Qiao didn’t overthink it, her first reaction was that he wanted to escape from her.

But Ren Yixuan said, "My dear Miss Rong, going to the United States is escaping from you? As long as you are willing, you can accompany me to the United States for this year together, can’t you?"

At that moment, Rong Qiao had a fleeting moment of joy, but immediately after, an even deeper doubt.

Then... why did he choose to go abroad at this time?

She knew that if she asked him, the answer would only be one, training.

But she also knew that the answer was not just that one, perhaps not even that.

Time ticked by, Rong Qiao slightly raised her head to look at Ren Yixuan, he was so handsome and charming, his eyes filled with a rebellious spirit.

"Alright, time’s almost up."

Ren Yixuan looked at her.

Rong Qiao reached out to pull down his neck, offered her lips, gave him a long and deep kiss, then released him.

"I will come to be with you, don’t try to escape from me, and don’t try to—"

She wanted to say don’t sneak around, but unexpectedly, this word had become so sensitive in her heart that she swallowed it back just as it reached her throat.

"Don’t get too exhausted out there, I will come to take care of you."

Ren Yixuan touched her head, slung a leather bag over one shoulder, and then got up to head toward the security checkpoint.

After he had walked five or six steps away, Rong Qiao chased up again, grabbed Ren Yixuan’s hand.

"What’s the matter?"

"Yi Xuan, I want to know... I want to know if your sudden participation in overseas training has to do with that night’s incident?"

"You’re not avoiding me, you’re avoiding Su Xiaomeng, aren’t you?"

Rong Qiao sadly found that him avoiding Su Xiaomeng felt worse to her than avoiding her.

Ren Yixuan looked at Rong Qiao, unable to say what exactly he felt for this woman.

Love her? No.

Like her? Maybe?

But she probably loved him deeply, loved his excellence, loved the vanity he could bring her.

Why be with her?

There were so many reasons...

She was the daughter of the Rong Family, Rong Jing’s beloved sister, and she alone held ten percent of the Rong Group’s shares.

She was at least a woman with decent looks, a bit pampered, but still within his tolerance range.

"Answer me, I want to know, I need to hear the truth, Yi Xuan, this is very important to me."

Rong Qiao held his hand tightly, eyes filled with humble plea.

Ren Yixuan faced her directly, his voice softening, rare in its gentleness.

"You actually care a lot about that night, don’t you?"

Rong Qiao’s eyes were misty, "No woman can be indifferent."

Ren Yixuan took a deep breath, "Don’t mind, I don’t love her."

"I did it because of hate. The depth of my feelings for her is something you can’t imagine, but those feelings in her eyes are worth nothing. I know what kind of woman she is, I want her to feel miserable, I want her to live in guilt in the marriage she takes pride in, suffer, never finding redemption."

Rong Qiao looked at Ren Yixuan...

"So you don’t need to mind, it has nothing to do with love, I just want to take revenge on her, a woman like Su Xiaomeng can’t even compare to one of your fingers."