Chapter 1892 (1/2)
A new dream fragment entered his consciousness.
In this dream, Yun Che—still a ten-year-old child—was sitting next to Xiao Lingxi and listening to Xiao Lie describing a familiar story in a warm tone:
“Back then, not long after Che’er had been born, Governor Situ’s daughter was born. However, due to the illness of the governor’s wife, when the child was born, she was very weak and on the brink of death.”
“If her life was to be saved, they needed someone who was at least at the Spirit Profound Realm to even have a chance. One could count the number of people who had reached the Spirit Profound Realm in Floating Cloud City with their fingers, and every single one of these people possessed extraordinary status. In order to save her, they would definitely harm their own foundations. As a result, nearly every one of them was unmoved despite the governor’s desperate begging.”
“The only exception was Ying’er. He risked serious harm to himself and nearly exhausted all of his profound strength to stabilize that child’s vitality. As a result, she was able to survive.”
“Che’er, that was how the destined wedding between you and the governor’s daughter happened. At that time, Governor Situ was so grateful to Ying’er for saving his daughter’s life that he became sworn brothers with Ying’er there and then. Furthermore, he announced in front of everyone that his daughter would be married to Xiao Ying’s son in the future in order to repay heaven’s kindness.”
“Hmph.” Xiao Lingxi turned her nose upwards as she said in a very soft voice, “I don’t like that Situ Xuan at all. She’s always so aloof… and she’s even like that when she sees Little Che.”
……
It was another dream he had experienced before. The scenery, the words, everything was exactly the same as it was last time. The only difference was that he was perfectly conscious this time.
In this dream, the person Xiao Ying sacrificed himself to save was Situ Xuan, not Xia Qingyue.
As a result, his bride-to-be thanks to Xiao Ying’s heroism also became Situ Xuan, not Xia Qingyue.
……
Another dream fragment entered his consciousness. This time, it was the figure of a girl.
“Stand right there, Xiao Che!”
She was a tall and slim woman dressed in luxurious clothing. She looked around fifteen or sixteen years old, but she was pretty in a way that didn’t fit her age because she had heavy makeup.
For the current Yun Che, it was utterly beneath him to even allow a woman like her to hold his gaze for an instant. That being said, she was perfectly attractive to a young man who hadn’t yet begun to broaden his horizons.
At the very least, it was clear that his dream self—he was still Xiao Che at this time—was just barely keeping a lid on his nervousness.
“Miss Situ,” Yun Che replied politely. This was the first time ever Situ Xuan had taken the initiative to speak with him, so he could barely conceal his excitement and joy.
The name “Situ Xuan” had appeared multiple times in his dreams.
In his actual memory, Situ Xuan was the daughter of Governor Situ and had resided in Floating Cloud City just like him. Naturally, he had met her before. But for some reason, his memories of her were so blurry that he couldn’t even recall her appearance.
He hadn’t paid heed to it at the time because he was busy surviving in the God Realm when he first started having these “dreams”. Why would he care about some governor’s daughter he hadn’t even made the acquaintance of when he was still in his birth city?
Not to mention that dreams often turned out to be completely nonsensical.
This time though, he had a perfect view of Situ Xuan, and suddenly, it felt as if an invisible fog had been lifted from his head. His memories and impression of Situ Xuan suddenly became crystal clear.
In fact, they felt so clear that… it was as if he had never forgotten about her in the first place.
Situ Xuan stared at Yun Che with unconcealed arrogance and disdain. “Do you know what a toad is?”
“...” His dream self’s entire body tensed like a spring. It took him several breaths before the suffocating sensation finally faded, and he regained enough cool to speak in an even tone, “Feel free to speak your mind, Miss Situ.”
“...”
Despite being only fifteen years old, he had heard so many insults that he had grown numb to them. However, to hear one from Situ Xuan herself was a blow that nearly tore a hole in his mental defense.
“Hmph!” Situ Xuan side-eyed him. “Our marriage is only five months away. I’m the daughter of a governor, and yet I’m being forced to marry a complete cripple like you. Do you know how much scorn I’ve had to bear because of you!?”
Yun Che felt his face turning pale, so he bit his tongue to regain control of himself. “I understand. If you won’t marry me, you may ask your father and my grandfather to… cancel the engagement. It isn’t too late yet.”
“Cancel? Do you really think I would wait until now if it was possible!?” Situ Xuan’s voice grew increasingly shrill. “The entire city knows your dead dad saved my life when I was born!”
“My dad has sworn to wed us before countless people!”
“If your dad was still alive, then it would’ve been fine. We could’ve negotiated a different way to repay our favor. But no, not only is he dead, it is rumored that half the reason he died was because he exhausted himself to save me! My dad would be called an ingrate for the rest of his life if he cancels the engagement now!”
“The Situ Family is a venerated family. Its dignity will not suffer for the likes of you,” Situ Xuan said slowly. “Don’t worry though. My dad won’t cancel the engagement, and neither will I.”
Her eyes suddenly took on a disgusting flavor. “You are a cripple, but you’re not completely useless. After all, you do have quite the handsome appearance. If nothing else, you are very qualified to be a boy toy.”
“...” Yun Che’s mental defense finally collapsed, and his features began spasming uncontrollably.
“Since we met by chance today, I may as well tell you about the future.” Situ Xuan’s half-narrowed eyes were colored in three-tenths disdain and seven-tenths playfulness. The bad kind. “You will learn to be... obedient during these last couple months. If your performance pleases me, you may even enjoy a somewhat good life after we get married. Otherwise… let’s just say that your crippled body may not be strong enough to stand my teachings.”
Crack!
Did he break a tooth? He probably did. Yun Che could feel a growing pool of blood in his mouth.
“Little Che!”
Suddenly, the most familiar cry in his life entered his ears. It washed away all those negative emotions that nearly crushed his soul like a pure spring.
Seemingly satisfied with Yun Che’s tortured but suppressed expression, Situ Xuan shot him one last arrogant smirk before turning away.
It wasn’t long before a girl who looked as lithe as a colorful butterfly appeared beside Yun Che. She looked at the departing Situ Xuan and exclaimed in surprise, “Is that Situ Xuan? Were you talking to her just now?”
Yun Che looked at the girl clinging to his arm. Just a few breaths ago, his shame and anger felt tangible enough to burst out of his chest. However, the large majority of it disappeared the second his gaze made contact with her countenance.
There were countless people inside or outside the Xiao Clan who insulted him for his disability. He had gotten used to it a long time ago.
However, three people kept him going no matter how difficult things became: his grandfather, who loved him dearly and had never given up on him, his good friend Xia Yuanba, who defended him with everything he had since young, and his little aunt, who loved him so much she would search for him just because he had been out of sight for slightly over an hour.
He was already blessed to have three people who cared for him from the bottom of their hearts. What everyone else says… need not and shouldn’t be the focus of his life.
That’s right. From a very young age, no matter what kind of humiliation and insults he had suffered before, the mere sight and sound of Xiao Lingxi could always calm him down and satisfy him. That was all that really mattered.
“Mn.” Yun Che nodded. “I think this is the first time she spoke to me of her own accord. It’s not like we’ve never run into each other before, but she has never acknowledged me before now.”
“Eh? Really?” Xiao Lingxi’s surprise grew. “What did she say to you?”
“Nothing. It was just about the arrangements after the wedding,” Yun Che said in a casual tone. He was never going to repeat Situ Xuan’s words to Xiao Lingxi because the last thing he wanted to see was her angry, sorrowful face.
The second last thing he wanted to see would be his grandfather’s expression after hearing this.
I see.” Xiao Lingxi’s voice softened, and a tinge of something that even she herself didn’t notice entered her gaze. “There have been a lot of weird rumors in the city for the past two years. They all say that Situ Xuan would do everything in her power to cancel the engagement. I guess rumors were just rumors after all, huh?”
“Of course rumors are just rumors.” Yun Che chuckled. “The governor won’t cancel the engagement… that’s what Situ Xuan said to me herself.”
“Mn. That’s good. I’m sure dad will be happy to hear this.”