Decision to Stay

When Yu Ling heard this, she had the biggest reaction. She sat up immediately and looked at Xiao Zhu with sparkling eyes.

“My mother and I are going to Sister Xiaoguo’s house. Xiao Zhu, do you want to join us?”

Xiao Zhu was stunned when she heard this. She lowered her head and said after a while, “I want to spend more time with Father and Mother.”

Xiaoguo nodded in understanding. She had actually brought up this idea because she felt that Xiao Zhu was too lonely.

When she boarded the ship and left the last time, Xiao Zhu’s gaze made her feel inexplicably sad. The family she was pining for had left her. And the day after tomorrow, she would be all alone by herself.

“Huh?” Yu Ling sighed in disappointment. But she immediately nodded in agreement. “You should spend more time with them.”

With that, she lay back on the bed and rested her hands behind her head. She looked at the stars in the night sky and fell into deep thoughts.

“Then I’ll come visit you more often in the future. I’ll come and see you when you miss me. How about that?”

At this moment, Xiaoguo’s suggestion was met with frantic nods from Xiao Zhu.

“If only you could stay a little longer. Hehe.”

Xiao Zhu couldn’t help but say what she was thinking.

When Xiaoguo heard this, she smiled and didn’t say anything. Instead, Yu Ling glanced at her, looking pensive.

The few of them chatted for a long time, but Zhuang Zhuang only called out once to Xiaoguo from the moment he lay down and did not speak thereafter.

“Zhuang Zhuang is asleep.”

Yu Ling’s voice attracted the two of them. They looked at Zhuang Zhuang, who had been silent all this while. It turned out that he had fallen asleep a long time ago. No wonder he was so quiet all this time.

The little boy was sleeping very soundly with his small hands tightly gripping onto Xiaoguo’s clothes. If one listened carefully, they could even hear his soft snores.

Xiaoguo chuckled. So he was feeling sleepy. She was wondering why he looked so listless earlier and he even kept burrowing into her arms.

Seeing this, Yu Ling got out of bed and said softly, “Then I’ll go back now.”

Xiaoguo nodded and said softly, “Go on. Good night…”

“Good night?”

Xiao Zhu wondered what those two words meant. If it was a good night, does it mean that it would be safe at night?

At the thought of this possibility, she immediately said good night to Yu Ling.

Safety at night was very important!

Yu Ling didn’t know what it meant either, but it sounded like a nice greeting. She smiled and said to the two of them, “Goodnight to you too! Goodnight to Zhuang Zhuang, who is sleeping…”

With that, she left the attic.

Xiaoguo looked away and smiled. “These two imps.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Zhu snickered.

—-

On the other hand, Yu Zhizhi was not enjoying the same happy atmosphere.

When Yu Zhizhi was carried back by the villagers, Father Yu was shocked. He thought that something bad had happened. After checking Yu Zhizhi’s pulse, he realized that she had only sprained her neck and had fainted briefly from shock.

Seeing that she was fine, Father Yu heaved a sigh of relief. He had almost been frightened to death by her appearance earlier on.

He brewed a pot of herbs with calming properties and massaged Yu Zhizhi’s neck with some wine. After doing all that, he left the room.

While Yu Zhizhi was unconscious, she could feel a scorching pain in her neck. Someone had also poured some hot and bitter-tasting water down her throat, causing numbness in her tongue.

This reminded her of what her third aunt had said the other day. If a gossipy woman kept spreading rumors, she would be sent to the eighteenth level of hell. In that place, her tongue would be pulled out and her neck would be chopped off.

During this period of time, she had been spreading so many rumors. It was inevitable that she would feel afraid. Coincidentally, when she heard what her third aunt said, she was so frightened that she did not even dare to walk alone at night.

She seemed to recall that Qin Xiaoguo had killed her before she fainted. Could it be that she had now arrived at the eighteenth level of hell?!

Thinking of this made her hair stand on end and she started breaking out in cold sweat.

When she felt her tongue go numb just now, did that mean that her tongue had been pulled out? Then the pain in her neck earlier was very likely the sensation of her head being chopped off?!

These thoughts almost made her pee in her pants.

But then she realized. If she was really dead, why would she need to pee? Can a dead person pee?

With that thought in mind, Yu Zhizhi, who was lying on the bed, instantly opened her eyes. She could barely open her eyes in the darkness. With much difficulty, she managed to see the room clearly under the moonlight. She heaved a sigh of relief. “I am not dead!”

Thinking carefully about the sequence of events, Yu Zhizhi was furious. At this moment, she wished that she could die. That way, she could transform into a ghost and take revenge on them.

As her anger grew, Yu Zhizhi felt like peeing even more. She almost couldn’t hold it in when she pounded the bed just now.

Just as she was trying to get up to go to the toilet, she suddenly felt a pain in her neck and it made her fall back onto the bed uncontrollably. This caused her to lose control of her bladder.

At this moment, Father Yu, who was next door, heard some noise coming from her room. He shouted as he walked over, “Zhizhi? Are you awake? Is your neck okay?”

When she heard her father, Yu Zhizhi could only hurriedly shout for him to stop and not come in.

Father Yu stopped in his tracks and stopped outside the door in disappointment. “Zhizhi, are you still blaming me?”

“No.”

Afraid that he would suddenly come in, Yu Zhizhi quickly replied.

“Sigh, Zhizhi, I know you’re upset with me, but there’s something I have to say again. Stop creating trouble and live a down-to-earth life like before. Is that okay?”

Mr. Yu was mentally and physically exhausted. He didn’t know why his daughter was behaving in this way. After returning from the trip, she started to behave strangely. The child, who had never disagreed with him, had openly refuted him a few days ago.

When he found out that his obedient daughter had spread lies behind Xiao Zhu’s back and maliciously hurt her, he was filled with disbelief. In order to protect her, he sent her to the mountains to pick herbs. He made her go before dawn and return in the evening.

However, in his daughter’s eyes, she misunderstood his good intentions as being in cahoots with the other villagers.

He really didn’t know what to do with her.

At this moment, Yu Zhizhi was suffering in silence. Being stuck in such a predicament, she could only wipe her tears and pretend to be calm. “I understand, Father. I’ll behave myself in the future.”

Father Yu nodded in satisfaction and left.

When Yu Zhizhi felt that she had completely relieved herself, she couldn’t help but lie on the pillow and sob.

In her confusion, she thought of the villagers’ expressions when they looked at her in recent days, as well the expressions she wore when telling lies, and her father’s disappointed and pained expressions.

Her complicated emotions were intertwined. Those disgusted and twisted faces kept appearing in her mind in a repetitive manner.

Had she really done something wrong?

—-

“I want to stay behind with my mother.”

“What?”

Xiaoguo patted the sand off her hands and looked at Yu Ling in disbelief. That was pretty unexpected.

“Sister Xiaoguo, my mother likes the sea, so I want to stay here for the time being and accompany her on her last journey.”

Yu Ling had thought about it through the night. Since her mother didn’t have much time left, she didn’t want her to suffer. Her mother liked the sea and freedom, so she wanted to stay with her on the last journey of her life.

When Xiaoguo heard this, she nodded seriously. “That’s a good idea.”

Yu Ling smiled happily, revealing her small teeth. “Thank you, Sister Xiaoguo.”

Xiaoguo smiled and shook her head. Then, she turned to look at Zhao Yuyan, who was watching the sea. At this moment, the woman seemed to have become much younger under the nourishment of the morning sun. Everything seemed so unreal.

At this moment, the woman turned around and met Xiaoguo’s eyes. Then, she smiled from the bottom of her heart.

Zhao Yuyan walked over and sat on the sand. Then, she found an excuse to send Yu Ling away.

“Yuling told you, didn’t she?”

Xiaoguo nodded.

“This is a good place. The sea is very quiet. It would be very comfortable to rest here eternally.”

Xiaoguo didn’t say anything and nodded in agreement.

After Zhao Yuyan finished speaking, she smiled and glanced at her. “Don’t you find it strange?”