Tan Linyuan asked Nan Yu to burn the copied scriptures to pray for the salvation of her parents' souls.
The flames of the bonfire danced, heating up the surrounding air. There was a faint smell of burning dry leaves.
On this slightly cool late autumn evening, the bonfire made people feel unusually warm.
Nan Yu looked at the cluster of flames and couldn't help smiling. "No wonder there are no other residents within a hundred meters around. You worship Buddha, chant scriptures, and burn paper for blessings here. People who don't know might think you're performing some kind of ritual."
Tan Linyuan spoke at a steady pace. "It's quiet this way."
Nan Yu was quite surprised by his answer. Only then did she realize that perhaps it wasn't that no one wanted to live around here, but that he didn't allow it.
He wanted to be undisturbed.
Nan Yu walked up to the bonfire and squatted down.
The copied scriptures turned black and curled up the moment they touched the flames, then burned to ashes.
She stared calmly at the tongues of fire, patted the ashes off her knees, and stood up again.
Without new fuel added, the fire gradually burned out, leaving only a pile of black ashes on the ground.
Tan Linyuan lowered his eyes, his tone even. "The truly important things cannot be seen with the eyes."
His voice was so serene that it made Nan Yu think of the monks in Changuang Temple who chanted scriptures at the feet of the gods and Buddhas.
Ethereal, calm, and with a touch of Buddhist enlightenment.
"Your parents' treatment of you is known best by yourself. Let alone a letter or a single sentence. None of these can represent your true feelings."
Nan Yu was silent for a few seconds, then spoke softly. "But I have no way to verify the real answer, right?"
She switched back and forth between memories and reality. The huge gap made it hard for her to tell what was real and what was fake.
What was real and what was false?
After the fire went out, the temperature around dropped rapidly. Nan Yu felt a bit cold.
She folded her arms, looking so dejected and absent - minded that it was hard to catch her mood.
A few seconds later, a coat filled with the scent of wood landed on her shoulders.
Her heart skipped a beat.
The autumn wind in the evening carried a sense of loneliness, making the elm leaves on the tree rustle. New leaves fluttered down.
She looked up and saw the leaves falling bit by bit between her and Tan Linyuan.
For a moment, she couldn't see his face clearly.
Tan Linyuan stared at her. After a long time, he said in a deep voice, "You don't need to verify being loved. You know the answer."
Nan Yu suddenly felt a pang in her heart.
She had grown up in love, which was why she could blossom into a beautiful flower.
However, having grown up so smoothly, when facing the storm, she would instinctively panic.
Fortunately, he, like a big tree, could still protect her.
He would stand in front of her and block the biting cold wind blowing from the darkness for her.
-
The Shen family had given Nan Yu a week to consider, but before the deadline, Shen Yanche came to the door on his own initiative.
When Tan Linyuan opened the door, he frowned at the eye - catching red roses.
"Uncle, is Yu Yu awake?" Shen Yanche was a bit reserved and moved the flowers aside.
Tan Linyuan stepped aside to let him into the villa.
Nan Yu had just come out of the bathroom. She didn't expect Shen Yanche to come suddenly. "Do you need something from me?"
Shen Yanche quickly put on a smile and handed the roses to her. "Yu Yu, these are for you."
Nan Yu didn't want to accept his flowers, so she made up an excuse and took a step back, frowning and covering her nose. "I'm allergic to pollen."
Shen Yanche immediately apologized, turned around, and put the bouquet in a more distant place. "I'll take it away when I leave."
As they were talking, Tan Linyuan still stood at the entrance. Hearing Nan Yu say she was allergic to pollen, he lifted his eyes.
So, she was allergic to pollen.
Failing to please her, Shen Yanche felt a bit embarrassed. He rubbed his hands and asked carefully, "Yu Yu, can we go out for a walk? I want to talk to you."
"What can't be said here?" Tan Linyuan said casually. "Is it something I can't hear?"
Shen Yanche felt a bit humiliated. "Of course not."
But in fact, what he wanted to say was indeed something Tan Linyuan couldn't hear.
Shen Yanche looked at Nan Yu, hoping she could help him out.
Unexpectedly, Nan Yu was on the same side as Tan Linyuan at this moment. "Since there's nothing like that, just say it here. Uncle is not an outsider."
After saying that, she calmly glanced at Tan Linyuan from the corner of her eye.
As if sensing her gaze, Tan Linyuan also lifted his eyes and looked at her calmly.
It was the same cold and calm look as usual, but Nan Yu felt that there was a faint smile in his eyes.
She had just said that he wasn't an outsider.
Since things had come to this point, Shen Yanche had no choice but to compromise, but he kept hesitating and couldn't say a word for a long time.
Tan Linyuan raised his eyebrows. "You two can talk in the living room."
After saying that, he went straight back to his study and even closed the door specially.
Seeing Tan Linyuan avoid them on his own initiative, Shen Yanche finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense expression relaxed a bit.
Nan Yu noticed his change and guessed something in her heart. "Let's sit on the sofa and talk."
After they sat down, Shen Yanche got straight to the point. "Yu Yu, Wen Ying is pregnant. It's my child."
Wen Ying was the woman who had pushed her down at the entrance of the Civil Affairs Bureau that day. Nan Yu remembered it clearly.
Shen Yanche continued. "We've been to the hospital for an examination. Wen Ying has a low fertility rate. If she has an abortion, she won't be able to become a mother in the future."
This news came so suddenly that Nan Yu was very surprised.
But apart from surprise, she didn't have any other strong feelings. She just nodded. "Go on."
"… I want to keep this child." Shen Yanche took a deep breath. "I know this might make you feel wronged, but the child is innocent after all."
Nan Yu sorted out the information and asked calmly, "So, you want Miss Wen to give birth to the child and then let the child enter the Shen family?"
"That's what I mean." Shen Yanche nodded. "After all, I can't just watch my child be born without a father."
It was really strange. It was he who had made a woman pregnant out of wedlock first, but he made it sound as if he was very responsible.
Nan Yu thought this kind of attitude was disgusting.
"Wen Ying's income from her job is unstable. If she has to raise the child alone, her life will be very hard in the future."
When he said this, he even showed a bit of pity. "I really don't want the child to drift around with her. Yu Yu, can you understand my feelings?"
Nan Yu really wanted to say that she couldn't understand.
Before, her impression of Shen Yanche was that of a gentle and elegant gentleman; now, it seemed that he was just a hypocrite.
She had no patience for this hypocritical man in front of her, and her tone became sarcastic. "Does Wen Ying also agree to give birth to this child?"
"She knows that it's not easy for her to get pregnant, so she also wants to keep the child."
Shen Yanche finally got to the point. "She hopes that I can accompany her during the pregnancy until she gives birth."