Chapter 82: I Have a Home Again

Su Yiren gazed at the dilapidated building, her heart aching.

Since the fire five years ago, she hadn’t stepped foot in this place, simply because she couldn’t bear to face it again.

The laughter and joy of the past were buried under the rubble, and the loved ones she once had, one by one, disappeared from the world.

Only she remained.

She took a deep breath, tears welling up in her eyes.

Five years ago, her parents perished in a maritime disaster, the entire ship lost at sea.

Following that, the Su family business suffered a severe blow and went downhill.

To add insult to injury, the Su family ancestral home was consumed by a raging fire, destroying all the rare treasures, famous paintings and calligraphy. Fortunately, her grandfather wasn’t at the ancestral home that day and escaped the disaster.

The fire burned for a whole night, turning everything to ashes, leaving only the ruins before her.

Her grandfather, struck by one blow after another, passed away not long after. In his dying moments, he entrusted his friend, Old Master Lu, to take care of her. As Jiang Jinyun and her mother had been close friends, she was taken in by the Lu family and married to Lu Yunting.

Memories flashed through her mind, like shooting stars fleeting across the sky, so bright yet impossible to grasp.

A tear rolled down her cheek, landing on the scorched earth beneath her feet, quickly vanishing without a trace.

“Dad, Mom, Grandpa… I’m back.”

Su Yiren slowly closed her eyes, her chest tight and aching, making it hard to breathe.

Si Hong stood behind her, watching her thin and fragile figure, silent and still, his heart filled with a pang of sympathy.

She was no longer the little girl in a princess dress, dancing gracefully under the moonlight.

The harsh realities of life had shattered her princess dream prematurely, forcing her to waste five years of her youth by the side of a man who didn’t love her.

How fleeting is a person’s youth?

She had given the most beautiful part of it to that man.

Yet he discarded it like a worn-out shoe.

If he hadn’t been on a mission and completely unaware, how could he have allowed the treasure he held in his palm for so many years to fall into the hands of such a man?

Si Hong silently clenched his fist, closing his eyes.

When he opened them again, the turbulent emotions in his eyes had subsided, replaced by his usual composure and warmth.

“The blueprints for the ancestral home are all ready. Would you have time to look at them?”

“You’re going to rebuild it?” A glimmer of light suddenly appeared in Su Yiren’s eyes.

Si Hong nodded. “But this manor is too big. I can only restore it from memory, and I’ll need your help to confirm some details.”

Su Yiren couldn’t hold back her tears, she didn’t know what to say.

“Thank you, Si Hong,” she looked at the handsome and elegant man in front of her, her tears streaming down her face, “Thank you for restoring it.”

Si Hong reached out to wipe away her tears, his long, narrow eyes filled with tenderness and sympathy.

“Being so formal with me, are you being too distant?”

“Everything you’ve done for me and the entire Su family over the years, how can a simple thank you express it?” Su Yiren took a deep breath, her eyes filled with gratitude, “But I still want to thank you.”

Si Hong gazed intently at her clear and bright eyes, still as pure as they were in her childhood.

Seeing her sincerity, a soft feeling arose in his heart.

“Alright, just this once.”

“Okay, no more next time.”

They both smiled, their understanding unspoken.

“Reconstruction will take at least a year. During this time, you can stay at the Shengxi Villa for now. It’s not far from the company and here, and you can come over to check on the construction progress frequently. Staying in a hotel all the time wouldn’t be convenient.”

“Okay,” Su Yiren nodded, “I can move in today. I don’t have much stuff anyway.”

Si Hong nodded. “The villa is all set up. You don’t need to prepare anything.”

He said she didn’t need to prepare anything, Su Yiren just assumed it meant she didn’t need to bring any daily necessities. But as she pushed open the villa door, she froze.

The entire living room was almost identical to her home abroad.

The same European-style sofa, the same English grandfather clock, the same fireplace, even the pattern on the curtains was the same as her previous home.

Su Yiren looked at Si Hong in disbelief. Before she could ask, he calmly explained:

“Don’t misunderstand, I just bought some similar items based on the layout of that house. I didn’t bring anything back from abroad.”

“Si Hong…” Su Yiren wanted to say thank you, but remembering his previous words “just this once,” her heart felt warm and touched.

She pursed her lips and suddenly went up to him and hugged him.

“I have a home again…” Not only did he rebuild the ancestral home, but he also gave her back the place where she had lived from childhood to adulthood.

She thought that leaving the Lu family and returning to Rongcheng would make her lonely and isolated. But he had given her a new home in this strange yet familiar city.

Su Yiren took a deep breath, it would be a lie to say she wasn’t moved.

The embrace was brief, like two friends reunited after a long separation, expressing their excitement and longing.

But Si Hong froze in place. When her soft body enveloped him, his mind went blank.

It wasn’t until she let go of him and ran around looking at the different rooms that Si Hong came back to his senses.

He unconsciously touched the arm she had hugged, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Su Yiren ran up and down the stairs, her heart filled with joy and excitement, along with a touch of nostalgia.

Since getting married, she had never been back. She was afraid of stepping into that empty house again.

Without her parents, the whole house felt incomplete.

But over time, she missed home even more, especially when she was unhappy. She longed to return to the days of her past.

Even if she was alone now, she wanted to live in that house.

Si Hong stood at the bottom of the stairs, his hand in his pocket, looking up at her as she ran through each room. He couldn’t help but smile.

“You’ll have plenty of time to look around later. A new shopping mall has been built nearby. I’ll take you there and we’ll buy some groceries.”

He glanced at his watch.

“If we’re any later, we won’t have time to cook dinner.”

Su Yiren closed the bedroom door and asked,

“Are we eating at home?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t you get tired of eating out all the time?”

Su Yiren thought about it and agreed. She leaned against the railing and asked him,

“You’re going to cook for me?”

Si Hong pretended to be displeased.

“Can’t you cook for me once? My culinary master.”

Su Yiren was amused by him.

“I wouldn’t dare call myself a culinary master. To be honest, I haven’t cooked in a long time. Today I’m going to show off my skills and reward my benefactor!”

When they first got married, Su Yiren would often cook for Lu Yunting. But he often worked late, or was out socializing, and wouldn’t get home until very late.

He wouldn’t tell her in advance whether he would be eating at home that night, so she would prepare meals and wait for him every day.

But in the end, he would never show up, and those delicious meals would often be given to the servants or thrown directly into the trash the next day.

She didn’t like wasting food, and after a while, she stopped cooking for him.

Thinking about it, he hadn’t eaten much of her cooking. The only thing he could probably stomach over the years was the hangover tea she made.

Memories flashed through her mind, Su Yiren took a deep breath and suppressed the thoughts she shouldn’t have.

They walked out of the villa together, and as they stepped out of the yard, they saw a familiar black SUV parked in front of the villa next door.

Su Yiren unconsciously looked at the license plate number, and immediately stopped in her tracks.