Chapter 05 – You Can

“But that’s wrong.” The girl had her own thoughts. “You can’t stick to someone when they’re doing well and then abandon them when they’re in trouble.”

There was still naive stubbornness in her eyes. It was obvious that she couldn’t get over the hurdle in her heart.

“No,” Huo Jue said, “The Wen family never owed him anything. His whole family was sentenced to death, and it was your family who spent a fortune to save his life. For this, your family even sold your dowry. Don’t you know?”

Wen Hui suddenly understood.

“Did they sell my dowry?” She figured it out, “No wonder my mother has been worried for the past two years, trying her best to save money.”

Huo Jue said, “He’s the one who dragged you down. Do you blame him?”

Wen Hui was more open-minded than he thought. She said, “How could I blame him? If my dowry can help him, that’s a good thing.”

Huo Jue was silent for a long time before he said, “So, you don’t owe him anything.”

“I understand.” Wen Hui asked, “Then can I discuss another marriage again?”

Huo Jue nodded. “Of course.”

With his words, the girl’s shoulders suddenly relaxed, as if whatever burden she had been carrying all this time had been forgiven.

“That’s good,” she said, but her eyes were red.

“So, you came all the way here, just to tell him about this?” Huo Jue asked indifferently.

“No, of course not.” Wen Hui denied helplessly, afraid that Huo Jue wouldn’t believe her.

Huo Jue asked, “Then why did you come?”

The person in front of her was completely different from the one she had known through letters. The intimacy and concern between the lines were not present in this person. He was handsome, but he was as cold as a rock and as distant as a mountain.

The Brother Lian Yi in Yue Ya’er’s heart shouldn’t be like this.

“I, I came too late, didn’t I?” She stammered, “It’s my fault. There have been no letters for two years. I should have sensed that something was wrong. I should have come as soon as something happened to him. You, he … you should tell him not to be angry with me.”

Huo Jue looked away, “He’s not angry. He never expected you to come at all. You shouldn’t have come.”

Wen Hui’s tears suddenly fell.

“I had to come,” she said, “Brother Lian Yi and I were engaged when we were young. Every year, he wrote me a lot of letters and gave me a lot of things. He treats me better than my own brother. I didn’t know that something like this had happened to him. Now that I know, I don’t have the ability to help him, but I have a few words that I must say to him.”

Huo Jue gritted his teeth, “You speak, I’ll tell him.”

Wen Hui looked at the young man in front of her, who didn’t feel any familiarity. She took a deep breath and mustered up her courage to say, “My father often said ‘Even if you step on the dirt and carry sky above your head, if you push hard enough, you can make a way out to the ground.”

“I traveled thousands of miles from Qingzhou to here. I lost my way, lost money, was cheated, and was bitten by snakes and insects, just to see him.”

“I just want to tell him … In life, there’s more than one path to take. He’s just changing another path now. It might be harder, but he must keep going and live his life.”

“I, I’ve said what I wanted to say. You … since you’ve heard it for him, can you promise on his behalf?”

Huo Jue looked up at her.

The girl didn’t turn her face, and faint hair could still be seen on her skin. She was just a half-grown girl. It was very likely that this was the first time in her life that she had gone on a long journey.

Just to say such empty words to him.

Huo Jue found it ridiculous.

However, he couldn’t laugh. Not only could he not laugh, when he saw the young girl in front of him pursing her lips tightly. Her bright black eyes looked at him foolishly and stubbornly, as if she wouldn’t back down until she got a definite answer. A sourness inexplicably rushed to his eyes and nose.

[Brother Lian Yi: Yue Ya’er was caught by Mother yesterday when she secretly ate pine nut candy. She was hit on the hand and it hurts. Yue Ya’er doesn’t want to stay here anymore. Brother Lian Yi, quickly come and marry me~!]

[Brother Lian Yi: Yue Ya’er received the kite and clay doll you gave me. Mother asked Yueya to sew socks for you as a return gift, but she complained that Yue Ya’er didn’t sew them well. She sewed a few pairs of socks for you and said that it was Yue Ya’re who sewed them. Don’t believe her. The ones with fine stitches were sewn by Mother. The ones with big stitches were sewn by Yue Ya’er.]

[Brother Lian Yi …]

In his bitterness, Huo Jue’s eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of mist and he couldn’t see clearly. The girl in front of him seemed to shrink in size, turning into the foolishly naive little fiancee in the letters, every line and word filled with innocence.

All those years, he had been waiting for her to grow up.

Huo Jue held back the bitterness in his eyes and looked at the nervous and stubborn girl in front of him. He finally nodded and agreed, “Okay.”

Wen Hui had traveled thousands of miles just to get this answer.

Hearing those words personally, Wen Hui finally felt relieved and smiled. As she smiled, she gradually lowered her head, and a few drops of tears fell on the ground.

“Then …” she said softly, “I’ll go back and get married.”

Those memories of kites, clay dolls, pine nuts candy, and those dreams of a happy marriage and big fat babies were all shattered with her words.

“Okay.” Huo Jue gritted his teeth and said, “You have to be filial to your in-laws, respect your husband, and manage the household diligently.”

Wen Hui said, “Okay.”

Wen Hui wiped her face, pulled the reins, and mounted the horse. Her movements were agile.

She looked at the young man one last time and said, “Then tell him, to take care of himself.”

Huo Jue only nodded.

Wen Hui glanced at him again. In the past, she didn’t remember Big Brother Lian Yi’s appearance because she was young. Now that she was older, she had to remember.

Wen Hui had only lived for no more than thirteen years. She had been Huo Jue’s fiancée since she could remember. Since she was young, she had been instilled with the idea of being the daughter-in-law of the Huo family in the future. She had been constantly exchanging letters with Huo Jue and gradually grew up under his care and affection.

Her future life was planned based on “how to be a good daughter-in-law of the Huo family”.

Her fiancé, Huo Jue, had played a very important role in Wen Hui’s life in the past thirteen years.

Therefore, when her mother suddenly told her that she had another marriage arranged for her, it was like a bolt out of the blue for the young girl. directly knocking her senseless and unable to accept it.

The stubborn girl felt that this was a betrayal to Huo Jue. Guilt and self-blame filled her heart and it was difficult to calm down. That was why she had made this reckless journey of traveling a thousand miles on her own.

Finally, they met, they spoke, and settled the matter.

From then on, she no longer owed him anything and felt relieved.

Wen Hui also nodded at Huo Jue. She turned the horse’s head and lashed out with her whip. The chestnut horse ran in the direction it had come from and left without looking back.

The riverbank was silent.

Kang Shun, Xiao An, and the others looked at each other.

In the end, Kang Shun pushed Xiao An. Xiao An staggered a step and turned around to glare at Kang Shun. He straightened his clothes and walked to Huo Jue’s side.

“Brother Yong Ping …” he said softly, “Let’s …”

Huo Jue suddenly pulled off the purse from his waist and stuffed it into Xiao An’s hand, saying, “She doesn’t have enough money. Go, give this to her!”

Xiao An was stunned for a moment.

Huo Jue shouted, “Go!”

Xiao An came back to his senses and stuffed the pouch into his arms. “I’ll go!” He hurriedly went to lead his horse and chased after Wen Hui.

The rest of them exchanged glances. Kang Shun still stood up and wanted to comfort Huo Jue.

However, Huo Jue strode over, mounted his horse, and lashed out with his whip. The horse neighed in pain, spread its hooves, and ran in the opposite direction of Wen Hui.

Kang Shun shouted, “Yong Ping!” The eldest companion grabbed him and shook his head, “Let him be alone for a while.”

His companions all sighed.

The companions all sighed. Some wiped their eyes.

At this moment, they all empathized. Each of them was actually Yong Ping. From the day their bodies were broken, their previous lives were shattered long ago.

Huo Jue urged his horse to to gallop. In the autumn wind, tears finally welled up in his eyes.

By the time the horse gradually slowed down, the tears on his face had dried up in the wind.

His companions caught up after a while. When the sky was dark, they waited for Xiao An outside the city gate of Changsha Prefecture.

“I didn’t catch up with her.” Xiao An was depressed, “I chased her for a long way, but I didn’t see her.”

Kang Shun looked at Huo Jue and comforted him, “Maybe she took another path.”

Xiao An was about to say something, but Huo Jue had already stood up, “It’s okay. She has martial arts skills. It’s okay.”

Although Yue Ya’er was young, she was skilled in martial arts. If she could travel alone from Shandong to Huguang alone. Huo Jue believed that she could return safely.

“Let’s go. It’s time to go back and report to the Fourth Young Master.” He was the first to get on his horse.

His companions got on their horses one after another and deliberately said things like, “We did a good job this time. It will definitely make the Fourth Young Master happy.” or “It’s all thanks to Yong Ping this time.”

Huo Jue acted as if he couldn’t hear them. He pulled the reins and entered the gate before it closed.

She traveled thousands of miles to tell him that life has more than one path.

But what kind of path could he take … He held the reins and looked at the lights on the city gate. The tunnel was deep, narrow, and dimly lit. People rushing in and out at the last minute seemed like ghost shadows.

The soldiers guarding the gate shouted, “Hurry up, hurry up! The gate is about to close!”

When the people heard this, they nervously quickened their pace, as if they were fleeing for their lives, and madly rushing.

The outer gate closed first. The heavy door required the combined efforts of a few strong men to push it. the squeaking of the door hinges making one’s teeth ache.

When the echoing sound of the huge city gate closing and the massive wooden bolt locking into place came from behind, Huo Jue’s horse stepped out of the dim tunnel.

The streets of Changsha Prefecture were lined with rows of lanterns. Laughter came from the night market, and cheers came from the restaurants. Handkerchiefs fell from the brothels to the street from time to time and were caught by handsome young men.

“Young Master, I’m here.” The flirtatious women leaned against the window and teased, smiling with seductive eyes.

Another kind of prosperity quietly rose in the night.

…

Contrary to what Huo Jue had thought, Wen Hui almost didn’t make it back to Shandong.

Although she had settled things and no longer had a burden in her heart, losing the support of her life for more than a decade was still hard to bear. She rode and galloped for a while before dismounted. She led the horse into the empty woods by the road and cried.

Xiao An had chased after her to deliver some money, but they missed each other here.

After crying, she got on the horse and walked for a while. On the road ahead, an old man’s ox cart had somehow overturned by the side of the road. The old man was worried.

Since Wen Hui had encountered it, she couldn’t ignore it. Together with the old man, she rolled two large stones from the side of the road and found a branch as thick as a child’s arm. The two of them worked together to “pry” the overturned cart up.

The old man warmly invited her to his house. Wen Hui’s mind was in a mess, and she didn’t have the heart to rush on the road. She accepted the old man’s invitation and followed him down the official road to go home.

Xiao An chased for a long time but didn’t see Wen Hui’s figure. He returned along the official road and missed Wen Hui again.