Listening to Ge Junjian’s story, Qin Yirou could feel a sense of grief from his words.
“Officer Ge must have loved your wife very much back then?” asked Qin Yirou.
She was in her forties and had two children but somehow, she was interested in Ge Junjian’s circumstances.
As if having no one to vent all these years, Ge Junjian seemed to have a place to pour his emotions out now that he met Qin Yirou.
He nodded and shook his head. “I thought she was pretty back then, don’t know if I’ve loved her. It was an arranged marriage by my parents when they were still alive anyway. She asked for a divorce out of the blue after that and I agreed instantly. I had feelings, more or less, we’d been together for so many years after all.”
Qin Yirou understood what Ge Junjian meant. His marriage was probably one that was matched in terms of family background and status. The upper class prioritized marriages that would affect the profit and wealth creation of the two families.
Ge Junjian carried himself like he was from a wealthy household.
“I’m actually quite similar to you…” Qin Yirou said with a small smile as she shook her head.
Two hearts that had lost love in their early years and beat along the rocky road, that stayed on two parallel lines, gradually converged into intersecting during this long night.—It was just that no one had realized it yet.
…
Back to when Si Yi had tugged Yun Zhu and conveniently, Yun Jian, toward the sundry shop…
Woof! Woof! Woof, woof, woof!
It was later into the night where it was the quietest between 8:30pm to 12am on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Fireworks and firecrackers shot into the sky occasionally but silence returned when the whine and crackle died down.
The trio could even hear the dogs barking.
“Jiejie, Si Yi-gege, walk faster! I’m scared, there are dogs!” Little Yun Zhu pulled Yun Jian and Si Yi in each of his hands and ran faster with his short legs, his body leaning forward like a little charging hero.
“Don’t be scared, Xiao Zhu. Jiejie and Si Yi-gege are here with you!” Despite her words of comfort, Yun Jian allowed herself to be tugged forward by the boy.
They had not heard any barking when they came out just now but it was incessant this time.
Spreading his long legs in moving forward, Si Yi’s single step was enough for Yun Zhu and Yun Jian to jog a little to catch up.
With a smile, Si Yi could see Yun Jian’s delicate pretty face under the moonlight through the corner of his eyes with a slight left tilt.
When they passed by the house of the earlier whippersnappers, Yun Zhu ran even faster. A gleam flashed across Si Yi’s eyes.
Ultimately, Yun Zhu had run holding both of them and arrived at the shop.
There were a lot of patrons at the shop currently, seemingly here to buy firecrackers. Yun Jian was tugged along by Yun Zhu as he followed Si Yi into the shop.
“Heh, heh, it’s you guys!” A child’s cackle sounded and when Yun Jian turned to look, a boy who was about Yun Zhu’s age was looking at them standing beside an adult.
The adult was probably in the shop to buy firecrackers like everyone else while there was a group of children behind the boy, most likely his playmates.
The boy was none other than the crew cut kid who threw lit firecrackers at her and Yun Zhu!
Yun Jian narrowed her eyes.
“Jinjin, it’s them! I was scolded by my mom because of them!” One of the whippersnappers pointed at the siblings and told the crew cut boy.