Today had been a terrible day, Lin Aiyun thought to herself.
She finally mustered up some energy when quitting time came, slowly packing her things and heading out of the association.
Xiao Cheng’s car was parked in its usual spot. She was still walking down the stairs when he got out and came toward her, taking the things she was carrying, helping her adjust her collar, and then taking her hand.
“Why are your hands so cold?” Xiao Cheng frowned slightly, his warm palm rubbing against hers, as if trying to chase away the chill with his own body heat.
Lin Aiyun curved her lips slightly and explained, “I was holding things and stayed outside for a while. That’s all.”
“We’ll stop by the department store and get you a pair of gloves.” They’d just reached the car. As he spoke, Xiao Cheng opened the door for her. He tried to pull his hand back, but she held it fast—he couldn’t pull away.
He looked up at her, puzzled.
“Alright. I want a bright color—something that makes my skin look fairer.” She raised her brows playfully, her soft, slender fingers lightly scratching his thumb, sending a tingle through him.
Irresistibly charming.
“Whatever you want—you pick.” Xiao Cheng’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He quickly glanced around and, seeing no one nearby, lowered his head to steal a kiss on her lips. “Don’t tempt me.”
His large hand ruffled her hair before he pulled away.
Lin Aiyun pressed her lips together, deciding she’d wait until they got home to ask him.
This was before the planned economy took hold, so shopping was still fairly convenient. Street vendors carrying their wares on shoulder poles were everywhere. The two bought a pair of gloves and two scarves of the same style but different colors before heading out.
“I want some fried chestnuts.” Lin Aiyun’s sharp eyes spotted a stall at the alley entrance. She turned to Xiao Cheng with a coaxing tone, her voice soft and sweet—the kind that made people want to pluck the stars from the sky for her, let alone buy a bag of chestnuts.
Xiao Cheng squinted with a smile and led her by the hand toward the stall. The vendor was an elderly man in a thick dark-blue coat. Seeing customers, his grin stretched nearly to his ears. “How many jin?”
Xiao Cheng named a number. The old man casually scooped some from his bamboo basket and weighed them—it was almost exactly right. He added a few more to make it just perfect. This was the skill of an old hand who’d learned the tricks of the trade through years of experience.
After weighing came the roasting. The fire was turned up high, and before long, they had a large bag of freshly fried chestnuts.
“Buying so many—we won’t be able to finish them.” Lin Aiyun looked at the full bag of chestnuts, her almond-shaped eyes curving into crescents, though she couldn’t help making a comment.
Xiao Cheng peeled one for her, tossing the shells into the trash, and blew on it to cool it down before feeding it to her. Hearing her remark, he smiled and said, “We’ll share some with Mom and Dad when we get home. If there are leftovers, we can cook them into congee tomorrow morning—that’s delicious too.”
Hearing this, Lin Aiyun forgot about the chestnut still in her mouth and burst out laughing, teasing him: “Look at Mr. Xiao, learning how to be frugal now?”
“This is being frugal?” Seeing her laugh so happily, he smiled too.
“Well, we’re about to have another mouth to feed—we should save where we can. Haven’t you heard that kids are also called ‘money-devouring beasts’?” Lin Aiyun stuffed a chestnut into Xiao Cheng’s mouth. As he bit into it, the fragrance of chestnuts filled his mouth—so good he wanted a few more, until it was stuffed full.
“Money isn’t saved—it’s earned. As long as I’m here, you’ll never be short of it.”
Admittedly, Xiao Cheng’s words made some sense. Lin Aiyun couldn’t find fault with them and nodded in agreement. “True. From now on, you’ll have to work even harder. There’s a lot more spending ahead.”
“Understood!” Xiao Cheng leaned in and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, his handsome profile radiating a relaxed, joyful air.
Laughing and chatting, they made their way home. After sharing the still-warm chestnuts with everyone, they went to their room to put things away. Lin Aiyun watched Xiao Cheng standing in front of the wardrobe, looking for a thick coat for her. Her hands, resting on her knees, curled unconsciously. After a long pause, she finally spoke up as if casually.
“Xiao Cheng, I heard something about you today.”
“Mm?” He didn’t turn around, still rummaging through the wardrobe and folding the clothes he’d hastily messed up that morning, seemingly unconcerned about what she might have heard from others.
“Did you used to know a girl who looked a lot like me?”
The moment the words left her mouth, Xiao Cheng’s movements visibly slowed until they came to a complete stop. His instinctive reaction already gave Lin Aiyun her answer.
“Who told you that?” Xiao Cheng didn’t turn to look at her. His jawline instantly tensed, a flash of panic crossing his eyes, as if facing a problem he didn’t know how to explain. His breathing slowed considerably.
The doubt that had been pressing on her mind was now answered, and Lin Aiyun let out a breath of relief. “So it’s true.”
“Wife.” Hearing Lin Aiyun’s words, Xiao Cheng quickly turned and strode to her side, taking her hands. His tone was a bit urgent. “I don’t know how to explain this, but the one I love—the only one I’ve ever loved—is you, Lin Aiyun!”
He had no idea what she’d heard outside, how much of it was true and how much was false.
Why she’d waited so long to bring it up, and what she thought of it all.
But he had to say at least one thing to calm her down, to keep her from bottling up negative feelings—that would be bad for her and for the baby.
“I know. I have enough confidence in that. Why are you so nervous? Come sit up here—the floor is cold.” Lin Aiyun pressed her lips together, trying to tug at his arm to pull him up, but he didn’t budge an inch, as solid as a weight.
Xiao Cheng knelt on one knee by the bed, his hand firmly holding hers, fingers interlaced, as if afraid she might turn away and leave at any second.
“Fine, then just talk to me like this.” Lin Aiyun met his deep eyes, filled with a swirl of emotions, and gave in with a helpless sigh. After a moment of silence, she asked: “That woman… who was she? What happened between you?”
Xiao Cheng sighed and tugged the blanket a little higher over her legs.
“It started around last year.”
“I don’t know when it began, but I couldn’t sleep well—I kept having the same dream over and over. At first, I didn’t think much of it, just assumed it was stress-induced insomnia.”
“But every time I dreamed, it was the same woman. So I started wondering if I’d been possessed or if something was wrong with me.”
As he spoke, his hand unconsciously tightened around hers. She squeezed back, even her eyes flickering slightly as she asked softly, “What happened in the dreams?”
Xiao Cheng let out a bitter laugh, looking troubled. “You wouldn’t want to know…”
“No, I do.” Before he could finish, Lin Aiyun cut him off. Seeing her so insistent, Xiao Cheng quickly went along, though he kept the details as vague as possible.
“…”
“In short, it was completely absurd. I’d never even seen that woman before, let alone brought her to this house. Besides, she was much older than me—how could that be possible?”
He let out a scoff. But when he looked up again, he noticed Lin Aiyun’s expression was rather peculiar, a faint flush even coloring her cheeks. He assumed she was angry—after all, who would be happy hearing their partner describe intimate encounters with someone else?
Overwhelmed by guilt and pity, he lowered his head and quickly changed the subject: “Realizing something was wrong, I started seeing doctors—all the famous ones in the capital, including Gu Yuan.”
Lin Aiyun thought of Zhang Yaoyao and Gu Yuan. She’d heard from the former that Gu Yuan had studied psychology and was one of the few doctors in that field in the country.
“But it didn’t help. I kept dreaming every night, and it kept getting worse.”
“My mother was from Shanghai, so I knew a few renowned doctors there too. I went to see them. One of them was Dr. Liu—highly skilled, had successfully treated similar cases before.”
“But because of the war in Shanghai, he’d returned to his hometown in Jiangming Province. That’s why I went there.”
“And thankfully, that’s where I met you.”
Xiao Cheng’s lips curved up, as if recalling something wonderful. The smile deepened. Lin Aiyun smiled too. “The first time we met, you asked me if I dreamed. So that’s why.”
“It seems she and I really do look alike.”
Her final words carried a cryptic, almost teasing tone. Sensing something off, Xiao Cheng wanted to ask, but didn’t dare to push further in case he sparked her anger. He could only let out an awkward laugh.
“You already know most of what happened after that.”
“Wife, there’s one thing I want to tell you—something I don’t understand myself. Whenever you’re nearby, I don’t dream when I sleep. Without exception.”
“So tell me—do you think those dreams could be about our past lives? Or maybe prophetic dreams?”
A trace of unease flickered across Xiao Cheng’s face. His interlaced fingers were so tightly clasped that his knuckles turned white. He parted his lips, his soft voice tinged with careful hesitation.
From just inches away, Lin Aiyun could deeply feel his tension and anxiety. At that moment, the emotions she’d been holding back finally broke through. Her almond-shaped eyes slowly reddened, and teardrops as large as beans spilled from them, falling onto their joined hands.
“Wife? Aiyun, don’t cry. That woman was just an illusion—she doesn’t exist in this world. I don’t dream anymore. Please don’t cry. It’s all my fault.”
Seeing her cry, Xiao Cheng panicked. He scrambled up from the floor and gently wiped her tears with his thumb, afraid of hurting her with too much force. But the tears seemed to keep coming, and his heart grew more and more frantic—he wanted to slap himself.
He’d promised he would never make her sad…
He was such a bastard!
Lin Aiyun just kept shaking her head, her breathing growing quicker. She wanted to speak but couldn’t find her voice.
“No, Xiao Cheng… sob…”
She reached out, and he immediately understood, pulling her into his arms, gently patting her back with soothing motions.
“It’s okay. Take your time—you can tell me later. I’m right here. I won’t leave you.”
Today had all happened too suddenly. He was still in a daze himself, let alone her. Just thinking about how much mental preparation she must have done before asking him, how many times she’d steeled herself—it cut him like a knife.
But he knew she hadn’t jumped to any wrong conclusions. She trusted him. That trust made him feel utterly ashamed, and he deeply regretted not telling her sooner.
He should have laid everything out that night after they came back from the mountain, instead of hesitating and worrying about this and that, needlessly planting the seeds for misunderstanding.
Now, she’d heard fragments from others and came to ask him—it had already caused her pain.
What did others know? Whoever told her probably wasn’t a good person.
Only he, the one involved, knew the full truth. Only he knew how he truly felt.
Xiao Cheng could clearly feel a sharp pang of panic and fear deep in his chest. He was afraid that once she knew everything, she wouldn’t know how to face him. Afraid she’d overthink…
He couldn’t help pressing his hand lightly to his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. But in the next second, a pair of pale, warm hands covered the back of his. He looked up sharply and met her eyes—filled with laughter.
Xiao Cheng’s body trembled, his breath catching abruptly.
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