Chapter 369: Chapter 369: Returning to the Ding Family_1
I chose to reject Shen Yishu’s kindness.

Despite the feeling of collapse within, I had no tears, not a single drop.

Is it because my heart has already grown numb?

Or had I anticipated this outcome long ago?

I don’t know!

I silently lowered my head and lit a stick of incense for him.

The moment I closed my eyes.

It seemed as though I could clearly see his face again, he was smiling at me…

I suddenly opened my eyes.

Although there’s not a single photo of him in this room, I always feel like I can see him.

Shen Yishu stood beside me, watching me with a worried expression,

“Xiaoyun… when that master was telling you the story just now, I heard it too, and it seemed to me there were some illogical parts.”

I answered distractedly, eyes downcast, “Really?”

“Yes! Look, from start to finish, she never mentioned that the Gu Family’s enemy was Song Shixiong!”

“So what if she didn’t?”

“I think there’s a misunderstanding! Why don’t you visit the Song Family again and investigate this matter thoroughly?”

At times like this, Shen Yishu was calmer than I was.

But my whole being was soaked in sorrow, like a leaf drenched for a day and a night in a heavy rain, dripping with the water of sadness from head to toe.

I simply didn’t have the strength to think about these things anymore.

Later, Shen Yishu said a lot.

But I couldn’t take any of it in.

I only saw his lips moving, his eyes showing traces of worry, but I couldn’t hear his voice.

All I heard was a constant ringing in my ears.

It was as if my whole being was floating in mid-air.

He felt like a Wi-Fi signal, intermittent and unreliable…

It took a long while before I came back to my senses when he reached out to snatch the cinerary casket from my hands.

“Shen Yishu, what are you doing? Have you lost your mind?”

Looking at Shen Yishu before me, he seemed like he hadn’t washed his face for days, with stubble all over, and his coat was still marked with mud.

How did he suddenly become so unkempt, when he was still so neat and clean when we went up the mountain together in the morning?

“Give me the cinerary casket!”

Shen Yishu insisted.

I was somewhat angry. I knew he had always been dissatisfied with Gu Yuanzhou, so even after Gu Yuanzhou’s death, he refused to believe in him.

I lost control and yelled at him.

“Shen Yishu, this is none of your business, just go!”

“Xiaoyun, do you realize how much this hurts me? You’ve been holding that cinerary casket for three days, not eating, not sleeping. Look at what you’ve become. Go look in the mirror, see yourself. Yes, Gu Yuanzhou is dead! But what does his death have to do with you? The dead can’t be brought back to life, and besides that, is there nobody else in the world besides Gu Yuanzhou for you to care about? Don’t you see anyone else’s love for you? Is there no one else in this world that you can care about?”

I was stunned by Shen Yishu’s words.

Was he sick?

What three days!

We’ve been down from Qingmu Mountain for less than a day, haven’t we?

But by now, I didn’t want to explain anything to him anymore; I just found him annoying.

So, I blurted out something very irrational and hurtful.

“Yes, Shen Yishu! Gu Yuanzhou is dead, and there’s no one left in the world I care about.”

The words came out almost without thought.

Shen Yishu looked at me, his eyes filled with the expression of someone who’s been hurt.

“You can leave, I just want to be alone with Gu Yuanzhou. You can leave, you can leave!”

When Shen Yishu turned to leave, his expression was deeply hurt.

But… I didn’t care.

I don’t know how long had passed when my phone began to ring.

Glancing at it, it was Wenya calling…

After I answered, her voice sounded extremely anxious through the phone,

“Ayun, where are you? Why haven’t you been back to Xishan Residence in three days? Su Peisheng and I have been going there every day.”

“Uh, Wenya… Three days, are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“Ayun, Ayun, say something! Just grunt to let me know you’re there, what the hell do you mean by keeping your phone on and not making a sound? Do you have any idea how worried I am? If you don’t show up soon, I’m going to call the police.”

“Wenya, I’m just fine!”

It took repeating myself three times before Wenya could hear my voice.

Was it because the signal was bad?

“Ayun, why does your voice sound like that? It’s so hoarse?”

“Wenya, I’m a bit tired, can we talk later?”

“Ayun, Ayun, Ayun, don’t hang up on me. You haven’t told me where you are yet? Tell me clearly, I’ll come to be with you right now.”

“Wenya, I really am alright.”

I hung up the phone.

My head was aching. Had it really been three days?

I seriously glanced at the time, and indeed, the date on my phone showed it had been three days.

When exactly did I lose my sense of the passage of time?

Right then, my phone rang again, this time it was Ding Mom calling.

“Ayun!”

“Mom!”

“Ayun! I’ve been to Xishan Residence twice and didn’t see you. I was thinking, could you come over for dinner tonight? Ruirui keeps asking to see her little auntie!”

“Mm, sure, I’m free tonight, I’ll come over…”

Mentioning Ding Ruirui brought a glimmer of light to my heart.

That’s when it hit me that I was still alive, maybe Shen Yishu was right.

I can’t continue to waste away like this, I have many things that need to be dealt with.

I am still married to Ding Yinuo!

I mustered up the energy to get up and placed the cinerary casket on the cabinet.

I went into the bathroom, originally planning to wash my face.

But in the mirror, I saw a woman whose face was haggard, so thin she was nearly unrecognizable, her skin dull, and with two large dark circles under her eyes like a panda.

Her hair was messy and stuck together, and her protruding collarbones were particularly alarming.

No wonder Shen Yishu scolded me; I truly couldn’t recognize myself anymore.

I held my cheeks with both hands and was dazed for a long time.

Then I took off my clothes and took a proper bath, letting the hot water soak in.

Then washed my face, brushed my teeth…

Oddly enough, Gu Yuanzhou had renovated this villa according to the specifications of the Yin Mansion.

But now living here, I feel an indescribable comfort.

The everyday items here are just like the ones I used back in Golden Bay; even my skincare products, shower gel, and even my makeup, sleepwear, and slippers were exactly the same as before.

This place… It could allow me to live comfortably for the rest of my life.

Living here doesn’t have the eerie feel of living in the Yin Mansion; on the contrary, it’s as comfortable as living in my own home.

Thinking of this, I suddenly got goosebumps again.

Gu Yuanzhou… since you prepared everything so thoroughly for me, is it because you already foresaw this day?