Han Yan quickly turned her head to look at him. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

  "Nothing. I just feel sorry for you." His voice was as cold as a chilling wind sweeping up from a deep valley.

  "Sorry for me?"

  "Yes, you married the wrong man. You should have married Gao Lide," he said, his voice low but somehow heavier and louder than the wind and rain outside.

  "You—" Han Yan stared at him. "What do you mean by that?"

  "You know what I mean!" Pei Wen turned his head, his eyes locking onto hers, burning with furious fmes. His face twisted with hatred, coldness, and seething anger.

  The doubts, resentments, and discontent that had built up inside him for so long erupted in that moment. He grabbed her wrist, his face lowering to hers, and his voice came out hoarsely, one word at a time:

  "I'll tell you just one thing. If you truly want to be close to Gao Lide, at least avoid doing it in the living room where the servants can see. I'd appreciate it if you could still leave me some face!"

  "Pei Wen!" Han Yan cried out in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief, pain, and astonishment. Her lips trembled, and her voice was filled with sorrow and fury. "Do you... do you really think there's something between me and Li De? Do you... even you believe those rumors?"

  "Rumors!" Pei Wen loudly interrupted her, his eyes narrowing into slits before fring wide open again, filled with anger and humiliation. "Stop calling them rumors! There's no smoke without fire! Rumors? Rumors? I've lied to myself long enough! I can choose not to believe what others say, but should I also not trust my own eyes?"

  "Your own eyes?" Han Yan gasped. "What did your eyes see?"

  "I saw you and him being intimate! I caught you two being all mushy together!"

  Pei Wen's fingers gripped her arm tightly, squeezing hard. She winced in pain, her body curling in reaction. He pulled her toward him like an eagle snatching a chick, his fiery eyes dangerously close to her face. Speaking in a hushed tone and clenching his teeth, he asked, "Please tell me the truth: Is Tingting Gao Lide's child?"

  Han Yan was so shocked that her eyes widened as if she had heard a thundercp or seen the earth split apart. Her soul felt shattered.

  Outside, the torrential rain poured down like a mountain colpsing into the sea. The house trembled; the wind howled in fury.

  Han Yan's body began to shake uncontrolbly, tears swirling in her eyes. She tried to speak several times but couldn't make a sound. Only now did she truly realize that her world had completely shattered.

  "Say it! Say it! Quick, say it!" Pei Wen shook her, rattling her entire body until her bones felt loose, her teeth cttering with every movement.

  "Say it! Quick, say it!"

  "Pei... Wen," Han Yan finally spoke, her voice trembling. "You... you... you're a bastard!"

  "Oh? I'm a bastard? Is that your answer?" Pei Wen loosened his grip, and Han Yan fell to the floor, colpsing onto the carpet. She y there, motionless, unable to rise.

  Pei Wen stood over her, looking down.

  "A husband who wears a green hat is always the st to know the truth! I suppose everyone knew about this except me—the biggest fool!" He gritted his teeth. "Han Yan, you're worthless!"

  Han Yan shuddered. Her long bck hair spread across the white carpet, her small face as pale as the fabric beneath her. She didn’t speak; she didn’t defend herself. Her teeth sank deep into her lip, blood seeping from the wound and staining the carpet red.

  "Today, I finally realize how na?ve I was. I believed in your innocence, your goodness. I believed in the sanctity of your soul! I'm an idiot! A complete idiot!" He let out a bitter ugh. "I actually believed in a woman from the brothels!"

  His breath came in heavy, bored gasps, his eyes burning with rage.

  "Han Yan! You′re despicable! You′re filthy! You lost your virginity before marriage and after! I must have been blind to marry you!"

  Han Yan curled her body into a small ball, lying on the carpet as if shivering from the cold. Her emotions were frozen, her thoughts numbed, and her heart had sunk into an ice sea several million feet deep. Every word, every sentence from Pei Wen felt like a thorned whip, fiercely shing against her body, heart, and soul. She was in so much pain that she had no strength to resist, to struggle, to think, or to face this cruel reality anymore.

  "Are you not ashamed? Han Yan?" Pei Wen continued, his voice erupting in fury. "I rescued you from that filthy environment, but you can't even get used to a clean life! I should have known the nature of a woman like you! I should have seen your true face! Hanyan, you ungrateful woman! You woman without a conscience, without a soul! You treat me like this; deceive a man who loves you! Hanyan! You worthless breed! Worthless breed! Worthless breed!"

  His voice was loud and powerful, drowning out the wind and rain. It struck her like thunder, constantly hitting her. Seeing that she remained silent and unmoving, he angrily turned and prepared to leave the room. He was going downstairs, going downstairs to find Gao Lide and fight to the death! As he took a step, Han Yan suddenly let out a loud cry, and her consciousness returned in that instant. "No, no, Pei Wen! We can't part like this, not in misunderstanding! No, no, Pei Wen! I'd rather die than lose you! No, no, Pei Wen!" She crawled over, hugging Pei Wen's leg, crying as her cheek pressed against it. Struggling, sobbing, she intermittently said:

  "I... I... I haven't, Pei Wen, I... I have never done anything to wrong you... I love you! Don't leave! Don't abandon me! Pei... Pei Wen, please... please!"

  He violently pulled his foot from her arm, kicking her over. He sneered. "You don't want to leave me? Do you love me, or do you love the tea garden and the wealth of the Bai family?"

  "Oh!" Han Yan shouted in anger, burying her head in her arms, curling up on the floor. She no longer had the strength to struggle or expin for herself. She let Pei Wen storm out of the room. Faintly, she heard him arguing with Gao Lide downstairs. They were fighting so fiercely, so intensely, and she heard Old Mrs. Bai's voice mixed in with them.

  She heard Lao Zhang and A Lan trying to mediate, and she also heard the frightened crying of the child from the nursery. The chaos of voices drowned out the sound of the wind and rain, and louder than all of them was the sharp, high-pitched noise of Old Madam Bai.

  "Is it worth it? To hurt each other's feelings over a woman who has lost her virtue! Pei Wen! You shouldn't bme Li De; you should bme yourself for marrying carelessly!"

  "Oh," Han Yan whispered, "My God, my God! How cruel this world is! How cruel!" Her head drooped to one side; her consciousness became hazy, drifted away, and disappeared. Her mind broke down and colpsed. She fainted.

  She didn't know how much time had passed before she woke up. The sky had already darkened. She realized she was still lying on the carpet, surrounded by darkness and silence. She listened carefully—the rain was still falling, but the typhoon had passed. The rain was drizzling softly, and occasionally, a gust of wind would blow through the distant pine forest, letting out a low, eerie howl. She y there for a while, then slowly sat up. Dizziness struck her, and she swayed dangerously. After a long struggle, she used the bed for support and managed to stand up, fumbling to turn on the light. The room was empty; only she was there. The night was so quiet, so desote. The world had completely abandoned her.

  She gnced at her watch—eleven o'clock! She had slept for so long! What about the others in the house? How had the argument turned out? And Tingting—oh, Tingting! A sharp pain tore through her chest. Her poor, unfortunate little daughter...

  She sat on the edge of the bed for a long time, sitting in a daze, in pain. Then, she stood up and walked out of the room, heading to the nursery across the hall. Who had been taking care of the child all this time? She stepped into the nursery and immediately saw the child sleeping soundly in the crib. An was sitting beside the crib, dozing. When she saw Han Yan, A Lan raised her head and softly said, "I just fed her, changed her diaper, and she fell asleep."

  "Thank you, A Lan," Han Yan said sincerely, her eyes filled with tears. "Please take good care of little Tingting."

  "Yes, Madam," A Lan replied, feeling sympathy for Hanyan. In her eyes, Han Yan was a gentle and kind woman. "I will."

  "Thank you!" Han Yan said again, bending down to gently kiss the child's cheek. A tear fell onto the little face, which she quietly wiped away. Raising her head, she asked A Lan, "Where is Mr. Bai?"

  "He′s sleeping in the guest room."

  "And Mr. Gao?"

  "He packed his things and said he would leave early tomorrow morning. He′s also in his room now."

  "Oh." Han Yan gnced at the child one st time and quietly left the nursery. She walked downstairs to the study, used a key to open the desk drawer, and took out a bound notebook filled with writing. This was a book she had been writing over the past few months—page by page, line by line, word by word, all of it filled with blood and tears. Holding the book, she went upstairs, returned to her bedroom, and closed the door. She took out the box of jewelry that Pei Wen had given her and locked the book inside the box. Then, she sat down and began to write a short note:

  "Pei Wen:

  "I am leaving. After everything that happened today, I know there is no pce for me here anymore. All the love and all the tenderness, have vanished like smoke. I am leaving, and I apologize. Before I leave this world, before I leave you, the st thing I want to say is: I hate you!

  Everything that happened after I entered Hanyan Mountain Vil—all the experiences, all the emotions—I have recorded in a manual. Every word, every line, is written with blood and tears. If you still have any lingering feelings for me, please take good care of Tingting. She is a hundred percent, a thousand percent your flesh and blood. Then, even in the depths of the earth, I will be grateful.

  I leave behind the manuscript along with the jewelry, love, and dreams you gave me. It′s truly a pity that I am unworthy of them. You can give them to someone else who deserves them! Pei Wen, I am leaving. From now on, beneath the pine and bamboo bridge, only a lonely soul remains. May the clear river water be enough to cleanse my defiled soul!

  Pei Wen, this life is over. As for the next life—ha, what will the next life be like?

  Still, I wish you the deepest blessings.

  Hanyan, st words."

  She finished writing the note, pcing it on the jewelry box, leaving it on the bedside table under the small mp. Beside the mp was still a vase with yellow roses, and instinctively, she picked one. Then, she put on a coat, grabbed her small handbag out of habit, and quietly descended the stairs, leaving through the front door. The garden was flooded, with broken wood and branches floating in the water. The rain was still snting, and the wind made her shiver. She stepped into the water, walking carefully toward the iron gate. She opened a small door beside the gate and walked out, leaving Hanyan Vil behind.

  The rain battered her, the wind blew through her, and her long hair fluttered in the storm. The road was full of puddles and mud, but she paid no attention. Like a ghost, she stepped over the water, walked through the rain and mist, slowly moving forward. In her mind, vaguely, was the nickname everyone had given her: Cinderel! Yes, Cinderel, dressed in the beautiful gown from the fairy, riding in the luxurious carriage, heading toward the prince's pace! You must return before midnight, or you'll turn back into the tattered Cinderel! What time is it now? It's past midnight!

  She ughed as the rain and tears mingled on her face. The rain soaked her hair and drenched her clothes. She walked, step by step, toward the bridge—the bridge that would take her to another world.

  The rain still fell, cold and whistling.

  (Hellowyellow comment: Sigh... As the saying goes, it′s better to hang out with people of your own kind, and don't be like cucumbers gathered in a box of durians”...because in the end, the cucumbers won't st long; they will be destroyed by the sharp thorns of the durian.)