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Yun Xiao clenched his fists, feeling not so much aggrieved as an unprecedented sense of loss.

It was her fault; she had destroyed Ai Xiang’s most precious possession.

And that flower had turned to dust! Not even a chance for redemption remained.

"I’m sorry!" Yun Xiao clenched his fists, not knowing why he suddenly felt so wronged. But he would definitely not cry, even though tears were already swirling in his eyes.

"Now that everything is gone, does saying sorry make any difference? ...Get out!" Ai Xiang seemed to be extremely angry, even as the woman in front of him lowered her posture and trembled as she apologized.

Obviously, it was futile.

He could not think of any reason to forgive her in that moment!

Because that flower was the only thing he could keep as a memento, for he hoped to find her someday.

But now, even the last flower was gone. Only a withered stem remained!

His anger was definitely no less than her guilt!

Yun Xiao bit her teeth, pursed her lips, and looked at the purple hibiscus on the ground.

Moments later, she lowered her head, took a few steps backward, and then swiftly turned to leave.

She had not expected things to turn out this way and to upset Ai Xiang so much.

In fact, apart from guilt, her heart ached even more...

That heartache that only she could understand! He had been so harsh to her just for a dried flower.

Does this mean that from now on, they couldn’t even be friends or family?

Yun Xiao ran back to her room, only to realize when she touched her cheek that she had cried at some point.

Her face was already drenched with tears!

Why was she crying? Was it because of an unreciprocated, self-inflicted crush, which only led to disdain? Or was it because she hated herself for knowing she shouldn’t have had such high hopes, yet still greedily wanting to get closer to him?

It was only at this moment that she realized.

How foolish she was!

The distance between her and him was so vast; even standing opposite him, there was still a Pacific Ocean between them.

No!

Yun Xiao felt she needed to adjust her mindset.

If it were her, she too would be angry if someone damaged something she cherished.

And he was not to blame; she was.

She should not have held such grand illusions about love!

She was just the timid and cowardly Yun Xiao, not the brave and decisive Gu Xiaoxi.

If she had done something wrong, there was no reason for her to stay for another minute, becoming a nuisance...

Yun Xiao tore off a sheet of paper and wrote down a few powerful words on it.

[I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do it!]

She placed the paper under the vase of the now withered flower, then tidied up the room, arranging everything as it was before she had moved in, and then she left the house with her backpack.

Standing on the path to departure, she gazed at the quiet valley in the mountains in front of her.

From the yard came the butler’s voice.

"The young master said that the flower belonged to his future wife... It’s a pity, now everything is gone. In the future, perhaps he’ll never be able to find this person."

"The young master is truly devoted!"

"Yeah! He actually still remembers the promise we made when we were kids."

People say that girls in love are always fragile.

Yun Xiao didn’t know how fragile she was, but just hearing these few sentences made her tears flow uncontrollably.

Her heart felt like it was instantly emptied, then stuffed with bitterness and thorns.

It turned out he already had a childhood sweetheart.

Her affection was unrequited, yet foolishly, she had fallen deeper and deeper...

It wasn’t until this moment that she realized how ridiculously wrong she had been.

At eight in the morning, under the sunshine, a thinly-clad woman with a desolate figure shouldered her bag and stepped onto the winding path down the mountain.

Just then, a cat suddenly dashed out from the woods and scurried to Yun Xiao’s feet.

She paused and looked down at the cat. Her tears hadn’t dried, but she forced a smile, although it looked awkward, she still insisted on smiling.

"Goodbye, Xiao Hua! This might be the last time I come to see you."

Xiao Hua seemed reluctant, meowing a few times.

"I will miss you too. But I can’t bring myself trouble.

The more I like something, the more I should stay away from it, or else I’ll be poisoned too deeply.

Let’s part now before you get too attached to me.

Maybe after a while, you’ll forget about me!

" She didn’t know if she was speaking to the cat or to herself.

In any case, her heart felt uncomfortably suffocated.

She picked up her bag again and headed towards the path in Shun Forest.

She didn’t take the main road because she didn’t want to run into any familiar house servants.

She would treat her past here as if it were all a dream.

Now awake, the dream had taught her what love is!

*

Gu Xiaoxi and Quan Shaoqing returned at night, by then it was already past seven o’clock.

In the command center’s villa, Lin Shu had prepared hot tea to welcome them back.

"Aunt Lin, you should have enjoyed your holiday. Why come back so early?" They had given her seven days off, but she returned even earlier than them.

Quan Shaoqing took the tea Lin Shu handed over and also smiled, "You really need to take a good rest."

Gu Xiaoxi didn’t want Aunt Lin to tire herself out, so she quickly took the teacup and even handed Aunt Lin one, saying, "Let’s drink together!"

"Thank you, Xiao Xi. There’s nothing fun for me to do alone, so I just did some shopping and came back. Look at this necklace I bought, isn’t it pretty?" Lin Shu immediately took out her holiday treasure.

A platinum necklace studded with diamonds that, although not priceless, shone with a confident glow.

Quan Shaoqing and Gu Xiaoxi immediately praised with beaming smiles, "It’s beautiful!"

"Hahaha! Although I can’t wear it in the army, I bought it to keep in the box as a keepsake," joked Lin Shu.

Gu Xiaoxi and Quan Shaoqing both joined in the laughter.

In truth, everyone knew. Lin Shu was missing her deceased husband and son.

If her husband were still alive, even if they were poor, he would still get her a necklace worth a few thousand.

If her son were still alive, she would buy even more valuable treasures to leave for her daughter-in-law someday.

But now! She had lost everything.

A necklace, just like her, was solitary...

As the three of them were chatting, Lin Shu suddenly looked solemnly at Gu Xiaoxi and said, "Yun Xiao came back at noon. She seemed to be in a bad mood and has been sleeping upstairs. When I knocked, she just said she didn’t want to get up.

However, when she returned, I noticed her eyes were red and her expression was off. "

"Yun Xiao is back?" Gu Xiaoxi immediately put down her teacup.