Chapter 89: Healing Every Pain

Xiao Zhiyun’s birth mother was Yao Min’s older female cousin and Xiao Chengyu’s first wife.

At first, Yao Min and Xiao Chengyu had dated for three years in university. After graduation, Yao Min broke up with him in order to pursue further studies abroad.

Back then, Xiao Chengyu was suppressed by his own elder brother and unable to make his mark; then he was abandoned by Yao Min on top of it, and the pain in his heart was immense.

Yao Min’s cousin, who was also Xiao Zhiyun’s birth mother, happened to enter the Xiao family company. Seeing how dejected and miserable Xiao Chengyu was, she gently comforted him.

As the two grew familiar, Xiao Chengyu gradually developed feelings of a different kind for her, and in the end they came together.

With Xiao Zhiyun’s mother helping him, Xiao Chengyu worked hard and pressed forward step by step, eventually replacing his elder brother, who knew only tricks and scheming but possessed no real ability, and became the one who held power in the Xiao family.

Meanwhile, not long after Yao Min went abroad, she discovered that she was pregnant. But because of her unusual constitution, she could not terminate the pregnancy and could only give birth to the child.

Afraid that Xiao Chengyu would become entangled with her again, she did not dare tell him about it. After the child was born, she placed the girl in the care of a family overseas.

Only after she completed her studies and returned did she discover that Xiao Chengyu had turned his fortunes around. She was filled with regret.

As fate would have it, around that time Xiao Zhiyun’s birth mother had died from a difficult childbirth, leaving behind a daughter with congenital heart disease.

Xiao Chengyu fell into a period of despair, and only then did Yao Min seize the chance to slip into the breach. She brought back her biological daughter, Xiao Zhiying, from abroad and returned to Xiao Chengyu’s side.

For all these years, in front of Xiao Chengyu, Yao Min had always acted especially loving toward Xiao Zhiyun, while Xiao Zhiying played the part of a good elder sister.

But when Xiao Zhiyun met Nangong Ao, the mother and daughter quietly began making their plans. One wanted to use Xiao Zhiyun to bring greater wealth and status to the Xiao family; the other schemed at every turn to take her place.

How could such matters possibly escape Nangong Ao’s notice? He simply did not wish to expose everything in front of Xiao Zhiyun and deepen her unease.

And yet today Yao Min had actually chosen to play the loving mother before him. Then she could hardly blame him for showing no mercy.

“Young Master Ao, what do you mean by this?” Yao Min’s voice rose slightly from guilty nerves. “Do you think I treat Yun’er badly?”

Nangong Ao neither affirmed nor denied it; his face remained dark and forbidding.

Yao Min turned and asked Xiao Zhiyun, “Yun’er, tell Young Master Ao yourself. Haven’t I always treated you well? Have I ever been harsh with you?

“Did what I said just now upset you? Did you say something about me in front of Young Master Ao...?”

Xiao Zhiyun bit her lower lip tightly, both hands at her sides trembling faintly.

Unable to bear it any longer, Nangong Ao rebuked coldly, “Whether it is good or bad, there is no need to argue endlessly here. Yun’er’s body has not yet recovered. She needs peace and rest.”

“I...” Yao Min still wanted to go on pestering them, but Xiao Chengyu quickly tugged at her. “Enough, Yao Min! Can’t you see Yun’er is feeling awful right now? What are you making such a racket for?”

“Husband, even you are blaming me?” Yao Min’s eyes brimmed with tears, looking deeply aggrieved.

Xiao Zhiying stood to one side, watching coldly.

Xiao Chengyu was fairly indulgent toward Yao Min, but he loved his younger daughter more dearly, and with Nangong Ao present, he had no choice but to harden his face. “What is there to blame or not blame? Can’t you tell what kind of occasion this is? At a time like this, you insist on pressing the matter! If there’s anything to say, we’ll talk at home.”

Then he turned and apologized to Nangong Ao. “I’m sorry, Young Master Ao. My wife was simply anxious for the moment and said things she should not have said. Please do not take offense.”

Nangong Ao’s expression was cold. “I wouldn’t dare. You are Yun’er’s parents. How would I dare blame you? It’s only that Yun’er is someone I cherish with all my heart, and I do not wish for her to suffer discomfort and still have to listen to others quarreling noisily here.”

Xiao Chengyu’s face flushed red, then pale.

It was true. Xiao Zhiyun had only just been rescued from danger, and here they were making a scene, insisting that Nangong Ao take responsibility for her. It was truly disgraceful.

“Yes, yes, we were thoughtless.” Xiao Chengyu looked at his daughter guiltily. “Yun’er, your mother and the others and I will head back first. Later we’ll bring you some soup. Rest well.”

“Mm.” Xiao Zhiyun answered softly.

Xiao Chengyu then left the hospital room with Yao Min and Xiao Zhiying.

After Xiao Chengyu and the others went out, Nangong Ao walked to Xiao Zhiyun’s bedside and looked at her with aching tenderness. “How are you feeling?”

“Mm, much better.” With the people who troubled her no longer in front of her, and the one she loved at her side, Xiao Zhiyun naturally no longer felt so stifled at heart.

Nangong Ao took her small, icy hand in his and said, “I’m sorry, Yun’er.”

Sorry that I have not had the time to stay by your side and protect you when you needed me; sorry that I could not give you a proper place beside me sooner and made you bear so much pressure; sorry that I still cannot cure your illness and free you from the suffering of your body...

Just from the look in his eyes, Xiao Zhiyun understood what he meant to say. “It’s I who should apologize to you...”

She simply was not good enough. A frail, ailing body; a family background that was not illustrious enough; relatives too disgraceful to speak of; a timid and yielding nature...

Lady Nangong was right. She truly was not worthy of Ziyu.

But in Nangong Ao’s eyes, Xiao Zhiyun was more than enough.

In the past, whenever he attended a banquet, he would always notice a girl standing quietly in a secluded corner, secretly watching him.

Unlike the gazes that longed to win his favor, that girl’s eyes always held a contented smile. As if merely being able to see him was the happiest thing in the world.

Later, after an accident, he had been saved by Xiao Zhiyun. Before he had even opened his eyes and awakened, he heard this kind and gentle girl making a wish to the stars outside the window: that she would willingly trade half a lifetime of her broken life in exchange for his lifelong peace and safety.

At that moment, he vowed in his heart that he too would let her live the rest of her days in peace and safety.

But there were too many obstacles between them. Her illness, the Xiao family’s schemes, his grandmother’s opposition... and now there was one more thing: the duty of his family.

He was striving to win his way through, hoping to clear away those obstacles as soon as possible. Yet because of that, he had neglected her.

“Yun’er, do not take to heart anything Grandmother says to you. That does not represent my wishes,” Nangong Ao comforted her.

Xiao Zhiyun held back the sting welling in her eyes and forced a smile. “Madam did not really say anything to me. I’ve simply been busy with my studies lately, and that is why my body has grown weak.”

Nangong Ao knew perfectly well that she was concealing the truth for his grandmother’s sake, and his heart ached for her all the more. “From now on, don’t wrong yourself again. If anything happens, come to me.”

“Mm!”

That single sentence alone healed all the pain in Xiao Zhiyun’s heart.

“From now on, I’ll also make more time to stay with you,” Nangong Ao promised her.

“All right!” At last, Xiao Zhiyun curved her lips into a smile.

Within that smile were contentment, happiness, and release.

His Yun’er, bearing such immense suffering in her body, was always so strong and bright. Though she could have complained to him and sought his comfort, she had only silently guarded the true heart she gave him.

How could he not love a girl like that?

Suddenly stirred by feeling, Nangong Ao bent over the figure on the hospital bed, his voice low and soft as he murmured, “Yun’er, may I kiss you?”