My Lovely Wife is a Forensic Doctor - Chapter 170
Chapter 170 Letting Go of Her Past
Mu Yu stared at the two in shock. “Do you know each other?”
Xin Yihan took a few glances at Eve and shook his head in the end. “I don’t recall. Did you mistake me for someone else?”
“No, cute guy, we…”
“That’s enough! How could you even have the mood to chat up guys?” Linda irritatedly shut Eve down. Eve shrugged and grinned at Xin Yihan before she hurriedly rejoined the queue of people.
Looking at the group, Mu Yu hurriedly whispered to Xin Yihan, “Yihan, you should head home now. I will ride my colleague’s car later.”
“I don’t have anything in the morning. I will head in and pay my respect to the deceased. After hearing their story, I feel sorry for them.”
Since Xin Yihan looked touched, Mu Yu did not object to his participation. She nodded and ran up to the others with him. Everyone proceeded to the grave plot that was allocated for Luo Mingan and Kiki. Under the coordination between Rong Jian and his men, the cemetery workers placed the two urns with ashes into the grave plot.
Mu Yu stood there in silence and stared at the workers who were meticulously arranging everything. At that moment, she felt very conflicted. Luo Mingan was pitiful and he killed his wife for a good reason. Even though he did not harm Mu Yu at the scene, he had caused irreparable mental harm to her. If she had not met Xin Yihan, she could have been ruined after the incident.
Yihan was her savior; meeting him was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to her. The thought of Yihan made her turn to look at him beside her.
Just like the others, Xin Yihan was looking at the grave plot which was under construction. As if there was a telepathic communication between them, he turned to her when she was looking at him. Their eyes met, each expressing complicated emotions.
She was staring at him blankly, and he was looking at her in a daze.
“Lift your head up! Look into my eyes! You can do it! Yes, just like that. Great. Yu, you’re awesome!” Years ago, he was like a big brother to her. His strict but gentle encouragement was still ringing in her ears.
She could not guess how much effort he had put into her recovery from trauma. She also did not recall how many words of encouragement he said to her. The only thing she remembered was the first time she gathered enough courage to look into his eyes. Even though that only lasted for seconds, his smiling crescent eyes had since been imprinted in her mind.
Since then, as he doted more on her, she stared at him longer. Later, when she met him, she would not move her eyes off him. If not for fear of being laughed at, she would have looked at him forever.
“Yu, this is tasty. Do you want to try it?”
“Yu, this is fun. Do you want to watch it?”
“Yu, this story is interesting. You want me to tell you about it?”
“Yu, cultural knowledge is important. You must study hard.”
“Yu, I hope that you’ll be successful. I’ll tutor you for your SAT revisions.”
“Yu, you’re really smart. You learned everything fast. I’m proud of you.”
“Yu…”
The memories of every moment between Xin Yihan and her flushed back. Right now, she suddenly understood why people quoted that misfortune could be a blessing in disguise.
If she had not taken out the trash downstairs on that fateful day, she wouldn’t have witnessed Luo Mingan murdering his wife. Then, she would not have been traumatized from the extreme shock and thus would not have come to the attention of Xin Yihan. Without the tragedy, the heartwarming stories between them would not have happened.
Although the fact that he only saw her as a sister broke her heart, she was influenced by his positivity and did not wallow in the sadness. Instead, she grew stronger and came to accept his relationship with Yin Xiaotian despite the difficult process.
“Love is blind. There is no such thing as claiming someone as yours because you’re first to show up. The only thing that matters is whether or not you’ve fallen in love. You loved Xin Yihan, he loved Yin Xiaotian and he didn’t love you. Those are hard truths. Accept it, young girl,” Jiang Wenwen had comforted her in this manner when she was crying inconsolably that day after her first meeting with Yin Xiaotian, Xin Yihan’s girlfriend.
“An ideal marriage is one that’s united in love.” Yihan obviously understood her feelings and he hinted at her while holding on tight onto Yin Xiaotian’s hand.
“If we happen to fall in love, we shall grow old together; if we could not cross paths, I shall pray for his happiness.” Fearing that she’d lose her mind, she kept reminding herself of the quote from Haruki Murakami to prevent herself from crossing the line.
In the notebook he gifted her, she copied the poem of Xu Zhimo.
‘One should experience at least once in life
Losing oneself in the exhilaration of love
Neither seeking for an outcome
Nor asking for prolonged accompaniment
Not looking to own one other
Not even asking for you to give love
All I wanted is to meet you
In the loveliest days of youth.’
Mu Yu thought that she had met Xin Yihan in her loveliest days of youth. Now that he was living a happy life, she should have had no regrets.
“Yu, don’t be sad. I believe that Luo Mingan and Kiki must be happy now. After all, they could stay beside each other from now on.”
She heard Rong Jian’s deep and powerful voice from her side, pulling her back to reality. Drops of moisture splattered on the back of her hands that were folded in front of the body. Thinking that it must be the rain, she lifted her head to the sky, only to realize that it was her tears.
She had cried! The memories of Xin Yihan made her cry!
It then dawned on her that she was losing her composure in front of everyone. She frantically wiped away her tears as she glanced around furtively in fear of getting noticed by someone.
Right then, Xin Yihan made a timely remark, “Yu, you’re still as kind as before.”
“It’s not that I’m kind. They were simply too pitiful.” In order to disguise the panic in her heart, she stopped herself from lamenting her past with Xin Yihan and shifted her attention to the graves. It was then she realized that the workers were almost done working and her colleagues were paying last respects.
“Yu, go and take a bow.” She nodded and secretly took a deep breath before walking to Luo Mingan’s tomb and, for the very first time, taking a good look at his photo on the tombstone.
The picture of Luo Mingan was a sketch that was commissioned by Rong Jian from a skilled artist. In the picture, Luo Mingan looked calm and was smiling slightly. He was young and handsome, even resembling the features and aura of a popular male star upon the first glance. He looked completely different from the man in his memory.
After staring at the picture for ten seconds, she had overcome the uncomfortable feeling, which was now replaced by a friendly closeness. That instant, she understood that she had let go and overcome the trauma that had troubled her for years.
And that was exactly the reason she must go against Qin Xiaozhi and Qin Jinhuan’s wish to pay a visit here. At the moment, she felt at ease for some unknown reason.
“Yu, congratulations.” She cocked her head and looked at his proud face. She understood the meaning behind his smile that made her heart skip a beat. He could always read through her mind. Didn’t that mean that he had noticed her gaffe just now?
“Yu, I’ll send you home first.” Rong Jian did not notice anything wrong and immediately suggested to send her after she bowed at the tomb. Before she could reply, Xin Yihan had responded, “Chief Rong, I’ll send her home. I need to go to my company later and her place is on the way.”
“Hey, old friend, why don’t you give us a ride too? We’re heading back to the city area as well.” Eve moved closer to him again.
“Do I know you?” Xin Yihan stared at her blankly. Hearing that, Eve pouted in dissatisfaction, “Cute guy, you’re too forgetful, aren’t you? That day, I treated you to a drink when you delivered packages to Camphor Forest!”
“Package delivery?” Mu Yu was taken aback by Eve’s explanation. Yihan was the president of a publicly-traded company. Even though his wealth was not as impressive as Qin Jinhuan, his net worth was still considered huge. How would he be delivering packages?
“Oh, it was you.” Something clicked in Xin Yihan’s mind and he expressed his apology, “I’m sorry. Without your full makeup, I could hardly recognize you.”
Next, he explained to Mu Yu with a smile. “A few days ago, a delivery man from my delivery company met an accident on his way. I happened to witness the incident with Xiaotian. The injured employee was in a severe situation, and his packages were strewn all over the floor. I was worried that the loss or damage to the packages would hurt the company’s image. That’s why I had Xiaotian drive the injured employee to the hospital for a checkup. I gathered the packages and filled in his position for half a day. As you might have known, I used to work as a delivery man myself. The task was nothing to me. When I sent the package to Camphor Forest, this young lady was very enthusiastic, telling me that I had a difficult job and insisted on treating me to a drink.”
He cocked his head at Eve. “Young lady, thank you.”
“Oh, you’re not a delivery man. You’re the boss.” Eve smiled as she waved her hands. “You’re welcome. My name is Eve. Next time when you’re at Camphor Forest, put your alcohol on my tab!”
“Eve!” Linda glared at the naive girl. “Please, could you stop mentioning Camphor Forest out here?”
Eve looked stunned. “Why not? It’s where we work.”
“Well, it’s not a place to be proud of,” Abby muttered. Eve immediately understood her meaning and she flashed a grin at Xin Yihan before walking away upset.
“Even though our job is not glamorous, we’re still better than those jerks out there who steal, rob, cheat and blackmail,” Jin unhappily defended Eve. With the support of Jin, Eve became invigorated again. “Yeah, we earn our money with our own effort and hard work.”
“That’s enough for now. We’re not having a debate here.” Linda was the closest to Kiki and therefore had no mood to argue with her. “There’s four of us. With Doctor Mu, it’ll be five of us. This gentleman’s car can’t possibly accommodate all of us. Let’s take a cab home instead.”
“It’s tough to get a cab here. I’ll have someone send you home.” Rong Jian immediately gave Liu Xiaofan orders, “You’ll send them back.”
“Roger that. I’ll complete the mission.” Liu Xiaofan instantly led the girls down the hill with enthusiasm.
Back on that day, Rong Jian had replayed Kiki’s video to Liu Xiaofan, but the latter remained concerned. In the morning, he went for a HIV test and finally returned to his usual cheery self after receiving the negative result. After that, he praised Kiki’s kindness endlessly in front of Rong Jian and started to make himself helpful in arranging for the burial. He also expressed great concern for anything regarding Kiki’s nightclub friends.
“Yu, aren’t you leaving?” Noticing that Mu Yu was still standing at the same spot, Rong Jian walked back to her.
“Chief Rong, just go back without me. I want to visit the graves of Yan Xiaobing and Mrs. Yan.” The graves of the mother and son were not far away from those of Luo Mingan and Kiki’s.
“Well… fine then. It’s windy here. Don’t stay put too long.” Seeing that Xin Yihan did not budge, Rong Jian hesitated before silently leaving with his colleagues.
Mu Yu led Xin Yihan to the graves of the mother and the son of the Yan Family and placed some fresh flowers that she had prepared at their tombstones before silently bowing.
“Yan Xiaobing… Was he that murderer in the manhole cover case?” That incident caused an uproar online when it first happened. Therefore, it was not surprising that Xin Yihan still recalled it.
Mu Yu nodded melancholically. “He had his reason for becoming a manhole cover murderer.”
“I know. I read the news article online.” Xin Yihan habitually patted her shoulder to comfort her. “Karma exists because of a cause and its effect. When there’s a cause, there will be an effect, and vice versa. That is how karma works.”
She was stunned by his remark and followed up with a Buddhist saying, “There are eight sufferings in this mortal world: Birth, aging, sickness, death, parting in love, hatred toward another, the inability to get what one wants and the inability to let go. Sigh.”
She had obviously dragged out the tone of “the inability to let go”, to which Xin Yihan responded with a frozen expression. A flicker of bitterness appeared across his eyes. After a pause, he sighed gently and whispered, “If one cannot get what one desires, the best action is to not desire. Even if one cannot let go, one has to. It’d be unnecessary suffering otherwise.”
After that, he glanced at the tombstones of the mother and son and sighed once again. “Our lives are only ten decades long. Upon death, we couldn’t feel anything anymore. That’s why we have to be happy while we’re alive. Do you get it?”
“But…”
“If you have time, you should invite your sister-in-law for a chat. Learn from her positive and carefree attitude.”
The mention of her “sister-in-law”, Yin Xiaotian, forced her to swallow everything that she wanted to tell him—the words that she had wanted to confess to him but never did. Her feelings toward him was another hurdle for her that she still had not found the right time to overcome. Every time she was about to clear things up with him, he would interrupt her or divert the topic of conversation. Although she understood his attitude toward her, she found it hard to control her feelings sometimes.
“Alright. Don’t cry.” She realized that she was crying only when his hand touched her face.
“Yihan…”
A gust of chilly wind blasted through and she couldn’t help but shiver. Xin Yihan instantly put his arms around her shoulders and softly asked her, “Are you cold?”
The familiar voice full of concern made her feel a lump in her throat and the next thing he knew, she lowered her head and started crying.
“Yu, don’t cry.”
“Yihan…”
He gently sighed and could not stop himself from pulling her into his embrace.
“Hmph!” Was that Qin Jinhuan’s voice?