What could be more terrifying in this world?
Perhaps it’s seeing the name of someone you hold dear on a tombstone.
When Tang Yuanxiao saw the two words "Su Li" on a tombstone, he finally jolted awake.
"Old Tang, you’re awake?"
Yu Le had been just about to leave when he saw Tang Yuanxiao suddenly wake up.
He was so happy he asked at once, but Tang Yuanxiao only stared blankly for a long moment before turning to him and starting to gasp for air.
"Thank God... it was just a dream."
Yu Le asked curiously, "What did you dream about? Was it a nightmare?"
At this question, Tang Yuanxiao froze.
He knew it was a nightmare. When he first woke up, he remembered it all so clearly. But in the blink of an eye, everything from the dream had vanished.
He couldn’t remember.
He couldn’t even remember why he’d been so afraid.
"What is it?" Yu Le asked, seeing him frozen in place.
Tang Yuanxiao didn’t answer. He pressed his throbbing temples, desperately trying to recall the dream, but nothing came to mind.
The only things that remained clear were the two dreams he’d had previously.
He knew he’d had a dream, yet upon waking, he couldn’t remember a single thing about it.
An inexplicable panic gripped Tang Yuanxiao’s heart. His intuition told him the dream was important and that he had to remember it.
Tang Yuanxiao massaged his temples, trying his best to recall.
But it was useless. He still couldn’t remember a thing, only the vague image of an old woman.
"Old Tang, what’s gotten into you?" Yu Le asked, looking very concerned.
"I’m fine. Just give me a moment." Tang Yuanxiao weakly pried Yu Le’s hand off him. "Let me have some quiet."
Seeing the tormented look on Tang Yuanxiao’s face, Yu Le immediately fell silent.
That "quiet moment" stretched into two hours. He spent the entire time trying to remember the dream, but it was all for naught.
He couldn’t recall any details of the dream, yet the desolate grief it had instilled in him lingered in his heart, a crushing weight that made it hard to breathe.
Tang Yuanxiao took one deep breath after another, but it didn’t help.
His heart felt like lead, and the sorrow was suffocating.
’What was it? What in the world was it about?’
He asked himself.
But still, nothing came to him.
Tang Yuanxiao had been resistant to the two strange, uncontrollable dreams he’d had before.
But now, he desperately wished he could remember.
Tang Yuanxiao tried to remember, but it was no use. He simply couldn’t.
After waking up, Tang Yuanxiao ran a low fever for two more days. By the time he finally recovered, he had lost a significant amount of weight.
Of course, "recovered" was a relative term; it only meant the fever had subsided.
His energy, however, had not returned.
Fortunately, he was no longer traveling out of town as he had been, because it was time for the university semester to begin.
Tang Yuanxiao registered two days late, heading to the Imperial City to begin his studies.
It was a chance to study, but also to recuperate.
Tang Yuanxiao moved directly into the school dormitory. He took the opportunity to visit a sanatorium a couple of times, mulling over whether he should have his mother admitted.
Whenever he had free time between classes, he would visit Mrs. Tang at their family apartment and broach the subject of the sanatorium.
Mrs. Tang, of course, refused. She insisted she would rather die than go. To prevent Tang Yuanxiao from sending her to a sanatorium, she finally quieted down and behaved herself.
They actually had a couple of peaceful days.
Unfortunately, those peaceful days were quickly shattered.
And the one to shatter that peace was none other than Qin Shanshan.
The incident with Su Dan had left Qin Shanshan devastated and drained. She had to rest for several days before she recovered.
Once she had recovered, her dissatisfaction with Su Dan only grew.
The Su Family had a little money, but not much. And since Su Li refused to give him any or subsidize his lifestyle, all his trips back and forth to the Imperial City had left him nearly broke.
He was already a good-for-nothing, and now he was broke. The more Qin Shanshan looked at Su Dan, the more she despised him.
In those times, a woman who had lost her purity had no choice but to marry the man who had taken it.
There was simply no other way out.
For someone in Qin Shanshan’s situation, marrying Su Dan was the only path forward.
Qin Shanshan was well aware of her circumstances, but she refused to accept them.
She did not want to marry the worthless Su Dan. She absolutely refused to.
Su Dan, for his part, had latched onto her completely. He stuck to her side every day, never retorting or raising a hand, even when she cursed and struck him.
Most women, seeing such behavior, would have eventually softened and accepted their fate.
But it only made Qin Shanshan all the more defiant.
She had always been proud and held her head high. As the only girl from Xinghua Village to graduate high school, and doted upon by her aunt and uncle, she was used to being the center of attention.
Her pride was immense. Seeing Su Dan’s pathetic behavior only deepened her disgust and contempt for him.
For Qin Shanshan, spending a lifetime married to a man like Su Dan was a fate worse than death.
Qin Shanshan was filled with resentment and hatred. Rage, bitterness, and defiance consumed her, leaving only a single-minded desire for reckless revenge.
’It’s not fair! Why am I the only one who has to suffer like this?’
Fueled by these feelings, Qin Shanshan absolutely refused to listen to Su Dan or go back to his hometown with him for a wedding.
"Go back with you? And have a wedding? In your dreams."
Su Dan had been pestering her about going back with him for the wedding for days.
Su Dan loved the Imperial City, but his reasons for being there were to see the sights and to find Qin Shanshan. After that, he knew he had to go back home.
Everything cost money—food, lodging, everything. Su Dan knew perfectly well he couldn’t afford to live here.
He had originally planned to ask Su Li for money, but she had refused. After Wu Sheng showed up, Su Dan didn’t dare try again.
Since everything cost money, Su Dan figured life was more comfortable back home, where he could live like a little emperor.
Back home, he didn’t have to worry about a thing; Miao Fenghua took care of everything for him.
If he could just get Qin Shanshan to go back with him, everything would be perfect. But unfortunately for him, she refused to listen.
"What are you going to do if you don’t come back with me? You belong to me now," Su Dan said, his own temper starting to flare.
"I’m telling you, Shanshan, stop making a scene. Just hurry up and come back with me. If we don’t go back soon, my mom’s going to get angry."
When Su Dan had gone to make the marriage proposal, he had simply gone home, taken some money, and left without even telling Miao Fenghua.
Miao Fenghua only found out about the proposal after Su Dan had already succeeded. She was absolutely furious, but what could she do? She couldn’t stop her son from getting what he wanted.
Now that the matter was settled, Miao Fenghua, who had originally intended to follow Su Dan, relaxed. Once she heard that he and Qin Shanshan had already slept together, she was no longer in a hurry.
She decided not to come, instead waiting at home for Su Dan to bring the girl back.
Miao Fenghua had initially been quite pleased with Qin Shanshan. But her satisfaction evaporated when she heard the girl had been chasing Tang Yuanxiao, that Su Dan had merely picked up what another man didn’t want, and that they had slept together before the wedding.
She was very, very dissatisfied.
She had already come up with all sorts of ways to teach Qin Shanshan a lesson. She was just waiting for the girl to arrive so she could assert her authority, but then Qin Shanshan refused to come back at all.
Miao Fenghua was furious. She kept telling Su Dan to call off the wedding and forget about her. After all, he wasn’t the one who had lost out in the deal.
Unfortunately, it seemed Su Dan had found a wife only to forget his mother, as he paid no heed to Miao Fenghua’s words.
However, Su Dan depended on Miao Fenghua to survive, so he still had to take her opinions into account.
"My mom’s already unhappy with you. If you don’t come back with me soon, then..." Su Dan trailed off, leaving the three unspoken words hanging in the air: "you will regret it."
But Qin Shanshan understood his meaning perfectly.
"Pah! She’s unhappy? I’m the one who’s unhappy! Let me tell you something, Su Dan. A toad like you could never have a swan like me. I will never marry you!"
Qin Shanshan’s temper flared. She let him have it before throwing him out.
Deep in her heart, an idea had been lurking—one she had been suppressing for a while. Now, she couldn’t hold it back any longer.
She didn’t want to marry Su Dan. She truly, absolutely did not want to.
If she was going to marry anyone, it would be Tang Yuanxiao.