Chapter 45: The Holy Maiden

  A smile now will be a story for another year.

  Perhaps it was past the normal bedtime, perhaps the wine and festivities of the past half-day had made her too excited, or perhaps it was Huai Jin's insistence on leaving that made her feel lost and worried, Dong Zhiyu lay in her own bed, tossing and turning with insomnia.

  After worshipping the Buddha and burning incense, Huai Jin insisted on leaving immediately, despite his aunt's sincere attempts to persuade him to stay. As he departed, he whispered a sentence in his own ear: "'Qian' may soon be exposed; take care of yourself, beware of your colleague Hu Xiao as well as the people from Hui State who are with him. If you're asked about it, just say we happened to run into each other and you have no idea why I came to Shanghai."

  After saying that, she smiled and left, leaving Dong Zhiyu stunned on the spot, with countless questions in her mind. She turned around and said, "Auntie, since Minister Xu has official business to attend to, let's go home."

  Following the crowd, she walked out and carefully observed. As expected, she saw Hu Xue among the people, and standing next to him was a burly man with a dark complexion, someone she had never seen before. He had a warm smile on his face as he listened to Hu Xue say something, looking like a folk rogue.

  So, Huaijin saw them before leaving so resolutely, and why did she say "Qiao" may be exposed soon? What does this have to do with these two people again?

  Outside the window, it was already dawn, and Huaijin had packed everything up early. She was ready to head to Shanghai's Jiangwan area. In her wooden trunk, there were two red-headed documents. Before coming to Shanghai, she had considered everything, and if something unexpected happened, she would take these documents and rush to Jiangwan...

  After the fifth day of the first month, Dong Zhiyu was eager to return to Xuanwu. Her aunt, Dong Ruo Zhao, was very puzzled and asked, "Why do you want to go back to that cold and deserted place? Isn't it better for you to stay at home?"

  "Auntie, I want to go back and pay respects to my parents, also take advantage of the New Year period to visit Uncle Dong."

  "There's no rush, let's go together on the tenth, okay? Aunt wants you to stay in Shanghai for a few more days."

  "Aunt..."

  "Zhi Yu, have you found someone special in Xuanwu?"

  "Aunt...no..." Dong Zhiyu's face flushed slightly, and she lowered her eyelashes, but at this moment, she didn't think of Ye Mingtian.

  "If you have a good boyfriend, be sure to tell your aunt, don't keep it secret. In recent years, you've been away from home and your aunt has been worried about you the most. Nowadays, the world is full of dangers and you're just a girl living in Xuanwu... Speaking of which, you're also at an age where you should be getting married. It's all your aunt's fault, she shouldn't have agreed to let you go back to Xuanwu with your uncle to pursue some official position. Staying in Shanghai and finding a suitable husband would be the right thing to do."

  Dong Zhiyu listened as her aunt's words grew more and more distant, her mouth already slightly pursed in distaste. At her age, she couldn't be bothered with an old woman's nagging.

  Dong Ruo Zhao saw that she wasn't speaking, only frowning, and knew she didn't want to listen. He sighed, "Zhi Yu, I won't hide it from you, the current situation in our country is really not optimistic. The Wang government is useless, and the Chiang regime is losing one battle after another. Russia and America both have their own interests to consider, no one is truly helping us... If this continues, we'll be doomed! Your uncle revealed to us that he has a way for us to immigrate to America, if it succeeds, your aunt will definitely take you with her."

  Dong Zhiyu was stunned, this was something she had never thought of, immigrating to the United States? What about her revolutionary ideals? She had lost contact with the organization for several months and was anxious but couldn't do anything. Another flash of thought, she remembered Huai Jin, why would she think of her at this time? Perhaps it was because she had let her down once when they were young, and now her subconscious didn't want to let her down again, she thought.

  "Auntie, I won't leave Taeoh's side."

  "Get out while you still can! If you don't leave, on the day our country falls, you will no longer be a citizen of our nation, but a slave to the invaders, with them trampling all over you. Now even those with connections in our country are thinking of emigrating, and yet here you are, with an opportunity to leave but unwilling to go?"

  "Our country will not perish." Dong Zhiyu angrily threw down a sentence and went downstairs.

  The next day, she returned to Xuanwu and compared it with her aunt's house. Her own little nest was indeed simple and cold. Dong Zhiyu lit the charcoal stove and swept the floor, just about to go out when someone knocked on the door.

  With a sudden movement, she ran over to open the door, and the visitor was Ye Ming Tian, standing at the doorway with a smile, his eyes shining with genuine delight. "Zhi Yu, you're back!"

  Greatly disappointed, after a while, he squeezed out a smile and said, "How did you come back so early?"

  "I couldn't get in touch with you, so I thought I'd come back early and maybe run into you," Ye Mingtian scratched his head, "I came back yesterday, looked for you once, saw your light on just now, and came up to take a look, sure enough you're back."

  Dong Zhiyu stood there dully, then suddenly reacted: "Happy New Year."

  "Happy New Year! Zhi Yu, my mom asked me to bring you some New Year's goods, they're all local specialties from our hometown, I don't know if you'll dislike them." She said, waving the things in her hand.

  Dong Zhiyu only then saw that he was holding a string of things wrapped in cowhide paper, which looked heavy.

  "Not going to let me in?" Ye Ming Tian still smiled.

  "Oh..." Dong Zhiyu was still a bit reluctant in her heart, she didn't want to be alone with Ye Mingtian in the same room, thinking about it made her feel awkward. But since he had already arrived at the door and even brought something from his hometown, she couldn't not let him in. She stepped aside, "Come in, it's very small here."

  Ye Ming Tian walked in, this was his first time stepping into this room, this moment was very sacred to him, the thoughts of these days were compensated at this moment.

  Dong Zhiyu asked him to sit down at the table and poured a cup of tea for him.

  Ye Ming Tian held that cup of tea in his hands and suddenly felt like he was the happiest person in the world.

  "Your mother... does she know about me?"

  "Oh, I told my family," Ye Ming's face turned red, "I think... you won't mind... My mom liked it very much, so she specially asked me to bring some local specialties for you."

  Dong Zhiyu fell silent for a moment, "Then thank Auntie on my behalf."

  "Don't be polite," Ye Ming said with a smile, "Zhi Yu, have you told your family about our matter?"

  "Dong Zhiyu wanted to ask, what was it? He stopped again, "Not yet."

  "Oh...... I didn't mean anything else......" Ye Ming Tian felt a bit awkward and wanted to find an excuse for himself, but couldn't think of one.

  "Ming Tian, have you gone to work yet?" Dong Zhiyu's mind was not on the topic they were discussing earlier.

  "Oh, she might not be in Xuanwu after all." Anyway, it's fortunate that the topic was changed.

  "Where did she go?"

  "I don't know, what's your business with her?"

  "Oh, it's nothing... She's your superior, isn't she? Just ask her casually." Dong Zhiyu looked down slightly dejectedly.

  "Hmm... Zhi Yu, I haven't been able to contact you for days. I... miss you a lot. Do you miss me?"

  Dong Zhiyu lowered her head and responded vaguely, Ye Mingtian thought she was shy, so he plucked up the courage to sit down on the stool next to Dong Zhiyu. Her hands were placed on her knees, with her fingertips pointing downwards, crystal clear and translucent, as if they were made of top-grade white jade carved by the best craftsmen.

  Ye Ming added a sentimental touch, and couldn't help but take her hand in his. Dong Zhiyu was startled, instinctively pulling it back out, feeling both embarrassed and annoyed, with her face also flushing red. Ye Ming had now gone all out, and Dong Zhiyu's coquettish attitude towards him was simply an invitation to advance further. He took another step forward and grasped her hand again, "Zhiyu, I miss you..."

  Dong Zhiyu's whole body broke out in goosebumps, her instincts resisting, but reason told her that after "dating" for several months, if she still didn't let him hold hands, this play would be hard to continue.

  She saw that she was only lowering her head, her face red and white in turns, and the more he looked at her, the more lovable she became. Although on the surface she seemed like a Western-style lady, deep down she was still so traditional and demure. Unable to control his emotions, he gradually leaned closer to that delicate face. At this moment, everything else in the universe had disappeared from view, leaving only those tender, moist lips, which he just had to take into his own mouth to taste her flavor.

  Dong Zhiyu felt a coarse and heavy breathing getting closer and closer to her, accompanied by the salty scent of sweat unique to men. She turned away in disgust, furrowing her brow.

  Ye Ming Tian had already lost control of his emotions at this time, and his judgment was clouded. Seeing her dodge, he raised his hand to her delicate chin and gently turned her face back, then closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her lips.

  "What are you doing?!" Dong Zhiyu shouted loudly, and at the same time, he used all his strength to push Ye Mingtian away. The other party did not expect this sudden change, and before he could even sit steadily, he fell backwards along with the stool.

  A swift rise to his feet, Ye Ming Tian had never felt so utterly humiliated. Dong Zhi Yu also realized that he had overreacted and stood up, but didn't know what to say.

  "What do you mean?" Ye Ming asked loudly, "Are you a saint? Or, don't you have me in your heart at all?"

  Dong Zhiyu felt extremely wronged in her heart, and at this moment she began to resent Huaijin. She had let herself get close to Ye Mingtian, but did she ever think that things would turn out like this?

  Has she ever thought that men want to hug and kiss, want skin intimacy? So is Huaijin hoping that he will compromise himself?

  She cried with grievance, and Ye Ming Tian was even more at a loss. He picked up his coat and scarf, put them on hastily, wanting to leave, but ultimately couldn't bear to part with her, turned back and asked, "I'm asking you, do you still want to be good with me?"

  Dong Zhiyu stood there, tilting her head to one side, how was she supposed to answer this question?

  Ye Ming Tian hummed angrily and pushed open the door to leave.

  I hate it!!

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