Old Acquaintances, Fetching the Bride

Yes, we could never go back.

Or perhaps it had been a misunderstanding, an illusion, from the very beginning.

"Xiaobai, tell me, did we ever truly love each other? Was what we had really a relationship? Sometimes I thought about it for a long time and still had no answer. I would recall every little thing between us. It seemed like there were feelings between us, but I couldn't describe what those feelings were. In any case, we weren't like most couples. The feeling between us was too vague, too unreal."

At that, she gave a self-mocking smile.

I mulled over her words as well, reexamining the feelings between us.

Was it love? It seemed like it was, yet it also seemed like it wasn't.

"To be honest, I envy her. You could even say I'm jealous. Why was she able to be with you and even give birth to such a smart, adorable child?"

"Adorable?" I patted Little Nian Bai on the head. He tilted his head away. "Men don't get their heads touched, women don't get their waists touched."

I wanted to kick him. Xu Qiuyan grabbed his ear. "Is that any way to talk to your dad? Do that again and I'll twist your ear right off."

Little Nian Bai cried out in pain, "I get it, godmother! Let go already."

Only then did Xu Qiuyan release him. Little Nian Bai rubbed his ear. "I'm not playing with you anymore. Hmph, bad people! Aren't you just trying to piss me off so I'll leave? You want to be alone with my dad. Don't think I don't know what you're up to."

I said to Xu Qiuyan, "That was too rough. He's still a child."

I said that because his ear had actually been twisted red by her.