"All right, if it's here, I'd be happy to oblige." Zeng Mu spread his hands. He was simply thinking he would walk through the flower hall with her again. Her feet couldn't outlast his, anyway.
Viana went to the window, surrounded by purple balloon flowers, and said, "You all think I live a happy life. As Bruce's wife, I seem to want for nothing-money, status, dignity... All those things ordinary people spend their entire lives dreaming of and pursuing are mine with a flick of my fingers. So men and women alike regard me, Viana, with sincere admiration and envy."
"But honestly, I wouldn't call myself happy at all. I never suffered much hardship as a child, so naturally, fame and material wealth don't excite me very much. On the contrary, decades of this life have gradually filled me with disgust. I've grown sick of dull delicacies and tired of the empty performances at noble gatherings. About seven years ago, I tried to live a little more happily."
"It was an afternoon in late autumn. I disguised myself, mounted a horse, and rode alone through the mountain woods."
"There was plenty of sunlight. Filtering through the reddish-brown leaves onto my face, it felt so soothing and relaxing. All my worries vanished in that moment. From that afternoon onward, I understood that my life wasn't set in stone. The real me wasn't Viana, born into wealth and bound so tightly by it that she couldn't move. I was myself. Everything I wanted to do made up the real me."
"Actually, if we went back another year, to eight years ago, I might have been an entirely different person from who I am today."
"You know about my husband accidentally eating an herb that makes people drowsy, don't you?"
At that, Zeng