Several days later, Xiang Wan was finally able to leave the hospital.
Two bodyguards with unfamiliar faces appeared in the hospital room, "Miss, Second Young Master has sent us to pick you up."
Returning to the Xiang Family.
The entire mansion remained as it had always been, except that most of the servants had been replaced—there were no significant changes.
Xiang Wan's cat, Niannian, scampered out, meowing urgently as it leaped into her arms, as if expressing the longing of being separated for days.
It had never been so affectionate before, perhaps it too sensed that something was amiss in the atmosphere.
Zuo Xingyun was not there; two bodyguards stood guard by the door of the bedroom where he used to stay, their faces saying 'keep out.'
That room, before Zuo Xingyun left, was also his room. It had been vacant all these years, never used by him.
Yes, once they were as close as family, living under the same roof. Now, as it had come to this, where exactly had things gone wrong?
At one in the morning, Xiang Wan was suffering from insomnia.
She wandered up and down inside the house in her pajamas, barefoot, holding Niannian in an attempt to exhaust all her energy.
On such a quiet night, it felt just like before any misfortune had struck…
The sound of a car neared the gate, and two piercing headlights illuminated a large area of the entrance.
The car door opened, and the person who got out was Zuo Xingyun.
The light from the headlights stretched his slender figure long, casting an inexplicably lonely aura.
Xiang Wan had no intention of leaving the courtyard; this was her home after all. Why should she hide from him like a mouse?
His tall figure drew nearer, the headlights of the distant car turned off, and only the dim yellow light of the courtyard's lamp remained. After a moment, the two of them faced each other.
"Why haven't you gone to bed?"
His voice was tired and lazy, as ordinary as if nothing had happened between them.
Idly stroking the cat in her hands, Xiang Wan stared straight at him, "Do you think you could sleep if you were ruined and your family destroyed?"
"Heh," Zuo Xingyun looked down and chuckled lightly, his tone tinged with self-mockery, "Indeed."
Indeed?
Xiang Wan didn't know how to respond for a moment. How thick-skinned must someone be to act as if they were unrelated after committing evil, as if it had nothing to do with them?
She struggled to see his face clearly, to see if he was perfectly composed, but standing against the light, she could only make out the chilly contours of his face.
Zuo Xingyun didn't let the atmosphere turn cold; he nodded towards the cat in her arms, "The cat's gotten fat."
A thought flashed through Xiang Wan's mind, she wanted to smack the cat against his face!
But she restrained herself, "Zuo Xingyun, don't you feel guilty at all? My dad is dead, my mom might as well be dead in the hospital. Why did you leave me alive?" Why send her to the hospital? Was it just for show, to make him seem less evil? Or to clear himself of suspicion, or perhaps… guilt?
Zuo Xingyun didn't answer immediately; he lit a cigarette first.
The light from the lighter briefly illuminated his flawless face; in that brief moment, Xiang Wan saw the deep weariness in his eyes—she wondered, did doing evil tire him too...?
The smoke curled into the night, and after a long while, Zuo Xingyun finally spoke, "It's late, you should get some rest."
Having said this, his gaze meaningfully swept over her face before he turned and walked towards the entrance hall.
For some reason, Xiang Wan felt unreasonably aggrieved and tossed Niannian to the ground: "This is the cat you gave me. I don't want it!"
Although Niannian was a bit stunned, it instinctively landed on all fours and hurried back to Xiang Wan's feet, nuzzling her in appeasement.
Yes, Niannian was a tenth birthday present from Zuo Xingyun before he left. She had cherished and cared for it for eight years, just as she had waited for him for eight years.
If she had known that the one she awaited would return as the Demon that brought ruin to her family, she wouldn't have anticipated his return so faithfully for eight years. But, unfortunately, there were no 'ifs,' so all her past expectations had become sin.
Zuo Xingyun's steps faltered but he didn't turn around, his voice resonant, "After eight years, you're going to discard it just like that? Are you playing house like children?"
Xiang Wan retorted mercilessly: "Aren't you doing the same?!"
Indeed, there was no fundamental difference between them in this matter; Zuo Xingyun's actions were, after all, a rejection of all that he had once held dear.
Zuo Xingyun's body stiffened imperceptibly but he did not continue to argue with Xiang Wan and simply went upstairs.
Soon thereafter, Nanny Zhang came running out hurriedly to put slippers on Xiang Wan: "Oh my, young miss, what are you doing wandering around barefoot in the middle of the night? Your body still hasn't recovered... If the Second Young Master hadn't woken me, I wouldn't have known you were still up…"
Right now, Xiang Wan didn't want to hear anything about Zuo Xingyun. Ignoring Nanny Zhang's rambling, she irritably scooped up Niannian and returned to her own room.
In the end, she couldn't be as heartless as him; saying she didn't want Niannian was just a spur of the moment, and she would feel guilty about it later.