Chapter 390: Extra 14

No one ever found out what the siblings discussed. After their talk, however, Li Xiangrui was no longer in a bind. He would greet the man who had caught his sister’s eye with a smile, but he never held back when it came to making his life difficult. His schemes were so relentless that the man, pure-hearted as he was, eventually stammered an appeal to Li Xianglin, begging her to believe that he wasn’t interested in her for any external reasons—he truly just wanted her, and her alone!

When Li Xiu, who was far away in Yunnan, heard about this, he couldn’t help but vent to Zhou Lian, “Our son is still too young. His methods are so childish, all superficial stuff that doesn’t cause any real harm. It’s a good thing our daughter is so perceptive; otherwise, our son would be the best wingman for the other guy. He just lacks experience. He still needs to go through more in life!”

“Jin Chen, I honestly never thought the one to catch Nuonuo’s eye would still be him. I thought that since our circumstances are different in this life, even if Nuonuo ran into Little Fang, she wouldn’t necessarily fall for him. After all, there are so many outstanding young men around her. But they still met, and they still hit it off!”

Zhou Lian sighed, her feelings a tangled mess. She had thought this life would be different from the last, but aside from their circumstances, it seemed the people they were meant to meet, they met all the same. Just as she had married Li Xiu again, despite being reborn.

As for her daughter, her experience and personality were completely different from her past life, yet she still fell for Fang Lingjun the moment she met him. Zhou Lian felt a little dazed. ‘Could their connection truly be a matter of destiny, fated across lifetimes? If so, does that mean she and Li Xiu, despite being reborn, are just repeating the path of their previous life?’

Li Xiu paused for a moment before speaking. “Bao’er, it doesn’t matter if this Nuonuo is the same one from our past life. She is our daughter. And in both this life and the last, her personality is the spitting image of mine—capable of the deepest affection and the most absolute ruthlessness. All of my love in this life is reserved for you. With everyone else, including our son and daughter, it’s not that I don’t have feelings, but it’s more of an equivalent exchange. I care for Nuonuo and Yanyan, and as their father, I have done everything a father can do for his children.”

“Back when Grandma was alive, she told Eldest Aunt that I, Li Xiu, am capable of the deepest affection and the most absolute ruthlessness, and that one should never test my limits. The truth is, across two lifetimes, the person who understood me best was Grandma. In our last life, I was a fool. I didn’t grasp her hints. But she never spelled it out for me, either. Perhaps it was because when it comes to a son versus a grandson, a grandson is always a step removed. Besides, Li Hua and the others were hardly filial, but I was blindly, foolishly devoted. When Grandma saw I wasn’t getting it, she reluctantly let things be.”

Li Xiu continued, his tone detached, “Bao’er, in the final years of our last life, I finally broke free from the shackles of familial obligation. Looking back as an outsider, it was all so clear. But by then, the ones who should have been gone were gone, and those of us still alive had cut off all contact for good. What could I do? I just had to swallow my bitterness and live with it. This life is different. Grandma saw my actions and understood that my nature wasn’t as it appeared on the surface. That’s why she said all that to Eldest Aunt.”

“As for our precious daughter, her personality is a perfect reflection of mine. Nuonuo invests all of her affection in those connected to her by blood—us, Yanyan, and maybe her own children in the future. As for Fang Lingjun… their relationship will likely be the same as in our past life: one of mutual support, seeing each other through to old age. Expecting the passionate, all-consuming devotion of young lovers? That’s simply impossible for her.”

Zhou Lian was stunned for a moment. It took her a long while to recover before she said softly, “Jin Chen, I know you’ve taught Nuonuo and Yanyan many things in private. It’s just… Nuonuo is a girl. What girl doesn’t dream of being a princess? In her last life, Nuonuo never had the chance to dream. In this life, we’ve doted on her endlessly, all so she wouldn’t have to live such a weary life again. But her personality has become even more unyielding and domineering than before. For her to be like this…?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that, Bao’er. You of all people should understand that the human heart is the hardest thing in the world to fathom, the hardest to control, and the quickest to change. It’s good that Nuonuo is this way. She doesn’t need to live like some clueless child. After all, this life is not our last. If Nuonuo were truly that naive and ignorant of the world, it would be the death of her.”

Li Xiu looked at Zhou Lian and sighed. “Nuonuo’s upbringing is different this time, so the challenges she faces are different too. Even in our last life, she wasn’t some naive, simple little girl coddled by her parents. Whatever your station in life, you must have the skills to match it. Otherwise, you’ll just die faster.”

“I know that, too. In the end, you can only truly rely on yourself for protection. Even we, their parents, can’t shield her forever. But I can’t help but wish for our children to have an easier life, even just a little bit. I know it’s impossible. After we got to know Elder Ping, and after Ping’an came to live with us, I knew it was out of the question. Still, I can’t stop wishing for an easier life for them.”

Zhou Lian sighed again. “I know you’ve been teaching the two of them privately. I figured learning more and knowing more couldn’t hurt. But now, I can’t help but wonder if they’re so detached now because they learned too much, knew too much, when they were so young.”

“Bao’er, their personalities have nothing to do with any of that. Some things are just in your bones, part of you from birth. In our last life, the children didn’t learn nearly as much, but think about them. Their personalities were different, but wasn’t that fundamental coldness, that emotional distance, cut from the very same cloth? It’s in their blood. Just look at the second branch of the Li family. Is there a single kind, warm-hearted person among them? Myself included.”

Li Xiu’s words made Zhou Lian swallow the retort on the tip of her tongue. On second thought, there really wasn’t a single normal person in the Li family’s second branch. From Li Xiu’s parents down to his brothers and sister, not one person in that family of seven could be called kind. The two elders: one was selfish and cowardly to the core, the other was selfish and domineering on the surface. As for Li Xiu’s four younger brothers, every last one of them was a self-serving opportunist. And his only sister was both stupid and malicious.

And then there was Li Xiu, who was hardly a good person in the traditional, warm-hearted sense either. In his past life, his blind filial piety was foolish to an infuriating degree. He’d figured things out in this life, but that couldn’t change the coldness in his bones. The only difference was that he operated with a moral baseline and was a firm believer in equivalent exchange. Because of that, he appeared to be a gentle, refined man who valued loyalty and friendship above all else.

In the end, Zhou Lian gave up trying to defend her children. She asked resignedly, “Jin Chen, you’ve said that Grandma and Grandpa weren’t selfish or cowardly people. So how did they end up with a son like your father, who is nothing like them? Eldest Uncle and Third Uncle have their flaws, but at their core, they’re good, kind people who are genuine with their family. But when it came to your father…”

“Ah, I’ve never really thought about it, but with my father’s personality, he must have inherited it from some ancestor down the line. Forget it. There’s no point in dwelling on it now. You don’t need to worry. Nuonuo and Yanyan are fine just the way they are. At the very least, they know how to protect themselves. Besides, even if they’re a bit cold by nature, they’re still good kids at heart, with a strong moral compass.”