Love in the Midst of Mistaken Identities

Initially, Xia Ruoxin was puzzled by what he was saying. Soon, however, she couldn’t help but laughed out loud once she understood. That patient was really Chu Lui. Du Jingtang being here, a man with Chu as his last name, and one who kept finding fault at Gao Yi. All the signs pointed to Chu Lui; no one else. Gao Yi was very serious, and he could be the only one in the world to say that Chu Lui was a troublesome one.

Nevertheless, she still had her concerns. What did Chu Lui want? A sense of uneasiness washed over her even as she smiled.

“Does he know about Rainy?”

“No,” Gao Yi answered without a doubt. Chu Lui couldn’t have known. If he knew, he wouldn’t be this calm and staying in the hospital. With his temper, there was no way he could remain this calm and face Gao Yi. He didn’t know anything about Rainy.

“Everything will be alright.” Gao Yi reassured Xia Ruoxin. We will leave once my resignation report has been finalized.”

“Okay.” Xia Ruoxin placed a palm on the table, and then he put it under her chin. There was a smile in her eyes, making her look innocent and simple. Gao Yi had a sudden thought as there was a light poke at his heart.

He reached out a hand and held Xia Ruoxin’s tightly. “Ruoxin, it is so good to have met

you.”

Xia Ruoxin sighed softly. Actually, she had wanted to tell him that, too. It is really very fortunate for me to have met you.

Du Jingtang moved closer to Chu Lui curiously. His cousin’s eyes were glued to the computer screen as though he was trying to see through it. However, his attention wasn’t on the screen.

“Brother, are you doing it on purpose?”

Du Jingtang suddenly asked. Chu Lui’s hand moved up and closed the laptop sitting on his

lap.

“What do you mean?” he merely asked Du Jingtang

“I don’t mean anything.” Du Jingtang shrugged. “I just want to know if you have done anything to Doctor Gao’s resignation report.”

Chu Lui pursed his lips into such a straight line that there wasn’t any space in between. Any idiot could tell that he had done it out of purpose and willfulness.

“Brother, is there a need to do this?”

Du Jingtang wasn’t trying to shock Chu Lui. He was simply saying the truth. “You may be able to stop him from leaving today, but that doesn’t mean you can keep him here forever. You don’t mean anything to her if she doesn’t love you, and you can’t expect her to love you with everything again no matter how hard you try.” He couldn’t bear to see his cousin like this as he spoke the truth.

Chu Lui’s hand clenched tightly on the table. His lowered eyes hid many emotions and complexity.

“Jingtang, tell me. Can I still be forgiven?”

He asked Du Jingtang suddenly. The question stumped him. Forgive. Such a simple word which was easy to write, too. However, it was a word filled with heaviness. Right now, what was the difference between forgiving him and not?

Du Jingtang didn’t reply to his question, but he was thinking...

Some time later...

The fragrance from a pot of tea filled the small teahouse. Du Jingtang poured Xia Ruoxin a cup of tea and placed it in front of her.

“Thank you.” Xia Ruoxin accepted the tea. She was fond of the method of tea making. As a wealthy woman, Shen Yijun was a fan; and Xia Ruoxin had acquired some knowledge with her. Making a cup of tea might be a way to calm one’s restless mind slowly and clear one’s thoughts as one basked in the fragrance of tea. Finally, reducing stress and calming one’s thoughts.

However, she was no longer the Xia Ruoxin without any worries. For four years, she had done manual work, sold her blood for money, and even picked plastic bottles that others had discarded to earn one more cent to buy her daughter a sweet or one more stock of vegetables.

All this tea was a luxury and became unnecessary during that time.

It felt like a dream to her now as she was sampling the tea. She even had the urge to curse.

“Cousin-in-law...” Du Jingtang couldn’t change the way he had addressed her in the past. “I’m sorry.” He was embarrassed. “It became a habit to call you like this.”

“It’s fine.” Xia Ruoxin didn’t take it to heart. It was just a form of salutation after all. However, she was no longer his in-law. That salutation belonged to another woman.

“You can address me by my name.” Xia Ruoxin’s finger was caressing the exquisite teacup as she held it in her left hand. It was made of white porcelain which resembled jade with a flowery design. Good tea accompanied by a beautiful cup resulted in an expensive cup of tea.

“Okay. I’ll call you Sister Ruoxin.” Du Jingtang gave a hearty smile and picked up his teacup casually. There wasn’t a sign of awkwardness. In truth, she was younger than he was, but he still felt it was more appropriate to address her as his senior because she had been his cousin-in-law in the past. He couldn’t bring himself to call her directly by her name.

“Sister Ruoxin, my cousin...” He steadied himself and sighed. “His character has always been like this—too overbearing and arrogant. That’s why he had done all those things in the past. He owed you an apology.”

“There’s no need to. We are not related now. I will also tell him everything is alright.” Xia Ruoxin’s grip on the teacup tightened. She was actually smiling deep down as she listened to Du Jingtang’s words.

Besides Chu Lui and herself, no one in the world knew exactly what Chu Lui had done to her. He didn’t just hurt or ruin her. He had almost caused her daughter’s death. This alone was something that she found unforgivable.

“If I may...” Du Jingtang felt he was spouting nonsense, but he had to ask.

“Go ahead.” Xia Ruoxin always remembered the kindness from Du Jingtang so she treated him the best among all the members from the Chu and Xia households.

Du Jingtang touched his nose. Then, he asked Xia Ruoxin seriously. “Sister Ruoxin, if my cousin was repentant and willing to change, will you reconcile with him? I’m saying if...”

Xia Ruoxin set her cup down and rested her hand palm down against the table surface.

She shook her head.

“I’m sorry. That is not possible. There’s no ‘if’. There is no way back for me, and I won’t go back to him.”

Naturally, Du Jingtang already knew her answer. However, he couldn’t help himself from feeling disappointed.

Sigh. That was true, too. Not everyone could mend a broken mirror. Similarly, not every married couple who had gone their separate ways was able to reconcile and get back together. He had grown up together with Chu Lui. His cousin was not a bad person. To err is human. One would do something wrong at some point in time. However, some things could be forgiven while others couldn’t. Some people were willing to seek reconciliation, but some simply wouldn’t.