Chapter 37.2 Second Prince

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Yan Mu walked back, but instead of Yu Yuan, she saw Father Yan.

Father Yan was carrying a hoe and arguing with someone about something.
He was always good-tempered and rarely argued with others until he was red in the face1 like now.

Before she stepped forward, Yan Mu overheard their conversation.

“Aiya Old Yan, you better not take in that little b*stard anymore, look how miserable Hunter Zhang is now.
I saw him the other day and all he could do was lie in bed smoking.
He was as skinny as a skeleton, and he didn’t even notice when anyone came close.”

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“That’s right Old Yan, if you ask me, it’s better to chase that star of calamity out of the village.”

“Yes Old Yan, if you want to have a son, why don’t you just marry Aunt Zhou? She’s only in her early thirties this year, and has wide hips that’ll be good for easy childbirth……”

“Dad,” Hearing the topic getting more and more outrageous, Yan Mu was afraid that something might happen, so she hurried forward.

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Ebs jdlo vbyv obld vbspl rlsrzl pyo Zyd Yw, dsv sdzu eke vblu dsv alpvaykd vblxplzhlp, cwv vblu oldv lhld qwavbla.

“Zyd Yw, yehkpl uswa qyvbla.”

“Mbyv’p aktbv, vbyv’p aktbv.
Gp bkp eywtbvla, usw’al yzps clkdt pkzzu, usw eked’v lhld pyu yduvbkdt obld usw oyvnble bkx pvlr kdvs vbl qkal.”

“Xze Zyd, uswa eywtbvla kp yzalyeu kd rssa blyzvb, cwv usw pvkzz oydv vs pblzvla vbyv c*pvyae nbkze, yal usw dsv yqayke sq eayttkdt bla esod……”

Zyd Yw oyp Wyvbla Zyd’p csvvsx zkdl.
Fllkdt vblx vyzj ycswv bla zkjl vbkp, bl kdpvydvzu clnyxl ydtau.

“Rq Zw Zwyd oyp alyzzu vbyv cye, bl oswze’hl oyvnble xl ekl qasx vbl pdyjl hldsx!” Wyvbla Zyd tayccle bkp bsl sqq bkp pbswzela yde oyhle kv kdvkxkeyvkdtzu, “Rq usw pyu ydsvbla osae, R’zz clyv usw vs elyvb!”

Mblu olal yqayke sq vbl bsl kd bkp byde ps qsa dso, vblu eked’v eyal vs cl kxrlvwswp yde nswze sdzu ekpcyde.

“Pye, vblal’p ds dlle vs cl ydtau clnywpl sq vblx,” Zyd Yw bwaaklezu pvlrrle qsaoyae vs nsxqsav bkx, “Zsw yzalyeu jdso vbyv vbl rlsrzl kd vbl hkzzytl yal yzoyup tsppkru.”

In ancient times, there wasn’t much entertainment, so for the villagers’ to entertain themselves after their meal, other than making babies, there was only idle gossip.

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“What are you doing here?” Father Yan saw Yan Mu’s hand and hurriedly asked, “What happened to your hand?”

“My hand’s fine.
I accidentally got stung by a caterpillar that fell off a tree.” Yan Mu was afraid that Father Yan would be worried, so she hid the reason for her injury, “But Yu Yuan, he heard about those rumors.”

“Then, is that child alright?” Father Yan asked worriedly.

“He was afraid of dragging us down, so he never came home,” Yan Mu was a bit dejected.

“That silly child……” Father Yan also sighed.

“I’ll go with you to find him,” Father Yan said.

His words stunned Yan Mu, and she looked at him for a long time, speechless.

Father Yan was a little embarrassed by Yan Mu’s gaze, so he couldn’t help but scratch his head and say, “Why, is there anything on my face?”

“It’s nothing,” Yan Mu smiled, “I was just thinking that, dad, you’re so nice.”

How nice, Father Yan isn’t like the other villagers.

**************

Actually, Yu Yuan didn’t go too far.

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The tallest and largest tree was near the village, and he sat on a sloping branch of the old tree, watching the busy villagers.

Looking from high up, the people were as big as soybeans.

He coldly watched the villagers busy about.
It was like looking at a bunch of ants2.

Yu Yuan suddenly felt a little funny.
Because of Yan Mu’s company, he’d actually wanted to win the villagers’ favor.

But his thinking was proven wrong.
Once the villagers discovered who he really was, they went back to how they used to be.

Even his schoolmates were the same.

Before, he naively thought that if he got good grades, everyone would slowly accept him.
But no, when his schoolmates heard about the rumors, they changed back to how they used to be, and even loathed and feared him even more than before.

Human hearts are really fickle.

Yu Yuan suddenly felt extremely bored.
This life of putting on a mask in order to make a good impression for others was so boring.

He let out a long sigh of relief, covered his eyes with his hands, and leaned against the tree trunk.

He remembered Teacher’s words again—— “Not only can you not protect Yan Mu, but you’ll also implicate her, and even she will be treated by others with disdain.
Yu Yuan, is that what you want?”

Teacher’s words stabbed his heart, and Yu Yuan was angry at his own incompetence.

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Do people like him not deserve love at all?

His only fate was rotting in the ground and turning into summer soil.

His heart pounded with resentment, and his blood rushed with hatred, washing away the numbness in his mind.

Anger, unwillingness, self-reproach, resentment.
All sorts of emotions overwhelmingly poured forth, almost devouring Yu Yuan.

It was in this darkest moment that Yu Yuan heard Yan Mu’s call.

“Yu Yuan——”

In an instant, all the emotions disappeared.
His intensely beating heart suddenly calmed down.

Yu Yuan’s mind was filled with Yan Mu’s call.

Yes, I still have Yan Mu.

Yu Yuan opened his eyes and wanted to tell Yan Mu that he was here.
But he remembered what Teacher had said and silently shut his mouth again.

A strange and evil thought suddenly appeared in Yu Yuan’s mind.
He wanted to see how long Yan Mu would keep looking for him.

And…… if Yan Mu couldn’t find him, would she give up.

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So, he sat in the tree and watched Yan Mu looking for him until the sky turned dark.

He bit his lip until it was dripping blood, struggling to restrain his urge to respond to Yan Mu.

He watched as Yan Mu looked all over for him, from inside the village to the outskirts, and he watched as the other villagers looked at her oddly.

Yu Yuan’s remaining sanity stopped him.
His eyes were bloodshot as he watched Yan Mu find her way, little by little, until she reached under the tree.

Of course, she didn’t notice that he was in the tree.

He saw Yan Mu panting slightly and wiping her sweat with her handkerchief, soaking the nice pink fabric.

His eyes fell on Yan Mu’s hand that was wrapped like a dumpling.

The moment he realised that Yan Mu was injured, all of Yu Yuan’s persistence collapsed.

His eyes were filled with a murderous aura, but his tone was particularly gentle, “Who did that?”

Yan Mu was resting under the tree, and she was very happy when she heard Yu Yuan’s voice.

“Yu Yuan!” She lifted her head, her posture like a big goose flapping its wings.

There was no disgust in her eyes like Yu Yuan had imagined.
Yan Mu’s gaze was clean and clear, just as before.

Yu Yuan felt as if something was stuck in his throat.
He wanted to speak, but for a long time, he couldn’t say a word.

He lowered his eyes and silently climbed down from the tree.

As soon as he reached the ground, the girl came up to him.

“Are you hurt?” The girl carefully looked at Yu Yuan, and was relieved to see that he was unharmed.

Yu Yuan lowered his eyes, gently held Yan Mu’s injured hand and asked, “How did this happen?”

“There was a caterpillar that fell from a tree and I accidentally touched it.” Yan Mu was afraid that Yu Yuan would blame himself even more if he learned the truth, so she repeated what she had said before.

Yu Yuan nodded with an expressionless face.
Yan Mu didn’t know whether he believed it or not.

“Yu Yuan, let’s go home for dinner.” Yan Mu tentatively held Yu Yuan’s hand.

The girl’s cold hand miraculously soothed the wounds in his heart.

Yu Yuan suddenly didn’t feel so sad anymore.

He stood awkwardly still and didn’t say anything for a long time.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Mu realized that Yu Yuan had something on his mind.

“Those rumors……” Yu Yuan looked away, afraid to see any disgust in Yan Mu’s face.

“Actually……” Yan Mu hesitated for a while, “Actually, I’ve long known that you were behind it.”

“……”

Yu Yuan was dumbfounded.

“Yan Mu!” Yu Yuan suddenly grabbed Yan Mu’s hand.

“Huh?” Yan Mu looked up and saw a panicked3 face.

“Yan Mu, don’t hate me.” The teenager clutched her arm tightly, like a drowning man firmly gripping onto a piece of driftwood.

Yan Mu felt a little pain from his grip.

But Yu Yuan’s condition was a little abnormal.
So Yan Mu held it in.

She tried to sound relaxed and smiled at Yu Yuan, saying, “I don’t hate you.
Yu Yuan is the best.”

After speaking, she thought for a moment, then leaned over to give the teenager a hug.

“I’ll never hate Yu Yuan,” she whispered in the teenager’s ear.

She and Yu Yuan were so close that she could feel Yu Yuan’s beating heart.

Yu Yuan was really nervous and scared, making Yan Mu’s heart feel a little uncomfortable.

She gently patted Yu Yuan’s back like she was coaxing a child until the teenager’s heartbeat slowly returned to normal.

“Yan Mu, why don’t you hate me?” The teenager buried his head in the crook of her neck, his voice a little muffled.

“…… Because, I don’t think it’s a big deal,” Yan Mu said after pausing for a while.

Yan Mu was a little torn, although she somewhat felt like a person with no core values4.
But in her eyes, everyone except Yu Yuan and Father Yan were just paper men.

The purpose of the existence of so-called supporting characters in the book was originally to serve as a foil to the protagonists or for character development.

In short, in the author’s eyes, the supporting characters were just tools.

As everyone knows, tools had no human rights.
Of course, Yan Mu couldn’t say these words to Yu Yuan.

So Yan Mu added, “Besides, it was Hunter Zhang and the others who bullied you first, the person who started it is at fault, you just fought back.”

Yu Yuan remained silent for a long time, then lifted his head.
He slowly asked, “Really?”

There was a strange light in his eyes, and his dark pupils were as deep as the midnight sky.

“Really,” Yan Mu nodded with absolute certainty.

The corners of Yu Yuan’s mouth curled up into a smile, and then his whole being fell into euphoria.

It turned out that Yan Mu had known all along.
She clearly knew, but she was still so nice to him.

It turned out that Yan Mu really was different.
Only Yan Mu was willing to accept his true self.

Yu Yuan felt like his head was dizzy and his body was limp as if he was drunk, and he could only be pulled along by Yan Mu.
This dizziness lasted until the two of them entered the house.

There was another man in the house who was dressed in expensive but tattered clothes.

And Father Yan was standing to the side.
Seeing the two of them enter the room, he scratched his head and apologized, “I’m sorry, I accidentally picked someone else up when I was looking for Yu Yuan.”

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The author has something to say:

Yuanyuan: My character has blackened.

When my character is half-blackened, my wife came——

Yuanyuan: I’m sorry, my wife called me home for dinner, the blackening will resume next time.

*

Yu Yuan: Do you know I did something bad? (fidgety)

Yan Mu: ……I’m the author.
Not only did I know you did something bad, but I also know how many times you wet your bed when you were a child.