Yan Bai had previously stated that he discovered Xu Ruowei was not as pure and kind as she appeared.
Many times, when he was about to harm An Nuan, Yan Bai would say a word or two.
At that time, he even punished Yan Bai, sending him to reflect.
Yan Bai had not failed to remind him, but he insisted on treating An Nuan that way.
Sometimes, he even thought that An Nuan was truly remarkable, winning over everyone around him, even Yan Bai.
An Nuan had once said to him, "Shen Xizhou, you must never regret it. If one day you regret it and have to apologize, I will not forgive you."
"Shen Xizhou, when you regret it, do not do so in front of me, because it will all be your own fault."
But what about now? Just as An Nuan had said, he had already regretted it. He even wanted to kneel before An Nuan and beg for her forgiveness.
He only hoped that An Nuan would return to his side and give him another chance.
The words An Nuan had said to him reappeared in his mind. How cruelly he had treated An Nuan back then.
But now, he regretted it.
However, there was no medicine for regret in this world.
An Nuan had once said:
"Xizhou, do you believe me?"
"Xizhou, whether you believe me or not, whenever there is a misunderstanding, you must apologize to me, understand?"
"Xizhou, if I say you are wrong, then you are wrong, do you understand?"
An Nuan had also said:
"Xizhou, in this life, besides you, I will never love anyone else."
"Xizhou, unless I die, otherwise, I, An Nuan, will only marry you in this lifetime."
An Nuan had also said:
"Xizhou, if you betray me, I will still love you."
"But Xizhou, I will only love you once in this life. If there is a rebirth, I will not love you anymore. Because you betrayed me first."
Shen Xizhou smiled, a self-deprecating laugh, and said, "An Nuan truly keeps her word."
Didn't An Nuan die once when she fell into the sea? The An Nuan of today was the reborn An Nuan. An Nuan had truly achieved it.
But he did not want to deal with these things now.
He only wanted An Nuan to return to his side.
An Nuan should have belonged to him for this lifetime.
He remembered now. Back then, he had said, "Silly girl, Nuan Nuan. What you are saying will not happen."
"If I fail you, may I live a lonely life and die a horrible death."
At that time, An Nuan had rushed forward and covered his mouth, not letting him continue speaking.
She had even knelt down piously and said to the heavens, "No, he is talking nonsense. Please do not take him seriously."
How beautiful everything was between them then. But now? Everything had changed.
After a long silence, Nangong Jin looked at Shen Xizhou and said coldly, "Shen Xizhou, you claim to love An Nuan and would give your life for her."
"But if you truly loved An Nuan, then why do you lack even the most basic trust?"
"Is this what you call love?"
"You..." Nangong Jin said coldly, "Don't you think your love is rather hypocritical?"
Shen Xizhou's heart ached intensely, as if it were being ripped open and bleeding, causing him to be unable to breathe. His heart felt as if it were being slowly sliced by a thousand knives.
Love, did he truly love An Nuan?
Love, how could he not love her?
But did the things he had done warrant him saying he loved her?
If loving someone was like this, it was truly laughable.
Loving someone meant unconditional trust. Loving someone meant a lifetime.
And he? He spoke of loving An Nuan, yet married someone else.
Nangong Jin was right. His love was indeed very cheap.
He knew very well that he and An Nuan had no connection in this life.
An Nuan would never forgive him.
Xu Ruowei had said that everything about An Nuan was a pretense. But thinking about it now, perhaps those words were more fitting for Xu Ruowei herself.
Now, he had figured out many things. He had been led by the nose by Xu Ruowei all along.
However, all of this was his own fault.
If he had listened to An Nuan's explanation just once, if he had given An Nuan even a sliver of trust, then things would not have turned out this way.
All the consequences were his doing.
If...
If he hadn't pushed An Nuan down, if he had listened to An Nuan's explanation, if he had trusted An Nuan. Then, everything would have been different.
He remembered how he had abandoned An Nuan in the wilderness to protect Xu Ruowei.
He had even had An Nuan kidnapped to avenge Xu Ruowei. Fortunately, Nangong Jin appeared.
But at that time, Xu Ruowei had said, "Shen Xizhou, look, An Nuan already has another man by her side."
"Didn't she say she would only have you in this life?"
Now it seemed that was not the case.
An Yunxiu was alive, but it was because he had allowed Xu Ruowei to act recklessly that An Yunxiu died.
All of this was his fault.
It was him who, bit by bit, pushed An Nuan away from him.
It was him who had driven An Nuan to desperation.
What right did he have to beg for An Nuan's forgiveness now?
An Nuan coughed softly, and Nangong Jin quickly walked over, shielding her in his arms, saying with great concern, "Nuan Nuan, I told you, I will handle these matters. You don't need to worry about them."
"The doctor said your body needs complete rest."
"Are you not planning to listen to the doctor, are you?"
"An Nuan, can you think of me? If your body doesn't recover well, grandfather will hold me accountable, and I'll be in a terrible state. You don't want to see me in a terrible state, do you?"
"If I get beaten by grandfather, won't you be the one who feels bad?" Nangong Jin said with a smile.
An Nuan smiled, a happy smile appearing on her face, and said to Nangong Jin, "Okay, okay, I'll be good and go rest, alright?"
"I won't make things difficult for you anymore, alright?"
Shen Xizhou's hands clenched tightly. Watching the scene unfold before him, it deeply pained him.
Seeing An Nuan so happy with Nangong Jin, he was consumed by an insane jealousy.
At that moment, he wished he could just step forward and chop off the hand around An Nuan's waist.
That hand looked so annoying.
However, he knew that such thoughts could only remain in his mind.
He feared that if he spoke, An Nuan would immediately drive him away. She would say even harsher words to him.
Nangong Jin naturally knew Shen Xizhou's unwillingness, but he looked at the man before him with a calm expression.
If he wasn't worried about An Nuan overthinking, he would have driven the annoying person away right then and there.
Nangong Jin looked at An Nuan, his eyes filled with joy, and said, "Nuan Nuan, let's go. You didn't like the wedding dresses you saw before, so I found a few more. Go and take a look, and if you don't like them, we'll find more."
"I will definitely make you the most beautiful and happiest woman in the world."
Seeing that An Nuan did not respond, Nangong Jin hesitated, but continued, "Oh, right, I forgot. You're not feeling well. It's best not to tire yourself out. I'll have them delivered to the house for you to look at."
An Nuan shook her head. "I can do it. Let's go."
Hearing An Nuan's reply, Nangong Jin's face was filled with smiles.
He leaned down and placed a kiss on An Nuan's forehead.