Divorce by Agreement C06

Chapter 6

#Looks like I really, really, really liked you back then.

The “me” in the mirror stared at Xie Zhuo blankly for a long time. Then, suddenly wide-eyed and pouting, her cheeks puffed up in anger. She jumped up and poked Xie Zhuo in the eye.

Xie Zhuo seemed lost in thought, dazed even. Faced with such chaotic and uncoordinated attacks, he didn’t dodge at all and was directly poked in the eye. The pain made him cover his eye and lower his head.

“I,” she began berating him, “Who are you calling ugly? Who? Who taught you to talk to a girl like that?!”

I watched in the mirror as the me from back then jumped up and started pounding her fists on Xie Zhuo. My heart tightened with worry. I kept repeating silently—stop it, stop it, he’s super fierce, his cultivation is a million times stronger than yours, if you keep hitting him you’re going to die, and if you die, I’ll die, we’ll both be gone…

“I,” she stopped after a few punches, cursing under her breath. “Xie Xuanqing, your injury healed and now you talk like this? Did the wound in your leg spread to your brain?” As she spoke, she reached out to feel his forehead. “Let me check—your leg I took care of, now I have to fix your brain too…”

In the mirror, the me from back then cupped Xie Zhuo’s face and leaned in to touch his forehead.

I froze at that motion.

In my memory, aside from the occasional fight, it had been many years since I’d had any physical contact like that with Xie Zhuo.

The love that once was had been worn down to dullness over five hundred years of mundane life. I hadn’t had the urge to embrace him in ages.

Xie Zhuo also visibly froze.

He let her cup his cheeks, but after a brief pause, he abruptly stepped back.

He stood straight, creating distance between them.

And she looked at him, confused, finally showing a trace of seriousness. “Xie Xuanqing, what’s with you? You were fine just now, why are you acting so weird? That’s not how you give someone a surprise.”

Xie Zhuo stared at her in silence, then slightly turned his head.

In the mirror, I saw that he had turned his head… and was looking in my direction!

Fearing being discovered by my past self, I immediately pulled back the mirror and hugged it tightly to my chest. Just then, I heard Xie Zhuo’s low, steady voice:

“I don’t like you.”

It was the line I’d told him to say earlier.

And yet, hearing it now stirred something different in my heart.

That sentence wasn’t meant for the past me, and yet it was. From another angle, it had to be meant for me.

The feelings I had hearing that sentence were just as complicated as the circumstances in which he said it.

The “me” outside fell silent.

After a long pause, she said, “I… I don’t like you either! You’re being too mean today, I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I’m leaving.”

I heard my footsteps fading in the distance, and even I thought that “I” had really left.

I was just about to stand up from the window when I heard hurried footsteps rushing back.

I crouched down again by the window, curiosity piqued, and daringly poked the mirror back out.

In the mirror, I saw her return, panting, and stop in front of Xie Zhuo.

Xie Zhuo looked at her in silence…

“I,” she said quickly, “What I just said wasn’t true. I already like you. If you don’t like me, you don’t have to say it out loud, because… it’ll make me sad.”

A flicker passed through Xie Zhuo’s eyes.

“I,” she continued, grabbing his hand and putting the bamboo basket into it, “I think you’re in a bad mood today and that’s why you were talking like that. So here—these freshly dug bamboo shoots are for you. They taste great with chili. They’re not like the old, tough ones I gave you before. I hope after eating these, you’ll feel better.”

“I,” she rattled on, “Now that your body’s healed and you’ve got your own place, you can cook for yourself. Not that I don’t want to help—it’s just that what you said earlier really hurt me. I need to go back and recover a bit.

“I hope that when I come visit you tomorrow, you won’t ask me what kind of thing I am again. You’ll say I’m not ugly. And maybe, if I’m lucky, you’ll even say you like me.” She finished with a casual wave, “I’m off…”

Xie Zhuo froze. So did I.

But I reacted faster than he did.

I grabbed the bronze mirror in my hand and flung it in the direction she left.

The mirror smacked her on the head. By the time Xie Zhuo snapped out of it, she had already collapsed with a thud.

I immediately shouted from inside the house, “Hurry up and carry me out! Pose me in a way that looks like I just had a dream. Otherwise, after what happened today, there’s no way to explain things tomorrow!”

Xie Zhuo was silent for a moment outside, and then I heard the sound of wind.

When my body started to feel lighter, I knew he’d already carried my past self out of the courtyard.

I peeked out the window, saw the quiet little yard, and the new barrier Xie Zhuo had set up outside. I let out a sigh of relief and started scolding him, “You were way too careless. Why didn’t you set up a barrier before? What if the me from the past had just walked straight up to this house and ran into me face-to-face? I’d be done for.”

I muttered on for a while, but Xie Zhuo was still holding the basket of bamboo shoots.

He didn’t say a word for a long time, just stared at the basket like he was deep in thought. Finally, he looked up at me and said, “You used to really love eating these.”

“Yeah…”

“Why’d you stop?”

“If there’s no chili, what’s the point of eating them?”

He didn’t speak again for a long time, probably thinking of the real reason we divorced.

I climbed out the window, looked at the bamboo shoots in his hand—they were all tender and fresh. After so many years of not tasting anything that good, just imagining the crisp and spicy flavor made my mouth water a bit. I swallowed and looked again toward the direction he had carried me away.

I believed that with the temperament of my past self, once she woke up and couldn’t find this little courtyard in the Snow Bamboo Forest, she would definitely assume the whole thing was a dream.

She might even go rant to the “Xie Xuanqing” of that time, full of complaints, and regret losing such a basket of perfect bamboo shoots.

“I underestimated myself too,” I murmured. “Back then, I was just a young girl. After hearing such harsh words from you, I still didn’t give up, and even gave you such good bamboo shoots.”

“Looks like I really, really, really liked you back then.”

“Then why did you stop liking me?” Xie Zhuo turned to look at me.

I fell silent. After a brief blank in my mind, countless images from the past five hundred years flashed through—small disappointments, big heartbreaks, the grind of daily life, and moments I didn’t want to remember.

All those moments couldn’t be put into words.

From deep love to no love at all—it was those moments that built a bridge, carrying me from one side to the other.

No relationship ever ends all of a sudden.

There are always too many details that can’t be shared with outsiders—things slipped into the cracks of a relationship under the arrangement of fate and time, ultimately causing the thread to snap completely.

I paused for a moment, then looked up at the sky and said lightly, “Because I prefer spicy food.”

At this moment, I couldn’t come up with any other reason.

“This step didn’t work out. Let’s figure out the next one,” I called to Xie Zhuo. “The sooner we sever this bond, the sooner we can head back.”

Feigning ease, I turned and walked back into the house, deliberately avoiding Xie Zhuo’s slightly lowered gaze and the subtle, silent emotion on his face.