As a child, Zhenzhen often heard the servants whispering behind her back that she had come down with a high fever as a newborn and it had damaged her brain.
Her mother rounded up everyone who had been gossiping and punished them severely. After that, no one dared to talk about Zhenzhen in front of her again, at least not openly.
Her mother said her brain hadn't been damaged. She simply thought a little more slowly than other people and took a little longer to work things out. That meant she could understand things more clearly. It was one of Zhenzhen's strengths, not a bad thing.
Marrying Fu Shiwei was probably the decision she had made fastest in her life. After they married, her husband treated her with courtesy and respect. Everyone said the young master treated her well, but Zhenzhen always felt that he wasn't happy.
At first, she asked Fu Shiwei, "Why are you unhappy, my husband?"
Fu Shiwei smiled. "I'm not. You're overthinking it, my dear."
After that, he didn't show up for many days, and Zhenzhen didn't dare ask again.
Later, she heard that his childhood sweetheart had suffered a terrible misfortune. Zhenzhen ran to comfort him, only to be met with four icy words: "You have yourself to blame."
At last, Zhenzhen understood. She was the reason he was unhappy.
Well, then. She didn't think she should be so selfish as to enjoy herself while he suffered. And after being married to Fu Shiwei for so long, she'd nearly forgotten all the things that used to make her happy. Her heart always felt as if it were being tugged by silk threads, hurting and itching at once.
Maybe things would get better if she stayed away from him.
When Fu Shiwei married his wife, his mother-in-law earnestly urged him to look after Zhenzhen, saying she was careless and naive and needed plenty of attention and care.
So he always had people keep an eye on her. He thought he had done everything beyond reproach, fulfilling his duty to the utmost.
Only after Zhenzhen left did he realize that the little fool he had imagined wasn't careless at all. She had seen through his false affection, his seemingly considerate but actually perfunctory gestures, and they had broken her heart.
For a while, he kept thinking that if Zhenzhen had stayed a little longer, if she had been willing to watch him a little more closely, she would have seen that he was slowly falling for her. They wouldn't have ended up on the verge of separating. The more time passed, the more he understood that before she had completely given up on him, she had already given him countless chances. Back then, he hadn't known how to treasure them and had cast them aside like trash. Now, they tore him to shreds and left him bleeding.
Theme: Everyone's feelings are precious.
