Chapter 193

Chapter 193 - 193 186 Because I lost an ear saving you (first Chapter 193: 186: Because I lost an ear saving you (first update) Chapter 193: 186: Because I lost an ear saving you (first update) Wen Changling pushed his hand away. “You guessed it, didn’t you?”

She made a subconscious motion, touching her ear.

Xie Shang’s hand stiffened.

Wen Changling had mentioned before that she lost her hearing after a high fever. He had also heard from Granny Zhu that Wen Changling’s hearing loss occurred when she was twelve years old.

That was thirteen years ago.

A chilling suspicion suddenly took over his mind. After a momentary blankness, his breathing involuntarily softened. “How did you lose your hearing?”

Wen Changling was astonished.

Xie Shang was so clever that just a trace of a clue allowed him to deduce the whole picture.

“Do you really want to know?” Wen Changling’s gaze was tranquil, her eyes moistened by the cool breeze, as if immersed in the lake water of a windless March. “How will you face me after you know?”

His heart was pounding violently, with a surging intensity. Xie Shang’s gaze was fervent. “Tell me.”

There was no hiding it anymore.

Well, to put it harshly, since there was no possibility between them, then let it be a cleaner break.

Wen Changling’s voice was not loud, but every word was clear. “I dived into the water to save someone, and due to the water, got an infection in my ear.”

“The person you saved, was it me?”

“Yes.”

That one word, like a sharp blade, split open his heart in an instant, causing intense pain.

The second time he saw Wen Changling was in the emergency department of the hospital, where an injured man called her disabled.

During a blind date, her hearing disability was criticized by the other party’s mother, saying she wasn’t normal.

In the Jhiang household, Shen Fei called her Little Dragon Girl.

The last time Dihong Hospital caught fire, she couldn’t hear the alarm because her hearing aid was broken.

She often wore her hearing aid even in her sleep, and she learned sign language and lip reading. Who knows how many people always prefixed their mention of her with: ‘the one with the bad ears.’

When he copied scriptures for his grandmother previously, he had no reverence in his heart because he resented the gods for being blind, for taking Wen Changling’s hearing, only to realize that the one responsible for her deafness was himself.

He felt almost numb, frozen in place, forgetting to move.

The wind was strong, and Wen Changling wrapped her coat tightly around herself, slightly shifting to the left to block the draft. “I used to study physics, and I was very good at it, winning many awards. That year I came to the capital to participate in a competition, and the team leader took me to the Guan Family, trying to introduce me to Professor Guan.”

Had it not been for physics, she wouldn’t have met Xie Shang, and wouldn’t have been abroad in a physics lab working on that damn classified project when Ah Na had an accident.

That’s why she later gave up physics.

“I didn’t get to meet Professor Guan that time. After I pulled you out of the swimming pool, I left. Then I started having a high fever. I stayed alone in the hotel, without family by my side, missing the time for treatment.”

The infection caused irreversible damage to her auditory nerve; she was completely deaf in one ear and had only residual hearing in the other. At first, she wasn’t used to the hearing aid, couldn’t accept her new disability, and lost her voice for a while.

Gradually, she began to talk again and learned sign language and lip reading.

“Your uncle once said that as a child, you met a benefactor who took on a disaster for you, and afterward, your health improved.

Assuming there is such a thing as taking on someone else’s disaster—”

I’m sorry, Xie Shang.

I want to make a clean break.

She steeled her heart and said something that was sure to hurt him. “I might have taken on someone’s disaster. I lost my ears, my brother, and my mother too.”

Xie Shang couldn’t utter a word. The cool breeze blew into his eyes, but his eyes felt scorching hot.

“There were some things I originally didn’t want to tell you.” Wen Changling’s voice was gentle, like dandelion seeds scattering in the wind, as if they were about to drift away. “Xie Shang, I don’t owe you anything, even if I did deceive you, used you to take revenge on your father, I still don’t owe you anything. It was I who saved your life, and my deafness was caused by you.”

Xie Shang slowly raised his hand, trembling, wanting to touch Wen Changling’s ear.

She turned her head, avoiding his touch.

The streetlight was behind them, casting long, slender shadows on the ground, making them look thin and fragile. She used the light to look at Xie Shang’s face; she had always wanted to see Xie Shang cry, wanted to see tears well up in his beautiful eyes.

Finally, she saw it.

Amber drenched in water, a glimpse of autumn, a thousand bushels of pearls seemed not too many.

Xie Shang asked her, “How can I repay you?”

Wen Changling shook her head. “You can’t, my mother and brother can’t come back, and my ears can’t be cured.” Her eyes were bright, focused on Xie Shang. “Xingxing, I don’t regret saving you, and you did nothing wrong. It’s just that we don’t have good luck between us, like our names, are incompatible.”

She raised her hand to touch Xie Shang’s eyes, the beauty was so heartbreaking that she couldn’t bear it.

Xie Shang grasped her hand. “I’m sorry.”

At that moment, he believed in fate, believed that the disaster that should have been his had fallen on Wen Changling. If she hadn’t saved him, perhaps a butterfly effect would have occurred, and she wouldn’t have been so unfortunate, wouldn’t have lost her family. If possible, he would rather have died at the age of thirteen.

“I’m sorry, Changling.”

Wen Changling hugged Xie Shang, speaking very gently. “You did nothing wrong.” She felt very sad, finding it unfair. “But neither did I.”

Xie Shang hugged her back tightly.

He wished he could cut off his own ears.

Wen Changling looked up and saw the moon slipping into the clouds. She let go. “You should go back, it’s so cold.”