Chapter 15 — 30 Whips Change Retirement, I Take You and Leave Brilliantly

In the garden, there are only me and him left. Cinnamon flowers are blooming again. The scent of flowers floats in the night wind, gently and tangerine. He suddenly spoke up: "Thanh Hoa, that painting 'Peach Flower and Water Egg'—can you paint another one?"

"For what?"

"I have already paid for the small room in the capital, but the painting cannot be brought out."

“You are a great man, are you that bad?”

He looked at me. I moved my eyes away.

"I drew it to hang in Y Nhi's room. Not for you."

"Okay. Hang it in Y Nhi's room, I'll go to Y Nhi's room to see."

“Thanh Hoa.”

“Thank you for letting me stay here.”

I said nothing. The night wind blew again, carrying the scent of cinnamon flowers even more intensely. We sat for a while longer, then stood up and went inside. When I closed the door, I looked back. He was still sitting at the stone table, looking up at the moon above. Moonlight fell on him. He was no longer the same as when he was in the capital. The cold, distant prince of the Marquis Palace, with the image of someone else in his heart, is no longer there. The person sitting under the moonlight right now—— Smiling. The smile is very light, very faint, but it's really smiling. Three years later. The Tham family became the leading family in the Jiangnan business world. The court specially awarded the plaque "Thuong Duc Hung Bang", this was the first royal plaque given to a merchant in the court. I stood in the main hall, looking at two signs hanging parallel.

“Loyal Merchants”. “Love Duc Hung Bang”.

One belongs to my grandfather, the other belongs to me. Y Nhi is nine years old and can help me calculate simple accounts. Tham Khanh Son said he was old and could no longer calculate and wanted to hand over the books to Y Nhi. I said Y Nhi is just over nine years old. He said that a person from the Tham family who is nine years old is more useful than someone over fifty years old. Co Hanh worked in the textile industry for four years, from apprentice to general manager. In the entire textile industry in Lam An, he is also ranked among the top three people. No one knows that he was once the crown prince of Vien Marquis Palace. They only know that his name is Co Hanh, the general manager of the Tham family's weaving workshop, and the person next to the president of the Tham guild——

“What kind of relationship is that?” Someone asked Truong Thuan.

“This……” Truong Thuan scratched his head, “must be, that, um——”

He also couldn't speak clearly. Because the relationship between me and Co Hanh really cannot be explained clearly. We live in the same hospital, eat at the same table, raise children together, discuss business together. But we are not husband and wife. The marriage contract has never been annulled, nor has it been remarried. Thuy Van was so impatient that she couldn't stand it.

"Dong, what are your plans? He's been with you for more than four years——"

"Five years before that, he was also with me. At that time, his heart contained someone else."

"What now? Now the prince's heart is full of you and Y Nhi! Who can't see it? The whole city of Lam An can see it! Only you——"

“Thuy Van.”

“Today, your monthly allowance will be deducted.”

“……The Dong family is not reasonable!”

But what she said was not wrong. The whole city of Lam An saw it. When Co Hanh looked at me, in his eyes there was nothing else but me. He didn't say anything, didn't remind me, didn't push me, didn't force me. Every day he quietly stays by my side. The weaving ward had a job looking for him, he handled it properly, not missing a single detail. When Y Nhi had something to do, he looked for him and immediately let go of everything in his hands to stay next to the baby. As for me, I have to find him—— Actually, I rarely need to find him. Because everything he did was done before I could even think about it. I just discovered that every morning when he wakes up, the first thing he does is go to the kitchen and tell Thuy Van what to cook today—because he remembers clearly what I want to eat each day and how my taste changes. I just discovered that the study window is wiped clean every day—because I once said "the window is a little dirty". I just discovered that Y Nhi's schoolbag always has a spare ink stick in her schoolbag—because the last time she forgot to bring it to school, she cried a lot. He took all those little details, one by one, to heart. Five years ago, he couldn't remember anything. More than four years later, he remembers everything. There was a night of heavy rain. The sound of thunder startled Y Nhi awake, she ran to my room. I hugged it and comforted it for a long time. At that time, I heard footsteps from the side of the heavenly courtyard. Co Hanh stood in the hallway holding an umbrella. He didn't come closer. Just stood there quietly, waiting for confirmation that nothing was going on here. I pushed the window open and looked at him in the rain.

"I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

He turned and left. Take two steps, then turn back.

“Thanh Hoa——”

“The painting ‘Peach flower and water ovule’, have you finished painting yet?”

"Done."

“When can I see it?”

“You go back to sleep first.”

“So tomorrow?”

"……Tomorrow."

He stood in the rain and laughed.