Chapter 4 — Love Dissolves Into Clouds

7

I began to rediscover my old life. Skydiving, bungee jumping, rock climbing—step by step, break your limits. As I stretched out my arms to embrace the blue sky, a stinging sensation ran through my nose. For many years, I was like an eagle trapped in a cage, finally returning to the sky. The next time I climbed the mountain, I brought along the climbing rope that An Ngon gave me a long time ago. When I first received it, I loved it so much that I couldn't bear to use it. After that, I didn't have a chance to use it anymore. But unexpectedly, when encountering a snowstorm, that rope suddenly broke. If it weren't for my companion who risked his life to help, I probably would have stayed on that snowy peak forever. When he heard that I was injured, An Ngon rushed to the hospital.

"Linh Linh, how are you? How many times have I told you, don't get involved in those dangerous sports! Why don't you listen to me?"

His voice was urgent. For a few seconds, I almost saw the image of the man who worried about me before. At that time, even if I cut my hand, he would frown and carefully bandage it. I quietly looked at him, speaking softly:

"An Ngon, the vine I used was the one you gave me. It was intentionally damaged by someone."

Hearing that, his face immediately turned pale, his voice somewhat confused:

"What... what are you talking about? I don't understand. I gave you that vine seven or eight years ago, it's normal for it to wear out if you use it for a long time."

I sighed:

"Whether you do it or not is clear in your heart."

"An Ngon, if you want to be with To Kieu Thien, just tell me directly. You don't have to wait for me to die for you two to be together in good faith."

“Go away, I don't want to see you anymore.”

After saying that, I turned around, feeling extremely tired. Suddenly, An Ngon knelt down in front of the hospital bed, panicking and pleading:

"Linh Linh, it's not what you think! I don't want you to die... It's just that at that time, I saw that you were too fond of extreme sports and refused to follow me to study art... so I..."

"It was Kieu Thien who told me to do that. She said if I destroyed your vines, I would be scared and give up. I was stupid to believe her..."

I really couldn't stand his long words, so I called hospital security to chase him out. During the days I was in the hospital, An Ngon came every day. He persistently brought a bouquet of fresh flowers and a nutritious meal prepared by himself, carefully placing it in front of me. In front of him, without hesitation, I threw both the bouquet and the meal into the trash. He had long since forgotten that I hated flowers, and had also forgotten that I was allergic to beef—yet there was beef in the meal every day. On the tenth anniversary of my marriage, I had just been discharged from the hospital. The place An Ngon chose to meet was the beach bar where he proposed to me. But at the appointed time, he did not appear. In the past, even if he was two or three hours late, I was still willing to wait. Even though I knew he forgot my appointment just to run to see To Kieu Thien, I still stupidly continued to wait for him next time. But now, just a minute late, I was about to get up and leave. At that moment, a series of disturbing sounds rang out from behind. The curtain in the bar was lifted, revealing a giant painting. The painting shows me in a white wedding dress the year we got married.
\aluminum Today is the tenth wedding anniversary of me and my wife, Du Lam. But because of some misunderstanding, she is angry with me.

Today, I want to propose to her in front of everyone once again.” The light shines directly on An Ngon. He looked at me sincerely, then knelt down on one knee.

“Linh Linh, over the years you have been too heartless. Please give me another chance, forgive me, continue being my wife, okay?"

The people around recognized An Ngon and immediately admired and whispered that it was too romantic. Someone even livestreamed with the title "Talented young painter An Ngon proposes to his wife for the second time", attracting more than 100,000 viewers in the blink of an eye. I still kept my calm face. Do you want to use public pressure to force me? Useless.

8

While the crowd cheered and urged me to agree, I just curled my lips and smiled slightly:

“Sorry, I disagree.”

As soon as the words ended, the atmosphere immediately froze. The space was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. An Ngon looked at me stunned. He knows that I have always been afraid of losing face. Even if I don't want to, I will still try to respect him without refusing right in front of the crowd. But unfortunately, the me I am now is no longer the soft-hearted girl I was back then.

“Linh Linh! I spent more than half a month painting this painting, every day staying up until three or four o'clock in the morning to finish it!

“During the days you were in the hospital, I drew pictures and cooked soup for you, only sleeping for five hours a day! Are you really not moved at all?”

Seeing that I was cold, An Ngon became even more impatient. I just shook my head, then looked at the painting behind him. I have to admit, the paintings are very beautiful, every detail is lifelike. After all, An Ngon is also the most talented young artist today. Some people around saw this and couldn't help it, so they blamed me:

"Mrs. An, no matter what misunderstanding there is, a day between husband and wife means a hundred years. Your husband is so sincere, you should let it go!"

“That's right! As an artist's wife, you must sympathize with their career, don't be too unreasonable and affect your husband's creativity!

With someone on his side, An Ngon has more momentum. During the livestream, comments began to be full of criticism against me:

“She's really emotionless!”

“Why does a talented and passionate artist like An Ngon have to marry such a cold wife?”

“She doesn't deserve An Ngon at all!”

Seeing me staring at the painting without speaking, An Ngon's tone softened, carrying a bit of coaxing:

“Linh Linh, I know you still love me. This picture certainly reminds you of the day we got married, right? Listen to me, stop being angry, let's go home."

I withdrew my gaze and looked straight at him.

“An Ngon, you can't draw well.”

As soon as I said it, everyone around me was shocked. Even An Ngon was stunned. His painting technique is top-notch, no one can doubt that that painting is of me. I laughed mockingly, raising my hand to push back the strand of hair covering my collarbone.

“I have a mole here.

I didn't paint it.” Hearing me say that, An Ngon breathed a sigh of relief:

“Linh Linh, time is so urgent, there are some details I haven't noticed yet. If you really care, after I get home I will draw you every day, making sure every detail is perfect. Are not?"

The people around me thought I was deliberately trying to retort, their eyes looking at me became increasingly full of contempt. After all, in their eyes, a talented and passionate husband humbled himself to admit his mistakes, so no matter what mistakes he made, I should forgive him. I smiled faintly:

“Really? I've always prided myself on being a person who pays attention to every detail, so how could I be negligent this time?"

“Aren't the eighteen pictures you drew for To Kieu Thien very detailed? He clearly remembered the mole on her chest and the birthmark on her inner thigh. Well, since she was fifteen years old, his paintings have especially added the words 'A&S' right on her lower abdomen. Don't you know what it means?”

I smiled, calmly looking straight into An Ngon's eyes. Then I turned to the people who were livestreaming, the voice rang out clearly:

"Perhaps domestic information is still slow. If anyone is curious, they can search for Mr. An's painting exhibition in France a while ago."

“It was a grown-up gift that my husband specially prepared for his 'neighbor sister'.

Everyone can finish watching and then ask me to forgive." Having finished speaking, I turned and left. An Ngon's face turned red. He wanted to chase, but the voices of criticism rang out, drowning him in a sea of people.

9

An Ngon climbed into hot search. His provocative painting exhibition was spread throughout domestic social networks. Some platforms even flag "inappropriate" content and ban its spread. At the same time, the incident of To Kieu Thien's dress being torn at the graduation ceremony was also dug up, causing both of them to continuously appear on hot searches. The online community is seething with anger:

“The most disgusting are those who hide in the shadow of 'brother and sister'! I don't even remember the mole on my wife's collarbone, yet I know by heart every mark on my 'sister'?"

“I heard that this girl got into the Faculty of Fine Arts Z University? It's incomprehensible! The kind of devil who hires people to crash cars and kill people and still be accepted into a prestigious university?!”

“I used to like An Ngon before, but I didn't expect him to be this kind of wretched man! I feel sorry for his wife, I heard she was still her childhood friend..."

The day I held the divorce certificate, even breathing felt more comfortable than ever. For the past thirty years, I have lost myself because of him. But now, I have found my true self again. The incident was so noisy that in the end, Z Dai was forced to cancel To Kieu Thien's admission status and she had to retake the exam for another year. From that day on, I blocked all contact with An Ngon. I don't want to have any contact with him anymore. That night, after gathering with friends, on the way home I noticed someone following behind. I sped up and walked quickly home, but was still stopped by a group of young blonde men at the corner of the street. They looked at me with eyes filled with malice.

“You are Du Lam, right? I heard you were jealous because your husband drew nude pictures for your adopted sister, so you got mad? Don't worry, although we can't draw pictures, we know how to take pictures."

“Now let's take some art photos for you to have as a private exhibition? With this figure, I'm sure your ex-husband will regret it when he sees it!"

I quietly took a step back, cold eyes staring at them:

“Who hired you? People? How much? I pay tenfold.”

One of the group's eyes immediately lit up and unconsciously blurted out:

“Really…”

Before the word "star" could be uttered, he was slapped with an ear by the leader with a pattern tattoo on his hand.

“Shut up!”