Even so, do you still want to love?
Shi Lingge smiled brightly.
“But even so…”
“Yes, love drives people crazy, makes them feel inferior, and brings them pain. But it’s still beautiful and tempting!”
Or rather, precisely because it’s beautiful and tempting, that’s why it’s a curse.
“But even knowing it’s a curse, I still long for that beauty.”
“Because I’ve already glimpsed that beauty, everything before it is just part of the process.”
Shi Lingge’s smile grew even brighter, and the amusement in her voice became more obvious.
“So I still yearn for love, and even the inferiority and pain that come with it fascinate me.”
“So even if love is a curse, I still long for it.”
Su Ziyan was stunned.
For some reason, he suddenly felt that Shi Lingge, saying these words, resembled Xu Duyan a little.
He couldn’t explain exactly where the similarity lay, but he felt that the current Shi Lingge had a faint likeness to the Xu Duyan from a few days ago.
But the feeling was too subtle, so he couldn’t articulate it.
After a moment of blankness, Su Ziyan turned his attention back to what Shi Lingge had just said, and then he smiled too.
Yes, love is a curse that drives people crazy, makes them feel inferior, and brings them pain, but its essence is simply too beautiful.
So even if love is a curse, it still makes people yearn for it.
“You’re right.”
Su Ziyan nodded.
“Even if we know love is a curse, it doesn’t stop people from longing for it.”
Shi Lingge turned her head to look at the pensive Su Ziyan, lowered the hand that had been covering the disfigured side of her face, and her eyes sparkled as if they could emit light.
“Brother, you know what?”
Shi Lingge suddenly asked.
“We’re right in the middle of a sea of flowers right now.”
“Oh, right. How’s your sense of smell? Can you detect any fragrance now?”
After saying this, Shi Lingge let go of Su Ziyan’s hand and took two steps back, letting him sniff the air himself.
The gentle warmth beside him suddenly left, making Su Ziyan feel a bit uncomfortable, but he quickly adjusted. He twitched his nose but smelled nothing.
“By the way, is there really a sea of flowers right now? Isn’t it autumn?”
“Yes, there is. It’s hibiscus flowers. They bloom in both summer and autumn.”
Shi Lingge replied.
“The flower language of the hibiscus is ‘gentle persistence, tenacity, and eternal beauty’. It symbolizes strong vitality and an unyielding spirit.”
“So, does it suit me?”
Su Ziyan was taken aback.
To be honest, if Shi Lingge hadn’t suddenly said that, he would have almost forgotten that the girl in front of him had once attempted suicide.
After all, the girl standing before him now was so gentle and considerate—at least Su Ziyan felt she was much more cheerful than he was.
Plus, since he was blind, he couldn’t see her disfigured face, so he had momentarily forgotten that she had once been a fragile, sensitive, insecure girl, and that she still felt self-conscious about that half of her face.
“You really are like the hibiscus—gentle, resilient, and beautiful.”
Su Ziyan turned his head toward the direction of her voice and nodded slightly.
“It really… suits you.”
“Oh, you’re making me shy saying that.”
There was a hint of coquettishness in Shi Lingge’s voice.
“Actually, I wasn’t always like this. It was the Young Lady—she not only saved me back then, but also recommended this flower to me. She said she hoped I could be like it.”
“Later, she set aside this plot in the manor and planted these flowers specifically to encourage me. So this is my favorite place to stroll.”
Su Ziyan was stunned, and then understood why Shi Lingge had said earlier that the Young Lady was a very gentle person.
It wasn’t just because of her duties as a maid—it was because Xia Zhi had been truly kind to her.
But then how did the Xia Zhi that Shi Lingge saw—so gentle and willing to help strangers—become what she is now?
“Why are you lost in thought again?”
Shi Lingge’s finger suddenly landed on Su Ziyan’s forehead, gently stroking his furrowed brow.
“Your eyebrows are all wrinkled. You’ll age fast like that.”
“So, do you smell the flowers?”
Shi Lingge’s voice was as soft as her touch, like a cloud floating in the sky.
“No, I don’t.”
Su Ziyan stopped thinking about Xia Zhi.
“Your efforts were wasted.”
“Oh, I see.”
Shi Lingge withdrew her hand, paused, and then asked:
“When you lost your sense of smell and taste back then, what did the doctor say?”
“He said my nose and tongue weren’t injured, and it wasn’t related to my eyes.”
Su Ziyan answered truthfully.
“He said it might be a psychological issue caused by stress from the blindness.”
“A psychological issue?”
Shi Lingge repeated his words.
Then she stood on tiptoe and hugged Su Ziyan again.
“What about now, Brother? Can you still smell the fragrance on me?”
Su Ziyan’s body stiffened at her sudden intimate gesture.
The warm touch and faint fragrance nearly made him lose himself, but after hearing her words, he quickly snapped back to focus and sniffed seriously.
To be fair, sniffing the neck of the girl in his arms like that was a bit perverted—even Su Ziyan felt embarrassed.
But when he thought of her natural and warm “Brother,” his gaze instantly became clear.
“I can still smell it.”
Su Ziyan was surprised and answered.
“That’s strange. What’s your perfume scent? I think I should have someone try that on me.”
“But my perfume is hibiscus-scented.”
Shi Lingge said with a smile.
“The Young Lady had it custom-made for me. There aren’t any weird additives. That’s also why I brought you to this flower field.”
Shi Lingge released her embrace, her eyes crinkling into crescents.
She had figured out why Su Ziyan could smell the fragrance on her.
‘You’re this relaxed when you’re with me, Brother?
You talk about me being blinded by love, but you’re not much different.
Even though you don’t say it, it seems I’m special to you too.’
But hadn’t Su Ziyan been living with his elder sister all along?
So the source of his stress is actually his sister?
That’s really… a sad thing.’
On a whim, Shi Lingge didn’t reveal the truth. Instead, she smiled and said:
“That is strange. Why is that?”
“Could it be that my love for you has sparked a miracle?”