Bab 29: Kindred Spirit
At dinner time, Mei Li finally spent alone time with her fifth husband, Jin Longwei.
This guy was quite shy, so she found it hard to get to know him better.
Mei Li was the type of person who wouldn't force others to talk with her if they didn't want to. In the first place, she was also an introvert, although she was not shy.
She could still talk to people and even speak in front of a large audience if needed. She also wasn't scared to speak out or do things if she had to.
However, she was most comfortable on her own, being silent, and sunk deep in her thoughts.
Now that she was faced with the similarly introverted Longwei, who was also shy, the result was a very silent dinner. All they could hear was the sound of utensils and chewing.
When they finished eating, Longwei tried to do what Shufen did for her yesterday - wipe her face and hands.
However, Mei Li could clearly see that he was uncomfortable based on the fact that things kept falling from his grip and the obvious red flush on his face.
Mei Li couldn't take it anymore and wanted to give him some reprieve.
"Longwei, it's okay. I can do it myself." To prove her claim, she directly took the towel from his hands and cleaned herself up.
Once that was done, she suggested that they go to sleep.
Longwei, who wanted to be closer to his wife, felt depressed and cursed himself for being useless. He wished that he was good at talking like his third brother or that he was more competent like his first brother.
Mei Li glanced at Longwei who just stood there with his head down.
She reached out and held his hand, to which he stiffened in reaction.
"Do you dislike me?" Mei Li knew he was just being shy, but she could only think of this question to hopefully make him talk to her.
Longwei was flustered. "No...no. You got it wrong." He adamantly denied.
Mei Li then gently dragged him to the bed and blew out the light. She figured he would be less shy if he couldn't see her face?
Unfortunately, Longwei only became more nervous!
When he didn't speak anymore, Mei Li took the lead once more.
"I don't dislike you, either. In fact, I like it here with you guys."
She decided to tell her story, well the previous Mei Li's story, in hopes of lessening Longwei's awkwardness.
"Do you know, shortly after I was born, my grandfather on my father's side passed away. You see, I got sick when I was a baby and my grandfather went out to find a doctor."
"He could have asked a servant but, for some reason, he wanted to do it himself. It was winter at that time and it snowed heavily. Unfortunately, my grandfather met with an accident on the road and lost his life."
"My grandmother certainly blamed my mother and me for what happened. Growing up, I never felt that grandmother Fu cared for me."
Longwei didn't know why she was telling him all of these but he felt sorry for her. "I'm sorry Mei-er," was all he managed to say.
"That's not even the end of it." Mei Li continued her sharing. "Later on, my mother got sick and eventually left me as well."
"Then, my father ignored me and promoted a concubine to first wife. That concubine mother and my half-sister were cruel to me, starved me, and even beat me."
"That was how I ended up passing out on the way to this village."
Longwei felt even more sorry for her. Since his hand was still in her grasp, he gave her a squeeze to convey his emotions.
Mei Li felt this and was happy. Those self-help books were telling the truth. To let a closed-off person open up, she must open herself up first and try to establish an emotional connection.
She then faced Longwei's outline in the dark. "Do you know why I'm telling you this?"
Not waiting for his reply, she continued. "Based on what happened, the villagers here would probably consider me a disaster star, too. But am I not alright now?"
"So, don't let those villagers get to you, okay? You should know that I consider you and your brothers as my saviors, my lucky stars."
"You guys took me away from that hellhole. Without you, they would have continued starving and beating me. I would probably be dead by now."
Mei Li sincerely felt this to be the case. If the previous Mei Li was still in the Fu estate when she died and the current Mei Li took over the body there, she would surely suffer the same grievances.
It would be so much harder for her to live a good life if she remained in the Fu manor. So the current her was truly thankful that she transmigrated at the time she did. At least she ended up in the care of the kind Jin brothers.
Longwei, meanwhile, felt cold at the thought of his wife dying at the hands of her cruel family. He didn't know where he got the courage from, but he wanted to comfort Mei Li, so he reached out and hugged her gently.
Mei Li was happy with his actions. She wound her hand around his waist and placed her head on his chest, wanting to give him comfort in return.
"Longwei, I want to live a happy life with you and your brothers. Do you think it's possible?"
Longwei lost his awkwardness. He felt that he found a kindred spirit and that with Mei Li around, life won't be too bad in the future.
"I think so." He softly replied.
That's all Mei Li wanted to hear. She smiled in the dark. "En."
The two people on the bed didn't break up their hug and soon fell asleep to the tune of each other's beating heart.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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