Chapter 3: A Chance for Redemption

“S… Siyu?” Zhang Hao staggered forward, calling out softly.

“Cough… cough…”

The coughing gradually ceased, and the delicate, sculpted oval face lifted. Her apricot eyes bore traces of panic, confusion, and helplessness. When they met Zhang Hao’s gaze, they only held a sigh of regret.

“Siyu… it’s really you.” Zhang Hao rubbed his eyes, a smile involuntarily creeping onto his lips, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard.

Just speaking these few words tightened his throat and filled him with an unbearable thirst.

Though his body ached, weak and throbbing with pain, and his head felt like it might split apart—

He was happy.

Because he saw Siyu, the girl he had failed for so many years.

He stumbled over to her and opened his arms, pulling the slightly bewildered and clearly unprepared Siyu into a tight embrace.

Just like that, he held her close.

“Siyu, I’ve missed you so much… ever since you left, I’ve been thinking about you.”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry. Since you married me, you’ve never had a single day of happiness, only hardship and toil. I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”

His voice was weak and pale.

He felt as if it were all a dream, yet this dream was overwhelmingly real—every touch, every scent, even the faint fragrance of the strands of her hair brushing against his nose…

Wait?

The scent… the smell.

If this were a dream, he shouldn’t be able to smell anything.

“Ah!”

At that moment, Siyu seemed to come back to herself, screaming sharply before pushing him away with force.

She quickly took two steps back, watching him warily.

This time, Zhang Hao was the one stunned.

He stood there dumbfounded, his eyes full of confusion.

He sniffed the air. The room reeked like a garbage dump, the acrid stench invading his nostrils, irritating his nasal membranes and the parched throat that had long been dry from thirst.

“Ugh… cough, cough cough… cough cough cough cough…”

Zhang Hao bent forward, his eyeballs bloodshot as if about to burst, coughing violently.

The smell was unbearably foul.

It made him want to cough his lungs out.

Nearby—

Siyu hesitated briefly, bit her red lips, sighed softly, then stepped forward and gently patted Zhang Hao’s back, helping him catch his breath.

After a long while, Zhang Hao gradually recovered.

Siyu helped him sit in the once-vibrant but now faded grand armchair.

He steadied himself with one hand on the table, while fumbling for a while in the tissue box, then helplessly wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.

He waved his hand, looking at the graceful young woman with a trace of worry, a bitter smile curling at his lips. “I’m fine, don’t worry. It’s just… I choked a little just now.”

Siyu said nothing, only nodded lightly.

Just as she turned to roll up her sleeves to continue tidying the room—

Zhang Hao grabbed her wrist.

“What do you want?” Siyu’s brows furrowed tightly, her tone cool.

If before, out of gratitude, she could tolerate Zhang Hao’s slovenliness, his recklessness, his failure to accomplish anything, and his idleness—

Now, his crude behavior and incoherent ramblings, as if they had been intimately familiar for years like cohabitants—

She could hardly accept.

After all, except for a few meetings in childhood and the arranged engagement, this was their first real encounter as adults.

And yet Zhang Hao acted in such a manner—

It was hard for her to swallow.

Still, she intended to fulfill the promise made to Old Master Zhang and continue to care for Zhang Hao.

“Ah, sorry…” Zhang Hao quickly released her fair, tender hand, then looked up, meeting her apricot eyes squarely. “I… I’m probably not dreaming, right?”

Siyu was momentarily stunned, glanced around the cluttered living room, and sighed silently. “I wish… I were dreaming.”

That meant she wasn’t dreaming.

If not a dream—

Then all of this was real?

But what time was it now…

The living room was a mess, chaotic like a garbage dump.

Since Siyu arrived, the house had never been this disorderly.

So—

Had he returned six years ago, to the day Siyu first came to the Zhang estate?

Zhang Hao’s eyes suddenly widened, his pupils trembling like an earthquake.

In an instant, countless thoughts flooded him, his mind racing outward.

This must be a rebirth, right?

Could it be that heaven had granted him a chance to repent and start anew?

Yes.

Let me go back six years, to the day Siyu first came to the Zhang family and met me, and give myself a chance to make amends for the debts of the past life.

Isn’t that so?

Rustle… rustle…

At that moment—

Zhang Hao’s ears twitched, and his gaze shifted.

He saw Siyu, her embroidered brows slightly furrowed, holding back from the foul stench as she cleaned up the trash on the floor.

Without hesitation, he stood up, steadying his still-hungover body, then took a few steps forward, gently grasping her hands and leading her to the doorway.

He then moved the grand armchair to the doorway.

“You sit here for a while. I’ll clean up the trash in the living room. Your health isn’t good; you should avoid this kind of work from now on,” Zhang Hao said with a smile.

After speaking, he turned and entered the living room, taking the initiative to tidy up the mess.

The trash in the living room was all his doing; it was only fitting for him to clean it up.

Moreover, since heaven had given him a chance to start over, if he didn’t seize it, he might as well throw Siyu out now and hang himself from the beam to end it all.

At the doorway, Siyu sat quietly in the grand armchair, tilting her head slightly as she watched the figure buried amidst the rubbish, somewhat dazed.

For some reason, her feelings toward Zhang Hao began to shift.

Could a slovenly, lazy man who cared nothing for his image or daily life truly take the initiative to clean up such a mess?

Or was he pretending because he saw her?

Her brows knitted tightly.

She recalled Zhang Hao’s incoherent words when he embraced her—

That he had thought of her nonstop since she left…

That since marrying him, she had never known happiness…

But she hadn’t even married him yet; this was only their first meeting as adults.

And how did Zhang Hao know she was in poor health?

Siyu bit her lips tightly, her eyes a tangle of conflicting emotions.

Although her mind was in turmoil,

She still could not simply walk away.

She owed gratitude and had to fulfill her promise to Old Master Zhang.

Just as she had resolved when sitting down—

No matter how despondent Zhang Hao remained, no matter how deeply his illness troubled him, no matter how idle and drunk he might be—

She could not abandon him.