Ye Jian had revealed her secrets in a very calm tone. There was no sadness or pain, only relief.

“Grandpa, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I can’t let go of everything. The only thing I can do is forget those people. But don’t worry, I won’t do anything extreme. Once I do what I have to do, I’ll bury everything they did to me in my previous life in my heart. I’ll gradually forget about the incident with Ye Zhifan’s family.

“I think I’ll get over it. It’ll just take some time.”

In her previous life, the villagers of Shuikou Village stood on Ye Ying’s side and scolded her for seducing the teachers from the city. Later, whenever Sun Dongqing returned to the village, she would publicize what shameful things she did outside. When Ye Ying returned from studying abroad in France, the villagers compared her to Ye Ying, and their hatred for her reached its peak.

Even though she was reborn… Ye Jian still couldn’t get over it.

Therefore, every time she came back, she would smile and reject the villagers’ invitation to visit their houses, let alone stay for dinner. She really couldn’t be calm when facing them.

This was Ye Jian’s deepest secret. Even when facing an empty big chair, it was very difficult for her to say it out loud. It was as if she had to dig out every word from the depths of her soul. Every word was wrapped in a layer of blood.

Fortunately, she could already face it calmly. Although her words were still full of hurt, her expression was especially relaxed.

The faint barking of a dog woke Ye Jian up. She only blinked slightly. The kind smile of the old man, who seemed to be listening to her from the big chair, suddenly disappeared. Ye Jian blinked again. Facing the empty big chair, the smile on her lips deepened.

She knew what she’d said and that she’d been talking to herself the whole time. She just wanted to say it, to tell the secrets she’d been keeping until they were engraved in her bones… She would feel better after saying it.

That was it. No one else needed to know about these secrets. It was fine to just keep them to herself.

Ye Jian took a deep breath and stood up. Under the light, her eyes were like a clear lotus in the early morning after the rain. She looked strong after experiencing the wind and rain.

She started a fire in the kitchen. Ye Jian, who had added dry wood, set up the copper kettle that had been refilled with water. After washing her hands, she opened a waterproof and damp-proof leather bag.

Her expression was solemn. When she took out the items from the leather bag, Ye Jian’s fingertips trembled.

She had just retrieved the bag from the closet. These were her mother’s belongings.

There were two journals. She opened the first as she warmed herself.

The journal recorded the daily life of a soldier and the love of a female soldier.

[There’s no more news of the man I love. It’s as if he had simply vanished. He vanished, while I became pregnant. He left his bloodline behind to remind me that my love affair with him wasn’t a dream.

[I went back to the village and married an honest, good-natured young man from the next village. He’s a poor man too. He’ll never be able to have children of his own.]

…

Ye Jian slowly flipped through it and read it seriously. The lines of words allowed her to enter her mother’s life and know what a strong woman her mother was.

However, she also felt sorry for her mother. It was undoubtedly shocking to have a child before marriage in that era. Fortunately, her mother met her father and had a family. Then, she was born.