Spring time

" are you alright ?" seeing that Yu Dong waa startled because of his sudden appearance , Shen Li was worried that he might have scared Yu Dong . Though he should have been the one who should be scared of her but seeing the pale expression of Yu Dong he couldn't bring himself to be scared of her .

This Yu Dong looked much more lively and energetic . And she no longer had that gloomy aura around her body anymore , before whenever he wanted to talk to her , Yu Dong would look at him as if he had committed a grave mistake and she would ignore him without even bothering to answer his question . When have she shown such cute expression in front of him ?

Yu Dong who was suddenly asked such a scary question , pursed her lips and suppressed her anxiety . Now that the cat was out of the bag , she couldn't think of any excuse to divert Shen Li's doubts. If this was Chen Mi or Ye Liu she might have been able to get away after lying to them but Shen Li struck as more intelligent to her , that's why she knew that even if she lied to him now he wouldn't believe it . In fact he might even doubt her intentions even more , she looked at Shen Li then decided to come out clean " how did you find out ? I don't think I have done anything suspicious to make you doubt me , right ?"

Shen Li smiled in mockery , how did he find out ? He had married Yu Dong when she was twelve and he was sixteen , he was four years older than her . Because he didn't look like a gentle and beautiful mer , no one was willing to marry him - in the end he grew older and older , and his family sold him off to a human trader from where Mother Yu brought him to marry to Yu Dong .

Being the older one in their relationship , Shen Li of course watched Yu Dong grow up . He had known all about her selfishness and her arrogant and princess like attitude - he had also seen how lusty and lose her character was , not even a day went by after Yu Dong learned about the things between mer and women , that she didn't get physical with him .

Even when he was tired , upset or depressed - Yu Dong would always drag him to their bedroom and force herself on him . Shen Li was forced by Yu Dong so many times that he developed a trauma regarding sexual relationship. After a few years no matter what Yu Dong did to him , his body wouldn't react and he would remain as cold as a block of ice .

Even his thing down there wouldn't react and he soon became nothing but a block of wood . Yu Dong who was in her puberty and liked having her sexual desires fulfilled found him nothing but a useless tool - not to mention he was never able to get pregnant even after Yu Dong made multiple sexual relationship with him in the course of two years .

It was inevitable that Yu Dong would go bored of him soon , with his block of wood like body and no child in belly -thus after two years of their marriage Mother Yu brought Ye Liu and an year later Chen Mi .

Compared to him Ye Liu and Chen Mi married Yu Dong after she became an adult and didn't know much about her . But Shen Li had been married to Yu Dong for four years , how will he not know about her personality ?

The previous Yu Dong was selfish and eccentric . She thought that the entire world owed her something that's why she would always pull a long face in front of anyone or everyone . She was also lazy to bones and disliked working , and she never went to forest with his mother in law , not once he saw her following her mother after he got married to her .

So how come she become a wonderful huntress so quickly ?

The present Yu Dong was both hardworking and caring , she didn't even got upset when Chen Mi gave birth to a mer . Chen Mi and Ye Liu were only married to Yu Dong for a few years so they didn't know how deep Yu Dong 's resentment went regarding Mers , there was

no way she would actually be happy about the birth of a mer and even spoil him .

And most importantly , She wasn't forcing herself on them yet she wasn't visiting the brothel either . Even if Yu Dong somehow became hard working , there was no way she would became upright in just a few days time right ?

" I have been married to her for four years" answered Shen Li " it would be surprising that I wouldn't be able to find out the changes in my wife "

Yu Dong frowned , she had an idea about how severe the previous owner was with Shen Li and the others but she never thought that the reason she would be exposed was because she became nice to them all of a sudden . She sighed rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably - how was she supposed to tell Shen Li that Yu Dong his real wife passed away ?

Shen Li must have noticed her hesitation as well because he smiled and said " Don't worry I won't tell anyone about this matter , I just - as her husband I want to know what happened to her , its just that . Even though she wasn't a good wife , she was still my wife if she really - " he paused then with a little difficulty continued on " If she really passed on then as her husband its my duty to pray for her departed soul "

Yu Dong couldn't lie hearing the sincerity in Shen Li's voice then sighed " She overdosed on happy powder and passed away . I - I don't know how I came here , I was dead to you know . So , When I got a second chance to live a happy life , I took it - believe me I have no bad intentions regarding you three , I only want to live a peaceful life , and because I took over this body you three are now my responsibility so I will try my best to give you a better life , than before . I'm really sorry about your wife though "She told him trying to sound like she was genuinely upset about Yu Dong 's death however - the previous Yu Dong was such a scum bag , That she wasn't able to summon much emotions for her .

Shen Li took the news of Yu Dong passing away quiet normally in fact , his nonchalance could be taken as if he was only grieving a stranger . And maybe he was grieving a stranger because apart from sharing their bodies , the two really didn't talk much about each other . Though he was upset about becoming a widower at such a young age , somewhere he was relieved too - at least now he won't have to live in fear anymore . But what surprised him was Yu Dong 's latter half of the speech " you - you want to take care of us ? Why ? You didn't marry us , did you ? We are not your responsibility , you can always leave us or sell us - mers , they aren't worthy of anything . I know you are a kind soul and probably a nice person but I can't take advantage of you by asking you to take care of us , that will be too much - after all you only took over the body of my wife nothing more , there is no need for you to burden yourself with our responsibilities "

Yu Dong shook her head , she didn't agree with Shen Li or this world's view regarding Mers at all ,she smiled then kicked herself off the well that she was leaning against and started pulling the bucket up again " I come from a very developed place , and every gender is treated with equality there . To me everyone is the same whether men , women or mer - you all are human too aren't you ? Your life matters just as much as mine does " once she got her bucket that was full of water , she walked over the field where she had just planted grape vines and then turned to look at Shen Li over her shoulder " And if I sell you guys what will happen to you ? At least with me here you will be able to eat and drink with ease and with my strength I will be able to protect you three , if you leave who will take care of you ? . Don't worry I won't try anything else on you three , I am not a pervert like your original wife , if that's what you are worried about "after saying this much she turned her back to Shen Li and carried the water bucket to the field .

Under the golden glow of the setting sun , the figure of the young woman carrying a water of bucket was fairly common and there was nothing magical about it . But to Shen Li who was staring at Yu Dong 's thin waist that was swaying around with her movements - this scene was just taken out of a beautiful fairy tale .

For the first time in his life , He felt his heart beat for a women . And on the evening of one autumn day , the flowers of Shen Li 's prolonged and delayed spring time finally blossomed into a tiny bud which will one day bloom in beautiful flowers.