20.(Epilogue)

At ten o'clock in the morning, people walked into a neat room and made a queue.

Among the group of plump middle-aged women was a slender young woman with attractive features. The staff members walking by would all stop for a moment to exchange words with her. She was clearly a 'frequent visitor'.

"You're early today. Normally you come in the afternoon." The attentive young prison guard poured her a glass of warm water, but no one else received such treatment.

The women murmured their dissatisfaction.

"Thank you." Linlang took the cup and rotated it between her palms. There was some hesitation in her voice when she asked, "Is he...all right?"

The other person's face was somewhat strange.

"Don't worry, he's fine."Please read this at onemachineshow.blogspot.com

Well, at least he's not dead yet.

She doesn't know, does she? Whenever she visits the prison, that handsome man gets severely beaten up by those tyrannical prisoners.

This place detains some vicious criminals who rely on brute force to bully weak newcomers. Their favorite past-time was to smash people's heads into the wall like watermelons then laugh over the bloody aftermath.

It was their daily fun.

Fu Xi was the object of envy and the criminals were more ruthless once they started with him.

The man had clearly received a life sentence for homicide and had no chance of redeeming himself in this life, yet even after falling to the lowest point, there was still an infatuated woman watching over him, never giving up on him.

Everyone was in the same mire with no choice but to rot in prison, so why was he the only one with hope in his eyes?

The ringleaders were upset and kept an eye on him every day to pick out faults.

The man was beaten to the hospital several times. Whenever the doctors thought he couldn't make it, he would miraculously survive.

Fu Xi was proactively taking on labor reformation and planned to reunite with Linlang after he received a commuted sentence. He put in more effort than anyone else and in less than a year, he had changed his life imprisonment into a fixed-term imprisonment. The higher authorities felt pity for this highly intelligent individual and gave him the green light.

The fat man who died back then wasn't a good person anyway.

A young man with such incredible potential shouldn't spend his entire life in prison for that dead man.

If he behaves well within ten years, he could be released before the age of thirty.

This was the information disclosed by the higher ups.

As soon as the clock struck eleven, Linlang was guided forward by a guard to verify her identity. The people there were very familiar with her. After glancing at her ID card and documents, she was led to the meeting room where a thin layer of glass separated the two worlds.

Linlang followed the others and sat in the first position on the left.

After waiting for about five minutes, a beautiful prison guard brought the prisoners over.

Fu Xi was the first person in line.

The man's head was shaved and his figure looked emaciated, but even in a blue striped prison uniform, he didn't have the slightest air of wretchedness. His mannerisms and demeanor were more poised than ever before.

The female guard's face revealed a somewhat bashful expression. She seemed to be attentively telling him something. He merely nodded in a detached matter and didn't speak.

From the moment he walked in, his heart and soul had fallen on the dark-haired woman.

She seemed to have gotten thinner.

Has she been eating on time?

Does she still like to run around barefoot? What if she catches a cold?

He sat in front of her.

"Your injury..."

"This?"Please read this at onemachineshow.blogspot.com

Fu Xi touched his brow ridge. There was a jagged scar, but the reddish mark was gradually lightening up.

The people in the prison didn't like him. One night while everyone was sleeping, they tried to destroy his face with a wire.

"It's nothing. I wasn't careful and struck something." He glossed over the matter, not wanting to let her know of the bloody violence inside.

Linlang said nothing.

It was easy to guess the inside story.

Fu Xi couldn't bear to see her frown, so he smiled and acted annoyed. "Is it ugly? I use my face to earn a living. What should I do now?"

His words brought a smile to Linlang's face.

He was holding the phone with one hand and supporting his chin with the other as his fingers rested lightly on his cheek. There was adoration and longing in those eyes that watched her smile. A long time ago, it was precisely this expression that captured him. The curved eyes that resembled crescent moons had an air of unruliness.

He couldn't help but reach out and stick close to that cold glass window, as if in this way, he could be closer to her.

However, it wasn't enough.

Far from enough.

Suddenly, the man was inspired.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone around, a tall man with a height of 1.8 meters pressed his face against the glass window until his handsome features were distorted.

His face became a veritable meatloaf.

Everyone wondered, 'Is this guy a clown?'

"Ugly," Linlang said with a disgusted look on her face.

Fu Xi smiled quite happily.

"Fu Xi, there's something I have to tell you." The girl lowered her delicate eyebrows.

"Say."

He still stubbornly stuck his face to the glass and watched his beloved with an eagerness that said he would never tire of it.

There were many times he thought he was going to fall apart.

It was difficult to bear, and it felt like someone was crushing his heart. Every inhale brought on the sensation of countless needless piercing him. Within the swaying shadows and cries for help, he seemed to vaguely see her.

In her arms was an ugly newborn baby with a wrinkled face.

Why is it a boy?

Fu Xi was a little unhappy. This stinky kid was going to stick to her all day and call his mother without letting go.

After a while, he sobered up and his heartrate returned to normal.

Having thought about it, a little brat was a good thing. In case of any conflict between him and Linlang, he could let this boy mediate. Rough skin and thick flesh meant it could endure a fall; he was just right.

As he was thinking of this, the person opposite him spoke.

"Xie Yaohua asked me to marry him."

Her words were spoken lightly, like a feather falling to the ground.

The man was stunned in place.

Ignoring the constriction in his heart, he suddenly had the idea of "this is good".

After all, he had a criminal record and had to stay in the abyss of darkness that was the prison. If she wanted to follow him, she would inevitably be criticized and would have to be branded as the wife of a murderer.

He previously had the thought to stay far away from her and not disturb her happiness.

But that couldn't be done.

He couldn't push away the person he loved most.

He was actually very greedy, greedy to the point of wanting to lock her up for only him to see.

He thought to himself, maybe if he tried harder, they could carry on to the end.

Now it was time to wake up from that dream.

"Xie Yaohua, that son of a bitch!"

Fu Xi cursed for ten minutes straight.

Not even Linlang could interject.

The prison guards were dumbfounded as they watched this normally calm and collected man curse up to eighteen generations without repeating a single swear word.

In the end, the indignant face leaning on the glass suddenly smiled.

"But— " His eyes were squished and they truly looked ridiculous.

He looked at her face greedily but still said, "He's better than me. He knows what's important and what should be cherished more clearly than I do."

What he regrets the most was failing to rescue her at her greatest time of need so they could live happily ever after like the prince and princess in fairytales.

Maybe someone like him doesn't deserve that.

"So, you approve?" Linlang raised her eyebrows.

He doesn't approve.Please read this at onemachineshow.blogspot.com

He won't approve even if he has to die.

He wanted to escape from prison right now and slaughter that white-eyed bastard.

"If you really like him."

But in the end, he was still softhearted.

This was the person he loved the most and the one his heart ached for the greatest.

Perhaps it was because he had vented his feelings, Fu Xi was very calm and discussed his arrangements methodically for the next fifteen minutes.

He said he had already prepared her wedding dress himself. The glorious red robe and phoenix crown were hung up in the attic of their new home. It was a shame that he wouldn't see her wear it with his own eyes, but it was a suitable attire. She can use it and treat it as a wedding gift from him.

There was one more surprise for her. He said that he planted a field of her favorite crab apple flowers in that small town. They were probably blooming by now and she can go have a look when she finds the time.

He also said, I'm sorry.

I can't bring myself to say, 'I wish you happiness'.