If You Are A Dodder Flower Chapter 9

The sky gradually dimmed, lights on the road s.h.i.+ning on the tall trees to create huge, dark shadows .

There were many people who came to the ecological park to run in the summer night . The shadows flickering on the track were all people running along, carefully following the same direction and trying not to b.u.mp into one another .

The back outlined in front of her was steadily jogging up and down, rhythm set by his footsteps .

His shoulders were very broad, the short sleeved exercising vest tight on his body, showcasing the beautiful curves of his muscles . From his broad shoulders to his slim waist, the muscle throbbed to the beat of every step he took, silently hinting at the bursting energy contained within his body .

Xia Rou couldn’t match his pace any longer .

When she was 25, this speed and distance didn’t really mean much to her, it was just that this time she had overestimated the physique of her 15-year-old body .

Her lungs were burning, but she stubbornly kept powering on, wanting to follow that shadow in the dark, unwilling to fall behind .

“Are you alright?” Cao Yang turned his head to ask, his breath still steady, not even a pant to be heard .

Xia Rou noticed his gaze filled with concern .

But the concern was shallow, probably because the time they spent together was negligible and their feelings were not deep .

Xia Rou suddenly recalled her past – every time she reached her limit and couldn’t run any further, he would pa.s.s her a water bottle with a smile and tease her: “Little girl, tired already?”

At that time, they were so close… Translated by The Novelst

In the last few days, because of the changes she made, many things seemed to have gone in a different direction . Although most of the changes were good, but…

A b.u.t.terfly flapping its wings was said to have caused a hurricane on the Pacific Ocean .

Big brother and herself, would they be able to be as close as they were in her past?

Would he be able to take her as his own younger sister and dote on her again?

She was swayed by her anxiety over the gains and losses of her situation; the spicy feeling was grumbling in her chest . Xia Rou raised her gaze to look at the figure standing two steps ahead of her . Cao Yang was turning his head to look straight into her eyes…

She clenched her teeth and readied herself for a sudden final sprint, and then ran crazily like a bolt of lightning .

Cao Yang was happy to see her continue running, so he upped his pace and followed behind her, wanting to see how much further she could get .

In the end…

Huff! Huff! Huff!

Xia Rou bent down with her hands on her knees, painfully gasping in large breaths . She felt like her chest was going to explode!

That was only a few meters of sprinting! Cao Yang was rendered speechless .

Her physique was really weak compared to the kids in the army! But, he reminded himself, he mustn’t compare her to the male soldiers in the army, or even the female soldiers .

Look at that skinny and weak physique of hers!

Even her arms were slim!

Look at her legs… hmm, quite straight .

Anyways, this child was too flimsy . Even for a girl, being too weak was not a good thing .

Cao Yang didn’t like the trend nowadays where women kept themselves as skinny as skeletons . He grew up in an army so he saw a lot of masculine beauty . He likes women with small waists, but she had to be healthy . He felt only fit women could match his taste .

No matter how she would be raised in their house, there was still time . It would be fine for him to train her to be fit in the future, Cao Yang thought .

Looking at Xia Rou repeating, “I’m going to die,” he felt it was so funny that he couldn’t help but to tease her: “Little girl, tired already?”

The little girl who was still breathing hard immediately raised her head . In the dark, there were tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes .

Cao Yang was stunned .

Xia Rou started to cough so fiercely that her tears almost fell .

Cao Yang put his palm on his forehead and brought out her bottle from her bag to give to her . “Take it easy, drink some water . ”

“Drink slowly!”

……

The next day, they were again awake early, the three of them sitting together to have breakfast .

“Are you getting comfortable here?” It was rare for Cao Xiong to ask something like this .

“Quite fine . ” Xia Rou replied, “Yesterday I went for a run at the ecological park . ”

Cao Yang smiled and asked: “Are you going again today?” Yesterday her face clearly had expressed: “I’m going to die . ”

“Mn, after dinner . ” Xia Rou seemed to enjoy running at night .

“Wake up early, running in the morning is much more effective . ” Cao Xiong said .

Xia Rou explained seriously: “I’m scared to tan in the morning sun . ”

Cao Xiong: “… . ” He can’t really refute her!

It was rare for his father to have no response . The corner of Cao Yang’s mouth couldn’t help but to tilt upwards .

Cao Xiong shot him a glare and chided him within his heart .

But their house was too masculine and he didn’t have any experience raising a girl . Cao Xiong suddenly started to wish for the good old days of hitting his sons with a leather belt, telling them to work out under the hot sun until their s.h.i.+rts were drenched in sweat… .

On Lady Fang’s walk from the main building to the side building, she saw Xia Rou sitting on a wooden chair under the big tree in the center of the courtyard . She was reading a book .

Such a quiet child .  Translated by The Novelst

Even after her arrival to the house, there weren’t many changes to the family . Lady Fang’s previous worries were all for nothing . This girl was very sensible and didn’t cause any trouble, very easygoing .

“Xia Rou, reading books again?” Lady Fang greeted her .

Xia Rou put down her book: “Lady Fang . ”

“There is a library on the second floor, when the renovation is done you can stay inside to read your books . ” Lady Fang kindly explained to her . “The second floor is too messy right now . They put all the construction materials in the corridor, so don’t go up now or you might injure yourself . ”

“Alright, thank you Lady Fang . ” Xia Rou replied .

The change of Lady Fang’s att.i.tude towards her was the biggest achievement in her new life .

Since no matter how she acted, the Cao Family always took care of her and was nice to her, the same went for this life . However, Lady Fang had shown dislike towards her in the past, but her gaze now became gentler .

This gave Xia Rou confidence . She thought if she could avoid all the stupid actions she made in the past, maybe she could really fix their relations.h.i.+p .

This, could this be the reason for her reincarnation?

“Oh yeah, Lady Fang . ” Xia Rou took the initiative and spoke with Lady Fang, “I heard you had a daughter?”

Of course, Xia Rou didn’t hear it from anyone else, but she had already known .  Translated by The Novelst

Hearing Xia Rou mention her daughter, Lady Fang was so happy from her heart . The corners of her eyes revealed her crow’s feet wrinkles .

That sort of happiness Xia Rou had always seen on in Cheng Wan’s eyes as well .

Lady Fang and Cheng Wan were both the same in the way that they both needed to bring along their daughters while they made a living . It was also different, Xia Rou thought .

Lady Fang’s husband pa.s.sed away and she only had one daughter . The grandparents in her husband’s family treated women as inferior to men . Because the youngest uncle had two sons, they planned to take over Lady Fang’s home .

That property was an old house from before they got married, originally under the name of the grandparents . In the beginning, they thought to give one property each to their two sons, and in those few years Lady Fang and her husband did not consider transferring owners.h.i.+p . But now, the grandparents had the intention to transfer the elder son’s house to the children of the younger son .

Thus Lady Fang was kicked out by her husband’s family . Her mother-in-law even wanted to kept her daughter since she would get married sooner or later, and as a girl she wouldn’t be able to steal the property from her grandsons . But Lady Fang didn’t want to give up her daughter .

Compared to her granddaughter, being able to keep the properties for her grandsons was more important, so her grandmother did not pursue the matter any further and let her daughter follow Lady Fang to leave the house .

Lady Fang and her husband used to run a small grocery store in that house . Half the house was for the shop and the other half was a residence . After getting kicked out, her only income had also been snapped off .

She brought her child along to find a job, but because she had a child, she always ran up against a stone wall . After that, she went to a housekeeping company and the company recommended her a few houses, but the owners were unwilling to hire her when they heard that she needed to bring her child along during work .

Luckily, she was recommended to the Cao Family afterwards .

It was back when Cao Yang’s mother first fell sick, and her body wasn’t in good condition . So she was trying to find a housekeeper experienced in taking care of children to look after the four brothers . The salary was generous, and they even provided food and lodging .

After Cao Yang’s mother heard of Lady Fang’s situation, she took pity on her and at the same time she admired how Lady Fang did not give up on her daughter, so she hired her .

Finally, Lady Fang had found a foothold in her life .

One year later, Madam Cao pa.s.sed away .

Lady Fang indeed did not disappoint Madam Cao; she did a great job in taking care of the brothers’ living situations .

By the time she arrived at Cao Family, Cao Yang was only 13 years old . But he and Cao Bin had already matured quickly, they were very independent . Cao Xing and Cao An were only 9 years old and 7 years old respectively . Even they were trained in the same daily routine as a soldier by their father, they were still kids . They were still weak in heart, hoping for someone to care about them, so both of them were closer to Lady Fang compared to their older brothers .

Time pa.s.sed quickly, in just the blink of an eye Lady Fang has already been working under the Cao Family for over ten years . Although she was originally just a housekeeping aunt, she was more like the main butler of the family . Not only did she manage the two house cleaners and gardener, even the house chef also respected her . All of them have looked upon her as their leader .

Way back then, Xia Rou especially had hated her, because she was never nice to her .

Xia Rou thought that Lady Fang must have felt she was half an owner of this family, that’s why she had hostility towards Xia Rou, the counterfeit princess who lived under someone else’s roof .

She may have been indebted to the Cao Family, but in her heart, she had always thought of herself as living in the same circle as the Cao Family . Thus, the att.i.tude of Lady Fang towards her made her feel embarra.s.sed as if her ident.i.ty of a counterfeit had been exposed .

She actually thought, of the both of them, neither had proper t.i.tles in the family . So neither of them were considered as the hostess of the family .

Ever since Madam Cao pa.s.sed away, even before Cao Yang got married, this house did not have a real hostess .

But within these few days, Xia Rou realized there were a lot of misunderstandings on her part toward Lady Fang .

Thoughts like “thinking herself as half a hostess in the family,” was probably because she judged Lady Fang just by her looks, and that’s how she started to imagine all sorts of thoughts . But the reality was actually different, at least now that she looks at Lady Fang, she realized Lady Fang was actually scrupulously abiding to her own duties .

She couldn’t help but to compare Lady Fang and Cheng Wan . She tried to imagine whether Cheng Wan could do the same as Lady Fang, bringing her child along to find a living .

But she was disappointedly aware that, Cheng Wan…… couldn’t have made it .

Even her married life with her blood-related father, Cheng Wan always lived elegantly as if she was held captive . She lived gracefully, exquisitely, and gently .

She had always been an exquisite, gentle and weak woman that needed a man to take care of her to continue living .

Once she lost her protection, she would feel no confidence to live alone, and she could only weakly seek death . Fortunately, she was able to meet Cao Xiong .

Cheng Wan, she was really a dodder flower being carefully taken care of inside expensive porcelain .

In these two lives, Xia Rou was hurt by her own realizations .

In her past life, she was desperately trying to flaunt herself so as to not become a woman like Cheng Wan .

In this life, along with the wishes of in her past, she also hoped that she wouldn’t end up as the same woman from her last life .

She loved Cheng Wan, but she disliked her .  Translated by The Novelst

However, she herself lived a life that was incomparable to Cheng Wan’s, and even worse .

With this once in a lifetime chance, what was she actually seeking?

The sky gradually dimmed, lights on the road s.h.i.+ning on the tall trees to create huge, dark shadows . .

There were many people who came to the ecological park to run in the summer night . The shadows flickering on the track were all people running along, carefully following the same direction and trying not to b.u.mp into one another

The back outlined in front of her was steadily jogging up and down, rhythm set by his footsteps

His shoulders were very broad, the short sleeved exercising vest tight on his body, showcasing the beautiful curves of his muscles . From his broad shoulders to his slim waist, the muscle throbbed to the beat of every step he took, silently hinting at the bursting energy contained within his body

Xia Rou couldn’t match his pace any longer

When she was 25, this speed and distance didn’t really mean much to her, it was just that this time she had overestimated the physique of her 15-year-old body

Her lungs were burning, but she stubbornly kept powering on, wanting to follow that shadow in the dark, unwilling to fall behind

“Are you alright?” Cao Yang turned his head to ask, his breath still steady, not even a pant to be heard

Xia Rou noticed his gaze filled with concern

But the concern was shallow, probably because the time they spent together was negligible and their feelings were not deep

Xia Rou suddenly recalled her past – every time she reached her limit and couldn’t run any further, he would pa.s.s her a water bottle with a smile and tease her: “Little girl, tired already?”.

At that time, they were so close… Translated by The Novelst.

In the last few days, because of the changes she made, many things seemed to have gone in a different direction . Although most of the changes were good, but….

A b.u.t.terfly flapping its wings was said to have caused a hurricane on the Pacific Ocean

Big brother and herself, would they be able to be as close as they were in her past?.

Would he be able to take her as his own younger sister and dote on her again?.

She was swayed by her anxiety over the gains and losses of her situation; the spicy feeling was grumbling in her chest . Xia Rou raised her gaze to look at the figure standing two steps ahead of her . Cao Yang was turning his head to look straight into her eyes….

She clenched her teeth and readied herself for a sudden final sprint, and then ran crazily like a bolt of lightning

Cao Yang was happy to see her continue running, so he upped his pace and followed behind her, wanting to see how much further she could get

In the end…. . .

Huff! Huff! Huff!.

Xia Rou bent down with her hands on her knees, painfully gasping in large breaths . She felt like her chest was going to explode!.

That was only a few meters of sprinting! Cao Yang was rendered speechless

Her physique was really weak compared to the kids in the army! But, he reminded himself, he mustn’t compare her to the male soldiers in the army, or even the female soldiers

Look at that skinny and weak physique of hers!.

Even her arms were slim!.

Look at her legs… hmm, quite straight

Anyways, this child was too flimsy . Even for a girl, being too weak was not a good thing

Cao Yang didn’t like the trend nowadays where women kept themselves as skinny as skeletons . He grew up in an army so he saw a lot of masculine beauty . He likes women with small waists, but she had to be healthy . He felt only fit women could match his taste

No matter how she would be raised in their house, there was still time . It would be fine for him to train her to be fit in the future, Cao Yang thought

Looking at Xia Rou repeating, “I’m going to die,” he felt it was so funny that he couldn’t help but to tease her: “Little girl, tired already?”.

The little girl who was still breathing hard immediately raised her head . In the dark, there were tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes

Cao Yang was stunned

Xia Rou started to cough so fiercely that her tears almost fell

Cao Yang put his palm on his forehead and brought out her bottle from her bag to give to her . “Take it easy, drink some water . ”.

“Drink slowly!”.

…….

The next day, they were again awake early, the three of them sitting together to have breakfast

“Are you getting comfortable here?” It was rare for Cao Xiong to ask something like this . .

“Quite fine . ” Xia Rou replied, “Yesterday I went for a run at the ecological park . ”.

Cao Yang smiled and asked: “Are you going again today?” Yesterday her face clearly had expressed: “I’m going to die . ”.

“Mn, after dinner . ” Xia Rou seemed to enjoy running at night

“Wake up early, running in the morning is much more effective . ” Cao Xiong said

Xia Rou explained seriously: “I’m scared to tan in the morning sun . ”.

Cao Xiong: “… . ” He can’t really refute her!.

It was rare for his father to have no response . The corner of Cao Yang’s mouth couldn’t help but to tilt upwards

Cao Xiong shot him a glare and chided him within his heart

But their house was too masculine and he didn’t have any experience raising a girl . Cao Xiong suddenly started to wish for the good old days of hitting his sons with a leather belt, telling them to work out under the hot sun until their s.h.i.+rts were drenched in sweat…

On Lady Fang’s walk from the main building to the side building, she saw Xia Rou sitting on a wooden chair under the big tree in the center of the courtyard . She was reading a book

Such a quiet child .  Translated by The Novelst.

Even after her arrival to the house, there weren’t many changes to the family . Lady Fang’s previous worries were all for nothing . This girl was very sensible and didn’t cause any trouble, very easygoing

“Xia Rou, reading books again?” Lady Fang greeted her

Xia Rou put down her book: “Lady Fang . ”.

“There is a library on the second floor, when the renovation is done you can stay inside to read your books . ” Lady Fang kindly explained to her . “The second floor is too messy right now . They put all the construction materials in the corridor, so don’t go up now or you might injure yourself . ”.

“Alright, thank you Lady Fang . ” Xia Rou replied

The change of Lady Fang’s att.i.tude towards her was the biggest achievement in her new life

Since no matter how she acted, the Cao Family always took care of her and was nice to her, the same went for this life . However, Lady Fang had shown dislike towards her in the past, but her gaze now became gentler

This gave Xia Rou confidence . She thought if she could avoid all the stupid actions she made in the past, maybe she could really fix their relations.h.i.+p

This, could this be the reason for her reincarnation?.

 .

“Oh yeah, Lady Fang . ” Xia Rou took the initiative and spoke with Lady Fang, “I heard you had a daughter?”.

Of course, Xia Rou didn’t hear it from anyone else, but she had already known .  Translated by The Novelst.

Hearing Xia Rou mention her daughter, Lady Fang was so happy from her heart . The corners of her eyes revealed her crow’s feet wrinkles

That sort of happiness Xia Rou had always seen on in Cheng Wan’s eyes as well

Lady Fang and Cheng Wan were both the same in the way that they both needed to bring along their daughters while they made a living . It was also different, Xia Rou thought

Lady Fang’s husband pa.s.sed away and she only had one daughter . The grandparents in her husband’s family treated women as inferior to men . Because the youngest uncle had two sons, they planned to take over Lady Fang’s home

That property was an old house from before they got married, originally under the name of the grandparents . In the beginning, they thought to give one property each to their two sons, and in those few years Lady Fang and her husband did not consider transferring owners.h.i.+p . But now, the grandparents had the intention to transfer the elder son’s house to the children of the younger son

Thus Lady Fang was kicked out by her husband’s family . Her mother-in-law even wanted to kept her daughter since she would get married sooner or later, and as a girl she wouldn’t be able to steal the property from her grandsons . But Lady Fang didn’t want to give up her daughter

Compared to her granddaughter, being able to keep the properties for her grandsons was more important, so her grandmother did not pursue the matter any further and let her daughter follow Lady Fang to leave the house

Lady Fang and her husband used to run a small grocery store in that house . Half the house was for the shop and the other half was a residence . After getting kicked out, her only income had also been snapped off

She brought her child along to find a job, but because she had a child, she always ran up against a stone wall . After that, she went to a housekeeping company and the company recommended her a few houses, but the owners were unwilling to hire her when they heard that she needed to bring her child along during work

Luckily, she was recommended to the Cao Family afterwards

It was back when Cao Yang’s mother first fell sick, and her body wasn’t in good condition . So she was trying to find a housekeeper experienced in taking care of children to look after the four brothers . The salary was generous, and they even provided food and lodging

After Cao Yang’s mother heard of Lady Fang’s situation, she took pity on her and at the same time she admired how Lady Fang did not give up on her daughter, so she hired her

Finally, Lady Fang had found a foothold in her life

One year later, Madam Cao pa.s.sed away

Lady Fang indeed did not disappoint Madam Cao; she did a great job in taking care of the brothers’ living situations

By the time she arrived at Cao Family, Cao Yang was only 13 years old . But he and Cao Bin had already matured quickly, they were very independent . Cao Xing and Cao An were only 9 years old and 7 years old respectively . Even they were trained in the same daily routine as a soldier by their father, they were still kids . They were still weak in heart, hoping for someone to care about them, so both of them were closer to Lady Fang compared to their older brothers

Time pa.s.sed quickly, in just the blink of an eye Lady Fang has already been working under the Cao Family for over ten years . Although she was originally just a housekeeping aunt, she was more like the main butler of the family . Not only did she manage the two house cleaners and gardener, even the house chef also respected her . All of them have looked upon her as their leader

Way back then, Xia Rou especially had hated her, because she was never nice to her

Xia Rou thought that Lady Fang must have felt she was half an owner of this family, that’s why she had hostility towards Xia Rou, the counterfeit princess who lived under someone else’s roof

She may have been indebted to the Cao Family, but in her heart, she had always thought of herself as living in the same circle as the Cao Family . Thus, the att.i.tude of Lady Fang towards her made her feel embarra.s.sed as if her ident.i.ty of a counterfeit had been exposed

She actually thought, of the both of them, neither had proper t.i.tles in the family . So neither of them were considered as the hostess of the family

Ever since Madam Cao pa.s.sed away, even before Cao Yang got married, this house did not have a real hostess

But within these few days, Xia Rou realized there were a lot of misunderstandings on her part toward Lady Fang

Thoughts like “thinking herself as half a hostess in the family,” was probably because she judged Lady Fang just by her looks, and that’s how she started to imagine all sorts of thoughts . But the reality was actually different, at least now that she looks at Lady Fang, she realized Lady Fang was actually scrupulously abiding to her own duties

She couldn’t help but to compare Lady Fang and Cheng Wan . She tried to imagine whether Cheng Wan could do the same as Lady Fang, bringing her child along to find a living

But she was disappointedly aware that, Cheng Wan…… couldn’t have made it

Even her married life with her blood-related father, Cheng Wan always lived elegantly as if she was held captive . She lived gracefully, exquisitely, and gently

She had always been an exquisite, gentle and weak woman that needed a man to take care of her to continue living

Once she lost her protection, she would feel no confidence to live alone, and she could only weakly seek death . Fortunately, she was able to meet Cao Xiong

Cheng Wan, she was really a dodder flower being carefully taken care of inside expensive porcelain

In these two lives, Xia Rou was hurt by her own realizations

In her past life, she was desperately trying to flaunt herself so as to not become a woman like Cheng Wan

In this life, along with the wishes of in her past, she also hoped that she wouldn’t end up as the same woman from her last life

She loved Cheng Wan, but she disliked her .  Translated by The Novelst.

However, she herself lived a life that was incomparable to Cheng Wan’s, and even worse

With this once in a lifetime chance, what was she actually seeking?.