The woman paused, as if intending to smile, but her eyes always seemed misty, her features laced with a fragile quality, as if on the verge of falling.
The night was dark, and the streetlights were bright.
Her smile was beautiful, her dimples sweet.
"Brother, it's so good to have you."
The man was stunned, his eyes widening, only hearing his heartbeat pound like a war drum, deafening and earth-shattering.
By the time he reacted, Shen Yue was already gone.
The wind was strong, stinging his face, yet Zhang Cong's face felt incredibly hot.
---
At this hour, this villa should be empty. Qi Rui often worked overtime.
But today, the living room lights were still on, a little glaring.
It was cold outside, but incredibly warm inside. The significant temperature difference made Shen Yue shiver.
She walked in.
The man sitting on the sofa seemed to hear the movement. He had been resting with his eyes closed, and then he opened his dark eyes expressionlessly.
Shen Yue's steps faltered for a moment, because the man's gaze was terrifying.
It was indifferent, even possessing an indescribable gloom.
It was completely disconnected from his usual calm and composed demeanor.
Qi Rui watched Shen Yue approach. His fingers stiffened. He thought the woman would, as usual, ask if he had eaten, or if he wanted some warm soup.
She was always like this, so nagging.
But the woman seemed not to see Qi Rui and walked past him.
"Wait."
His eyes fixed on the woman who had stopped. His voice was hoarse, "Why are you back so late?"
Shen Yue paused and looked back.
Even now, she couldn't figure this man out. On his expressionless face, she couldn't discern any emotion. Perhaps it was just a polite inquiry, or perhaps he was just mentioning it casually.
The fever hadn't completely subsided, but her forehead was no longer hot.
Shen Yue smiled. She always smiled gently, her face still pale from her recent illness.
She took off her scarf, revealing a section of her neck, slender and fragile, luminous and beautiful.
She pursed her lips, her voice soft, "It's nothing serious. You should get some sleep."
Qi Rui did not expect this answer. His expression grew colder, and his handsome features were tinged with a hint of melancholy. "Dallying outside until now, what do you take the Qi family for?"
Shen Yue was stunned. The fingers at her side retracted, and the smile on her face slowly disappeared. She was always gentle, but now she couldn't maintain it.
It was as if she was embarrassed, or perhaps she couldn't bear to look at the man's cold, heartless eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Sorry again! Always sorry!
Hearing these three words made Qi Rui even more irritable. This was not what he wanted to hear.
Qi Rui's voice betrayed no emotion, "You don't need to say sorry, and I don't want to hear it. I just want to tell you that the Qi family has rules."
His tone was still somewhat gentle, but it couldn't hide the distance between them.
She didn't know what the Qi family's rules were. She only knew that the man's cold expression now pierced her heart.
He was truly so cold.
He was a completely different person from the boy in her memory.
Her eyelashes fluttered twice, the corners of her eyes reddening. Her dark eyes were filled with moisture, and her throat felt dry. After a moment of silence, she said softly, "Alright. I'll leave in a few days."
In the silence, only the ticking of the second hand could be heard.
Qi Rui looked at Shen Yue's reddened eyes from her slight cough, and his heart seemed to sting for a moment.
But he paid it no mind, his voice indifferent and cool, "Let me know when you leave. I'll have the driver take you."
Shen Yue suddenly looked up at him. Her eyelids were thin and red, her full red lips tightly pressed together, and her face was deathly pale.
Qi Rui's fingers clenched. He averted his gaze, unable to look at her, yet a profound bitterness spread from his heart to his mouth, making his breathing feel acrid.
In the suffocating atmosphere, Shen Yue went upstairs first. When she reached the second floor, she crouched down.
After the intense dizziness passed, she stood up and returned to the bedroom.
---
As night fell, the temperature that had receded began to rise again.
She had many dreams, some true, some false, making it impossible to distinguish between reality and dreams.
They overlapped chaotically, disordered.
In her dreams, she saw the day the boy left.
She said, "Can you please not go, Qi Rui?"
The girl cried sadly, clinging to the boy's clothes, unwilling to let go.
But the boy only looked at her coldly, said nothing, simply shook off her hand, and left without looking back.
She chased after him, but could never catch up.
The boy's figure grew farther and farther away, until he merged with the darkness.
Stumbling, she half-crouched on the ground. She felt a sharp pain in her heart, and her face was ice-cold.
She murmured, "Qi Rui..."
"Don't go..."
---
Awakened from the nightmare, Shen Yue opened her eyes. The bedroom was dark. A few rays of light filtered in from the window; it was dawn.
Her head throbbed intensely, her breathing became rapid, and her vision blurred. After a few seconds, her sight began to clear.
Her heart gradually calmed down. Shen Yue moved her fingers unconsciously and felt a burning warmth; someone was holding her hand.
Shen Yue turned her head blankly to look. It was a face that caught her completely off guard.
It was Qi Rui.
He was asleep, with dark circles under his eyes, indicating he hadn't slept all night.
Shen Yue closed her eyes, then opened them again. The man was still there.
It seemed it wasn't a dream.
She blinked blankly, opened her mouth, and let out a sound that was barely audible even to herself.
It was highly probable that Qi Rui had stayed by her side all night.
Her mind replayed Qi Rui's words from last night, and his expression then.
A deep sense of heartache spread through her, making even breathing feel painful.
Shen Yue clenched her fingertips, trying to calm herself. The sky outside was faintly brightening, and the few rays of light filtering through the gap in the curtains were not very bright. Qi Rui was by her side. 138 Reading Network
Yet, she felt a suffocating sensation.
Shen Yue carefully got up, trying to make her movements as light as possible. As soon as her foot touched the floor, before she could even stand steadily, her legs gave way, and with a thud, she fell to the ground.
Qi Rui was startled awake.
His brows furrowed. He turned on the bedroom light and knelt down to help her, but Shen Yue recoiled as if electrocuted. She bit her lip tightly, her eyelashes wet.
"Don't touch me."
Qi Rui's hands froze in place. He looked at the woman, confused.
Shen Yue panted slightly, gradually regaining some composure after a long while. Looking at the man's handsome, familiar face, she managed a weak smile, but she knew the smile must have looked fake.
Qi Rui looked down at her, his calm, cold eyes filled with deep confusion.