Su Zhinian was in the middle of a video conference in his study when he heard the sound of someone keying in the password at the gate of his house. He frowned slightly and assumed that he had heard wrongly. Regardless, he turned the volume of his computer down. To his surprise, he heard the clang of the iron gate being open and sound of someone’s shuffling footsteps.
The number of individuals who knew the password to his house was not many, other than Tang Nuo, there was only Song Qingchun…
Su Zhinian apologized to the person in the computer before he got up to walk to the window. He saw Song Qingchun staggering through his garden and toward the front door. Without even bidding the person he was having a conference with farewell, he rushed out of his study and raced downstairs.
When he pulled the door open, her hand was hanging in the air, trying to key in the door password. What is she doing her so late?
Su Zhinian’s brows creased unconsciously. He was about to ask her why when the girl smiled softly at him and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Su, for coming home late.”
Su Zhinian was struck by the familiarity of that phrase. She used to say that when they shared the hundred days under the same roof. Su Zhinian instantly froze on the spot.
Song Qingchun waited for a moment, and when she realized he hadn’t replied, she thought he was unhappy, so she continued in that soft tone of hers. “Mr. Su, I promise I won’t return so late anymore in the future.”
Then, she walked into the house. As she stepped over the threshold, she tripped and fell forward. Thankfully he was standing before her, so she fell right into his arms. When that happened, the faint smell of alcohol hit him.
She’s drunk? Su Zhinian’s brows moved, but he still didn’t say a word. After she struggled out of his arms and straightened herself up, she raised her head up to flash him a warm smile. “Mr. Su, have you had your dinner?”
So, in her state of inebriation, she returned to those days when she still lived here?
Afraid that she would fall, Su Zhinian’s fingers were still holding her arms as she parted from his embrace.
He’s always so silent in his care, she thought internally as she smiled brighter at him. Then she said in a gentle voice, “I’ll go prepare dinner now.”
She shrugged his arms off and walked around him to head into the dining room. As she walked away, she mumbled, “Mr. Su, what do you want to have for dinner? I remember you like sweet-and-sour fish, so we can have that. Maybe beef or braised eggplant… Hmm, how about tofu soup? What do you think?”
Time seemed to have regressed in that moment. It had been a period of such peace and harmony, but now, it just seemed exceptionally painful to Su Zhinian.
Su Zhinian felt something prickling at the edge of his eyes when he heard the questions from Song Qingchun. His lips trembled for a long time. It was not until she walked into the dining room that he replied in a very soft voice, “Okay.”
Su Zhinian was closing the front door and was walking toward the dining room when Song Qingchun staggered out of it. In her hands was the trolley that Su Zhinian had purposely bought for her for grocery shopping when she still lived with him.
“Mr. Su, we’ve run out of ingredients in the fridge. I’ll go to the market and return shortly.”
The pain around Su Zhinian’s eyes heightened. He knew that she was drunk and couldn’t remember anything, but he still averted his gaze from her face.