In the middle of the night, a strong wind suddenly rose, and rain poured down with thunder rolling across the sky.
“Boom—”
“Boom—”
The thunder woke up Xue Zhi. She turned over to fix her blanket and was about to fall back asleep when a hurried voice suddenly came from outside.
“Zhi Zhi! Zhi Zhi! Are you asleep?”
Recognizing the owner of the voice, Xue Zhi’s eyes lit up, a thought forming in her mind.
She tugged at her collar, exposing her fair skin, crumpled the blanket on the bed into a mess, curled up in the corner with her arms holding one end of it, and shouted toward the outside, “Brother Shiyue, I’m scared!”
As soon as she spoke, the door was forcefully pushed open. Fu Shiyue rushed to the bedside, his hair soaked from the rain and his clothes completely wet. He said anxiously, “Zhi Zhi, you—”
Before he could finish, Xue Zhi immediately threw herself at him, tightly wrapping her arms around his neck and crying, “Brother Shiyue, it’s thundering. I’m so scared.”
Fu Shiyue’s pupils widened in shock. Feeling the warmth of her body, his instinctive urge to push her away faded as he instead comforted her, “I know, don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
Xue Zhi clung to him like she would not let go. “My mother passed away on a thunderstorm night.”
“I regret so much that I wasn’t by her side then. I knew she was sick, but I still let her live alone.”
“If I didn’t have selfish reasons—if I wasn’t afraid of Madam Li scolding me—how could I have left?”
“I regret it so much… I really regret it! If I had stayed with her, maybe she wouldn’t have died. Even if she scolded me or hit me, I shouldn’t have returned to the Fu family.”
“I was wrong… I was terribly wrong…”
Xue Zhi’s voice broke as she cried. Tears streamed down her face and fell onto Fu Shiyue’s shoulder, each drop feeling like it landed directly on his heart, burning it unbearably.
Fu Shiyue patted her back gently and comforted her, “Zhi Zhi, be good. Don’t cry. It’s not your fault.”
But upon hearing this, Xue Zhi cried even harder.
“Zhi Zhi, be good, don’t cry.”
These were the same words her mother used to say to comfort her.
Since her mother passed away, no one had ever said them again.
Fu Shiyue was the second person to comfort her like this.
In her past life, the only person who treated her well was her mother.
Now, there was one more—Fu Shiyue.
Xue Zhi cried like a wronged child finally finding someone to rely on, sobbing freely in his arms.
Fu Shiyue simply let her cry. When her sobs finally softened, he realized she had cried herself to sleep. He lowered his gaze, a faint smile unconsciously appearing on his lips. He gently tucked her into the blanket, preparing to leave—only to have his hand grabbed.
Xue Zhi opened her red, tear-swollen eyes and said in a hoarse, pitiful voice, “Brother Shiyue, don’t go. I don’t want to sleep alone. I’m scared… stay with me, okay?”
Fu Shiyue originally wanted to refuse—after all, men and women should maintain proper boundaries.
But under her pleading gaze, he could not bring himself to refuse, nor did he want to. He nodded.
“Alright. I’ll stay with you.”
“Go to sleep. I won’t leave.”
“But what about you?” Xue Zhi asked. “There’s no extra blanket in my room.”
“It’s fine.” Fu Shiyue pointed at the chair beside him. “I’ll just sit here.”
“How can that be?” Xue Zhi said quickly. “Brother Shiyue, your clothes are all wet. It’s my fault. If you weren’t worried about me, you wouldn’t have gotten soaked.”
She added, “Go change your clothes quickly, or you’ll catch a cold tomorrow.”
“And then… you won’t be afraid anymore?”
“I… I… I’m not afraid anymore.” she said, forcing courage into her voice.
Fu Shiyue saw through her act. He took a deep breath and said, “I’ll go change, then come back to keep you company.”
“No need, I… I can handle it alone.”
In truth, she was still afraid.
She had originally only wanted to get closer to him, but she forgot—she was a woman, and he was a man. They were not husband and wife; how could they share a room like this?
Even in her past life and this one, apart from Fu Lin, she had never been this close to another man.
That earlier embrace had already crossed the line.
If she insisted he stayed, there was only one bed in the room—would they sleep together?
Now it was autumn, the weather was getting cold, and it was raining outside. Without a blanket, the night would be unbearable.
Fu Lin had been taken away on the night of their wedding, and they had never even consummated the marriage.
Strictly speaking, she and Fu Lin had never even slept on the same bed.