Their eyes met.
In their eyes, there was only each other.
Although Li Mai had decided to draw a clear line between herself and Zhou Songyan.
In her heart, Zhou Songyan still occupied a very important place.
Seeing him at this moment…
Li Mai had an impulse to throw herself into his arms.
But she held back.
For Zhou Songyan, that little episode had passed, but she was still stuck in the same place.
The more Li Mai thought about it, the more upset she became.
Zhou Songyan looked down at the girl with reddened eyes and finally couldn’t hold back.
He reached out, cupped the back of Li Mai’s head, and pulled her against his chest.
He said softly: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
The familiar woody scent reached her.
Li Mai froze slightly.
Then she relaxed into his embrace.
Just this once.
Let her lean against this chest that once made her feel so warm, one last time.
Tears mixed with rainwater soaked a large patch of Zhou Songyan’s chest.
Zhou Songyan’s large hand gently rubbed her head.
“It’s okay now.”
Li Mai didn’t allow herself to indulge for too long.
A few seconds later, she pulled away from Zhou Songyan’s embrace.
She was a bit afraid to look at him.
Zhou Songyan’s deep voice sounded: “Get in my car first.”
Zhou Songyan’s car was parked right by the roadside.
Li Mai: “Chengcheng is still in the car.”
Zhou Songyan placed the umbrella handle in her hand, his gaze gentle yet firm.
“Hold this. I’ll carry him.”
Li Mai gripped the umbrella handle and held it over Zhou Songyan.
Zhou Songyan opened the back car door and saw the little boy inside.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and lifted him into his arms.
This was the first time Chengcheng was held by his father. He stared at his father’s profile, uncertain what to do.
Dad is very handsome.
Dad’s embrace is very warm.
This was a strange feeling.
Zhou Songyan placed Chengcheng in the Bentley, took the umbrella from Li Mai’s hand, and held it over her: “Get in.”
Li Mai looked at him deeply, then got in the car.
From the rearview mirror, she saw Zhou Songyan get into her damaged car.
Zhou Songyan drove the car to the side of the road, then directed the other crashed car to move to the side as well, clearing the road and resolving the traffic jam.
The long line of cars behind them gradually moved forward, and traffic resumed.
Soon, a police car arrived.
Zhou Songyan didn’t let Li Mai get out of the car.
Ten minutes later, Zhou Songyan got into the driver’s seat.
Through the rearview mirror inside the car, his eyes met Li Mai’s.
“The accident has been handled. Don’t worry—it was entirely the other party’s fault.”
“Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”
Li Mai: “No need. I’ll just drive my own car back.”
She reached to open the car door.
Zhou Songyan locked the doors first.
“Your car can’t be driven. I’ll have someone come pick it up and take it for repairs.”
“Even if you don’t consider yourself, you should think about the child, right? What if something goes wrong halfway home?”
Li Mai glanced at Chengcheng.
Zhou Songyan was right.
But she didn’t want Zhou Songyan to know their address.
She randomly named a residential complex.
Hearing Li Mai’s words, Chengcheng glanced at her but didn’t expose her lie.
Zhou Songyan turned on the navigation.
Beijing was very large.
He didn’t know where the complex Li Mai mentioned was located.
The rain was still falling, though it had lightened a bit.
Li Mai noticed that Zhou Songyan’s exposed shoulder was soaked.
She remembered how he had angled the umbrella mostly toward her side earlier.
Sharp-tongued as he was…
When it mattered, he was still very gentlemanly.
Li Mai’s clothes were also wet, soaking the car seat.
She felt quite embarrassed.
The car was quiet; no one spoke.
Zhou Songyan broke the silence: “Where did you go?”
Li Mai: “To the zoo.”
After this brief exchange, the car fell into an awkward silence again.
Soon they arrived at the complex Li Mai had mentioned.
Zhou Songyan: “Which building do you live in? I’ll walk you in.”
“No need, no need! You’ve already been troubled enough. We can walk by ourselves—it’s not far.”
Zhou Songyan thought for a moment and didn’t insist. He handed her the umbrella: “It’s still raining outside.”
Li Mai took it: “Thank you, Mr. Zhou!”
Li Mai was about to open the car door.
Zhou Songyan stopped her: “Contact information…”
“Give me your number. When the car is repaired, I’ll have someone deliver it to you.”
The other party was entirely at fault, so repairs would be covered by insurance—Li Mai wouldn’t have to pay.
Li Mai gave him a phone number.
Zhou Songyan saved it symbolically.
In reality, he had known Li Mai’s phone number all along.
“Mr. Zhou, thank you for your trouble. Goodbye.”
Li Mai observed Zhou Songyan’s expression—it was normal, without any surprise.
After five years, she hadn’t changed her number, clinging to the hope that one day Zhou Songyan might call her.
Before coming to Sucheng, she hadn’t even moved—she continued living in the same rental apartment from back then.
She was afraid Zhou Songyan wouldn’t be able to find her.
She had been deceiving herself.
If Zhou Songyan wanted to find her again, it would be easy.
But he hadn’t.
When Zhou Songyan heard her give the number, his expression didn’t change.
He must have deleted her number long ago and didn’t remember it.
Sensing Li Mai’s emotional change, Chengcheng gripped her hand tightly.
They wandered around that residential complex for a while, waiting until Zhou Songyan left before heading to their own neighborhood.
Back home.
Li Mai took a hot shower and changed into clean clothes.
Chengcheng said he was hungry, so she cooked a pot of tomato and egg noodles.
Mother and son filled their stomachs.
Li Mai told Chengcheng to shower and go to bed.
Chengcheng was very independent—he could bathe and brush his teeth by himself.
She helped appropriately.
After Chengcheng fell asleep, Li Mai picked up her phone.
She saw a missed call.
From Beijing.
It had only rung for five seconds.
That number had also sent a text message: [This is Zhou Songyan. This is my phone number. Save it. Call me if you need anything.]
Li Mai smiled bitterly.
Even if she needed something, she couldn’t contact Zhou Songyan.
They had no relationship anymore.
Still, she saved Zhou Songyan’s new number.
Her contact list still had another number for Zhou Songyan.
From five years ago—that one was disconnected. She had dialed it countless times.
Even knowing it wouldn’t go through.
Li Mai clicked on it and selected delete.
She opened WeChat.
Zhou Songyan had also sent a friend request.
She didn’t accept it.
Putting down her phone, she picked up the penguin plush toy from her bedside.
This was from five years ago, when they went to the aquarium together and Zhou Songyan bought it for her.
At the time, she thought the penguin plush was adorable and stared at it for a long while, so Zhou Songyan bought it.
Li Mai could still remember that moment—after receiving the penguin plush, she had hugged Zhou Songyan and kissed him.
A tear fell onto the penguin plush.
Li Mai threw it into the trash can.
She turned off the lights and lay in bed.
About an hour later, Li Mai got up again, retrieved the penguin plush from the trash, brushed off the dust, and stuffed it deep inside a cabinet.
She couldn’t bear to throw it away.
She hid the penguin plush.
Just like her feelings for Zhou Songyan—she couldn’t let go of them for the time being, so she placed those feelings in some corner of her heart.