Chapter 176 Do you know how scared I was today?

Shi Qingman's door remained tightly closed.

No one responded when I called.

Madam Shi sighed with heartache, "What happened today has been a huge blow to my daughter."

Her fiancé betrayed her, and the hurt she suffered was already immense.

Now, she knows that her mother died... actually because she was buying her a cake. For so many years, she has been blaming her younger brother.

Each and every one of these incidents is a heart-wrenching pain.

"Shuzhi was frightened today too. Yuanxing, why don't you take Shuzhi back to rest first?" Grandma said to Shi Yuanxing.

“Your sister... she probably doesn’t know how to face you right now.” The old man sighed helplessly again. “Give her some time to calm down.”

Seeing that the young couple didn't move, she added, "Don't worry, with this old woman like me here, there won't be any trouble at home."

Shi Yuanxing glanced at his grandmother, nodded, and then left the Shi mansion with Qin Shuzhi.

Back at Yushui Bay, Qin Shuzhi's hand was held tightly from the moment they entered the house.

"husband……"

Just as Qin Shuzhi was about to speak to him, the man suddenly turned around and pulled her tightly into his arms.

Do you know how scared I was today?

The man's hoarse, trembling voice reached her ears, and Qin Shuzhi's heart skipped a beat. Recalling the thrilling experience of the day, she couldn't help but hug him tightly.

"I'm sorry~"

Upon hearing this, Shi Yuanxing paused for a moment. He released her and looked down at her reddened eyes. "I said, I'm the one who should apologize."

If he had been more vigilant, or rather, if he had been more ruthless towards Qiao Wenbo, she wouldn't have been in this danger.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault for not protecting you."

He raised his hand to stroke her cheek, gazing deeply into her eyes: "Zhizhi, no matter what the reason, you must never put yourself in danger again, understand?"

He would really go crazy if something happened to her.

The man's serious gaze still held a deep sense of lingering fear, which Qin Shuzhi clearly saw. Her throat felt as if something sharp was blocking it, and the pain made her unable to speak.

With tears in her eyes, she nodded heavily, reached out and hugged his neck, tilted her head back and kissed his lips deeply.

It's unclear whether it was the indulgence of surviving a disaster or the heartache that came from knowing the grievances and suffering Shi Yuanxing had endured over the years.

At this moment, all she wanted was to have him, love him, and comfort him.

Shi Yuanxing embraced her tightly amidst her somewhat frantic affection, responding passionately.

Their eyes met, peering into each other's emotions. Without a word, they seemed to understand each other's feelings and needs.

They eagerly began to undress each other, their kisses passionate and intense, a frantic and desperate desire to possess each other without any distance, as if they wanted to melt into each other's very bones and blood, never to be separated again...

...

That night, both of them went wild.

...

The next day was Saturday.

Despite feeling sore all over, Qin Shuzhi still got up quite early.

As I walked out of the bedroom, I saw Shi Yuanxing coming out of the kitchen.

"Why are you up so early?"

The man walked towards her.

Qin Shuzhi nestled limply into his arms and said lazily, "I'm hungry."

His voice was so hoarse it was unrecognizable.

Shi Yuanxing, with his arm around her slender waist, immediately bent down, picked her up, and carried her toward the dining table.

He gently placed her on the chair and kissed her forehead. "Wait here, I'll bring breakfast up now."

Mr. Shi prepared a very elaborate breakfast, and it was all her favorite foods. Qin Shuzhi noticed that when he came out last, he was holding a cup in his hand.

"Drink more honey water."

He placed the water glass in front of her.

"Uh-huh."

Qin Shuzhi, whose throat was dry, immediately picked up the glass and took two sips.

Shi Yuanxing sat down next to her, smoothed her hair, and looked at her with tenderness and concern, "Are you feeling alright? Are you feeling unwell?"

He regretted his reckless and unrestrained behavior last night.

Feeling a little hot under his gaze, Qin Shuzhi whispered, "...It's alright, I don't feel uncomfortable."

Shi Yuanxing gently patted her head and said softly, "Don't go out today, stay home and rest."

Upon hearing this, Qin Shuzhi paused for a moment, observed his expression, and asked, "Aren't we going back to the Shi Mansion to see my sister?"

Shi Yuanxing put a dumpling in her bowl. "Grandma is right. She needs time to calm down. Right now, she probably... doesn't want to see anyone."

Especially him.

"……oh."

Qin Shuzhi responded softly.

Seeing that she kept glancing over at him, Shi Yuanxing looked at her with amusement and said, "Ask whatever you want."

Feeling seen through, Qin Shuzhi put down her chopsticks and looked at him cautiously, "What exactly happened with my mother-in-law back then?"

Why did the mother-in-law buy a cake for her sister, but it turned out to be buying him glutinous rice balls?

Upon hearing this, Shi Yuanxing's eyes dimmed, and after a moment of silence, he recounted what had happened back then...

That night, Shi Qingman was in a bad mood because of the non-stop dance practice for days. In addition, she hadn't been able to eat the cake that her mother had promised to take her to the cake shop the day before. So when her mother asked her to go to dance practice, she threw a tantrum and locked herself in her room and refused to come out.

To appease her, Shi's mother decided to go out and buy her a cake.

The maid who accompanied them wanted to do it for them, but Shi's mother shook her head and said with a gentle smile, "You don't know which kind she wants to eat. If you buy the wrong one, this girl will think that I am just going through the motions. I'd better go myself."

The maid said, "Miss will be very happy to know that you went to buy it yourself."

When Xiao Yuanxing heard that her mother was going out, she started to make a fuss, not letting her go, and cried and begged her to play with her.

Unlike Shi Qingman, who would lock herself in her room and sulk when she was angry, Xiao Yuanxing would cry and scream so loudly that it could shake the whole house when he was upset.

Shi's mother could only squat down, hug him, and coax him, "Little Xing, Mommy will buy you your favorite blueberry cake later, okay?"

"No!" Xiao Yuanxing angrily threw his favorite toy gun on the ground. "I don't want cake, I want my mom to play with me."

"My sister cried because she didn't get to eat cake yesterday, and she's hiding in her room crying now," Shi's mother whispered in his ear as if telling a secret.

Sure enough, the little boy quieted down.

Shi's mother held him in her arms, "Xiao Xing loves his sister the most, doesn't he?"

Xiao Yuanxing, though still keeping a straight face, nodded.

"Then can you ask Mom to go out and buy a cake for my sister?"

Xiao Yuanxing's temper flared up quickly but subsided just as fast. He tilted his head and said, "Then I'll go with Mom."

Shi's mother didn't want him to go out, so she coaxed him, "Sweetie, how about staying home with your sister?"

Little Yuanxing stamped his foot, "No, I want to go with my mom."

"Didn't Xiao Yuanxing say this morning that he's all grown up and a real man?" Shi's mother winked at him, her voice gentle and coaxing, "Mommy's not here, can you help Mommy take care of your sister for a bit?"

Xiao Yuanxing pouted, reluctantly, but finally nodded "sensibly".

However--

When the driver pulled the car out, before his mother got in, he ran out crying again, wanting to stubbornly follow her. But then he thought he was a man, so in the end, he didn't insist on going out. He just cried and shouted, "I don't want to eat cake, I want to eat the glutinous rice balls that Grandma bought the day before yesterday."

"Okay, baby, be a good girl and wait at home. Mommy will go to Yanjiangnan to buy you some glutinous rice balls in a little while."

Shi's mother squatted down, hugged and kissed her son, then looked up at the window of her daughter's room on the second floor, and whispered in his ear, "Look, your sister is watching you. She's probably waiting for you to come up and play with her."

Xiao Yuanxing turned his head and looked up. Sure enough, he saw his sister pull back the curtains to look at them. After noticing that they were looking up, she quickly pulled the curtains back down.

Shi's mother was in a car accident before she could buy anything on her trip.

She and the driver both died in that accident.