Shi Wan smiled, slowly crawled into the prepared bedding on the floor, and said calmly, "Of course, you are a distinguished guest in our home."
Her tone was calm, but Sikong Jingyu could not ignore the distant politeness she concealed so well.
"I'm a man, how can I let you sleep on the floor? If we have to sleep separately, I'll sleep on the floor." Sikong Jingyu hugged his pillow and walked towards the makeshift bed on the floor.
"The floor is too hard. You've always been too proud to sleep on a bed like this."
“Then we’ll all sleep in the bed!” Sikong Jingyu said.
Shi Wan's eyes darkened, and she said, "I wonder if Mr. Sikong still remembers that you and I are divorced. There are some boundaries that need to be respected. So, it's decided that you will sleep in the bed. I have to get up early for work tomorrow morning, so I'll go to sleep now. Sweet dreams, Mr. Sikong."
"Wan..." Sikong Jingyu opened his mouth to call Shi Wan, but seeing that Shi Wan had already covered herself with a thin blanket and lay down, the name on his lips stopped abruptly. Looking at Shi Wan's back, a sense of loss swept through Sikong Jingyu's heart.
"......good evening."
After speaking softly, Sikong Jingyu lifted the covers and lay down on the bed.
Turning to the side, looking at the empty space beside him, Sikong Jingyu felt a strange sense of loss. He hadn't come here to sleep alone in Shi Wan's bed.
Shi Wan's breathing gradually became shallow and steady. Si Kong Jingyu gave a wry smile. It seemed that he was the only one who couldn't sleep at night!
Sikong Jingyu quietly got out of bed and came to Shi Wan's side. Looking at Shi Wan's peaceful sleeping face, he knelt on the ground and put his hand under the covers.
The moment the hand touched Shi Wan's body, Shi Wan suddenly woke up with a start, hurriedly pushing away the extra hand from under the covers, her clear black and white pupils staring straight at Sikong Jingyu.
Sikong Jingyu's hand froze instantly. "...Wanwan, I just wanted to carry you to bed."
Shi Wan remained silent, only looking at Sikong Jingyu with wary eyes, full of defensiveness.
Seeing this, Sikong Jingyu sadly withdrew his hand, deeply hurt.
"Wanwan, I'm sorry, I really just wanted to carry you to bed." Sikong Jingyu's low, husky voice rang out in the quiet night, sounding somewhat muffled.
"Mr. Sikong, stop wasting your time."
After finishing speaking, Shi Wan lay down again, pulled the blanket tighter, closed her eyes, and her breathing gradually became steady, as if she had already fallen asleep.
Looking at Shi Wan's refusal to communicate, Si Kong Jingyu felt a sense of helplessness and frustration.
She appeared polite and not indifferent to him, but this was just a facade she was trying to hide. The indifference she inadvertently revealed was her true coldness.
The next morning, before dawn, Shi Wan quietly got up, took the bedding off the floor, washed up, and went out.
Not long after Shi Wan left, Sikong Jingyu also got up, sat upright on Shi Wan's bed, and stared blankly.
"Xiao Jing?" Qin Qiaolian knocked tentatively on the door, pressing her ear close to the doorway to listen for any sounds and determine if Sikong Jingyu had gotten up.
"Mom!" Sikong Jingyu responded, gathering her thoughts, and got up to open the door.
"I just wanted to see if you were awake. I cooked breakfast," Qin Qiaolian said with an awkward smile. Actually, she had cooked noodles and was waiting for him.
"I'm hungry too," Sikong Jingyu said politely.
Sitting at the dining table, Sikong Jingyu took a sip of the simple chicken noodle soup. As soon as the soup entered his mouth, Sikong Jingyu paused. Why did the taste of this chicken noodle soup seem so familiar to him?
When he was a child, he would get sick and his grandmother would bring him a bowl of chicken noodle soup, which he would always finish.
As he grew older and stronger, he rarely got sick, and because he resisted going abroad with his childhood betrothal, he never got to eat it again.
He grew up without parents, only his grandmother. The taste of that bowl of chicken noodle soup gave him a strange sense of familiarity and warmth. It was unlike chicken soup that was cooked in a standardized way, where cooking was just a task and no emotion was put into it.
"Xiao Jing, is it... that you don't like the food?"
Seeing Sikong Jingyu pause and ponder, Qin Qiaolian asked uncertainly.
Sikong Jingyu shook his head and continued eating the noodles in his bowl. Soon, the bowl was empty. Sikong Jingyu pushed the bowl in front of Qin Qiaolian and asked, "Mom, can I have another bowl?"
The word "Mom" almost brought Qin Qiaolian to tears. Her son could finally call her "Mom" openly and legitimately!
Qin Qiaolian, her eyes red, happily said, "Yes, yes!"
Seeing Qin Qiaolian's kind gaze and the tears in her eyes, Sikong Jingyu felt a pang of sadness in his chest for no reason. Why did he feel a strange sense of familiarity with Shi Wan?
Was it simply a case of him loving the house because of its owner?
When Qin Qiaolian looked at him, there was an indescribable sense of forbearance and sorrow in her eyes.
Why is that?
When Qin Qiaolian brought out the noodles again, she had already adjusted her mindset. She sat at the dining table, watching Sikong Jingyu eat the noodles, with a satisfied smile on her face.
"I don't know why, but I always feel that the noodles you make taste familiar, as if I've eaten them before. It makes me feel very warm. I'm so happy to have you all here!" Sikong Jingyu smiled at Qin Qiaolian, her eyes filled with envy, but her smile was tinged with bitterness.
Upon hearing Sikong Jingyu's words, Qin Qiaolian's expression instantly fell, and an indescribable sense of grievance and heartache surfaced in her eyes.
From the moment Sikong Jingyu was taken away by Aunt Sikong, Qin Qiaolian knew very well that her mother-son relationship with Sikong Jingyu had long been severed. But now, hearing Sikong Jingyu's words, Qin Qiaolian's eyes couldn't help but redden, and a tear quietly slid down her cheek.
The familiarity with Sikong Jingyu... that's right.
When he was little, whenever he was sick, Aunt Sikong would call and ask Qin Qiaolian to come and stay at the Sikong family's house for a few days. She would put little Sikong Jingyu to sleep at night and go back to her own room before little Sikong Jingyu woke up in the morning. The chicken soup noodles that Sikong Jingyu ate when he was little were made by Qin Qiaolian.
Over the years, Qin Qiaolian had been quietly keeping an eye on Sikong Jingyu's situation. She saw him grow up, become successful, and capable of protecting himself and his family, which made Qin Qiaolian very happy, even though they couldn't acknowledge each other.
Qin Qiaolian wasn't saying she didn't love Shi Wan, but Sikong Jingyu was, after all, the child she had carried for ten months. When she was pregnant with him, the pregnancy was unstable, and it took several months of effort to save the baby.
Blood is thicker than water. Just a few days after he was born, Sikong Jingyu was hastily taken away by Aunt Sikong. He didn't even get to drink her milk for more than a few days.
Qin Qiaolian always felt guilty towards Sikong Jingyu. Although the exchange of time and life between Sikong Jingyu was not Qin Qiaolian's decision, she indirectly caused Sikong Jingyu to grow up without maternal and paternal love, making him grow up in a broken family.
"Is Xiao Jing...unhappy?" Qin Qiaolian's voice trembled as she asked this question.
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