0052 Tibetan
The next day, Song Ning locked himself in his room, refusing to eat or drink, go out, or see anyone.
Song Ning refused to eat, and Shen Yuxiu also refused to eat. He turned off his phone and stood outside her door.
Shen Xiaoyue tried to persuade her several times, but when he couldn't convince anyone, he called Su Qingru.
After hearing the whole story, Su Qingru sighed softly, as if she had expected this to happen: "Neither of them listens to advice. Calling me won't help."
That's what I said, but I still felt sorry for him. I tried to persuade him over the phone, but no one listened, so I gave up.
Seeing that Song Ning refused to come out and Shen Yuxiu refused to return to his room, Shen Xiaoyue felt both angry and distressed.
He never imagined that at his age, nearing retirement, he would still have to worry so much about these two children.
Zhang Gui and Aunt Wang had no idea what had happened, and assumed that the two siblings were arguing.
They brought a heater, chairs, and blankets from inside the house and placed them next to Shen Yuxiu, afraid that he would get cold if he stayed there like that.
At night, the temperature drops to minus 7 or 8 degrees Celsius. The coldest thing is not the temperature, but the fierce wind at night, which feels as sharp as a knife when it blows against your face.
Shen Xiaoyue told Aunt Zhang Guiwang to go back to her room to rest, but he himself sat down in the chair next to Shen Yuxiu and lit a cigarette.
"You're just planning to stay here all night?"
Shen Xiaoyue knew what Shen Yuxiu was thinking; he was using himself to pressure Song Ning.
Amidst wisps of white smoke rising beside him, Shen Yuxiu lowered his eyes, remaining motionless: "You should go back and rest."
"Take a break?" Shen Xiaoyue pointed into the room, then at Shen Yuxiu, and said earnestly, "Cough... With one or two like this, how am I supposed to rest?"
Shen Xiaoyue rarely smoked, and the cold wind choked his lungs, causing him to cough violently as soon as he spoke.
Shen Yuxiu didn't speak, but took out his phone, turned it on, and called Su Qingru.
Su Qingru was performing surgery on a patient and didn't receive the call until after 1 a.m. when she came off the operating table and finally saw it and called back.
Hearing that Shen Xiaoyue also refused to go back to his room, she scolded him: "He's being unreasonable, why are you being unreasonable too? He likes to cause trouble, so just let him cause trouble. Sitting for 5 hours, do you still want your back? Do you want me to abandon tomorrow's patients, buy the earliest flight, and personally chase you back to your room? You're such a grown man, how come you're getting more and more like a child?"
After being reprimanded by Su Qingru, Shen Xiaoyue wiped his face, shook his head, and realized that he had acted impulsively.
Shen Xiaoyue got up, but after sitting for a long time, his old back injury couldn't hold up, and he lost his balance and fell against the wooden door beside him.
Shen Yuxiu quickly stepped forward to support him, but Shen Xiaoyue pushed Shen Yuxiu's hand away, said nothing, and walked into his room.
Looking at Shen Xiaoyue's tall yet weathered back, Shen Yuxiu felt a dull ache in his heart.
He knew he had been willful, and he could have comforted Song Ning in a more rational way, but he chose to resort to self-torture.
He wanted to know her pain, but he could never truly empathize with it because it wasn't something he had experienced. He could never truly understand how deep her pain was, and this filled him with both hatred and despair.
Inside the room, Song Ning was curled up at the head of the bed, her head drooping on her knees, her eyes staring blankly at the door.
The firelight from the fireplace cast a crimson glow on the door, and Shen Yuxiu's shadow was etched on the orange-white curtains, tall and lonely.
Song Ning's eyes were sore and bloodshot, probably because she had cried so much last night that she couldn't cry anymore today.
She felt completely empty inside, not wanting to do anything, see anyone, or say anything.
"Just these two days, let her have a couple more days to recover." Song Ning silently promised that figure as she looked at his retreating back.
Just as Song Ning promised, at midnight on her birthday, a crack appeared in the door of Song Ning's room.
When Shen Yuxiu entered, Song Ning had already washed and dressed. Although she looked weak and haggard, she showed no signs of sadness or grief.
As soon as Shen Yuxiu entered the room, Song Ning wrapped her arms around his open cashmere coat and hugged his waist tightly.
Her face was pressed against Shen Yuxiu's chest. His heartbeat was rhythmic on her face. His coat was cold, but his embrace was warm. He was like a mountain she could always rely on, firm and strong, making her feel at ease.
"Happy 20th birthday." Shen Yuxiu put one hand on Song Ning's back and the other on the back of her head, silently pulling at the corners of his lips and curving into a faint smile.
His smile was pale and weak, whether from poor complexion or from a forced smile, but fortunately, Song Ning didn't see it from that angle.
The two embraced quietly, as if cherishing the last moments of peace, as if their time together was both long and fleeting.
The rumbling stomach, however, was ultimately disappointed and began to protest.
Song Ning released Shen Yuxiu and calmly raised her eyes: "I'm hungry, go get something to eat."
"Will I cook you noodles?" Shen Yuxiu stroked the corner of her eye.
She had faint dark circles around her eyes, and her eyelids were slightly puffy, which added a touch of pitiful yet aloof stubbornness to her three-dimensional and delicate features.
“I’ll go with you and cook two portions,” Song Ning said.
Cooking the noodles didn't take much effort; it only took about 10 minutes to cook two bowls.
Shen Yuxiu warmed up a glass of milk and placed it next to Song Ning: "After you finish eating, I'll take you to see the gifts."
Song Ning hummed in agreement and began stirring the contents of her bowl with her chopsticks.
When she saw two fried eggs hidden in the bowl, she frowned slightly, but said nothing and continued eating her noodles.
“Even if you don’t eat birthday cake, you still have to eat two eggs.” Shen Yuxiu noticed the subtle expression and chuckled softly.
“I didn’t say anything,” Song Ning muttered.
The meal was simple and warm, and the two pretended that nothing had changed, but they both knew that the other had something on their mind.
After dinner and tidying up, Shen Yuxiu took the car keys and drove Song Ning to his place.
At around 2 a.m., there were still many people and cars on the road. Song Ning rested her chin on her hand on the car window, watching the car drive from the brightly lit CBD area to the quiet, sleeping residential area.
These past two days, Yanjing has been overcast, and the ground still retains the dampness from the snow, half-dry and half-wet, with a penetrating chill. The night wind makes people feel stiff and cold, but it also inexplicably makes people feel comfortable.
Shen Yuxiu's car window was closed. He rested his left hand lightly on the edge of the car while his right hand steered the wheel. He drove slowly and steadily, as if he were deliberately taking Song Ning for a ride.
"Aren't you going to ask me what the gift is?"
Song Ning turned around, resting her hand on her chin, her fingers tracing the necklace around her neck: "If everyone knew about the gift beforehand like you, there would be no surprise."
Besides, he had already given the best gift. Song Ning thought to himself.
Shen Yuxiu glanced at the spot where her hand had stopped and smiled faintly.
Upon arriving at the residential complex, the car drove straight into the underground parking garage. Song Ning disliked the stuffy smell of the garage, so she closed the car window.
As the car approached Shen Yu's repair bay, she suddenly seemed to guess what her gift was, her eyes lighting up, yet also showing some uncertainty.
The next parking space was occupied by a motorcycle covered by a black cover. Although the specific model was not clear, it was large and had a rugged outline, like a wild bull ready to pounce.
This parking space used to be empty. I heard it belonged to an old professor, but he didn't live here. The house was empty, so the parking space was never used. But today there was an extra car. With just one glance, Song Ning had a premonition that it was a gift for her.
Shen Yuxiu seemed oblivious to her expression, his well-defined knuckles swirling around the steering wheel as he calmly reversed the car into the parking space.
After the car came to a stop, Shen Yuxiu, with a slight smile on his face, pointed his chin at the motorcycle and said, "Aren't you going to check on your gift?"
"Are you sure you want to give me this?" There was a hint of excitement in his voice.
Even though the joy of receiving this gift couldn't compare to the day she received the necklace, Song Ning still felt genuinely happy.
"Didn't you complain that the car at home looked like an old man's? This one should be better than that one." Shen Yuxiu unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door and got out of the car, casually resting his hand on the door, and added, "Safety first, everything else is up to you."
Song Ning got off the car right away and strode towards the motorcycle.
She grabbed a corner of the car cover, raised her arm, and swiftly lifted the cover off.
The cover is removed, revealing the robust steel tube frame and the jet-black metal body, which, combined with sharp and smooth lines, exudes a powerful and beautiful aesthetic.
This is not just a little better than the one at home, which was bought several years ago and is far inferior to this one in terms of both materials and performance.
The money spent on this motorcycle is almost as much as the Audi A6 that Shen Yuxiu bought.
They even got the license plates.
Song Ning couldn't wait to unbutton her long down jacket, thankful that she was wearing tight jeans underneath. She easily straddled the motorcycle with her long legs and turned to look at Shen Yuxiu: "The key."
"No rush, get some rest today. After you're rested, I'll take you out to play," Shen Yuxiu chuckled.
He had initially thought he couldn't give the gift on her birthday and was a little disappointed, but now, seeing Song Ning's bright eyes, Shen Yuxiu felt a surge of joy.
Song Ning pursed her lips, clearly displeased.
Helpless, Shen Yuxiu walked to the car, tucked her stray hairs behind her ears, and said gently with a hint of coaxing, "I haven't slept for two days. Come upstairs with me and get some sleep?"
“Shen Yuxiu,” Song Ning suddenly called out to him seriously.
"Um?"
"Go upstairs to sleep." Although she was disappointed, she really didn't want to leave.
Song Ning knew very well that Shen Yuxiu had been using a self-inflicted injury ruse these past two days, but what could she do even if she knew?
In this kind of situation, it's a matter of mutual consent; they give each other enough confidence to act arrogantly and domineeringly in front of the other.
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