Ye Qingliu put away the medicine box, walked to his sister, and pressed her head with his big hand in a very natural and soothing manner.
"It's okay." His voice was low and gentle, speaking only to her, "Go play upstairs."
Hua Jinyue looked at her brother's calm face, then at the suffocating atmosphere, and finally nodded with tears in her eyes, and slowly moved up the stairs, looking back every few steps.
Ye Qingliu's gaze returned to the two people in the restaurant. Mu Xinrong leaned against the table, her body trembling slightly from suppressed sobbing; Chao Youye huddled in the corner, her head buried in her knees, a cold, dead silence emanating from her body.
The immense sadness and helplessness hung heavy over the villa like a thick dark cloud.
The hope of reconciliation seems slimmer than the ice and snow outside the window.
Time passed slowly in the heavy silence. The morning light outside the window gradually brightened, shining through the huge French windows, casting clear spots of light on the floor.
Mu Xinrong still leaned against the table, his hands hanging limply at his sides, tears still stained his face, his eyes red and swollen. After the initial collapse and helplessness passed, only a huge, empty exhaustion and confusion remained.
He looked at the huddled figure in the corner, at the slightly trembling, thin and fragile shoulders, and his heart felt like it was being kneaded repeatedly by a cold hand, numb with pain.
He understood.
He couldn't get any closer.
Every time he got closer, Chao Youye only felt deeper pain and fear.
The hoarse "Don't touch me" and the deep pain and pleading in the eyes were engraved in his soul like a brand.
Maybe... Ye Qingliu was right. Stepping back and keeping his distance was the only thing he could do for Chao Youye now, even if this distance cut his heart like a knife.
He took a deep breath, the cold air stinging his lungs. He forced himself to stand up straight, no longer looking at the corner, but at the snowy scene outside the window.
His voice was hoarse and dry, with a strong nasal tone, but he tried hard to maintain his composure: "Qingliu... I... I'll go back first."
He paused and added with difficulty, "He... troubles you."
After saying this, he didn't stop, dragging his heavy feet, stumbling towards the entrance as if fleeing. His back was desolate and desperate, and every step felt like stepping on thorns.
Ye Qingliu looked at Mu Xinrong's departing back, his gray-blue eyes still deep, without any hesitation.
It was not until he heard the slight click of the door closing at the entrance that he slowly withdrew his gaze and returned to the corner.
Chao Youye still maintained that curled-up posture, with his head buried deeply in his knees, as if Mu Xinrong's departure had nothing to do with him.
But Ye Qingliu keenly noticed that the moment Mu Xinrong said "I'll go back first", Chao Youye's hunched shoulders seemed to tremble extremely slightly, almost imperceptibly...
It was an extremely subtle tension and... loss that even Chao Youye herself might not have noticed?
Ye Qingliu's eyes flickered slightly behind his glasses. He said nothing, simply walked over to Chao Youye and squatted down. His movements were natural and smooth, without any deliberate effort, and carried a sense of natural calm.
He did not try to touch Chao Youye, but just took the half-eaten strawberry cake that Hua Jinyue had left on the bedside table, brought it over, and gently placed it on the floor in front of Chao Youye's curled up knees.
The bright strawberries and snow-white cream appear particularly striking against the backdrop of the cold floor, yet they carry a hint of stubborn warmth and vitality.
"She left it specially for you." Ye Qingliu's voice was steady, as if he was stating an objective fact, but he subtly conveyed Hua Jinyue's feelings.
There was no reaction from Chao Youye's body, and it remained dead silent.
Ye Qingliu said no more. He stood up and walked to the French window of the restaurant. With his back to Chao Youye, he looked out at the snow-covered courtyard.
The sun is shining brightly, dancing on the white snow and reflecting dazzling light.
The huddled figure in the corner finally moved ever so slightly. Its head, buried deep in its knees, slowly and insignificantly rose.
The morning light outlined Chao Youye's pale profile, with tear marks on her cheeks and wet black hair stuck to her forehead.
The pair of violet eyes stared blankly ahead, no longer filled with the intense pain and fear they had just felt when facing Mu Xinrong. Instead, there remained a deep sense of fatigue and numbness, as if everything had been drained away.
Like a lake that has been completely stirred up and then returned to a dead silence, it has lost all its light.
His eyes fell unfocused on the cold floor tiles in front of him for a long time, and then moved downwards very slowly, bit by bit, and finally landed on the plate of bright strawberry cake in front of his knees.
The sweet aroma stubbornly penetrated into my nostrils.
Bright red, dazzling and... warm.
Hua Jinyue...that little sun-like girl...she had left it specially for him...
An extremely faint, almost imperceptible sour taste rushed into his nasal cavity without warning, irritating his dry eyes.
He bit his lower lip hard, trying to suppress this inappropriate weakness.
However, the body's instincts seemed to react before the confused consciousness.
The hand without the IV drip had already reached out to the plate of cake extremely slowly and with uncontrollable trembling before its owner could fully comprehend his thoughts.
Just when his fingertips were about to touch the bright red strawberry——
“Drip—drip—drip—”
The portable ECG monitor on the bedside table suddenly emitted a sharp and rapid alarm! The relatively stable green lines on the screen suddenly became wild, like an out-of-control wave!
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