Because it was late, Song Xiangsi didn't reply Qiao Anhao's WeChat message. She grabbed her phone and climbed out of bed, then put on a cardigan and walked out of the bedroom to find Xu Jiamu standing on the balcony alone, smoking as he stared out the window.
She didn't know how long he'd stood there or how much he smoked, but the smoke from the balcony traveled though the house, making it a little suffocating.
She turned the vent on, then slowly walked over to him.
With a cigarette in one hand, Xu Jiamu lowered his head as he looked transfixed at his phone. He didn't even notice when Song Xiangsi walked over next to him.
Lu Jinnian's voice came from his phone, and she could tell that it was from his interview yesterday afternoon.
In the cold, zero degrees temperature on the balcony, Xu Jiamu wore just a thin set of pajamas. Song Xiangsi turned back to the bedroom, grabbed a blanket, and went back to cover him.
Xu Jiamu turned his head and glanced at her, then exited the video. He took another drag of his cigarette and asked, "You're awake?"
Song Xiangsi looked at the smoke surrounding him, and furrowed her brows. She wanted to ask why he smoked so much, but in the end, she stopped herself. She knew that he had been in a bad mood these days. She also knew that he was hesitating about something. On one side, it was his older brother and best friend, but on the other side was his own mother. It certainly was a little difficult to choose.
Throughout history, the names of those who punished their own family for justice have long been remembered throughout the ages. But who actually knew just how much pain and struggle they had to endure when they betrayed their relatives. To them, songs of praise exposed the scary times again and again.
Song Xiangsi blinked, and replied, "I saw that you weren't there when I got up to go to the toilet, so I came out here."
After a pause, she spoke again. "It's such a cold night, why aren't you wearing more clothes? What will you do if you catch a cold?"
Before Xu Jiamu got into a car accident and before she broke it off with him, Song Xiangsi was an arrogant queen. But in front of him, she was always sensible and gentle.
Perhaps it was because she was obedient, he stayed with her for seven years and never thought to leave.
Now, she used the same caring and gentle look as she spoke to him, leaving him a little startled... even a little dazed.
Song Xiangsi felt a little uncomfortable under Xu Jiamu's gaze, so she turned away. Her fingers unintentionally touched the phone in her pocket. Then, as though she'd remembered something, she pulled it out and clicked open Qiao Anhao's WeChat message. She showed it to Xu Jiamu. "You brother and Qiao Qiao are getting ready to leave the country."
"Leave the country?" asked Xu Jiamu curiously. He lowered his head and carefully looked at Qiao Anhao's message again. His expression instantly turned pale.
Did she mean that they were emigrating?
Did that mean they would never come back?
His mother pushed them so far that in the end they were left with the lone option to leave their home?
"I believe it's because of the baby. I guess they don't want their child to have to face all the rumors as soon as he's born."
Xu Jiamu didn't answer, but slowly turned his head to stare out towards the night view in silence.
Song Xiangsi didn't disturb him. In the still of the night, she quietly kept him company.