Xu Jiamu felt a dull pain creep into his heart. His footsteps gradually stopped for a moment, then slowly he walked in front of Song Xiangsi.
When she heard something, she lifted her head to reveal her puzzled, and swollen from crying, eyes. She wondered how Xu Jiamu could of possibly found her.
He didn't say a word, but reached his arm out and grabbed her hand. He dragged her hard up from the ground and into his arm, and embraced her deeply, whispering, "Go on, cry."
As he said this, he hugged her tighter. "If you want to cry in my arms, I'm here for you."
Song Xiangsi had been crying on her own for two hours. Her tears were long dried out, but after she heard Xu Jiamu's words whilst in his arms, the rims of her eyes grew wet again. Her tears fell like strings of pearls, and never stopped like an ever-flowing river. In the end, she finally cried out loud.
The pouring rain grew heavier, and the sound of the wind, rain, thunder, and Song Xiangsi's cries could be heard by all.
From start to end, Xu Jiamu didn't say anything unnecessary, but chose to quietly hug her.
He remembered that years back, that night when his mother passed away, she also quietly stayed by his side.
That night, her presence eased his pained heart quite a bit.
Now, it was his turn to be there for her.
After a long while, Song Xiangsi stopped crying. Xu Jiamu wasn't in a hurry to pull her out of his embrace, so he stayed there, nestling her quietly for over ten whole minutes. Then, he gently lowered his head and raised his hands to wipe the tears from her face. He held her hands in silence, and walked out of the forest.
The usual arrogant queen, Song Xiangsi, was as obedient as ever. Without being obstinate or struggling, she let Xu Jiamu bring her along. She blindly followed behind him.
Back home, Xu Jiamu ran some hot water for Song Xiangsi to take a shower, then went over to the kitchen to cook some ginger soup.
Song Xiangsi, who hadn't eaten for a whole day, softly slurped it without fighting back
She soon finished her ginger soup, and then Xu Jiamu asked, "Do you want to eat something?"
She gave a light nod.
Xu Jiamu immediately smiled. "What do you want to eat?"
"Sweet and sour fish..." When Song Xiangsi said this, she contemplated it for a while and wanted to change her mind, but Xu Jiamu immediately nodded like he'd heard the peaceful sound of nature and said, "Alright, I'll cook it for you."
Song Xiangsi sat in the living room, and stared at Xu Jiamu in a trance, as he rushed back and forth in his rain soaked clothes.
Xu Jiamu quickly served the sweet and sour fish, and handed her a pair of chopsticks and bowl. Every now and then, he warned her to be careful of fish bones.
From start to finish, Song Xiangsi silently ate the fish with her head down. When he picked up his chopsticks and picked out the fish bones from her bowl, she finally looked up at him and said, "Go take a shower."
"Alright." Xu Jiamu gave a nod, stared at Song Xiangsi sitting in front of him for a moment as she ate her fish, then, got up and walked into the bathroom.
When Xu Jiamu came out of the shower, Song Xiangsi wasn't in the living room anymore. There was still over half a fish on the table and a pair of chopsticks thrown awry.