It was a hot summer night, cicadas were chirping outside the window, the hot wind blew the curtains open and close, the air was thick and stuffy...
Song Shu felt cold all over.
When Song Chengjun mentioned her, he showed annoyance in his eyes and words, interspersed with his doting and intimacy towards Song Ruyu. Those messy images and sounds collided and shattered in her head.
She was so cold that she couldn't help shivering.
Until the boy hugged her from behind.
He took her away from that lonely snowy place.
Song Shu was still biting his wrist, venting his emotions clumsily under his guidance.
And the boy laughed at her.
"Didn't you eat, doll? Can you use some strength?"
"… "
"Or is your hatred for your rubbish father so light?"
"… "
Song Shu bit down harder.
The fishy-sweet blood flowed into her mouth, and the boy holding her gasped softly in pain. Then she heard a more unbridled laugh in his voice.
"That's right, doll. The more it hurts, the harder it is to forget."
"… "
"It doesn't matter how long you wait. I'll wait with you. When the time comes—" The young man laughed hoarsely, darkly, "We'll make them cry too. When they cry, we'll laugh, the louder the better."
"… "
Song Shu thought that what the adults said was right. Qin Lou was indeed a dangerous lunatic, and he had a heart full of festering sores and scars.
But he was the only madman who gave her warmth and hugs.
It doesn't matter what he is.
…
The consequences of venting your emotions are somewhat tragic.
Song Shu had calmed down by the time he followed Qin Lou to the servants' room to find medicine and gauze for bandaging, and then he felt the emotion of "guilt" for the first time in his life.
Walking along the dark patterned carpet in the corridor, the young man's thin back was visible, with the sleeve of his left hand hanging by his side rolled up to his elbow, revealing skin that looked as white as glazed porcelain in the light.
Two teeth marks were left on the wrist, very eye-catching. Under the soft light of the corridor, dark red blood dripped from the fingertips onto the carpet.
The servant on duty in the servant's room was startled.
How much Qin Liang cherished this grandson of the Qin family was evident from Qin Lou's completely unrestrained behavior. If Qin Liang thought that it was their negligence or mistake that caused Qin Lou's injury...
The servant looked like he was about to cry as he pulled out a medical box filled with medicine and gauze. "Master, how did you do this?"
Qin Lou stretched out his hand to cover his wound, blocking the servant's gaze.
Out of the servants' sight, he grinned at the expressionless girl and said nonchalantly, "I was just breaking two vases for fun and accidentally scratched them."
The servant choked: "..." Do you think this is human language
The servant found some diluted alcohol and was about to wash his hands and bandage Qin Lou's wound, but was stopped.
"No need for you," Qin Lou smiled, turned around, and stared at the girl behind him with his dark eyes, "Someone help me."
The servant only now noticed Song Shu, who was previously hidden by Qin Lou's figure. He hesitated, "Is it because you don't know how to do it?"
"Can you?" Qin Lou asked.
Song Shu looked at the gauze and shook his head.
The servant breathed a sigh of relief and was about to step forward when Qin Lou snatched the medicine box from his hand and forced it into the girl in front of him, "Then learn it."
"… "
"As my 'doll', how could you not know such a thing?"
"… "
After the two of them left, the servant shook his head and sighed: Fortunately, the little girl has a good temper. If she were someone with a bad temper, she would have splashed the purple medicine on their young master's face.
The place to apply the medicine is in Song Shu's room.
After some effort, Song Shu wrapped Qin Lou's left wrist with a bandage, and then tied a somewhat ugly... bow.
Qin Lou raised an eyebrow at the bow.
"Are you taking revenge on me?"
Song Shu stared at the indeed ugly bow expressionlessly, and there was a rare hint of serious thinking in his eyes.
The room was quiet for a few seconds, and when Qin Lou didn't expect to get a response, he heard the girl's slightly hoarse voice.
"I only know this one."
"… "
Qin Lou suddenly turned back to look at the girl, his eyes dark. After staring at her for a few seconds, the corners of his mouth curled up.
Apart from those single-byte and double-byte words, this was the second sentence he heard Song Shu say.
Only to him.
Qin Lou suddenly found himself wanting to hear more - the more the better.
But it is very difficult to pry open this small clam shell.
The firework-like emotions in Qin Lou's eyes became uncertain.
He thought about it and felt that there was still a lot of time left, so he suppressed the flames in his heart.
"I'm going back. If anyone bullies you, come find me on the third floor. No one else can play with my toys."
Song Shu looked up at him.
Although the girl didn't say anything or shake her head, and her eyes were still empty, Qin Lou could read rejection from her blank eyes.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, "Any questions?"
Song Shu stood there and thought for a while, then turned around, walked to the bedside, and rummaged through his backpack.
Qin Lou leaned against the wall and waited patiently.
After a few seconds, the girl walked back to him.
She held a messy sixth-order Rubik's Cube in front of him.
Qin Lou was stunned, then laughed, his eyes dark. "Doll, are you asking me to restore the Rubik's Cube for you?"
If it was Song Ruyu or any other child, they would probably cry again. However, Song Shu raised his expressionless face and nodded.
The Rubik's Cube moved forward again.
Qin Lou's eyes turned fierce, his smile disappeared, and his voice became lower, "Did I give you face?"
Song Shu was silent.
Then she slowly lowered her hands. Not depressed, not upset, not sad - still very quiet.
Qin Lou felt an unknown fire burning in his heart, creating countless holes, and then bursting out from inside, making him feel hot and angry all over.
Song Shu turned around and was about to put the Rubik's Cube back when he suddenly felt his hands were empty.
She looked back blankly.
The frowning boy had an extremely fierce look in his eyes. He glared at her and then lowered his head. He didn't care about his injured hand. He examined the Rubik's Cube and then turned it quickly.
People with beautiful hands make everything they do look like a painting.
Song Shu watched quietly and fascinatedly for a while. She didn't know how much time had passed when her own hand was suddenly pulled forward.
With a "click", the Rubik's Cube was rudely slapped into the palm of her hand.
“… I gave you face.”
After the young man finished speaking, he looked at her gloomily with an unfriendly look.
Then he turned and walked away.
Song Shu stood there for a while.
Then she raised her hand, held the Rubik's Cube in front of her, and looked at it side by side.
A few seconds later.
The girl's mouth suddenly curled up into a very light smile.
The next morning, Qin Liang miraculously found his grandson in the restaurant on the first floor. The servants and Qin Fujun and Song Chengjun's family were even more shocked.
The seating arrangement was originally the same as last night's dinner, so there was an extra set of tableware. When the servants were struggling over where to arrange it, Qin Lou had already walked in grandly.
He stopped beside Song Shu and pulled open the high-back chair with one hand. Perhaps because he was not strong enough, the chair was pulled crookedly.
Qin Lou didn't care and just sat on it.
Qin Liang was the first to come to his senses. "Why... have you changed your personality? You don't eat upstairs by yourself anymore?"
"Yeah." Qin Lou replied lazily. Then he turned sideways and glanced at the girl beside him. The girl was sitting on the tall high-backed chair, her toes almost off the ground, making her look smaller.
She didn't move, and even his entrance into the restaurant, which shocked everyone else, didn't cause her to look up once.
Tsk.
The smile on Qin Lou's face faded, and he suddenly felt a little inexplicably irritated in his heart - he was used to his mood swings, and he knew it - he was usually like this, but it seemed different this time.
As for what was different, he didn't know.
There was no reason to explain why the boy's eyes became even more violent, and the atmosphere in the restaurant was so gloomy that water could be squeezed out of it.
No one spoke.
It was not until Qin Liang noticed that Qin Lou's left wrist was wrapped like a hammer that his brows suddenly frowned.
"What happened to your hand?"
"Break the vase and scratch it."
"Vase? What vase?"
"… "
Qin Lou did not rush to speak, but raised his eyes slightly and looked across the long table with a smile.
Qin Fujun's face changed, and his hands holding the knife and fork tightened unconsciously.
The atmosphere at the table became more subtle.
After a few seconds of stalemate, Qin Lou sneered and lowered his eyes.
"I didn't like the two vases on the rest platform between the second and third floors, so I broke them."
"… Yeah?"
Qin Liang noticed something and glanced at his daughter, but ultimately said nothing and skipped the topic.
With Qin Lou there, the atmosphere in the restaurant remained dull and depressing for the entire morning. Across the long table, Qin Fujun's family of four remained silent, and Song Ruyu and Song Shuai were both silent, frightened by Qin Lou and not daring to raise their heads.
Eating breakfast was like being tortured.
Song Shu was probably the least affected one among them. After eating only a little, she put down her cutlery and looked up at Qin Liang quietly.
Qin Liang smiled and said, "Go ahead."
Song Shu got off the chair, and was pulled back halfway down. She was neither surprised nor said anything, but turned to look at Qin Lou who was holding her back.
Qin Liang also looked over, "Why are you pulling your arm?"
The restaurant suddenly became quiet.
The servants who came to serve and remove the dishes unconsciously moved lightly, stealing glances at Qin Lou with fear and taboo.
Song Ruyu, who still had the trauma of the previous day, felt even more uneasy.
However, to their surprise, Qin Lou only glanced at the plate in front of Song Shu and twitched his lips. "You only eat so little, no wonder you don't even have the strength to bite anyone."
No one at the table could understand what he was saying.
Song Shu understood.
She looked at him and blinked slowly, still expressionless.
But under this emotionless gaze, Qin Lou somehow loosened his grip. Then he watched with his own eyes as the little clam he couldn't pry open slid off the chair and left the restaurant without even looking back.
“Tsk.”
Qin Lou threw his knife and fork away in annoyance and jumped off his chair.
Qin Liang frowned, "Where are you going if you don't even have a meal?"
"Go back to your room."
"… "
Qin Liang looked thoughtfully in the direction where Qin Lou left.
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and glanced at Qin Fujun and his wife on the way.
Then Qin Liang returned his sight and spoke lightly.
"Fujun, you should restrain some of your thoughts and be more careful with your actions."
"Dad?" Qin Fujun looked up, his expression blank, but there was evasion in the depths of his eyes. "I don't understand what you mean?"
"You understand. I understand too. As for Qin Lou," Qin Liang stopped his knife and raised his eyes, "Do you think with his intelligence, he won't understand?"
"dad… "
"When he grows up, I will hand over the Qin family to him sooner or later. There will be no problem with his brain and ability, the most is his character. Don't think I don't know what kind of remarks you have deliberately instigated outside in the past few years, and don't think I will change anything because of those rumors."
"I'm sorry, Dad, I—"
"Okay, you don't have to explain anything to me, just think it over carefully. You are his aunt, and the only elder he has alive besides me. You should think carefully about what you should and shouldn't do."
After saying this, Qin Liang also stood up and left.
Qin Fujun sat at the table with an unsightly look on his face.
After the servants left, she turned to look at her husband beside her and said through gritted teeth: "Song Shu must go."
"But Dad doesn't trust us anymore."
"Then we can't let her stay in the Qin family! Since we can't ask her, let her come by herself!"
"you mean… "
Song Chengjun met Qin Fujun's gaze, and after a few seconds he nodded.
"I see. I'll try it."
After breakfast, Song Shu returned to his room.
With nothing else to do, she spread out her sketchbook, sat down at the desk and turned to a new blank page. As soon as she put the pencils of different sizes, classified by hardness, in a row, there was a knock on the door behind Song Shu.
Song Shu looked up.
The knock on the door sounded again, and it was obvious that the person outside the door was not a patient person. Or rather, he was not a patient person with her.
Song Shu got up and opened the door.
Standing outside was Song Sung-gyun.
"Xiaoshu, can I come in?" the man asked in a low voice.
Song Shu looked up at him silently.
The man smiled gently, and his expression when he lowered his head was also gentle. Just like... when he picked up Song Ruyu at the entrance before.
But it's still different.
If you are really worried, I will tell dad tomorrow that Song Shu doesn't want to live with Qin Lou and let her go to boarding school - you won't have to see her again.
In my heart, only Ruyu and Xiaoshuai are my children.
Song Shu? If it weren't for my father's respect for Bai Song, I wouldn't want to see them...
Song Shu lowered his head and silently made way for the door.
Song Chengjun walked in quickly. He seemed to be unsure of how to start the conversation with his daughter. After letting the awkward silence in the room last for more than ten seconds, he spoke: "Xiaoshu, are you getting used to the Qin family?"
Song Shu didn't say anything.
Song Chengjun frowned subconsciously, but quickly suppressed his displeasure, "I saw Qin Lou and you were very close, have you met before?"
"… "
Song Chengjun gritted his teeth and said, "Qin Lou's character is not right. It's not good for you to get too close to him. I have asked someone to arrange a boarding school for you. You can go there in a few days after you prepare yourself."
Hearing this, the girl finally responded.
She raised her head and looked at him with her expressionless little face and empty eyes.
The smile on Song Chengjun's face suddenly froze.
For some reason, it seemed that no matter what disguise he put up, it would be seen through in front of this child's emotionless eyes, and the dirty and selfish thoughts in his heart could not be hidden in front of these eyes.
He felt that this was the fundamental reason why he hated the child - she was an unpleasant little monster and it was her fault.
Song Chengjun stopped laughing.
"Xiaoshu, Daddy is talking to you, you should answer. This is the most basic courtesy. Didn't your mother teach you that?"
However, Song Shu still did not respond.
There was a warmth close to indifference in those dark and hollow eyes. She just stared at him quietly.
Song Chengjun felt like he was going crazy. Seeing that this "coaxing" would not produce any results, he decided to just go for it.
"This matter has been decided. I am your father, so you must listen to me. I will take you to see Mr. Qin later, and you just need to listen quietly like you are doing now, and don't cause any trouble for me - do you understand?"
Song Chengjun grabbed the girl's hand without saying a word, pushed open the door and dragged her to the corridor. Then he strode towards the stairs, not noticing that the girl behind him staggered several times because of his pulling.
Perhaps even if he noticed it, Song Chengjun wouldn't care.
Five minutes later, outside the same door.
"Doll--"
The last word was silenced, and the arrogant smile on the face of the young man leaning against the door suddenly stopped.
After a few seconds, he turned back, walked to the servant's room diagonally opposite, and pushed the door open.
The servant inside was startled. The moment he turned around and saw who was coming, the anger on his face automatically turned into fear: "Master, what's wrong?"
The young man standing outside the door had a fierce look in his eyes and gritted teeth in his smile.
"Where was my 'doll' taken to?"