The temperature inside the car was higher than outside. Chang Xuyu sat silently in the passenger seat. Perhaps feeling warmer, she suddenly sniffled.
Yi Zhuo backed the car out and parked by the roadside, handing her a box of tissues.
“You didn’t dress properly while I was away?” He glanced at her thin dress and sweater, frowned, and draped a prepared blanket over her legs. “If you catch a cold, you’ll have to take medicine. Don’t you find it bitter?”
Chang Xuyu hated taking medicine, especially Chinese herbal granules. The bitterness clung to her tongue, and a single packet could bring tears to her eyes.
She tried to retort, “I’m not cold...”
Yi Zhuo gripped the steering wheel with one hand, his face dark as a storm cloud. He didn’t respond, and she could sense he was angry.
Chang Xuyu fell silent, slowly wiping her nose, then tentatively said in a muffled voice, “Thank you.”
The car carried a faint scent of white sandalwood, from the perfume she had bought and given him some time ago. She didn’t know much about such things, but she had done a lot of research—it had taken some effort...
Looking at the large bouquet of roses in her arms, their petals vibrant and a light fragrance in the air, she slowly bit her lip.
He liked to surprise her with gifts from time to time. Throughout their marriage, she had to admit Yi Zhuo put in more effort than she did.
After all, aside from that bottle of perfume, she had never given him anything else.
“I really like this bouquet.”
She let out a breath and said softly.
Yi Zhuo paused in his grip on the steering wheel but said nothing.
Chang Xuyu secretly glanced at him in the rearview mirror. The man’s expression was gloomy, his eyes seemingly shrouded in an impenetrable mist.
She pulled back, biting her lower lip, wondering what she had done to displease him again.
When she was nervous, she habitually bit her nails, a habit she had never broken over the years. As a result, her nails were thin and short, and she never wore nail polish.
Seeing her about to put her fingers in her mouth again, Yi Zhuo clicked his tongue in displeasure. He pulled the car over again and reached out to catch her hand.
Frowning, he scolded her in a deep voice like an elder, “Don’t bite your nails.”
Why was she still acting like a child?
With one hand firmly held by him, Chang Xuyu was stunned for a moment.
Looking down at her bare nails, her ears turned bright red in an instant.
“I’m sorry...”
She bit her lower lip and admitted fault.
Yi Zhuo rested his forehead on his hand. Seeing Chang Xuyu bury her head in her hair and fidget with her fingers, he was exasperated into a laugh.
He understood now. After all these years, the girl hadn’t grown much in terms of worldly wisdom. Besides her poor memory, her temperament was still both stubborn and soft.
She could always easily affect his emotions.
“Are you always going to be this polite with me?” he suddenly asked.
“Huh?”
Chang Xuyu turned around in confusion, only to see the man’s gloomy face masking a suppressed sense of loss.
So that’s what he was angry about.
“I just feel it’s not good to trouble you,” she said, biting her lip. “After all, we’re about to get di—”
Before she could finish, she immediately fell silent, feeling the cold emanating from him from the inside out.
Anger surged like an unstoppable tide, crashing against the shore.
Yi Zhuo let out a derisive laugh, his narrow eyes full of chill. He changed lanes and floored the accelerator—
At first, she didn’t know what he was doing. But as his speed increased and she saw the small trees rapidly flashing by, Chang Xuyu was scared into tears.
“Please stop! I’m very scared.”
Her voice trembled at the end. Half-closing her eyes, she dared not look ahead and could only turn around to beg him.
The man’s reason was finally awakened by her crying.
A teardrop fell on the back of his hand, scorching hot.
Seeing her pitiful state, Yi Zhuo felt a pang of regret. His mind went blank for a moment, and he was at a loss.
He had been too sensitive about those two words. The nonstop work had numbed his nerves, allowing him to temporarily delete thoughts of divorce from his memory. But he had overestimated himself. Whenever he thought about “divorce,” he couldn’t help the restlessness inside.
Yi Zhuo stopped the car and reached out to wipe the remaining tears from the corners of Chang Xuyu’s eyes.
He normally didn’t smoke, but these past few days, only cigarettes could calm him down.
In front of Chang Xuyu, he couldn’t smoke. Hearing what she had just said, he couldn’t control that depressive mood.
She was still crying, not yet recovered from the panic, and didn’t want him to touch her.
The man’s hand hung in the air.
He closed his eyes and admitted his mistake hoarsely, “I’m sorry.”
At first, he thought he could restrain himself, finding ways to keep her by his side. But unexpectedly, he had only brought her pain.
Maybe from the beginning, he shouldn’t have stepped into her life.