Liang Ying buried her face in his embrace.

She actually regretted it now, regretted that she hadn’t smiled more at Wenqi just now, at least, at least praised him, he really looked good today.

***

Even though Liang Ying had this thought, Wenqi didn’t come every day.

Since their meeting that day, he hadn’t come for two days.

That day, Liang Ying received an invitation, delivered by Zhou Huailin’s cousin, Zhou Qingzhi.  She and Huailin’s cousin had a good relationship when she was at the Zhou residence.

Later, she married into the capital, and they exchanged letters a few times, but it had been some time since they had seen each other. So Liang Ying agreed after a moment’s thought, but instructed the servants to find her if the crown prince came.

For safety reasons, the crown prince’s itinerary wouldn’t be announced too far in advance. This was also why Liang Ying had been waiting at home these days.

However, she also really wanted to see Qingzhi.

***

Actually, before that, after Liang Ying arrived at the Zhou residence for half a year, she hadn’t seen anyone from the Zhou family. It wasn’t that the Zhou family didn’t want to see her, but that she didn’t want to see them.

At that time, although she had escaped from the capital, she couldn’t escape her zombie-like state of mind. After arriving at the Zhou residence, she stayed in her room all day, seeing no one.

Thinking about it now, she said she treated Zhou Huailin as a lifeline, but she didn’t actually treat him as such. On the contrary, because she wasn’t in the capital anymore and didn’t need to pretend, Liang Ying even more self-destructively refused to communicate with others.

As someone who was ready to give up her life at any time, she wouldn’t think about whether Zhou Huailin, as her fiancé, could tolerate this.

But the fact was that Zhou Huailin did tolerate everything.

No matter how Liang Ying reversed her day and night, when she woke up and got up, the man would always appear beside her as if out of nowhere, patiently asking her, “Are you hungry?”

“There are still noodles left in the kitchen tonight, do you want to eat some?”

“What about steamed buns?”

“What about baozi?”

“There’s also steamed fish.”

He tirelessly asked one by one, instead of simply asking “What do you want to eat,” so that Liang Ying, who couldn’t speak, could answer by nodding or shaking her head.

Finally, when he mentioned porridge, Liang Ying, wrapped in a quilt and sitting on the bed, nodded slightly.

Perhaps her movements were too small, so the man confirmed again, “Porridge then?”

Liang Ying looked over, it was the first time she had seriously looked at Zhou Huailin. The man had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and his straight nose made his gaze profound, but his overly sharp eyes and cold temperament made him look fierce and unapproachable.

But at this moment, on the face of someone who looked so fierce, Liang Ying saw a trace of nervousness.

He seemed to think she was unhappy.

“Porridge then,” the man said, getting up abruptly before she could react, “I’ll have someone bring it over.”

Liang Ying lowered her gaze again.

While she was drinking porridge, Zhou Huailin was sitting at a distance. They hadn’t officially gotten married yet, so they should have observed the rules of propriety between men and women.

But Liang Ying didn’t care, and neither did Zhou Huailin.

It was when Liang Ying was halfway through her porridge that she finally, as if bestowing a great kindness, thought, Zhou Huailin took me, a woman with an unclear status, into his home as his fiancée, I wonder what his family’s reaction is?

So she glanced at the man not far away.

The other party sat very upright, his back straight, and almost as soon as she looked over, he spoke, “Don’t you like it?”

The low voice wasn’t the obvious tone of concern, but rather very serious, yet one could detect the tension in it.

Liang Ying withdrew her gaze without answering.

She took another sip of porridge, and the man not far away relaxed slightly because of her action.

Liang Ying didn’t think about that question anymore.

At that time, her thoughts were simple: if she could live another day, she would live. If she couldn’t, then she would simply die.

She wasn’t afraid of death.

Zhou Huailin was like someone prolonging her life, making her feel that at this moment, she could still live, as if… she hadn’t reached the point of inevitable death.

Two months after arriving at the Zhou residence, Liang Ying finally left her room.

It wasn’t Zhou Huailin who persuaded her. Zhou Huailin never persuaded her to come out or to meet people, as if he had no opinion even if she stayed in her room for the rest of her life.

It was Liang Ying herself who wanted to go out.

She hadn’t seen the blue sky for too long.

Liang Ying didn’t actually know how long she had been away from the capital, only knowing that when she arrived, the snow was thick, and when she went out again, the garden was faintly visible with greenery.

Even though she didn’t say anything, Zhou Huailin had cleared the garden before she went out.

Along the way, except for the servants who usually took care of her, Liang Ying didn’t see any other unfamiliar faces.

The Zhou family was a wealthy family in the local area, with a large garden, very different from the scenery of the capital. But Liang Ying didn’t have the mood to appreciate it. She walked aimlessly for a while, until her legs felt uncomfortable, and then she stopped.

Almost as soon as she stopped, Zhou Huailin, who had been silently following her two steps behind, walked to the side.

Liang Ying looked sideways and saw him bending down, spreading the cloak in his hand on the long chair by the pavilion. When he stood up, his broad palm patted the place neatly, then looked at her.

Without words, Liang Ying understood his meaning.

She didn’t act coy and sat down. Zhou Huailin sat not far away.

Liang Ying was already used to this man’s silent company. Except when necessary, he spoke very little, so little that sometimes Liang Ying felt that between the two of them, he was more like the mute one.

However, Liang Ying was grateful for his silence, which allowed her not to have to expend any energy to cope.