By the ti he got ho it was nearing 2 am, and Auntie Lin surprisingly hadn’t slept yet, dressed in her clothes just coming down the stairs. When she saw Shinian, she froze for a mont before a look of utter joy spread across her face, and she hurried down:
"Mr. Fu, you’re finally back."
Shinian responded softly, "It’s so late. Auntie Lin, you haven’t slept yet?"
"How could I sleep?" Auntie Lin sighed. "Every half an hour I have to check on Mrs. Fu. If it weren’t for her objection, I would have moved into the master bedroom to look after her. You haven’t seen how Mrs. Fu looks; it’s heartbreaking."
Shinian slightly hooked the corner of his lips:
"How is she?"
"I just checked, she might be asleep. It’s almost the fourth day now, even an ironclad body can’t hold up forever, but she still hasn’t eaten, and she has lost a lot of weight."
"Mm," Shinian acknowledged softly, "Go get so rest, nothing will happen tonight."
Auntie Lin responded, yet she was still not quite reassured, not leaving imdiately, but instead looked worriedly at Shinian, unsure whether to say what she thought next. Sensing Auntie Lin’s concern, Shinian gave a slight smile:
"Speak your mind, you’re family here, there’s nothing you can’t say to ."
"When you go up, have a good talk with Mrs. Fu. I think she really can’t handle any more troubles ntally. In the kitchen, I have so always-hot clear porridge and so tasty pickles ready. If Mrs. Fu feels like eating, just give a call, and I’ll bring the food up right away." After saying this, Auntie Lin still looked a bit worried:
"I don’t know how many days it’s been since Mrs. Fu ate. I’m not sure if she can eat these now; it’s quite late, perhaps we should call a doctor."
Shinian smiled faintly:
"Go to sleep. I’ll call you if anything happens."
"Ah!"
Auntie Lin responded with concern and finally turned to leave, but her pace was very slow, so slow that Shinian had already disappeared around the corner on the second floor, yet she nearly remained standing in place. Yet looking towards the direction of the second floor, she really didn’t know what else she could do. She sighed deeply and went back to her room, not closing the door, thinking if sothing happened later, she would be the first to hear it and intervene.
In front of the master bedroom on the second floor, Shinian stared at the doorknob for a long ti before gently gripping it and turning it.
The master bedroom was dimly lit, just a bedside wall lamp on, casting a warm yellow light downward, enveloping the person huddled on the bed like a mother’s arm protecting her, but it didn’t offer much solace; she still looked extrely uneasy, furrowing her brows.
Shinian stepped closer, making his footsteps very soft, almost inaudible, feeling it was good that Su Mu could rest peacefully now; he didn’t need to disturb her. However, just as he stood at her bedside, her eyes suddenly snapped open, staring intensely at him, as if she had known all along that he would appear in the room.
At first, Shinian thought she was pretending to be asleep, but gradually, as her eyes filled with confusion and disbelief, Shinian felt she had just instinctively opened her eyes, like she was startled awake from a nightmare.
But she eventually woke up.
At that mont, Fu Shinian looked at her and knew that Qiao Yu and Auntie Lin hadn’t lied. She indeed looked so haggard that he could barely recognize her. Usually, her skin was so delicate it seed it could break at a re touch, but now it had lost its luster. The dark circles under her eyes were so severe that he could hardly bear to look directly at them. Her chin seed even more pointed, and her already delicate and sexy collarbone now had a hint of boniness. Yet, Fu Shinian didn’t find her appealing to his eyes.
He still liked the way Su Mu used to look.
It took Su Mu nearly a minute to confirm that the person standing before her was really alive and not just a hallucination. She tried to prop herself up, but the mont she lifted her head, she felt so dizzy that she couldn’t hold herself up and fell back onto the pillow. Fu Shinian wanted to step forward to help, but he stopped his hand halfway and pulled it back.
In the end, he just said lightly:
"Just lie down."
After he spoke, he pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed, looking at Su Mu. For a mont, he felt the urge to smoke, but seeing Su Mu’s condition, he thought she wouldn’t like to sll the tobacco at this ti. So he refrained and fixed his gaze on her face:
"I heard you wanted to see ."
Su Mu knew her body was on the verge of collapse. Any movent could make her feel weak and make her head spin, but even so, she struggled to sit up and leaned against the headboard. At that mont, her breathing was feeble.
Fu Shinian watched her take a long ti to stabilize before she slowly opened her eyes, her face seeming even paler.
As he had not yet heard Su Mu’s voice at this mont, when she finally spoke, he almost instinctively looked up to make sure that the raspy, unpleasant voice really ca from the woman before him. He heard her say:
"I won’t have children at this ti."
What Su Mu actually wanted to say was, "I won’t have children for you." But she couldn’t bring herself to be truly harsh with Fu Shinian, so she opted for a slightly more tactful phrasing. Yet, even so, she saw Fu Shinian’s expression slowly deteriorate.
He chuckled softly:
"It seems you haven’t figured things out these last few days."
"Do you plan to keep confined until I figure it out?"
"Confined?" Fu Shinian chuckled lightly, looking at Su Mu, "Mrs. Fu, this conversation puzzles . You’re at your own ho. Nothing has been reduced in terms of food, drinks, and living expenses. Whatever you want, just tell Auntie Lin, and she will take care of it. This is a life many people dream of, yet you say I am confining you?"
After saying this, Fu Shinian felt a bit regretful. He hadn’t co back to Bishui Yuntian to argue with Su Mu. He truly wanted to have a good talk with her, to have her eat sothing and stop joking with her health. But hearing her uncharacteristically assertive tone, his own indifference sohow erged, unstoppable.
Su Mu showed no surprise at Fu Shinian’s words, as if it was only fitting for him to say such things. She looked at him:
"Have you ever seen as a person? In your eyes, am I your wife, or just a tool for having children? Why must I obey when you want to have children, and why do you restrict my freedom this way when I don’t? What right do you have to do this?"
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