When Wen Han returned for the weekend, Su Mu had already been living in the Glass House for three days. She appeared to be in good health, quite indistinguishable from a normal person, but Jiang Bei and Wei Shaoqin still noticed that she talked much less than usual, and her smile had beco a rare sight too. These days, her favorite activity seed to be sitting in the wicker chair in front of the glass window, lost in thought.
No one knew what she was thinking.
When Jiang Bei brought Wen Han and Wen Shaoyuan along, Wen Shaoyuan found everything about this place both curious and fresh. He looked around non-stop, his eyes barely able to take it all in. Jiang Bei glanced at Wen Shaoyuan and couldn’t help but remind him,
"Shaoyuan, your task later is to cheer up Su Mu, understand? Don’t say anything else."
Wen Shaoyuan nodded:
"You can count on , I’m a little charr after all."
Jiang Bei: "When did you beco so shaless? Who calls themselves a little charr?"
"That’s just what I am, it’s what the girls in my class call ."
Jiang Bei didn’t have the heart to burst his bubble but still chose to speak the truth:
"Did those girls in your class also tell you that ’charrs’ typically play the role of the second male lead, dood never to win their true love?"
Although Wen Shaoyuan was young, he understood a lot. He frowned unhappily at Jiang Bei’s words:
"Is it really okay for you to curse your little nephew like that?"
Jiang Bei just laughed without further comnt. Wen Han, who had been focused on driving, looked at the navigation and saw that they had arrived at the destination. He asked Jiang Bei, who was in the back seat, "Is this the place?"
"Yes, this is it."
The car stopped at the edge of a small grove, and the three of them got out. Jiang Bei took the lead, and shortly after, Wen Shaoyuan exclaid in surprise, "Wow, what a beautiful house."
Jiang Bei turned to look at him and smiled slightly. She rembered feeling similarly when she first saw the Glass House, except she wasn’t a child anymore and did not express her emotions as openly as Wen Shaoyuan did.
Because of the snow, the entire Glass House looked even more magnificent, like sothing out of a fairy tale.
Unfortunately, Su Mu was not inside the Glass House. Wen Han was a bit concerned:
"Where could she go? No one must have co over, right?"
At this ti, Aunt Yang had gone shopping, and Wei Shaoqin had gone to the company. Only Su Mu was left alone in the Glass House. Because of what Jiang Bei said earlier, everyone let down their guard, thinking that Fu Shinian would never co. But Su Mu, who hadn’t left the house recently, had suddenly disappeared.
Yet, there was no sign of disarray in the house. Jiang Bei didn’t think Su Mu would go without a struggle if Fu Shinian ca, so she shook her head:
"I don’t think so. Su Mu probably just felt suffocated and went out for a walk."
"Then let’s go look for Sister Su," ca the reply.
Next to the Glass House flowed a small river, and Jiang Bei led Wen Shaoyuan along one side of it while Wen Han followed the stream forward. As they moved closer to the depths of the forest, the temperature dropped compared to that at the Glass House. The previous snowfall hadn’t lted yet, and soon, he found a set of dainty footprints in the snow.
Wen Han followed the footprints and, five minutes later, he saw Su Mu in the woods taking pictures with her cara.
She was wearing a white down jacket, almost blending into the snowy landscape. He didn’t say anything to disturb her, just quietly watched until she was about to take a shot of sothing with her cara. That’s when Wen Han suddenly stepped into her fra. The next second, she saw the person in her lens and smiled faintly.
Su Mu put down her cara and looked at Wen Han without speaking. It was Wen Han who spoke first:
"Won’t you take one of too?"
Su Mu was silent for a few seconds, then picked up the cara again, took a few steps closer, and, finding a satisfactory angle, pressed the shutter button. Then, as Wen Han approached her, Su Mu pulled up the photo she’d just taken and handed it over to him: "Take a look."
In the photo, Wen Han stood on a snowy field, clad in a black trench coat with both hands tucked into his pockets. As the wind blew slightly lifting the hem of his coat, a hint of a smile was in his eyes, which were focused intently on the cara lens, freezing the mont in ti forever.
Wen Han handed back the cara:
"It looks good."
Su Mu smiled faintly and shut off the cara:
"How did you co to be here?"
"The army is on leave, and Shaoyuan hasn’t seen you for a while. We heard you were not feeling well, so he insisted on coming to see you."
The smile on Su Mu’s lips remained, but in Wen Han’s eyes, it still looked different. After all, it wasn’t genuine, more like a mask that concealed her truest self.
"Shaoyuan is here too?"
"Yes, he is currently with Jiang Bei... probably," Wen Han pointed in a direction, "over there looking for you. Shall we go et up with them?"
Su Mu nodded:
"Okay."
It seed as if Wen Han and Su Mu hadn’t been apart for long, as if it were only a week ago that he picked her up on his way to a eting at the municipal bureau, after which he returned to the military base that very day. With both his parents at ho, he hadn’t planned to co back this week, but strangely, after receiving a call from Jiang Bei, he found himself worried about her.
So, he ca back to see her.
Yet he didn’t expect that their reunion after a week would reveal such a significant change in Su Mu.
Walking slowly, the accumulation of snow beneath their feet crunched with each step, yet neither seed inclined to break the silence, as if it suited them better this way.
Coming to a spot, Su Mu suddenly stopped, and Wen Han halted as well, following her gaze to a trail of tiny footprints leading deep into the woods. He crouched down to look and said:
"It must be a squirrel."
Upon hearing this, Su Mu’s eyes brightened, and she even showed a tendency to walk further in, but Wen Han, seeing this, smiled:
"Want to go find it?"
Su Mu shook her head and continued walking forward, Wen Han glanced at her retreating figure, and followed.
Perhaps the little interlude broke the silence between them, and regarding the tutoring, Su Mu wanted to have a proper talk with Wen Han:
"I haven’t taught Shaoyuan for a week now."
Wen Han glanced at her and said:
"I think you are aware that Shaoyuan’s academic level doesn’t really necessitate a ho tutor. The whole point of that arrangent was to find soone he trusts to accompany him. Lately, my parents have been ho with no work to do, so you don’t need to feel burdened by this. Just focus on recuperating here."
"Xiaobei told the sa thing."
"Because that’s the truth."
Su Mu smiled faintly:
"Although I’ve never been a formal teacher, I understand what a teacher is supposed to carry and impart. Shaoyuan is a rare gem of a child, and I don’t think my current self can provide him with better education or guidance."
"What he needs isn’t education or guidance, but the companionship of a trusted person. I think besides you, no one else can take that place."
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