Su Zhinian did not say anything. His hand paused for a moment on Song Qingchun's forehead and realized she was thinking about the Christmas five years ago when he had rushed to fetch her at the airport. His heart greatly softened. Staring at the top of her head, he said, "Okay."
His eyes softened, and he was as ethereal as a god sent from the stars, caught in the moon's halo, as he repeated the words she'd just said. "Let's go home."
After they got into the car, Su Zhinian turned on the heater. Not only that, he went into the trunk to retrieve a blanket for Song Qingchun. Looking at the car parked in front of them, he picked up his phone to call the towing company he had contacted before he got there.
Both of them had come from the city, but when he arrived at Song Qingchun's location, the towing company had only covered one-third of the journey; it would be another 3 hours before the towing company reached their spot.
Su Zhinian turned around to look at Song Qingchun, who was sitting in the car. He was worried about the girl who had spent the majority of the night shivering in the wintery winds, worried that she might fall ill if they stayed there any longer. Therefore, he gave the towing company Song Qingchun's car number, negotiated for a high price, and assured them he would go to their company the following day to settle the fees.
Su Zhinian told Song Qingchun the deal with the towing company inside the car, and since she did not voice any dissatisfaction, he started the engine and departed.
The car moved for around ten minutes before Song Qingchun could feel her limbs thawing from the freezing temperature. She had experienced many things that day, and her nerves were caught in a tense state. When she was alone up there in the mountain, the fear and cold had prevented her from feeling tired, but now that she was in the comfort of Su Zhinian's car, she felt disproportionately tired.
She felt like she had survived a life or death ordeal and collapsed in the car seat. She didn't even have the energy to move a finger.
She was not only tired physically but mentally as well. The heater and overall stability of the car relaxed Song Qingchun greatly, and she fell into a slumber.
After about half an hour on the highway, Su Zhinian turned into a rest stop to fill up on gas. Before he got out of the car, he noticed the blanket had slipped off Song Qingchun. As the car slowed to a stop, he leaned over to pull the blanket back up.
His movements were light, but he still woke Song Qingchun up. She opened her bleary eyes and asked blurrily, "We've arrived?"
"Not yet." Su Zhinian tugged the blanket behind her shoulders and explained softly, "The car has run out of gas."
After a pause, he added, "Sorry for waking you up, go back to sleep."
His tone was cold as usual, but a warmth suffused Song Qingchun's heart. Her lips curved into an involuntary smile and nodded lightly at Su Zhinian before closing her eyes obediently. However, her ears were perked up to tune into the man's movements.
After Su Zhinian got out the car and closed the door, Song Qingchun lost all her intention to sleep. She peeled her eyelids open slowly and stared at Su Zhinian, who stood beside the car, through the window. She adjusted the seat and was going to reach for her phone to look at the time when she felt a poke by something on her left-hand side. It was a piece of white paper.