Love

After seeing Wang Weimin off, Li Changle returned home and looked at the tightly shut door, feeling conflicted.

Still, he decided to call Wang Siyi out. But first, he needed to reheat the food.

"Open the door, Siyi. Your dad's already left."

"Are you hungry? You still need to eat, you know."

Li Changle called out helplessly from outside for ages, but there was still no response.

Wang Siyi had stopped crying. She couldn't cry anymore.

It felt as if she'd cried all her tears dry. When she heard her dad had left, she felt a weight lift from her chest. She'd been so harsh with him that she didn't know how to face him now.

At first, Wang Siyi hadn't meant to say such harsh things. But whenever the conversation turned to Li Changle, she couldn't help getting emotional.

She could give up singing, but she loved being here with Li Changle. This had to be what it meant to like someone, right?

Wang Siyi had already realized she might have fallen for Li Changle, though she didn't know when it had started.

He'd rescued her from a bunch of thugs. Ever since then, she'd never had a bad impression of him. But why did she like him?

Maybe it was because he always showed up just when she needed him most.

He was always so kind. When she'd forgotten her key and couldn't get into her place, he'd taken her home.

When she got drunk, he'd looked after her without complaint, and never tried anything.

When she was sick or had hurt her foot, he'd taken meticulous care of her. When she had a fever and didn't want to take her medicine,

he'd even made her pear soup with rock sugar before she took each dose. She'd alternate between a spoonful of the soup and a pill, and the medicine really didn't taste so bitter that way.

When she got sulky with him, he was patient with her, too. Wang Siyi didn't know how many girls he'd treated this way.

But she knew he was the first guy to treat her like that.

When he said he was leaving, she felt sad. When she dreamed he was with another girl, she was heartbroken. When she woke up, it seemed her eyes were wet with tears.

She probably, maybe, really had fallen for him.

Wang Siyi had grown up sheltered by her parents. As an only child, she'd been protected so thoroughly that even after entering the entertainment industry, she'd kept people at arm's length.

She'd become popular because she had so much going for her: an extraordinarily gifted voice, an angelic appearance, and a face as beautiful as a fairy's. There were hardly any singers in show business who looked that lovely and sang so well.

Her aloof personality matched her looks and her voice perfectly. The image she'd built without even trying had made her hugely popular.

After resolving to give up singing, she'd felt regret and sadness, but never like this—not until her dad had said she should come home and leave, and she'd felt such grief and reluctance.

She wasn't attached to the house or the things in it. It was because someone she cared about was here. In just two short months, Wang Siyi had realized how dependent she'd become on Li Changle.

He could cook for her. When she was unhappy, he'd write a song and sing it to her. When she didn't want to take her medicine, he'd come up with all sorts of ways to get her to take it.

When she was sad and heartbroken, he'd worry about her. It felt so good to have someone care about her.

If she could, she hoped she could keep relying on Li Changle like this. But would he be willing to let her rely on him for the rest of her life?

Wang Siyi didn't know. If he treated every girl this way, wouldn't she just be reading too much into it?

What should I do? A whole string of questions popped into Wang Siyi's mind, making her feel restless.

She heard Li Changle calling for her again from outside and hesitated. Should she go out?

She'd cried herself out and was a little hungry.

Wang Siyi went with her gut and opened the door. Her face still looked awful, and tear tracks were clearly visible.

Her face, usually as smooth as jade, now looked like a little cat's. Li Changle's heart tightened. She really must have been devastated.

"What?"

Wang Siyi wrinkled her nose and frowned at Li Changle, who was staring at her blankly.

Li Changle came to his senses and quickly took her hand, leading her to the dining table. Wang Siyi's face flushed a little, but she let him lead her along by the hand.

Li Changle let go of Wang Siyi, stepped forward, and pulled out a chair. Pointing at it, he said, "Eat first. We can talk about the rest afterward."

Wang Siyi nodded, then sniffed and frowned. "Did you smoke just now?"

How could this woman's nose be so sharp...

Li Changle nodded awkwardly. "I was talking with your dad just now, and I had a cigarette..."

Wang Siyi said nothing. She looked up at him, then lowered her head and began eating in silence.

She really was a little hungry. Once she sat down, she saw that Li Changle had already served her rice and soup.

She'd been touched, but now that she could smell the cigarettes on him, that feeling vanished.

The soup had simmered for over an extra hour, making it richer in flavor—and higher in purines, too. But it was delicious.

They were young. Purines didn't matter. Gout didn't matter either.

"What your dad said isn't important. Before he left, he said he'd support you no matter what you chose to do."

In the end, Li Changle put in a good word for Mr. Wang. Although he'd made Wang Siyi cry at first, Li Changle had realized later that he hadn't meant to. Maybe his paternal love was just too deep.

Before leaving, he'd also recognized what he'd done wrong and made an effort to talk things through with Wang Siyi. Li Changle thought he ought to put in a good word for him. Besides, Mr. Wang had found him a way to make a living for the rest of his life.

"Don't talk to me about this while I'm eating."

Wang Siyi frowned and muttered to Li Changle, clearly unhappy.

Li Changle fell silent. They ate quietly, each keeping to himself. After they finished, Li Changle silently cleared away the dishes without saying a word.

Seeing Li Changle like that, Wang Siyi's heart tightened. Had she been too harsh just now? He'd only been trying to talk to her out of kindness, and she really hadn't responded well.

She wanted to apologize to Li Changle, but as she watched him bustle around, she parted her lips and then, in the end, said nothing.

Li Changle busied himself cleaning the room, while Wang Siyi sat motionless on the sofa. The atmosphere was a little awkward.

Li Changle was thinking about how he'd wanted to help Wang Siyi for a long time. She still liked singing.

He could tell. She said she'd given it up, but had she really?

That was why he'd tried to bring it up earlier and steer the conversation toward singing. He hadn't expected to start off on the wrong foot.

Wang Siyi was very sensitive about anything involving Wang Weimin. Still, Li Changle had decided to write the song and let Wang Siyi hear it, so she could decide for herself.

If she heard the song he'd come up with and didn't like it or didn't want to sing it, that was fine. Whatever happened, he only wanted to help Wang Siyi.

Then, even if she really had given up and planned to retire from the music scene, Li Changle could have a clear conscience.

If she liked it, he'd help her release a new album. It wasn't that he had money to spare,

but Li Changle had as many songs as she could want. There were enough for Wang Siyi to release albums for the rest of her life.

Thinking as he cleaned, Li Changle had already made up his mind, so he simply stopped.

Then he went to get his guitar, planning to sing the song for Wang Siyi and see if she liked it.

Wang Siyi finally saw Li Changle stop. She was about to call out to him when he left again.

Wang Siyi felt a little regretful. She hadn't used to be like this. Where had the decisive Wang Siyi gone?

Hesitation would only lead to defeat, Wang Siyi.

In her heart, Wang Siyi was furious at herself for being so timid.

She felt as if she was about to lose herself. That guy was something else, too, keeping quiet all the time.

She was thin-skinned, and she knew it. Li Changle knew it, too. So when he heard Wang Siyi answer him so unhappily,

Li Changle thought he'd rushed things. He really should have let her calm down first.

Wang Siyi sat on the sofa in silence. On the surface, she was looking at her phone, but in reality, she was staring into space.

She was thinking about how to explain the misunderstanding from earlier. She wasn't angry with him, after all.

But before she could think of a solution, Li Changle had already come over, carrying a guitar.

What was he up to now? Was he going to sing for her again?

Wang Siyi really liked hearing Li Changle sing to her. In his eyes, he made plenty of mistakes when he sang,

but no number of mistakes could hide the sincerity in his voice. He was singing just to cheer her up.

Just like the last song, Always Quiet. It was lovely, and she liked it a lot. But it wasn't a good fit for her to sing.

"Do you still want to sing?"

Li Changle walked straight over with the guitar in his arms and sat down in front of Wang Siyi.

"What?"

Wang Siyi looked at Li Changle in confusion.

"I said, do you still want to sing? Release an album, you know?"

Wang Siyi didn't know how to answer. She nodded, then shook her head.

Then she said calmly, "I don't know."

"So do you want to or not?"

"I do. But my parents don't agree, and the company won't find songs for me. Maybe even if I find songs myself, I won't get to decide whether I sing them."

Wang Siyi spoke timidly, looking a little pitiful.

Li Changle sighed.

"Your dad already said he'd support you. As for getting the song approved, I happen to have one here. If you want it, I'll sing it for you. You can record it yourself—you don't have to go through the company. As long as they'll release it for you, that's enough."

Li Changle felt like this woman's IQ was dropping again. How had she been so bold when she was arguing with her dad?

"I... I'm afraid that even if the album comes out, the company won't promote it, and it'll fail anyway..."

Li Changle slapped his forehead and covered his face with one hand.

"Even in the worst-case scenario, could things get any worse than they are now? If you really want to sing, record the songs and release the album first. You can worry about whether it does well or fails afterward. That's not your concern. You're just a singer, right? Those were your words, weren't they?"

"Oh..."

Wang Siyi also thought she was acting strangely. She hadn't used to overthink things like this.

Last time, when she'd gone to Shanghai, she'd been full of anticipation. She'd never worried about whether the album would do well. All she'd wanted was to sing the songs and release the album.

Now she kept worrying about this and that. Suddenly, her expression changed.

She looked at Li Changle. All those things she'd said had just been excuses.

Her parents disapproved, the company wouldn't promote her—she'd never cared about any of that before. Just as she'd said, all she'd wanted was to sing.

But now she was worrying about every little thing. The real reason might simply be that she didn't want to leave Li Changle.

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