Shen Zhiyi came home

"Have a little, okay? It'll soothe your throat."

Shen Zhiyi suddenly looked at him, her eyes devoid of warmth, as though she were looking at a stranger. Chi Ye wasn't afraid. He only felt heartache and a sense of absurdity.

Had Shen Zhiyi suffered so, so much where he couldn't see her? Why did she cry without a sound or any expression?

Why couldn't she express even her anger and fury on her face?

"Shen Zhiyi, look at me. I'm Chi Ye." His voice trembled. He wasn't sure whether she could still remember him. He had no confidence at all.

It felt as though there were a little hammer inside Shen Zhiyi's head, slowly, slowly breaking every connected nerve.

She was becoming abnormal again.

Her lips moved, and she spoke hoarsely. "Chi Ye. You're Chi Ye."

She could no longer see anything. Only that familiar feeling kept her looking ahead, where there was a muffled voice and a figure she couldn't see.

He said he was Chi Ye.

It felt so unfamiliar. That suit didn't look like something Chi Ye would wear. He had always liked comfortable, fairly trendy clothes. There was so much pride tucked into his eyes and brows. He had the spirited vigor of youth, as well as an adult's composure and ease.

For a while, he had liked wearing cologne and hovering around Shen Zhiyi, full of himself. Later, after spending so much time with her, he had picked up a trace of sandalwood scent.

He was Chi Ye. He would always be Chi Ye, but she wasn't sure whether she was still Shen Zhiyi. She was so tired.

[He is Chi Ye.]

[He is Chi Ye.]

[He is Chi Ye.]

Chi Ye looked at her and helped her drink the water. "Yes, I'm Chi Ye. You're right." It was hard to tell anything from his voice, but anyone listening beside them would have been unable to stop their eyes from reddening.

The lights in the underground parking garage were too bright, too glaring, bringing tears to both their eyes. He watched Shen Zhiyi swallow the water, then drew his hand back once she had drunk enough.

He took off his suit jacket and draped it over Shen Zhiyi, then moved aside the armrest separating them. At last, they were close to each other.

"Shen Zhiyi, we're going home."

Shen Zhiyi couldn't hold out any longer and fell asleep on the way back. Chi Ye had the driver drive while he held her the whole way.

He didn't disturb her when they got out of the car either, letting her keep sleeping peacefully. He simply made every movement gentle and carried her upstairs.

The therapist he had consulted had told him that people with the illness could suffer from insomnia as well as excessive sleepiness.

They would magnify other people's emotions endlessly and overreact. More often, they would shut themselves away and refuse to see anyone, their moods shifting for no apparent reason.

Noisy places were even more unbearable for her. Perhaps what had happened earlier had been a stress response: she had remembered something bad, and when that self-loathing surged up, she had no way to resist it.

Chi Ye was weighed down with worry, surrounded by a helplessness whose source he couldn't find. Those records were nowhere near complete. He had no way of knowing what Shen Zhiyi had gone through to become the way she was now.

Losing her family might have been merely something akin to an ordinary occurrence in her life, because even before that, she hadn't been happy.

Her mother had been a woman from the countryside who fell in love with an educated youth sent there for reform through labor. She had followed him to the city, hoping to bear a boy to carry on the Shen family line.

Her first child was a girl, which enraged her. If Shen Zhiyi's father hadn't retained a sliver of fondness for her, Shen Zhiyi might have had an even worse life.

After starting school, she had also been subjected to cold, isolating treatment from the students around her. The records skimmed over it in a few strokes, yet it had been half her life.

Shen Zhiyi developed a fever in the middle of the night, and Chi Ye didn't dare leave her side for even a moment. With his experience from last time, he had everything ready this time and slowly tried to bring her temperature down.

His efforts paid off. Thankfully, Shen Zhiyi's temperature gradually fell. Afraid she would have those bad dreams again, Chi Ye thought for a moment, then sang a lullaby by her ear.

He had a pleasant voice. Even if his pitch wasn't quite accurate, his singing wasn't bad.

As dawn approached, Shen Zhiyi's temperature had returned to normal. He smiled in relief and praised her as he watched her sleep.

"Shen Zhiyi, you did great. Looks like you didn't dream."

At last, he was willing to close his eyes. He fell asleep just like that, leaning against the little chair, a towel he hadn't had time to put away still beside his hand.

In Shen Zhiyi's dreams during the latter half of the night, there was a moon hanging among the branches and a scattering of stars. A summer night breeze blew, and fireflies flew out of the grass.

Someone was singing a lullaby by her ear, and she couldn't help humming along softly.

When Shen Zhiyi woke, she saw him sunk into the chair, fast asleep. He was so big that he couldn't stretch out his arms or legs.

Even if Shen Zhiyi wanted to move him, she wouldn't have known where to start. After hesitating for a while, she decided she might as well wake him.

She got up clutching the quilt, but she seemed to have overestimated her body. After a night of fever and barely eating anything, her entire body was now sore and weak.

So the moment she stood, her legs gave way, and she pitched forward without warning. Only by bracing herself on both sides of Chi Ye's chair did she steady herself.

Her long hair brushed over Chi Ye's face. Her eyes were well above his, and as she lowered her head, they seemed close enough to kiss if she dipped her head.

Chi Ye hadn't been sleeping soundly, much less through such a commotion. If he still didn't wake, he would have been dead.

Before he even opened his eyes, he was enveloped in fragrance. Shen Zhiyi's sandalwood scent drifted over, and his brows and eyelids stirred slightly.

The scent on Shen Zhiyi came from working with all that wood so much. The timber those clients brought out was all exceptionally fine.

The natural fragrance of fine timber was impossible to ignore, and over time, quite a bit of it had clung to her. Or perhaps that was just what Chi Ye thought, because sometimes he felt that Shen Zhiyi was a block of wood herself.

"Are you already so impatient to thank me?"

Chi Ye opened his eyes. He hadn't been asleep for long, and his eyes were still quite bloodshot. But his smile was lighthearted, and some of the weariness about him had faded.

Shen Zhiyi wanted to move away, but Chi Ye wouldn't let her. He reached out and caught her securely in his arms. His arms tightened around her waist and pulled her toward him, leaving Shen Zhiyi unable to break free even if she wanted to.

"Why are you running? I rather like this way of thanking me."

Shen Zhiyi spoke with a cold expression. "Let go of me."

Chi Ye refused. He smiled provocatively. "Shen Zhiyi, I was the one wiping away your sweat and giving you medicine in the middle of the night. I was the one changing your towel over and over to bring your fever down.

I was the one watching over you as you slept.

I was the one singing you lullabies. I'm not letting go."

Shen Zhiyi gave a soft scoff. "Who actually brings all that up themselves?"

"Why shouldn't I? You should know what I've done. I'm not the type to give quietly. I have to let you know how good I am to you, so you won't keep wanting to ignore me.

Shen Zhiyi, you need to pay more attention to me."

The latter half of his words held a little more grievance, an accusation and a plea of a different kind.