Shen Shuangjian was not in good health and would feel tired after sitting for a long time, so before the agreed-upon live broadcast time, she was half-coaxed and forced by Xie Jinghui Shen Shuangjian turn off the live broadcast.
It was five o'clock in the afternoon, dusk. In the north, it gets dark quickly. At this time, the sky outside was already dark and would soon turn completely black.
Shen Shuangjian had changed into her outdoor clothes, Xie Jinghui took her hand and led her into the car to go back to the Shen Residence together.
Originally, the two of them had agreed that Shen Sixian over today, so that Shen Shuangjian have to go out in the wind.
However, Shen Sixian said that there was something he needed Shen Shuangjian before he could do it, so in the end, they ate the hot pot at Shen Residence instead of the Winter Solstice.
When Shen Shuangjian and Xie Jinghui went out, Xie Jinghui usually drove himself, while Shen Shuangjian sat in the passenger seat, within easy reach of Xie Jinghui stopped.
The Shen Residence was brightly lit late at night. Because it was the winter solstice, even the rooms that were usually dark and not lit were illuminated.
In the courtyard outside the main building, a jar surrounded by people was still burning. The servants nearby watched it almost the entire time, and whenever the fire got smaller, they would immediately add paper into it.
"Elder brother."
The distance from getting out of the car to entering the house was only a few steps, but in this cold and frosty season, even a few steps made Shen Shuangjian's clothes feel a little chilly.
When Shen Shuangjian in, Shen Sixian was busy in the restaurant. He was in a good mood today and even made some glutinous rice balls by hand. Because he still had flour on his hands, he didn't come over to ruffle Shen Shuangjian's hair as usual.
" Zhizhi, go warm yourself by the fireplace first."
Shen Sixian patted the flour off his hands, completely ignoring Xie Jinghui who was following behind Shen Shuangjian.
Xie Jinghui didn't mind. He simply lowered his eyes, took the coat that Shen Shuangjian had taken off, and then took Shen Shuangjian's hand to see if she was cold.
The fireplace in the hall had been burning for a long time, and the flickering flames fell on people's faces, warm and comforting, as if they could instantly dispel all the cold.
Shen Shuangjian sat down against the soft cushion behind him. When he got out of the car, he heard his phone notification ringing, but he didn't check it because his hands would get cold if he took them out.
Now that she remembered, Shen Shuangjian picked up her phone and opened WeChat to take a look.
It was a message from Yu Sheng.
Before this, there were many other trivial jokes that Shen Shuangjian hadn't replied to, but the two he had just sent seemed strangely incoherent.
Yu Sheng: Shuangjian, do you remember the three questions I asked you at the beach last time?
Yu Sheng: But you didn't answer me, so now, can you tell me?
On the other end of the phone, Yu Sheng held his phone, somewhat hesitant, yet also stubbornly determined to get to the bottom of things.
Yu Sheng: You... have you already... with Xie Jinghui?
Yu Sheng couldn't bring himself to say the remaining four words. He silently watched the other person typing on the screen, but he was too timid to speak and wanted to run away.
If Yu Sheng still can't understand today's live stream, then he's probably just fooling himself.
He wouldn't dare say he understood Shen Shuangjian, but almost everyone noticed that Shen Shuangjian treated Xie Jinghui differently than others, including Yu Sheng himself.
However, since the two hadn't made things too clear before, Yu Sheng could still comfort himself and deceive himself into believing that Shen Shuangjian and Xie Jinghui had no relationship whatsoever.
We just got a little closer.
But during today's live stream, Xie Jinghui appeared at Shen Shuangjian's house, talking about topics that others couldn't relate to.
If he continued to feign madness, even he himself felt it was going too far.
That's why Yu Sheng came to ask, wanting to know if Shen Shuangjian was already together with Xie Jinghui, and if she had fallen in love with Xie Jinghui.
But once the message was sent, Yu Sheng inexplicably began to feel timid.
He seemed afraid that Shen Shuangjian admit it, afraid that he was really a step too slow, a step too late, and that he would never have the chance to stand by Shen Shuangjian's side again in this lifetime.
"?"
On the other end of the phone, Yu Sheng, who didn't quite understand what Shen Shuangjian was trying to say, replied with a question mark.
Looking at this cold, unyielding question mark, Yu Sheng's eyes felt as if they had been suddenly scalded, and immediately welled up with a surge of soreness and heat.
Yu Sheng: It's alright, just pretend I didn't ask. I must have misunderstood.
Yu Sheng: It's okay, it's okay, Shuangjian- ge, happy Winter Solstice.
After sending these two messages, Yu Sheng slowly covered his eyes, somewhat self-deceivingly.
His phone lay there on the table, its screen, which had been lit up, gradually dimmed until it went completely black due to the lack of new messages.
" Zhizhi, come here."
Just then, Shen Sixian called out to him from behind.
Shen Shuangjian had put down her phone, she got up with a hint of confusion and walked towards Shen Sixian's direction. Just as he left, her phone, which had been off, lit up again.
The lock screen notification showed the latest message from Yu Sheng.
"I like you."
Shen Shuangjian slowly walked to the entrance hallway and went to Shen Sixian's side.
"Come Zhizhi, put on your clothes."
Shen Sixian personally draped his dark coat over Shen Shuangjian, then led the somewhat bewildered Shen Shuangjian out the door.
In the courtyard, the fire inside the jar was already burning very high, and with the help of the cold wind, it seemed to rise even higher.
Shen Shuangjian was led by Shen Sixian to the jar. Not knowing what it was, Shen Shuangjian curiously looked up at Shen Sixian.
Shen Sixian reached out to the person beside him, and a pair of scissors was handed to him.
Under Shen Shuangjian's puzzled gaze, Shen Sixian gently lifted a small strand of Shen Shuangjian's long hair, while softly reminding her, "Don't move."
The sound of a strand of hair being cut was very faint, almost inaudible, drowned out by the sounds of the wind and the burning flames.
"Elder brother?"
Shen Shuangjian was even more puzzled by the look in his eyes.
But soon, Shen Sixian cut off a lock of his hair and handed it to a person dressed as a lama next to him. The person chanted incantations as he tied the lock into a knot and then handed it back to Shen Sixian.
"Master of the temple, have you made up your mind?"
What he said was strange, Shen Shuangjian couldn't understand it, but Shen Sixian beside her didn't say anything.
Without hesitation, he threw his hair into the firelight, then turned and put his arm around Shen Shuangjian's shoulder, carefully pulling her Shen Shuangjian shoulders.
Holding Shen Shuangjian's slightly cool hand, she led him slowly into the house.
Halfway there, Shen Shuangjian heard Shen Sixian's voice softly ring out, filled with tender affection.
"It's the winter solstice. Let's go home and have hot pot. After we finish eating hot pot, our Zhizhi will live to be a hundred years old."