Shi Che’s gaze slowly landed on Ling Chuxia’s face, his dark eyes as deep as ever, revealing not a trace of emotion, yet inexplicably giving off a heavy sense of oppression.
Ling Chuxia’s hands trembled even more violently, almost unable to hold onto Shi Che’s arm. She was truly afraid that Shi Che would get angry, fling her hand away, and then hit her with some biting sarcasm...
As Ling Chuxia thought about it, her body began to shake uncontrollably, teetering as if she might fall at any moment.
The moment Ling Chuxia took the initiative to hold Shi Che’s arm, Shi Che’s heart skipped a beat, and then he heard Ling Chuxia call him "Shi Che" instead of the formally emotionless "Young Master".
After being married for so long, she had almost never taken the initiative to hold his arm, nor had she voluntarily called him by his name.
In the past, Ling Chuxia didn’t call him "Young Master" much, but would always directly call him by his name. The young Ling Chuxia was particularly mischievous, like an untamed little monkey. When Mrs. Shi first arranged for someone to teach her various manners, she always resisted, constantly arguing with the teacher, which often resulted in punishment.
At that time, she didn’t understand why she had to learn these rules, always bluntly challenging the teacher, "Why do I have to learn this? I don’t want to learn these things."
At first, the teacher patiently explained that learning these rules was to better serve the Young Master and take care of him.
Then she asked, "Why should I serve the Young Master, take care of him?"
The teacher replied with a smile, "Because when you grow up, you will marry the Young Master and become his wife. A wife’s duty is to serve her husband well and take care of him. So, you must learn these rules."
Shi Che didn’t know how Ling Chuxia interpreted the teacher’s words, but from that point on, she began to dislike him somewhat. She probably felt that all the hardships and suffering she was enduring were because of Shi Che.
It’s easy to find a pretext to blame someone, and just like that, Shi Che unwittingly ended up being metaphorically shot in his sleep. Since then, whenever Ling Chuxia saw him, although she didn’t dare to confront him openly, she would badmouth him as soon as she turned around, constantly saying "Shi Che is so bad, so bad."
However, after they got married, she never called him by his name again; she changed abruptly into a completely different person, becoming respectful and meek.
That crisp, clear "Shi Che" seemed to be only a beautiful dream of his younger years.
Now, hearing "Shi Che" once more, even though it wasn’t as clear and loud as in his youth, the sound still struck deeply at his heart, softening the glow in his dark eyes by a fraction.
He looked at the woman before him, her figure swaying, her glance adrift, the fear she could not conceal—she barely dared to grasp his hand tightly, afraid that in the next second he might ruthlessly push her away.