Song Chen kept looking at his watch, distracted.
He was trying to put his son to sleep. The boy woke up, stared at him curiously with wide eyes, but he didn’t notice.
Gu Shiyan came out after her bath and noticed he was out of it: "What’s wrong?"
Song Chen: "It’s ten o’clock, and Ting hasn’t come back yet."
"He’s fine now, and he has a driver with him, no need to worry," Gu Shiyan said, "You really worry too much."
"He had dinner with Miss Su tonight. Miss Su is already home; I just called her. Ting should be back by now, but his phone is off," Song Chen added.
After speaking, he took out his phone and called the driver.
The driver had already returned to the Gu Family Villa.
"I’m back. The young master took a taxi by himself and told me to go home first," the driver said.
After their marriage, Song Chen and Gu Shiyan didn’t live in the Gu Family Villa. They made their home in a high-end apartment in the bustling city center, a place of tranquility amidst the chaos.
After hanging up, Song Chen hesitated and called Gu Shiting again.
The phone was still off.
Song Chen couldn’t sit still.
"I need to go find him," Song Chen said, "This late at night, I really worry."
Gu Shiyan sighed, "We’ve been together for so many years, but I still feel like I stole my brother’s person."
Song Chen smiled, gently rubbing her head.
"Let me know when you find him. I’ll put Yangyang to sleep first," Gu Shiyan added.
Song Chen nodded.
He had a hunch about where Gu Shiting might be, so he drove off.
The car entered Sheng Tang’s old neighborhood. Song Chen found an empty spot, parked the car, then headed towards Sheng’s building.
After a few minutes of searching, he found Gu Shiting by the flowerbed at the bottom of the Sheng’s building.
Gu Shiting was smoking.
At his feet, a pile of cigarette butts had accumulated. A tree near the flowerbed blocked most of the streetlight, casting him in partial shadow. Only the faint glow of the cigarette tip flickered on and off.
Finding him, Song Chen heaved a huge sigh of relief.
He sent a message to his wife: "Found him, don’t worry, I’ll be home soon."
Putting away his phone, Song Chen walked over to Gu Shiting: "Ting?"
Gu Shiting looked up.
His expression was very dazed, as if he was in a trance.
"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice hoarse from the smoke.
Song Chen: "You never came home; your sister is very worried about you."
Gu Shiting lowered his head again.
Song Chen sat down beside him, took a cigarette from Gu Shiting’s pack, and lit it.
They sat silently together.
After a long while, Gu Shiting suddenly said to Song Chen, "That was Tangtang’s home. That window was Grandma’s room, the light never came on all night. The kitchen next door lit up twice."
Song Chen felt a sudden, sharp pang of sadness.
"Ting..." he wanted to say something comforting.
But he really didn’t know what to say.
"I saw Tangtang again today," Gu Shiting continued, "She’s so thin!"
How could she be so thin? Her face was small, no matter how thin she got, she wouldn’t look old, only more beautiful. But so thin, it was heartbreaking.
"Did she say anything?"
"No," Gu Shiting said, "I didn’t dare stay long in front of her. I was afraid seeing me would make her suffer."
He had killed Grandma, he was the source of the Sheng family’s pain.
All these years, he often thought, as soon as Sheng Tang saw him, she would surely remember Grandma’s tragic death, and her heart would be filled with immense sorrow.
He didn’t want her to be sad.
He wanted to stay far away, so she could forget Grandma’s death and live a new life. She should have a new life, a new boyfriend.
But he really wanted to see her.
Really wanted to hold her.