So the two of them found a famous hot pot restaurant and sat down, ordering a lot of dishes in one go.
It was early winter now, and eating hot pot was just perfect.
Lin Xinlan picked a lot of food to boil in the steaming pot, eating and exclaiming how spicy it was while still thoroughly enjoying herself.
Drinking a bit of beer with it made the experience even more satisfying.
Rong Shaoze joined her, and both of them were overwhelmed by the spiciness.
Lin Xinlan was directly moved to tears by the spice, crying profusely.
Seeing this, Rong Shaoze frowned slightly, "If it’s too spicy, stop eating."
He found some tissues to wipe away her tears and poured her a cup of tea.
Lin Xinlan shook her head with a smile and continued eating as the tears kept falling.
Blurred by tears, she could see nothing and was about to put a piece of chili into her mouth when Rong Shaoze quickly held her hand, saying gently, "Xinlan, stop eating."
She put her chopsticks down and nodded, "Okay, I’ll stop, it’s too spicy."
"Yes, if it’s too spicy, don’t eat it."
After wiping her tears, she chuckled at him, "Is it not embarrassing? Crying while eating hot pot."
Rong Shaoze’s dark eyes looked at her, a meaningful glint within them, "Why cry?"
"From the spiciness."
"Do you have anything on your mind?" he continued to ask softly.
Lin Xinlan shook her head, picked up her teacup, and took a sip with her gaze lowered, "No, it’s just too spicy, and I felt like crying, so I couldn’t help it."
"Why cry?" He repeated the question.
"...Because I’ve been holding it in for a long time. I haven’t cried in a long while," she said with a slight smile, hoping he wouldn’t get the wrong idea, "After going through so much, I haven’t really cried, but I still felt a little aggrieved. Now that I’ve cried it out, I feel much better."
The man pursed his lips tightly and looked at her without saying anything.
In fact, he really wanted to ask her: Are you crying because of Qiao Yiyang’s death? How much do you like Qiao Yiyang, and are you... really unable to let go of him...
But he didn’t ask anything; he couldn’t and didn’t dare to.
"Let’s go, we’ll head home." Taking her hand, he settled the bill and led her into the car.
On the way back, Lin Xinlan felt sleepy and dozed off against the back of the seat.
Rong Shaoze looked at her peaceful profile, a suppressed pain flickering in his depthful eyes.
He remembered that on the evening of the day after he had rescued her, when she heard the news of Qiao Yiyang’s death, she had shown a look of shock and sorrow.
She thought she had concealed it well, but he had seen everything, not missing a single detail.
This whole time, he had been acting normal, pretending not to know she was troubled, pretending to think that everything was like before, that nothing had happened, and that they were still as affectionate.
He knew he had become cowardly, not daring to ask her anything.
He was willing to play the ostrich, pretending to be oblivious to it all.
He just hoped that in his pampering, she could forget Qiao Yiyang and fall completely in love with him again.
After all, Qiao Yiyang was dead. He couldn’t compete with a deceased, and he had plenty of time to regain all of Lin Xinlan’s attention. But today she had cried, and he could see that it wasn’t the spice that made her cry, but rather that she was genuinely distressed.
He couldn’t think of any reason for her to cry except to guess that her tears were related to Qiao Yiyang; beyond that, he was at a loss.
Did she truly have feelings for Qiao Yiyang?
Qiao Yiyang’s death, was that why she was truly heartbroken...
The more Rong Shaoze thought about it, the more his heart ached. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, his eyes showing nothing but profound pain and helplessness.