mpletely different from the man's. She was always a step behind, staring blankly at the handsome face inches away from hers.My mind is a little scrambled, to use today's popular slang, it's crashed.St...The domestic workers in her house, some familiar faces, some new ones, always greeted her with a respectful nod and then moved out of the way when they saw her.

Only the gardener in the garden, she looked at it tirelessly.

But this season, flowers and trees have long since withered away, there is no profusion of blossoms, let alone a riot of colors.

The frost-laden giant trees, and the delicate greenery.

Besides that, there was no one else who could speak... not even an animal.

At this very moment, she unexpectedly recalled that he once said, when he felt lonely, he would only talk to the fish in the pond.

But... that's just a lie after all.

Another week has passed.

In this deep courtyard, she remained alone as ever.

That man, half a month had passed, yet he never appeared before her again. Occasionally, Shen Er would return for a while, only to bring some clean clothes and leave in a rush.

Besides endless bewilderment, there was a growing seriousness on the faces of Shen San and Shen Si.

She truly couldn't guess why these two were like this.

On this cold winter day, the iron gate of the Shen residence, which was as dark as night, opened once again. From the second floor, she saw, in the distance, that familiar Bentley car driving in.

He just stared at the car.

He… he still came back after all.

Having withdrawn her gaze, she didn't know how to face him again.

Time ticked by. The butler respectfully invited her downstairs from outside the door.

She wanted to say, could she please not meet that person.

The butler had already turned and walked away, aloofly.

>

...Only mocking herself in her heart... When did she learn this To be a hero, one must know the times.

A self-deprecating chuckle escaped her lips, a smile that never quite bloomed, fading into the hollow of her increasingly gaunt cheeks.

At the foot of the stairs, a tall and imposing figure stood silently.

That was the man.

He stood there, chin slightly raised, gazing quietly at her by the staircase.

At this moment, a strange feeling arose. The person seemed like a still painting, standing quietly within it. The person in the painting was gazing at her silently.

Shen Er still stood respectfully behind that person, like an eternal guardian.

He looked at her for a while, then reached out and beckoned to her upstairs. “Come over here,”

It was his voice, that characteristically low timbre, but with a rare softness to it.

She fell silent, knowing she couldn't escape.

Take a step down.

It felt like an entire century had passed. She was tempted to delay, thinking he always had a bad temper and little patience, that he'd surely urge her on several times. Yet, he surprised her. He stood quietly at the foot of the stairs, his gaze calmly meeting hers as she slowly made her way towards him, like a snail.

Suddenly, there was an illusion, as if that person had been waiting for her for over a century. The long and distant time had transformed him into a stone, still standing tall, just to wait for her.

No sooner had she conceived of this absurd notion than she immediately dismissed it from her mind... how naive of her.

Moreover... she couldn't imagine how she could face him again, or even how to live with herself.

She didn't know how long a century was, but when she finally stood before him, her legs felt unsteady. Quietly, she stood there, not daring to look up, yet she could still feel the gentle gaze from above her head.

Perhaps out of curiosity, or maybe she just had a moment of madness, she quietly raised her eyes and stole a glance, and... she couldn't look away.

I was deeply captivated by the rich and complex emotions in his eyes.

Tender, languorous, yearning, and… what else

She kept flipping through the vocabulary she had learned in her mind, trying to find one from among them... However, after scouring her memory bank, she still couldn't find a word that fit.

Confusion gradually appeared in her eyes.

This person's gaze, she didn't understand.

It feels familiar, like I've seen it before, but also strange, as if I've never encountered it.

A warm hand, without any warning, gently landed on her forehead.

He gently caressed the scars that would forever remain on her skin.

"It must have hurt then,"

He asked gently.

She was annoyed by the gentleness, reaching out and waving it away unceremoniously. “It doesn’t hurt,” she said. She had been through worse, much worse.

Ask her if she hurts... what's the point of pretending to be good.

At that time, she was thinking so.

A red swelling immediately appeared on the back of that person's hand.

Shen Er glared, but the man waved his hand: "You all go outside."

Shen Er reluctantly left, and at the same time, the servants in the house, led by the butler, all retreated to the courtyard outside.

For a moment, the vast living room was filled with only her and him.

He reached out and rubbed his swollen back, as if pampering himself.

It's fine.

She, however, didn't know how to break this eerie silence.

That person's voice, once again, rang out:

"I still remember your 18th birthday party, the way you were back then, flaunting your claws and acting as if I didn't exist. "

I still remember you back then, like a little tiger, baring your teeth with those just-emerging fangs… quite interesting.”

"I don't remember."

She insisted on singing a different tune from him.

"I remember, it was a summer afternoon. I was resting with my eyes closed under a tree. You thought I was asleep and kissed me."

"I don't remember," she denied vehemently.

Upon hearing this, the person just smiled and let it pass.

"I remember, on Valentine's Day, you learned from other girls and made chocolates, sneaking them into my schoolbag."

"Finally fed the dog."

His deep laughter rippled out, clearly amused by her: “No, the chocolate you made is even disliked by my dog.”

"Well, well, you've always looked down on me." She couldn't help but follow his lead, said with a huff.

"No, I ate it in the end." The man's smile softened, a hint of seriousness in his eyes, but he still smiled:

Then I had acute gastroenteritis and spent three days on an IV, with diarrhea for three days.

"Is that even possible"

She wanted to sneer, sarcastically remark on his rambling nonsense while he remembered this one thing. When she went to the Shen family, their servants said that their young master had been hospitalized with a bad stomach. the elevator door, smiling at her... Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat.She shook her head, unable to figure out why her heart skipped a beat.Leaving the building, Vivian felt uneasy all the way bac...