CFSSIR

‧₊˚ 46 ‧₊˚

When Lu Zhao led Shen Qingyao out, a sudden gust of wind swept across the river, carrying the cool moisture from the water. Although he knew that summer winds were unlikely to make someone cold, Lu Zhao instinctively shifted to shield Shen Qingyao. By the time she realized it, he had already stepped back nonchalantly, as if such actions were a natural instinct ingrained in his bones, needing no explanation.

Shen Qingyao was deeply moved by this small gesture, silently screaming in her heart.

They stood at the bow of the boat, with Lu Zhao slightly behind her. Shen Qingyao suddenly felt that if she spread her arms and struck a blissful pose, it would look just like a scene from Titanic, in ancient version. The thought seemed romantic until she remembered the tragic end of that story and quickly dismissed the idea.

Respect the original, remake rationally; random imitation is unacceptable.

She turned back to find Lu Zhao seriously gazing at the full moon in the sky, its light casting a silvery glow on his face. Shen Qingyao suddenly thought that if Chang'e could transform into a man, the male version of the moon goddess would undoubtedly look like this.

"Elder Brother Lu Zhao, why do you like looking at the moon?"

Lu Zhao took a light breath and lowered his head, his gaze lingering on Shen Qingyao's face for a long time before he looked away and said softly, "Because for a long time, the moon was my only companion."

What? Shen Qingyao inexplicably sensed a hint of loneliness in his words. She tilted her head in confusion. She understood every word, but together they made no sense. "Companion? Why did you need companion?"

Lu Zhao responded with a faint "mm," unusually reticent to explain further.

He didn't want to tell Shen Qingyao that for a long period, he would quietly watch the moon alone until dawn.

Nor did he tell her that when he returned from Xiling when she was ten, he rushed straight to the Shen residence without even going home. But when he saw his little girl, she didn't smile or run to him, calling him Elder Brother. Instead, she lay sickly in bed, looking at him with a near-indifferent gaze, as if he were a stranger.

At that moment, little Lu Zhao felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on him, chilling him to the core. The delicate osmanthus cakes he had carefully protected crumbled into fine powder, falling to the ground with a clatter.

Then Shen Qingli arrived, and he learned that during his absence, the little girl had almost not survived. A doctor named Kong Lin had used some special methods to save her, but she no longer remembered anything from before. She didn't remember her parents or siblings, and naturally, she didn't remember him either.

Since then, Shen Qingyao became like a soulless puppet, always accompanied by medicine, rarely stepping out of her courtyard. When Lu Zhao occasionally visited the Shen residence and saw her, she would only lower her head and timidly avoid him. Back then, Lu Zhao often felt that the little girl who used to follow him like a shadow had been stolen away.

In the following six years, Lu Zhao continued to bring back various trinkets from his travels, but instead of giving them directly to Shen Qingyao, he handed them to Shen Qingli to pass on. He still collected all kinds of rare medicinal herbs, discreetly finding excuses to send them to the Shen residence, hoping they would help her. But during those six years, he never sought out Shen Qingyao again.

He couldn't bear to see that unfamiliar look in her eyes again.

So he could only wait until the deep, quiet night, when the bright moon was high in the sky, to secretly run to the begonia tree in the little girl's courtyard, quietly gazing at the moon and listening to her long, steady breaths through the night.