The Rolls-Royce arrived at the Purple Forbidden City Residence.
Qin Yuhe picked up the suit jacket he had set aside, draped it over Song Xinya’s head once again, and carried her out of the car.
In the living room, Qin Yuyan was sitting at the table doing her homework. Song Tingye and Song Tingyou were still at school for evening self-study.
Hearing the hurried footsteps, Qin Yuyan looked up. When she saw Qin Yuhe, she exclaimed in surprise, “Brother! What brings you back?”
Qin Yuhe said, “Sis, why are you still at my house?”
“Brothers in trouble should be helped, and brothers in glory should be taken advantage of.”
Qin Yuhe retorted, “I treat you like my best buddy, but you treat me like the enemy.”
Qin Yuyan covered her little mouth and giggled. Then, with shameless eagerness to please, she picked up a peach from the fruit platter and handed it to Qin Yuhe.
“Bro, have a peach.”
Qin Yuhe glanced at the peach in her hand. “You’re giving it to your own brother without washing it? Do you want me to eat a mouthful of peach fuzz?”
The lazy little girl put down the peach and picked up a tangerine instead. “Have this one. It doesn’t need washing—just peel it and eat it.”
Qin Yuhe finally understood. “So our siblingly bond isn’t strong enough for you to wash a peach for me.”
Holding the woman in his arms, he began walking up the spiral staircase.
Qin Yuyan followed behind him. “Bro, are you going to hog my sister-in-law again? I haven’t even had a chance to talk to her, and you’re already carrying her away.”
“Bro, why is my sister-in-law wearing your jacket over her head?”
“Sis-in-law, lift the jacket and let me have a look at you.”
Song Xinya was in no mood to chat with a little brat.
Qin Yuhe shot Qin Yuyan a sharp look. “Stop following us. Get lost.”
Qin Yuyan raised her arm and gave him a crisp salute. “Yes, sir~”
Then she turned around and happily went off.
In the bedroom on the second floor, Qin Yuhe set Song Xinya down in a chair.
He removed the suit jacket covering her head.
Dust clung to her body and clothes, and the makeup on her face had been smeared by tears. She looked like a dirty little kitten that had rolled around in the mud.
Qin Yuhe reached out to remove her clothes. Having just gone through what had happened, Song Xinya’s instincts took over. She instinctively shrank back.
At once, all the blood in Qin Yuhe’s body seemed to freeze. It felt as if it had stopped circulating and become congested in his chest, leaving him breathless and unbearably stifled.
He had gone too easy on Sheng Tianjun just now. He shouldn’t have merely crippled him—he should have killed him outright!
Rage churned in Qin Yuhe’s heart, as though a raging fire were scorching it.
But he knew that people shouldn’t let their emotions control them. He needed to deal with the matter first and lose himself to anger afterward.
Especially now. This was not the time to lose his temper. The most important thing was to soothe, comfort, and care for his wife.
Qin Yuhe crouched beside Song Xinya, resting on one knee. He tilted his handsome face up to look at her gently.
“Your clothes are dirty and need to be taken off and washed. Do you want me to help you remove them?”
Song Xinya’s lowered eyelashes trembled. “I want to do it myself.”
“All right. You do it yourself, then. I’ll get you a change of clothes and wait outside the bathroom the whole time. If anything happens, call for me.”
“Okay.”
Qin Yuhe stood up, took clean clothes from the wardrobe, then returned and carried her to the bathroom door.
Song Xinya took the clothes and walked into the bathroom to shower.
She didn’t look at herself in the mirror. She hung the clothes on a hanger, turned on the showerhead, and began rinsing her body.
Qin Yuhe held his breath and listened carefully for any movement inside. The water flowed in a soft, tinkling stream, occasionally accompanied by the sound of her bare feet stepping across the floor.
There was no sound of crying.
She took longer to shower this time than ever before.
An hour and a half passed, and she still hadn’t come out.
Qin Yuhe was worried that she had been in the overheated bathroom too long and might faint.
More than that, he was afraid she might do something foolish.
Facing the bathroom door, he knocked lightly and kept his voice as calm as possible.
“Yaya, I left one of my watches in the second drawer beneath the sink. Could you get it for me now?”
The bathroom door opened, and a pale, delicate arm reached out, handing him a black-diamond platinum watch.
Knowing that she was all right, Qin Yuhe felt some of the tension leave him.
“Thank you,” he said.
Thank you for being strong.
Thank you for trying to steady yourself even though you’re hurting, refusing to let yourself break apart.
Thank you for not blaming me.
The bathroom door closed again. Song Xinya stopped showering, dried the water from her body, put on her pajamas, and walked out.
Her hair hung damply over her shoulders, the ends dripping with warm water that slid along her skin and disappeared beneath the fabric of her pajamas, leaving a dark patch over her chest.
Qin Yuhe took her hand and led her to the bed. Once she sat down, he picked up a dry towel and began drying her hair.
Her hair was thick, heavy, and long. After wiping it once with the towel, he picked up the hair dryer and began blow-drying it for her.
Qin Yuhe’s movements were exceptionally gentle, his fingers passing slowly through her hair, one lock at a time.
The warm air brushed over her scalp, carrying the scent of shampoo and conditioner into the room. A sweet, delicate fragrance drifted through the air.
The sugary scent was enough to lift anyone’s spirits.
Song Xinya reached out and wrapped her arms around Qin Yuhe’s waist.
“Hold me.”
By then, her hair was dry. Qin Yuhe set the hair dryer aside, pulled back the covers, and lay down with her in his arms.
He held her tightly, her entire body curled up against him.
There was a mature warmth about him, the kind that came from years and experience—warm, passionate, and steady.
His solid muscles, sturdy frame, and vigorous strength were completely different from her own body heat, heartbeat, and scent.
Wrapped in the embrace of such a strong body, the fear inside Song Xinya—the feeling of being unmoored, of swaying precariously at the edge of a cliff—gradually dispersed. She felt so safe.
She wanted him to hold her like this forever.
Greedily and intimately, she pressed herself close to him.
Qin Yuhe gently stroked her back and told her, “If you want to cry right now, you can cry on me. It’s all right, Yaya. Don’t force yourself to hold it in.”
“Will crying solve anything?”
“Crying won’t solve the problem, but no one cries in order to solve a problem. Crying lets you release your emotions and helps you feel a little better.”
“Then can I cry?”
“Cry.”
Qin Yuhe: “……”
He had said she could cry, and she had taken that as permission to cry as though the world were ending.
She was so obedient.
Song Xinya lay against Qin Yuhe’s chest and burst into loud sobs, as if she wanted to cry out every grievance she had endured in her life. Her tears flowed like a breached flood, endless and impossible to drain.
Qin Yuhe patted her back gently, kissing the top of her head, her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, her lips—and even her tears.
Again and again, he brushed his lips against hers, tenderly, lingeringly, with infinite affection.
“Yaya, I promise you. I will never let that person hurt you again.”
