Song Jiaye shook his head. Instead, he was more composed than Li Xiyu, an outsider.
"It's okay. It's all in the past."
Li Xiyu was sensible enough not to continue asking where his mother was. Instead, she changed the topic.
"It seems I rarely hear you mention your family."
"I don't have much family left. I'm all alone."
Song Jiaye's answer made Li Xiyu think of the Song Jiaye in ancient times.
Similarly, a solitary figure.
When she first married Song Jiaye, Li Xiyu would feel sorry for him. She thought he was so pitiful being alone and couldn't help but want to help him and accompany him.
But it wasn't until she was banished to the cold palace that she understood.
The so - called solitary state was not caused by the environment but his own choice.
Standing on that supreme position, the greater the power, the heavier the suspicion.
He would choose to be a solitary figure, not trust anyone, and eliminate all those who would threaten his power.
Li Xiyu didn't want to continue this topic. She buried her head in eating noodles.
After finishing the noodles, Song Jiaye voluntarily went to do the dishes while Li Xiyu stood at the door watching him. Actually, there had always been a question in her mind. Song Jiaye seemed to have a good temper. Why did he and Li Xiyu quarrel so much before that they couldn't stand each other?
After the meal, Li Xiyu and Song Jiaye went their separate ways. One entered the kitchen, and the other walked towards the bathroom.
Song Jiaye was still curious. Did Li Xiyu not get enough to eat and want to make something else?
But when he looked back, he found it wasn't the case. Li Xiyu filled a bowl with clean water and then poured salt into it. Moreover, after washing her hands, she also poured a bit of the salt - water on her index finger.
Just as Song Jiaye was wondering what she was doing, Li Xiyu had already put her index finger into her mouth and started "brushing" her teeth.
After "brushing" her teeth, she rinsed her mouth with the salt - water she had prepared.
Song Jiaye walked over and asked, "Do you always brush your teeth like this?"
Li Xiyu was puzzled. Wasn't this how it was done?
She was also strange that modern people didn't rinse their mouths or clean their teeth after meals.
"Come with me."
Song Jiaye took Li Xiyu's hand and dragged her to the washroom. From the washroom, he took down the pink toothbrush that belonged to Li Xiyu.
"Look, this is called a toothbrush."
Li Xiyu took the toothbrush and curiously touched the bristles with her hand.
At this time, Song Jiaye picked up the toothpaste beside it, squeezed out a strip, held Li Xiyu's hand, and made her put the toothbrush with the bristles up, flat, and then apply the toothpaste on the bristles.
"What's this?"
"Toothpaste."
Li Xiyu curiously leaned in and smelled it. A minty fragrance wafted into her nose.
"You're lying to me. This is clearly mint cream."
"It has a mint fragrance." Song Jiaye motioned for her to put the toothbrush in her mouth to brush her teeth.
Li Xiyu did it half - doubtfully. She stuffed the toothbrush into her mouth and wanted to swallow it in one gulp. Song Jiaye quickly stopped her.
"Do as I do." Song Jiaye also applied toothpaste to his own toothbrush and showed Li Xiyu, "Watch carefully."
Li Xiyu nodded and seriously imitated Song Jiaye's movements. She watched him put the toothbrush on his teeth and brush up and down. She also bared her teeth and brushed up and down.
Whatever Song Jiaye did, she imitated. Looking at Li Xiyu in the mirror seriously learning to brush her teeth, Song Jiaye suddenly thought she was a bit cute.
As they brushed, white foam appeared. Seeing that both she and Song Jiaye were spitting out white foam, Li Xiyu asked worriedly.
"Song Jiaye, are we going to die?"
Song Jiaye didn't understand why Li Xiyu suddenly said such a thing. He spat the white foam in his mouth into the sink and asked, "What's wrong?"
"We're both spitting out white foam. Isn't this... hopeless?"
Song Jiaye: "... The white foam is toothpaste. You have to learn to rinse your mouth like me and then spit out the toothpaste. Don't eat it."
To let Li Xiyu see more clearly, Song Jiaye took a mouthful of water, gurgled it in his mouth twice, and then spat it out.
Li Xiyu also imitated Song Jiaye. She took a mouthful of water, even gurgled it the same number of times, and then, under Song Jiaye's nervous stare, spat out the water in her mouth.
Song Jiaye praised, "good."
"Good? What's that?"
"It means good. It's to praise you."
"Ooooh." Li Xiyu nodded. She learned a new word. She used it right away: "You're also very good."
Seeing her so seriously pronouncing "Chinglish", Song Jiaye was amused.
Laughter was contagious. As soon as Song Jiaye laughed, Li Xiyu also laughed. The two of them, like fools, holding two toothbrushes, laughed until they bent forward and backward.
After a meal, it was natural to do some exercise to aid digestion.
Song Jiaye took a chessboard down from upstairs.
It was a Go chessboard, a gift from Li Xiyu when he graduated.
Of course, this thing was used to play Gomoku.
However, when Li Xiyu saw the chessboard, she got itchy hands. She said to Song Jiaye, "Let's play Go."
"Go?" Song Jiaye was very honest. "I don't know how."
"I'll teach you." Li Xiyu was full of confidence. Finally, she found an opportunity to teach someone else.
It wasn't actually difficult to get started with Go. You just needed to surround the opponent's pieces and capture them. It was just that a game took too long. Song Jiaye was a beginner after all, and he had to think for a long time before making a move. When he placed the piece and looked up, he found that Li Xiyu had fallen asleep.
Since she was saved after attempting suicide, her sleep quality seemed to be very good. He had been talking to himself a lot while calculating the game, but Li Xiyu wasn't even woken up.
Putting down the chess piece, Song Jiaye walked to Li Xiyu's side. He reached out and patted Li Xiyu's shoulder, trying to wake her up.
But Li Xiyu mistook his hand for a pillow. She hugged his hand, pressed her face against his arm, rubbed her face like a kitten, and then fell back into a deep sleep.
Song Jiaye sighed and gave up the idea of waking her up.
Song Jiaye gently pulled out his hand, then bent down and picked her up.
Li Xiyu was very light, even lighter than he had imagined. Song Jiaye was quite surprised when he picked her up.
So she was this light.
He picked up Li Xiyu and carried her back to her room. Just as he reached the bedside, there was a sound of something falling to the ground.
Song Jiaye looked down and found it was a white chess piece. It had been stuck to Li Xiyu's face before. The movement was a bit big on the way here, and the chess piece was shaken off.
There was a small, red mark on Li Xiyu's face left by the chess piece.
Song Jiaye gently pushed it with his thumb, but this mark was caused by being pressed, and it wouldn't disappear in a short time.
As for Li Xiyu, who knew what dream she was having. As soon as Song Jiaye pressed it, she frowned.
Li Xiyu turned over and began to talk in her sleep vaguely. "Song Jiaye, if there's an afterlife, I don't want to be your wife."