It was noon.
Outside the window, the sun was glaring and scorching. Inside the room, the curtains were tightly drawn. They did an excellent job of blocking out the light. Except for a thin sliver of light seeping through the curtain crack, there was no other source of illumination.
Chen Yu'an was sitting on the single - person sofa in the corner. On the vintage round table beside him was an empty bottle of brandy.
Next to the empty bottle was an ashtray filled with drained cigarette butts.
Chen Yu'an rested his arm on the armrest, swirling the wine glass in his hand. His gaze was fixed intently on the huge screen in front of him.
The screen was playing a jumbled succession of images like a carousel.
They were the daily moments of Qing Mian that he had recorded before.
All were short snippets. Some were as brief as one or two minutes, while the longer ones lasted seven or eight minutes. After one clip ended, the next would automatically play.
There was no beginning and no end.
"Brother."
The person on the screen smiled brightly at the camera and called out.
Chen Yu'an felt a momentary daze.
He lifted his eyes and looked at the screen.
Suddenly, a ringing phone interrupted his train of thought.
The phone on the table vibrated heavily.
Chen Yu'an squinted and glanced sideways at the phone screen.
Most likely it was Tan Si calling with some work problem he couldn't handle.
Apart from Tan Si, there was no one else who would call him.
The phone kept ringing in his ear, drowning out Qing Mian's voice on the screen.
Chen Yu'an felt annoyed for a moment. He reached out to slide the screen to hang up the call but accidentally pressed the answer button.
Before he could end the call, Qing Mian's voice came through from the other end.
"Brother."
"Brother."
The familiar voice came from both the screen and the phone at the same time.
One was full of joy, while from the other, he couldn't discern the emotion.
Chen Yu'an's eyes flickered. He was stunned for a moment, and his hand went slack. The wine glass, still half - filled with wine, fell to his feet. The broken glass made a crisp sound.
This sound also pulled Chen Yu'an back to his senses.
On the other end of the phone, Qing Mian frowned upon hearing the sound. Seeing that Chen Yu'an didn't say anything, she called out again into the phone, "Brother?"
Only then did Chen Yu'an confirm that he wasn't hallucinating. He fumbled to pick up the phone and carefully pressed it to his ear.
He took a deep breath and after a while, just let out a soft "hmm" into the phone.
Then he added, "I'm here."
He tried hard to keep his voice at a normal tone, but because he had smoked too many cigarettes just now, his voice still sounded a bit muffled.
Apart from Chen Yu'an's voice, Qing Mian could faintly hear some noisy sounds from the other end of the phone. She asked:
"Didn't you go to the company today?"
Qing Mian had been to Chen Yu'an's office many times. He liked quietness, so his office was always quiet without any extra noise. The sounds coming from the other end made Qing Mian sure that he wasn't at the company.
"Yeah, I'm on leave today."
Chen Yu'an couldn't remember how many times he had fantasized about Qing Mian caring about him like before, pestering him with questions and chattering non - stop.
Even now, he still couldn't quite believe that Qing Mian had really called him.
Qing Mian was a bit surprised by Chen Yu'an's answer.
As everyone knew, Chen Yu'an was a well - known workaholic. Even on rest days before, his phone would ring one after another without a break.
Now he was taking a leave for himself. He wasn't working with such high intensity as before.
Qing Mian wanted to make the atmosphere a bit more normal, so she made a joke.
"You never used to take a vacation for yourself. Now that you're married, you've shifted your focus to your family. That's good."
As soon as she said this, Qing Mian realized what she had said. She remembered the matter between An Ya and Kai.
She smacked her forehead in annoyance. Just as she was thinking about how to make up for it, Chen Yu'an's voice came from the other end:
"Why did you suddenly call me?"
He didn't answer Qing Mian's previous question.
As soon as he finished speaking, Qing Mian tightened her grip on the phone slightly. The atmosphere suddenly became a bit ambiguous.
It used to be that she could call him whenever she wanted without being asked why.
Now...
It took Qing Mian a while to speak, "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered that I haven't told you that I've taken up the piano again."
"Yeah, I've heard about it."
"Do you still remember the grand piano you bought for me when I was a kid?"
Qing Mian asked into the phone.
Chen Yu'an's eyes flickered slightly, "Yeah, I remember."
But that piano was now buried underground in Qingyuan along with An Ya.
"There's also one here. It's older than the one you gave me before. I heard Si Moshen had to go to a lot of trouble to get it."
Chen Yu'an: "Yeah."
Chen Yu'an didn't say much.
It used to be like this too. She would talk a lot, and he would just give a simple response or two, just like now.
But Qing Mian could feel that he was responding seriously.
He was still the same as before, but Qing Mian now felt inexplicably embarrassed, as if two strangers were having an awkward conversation.
This thought made Qing Mian unable to clearly describe her current emotions for a moment.
She didn't let herself be immersed in such emotions for too long.
The call she made to Chen Yu'an wasn't for a casual chat.
"Brother, An Ya's due date should have passed. Why haven't you mentioned anything about the baby?"
When Qing Mian asked this question, her palms started to sweat because of nervousness.
The few seconds waiting for Chen Yu'an's answer seemed like a century.
She wasn't sure if Chen Yu'an knew about An Ya's affair. If he did, then according to what Lu Wenxi had just told her...
An Ya was picked up by Chen Yu'an. I'm afraid...
Unconsciously, Qing Mian recalled the look in Chen Yu'an's eyes when she knelt in the snow all those years ago.
Now, if he knew about An Ya's betrayal...
There was always a faint sense of uneasiness in Qing Mian's heart.
But she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
On the other end of the phone, Chen Yu'an was silent for a while after hearing Qing Mian's words and then replied, "Erbao, what do you want to ask?"
Before Qing Mian could speak, Chen Yu'an's voice continued.
"I've always known about An Ya's affair. The baby isn't mine either."
As soon as Chen Yu'an finished his last word, Qing Mian's eyes were filled with shock. She couldn't wait to ask, "Then why did you pick her up? Where are you going to send her?!"
As soon as she said this, the expression on Chen Yu'an's face on the other end of the phone clearly froze for a moment. Then, he self - deprecatingly curled his lips.
"You're afraid I'll send her to Mexico too, aren't you?"
Qing Mian was momentarily speechless when her thoughts were exposed.
Chen Yu'an guessed right. She was indeed worried that he would send An Ya to the same place.
An Ya was different from her. Once she started to take revenge, she could do anything.
Subconsciously, she didn't want Chen Yu'an to get into trouble.
Before she could figure out how to explain, Chen Yu'an's voice continued to ring in her ear.
"Erbao, I won't send her anywhere. She's still in the imperial capital."