Su Zhinian's fingers froze. After about two seconds, he responded with a faded "Hmm."
He understood that she was trying to mark the separation between them; this was what he wanted, but in the end, it still hurt him.
Su Zhinian slowly pulled back his hand. He was about to help her with the back door, but before he could do that, Song Qingchun patted the snow off her body and climbed into the car on her own.
Su Zhinian stood outside the door for a moment before walking around the front of the car to get back into the driver's seat. After he put on the seatbelt, he snuck a glance at Song Qingchun in the rear-view mirror.
When he got out from the car earlier, he did not turn off the ignition. The snow that had gathered on Song Qingchun's hair melted with a speed observable to the naked eye.He leaned over toward the passenger seat to pull open the compartment. He pulled out a clean white towel from within and handed it to Song Qingchun.
Song Qingchun was confused before she understood the meaning of his action. She thanked him softly before taking the towel to wipe off the water from her hair and face.
Su Zhinian did not say a word but turned to look at the road and started the engine.
It was incredibly silent inside the car, which caused the atmosphere to become awfully tense. Perhaps Su Zhinian wanted to smooth over the atmosphere or simply because he wanted to talk to her, when the car stopped at the red light, he suddenly asked, "How is the wedding dress coming along?"
He knew that she had already designed and made the wedding dress because when Tony helped her with the dress, she took several pictures and shared it among her friends. The girl in the picture was gorgeous; there was a glint in her eyes, and the white dress heightened her beauty and grace.
Song Qingchun probably did not expect that Su Zhinian would actively seek a conversation with her because she was visibly surprised. She nodded before adding a "thank you" minutes later.
Su Zhinian understood that she was thanking him for helping her contact Tony. He did not respond, but his eyes that stared at the snow started to waver. After a moment, when Su Zhinian wanted to say something, Song Qingchun's phone suddenly rang.It was from Qin Yinan.
Through the rear-view mirror, he saw her lower her head to talk Qin Yinan in gentle tone. On the phone, Qin Yinan reported that the plane had been delayed because the weather in Beijing was too bad. He was practically stranded at the Shanghai airport, so he had called to ask if she wanted a souvenir.
Song Qingchun smiled. She tilted her head to think about it before telling him she wanted an eye-cream. Qin Yinan agreed easily. They did not hang up even as Qin Yinan went searching for the brand that she preferred. Song Qingchun described the brand to him over the phone, and after he had made the purchase, Qin Yinan asked her whether she needed something else, and she replied, "That's all…"
Even though it was a conversation that was fairly mundane, Su Zhinian's heart was bleeding with pain as he listened to it.
When Song Qingchun finally hung up, Su Zhinian realized with a start that he had driven past the entrance to the nearest subway station. When he saw the confusion on her face, he uttered rather awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention and already drove past the place."
