After a long, long time, the person holding her finally replied silently, "Yeah."
"I was knocked unconscious by a car last time. Otherwise, I would've said goodbye to you no matter what. But this time, don't be afraid. I won't leave. I'll stay right here. My family... is right here."
Hearing this, Qin Chengyao's body suddenly froze. Then he pulled back Ji Siyue and looked at her with a hint of surprise on his face.
"What do you mean by that?"
Ji Siyue blushed for no reason. "The literal meaning?"
"Do you mean that I'm your family? Are you willing to marry me?"
Hearing this, Ji Siyue immediately jumped away. "Don't talk nonsense. I never said I'd marry you... Oh! Don't ask. Anyway, I won't leave. My home is right here."
Qin Chengyao finally got the answer he had been dreaming of and finally calmed down. He stepped forward and hugged Ji Siyue again.
"It's all good. As long as you don't leave. I'm so happy, Siyue. I'm so happy you're not leaving."
Ji Siyue also hugged him back and gently patted his shoulder.
Although he didn't say anything about himself, Ji Siyue knew him so well that she could feel how nervous he had been from his embrace.
So was she really that important to him?
Thinking of this, all the bad feelings from her fight with Nan Ye just now vanished from Ji Siyue's mind.
Ji Siyue stayed there for two hours before going back. When she got back, Nan Ye was sitting on the bed, tugging at her own hair, with tears all over her face.
Ji Siyue was startled. She quickly ran over and covered Nan Ye's hand, asking in shock, "Mom! Mom, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me!"
Nan Ye didn't say a word. Seeing Ji Siyue, she seemed to calm down a bit, but then she cried even harder.
She hugged Ji Siyue.
"Siyue... I really... want to be with you."
Held in her arms, Ji Siyue looked at the hair on the ground and couldn't help but have a terrible thought cross her mind.
"Mom, you've lost so much hair. Are you sick?"
Hearing this, Nan Ye cried even more.
Ji Siyue was stunned for a moment. Then she almost screamed and rushed out, pounding on Qin Chengyao's door crazily.
However, before Qin Chengyao came to open the door, she felt a sudden dizziness. Her body went limp uncontrollably and she fell to the ground.
...
She didn't know how long she had slept. All Ji Siyue felt was that she seemed to be wandering back and forth between ice and fire.
Qin Chengyao looked at Ji Siyue in bed, frowning deeply.
He went downstairs and saw Nan Ye sitting on the sofa. He asked, "Auntie, what's wrong with her?"
"She was startled when she saw my hair falling out."
Qin Chengyao walked to the side, poured her a glass of water and handed it to her. "Are you sick?"
Seeing how familiar he was with Ji Siyue's house, Nan Ye asked, "Son, are you her boyfriend?"
Qin Chengyao was stunned by this question.
Although he and Ji Siyue were in an ambiguous relationship, Ji Siyue had never answered him directly. He had said it more than once, but she had never responded...
"I don't know if I am." That was all he could say.
Nan Ye nodded as if she understood something. "I know. This girl has a lot on her mind. But I can tell she seems to like you. Do you live next door? Did you buy the houses together?"
"No. I've been living here for two years. Siyue just moved here a few days ago. It was just a coincidence." Qin Chengyao was afraid Nan Ye would misunderstand something, so he quickly explained.
Nan Ye waved her hand. "I... I'm sick. I may not have much time left. That's why I divorced her father and came here to make up for Siyue. But she doesn't seem to want that."
"Does Uncle know you're sick?"
"...No."
"Maybe Uncle still loves you, so he agreed to divorce you. You shouldn't hide this from your closest person."
While they were talking downstairs, they didn't notice that Ji Siyue upstairs was desperately suppressing her sobs so that the people downstairs wouldn't notice.
At night, Ji Siyue "woke up", but Nan Ye fell asleep again.
Qin Chengyao helped carry Nan Ye upstairs. Ji Siyue walked out to the corridor and dialed a number she hadn't called for a long time.
"Hello? Dad?"
Ji Siyue asked softly.
"Siyue! You finally called me!" The man's voice on the other end of the phone was filled with ecstasy.
"Yeah, Dad. Mom is with me now."
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone. Then he sighed and said, "Siyue, don't blame us. We broke up peacefully."
Ji Siyue finally couldn't help shouting, "Mom lied to you!"
Qin Chengyao just walked out and heard Ji Siyue shouting this. He was stunned for a moment but didn't step forward. Instead, he stood in the distance and watched her silently.
"She really... fell in love with someone else? It's okay. I don't blame her. I respect her choice. This girl is still as willful as before..."
Hearing her father's words, Ji Siyue finally couldn't help telling him everything she knew.
After listening, Ji Yi was silent on the phone for a long, long time. Finally, he said, "Wait for me. I'll come back to China right away."
"Okay. Come back quickly. Wuwuwu..."
After hanging up the phone, Ji Siyue squatted on the ground and started crying. Qin Chengyao walked over and lovingly embraced her in his arms.
One day later, Ji Yi finally crossed half the globe and came back.
He found the address of Ji Siyue's current house by himself. After the three - member family met, they hugged each other and cried for a long, long time.
Qin Chengyao watched them and quietly retreated to his own room.
He sat alone for a long, long time. Finally, he took out his phone and dialed a number he remembered by heart but didn't have in his contacts.
"Didi didi..."
The phone wasn't answered for a long time. Just when Qin Chengyao was about to hang up, the phone suddenly connected. A familiar voice came from the other end, hitting his eardrums.
"Yaoyao?"
Qin Chengyao immediately smiled. As he smiled, he cried.
"Mom, I've told you so many times not to call me that. How are you and Uncle in the foreign country..."
He hadn't dared to make this call for over a year. Now, he finally had the courage to make it.
The moon was so round tonight, but it looked so cold, without a bit of warmth.
The people in the two houses were all having all - night conversations with their closest people at this moment.