Tonight, none of them continued the topic.
But they all knew that this topic was like a knot among them. As long as it remained unsolved, it would always be there, never disappearing on its own.
At 26, for Ren Qingzhou, this age was still young, far from the time to publicly announce his marriage and start a family.
But for Su Tang, she had graduated several years ago. It was time for her to have a family.
Ren Qingzhou really wanted to go home with Su Tang right now and tell her parents that he was willing to take care of her for the rest of her life.
He could provide her with a good material life, ensuring that she would never have to worry about food and clothing. But besides that, what else could he give her?
She couldn't even hold his hand openly and tell the world that this was her other half.
As parents, did they only hope that their children would have a good material life?
If he had a daughter in the future, he wouldn't allow such a man to take away his precious girl either.
This thought filled him with a sense of frustration. In fact, Ren Qingzhou had always been a strong - willed person in his life. So this sense of powerlessness hit him hard.
Su Tang saw him sitting on the balcony, lost in thought. His mood was visibly low. She poured him a glass of water and walked over to sit beside him.
"Is it because of the call from my mom?"
"Since that call, you've seemed unhappy all the time."
"Sort of, but not entirely." Ren Qingzhou looked at her and gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "If we were to make our relationship public now, how would people react?"
"Definitely not with all blessings." Su Tang replied. "Stop thinking about these things. There's still a long way to go, and we have to take it one step at a time."
"Besides love, there are many other pursuits in life. Don't let these romantic feelings hold you back too much."
Ren Qingzhou really didn't expect Su Tang to say such things. If these words had come from her agent or Li Momo, it would have been a perfectly normal thing to say.
As his partners in his career, they were concerned about the development of his career and didn't want his personal affairs to ruin his just - blossoming career.
But hearing these words from his girlfriend made him feel a strange emotion.
Suddenly, he had a thought that maybe Su Tang didn't understand him as well as he had thought.
Ren Qingzhou had always yearned for a family deeply. Since childhood, because his parents were too busy, he rarely saw both of them at home at the same time. There was always one of them too busy to take care of the family, and sometimes they were even away from home for a long time. His house was big, but it was often empty. Only the nanny took care of his daily life.
But after all, the nanny was not a family member. People always desired what they lacked the most. His pursuit in life was not a big house or a large amount of money, but a warm little family, a loving wife, and a pair of cute children.
He didn't know how, but somehow he stumbled into the entertainment industry, and he was getting farther and farther away from his vision of a family.
He had once asked himself if it was worth sacrificing all these for his music dream.
Maybe because he hadn't met the right person at that time, the answer was yes.
Then he met Su Tang, and he realized that fate was fair to everyone, and life was a series of choices.
If love and career couldn't coexist, which one should he choose?
In fact, he had hesitated and struggled countless times. But today, he suddenly heard Su Tang's choice.
What made him feel even more powerless was that this choice was made in the name of being good for him, leaving him with no way to refuse.
This made his already dejected mood even more down, but he couldn't tell Su Tang about it.
Ren Qingzhou lowered his head, trying to hide his inner emotions.
He stood up from the chair on the balcony. "I'll take you home."
Su Tang held onto Xihuan, while Ren Qingzhou carried Xihuan's daily necessities. The two of them went out together.
He drove the same car he had used to pick up Su Tang this afternoon.
"Xihuan usually goes to the pet hospital not far from my home for baths and grooming. I've recharged a card there. It's in the cabinet right inside my front door."
"Xihuan doesn't need much exercise and doesn't cause much damage at home. If you're busy, you can just leave him at home and let him run around on his own."
"As for when to get which shots and take what medicine, the pet hospital has his health card."
"I'll trouble you to take care of Xihuan for a while."
"Okay."
Until the car stopped in front of Su Tang's house, they didn't say anything other than about Xihuan.
This strange atmosphere lasted until Su Tang was about to get out of the car. She got out with Xihuan in her arms and said to Ren Qingzhou, "Remember to call me."
Ren Qingzhou nodded and watched as her figure, leading the dog, walked farther and farther away until it gradually disappeared from his sight.
He drove aimlessly on the streets of City S, looking at the people hurrying by and the traffic flowing in all directions. Everyone seemed to have their own destination. People walked in a hurry just to return to their own haven.
But at this moment, he felt completely lost. Where was his haven?
There were still many things waiting for him to do tomorrow. His reason told him that he should go back, but right now he didn't want to return to the place he called home.
In his eyes, it was just a house.
No different from any hotel he had stayed in.
He suddenly thought he was really being pretentious. There were countless people in this city struggling just to make a living.
And here he was, seeking some so - called spiritual sustenance. Many people thought that money could bring happiness, but they didn't know that although money could buy many things, it couldn't buy happiness. Behind all the debauchery and revelry were just empty souls.
The night outside the window was getting darker. His phone suddenly rang. He pulled the car over to the side of the road and answered the call.
On the other end of the phone, Xihuan was barking non - stop, and Su Tang's voice was a bit muffled. "Ren Qingzhou, could you come back and pick me up? I think I left something at your place."
"Okay." Ren Qingzhou turned the car around and drove back to Su Tang's house.
She was already waiting for him at the entrance of the community. She wasn't leading Xihuan; she was standing there alone.
He stopped the car, and she got in. "I left something very important at your place. Take me back."
The car merged back into the traffic and drove towards their destination.
Su Tang turned on the light in the living room. It was exactly the same as when she had left. She didn't know if Ren Qingzhou hadn't had time to tidy up or if he hadn't even been back.
His suitcase was placed in the entrance hall of the living room. He was going to leave City S early tomorrow morning.
This night of parting should have been filled with tenderness, but it had become less pleasant because of their disagreement.
She heard Ren Qingzhou ask her, "What did you forget? Go and find it yourself."
She turned around and smiled. "I forgot to take you with me."
"But you're a living person, and I couldn't take you away. So I had to come back myself."
"So are you willing to let me stay here tonight?"
She was a slow - reacting and slow - warming person, not as sensitive and delicate as Ren Qingzhou.
Sometimes he felt that their roles in this relationship seemed to be reversed.
It should have been him who was nervous, scared, and suspicious, but more often than not, Ren Qingzhou showed more insecurity than she did.
She was also reflecting. Maybe her hesitant attitude at the beginning had hurt him, making him always feel that she would give up on him.
Maybe it was because he had lacked a sense of security since childhood, so he was always worried about losing her.
Whether it was the former or the latter, she was willing to tolerate him.
The once - radiant boy had suddenly hidden his light and become an ordinary person. He had many characteristics of an artist, a sensitive personality, a delicate nerve, and a thoughtful soul. Those things that were beneficial for creation might become obstacles in life.
And she was a bit of a careless person. It wasn't until she got home that she realized Ren Qingzhou's abnormality tonight.
Parting was already sad, let alone a parting with a rift between them.
Fortunately, she had discovered it not too late, and there was still time to make up for it.
People who were not good at expressing their inner feelings might only show six parts of their love even if they had ten parts in their hearts.
They were better at hiding the remaining four parts in their hearts, using the unsaid words to protect themselves.
But they forgot that in the eyes of the other person, they might seem not to love that much.
In fact, there was more than one way to express love. Su Tang was also learning to let Ren Qingzhou feel the love in her heart.
This night was destined to be extraordinary. The souls of the two lovers got closer. Love was not only the communication between souls but also the harmony between bodies.
When the two of them hugged tightly, did their souls get closer too?
Could they hear each other's inner voices and feel the surging love?
Maybe only the people involved knew the answers. They were both learning to understand each other, even though the process was bumpy and sometimes not as satisfactory as they hoped.
But love itself was never an easy thing, wasn't it? We always had to go through setbacks to grow. As for those regrets and misunderstandings, they weren't actually that scary. We just had to learn to grow from each experience.
Human beings were incompatible individuals, but falling in love was a process of two individuals gradually merging. Since they had chosen to be together, they had to tolerate each other's shortcomings and understand each other's characteristics. That's why most people said it was easy to fall in love but hard to get along.
They had already experienced love at first sight, and they would also have the following mutual companionship. Su Tang firmly believed in this, just as she used to not understand those who changed for someone. But when she was actually in that situation, she understood their choices.