After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 19

Chapter 19: But The Love Was Definitely In Them.

Song Yuli’s answer was direct and to the point: “Yes.”

Zhou Nianzhi felt a bit annoyed, but she was mostly shocked. “I didn’t even say what it was.”

Song Yuli’s tone remained incredibly calm, as if Zhou Nianzhi wasn’t accusing her but simply stating a common fact. “I guessed what it was.”

“I was actually just asking about this song, I bet you didn’t think of that,” Zhou Nianzhi said with a pout after hearing Song Yuli’s reply. “I wanted to say that you knew it was my favorite song, so you played it on purpose.”

Hearing the certainty in Zhou Nianzhi’s voice, Song Yuli asked, “Can’t I like this song?”

Zhou Nianzhi was stunned. The smile that had just appeared on her face disappeared, and she said awkwardly, “Yeah, haha, why didn’t I think of that…”

It was probably because Song Yuli had always catered to her preferences before, so she had often taken all of Song Yuli’s favoritism for granted.

It seemed only time and other people were moving forward.

She was trapped in the past, unable to see a new life.

After a moment of silence, Song Yuli asked, “Do you want to change the song?”

“Whatever,” Zhou Nianzhi said dejectedly, her voice low.

The wind outside was too loud, and Song Yuli probably didn’t hear clearly. She asked, “What?”

“What-ever!” Zhou Nianzhi raised her voice, and the shout seemed to liven her up a bit.

Song Yuli didn’t reply, she probably still didn’t hear her.

Zhou Nianzhi didn’t want to shout anymore, so she just grumbled to herself, “You’re not going to make me sing, are you?”

Song Yuli agreed instantly: “Okay.”

The question marks flashing through Zhou Nianzhi’s mind were more numerous than the stars in the sky.

She rubbed her ears. They were indeed a bit stuffy and uncomfortable. She glanced at Song Yuli, who was driving intently, and then looked away, telling herself that since Song Yuli was driving and had been on the road for so long, she must be exhausted, so it was understandable that she couldn’t hear her.

Although she kept trying to convince herself, she still didn’t understand why Song Yuli had only heard her last sentence.

And why she was talking to her in that tone of voice—

“It’s okay, you don’t have to sing if you don’t want to.”

There was a hint of resignation in her understanding and a trace of sadness in her acceptance. The simple sentence combined various emotions, making it heartbreaking to hear.

Zhou Nianzhi thought to herself, It’s a pity Song Yuli wasn’t given an acting award.

She quickly changed her mind, thinking it wasn’t worth it. After all, the current Song Yuli would probably say “I didn’t hear that” in front of everyone, and then after the host read the award name again, she would smile slightly, cover her mouth in mock surprise and say, “Oh, it’s me,” before calmly accepting the trophy and everyone’s praise.

But asking the current Zhou Nianzhi to sing was a bit much.

So she still refused Song Yuli, saying, “Just keep playing this one, then.”

Song Yuli said, “Alright.”

Not “okay,” or “mhm.”

But “Alright.”

Ugh.

Why did it feel like Song Yuli was a little disappointed?

Zhou Nianzhi decided to close her eyes. As long as she didn’t see Song Yuli in her peripheral vision, she wouldn’t overthink things.

Song Yuli asked, “Are you tired? There are jackets and blankets in the back. You can use them when we get to the rest stop…”

Zhou Nianzhi turned her head to the other side and said with some impatience, “Just focus on driving.”

Song Yuli replied with an “okay” and then fell silent, focusing all her attention on the road.

Oh my God.

Zhou Nianzhi really wanted to slap herself. It wouldn’t be a hard slap, but she needed to learn her lesson. How did she get so mad all of a sudden?

Why was she able to talk politely and be incredibly patient with strangers, even when faced with a hundred difficulties, but she couldn’t show even a little bit of temper? Why did she only get impatient and angry with Song Yuli? The same Song Yuli who was willing to give her a ride home, the same Song Yuli who she had hurt so badly before?

Her stubborn personality prevented her from apologizing. She could only frown slightly, close her eyes tightly, and bite her lower lip to control her emotions. The initial feeling of not wanting to look at Song Yuli had now turned into being afraid to.

Fortunately, there was still music in the world.

To the sound of the song, Zhou Nianzhi slowly cleared her mind, pulling herself away from her chaotic thoughts for a moment.

She remembered the first time she sang for Song Yuli. It was in high school, on Song Yuli’s birthday, when she sang a few lines of “Happy Birthday.”

The second time she sang for Song Yuli was during the summer after they graduated from high school. Zhou Nianzhi had a sudden idea and invited Song Yuli to go to karaoke with her. When she got tired of singing, she realized that Song Yuli hadn’t sung a single word the whole time. She had just sat there quietly, watching her sing.

After that, most of the singing took place when they were studying in different cities. Song Yuli always wanted her to sing a song before they ended their calls.

One time, Song Yuli called in the middle of the day. Zhou Nianzhi was busy with something else and missed the call. When she called back, she found out that Song Yuli just wanted to hear her sing. At the time, Zhou Nianzhi was too busy and didn’t fulfill Song Yuli’s wish, casually saying, “Next time.”

It wasn’t until later that Zhou Nianzhi found out that on that day, Song Yuli had been injured. Bl00d was pouring out of her wound on her way to the hospital, so much that others couldn’t even stand to look. After the wound was bandaged, someone asked Song Yuli if it hurt, but she just replied that it didn’t. After only a couple of days of rest, she went back to her part-time job at the place where she got injured.

Song Yuli had received Zhou Nianzhi’s call after her wound was bandaged. She deliberately aimed the camera at only the top half of her face to prevent Zhou Nianzhi from seeing her pale lips.

When Zhou Nianzhi found out, she was heartbroken. She rushed over, sat on a long bench, looked at the scar on Song Yuli’s hand, and cried with heartache. “How could it not hurt? Song Yuli, why didn’t you tell me…”

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, don’t cry. And since you’re here, I have to complain. I called you when I got hurt, but you said you were busy,” Song Yuli said, wiping away Zhou Nianzhi’s tears with her hand and gently patting her back. “So I wanted to hear you sing for me. When you sing, my hand doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Song Yuli, why are you so corny…” Zhou Nianzhi said, her voice choked. After wiping her nose with a tissue, she said with great conviction, “From now on, if you ask me to sing for you, I’ll definitely sing for you!”

Zhou Nianzhi had broken her promise again.

If breaking a promise meant being struck by lightning, then based on the countless promises Zhou Nianzhi had made to Song Yuli before, she would have already been turned to dust.

Suddenly, Zhou Nianzhi opened her eyes and looked at Song Yuli, who was still driving.

She thought to herself, Did Song Yuli get hurt somewhere else again? I don’t see any wounds…

Zhou Nianzhi pursed her lips, deciding to apologize properly to Song Yuli.

But before she could say a word, Song Yuli spoke first: “Did I wake you up?”

“No, no,” Zhou Nianzhi denied with a shake of her head. “I wasn’t asleep.”

The words she had carefully prepared were interrupted by Song Yuli. Zhou Nianzhi didn’t know how to start again.

Song Yuli continued to ask, “Are you uncomfortable? Or does your back hurt again?”

Zhou Nianzhi kept waving her hands to deny it. “No, no, everything’s fine.”

Song Yuli changed the subject and asked, “Are you still using the guitar I gave you?”

Zhou Nianzhi’s waving hand stopped. The “no” that was almost out of her mouth got stuck in her throat, and she didn’t know how to answer.

Forget it, she should just tell the truth.

She was still a little afraid of being struck by lightning.

After careful consideration, Zhou Nianzhi could only reply, “No.”

This time, the “no” wasn’t as light and carefree as before. It was filled with a clear sense of dejection and sadness.

Song Yuli changed her question: “Did you keep it?”

Ah.

Zhou Nianzhi looked up at the sky.

The her from a moment ago, who wanted to tell the truth, had changed again.

One more lightning strike wouldn’t make a difference.

Besides, it wasn’t a complete lie.

Zhou Nianzhi tried to make her voice sound as cold as possible. “I sold it secondhand. I couldn’t take it when I moved, so I just sold it.”

Song Yuli’s tone was also very casual, as if she hadn’t taken it to heart at all. She only said one sentence: “Good, that’s very decisive.”

There was not a single trace of disappointment in her words.

That, in turn, made Zhou Nianzhi feel a little disappointed.

She had expected Song Yuli to look upset and sad, and she had already prepared how to continue showing her ruthlessness to make Song Yuli completely give up on her.

However, Song Yuli’s reaction left her with no way to perform the scene she had rehearsed for so long.

Since she couldn’t say the words she had prepared, Zhou Nianzhi found a new topic. “How is Grandma’s health?”

Song Yuli replied, “She’s doing well.”

Zhou Nianzhi nodded. As she opened a bag of snacks with her hands, she suddenly realized that she still liked to call Song Yuli’s grandmother “Grandma,” a term of endearment that made her feel like she was her own grandmother.

It was probably because Grandma was so wonderful. Zhou Nianzhi had never met her own grandma, but Song Yuli’s grandma always treated her like her own granddaughter. Whenever she went to Song Yuli’s house, Grandma would always find a variety of snacks for them to eat and take them shopping at the mall.

Sometimes, Grandma would also secretly lead Zhou Nianzhi to look at baby photos of Song Yuli.

Because of this, Zhou Nianzhi would often exclaim, “Grandma really likes me.”

Song Yuli would nod. “I take after my grandma.”

Whenever she heard that, Zhou Nianzhi would laugh for a long time, saying, “What kind of confession is that?”

Grandma’s voice would come from outside the room, “Hey—girls, dinner’s ready.”

They would jump off the bed, open the door, and the fragrant aroma would always make them forget all their worries.

Crunch.

Zhou Nianzhi ate the potato chips in her hand. During the break at the rest stop, she had taken out her snacks and placed them on her lap.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Zhou Nianzhi asked, remembering Song Yuli who was still driving next to her.

“I’m not hungry,” Song Yuli said.

“Okay,” Zhou Nianzhi continued to eat her potato chips, making sure not to make too much noise so she wouldn’t make Song Yuli hungry.

“If I have time after I’m done with things at home, I want to go see Grandma,” Zhou Nianzhi said, looking at the potato chips in her hand. She remembered the brand of potato chips that had a different name but sounded the same and looked similar to a big brand, and her longing for Grandma grew stronger.

The potato chips might not have been what she wanted.

But the love was definitely in them.

“No,” Song Yuli rejected her directly, without hesitation, and said in a cold voice, “You can’t go see Grandma.”