After Breaking the Ice-Beauty's Heart - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: It’s the Sound of Their Heartbeats.

At this moment, Zhou Nianzhi was holding a guitar and sitting in front of Song Yuli. Sheng Ning was on the side, holding a cup of water, quietly watching them.

“Don’t laugh at me.”

This was the umpteenth time Zhou Nianzhi had said this from before dinner to after dinner.

Song Yuli, still patient, smiled and said, “I won’t laugh at you.”

“I wrote a… something that I don’t even know if it’s considered lyrics,” Zhou Nianzhi put a piece of paper in front of her, found a small cardboard box to use as a footstool, placed her left hand on the fretboard, and her right hand on the soundboard, ready to begin her performance at any time.

Zhou Nianzhi emphasized again, “I’m saying it one more time. Don’t laugh at me. If I don’t sing well, just treat it as a poetry recitation.”

Song Yuli wasn’t shy at all and said, “As long as it’s sung by Zhi Zhi, I’ll love it.”

Sheng Ning took a sip of water and nodded in satisfaction.

The evening breeze made the curtains billow, just like Zhou Nianzhi’s puffed-up cheeks.

After a long while, she let out a long sigh—

“I’m going to start now, I’m really going to start now!”

The lights dimmed, leaving only one faint light.

Zhou Nianzhi gently touched a string.

“I tear open the faint wounds I wait for the surge of the waves The fish suffocates in the water I drown on the shore Loneliness devours me It tells me to be silent I also want to exist in the night forever I chase forward Chasing after the never-ending tide I fall down Falling into the endless darkness”

Zhou Nianzhi paused, her gaze leaving her left hand to meet Song Yuli’s.

It was like going back to countless moments of despair, to the moment Song Yuli reached out her hand to her.

She called out Song Yuli’s name.

Song Yuli tilted her head in confusion.

Zhou Nianzhi smiled and said softly, “Thank you.”

There were so many moments to be thankful for, but right now, she just wanted to be thankful for her presence.

Then, Zhou Nianzhi placed her hand on the strings again and continued to play and sing—

“Plop.” I opened my eyes. I saw her reach out her hand and ask me to hold on tight. The light dispels the shadows. At this moment, daybreak arrives.”

Zhou Nianzhi’s mind was reminiscing about every moment since they had reunited.

“Plop.” The heart begins to beat. The fish swims in the water. The deep winter has passed. From now on, spring has arrived.”

Song Yuli secretly wiped away the tears in the corners of her eyes, her heart filled with every moment they had once shared.

The melody stopped.

Their memories converged at this very moment.

Let all those memories stay in the past. This moment is brand new.

Zhou Nianzhi put down her guitar and said with a smile, “Song Yuli, I promised you I would sing a song for you.”

Song Yuli said, “That’s not enough. I want many, many more.”

Sheng Ning coughed twice and, in the somewhat ambiguous atmosphere, said, “Oh, when you get old, you just love to sleep. You young people can have your fun. I’m going to sleep.”

Zhou Nianzhi turned on the lights. Her flushed cheeks were very visible under the light, and she said a little shyly, “Mom…”

Song Yuli immediately stood up and helped Sheng Ning walk to the room.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m really just going to sleep because I’m tired,” Sheng Ning said as she walked. “And I’m a very deep sleeper. No matter how loud you are, you won’t wake me up.”

Zhou Nianzhi’s neck was about to turn red along with her face. It was so hot that her head felt a little dizzy.

It must be because it’s too hot.

She put the guitar away and kept fanning herself with her hand, trying to cool herself down.

“Oh, right,” Sheng Ning said, not forgetting to add something as she reached the door of her room. “Zhi Zhi, you can also stay at little Song’s place for the night. It’s very close by, so if anything happens, I can just call you, and you’ll definitely be able to come back in time.”

Ah—

The temperature is not going to go down.

“Mom…” Zhou Nianzhi mumbled. “That’s not a good idea…”

Sheng Ning smiled and said, “What’s so bad about it? Didn’t you love to stay at little Song’s house for the night when you were a kid?”

“It’s different now. Now… now we’re all grown up,” Zhou Nianzhi’s mind was blank, and she was talking incoherently.

“What’s different?”

“What’s different?”

Sheng Ning and Song Yuli said at the same time.

Then the two of them looked at each other, as if they approved of each other’s words.

Zhou Nianzhi only felt that it was so stuffy and hot at this moment.

“Bang.”

Sheng Ning closed the door.

Only the two of them were left in the living room. Song Yuli didn’t look at Zhou Nianzhi. She just said faintly, “Want to go to my place?”

Zhou Nianzhi pouted. “No way.”

Five minutes later.

“Bang.”

The door to Song Yuli’s apartment was closed.

Zhou Nianzhi was still fanning herself with her hand, looking left and right, and said, “I just came over to talk to you. Yes, just to have a simple chat.”

“Okay,” Song Yuli turned on the air conditioner and gave Zhou Nianzhi two tissues to wipe her sweat. “Just talk.”

“Mhm!” Zhou Nianzhi nodded emphatically. “Just talk!”

Another five minutes later.

Zhou Nianzhi moved closer to Song Yuli, walking forward step by step, and backed her against the wall. She said, “I suddenly don’t want to just talk anymore.”

“Hm?” Song Yuli raised her eyebrows and smiled. “What a coincidence, me neither.”

In the air-conditioned room, hot sweat was still dripping down.

This time, they weren’t breeding in hatred but embracing each other in an abundance of love.

Even the kisses they shared were much gentler.

They used their fingertips to trace the shapes of each other’s faces, slowly outlining the image of their lover in their hearts.

They leaned down and gently kissed away each other’s tears.

At the age of twenty-two, in a hotel.

Because of the heavy rain, they only got to experience a “sunset” of separation.

Zhou Nianzhi remembered that after that night, she endured the sadness in her heart, buttoned up the other’s shirt, covered up the numerous red marks, and left a message: “Song Yuli, let’s never see each other again.”

After that, she sat outside the hotel and let the cold wind blow on her all night.

Most of the marks left on each other’s bodies had been washed away by time.

But love had not been taken away by the wind.

At the age of twenty-four, in their hometown.

After that rain, they didn’t get to see the bright moon in the sky.

The moonlight was in her arms but could disappear at any moment.

They both desperately wanted to grab each other, and in the end, nothing happened.

Zhou Nianzhi sat next to Song Yuli, gently fanning her. When it got cooler, she went to the sofa, and she didn’t sleep all night again.

At this time, in this place.

The only thing they touched was each other’s souls.

The hands they held would never let go again.

“Plop.”

It was the sound of falling into the sea.

It was Song Yuli’s despair and helplessness after finding out she was an abandoned child. She drowned in the sea and became silent.

It was Zhou Nianzhi falling into the sea after experiencing her family leaving or getting seriously ill over and over again, feeling suffocated.

“Plop.”

It was the sound of them rushing toward each other.

She grabbed her hand and led her to swim upward.

At the exit of the darkness, she saw the light.

“Plop.”

It was the sound of their heartbeats.

It was a love that was the same year after year. Even when they were in different places or were forced to be apart, they still loved each other.

In the hot room, the sound of the air conditioner couldn’t cover the sound of blooming.

The petals were gently crushed, and water seeped out. It wasn’t a splashing sound but a slow, slow flow.

It wasn’t raining today.

But they were still in the rain.

After a lot of sweating that night, Zhou Nianzhi took a shower and slowly started to feel sleepy.

She felt very safe and relaxed.

So she started to feel sleepy and wanted to go to bed.

Before she went to sleep, Zhou Nianzhi specifically told Song Yuli that if she fell asleep, she had to pay attention to her phone to see if anyone called. If she was sleeping too soundly, she could answer it first and then wake her up.

Song Yuli agreed, her hand still gently resting on the side of Zhou Nianzhi’s cheek.

Zhou Nianzhi was ticklish, but she was too sleepy, so she just rubbed against the other side and didn’t say anything.

Song Yuli smiled and said softly, “You’re just like a little cat.”

Zhou Nianzhi buried her face in the pillow and said in a muffled voice, “Be careful, I might scratch you.”

Song Yuli bent over laughing, her eyes full of affection.

The Zhou Nianzhi in front of her was so adorable. Her little face was red as she slept on her side, and even her messy hair looked like it was carefully styled, poking straight into Song Yuli’s heart.

Oh, my God.

How could anyone be so adorable?

Song Yuli felt like her heart was melting.

Suddenly, Zhou Nianzhi’s phone rang.

Song Yuli picked up the phone, looked at Zhou Nianzhi who was sleeping soundly, and saw the two words “Lianlian” on the screen. She raised her eyebrows.

She hesitated for two seconds, then shook Zhou Nianzhi and said, “Lin An is calling you.”

Zhou Nianzhi, who had just fallen asleep, let out a couple of “oh” sounds and said in a muffled voice without thinking too much, “Lin An? Then you can talk to her first. Call me if it’s important.”

After she said that, Zhou Nianzhi fell back into a peaceful sleep.

Song Yuli agreed and then clicked “answer.”

Lin An got straight to the point: “Nianzhi, I’m sorry for calling you late at night on the weekend. I just finished up and have some time. You also called me late at night last time, so I thought you might still be awake.”

Song Yuli didn’t answer and just listened quietly.

“Yunyun asked me for your contact information to call you. How was your chat? I’m so curious, so I just called directly,” Lin An said, as if she had opened a floodgate. “Nianzhi, I miss you so much. Yunyun doesn’t hang out with me, so I miss you even more. I really want to go back to when we were kids, and the three of us could sleep together, and then—”

Song Yuli finally interrupted Lin An, “That’s probably not going to happen now.”

Lin An said “oh” and said with understanding, “That’s true. We’re all grown up and busy with our own careers.”

“That’s not the reason,” Song Yuli smiled, and it seemed that Lin An didn’t realize that the person on the other end of the phone wasn’t Zhou Nianzhi.

“Then what else could be the reason? You two broke up…” Lin An paused.

Song Yuli could clearly hear the surprise, shock, and disbelief from the other end of the phone.

Lin An said in surprise, “Are you Song Yuli?”

Song Yuli answered candidly, “Yes.”

Lin An started to speculate, “How do you have Zhou Nianzhi’s phone? Did you kidnap her? Don’t do that. You just broke up. It’s not like you have any kind of grudge…”

Song Yuli replied, “We’re back together.”

“That’s good,” Lin An nodded. After all, getting back together was better than any other way. But then she thought about it again and her eyes widened in shock. “What! You’re back together?”

Song Yuli replied firmly, “Mhm.”

Lin An still wanted to say something, but she suddenly heard the voices of Zhou Nianzhi and Song Yuli talking on the other end of the phone.

The voices were very close, as if they were right next to Lin An’s ear.

Song Yuli asked, “Are you awake?”

Zhou Nianzhi’s voice was a little groggy from being half-asleep. “Song Yuli, I’m here with the air conditioner on, but Mom is using a fan…”

Song Yuli said, “It’s okay. I’ll buy one later.”

Zhou Nianzhi refused, “I don’t want it. I want to buy it myself.”

Song Yuli said, “Then I’ll lend you a little, just to get through the summer.”

Zhou Nianzhi said, “You’re so good to me. I’m too embarrassed to accept it.”

Song Yuli said, “Then kiss me again.”

After that, Lin An couldn’t listen anymore.

She almost yelled, “Can you two please hang up before you start showing your affection?”

Then, a “yah—” from Zhou Nianzhi came from the other end of the phone.

“Lianlian, are you still there?” Zhou Nianzhi said, holding the phone. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”

Lin An kept her smile. “It’s okay. I’m a little tired. Goodnight.”

The call ended.

Lin An knew that the two people on the other end of the phone’s hearts were probably going plop, plop.

And her heart skipped a beat.