After Song Qingchun deemed it permissible to leave the villa, she would walk around the place for a long time. Su Zhinian would be beside her like her shadow, but she acted like he did not even exist. She did not acknowledge him with a glance, much less a word.

  Initially, when Song Qingchun left the villa, she was wearing not enough layers or her heels would slip on the pebbled road, he would give her his jacket or reach out to hold her. However, whenever that happened, Song Qingchun would change into a different person. She peeled the jacket off her, threw it to the ground, and angrily flung his arm away before turning back to the villa.

  Su Zhinian knew that Song Qingchun did not want to see him, so whenever she felt like coming out, he would evade her so that he would not appear in her sight. However, the holiday villa was only so big, and they had to run into each other at some point.

  That day it was snowing heavily, and a few children of the villa residents were out playing in the snow. Song Qingchun, who was at least ten years older than them, joined the children and started to play alongside them. When their snowman was half built, they abandoned the project to start a snowball fight. Song Qingchun, who had not smiled for all these days, started to laugh sincerely when she played with the children.

  Through the silvery laughter of children, Su Zhinian, who stood hidden in the corner, could hear the earnest laughs that erupted from Song Qingchun’s throat.

  The children eventually ganged up on Song Qingchun. She tried to run away to escape their assault. The snow was so heavy that she could not really see where she was going. In fact, she was running toward his direction while she kept on turning to make faces at those children.

  All his attention was locked onto the Song Qingchun, who seemed to have resurrected, so when she knocked into him, he was completely caught by surprise. They slipped from the snow and crash-landed onto the floor.

  He was lying on the snow, and she was collapsed on top of him.

  While she was lying on the floor, she was still laughing. However, when she raised her head and met his eyes, the laughter caught in her throat, and the smile on her face froze. He held her waist and asked with concern, "Are you hurt?"

  When she heard his voice, the joy immediately drained from her face. She pulled her gaze away from him, and as she was about to get up from him, the group of children caught up to her. They pelted the soft snowballs at her. In their joyful rush, the children really did not pay much attention to where they were aiming. When some of the bigger snowballs came flying at Song Qingchun’s face, Su Zhinian unconsciously reached out to block them.

  His act of concern seemed to provoke her. The girl bounced off his body immediately as she rolled to his side. Then she stood up on her own and glared rather angrily at the man who was lying on the snowy ground. She slapped the snow off her clothes and rushed toward the villa.

  The group of children were confused by her sudden departure. They all ran toward her, shouting "Big Sister" along the way.

  The rowdy snowy playground suddenly became so quiet with Su Zhinian stranded there alone.

  He lay there in the snow for a long time before he stood up. He walked toward her villa out of habit, and when he arrived, he saw the waiter carrying many bottles of wine into it.