If You Could Hear My Heart

Xu Chaomu felt that Liu Rumei had changed a lot—gone was the arrogance and domineering attitude from before. Now, she had become increasingly quiet and reserved.

Especially after what happened to Third Brother, the blow to her was enormous; she seemed to have aged ten years overnight.

Shen Yanrou was the same, saying nothing, just silently hanging her head.

Shen Cexian was even more affected. Overnight, even his gaze seemed to have dulled considerably.

Mo Shuifu continued kneeling quietly, and Xu Chaomu knew that she had been kneeling there for the entire day.

"Shuifu, get up," Xu Chaomu bent down and said.

Rain was beginning to fall—a light drizzle—and everyone's faces were beaded with water, likely to intensify into heavier rainfall soon.

Servants hurriedly approached to share umbrellas, but everyone still ended up drenched.

Xu Chaomu felt cold from head to toe—a coldness deeper than the rainwater itself.

Mo Shuifu said nothing. She stared at the gravestone and murmured faintly, "I just want to be alone for a while."

Xu Chaomu couldn't decipher the look in Mo Shuifu's eyes. That look—it spoke of a heart completely extinguished…

Today, Mo Shuifu wore a black cheongsam, with rain trickling down her forehead. She squinted slightly, her gaze never leaving the photo on the gravestone.

"Shihan…" she called softly, her voice hoarse and low.

"Shuifu, don't be like this. Get up. Let's come visit Shihan another day," Liu Rumei said.

"Yes, sister-in-law. If Shihan saw you like this, he would also feel heartache," Shen Yanrou tried to persuade.

"Just let me have a moment alone with him, please…" Mo Shuifu's voice carried a pleading tone.

Shen Yanrou and Liu Rumei exchanged glances, both feeling sorrowful, uncertain whether to leave or stay.

The surrounding air felt oppressive, the atmosphere heavy with suffocating silence.

Here, one could hear the murmuring streams from the mountain ravine, along with the "rustling" sound of wind stirring the tree branches.

The wind tousled Mo Shuifu's hair, her entire figure appearing fragile. She remained fixedly staring at the gravestone, saying nothing.

The wind was harsh; this place was very cold.

Shen Chi removed his coat and draped it over Xu Chaomu's shoulders, while a servant handed Mo Shuifu a shawl.

Eventually, Liu Rumei nodded slightly, "We'll wait for you in the car at the trailhead. Don't stay too long—it's cold outside. Shihan wouldn't want you catching cold."

"Alright," Mo Shuifu responded faintly.

"Sigh…" Liu Rumei let out a long sigh.

Liu Rumei and Shen Yanrou left, but Shen Yanrou kept looking back, anxious, taking three steps and turning her head every few paces, worried about Mo Shuifu.

The trailhead wasn't far from the gravestone. Once they got in the car, they kept watching Mo Shuifu's figure, afraid she might do something impulsive.

Xu Chaomu and Shen Chi also boarded the car. Inside, the temperature contrasted sharply with the chill outside, but Xu Chaomu's body still shivered uncontrollably.

Everyone had left, leaving Mo Shuifu alone at the grave.

She knelt silently, her silhouette desolate and forlorn.

Wind and rain swept across her face, her jet-black strands of hair lifted by the breeze. Leaves fell from branches and rested on her shoulders. Everything appeared filled with grief.

Everywhere was still—a soundless void.

"Shihan, I promised I'd stay with you, always with you."

Mo Shuifu's voice was soft, like the whisper of leaves settling gently onto a pond's surface…

She thought back to their first official meeting—he had stepped in to rescue her, though she hadn't accepted his gesture graciously.

She remembered later, when he made that grand public confession in front of everyone. He was never one for romantic theatrics or sentimentality, yet that confession was one she would never forget for her entire lifetime.

Often, in midnight moments when dreams faded, she would recall that confession. Thinking of it brought her joy, and sometimes, she would laugh out loud.

She loved him. Over time, her affection grew deeper. They had argued, they had been stubborn, but ultimately, they had loved each other.

So, she loved him—whether in this mortal realm or in another paradise…

She reached out and gently brushed her fingers across the face in the photograph, her lips curling into a faint smile—a smile as intoxicatingly beautiful as poppies.

"Shihan, I'm here to stay with you."

A long while later, she dropped her hand and retrieved a pill that looked like a red bean from the bracelet on her wrist.

Ever since learning that Shen Shihan might never wake up, she had obtained this pill—designed to resemble a red bean, yet more bitter than the yearning it symbolized.

"Red beans grow in the southern land; how many sprout in springtime?"

The pill's main ingredient was zinc phosphide—a deadly poison.

Mo Shuifu steadied herself against the gravestone, her right hand resting on the photo, her gaze gradually becoming dazed…

"Niannian, I'm sorry…" Mo Shuifu whispered in her heart.

Through the rain-draped windows of the cars behind her, no one could clearly see what Mo Shuifu was doing—all they saw was her back. She ran her fingers across the photograph, and then… she made no further movement.

The rain intensified—from a light drizzle into droplets as heavy as soybeans.

Mo Shuifu remained motionless in the rain, seemingly frozen in place under its relentless downpour.

"Something's wrong!" Shen Chi suddenly realized, his pupils shrinking as he swiftly opened the car door and leaped out.

Xu Chaomu was startled and hurriedly chased after him.

"Fourth Brother, what's happening?" she shouted while running.

Liu Rumei and the others, seeing Shen Chi and Xu Chaomu jump out of the car, assumed something had happened, and quickly followed suit.

Raindrops fell relentlessly onto their faces, forming a curtain of water that blurred everything in front of them.

Shen Chi reached her first, and upon seeing the blood on the corners of Mo Shuifu's lips, he immediately lifted her from the ground.

Xu Chaomu froze in fright—Mo Shuifu's lips were smeared with blood!

"Shuifu, Shuifu!" Xu Chaomu shouted desperately, rain soaking her hair.

Shen Chi carried her into the car and checked her breathing, then his hand stopped.

"Fourth Brother, what's wrong? What's wrong…?" Xu Chaomu panicked.

Shen Chi shook his head silently.

Because Mo Shuifu had already stopped breathing.

A quick-thinking servant dialed 120, while Liu Rumei and the others crowded around.

They all caught Shen Chi's expression and suddenly understood, eyes widening in terror.

"Fourth Brother… Shuifu, she…" Xu Chaomu was incredulous—she'd never expected this, not at all.

Shen Chi pulled the bracelet from Mo Shuifu's sleeve; tiny traces of powder lingered on it.

"She'd planned this all along," Shen Chi murmured, his gaze fixed on Mo Shuifu's body on the seat.

"Why…" Xu Chaomu shook her head in agony. Why would it come to this? Even if she'd lost Third Brother, she still had Niannian!

"Some people are destined to follow each other in life and death," Shen Chi's voice was muted and melancholic.

In less than five minutes, an ambulance arrived.

Xu Chaomu's mind turned blank—her ears picked up only the sound of pounding rain, of sobbing, of yelling voices.

Gradually, though, everything merged into the sound of rain as her face stayed utterly pale.

Later, she collapsed into Shen Chi's arms and fainted…

…

When she awoke, the rain had stopped, but the sky had turned dark.

Still silence—boundless and infinite silence.

Xu Chaomu suddenly felt terrified by this silence, as she painfully braced herself against the bed, trying to sit up.

"Don't move; let me help you," Shen Chi swiftly walked over.