TIPS – Chapter 38

“Mm…” Hu Chengchun quickly covered his mouth, glancing around to make sure no one else was nearby before saying, “What are you so worried about? My wife isn’t home, it’s just me here.”

“Forget everything that happened today,” Song Jingwei said indifferently, giving him a glance before turning to leave the Hu household.

“Huh? He’s really not taking the prenatal medicine?” Hu Chengchun muttered to himself as he went to shut the door. But it didn’t matter—there was only one doctor in Chashan Village. Sooner or later, this business would still come to him.

Meanwhile, back at the Shen family’s main house, Shen Junxi and Pei Hongxuan sat in the living room for a while, feeling increasingly uneasy. Even though Song Jingwei seemed to dislike being disturbed, not seeing him at all left Shen Junxi feeling empty inside. He quickly wrote a note to Pei Hongxuan: “I’ll go check in our room.” Even just a glance would put his heart at ease.

Pei Hongxuan chuckled. This Shen Junxi was truly devoted, and his affection for his spouse was obvious. “Alright, go ahead. I’ll read by myself.” Earlier, Shen Junxi had brought him quite a few books from their room—though, of course, he had asked for Song Jingwei’s permission first, since most of them belonged to him.

Shen Junxi nodded, a bit flustered, and hurried back to their room.

Pei Hongxuan thought he would stay there for a while, but before he could even finish a single page of his book, he saw Shen Junxi rush out, looking panicked.

He watched as Shen Junxi anxiously ran to the bathroom, then to Shen Dongming and Yang Shi’s room, and even to the pigsty for a quick look.

Finally, Shen Junxi stood in the courtyard, looking utterly lost, his face as pale as a ghost.

“What happened?” Pei Hongxuan wondered. It can’t be what I’m thinking… right?

Shen Junxi shook his head, then wrote down: “I’m going to find him.”

Pei Hongxuan reassured him, “Alright. Don’t overthink it—maybe he just went out for a walk.” He sincerely hoped that was the case. If that rich young master really abandoned this poor, devoted man, Shen Junxi’s world would collapse.

Just then, Yang Shi arrived at the house, carrying two buckets of water. As soon as she reached the entrance, she saw her son looking utterly panicked.

“What’s the matter, Xi’er? Why are you so flustered?” she asked.

Shen Junxi quickly gestured: “Did you see my wife on the way home?”

Yang Shi was stunned. “No, I didn’t. Was he looking for me?”

Shen Junxi shook his head, signing frantically: “I don’t know. He’s gone.”

“What?” Yang Shi’s expression changed instantly. She dropped the buckets, muttering, “Let’s go find him, we have to go now. Maybe he just went out for some fresh air?” She reasoned that since he worked at the construction site every day, he probably couldn’t sit still for too long. “Right, right! Let’s check the construction site!”

Hearing that, Shen Junxi felt a little relieved and immediately signed: “I’ll go to the site!”

Even though he ran as fast as he could, his heart was still unsettled. Normally, no matter where Song Jingwei went, he would always tell them. But today… was he really angry?

Shen Junxi couldn’t be sure. He didn’t believe Song Jingwei was that kind of person.

With his pace twice as fast as usual, he reached the construction site and immediately grabbed a random worker, signing to ask if they had seen Song Jingwei.

But all he got in return was confusion. “What are you gesturing? I don’t understand.”

The villagers all had the same reaction. At the same time, they secretly thought, He really is mute… That young master from the Song family is truly incomprehensible—why would he choose such a husband?

Left with no choice, Shen Junxi went looking for Chen Xianggui. When he finally found him, Chen Xianggui looked at him in confusion and said, “Young Master Song? He’s not coming to the site today. Didn’t he tell you yesterday? Why are you looking for him here?”

…He’s not here?

Shen Junxi felt his heart sink into sheer panic. If Song Jingwei wasn’t at the construction site, then where could he be?

“What’s wrong? Young Master Song isn’t home?” Chen Xianggui asked, noticing Shen Junxi’s obvious distress. Anyone who saw his expression would know that something serious was going on.

Shen Junxi stiffly signed: “Uncle Xianggui, I’m leaving.”

His hurried departure carried a mix of sadness, hope, and desperation. This time, he was heading toward the small hill where he often cut pig grass—the place he had taken Song Jingwei to before.

If he wasn’t there either, then there was nothing else he could do. He didn’t dare think about the worst-case scenario—he didn’t want to be abandoned.

When Song Jingwei returned home, the house was empty. Only Pei Hongxuan was sitting in the courtyard, staring at the ground, lost in thought.

The little black dog whimpered and wagged its tail. Song Jingwei gave it a couple of pats before heading over to the well to wash his hands.

Hearing the sound of water, Pei Hongxuan looked up in surprise. “You’re back?”

“Mm.” Song Jingwei finished washing his hands and looked around. “Where is everyone? No one’s home?” Yang Shi should have been back by now.

“They all went looking for you.” Pei Hongxuan’s expression was complicated. He glanced at Song Jingwei once, then again, hesitating with words stuck in his throat. Finally, he only asked, “Where did you go? Why didn’t you tell them?”

After all, he was just an outsider—it wasn’t his place to interfere in Song Jingwei’s decisions.

“I just went for a walk. You all seemed deeply engaged in conversation, so I didn’t want to interrupt,” Song Jingwei said casually. He was an adult—was he supposed to be afraid of getting kidnapped? As if he hadn’t noticed the reproach in Pei Hongxuan’s tone.

“Even if you wanted to take a walk, you shouldn’t have left quietly by yourself. Do you know how worried they were?” Pei Hongxuan finally spoke. He hadn’t intended to say anything, but Song Jingwei’s indifferent attitude made him uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but feel that the Shen family didn’t deserve this treatment.

“They were worried because they don’t trust me,” Song Jingwei replied. He understood exactly what the Shen family was afraid of.

“And can you really blame them? Their lack of trust comes from your behavior—it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, does it?” Pei Hongxuan sneered. At first, he thought this was a rare case of two lovers finally getting together, but now he realized that Song Jingwei didn’t care about Shen Junxi at all. He didn’t even take him seriously.

“Oh, so it’s my fault,” Song Jingwei shot him a glance, a little surprised. He had thought Pei Hongxuan was a calculating and deeply hidden person, but it turned out he was quite transparent. Unfortunately, Song Jingwei didn’t appreciate this kind of “honesty.” What was the point of blame and questioning? If it were him, he would have silently made his moves, planning until he achieved his goal.

Realizing there was nothing more to say, Song Jingwei turned to head back to his room.

“When he realized you were gone, he panicked and searched everywhere for you,” Pei Hongxuan said mockingly. “He checked this room, then that room, searched the entire house and still couldn’t find you. He was so anxious he was about to cry.”

Song Jingwei paused mid-step.

Pei Hongxuan continued, “If you have even a little bit of a conscience, you should go find him and see which corner he’s hiding in, feeling miserable.”

“If he can’t find me, he’ll come back. Why should I go looking for him?”

“You’ll regret it if you don’t.” Pei Hongxuan’s voice was firm. In this life, how many people will truly love you? Miss one, and will there be another? Why not cherish it? Why not treasure it?

Song Jingwei turned back as if about to say something—

But before he could, a voice called out, “Daughter-in-law? You’re back?”

Yang Shi appeared at the doorway, looking at Song Jingwei with joy and relief. “Thank goodness you’re back! You had us worried sick! Where did you go?”

Song Jingwei could be indifferent to Shen Junxi, but he did feel a twinge of guilt toward Yang Shi and Shen Dongming. He answered dryly, “I just took a walk nearby and forgot to tell you.”

Hearing this, Yang Shi let out a sigh of relief but also felt a little awkward. “Oh, I see. We were overthinking it.” They had been so anxious, fearing that he had run away, but it turned out he had just gone for a walk. That wasn’t unreasonable at all.

“Mm, don’t worry about me. I didn’t go far, and I didn’t plan to be out for long,” Song Jingwei said.

“Yes, yes, we just worried that you weren’t familiar with the area and might get lost,” Yang Shi replied with an awkward laugh. She suddenly felt guilty for assuming the worst about him.

“…Did he go looking for me?” After a few seconds of silence, Song Jingwei asked.

“Yes, he did. Xi’er went out a while ago—he’s probably still searching anxiously,” Yang Shi realized. Her son had been gone for so long without finding his husband. He must be frantic.

“Oh. Then I’ll go find him.” Song Jingwei walked out. As he passed Pei Hongxuan, he paused and said, “In this world, nothing happens without a reason.”

Pei Hongxuan was left standing there, stunned, as Song Jingwei walked away.

But he didn’t have to go far—just past the doorway, he suddenly saw a white figure standing ahead.

Shen Junxi was wearing a white robe today, decorated with bamboo he had painted himself. His dark eyes were fixed stubbornly ahead, locked onto Song Jingwei.

His face was expressionless. He had already shown too much emotion earlier. When he found the small hill empty as well, he had been heartbroken in solitude. Now, all that remained was his dark, unwavering gaze.

“I was just about to look for you,” Song Jingwei said. He had thought of several ways to start the conversation but ultimately chose not to apologize. He didn’t think he had done anything wrong. It was the Shen family that had overthought things.

Without a word, Shen Junxi stepped forward and hugged him tightly. Then, with a soft pa, he let out a quiet laugh—followed by silent tears rolling down his cheeks.

Song Jingwei didn’t push him away. He couldn’t bring himself to. And so, their first embrace happened in this tangled moment. But the only one feeling conflicted was Song Jingwei. All the calculated, ruthless tactics he had prepared seemed to fail him now, becoming utterly useless.

From a distance, Yang Shi and Pei Hongxuan stood at the doorway, watching the two of them in silence.

“Alright, how long do you plan to keep hugging me?” After at least three minutes, Song Jingwei grew impatient and tried to push him away.

“Mm…” Shen Junxi tilted his head back slightly, secretly wiping his tears. He didn’t want Song Jingwei to see that he had cried.

“Let’s go back.” Song Jingwei turned and started walking toward the house. He caught sight of the two onlookers at the doorway but only gave them a brief glance.

Shen Junxi trailed behind, his body feeling drained of energy. Maybe he had been too tense before, and now that he was finally relieved, exhaustion washed over him. He was so, so tired.

But alongside that exhaustion, there was a quiet sense of relief… and a faint trace of happiness.