Chapter 163: I Will Not Touch You Again (3)

Chapter 163: I Will Not Touch You Again (3)
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Other than a work call, Su Zhinian actually was not working that evening.
Due to his impressive hearing, he could pick up and focus on the smallest of voices. Therefore, no matter how noisy it was, it would not cause him any distraction.
In fact, he had no idea from whence he had gotten the habit of listening to her movements as he did his work.
When he was busy in the study, she was quite bored, alone in the huge bungalow, so she would talk to herself, making mocking comments on certain observations. Most of them were petty complaints about the littlest of things, but to him, they were like the songs of angels.
These past few days he had been staying at the company, and whenever the rest of the company had left, he would stand before the window, study the sleeping city, and think about her. Even if she would not talk to him, as long as he could hear her speak, be it curses or insults thrown at him, he would be more than satisfied…
He knew he missed her, but he had no idea how much until he saw her again that day. Subsequently, he realized how deep his longing for her was.
Afterward, he followed her home.
Actually, he knew perfectly well she was really unwilling to stay under the same roof as him. She was hiding from him, and he knew very well she was lying about the stomach-ache, but he convinced himself to believe her. To give her the space to wander around the house, he even hid in the study so that she would not chance running into him.
He just wanted to listen to her voice so that he could convince himself that he was still close to her… But that night, she was unusually quiet.
She did not hum when she was washing the dishes; she did not grumble about the pimple breaking on her when she applied her skincare product; she did not mock the fake news or over-hyped products when she was playing on her phone…
A cacophony of voices drifted into his ears, but because she was so quiet, he felt his world had gone silent too.
He was sitting in a heated room, but he felt like the blood coursing through his body was frozen and cold.
He had no idea how long he sat in his chair, just blanking out. The rows of black letters weren't registering in his mind. When he was ready to close the document, he suddenly heard from the next bedroom, her whispering voice saying, "No, no…"
Su Zhinian frowned instantly and focused on her voice. Then he realized she was weeping from the shaking voice repeating, "Please, don't… Please, please…"
Then, she opened her lungs and screamed.
Su Zhinian dropped the document, stood up, and dashed out of his study. He burst through the bedroom door without a moment's thought.
She gripped the bed mattress tightly like she was caught in a nightmare. Her body shook uncontrollably, and tears kept falling out of her eyes. Her lips moved, but there was no sound.
Su Zhinian almost collapsed beside her bed. With shaking hands, he pulled her into his embrace. He caressed her face and said, "Tingting! Tingting!"
He called her name, and finally her wet lashes shook twice before recognition slowly lit up her eyes.
There was abject fear in her eyes, and her expression was lost. She had been crying so much during her nightmare that she was still sniffling when she woke up.
"You had a nightmare?" Su Zhinian's fingers wiped away the liquid on her face. His voice was cold, but his tone was much gentler. "Everything's okay now, it's just a dream. Don't overthink it, it's not real…"