She was stunned, and opened her eyes immediately, "You're back?"
Before Xia Wan'an could finish, Han Jingnian pressed his lips against hers...
...
After a long while, with her eyes closed, Xia Wan'an lay still. Only after her fatigue faded did she finally open her eyes and look towards the man by her side.
Han Jingnian lay flat on the bed with a steady breath, seemingly fast asleep.
The night was already late, but Xia Wan'an had no hint of sleepiness while looking at Han Jingnian.
If she gave it some thought, it had been almost three months since she last saw him... She remembered the day he returned home last time, when the welcoming spring flowers had just bloomed, and now even the lotus flowers in the pond were blooming...
Frankly speaking, if he hadn't come back to the house from time to time, she sometimes found herself wondering if she really had a husband...
Two years ago, he said that he could marry her. Then, without a wedding ceremony, without a wedding ring, and without the blessings of friends and relatives, they simply registered their marriage at the Civil Affairs Bureau.
The first time they saw each other after the marriage was half a year after they picked up their certificate when, like tonight, he suddenly came back, said nothing, and went straight to bed. She was nervous and restless, and hardly slept all night. She didn't know if her tossing and turning disturbed him, but at some point, he suddenly pulled her close.
After that, he sometimes came home once a month, sometimes every two months, other times every three months or longer. Every return was during the night, and every time he was gone by the time she woke up ... Thus, in the past two years, she could count on her fingers the times they had a conversation.
In fact, Xia Wan'an thought more than once about staying awake when he returned home so they could have a chance to talk when he awoke. But every time was like tonight. She thought about it and fell asleep.
The next day was Saturday, and she didn't have to go to work. Without an alarm clock, Xia Wan'an woke up naturally. When she opened her eyes, the sun was shining outside, and it was already close to eleven o'clock.
When she thought of his return last night, Xia Wan'an's first reaction was to look beside her.
Half of the bed was empty, just like before. He had already left at some unknown point.
...
Time passed slowly like flowing water, and soon it was the end of summer.
The house with three hundred or so square meters seemed especially desolate at night.
After eating dinner, Xia Wan'an read for an hour. As she went to the dining room for water, she unintentionally noted how quiet the house was that she could hear the echo of her own footsteps.