Su Li paid no mind to the way Shen Cishu was looking at her.
Ever since she had learned the information from Bai Huizi, she had flipped through The Little Prince and prepared herself for some kind of interaction with Shen Cishu.
If Shen Cishu wanted to talk about the book’s content, they could certainly have a conversation.
The atmosphere around them fell back into silence. It hadn’t been long before Su Li’s attention was fully absorbed by the book in her hands.
Of course, she could still sense Shen Cishu’s gaze fixed on her, completely losing interest in the book herself.
Everything was unfolding exactly as she had expected.
Shen Cishu stared blankly at Su Li as she turned the pages, her gaze somewhat dazed.
The person before her moved with the same grace as her Mother.
That gentle look in the eyes, the slight upward curve of the lips, even the way she flipped the pages— it was all so familiar.
Her heart jolted suddenly, her throat feeling as if something was blocking it, making her breath come fast and heavy.
When Su Li softly read aloud a sentence from the book, her voice gentle and with a hint of familiar hoarseness— this was the very sentence Su Li had just mentioned as her favorite, and it was also her Mother’s favorite line.
She had heard her Mother read it countless times in the warm afternoon sunlight.
At this moment, it felt as though her Mother had returned to her side, as if the time lost between them had never passed.
Nearly an hour later, Su Li slowly closed the book in her hands and took a long breath, only to find Shen Cishu’s eyes still fixed on her.
“Is there something on my face?”
Su Li asked softly, her eyes full of concern and worry.
“No… no.”
Shen Cishu’s cheeks flushed slightly, realizing she had been staring at the other person for an entire hour without noticing.
No matter how you looked at it, from the other’s perspective, this was quite a strange thing.
It made her seem like some kind of infatuated woman.
“Then… miss, why have you been staring at me this whole time?”
“You look a lot like someone I used to know, so I got a little distracted.”
Shen Cishu apologized, not even noticing that Su Li had called her “miss.”
In truth, Su Li didn’t look much like her Mother physically; after all, her Mother appeared more mature. But her blurry memories had made her Mother’s face in her mind hazy.
Seeing tears well up in Shen Cishu’s eyes, Su Li took out a paper towel and handed it over. Shen Cishu’s hand trembled slightly before she quietly said, “Thank you.”
She felt even more wronged inside.
If the other person hadn’t comforted her, she might have been able to control her breaking emotions a little longer.
But once comfort came, her feelings became even harder to hold back.
Shen Cishu’s eyes instantly grew wet, tears slipping uncontrollably down her cheeks.
Guilt and self-blame surged like a tidal wave, drowning her reason.
How badly she wanted to rush forward and tightly hold the person sitting across from her, telling her, “I’m sorry, Mother, I never got to see you one last time…”
But she knew she couldn’t. That was not her Mother after all, just a stranger who looked similar.
Though they shared a similar aura, Su Li was much younger.
Just like Mother had been when she was young…
She sat frozen in her seat, letting tears blur her vision, her heart overwhelmed by endless regret and longing.
At this moment, how she wished time could turn back, even just once, so she could see her Mother again, hear her say a word, feel her warmth one more time.
Su Li simply pushed the box of paper towels toward Shen Cishu and slowly stood up, intending to return her book to the bookshelf.
Of course, as she pushed the paper towels over, she deliberately brushed the coffee cup nearby with her hand, nudging it closer to the edge of the table, within reach of Shen Cishu’s arm.
As expected, not long after Su Li stood, the scalding coffee spilled exactly as intended, splashing onto her clothes.
Shen Cishu immediately snapped out of her sadness, looking at Su Li’s coffee-soaked skirt with a guilty tone.
“I-I’m so sorry!”
She hurriedly grabbed the paper towels from the table and began dabbing at the stains on the skirt.
She couldn’t even imagine how much the hot coffee must have burned the other person’s legs.
“It’s okay. It’s not your fault. It was my oversight when I pushed the paper towels and didn’t notice the cup was at the edge of the table.”
Though it was Su Li who had been burned, her tone remained gentle, comforting Shen Cishu.
She even crouched down to wipe the wet floor and picked up the cup that had fallen.
Luckily, it wasn’t glass, so it didn’t break when it hit the ground.
Hearing Su Li’s words, Shen Cishu— who had thought she’d gotten her emotions under control— felt like a lost lamb, lonely and scared.
She gripped Su Li’s skirt, full of guilt, and said, “I-I’ll help you clean your clothes.”
“It’s fine. I’ll wash this skirt myself later. You don’t need to feel bad about it.”
Su Li’s tone was still gentle, but Shen Cishu’s trembling hands held tightly onto the skirt’s hem, unwilling to let go.
Seeing her clutching the skirt closer and closer, tears dripped one by one from the corner of her eyes, but she pressed her lips tight, keeping silent.
Su Li sighed softly, bent down, and gently wiped away the tear tracks at the corner of her eyes with a paper towel, then said kindly, “Then I’ll trouble you.”
Only then did Shen Cishu stop sobbing. She restrained the emotions inside, holding back the urge to bury her face in the other’s embrace and cry.
Finally, holding onto Su Li’s skirt, the two of them returned the books to the bookshelf before slowly leaving the bookstore.
Shen Cishu’s movements were very gentle as she lightly held onto Su Li’s clothing.
After all, they had only just met, and she was afraid her lack of boundaries might upset Su Li.
Even though she looked so much like her Mother, she was not her Mother.
Her Mother wouldn’t always accommodate or tolerate her.
Though they were heading to Shen Cishu’s home, Su Li ended up leading the way.
It wasn’t until Su Li sat in Shen Cishu’s car and watched the scenery rushing past outside the window, her own reflection on the glass, that she finally relaxed her emotions, leaning her head against the seat.
The plan could now move on to the next phase.