This was the first time he said her name.
Not by the full name Su Xingyu, which was forceful, but the gentle, soft call of Xingyu.
Her eyes grew even more sour, unable to hold back the tears ready to fall.
With great difficulty, she suppressed the tremor in her heart, raised her head to look at him, and smiled: "I'm relying on you right now."
A faint crease formed between his brows. No, if she really relied on him, she wouldn't begrudgingly ask him for advice on solutions; she should directly have him solve it. However, some things cannot be rushed. After all, they've only been married for a short time. Trust needs to be cultivated gradually, and he would teach her little by little.
He set down his teacup and stood up: "Come with me."
She followed him to a hidden room on the first floor near the back garden. Pushing the door open, the space spanned over two hundred square meters and was filled with various parts, like a massive metal ruin. The floor-to-ceiling windows along one wall gave the lighting a dreamy quality — half was a texture of soft golden rays, the other half was cold silver hidden in dark shadows. He stood amidst this interplay of light and darkness, resembling a god reigning over the world.
"Welcome to my domain." He looked down at her.
She was stunned by the incredible space and asked, "Why is there such a place in the house?"
He casually picked up an unknown metal part: "Didn't you ask me what to do when faced with troubles? It's simple. Whenever I encounter things difficult to resolve, I come here. The parts piled up in this room are all mechanical components manufactured by Blade Group, extremely precise, representing the world's most advanced technology. I assemble them, just like putting together a puzzle."
He spoke while walking a few steps in the overwhelming scene, bending over to pick up another part on the ground, assembling it with the one in his hand. The parts fit together perfectly, and with a gentle push from his fingers, the gears started to rotate smoothly: "The process of working with my hands is also the process of organizing my thoughts. You see, no matter how chaotic things are, there is a pattern to be found."
And as long as you find the pattern, you find the solution.
She listened to him in a daze, amazed that his approach to solving problems was so unique. There were at least thousands, no, tens of thousands of parts here, not all from the same type of machine. How much effort must it take to assemble them like a puzzle? No wonder Mrs. Gui once said he was skillful, if immersed in such a place often, it would be hard not to be.
"Do you want to give it a try?" He handed her the part he was holding.
She lacked confidence: "I can't tell what this is."
"This is a periscope part," he told her, "the kind used on submarines. Want me to teach you how to assemble it?"
She shook her head: "No, I probably won't ever need submarine-related knowledge in my life. I can assemble something else, like a cam..." She was going to say camera, as Blade Group cameras were world-famous, and she had already spotted several scattered components on the ground. But just as the words left her mouth, she remembered Lu Shifeng's ban on her and immediately clammed up.
Yet his expression still darkened.
"Su Xingyu," he said, "You know what I don't like you touching."
She felt a bit apprehensive, but seeing that he didn't immediately fly into a rage, she mustered her courage. Some things are better said early: "Can you tell me why? There are camera components here, proving you don't usually reject cameras, you just don't like me touching them. Lu Shifeng, if I did something wrong in the past, I sincerely apologize, but I don't want to die without knowing the truth. At the very least, you should let me know what exactly I did wrong?"
Looking into her clear eyes, his expression turned slightly cold.
What did she do wrong?
Two years ago, when she pressed the shutter at the dying Lu Shiyin, everything went wrong.
Lu Shiyin's death was a thorn in his heart; he hated himself for not being able to protect her, if everything could start over, he definitely wouldn't let her suffer such harm. "Photographers are all cold-blooded animals," he told her indifferently, "Even you, when you pick up the camera, become cold-blooded. I don't want my wife to be a cold-blooded animal."
So it was that incident two years ago.
She hastily apologized: "I'm sorry, I didn't know taking photos could sometimes harm others, please..." She initially wanted to ask him to give her another chance, but seeing his expression, wisely held her tongue.
If he cared so much about this issue, then it's best not to provoke him too much.
"I'm really sorry." She said softly.
He turned his head slightly, what good is an apology? When she raised the camera, the harm was already done; his sister faced the lens with such fear, such panic, all of this is irreparable.
"Then you..." She hesitated for a long time, asking a question that lingered in her mind, "Since you say I'm cold-blooded, then why did you marry me? Two years ago, you clearly hated me so much."
He looked at her.
That look was complex, enigmatic. Just as she apprehensively thought he wouldn't answer, she heard him say, "When you pick up the camera you're cold-blooded, but when you set it down, your character's not bad."
That was his reason for marrying her.
Two years ago, when she faced the dying Lu Shiyin, after taking the photo and setting down the camera, she squatted down and tightly held Lu Shiyin's cold hand. She stayed by Lu Shiyin's side until her life's final moment, disregarding the panicked crowd and rampaging assailants on the street, then extended her hand to gently close Lu Shiyin's eyes.
Back then, Lu Shifeng, his mind clouded by his sister's death, had severely maltreated Su Xingyu.
But later, as he delved deeper into investigating everything before his sister's death, learning of Su Xingyu's final benevolent act, he realized he owed this girl. He wanted to compensate her, instructing Xie Jian to pay attention to her and help her if she encountered insoluble problems, but unfortunately, this instruction was never used.
Although Xie Jian responsibly carried out this order, he had many tasks to manage and couldn't constantly watch her. Xie Jian had his men report once a month on the monitoring situation. For two years, nothing major happened until half a month before she ran into Lu Shifeng again, she was expelled from school and had her engagement broken by Qin Mu, but these issues hadn't been handled in time.
Lu Shifeng didn't like owing anything to anyone.
Coincidentally, his mother urged him to marry, so he simply married her.
He thought, she was merely an unappreciated young lady of the Su Family, marrying him was akin to Cinderella marrying into a wealthy family, an ascension to great heights; this enormous grace should have been ample repayment. She just needed to be a dutiful wife, enjoying a lifetime of wealth and glory, so why such wary fear, why so many questions?