"I wasn't at home that time, but our neighbour who saw the fire immediately came over and helped us to put off the fire. When I returned and saw my house was on fire, my body moved automatically, and I didn't remember much of it. What I knew was my mother was saved, at least temporarily."

"Temporarily?"

"Yeah. Thankfully she didn't get burned, but she inhaled a lot of poisonous gas. Her health wasn't that good in the first place, and inhaling the gas just made her condition worsen."

Shao Jingfei's voice trembled ever so slightly when he spoke the following sentences.

"She passed away the next day. On my birthday and Glorious Days anniversary."

His words felt like a slap to her face. Without knowing anything, she kept pestering him just to satisfy her curiosity. Her intention to help unknowingly became salt in his wound.

Li Chunhua tried to visualize the little Shao Jingfei's shocked expression when he found his house was engulfed in fire, and it caused a throbbing pain in her chest. He had to watch that terrifying scene of his mother almost dying.

How hard must it be to tell her this? Did he tell her this because of what she told him before, that she knew nothing of it and it wasn't fair?

Li Chunhua just wanted to help him, the same way he was always there for her when she needed him. Not to make him have such a painful and bitter expression on his face. He looked like a child that was on the verge of crying.

"Stop. You don't have to tell me any more than this." Li Chunhua reached out and clasped his hand in her. To her surprise, his hand was colder than her.

"If it hurts you so much, you don't have to tell me. I'm sorry for being too nosy. I will not ask you about it anymore."

Shao Jingfei looked down at his hand, which was gripped tightly by hers, and a small smile escaped his lips.

"Your hand is small and warm, just like my mother's. But we never know when you will lose that warmth. That's why, please always be careful, alright?"

Li Chunhua's heart felt like it had just been twisted. So he didn't tell her that because of what she said, but solely because he wanted her to be more aware of her fragile health.

Just to warn her, he had to scratch his heart wound again. She was speechless.

'Why is he so stupidly kind? He didn't have to go that far.' Li Chunhua grumbled inwardly, but her heart went against her brain and skipped a beat instead.

"Chunhua, I appreciate your concern, but just staying by my side is enough. You don't have to feel like you owe me something."

Li Chunhua didn't know what to say. She had never consoled a person before, at least sincerely, so she found this situation quite troubling.

Her thought process was simple. If she couldn't say it, she should just show it through action.

Shao Jingfei's eyes widened when Li Chunhua suddenly threw her weight on him and wrapped her arms around him, below his armpit. He could feel something soft and plump pressed against his chest and his face flushed in embarrassment.

"Chunhua! What the heck are you doing?!"

Instead of pulling away, she stroked her back instead. The motion was gentle and caring, unlike the usual Li Chunhua, which made the boy even more flustered. He wanted to push her away but was afraid he would accidentally hurt her.

"Shh, don't scream. Just be a good boy, and let me hug you in your mother's stead. If she sees you now, I bet that must be what she will do. She will also tell you not to feel hurt and sad because she will always watch you from afar."

Shao Jingfei's body stiffened when he heard that. He could feel people's gaze at them, so he used his arm to pull her closer to him, covering her from everyone's stare.

"What are you talking about, silly Chunhua." He said without anger in his tone.

Her naivety baffled him, but her warmth soothed the wound in his heart. Her awkward attempt to console him made him feel like he was basking in warm spring water.

Shao Jingfei was a man of reason, yet he wanted to believe her childish remarks earlier. For some reason, he felt like he could believe it if Li Chunhua was the one who said it.

"Jingfei, from now on, I promise I won't recklessly head into danger anymore. Next time, I will call you first if something like that happens again. At that time, you'll come to save me, right?" Li Chunhua said as she looked up at him.

Shao Jingfei was astonished. He had always known that Li Chunhua was a jade beauty, which was coveted by a lot of guys, but her personality made it hard for him to take her beauty seriously.

His ideal type of woman had always been the gentle and understanding type of woman; she was the opposite of that.

Yet why did he feel like the world stopped moving when he looked into her eyes?

No, he wished that the world and time stopped moving, so he could gaze at her beautiful pair of eyes longer.

Shao Jingfei could sense something had changed between them at that moment, and he feared that.

Averting his eyes from her, he replied, "I'm a busy person. I don't have time to look after you 24/7."

"So you won't come when I ask you to come?" Li Chunhua asked sadly.

"I will. Who said I won't go?" Shao Jingfei replied quickly, surprising even himself.

He cleared his throat before continuing, "I mean, it will be bad if no one is there by your side when something happens to you. Make sure to put my number in your emergency call."

Li Chunhua chuckled. "You already are. I put your number in number 9."

"I bet you must have put Caiyi as your number 1."

Li Chunhua shook her head. "I used to do that, but not anymore. I have you to take care of me now, so I won't bother Xiaoyi anymore."

Shao Jingfei was stunned. He realized that this girl had completely treated him as her servant, who naturally should come at her beckons.

Yet a part of him felt elated when he heard that.

Shao Jingfei became even more scared now. Throughout the 17 years of his life, he didn't know he had such a masochistic tendency in him.

This girl had wrecked his mind and tamed him without him realizing it!

Trying to calm down his accelerating heartbeat, he asked her again. "Then why number 9? An important person like me deserves the number 1 spot!"

"Oh, you didn't know? Number 9 is my favorite number, and it was the closest to my right thumb. This way, I can contact you one second faster whenever I want to meet you."

Shao Jingfei was speechless. The more he asked something, the deeper he dug into his own grave.

She usually frowned in annoyance and spoke rudely to him, but she looked cute when she whispered those sweet words at him. He suspected that Li Chunhua did this on purpose to play with him.

How dare she!historical