Chapter 58: Snow Country Train Part 1

They took a private jet north and boarded the Snow Country Train in the early hours of the morning.

The onboard butler and train crew lined up to welcome their arrival.

For this seven-day, seven-night journey, the project team had been meticulously preparing for a full two months, upgrading the train cars, equipping the kitchen, ensuring medical support, ground transportation, and more.

Outside, the weather was bitterly cold, but inside the cars, it was warm and dry, filled with a fresh fragrance.

“Thanks for waiting up for us.”

Lu Zheng, carrying a deflated backpack and pushing three oversized suitcases, walked ahead. Mu Shanyi spoke as she turned back to look at Miao Zhu, who gazed at her with a smile, stars seemingly dancing in her eyes.

The time that followed belonged entirely to the two of them, day and night, a world for just the pair.

The train chugged through the freezing cold, endless snowfields stretching outside the windows, reflecting the night into a hazy twilight.

In the room, treated for earthquake resistance and soundproofing, the double bed swayed ever so slightly as the train picked up speed. In the quiet, the steady rhythm of wheels on tracks provided a soothing backdrop.

Miao Zhu knelt at the innermost side of the bed, leaning toward the window to watch the night scenery. The glass had turned into a mirror, reflecting her face.

After Mu Shanyi’s birthday, they had reconciled. To spare Ye Yi from running back and forth, she had moved to Tower Shadow Sunny River.

Mu Shanyi never mentioned what had happened before. She would kiss Miao Zhu and hold her as they fell asleep, but she had not taken things further into more intimate acts.

Miao Zhu was unsure if Mu Shanyi was still keeping a psychological distance from her.

Their reconciliation stemmed from Mu Shanyi’s love for her, not from Mu Shanyi being confident in Miao Zhu’s love for her.

This feeling made Miao Zhu uneasy.

It was better to address her overthinking directly—this trip was the perfect opportunity.

The bathroom door was pulled open from inside by Mu Shanyi.

Miao Zhu turned at the sound, crawled on her knees to the edge of the bed, and opened her arms to Mu Shanyi.

She wore a soft imperial-style long nightgown, waving her hands in an adorably obedient plea for a hug.

Mu Shanyi smiled and bent down to accept the embrace, gently stroking Miao Zhu’s satin-smooth hair. “Have you taken your medicine?”

Miao Zhu said, “Not yet~”

Mu Shanyi pretended to go get the medicine, but Miao Zhu tightened her arms around her waist, refusing to let go. “If I take it now, I’ll get sleepy. I want to wait a bit.”

Mu Shanyi: “Hm?”

Miao Zhu took a breath and looked straight into Mu Shanyi’s eyes, ripping open the page that had pained them both. “Sister A-Heng, did you book this trip a long time ago? …After I said I liked snow?”

Back then, Miao Zhu had been scheming how to use Mu Shanyi to achieve her goals, while Mu Shanyi knew nothing about it. Their relationship had stagnated after the meteor shower night. When Mu Shanyi booked this trip, she might not even have been sure Miao Zhu would agree to come with her.

Mu Shanyi gently patted Miao Zhu’s back—an tacit affirmation of the question and a soothing gesture, letting her know not to dwell on it.

Miao Zhu mumbled, “Actually, I didn’t like snow before.”

Mu Shanyi: “You lied to me?”

Miao Zhu shook her head and reached for her phone on the nightstand. “I’ll show you a photo.”

She grabbed the phone from the nightstand and knelt sitting at the edge of the bed. Mu Shanyi wrapped her arms around her waist from behind as they looked at the screen together.

The lit-up screen showed countless missed calls from Miao Ling. When the calls didn’t connect, messages followed—from caring check-ins to frustrated rants, all within less than an hour.

Miao Zhu’s shoulders slumped, her mood instantly soured. She said anxiously, “Sister A-Heng, I might still bring trouble to you.”

Mu Shanyi turned Miao Zhu’s body to face her. “Don’t worry about troubling me.”

Mu Shanyi had said the same words on New Year’s Eve. Miao Zhu looked at her. “Sister A-Heng, do you ever think that if I’d trusted you sooner, confessed my thoughts to you earlier, and ‘troubled’ you like you said, things might have turned out differently?”

“I don’t think that way.” Mu Shanyi didn’t hesitate. “You didn’t want me to become a second Xingran or He Zizhou.”

Mu Shanyi understood her completely!

Miao Zhu’s eyes stung. “I was so afraid that your feelings for me would be worn away bit by bit by my mom’s endless demands, day after day, until we went from loving each other to resenting one another…”

“You’ll protect me, and you’re protecting me already, aren’t you? And am I really that easy to manipulate?” Mu Shanyi brushed Miao Zhu’s long hair behind her ear and cupped her face. “You have to believe in me. Do you believe me?”

Miao Zhu’s lips trembled downward bitterly, and she whispered, “I do.”

Seeing the tears shimmering in Miao Zhu’s eyes, Mu Shanyi wiped them away with her fingertips and steered the topic back. “What photo were you going to show me earlier?”

Miao Zhu unlocked her phone, cleared the messages, and opened her chat with Mu Shanyi.

“This one.” She showed Mu Shanyi her chat background. “Remember? Many years ago, you came to find me downstairs at the apartment, and Emma snapped this. Last summer in France, when Emma and I talked about you, she sent it to me after I got back.”

“What does this have to do with you liking snow?”

“Emma told me it snowed later that day. Looking at you in the photo, I could almost smell the snow, Sister A-Heng. I can only breathe when I’m with you.”

The sincere words struck straight to the heart. Mu Shanyi gazed unblinkingly at Miao Zhu for a long moment before saying, “Actually, I’ve been there several times.”

Miao Zhu suddenly realized there was one very important question she still hadn’t gotten an answer to from Mu Shanyi!