Chapter 134: Teenager
The rain still hadn’t stopped. The drizzling raindrops pattered against the iron roof of the eaves. The pouring rain blocked the way back, as if the eaves were now the only lonely island in a vast sea, surrounded by cold, dark seawater.
“Here, thank you.”
Xia Qian Ge took off the coat that was draped over her and thoughtfully wrung out the water before handing it back to Su Yu.
“You’re welcome…”
Su Yu took the coat and looked at the girl’s slightly pale face. She was like a butterfly with its wings soaked in rain, her already fragile body looking even more frail. Her wet bangs hung down, and he couldn’t see her expression clearly, but he could roughly guess her thoughts at this moment.
Her arms, hanging by her sides, were unnaturally swaying, as if she didn’t know where to put them. In the end, she clasped her hands together, her slender fingers repeatedly making meaningless intertwining movements. She was nervous, reserved… and annoyed that her clothes were wet from the rain.
So easy to read…
Her clear eyes were like a deep, clear pool, which could be seen through at a glance. He thought so now, and he had thought so before. But on that night, close to the New Year, in an instant, the change was as sudden as a downpour. A clear pool of water had turned into a muddy, yellow mire, dragging him step by step into a dark and deep abyss.
He didn’t know whether his existence was the cause of this sudden change, or a catalyst that accelerated the entropy.
But a voice in his body was issuing a serious warning, wanting him to stay away… not just from Xia Qian Ge, but from everything familiar, to go to a strange city and disappear into the bustling streets, to seal all the familiar past in the long river of memory and slowly turn into fine sand and dust.
This inexplicable sense of crisis grew stronger with time, as if an uneasy seed had been planted from the very beginning, taking root and sprouting in his flesh and blood, feeding on fear. It felt as if it would devour him in the next moment.
“It’s almost the New Year…”
Xia Qian Ge’s gentle voice interrupted his own neurotic worries. The chaotic rain in front of him gradually became clear. Su Yu looked sideways. The other party was not looking at him, but was wiping the moisture from her hair with a tissue, leaving him with a beautiful profile.
“Yeah, it’s so fast. A semester is almost over.” Su Yu echoed.
Xia Qian Ge still had her slender, white neck tilted, rubbing the wet ends of her hair. “Are you going back for the New Year?”
“Of course I’m going back. You’re going back too…”
Su Yu suddenly stopped. He had almost forgotten that now, only Xia Qian Ge and her mother were living in that house. It was destined to be a lonely New Year. He quickly corrected himself. “Your aunt must miss you very much. You should spend a good New Year with her.”
“Mm-hmm. Are you alone this year? Is your uncle not coming back?”
Xia Qian Ge also knew about Su Yu’s family situation. He had a father who was away from home all year round. They had similar childhood experiences, but they had developed completely opposite personalities.
Such a good boy, like a tenacious poplar tree growing in a desolate desert of yellow sand, his trunk straight, growing straight towards the scorching sun.
He was so sunny and resilient, which attracted her. The boy’s handsome and gentle appearance always made her absent-minded, and she would dream of him. Even if she was only given a little bit of sunshine, she would gladly accept it. She just wanted her already stiff and cold heart to become a little warmer, to squeeze out a little bit of warm blood.
“He… he called me and said he’s coming back for the New Year this year.” Su Yu felt that the rain was getting heavier. He took a few steps back and hid his body completely in the shadow of the eaves. He thought for a moment and said, “He told me he has a new family outside. Haha… I don’t know if he wants me to accept them, or if he wants them to accept me.”
Xia Qian Ge let go of her hand, and her wet hair, heavy with water, fell down. She looked at the rain silently. After Christmas, her relationship with the boy, which had become a little closer because of the holiday, began to cool down again, like a waveform on a graph, which would suddenly drop after reaching its peak.
But they already had an unbreakable bond. On that crazy first night, they had been intimate in bed, their bodies soft and fragrant, their scents mingling, as if they wanted to knead their flesh and blood into each other’s bodies.
This was just the beginning… one day, everything would become blatant and taken for granted.
“The holiday starts next week. Let’s go home together.”
Xia Qian Ge’s soft and shy words came out of her thin lips. She lowered her gaze, her earlobes burning red. The tip of her small shoe stepped into a small puddle on the concrete, splashing a small amount of water, but it was as if it had created a huge wave in Su Yu’s heart.
“Yeah.” He nodded, his weak response disappearing in the drizzling rain.
Another long silence…
The clouds were stacked together, blocking the sun completely. The sky was getting darker and darker. Su Yu looked at the not-so-distant lights at the entrance of the cafeteria, flickering in the rain. He couldn’t stand the silence anymore and said.
“Um… the rain has let up a bit. I’ll go to the cafeteria to borrow a public umbrella.”
“Is that okay?”
“It’s getting late. I’m afraid it won’t stop for a while.”
“Then… okay then. Sorry to trouble you.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Su Yu touched the tip of his nose. He had never realized that the gardenia fragrance on the girl would make him feel so ambiguous. His earlobes were burning hot. He put his coat over his head and plunged into the cold rain.
…
Night and morning, the gloom corroded the white clouds. After the boy had taken off his coat today, he was wearing a slightly thin white shirt, which was particularly conspicuous in the dim light.
Such a good boy, running in the rain with light steps, his long legs taking two steps at a time. The raindrops soaked his shirt, which clung to his thin and slender body.
It really made her heart flutter.
He was her boy. Just thinking about it made her feel so excited. She covered her hot and red face with her hands and laughed softly.
So good, that was her boy.
