Chapter 160: Spine
It was raining when they came back. The raindrops, mixed with small hailstones, were bone-chilling. The damp and cold weather in the south of Qingchuan was the most torturous. It was fine indoors, but after being caught in the rain and blown by the cold wind outside, the coldness seeped into one’s bones.
Su Yu had been dragged by the hungry Su Xi to the food stall for a long time. The girl’s exceptionally exuberant enthusiasm made him a little overwhelmed. He had just packed the things he had bought when it started to rain heavily. They didn’t have an umbrella, and by the time they got home, soaked in the rain, it was already eight o’clock in the evening.
“Go take a shower, brother. I’ll boil some hot water for you to drink. Otherwise, you’ll catch a cold later.” Su Xi was a little anxious, her porcelain-white skin flushed at the tip of her nose.
On the way back, Su Yu had used his coat to shield her from the rain. The sweater he was wearing underneath was half-soaked, the hem clinging to his body, water dripping down. The floor at his feet was soon half-wet.
“Okay, thank you.”
Su Yu breathed out a white mist, his lips a little pale from the cold. He shrunk his cold body and walked into the bathroom. He threw his wet clothes on the washing machine outside. It wasn’t until the hot water from the shower poured down on his head that his stiff, ice-like body thawed. His body temperature returned, and the blood in his body gradually warmed up, starting to flow in his blood vessels.
He stood in the steamy bathroom and showered for a while. Perhaps his mind was a little slow because of the cold. He looked at his wet body and suddenly remembered that he hadn’t taken a change of clothes and a towel.
Su Yu sighed helplessly, lamenting his bad luck today. He gently opened the bathroom door a crack, hesitated for a moment, but still spoke. “Su Xi… are you outside?”
The air was silent. After a moment, Su Xi’s voice came from the bathroom outside. “What’s wrong? Is the water not hot enough?”
“No, my clothes and towel… are in my suitcase.”
“Oh, I see. Hmm… I’d love to help you, brother. But I don’t really like it when you call me by my full name. It’s too distant.”
“Then… Xiao Xi?” Su Yu braced himself and changed his address. The girl was not at all the rebellious and dark person Fang Yan had described. Instead, she was a bit mischievous and childish, liking to play such little tricks. He was asking for a favor now… so he could only helplessly accept.
“Haha, I still don’t like it.” Su Xi chuckled, still not giving in.
Su Yu was silent for a moment. He turned off the shower and was about to go out in the clothes he had thrown on the washing machine.
“Don’t come out. I’ll get them for you. Really… are you a blockhead, brother?”
Su Xi heard the trickling of water in the bathroom stop and immediately shouted to stop him. Her sweet and greasy voice came in again, with a hint of reluctance, complaining a little. The sound of slippers on the ceramic tiles gradually faded away. Su Yu sighed in relief. He didn’t want to wear those cold and wet clothes again. He turned on the shower again, and the steam that had just dissipated in the bathroom began to churn again with the sound of trickling water.
…
Su Xi hid by the wall outside the bathroom, her neatly trimmed nails picking at the rough gaps in the ceramic tiles. The corners of her mouth were slightly upturned. She looked at the warm light cast by the bath light through the hazy mist. Through the frosted glass door of the bathroom, the figure of the person inside gradually became blurry, not so real.
So good, the feeling of him being by her side. This deserted house should be lively again.
Su Xi returned to the living room. The suitcase was casually thrown in the corner of the living room. She walked towards the boy’s personal belongings with demonic steps, her eyes moist with excitement. Her body trembled with excitement.
She opened the suitcase with the password the boy had given her. Most of the contents were clothes, which were a little messy and wrinkled in the corner because of the bumpy road.
She ran her slender fingers over the smooth fabric, her consciousness a little scattered from the impact of desire. But her movements suddenly froze, as if she had been struck by a bolt of lightning. She remembered something. The extinguished candlelight was lit again with a small spark. The hot wax dripped on her heart, a burning pain, but it also lit a glimmer of hope.
She was eager to verify something. Once the thought arose, it began to grow and spread wildly under her skin.
…
“I’ve got your clothes. Can you open the door, brother?”
Su Xi stood at the bathroom door with her personal belongings. She gently knocked on the glass door, staring at the boy’s slender and straight silhouette behind the frosted glass, her breathing a little rapid.
That was the boy she had been looking for for who knows how long. His body, his spirit, his soul, she loved them all.
“You can just leave them outside. I’ll be done soon.”
“Okay, hurry up. The barbecue is getting cold.”
Su Xi agreed, but she quietly took two steps back, turned off the light, and hid in the darkness, watching the bathroom door. The dim light made her eyes look even brighter, revealing a very secret desire.
She wanted to see the boy the moment he walked out of the bathroom, and then nail her gaze on his straight spine, to find what she was looking for.
Su Xi stared at the slightly loose door bolt, her eyes wide with anger. But the trembling only lasted for a moment and then suddenly stopped. She suddenly heard a few calls in her ear. She was so excited that her heart was about to jump out of her chest, and she subconsciously responded.
“Xiao Xi?”
“What’s wrong, brother?”
“You haven’t left yet? I’m done showering.”
“Oh, oh… I was just getting some water to boil. I’ll be leaving now.”
This was not a good opportunity. The suddenly blocked emotions made Su Xi fall into a baseless rage. She turned and left, her face instantly sinking, a little sinister and terrifying.
The boy seemed to be on his guard. The bath light in the bathroom was turned off, and both the bathroom and the shower were plunged into darkness. Even if the boy walked out of the bathroom in front of her now, she would definitely not be able to get what she wanted.
But Su Xi was still unwilling to give up and secretly looked back. The boy had his back to her. Her gaze passed through the darkness, a mixture of aggression and possessiveness, like a cobra with its poisonous fangs bared, a little sinister and creepy. But even though her eyes were so wide that the whites were covered with dense blood vessels, she still couldn’t see a single bit of what she was craving on his spine.
Su Xi stood outside for a while, waiting for the refreshed boy to walk out of the bathroom. She immediately put on a sweet smile.
“Brother, have some hot water. I’ll go and heat up the barbecue.”
“Oh, thanks. Sorry to trouble you.” Su Yu took the hot water in a daze and took a sip, accidentally burning his tongue.
Su Xi was a little busy putting the barbecue on a plate and putting it in the microwave. She was in a daze, her dark pupils reflecting the warm yellow light inside the microwave. The surging tide in her heart slowly calmed down. She covered her chest and comforted herself to be calm.
She would figure it out eventually.
But there was still something in her heart that seemed to want to grow, uncontrollably.
A substitute… it doesn’t matter if it’s broken.
