Chapter 170: Lost
The weekend afternoon sun was just right. Qingchuan’s winter was very long. Even though it was no longer snowing, the chill of the end of winter still lingered, and the temperature showed no signs of rising.
After a few days of gloom, it was finally sunny. The bare branches could not block the pouring sunlight. The deep campus path was no longer as deserted as it used to be. The crisp sound of bicycle bells echoed, and a few couples were walking hand in hand under the camphor trees on the roadside, their faces full of smiles. From the nearby sports field, a loud cheer would occasionally come…
The branches had not yet sprouted new buds, but it was as if spring had already arrived. The revived popularity had awakened the small animals that had been hiding from the wind and snow. The stray cats that had disappeared for a while began to dart around in the campus bushes again, causing a few gasps, and then a few meows to get forgiveness.
Su Yu had just come out of the activity building when he saw the little girl squatting by a low green bush, her big eyes staring at something in the mixed grass and trees, her expression serious. She would smack her lips from time to time, as if she were trying to attract the attention of another cute creature.
No wonder Nie Hong had said without thinking that the female lead would be played by An Zhi. She was indeed a beautiful girl. She was wearing a blue and white patterned Lolita dress, the hem of which was tucked up to her knees. Her dark hair was tied in a bun, and her skin was as white as snow. Her eyebrows and eyes were filled with a deep innocence, like a clear spring that had just gushed out from a spring, clear and cold.
Su Yu stood a few steps behind the girl. The sun was just right, shining quietly on their heads. Neither of them spoke.
The life in the dilapidated and yellowing grass under the bushes revealed half a head in the silence. It was like a small life that had emerged from the soil after a period of desolation. The girl’s beautiful face was reflected in the sea-blue cat’s eyes. It meowed twice and came out with its small paws. It was a small white and yellow wild cat. Its left ear was missing a corner. It was a kitten that had been neutered by the school’s animal association.
An Zhi looked at the somewhat uneasy and cute creature in front of her. She reached out her hand and stopped it on the kitten’s head, not letting it fall. Seeing that the kitten had taken two steps back but had not run away, she was relieved and put her hand on the kitten’s head and gently stroked it. The fluffy and soft touch made her very happy, and she immediately curled her lips and smiled. A few glutinous rice teeth were faintly visible in her translucent, light pink lip gloss.
An Zhi had loved these small animals since she was a child, and she had two at home. Unfortunately, she couldn’t bring them to school.
“It’s so good. Do you want to touch…”
An Zhi turned her head with a happy expression. She noticed the human-shaped shadow behind her and thought that someone else was also interested in the kitten. She turned her head with a desire to share, and the dust that was flying in the light and shadow did not block their vision.
Their eyes met, and An Zhi turned her head away, her hands not knowing where to put them. She numbly rubbed the fur on the kitten’s back, which made the kitten protest with a few dissatisfied meows.
“Hey, I’m sorry… I’m sorry.” The girl hurriedly apologized to the kitten. The kitten didn’t run away, but instead rubbed against An Zhi’s calf and whimpered a few times, as if it were still lingering on the feeling of being stroked just now.
An Zhi simply picked up the kitten and forcefully kept a little distance between the kitten and the guy behind her. If the kitten secretly ran to the other party’s side, she would be so embarrassed.
“Can I touch it?” Su Yu smiled and squatted down next to An Zhi.
An Zhi turned her head and stared at Su Yu. In the bright sunlight, she could even see the fine, short down on the girl’s face. She twitched her cute little nose, her tightly pursed lips parting, her tone a little petulant.
“You can ask it yourself.”
The girl held up the kitten’s paw. Her childish actions were just like her innocent and easy-to-understand face. “It can if it agrees.”
But the kitten, accustomed to being around the school, clearly wasn’t afraid of people. Su Yu tentatively reached out his hand, and the kitten simply lifted its head to look at him with its bewildered sea-blue eyes, giving him a lazy glance before quietly allowing Su Yu to stroke its head.
“It seems to like me quite a lot.”
An Zhi’s mouth was agape, and she couldn’t say anything. Her moist lips were pouting, and she cursed a few times in her heart, “Scumbag cat.” She had thought that the kitten only liked her teasing, but it turned out that it was open to anyone.
But she was not so childish as to get angry with a cat. She gathered some courage and put it in her pocket, then held her snow-white neck high and looked at Su Yu. “Why are you here? Is the meeting over? You dare to wander around when it’s not over. Be careful, Sister Hong will beat you up.”
“Qian Ge asked me to come. After all, you… are always worrying.”
“Sister? How could that be…”
An Zhi didn’t quite believe Su Yu’s words. How could it be Xia Qiange? But her sister would definitely not harm her. Could it be that her sister wanted to set them up… An Zhi suddenly remembered what Xia Qiange had said to her during this time.
“Why are you hiding from me? Did I do something to make you unhappy?”
“Who said you provoked me? I’m not angry with you, and I’m not embarrassed to see you.” She turned her head awkwardly and looked around, starting to make up excuses. “I… I’m just a little uncomfortable. You should understand, right? Girls are all like this.”
Su Yu just smiled and didn’t refute the girl’s flawed excuses.
A white cat hair flew up with the wind and landed on An Zhi’s nose. She twitched her nose uncomfortably, and her porcelain-white skin shone brightly in the sun.
“It’s not gone yet…”
“Hmm?”
Su Yu raised his hand and gently brushed the girl’s nose. The light white down flew up again with the wind and scattered in the air. “It’s gone.”
An Zhi’s retreating body immediately stopped. She watched as the boy’s fingertips gently brushed past her nose. The light touch, which was almost not a touch, made her heart itch, even more than the down had just now. The itch spread along her nerves to the tip of her heart. Her chest blocked her hand, and she couldn’t scratch it no matter how hard she tried. She could only endure the itch, a little annoyed.
She saw the boy’s handsome and refined eyebrows and eyes, his long, slender eyelashes in a neat row, one… two…
“It’s gone…”
An Zhi’s body stiffened. She didn’t dare to look at Su Yu for another second. The words Xia Qiange had left in her mind these past few days were like an unbreakable curse. They were hidden in a dark corner and hard to get rid of, but they were also cruelly fulfilled.
She was like a traveler lost in a difficult and obscure maze, exploring the maze with a mixture of apprehension and uncontrollable passion. She could only blindly follow the advice of others, but she couldn’t tell the difference between true and false.
“Um… I should go back now. Sister Hong still has something to tell me.”
“Oh, then go back quickly. Sister Hong has been quite busy these past few days.”
An Zhi put down the cat in her hand, and the little bit of joy she had felt from the kitten instantly disappeared. She hid her troubled thoughts and took two steps back. Finally, she looked at the boy who was looking down and teasing the kitten, her earlobes red. She turned and ran away.
