Chapter 118: Rose
“How long have you been waiting?”
“Not long. Why are you back from outside?”
Su Yu watched as the taxi drove into the rushing traffic. He took the bag from Xia Qiange’s hand. It was heavy, and inside was a stack of tedious case files. The blank spaces were filled with dense and small characters.
“I had a case today and went out with a colleague. My phone ran out of battery…” Xia Qiange parted her sweaty bangs, and her cheeks were flushed. Her breathing was a little rushed, as if she were too tired. She shook the phone in her hand, which had a black screen, and didn’t explain much.
“Hello, I’m…”
“This is my boyfriend. Didn’t you always want to meet him?”
Xia Qiange took a step ahead of Su Yu and held his arm. She smiled and introduced Su Yu to the girl who had come back with her.
“You? So it’s you.”
The girl with the mushroom head squinted her eyes and looked Su Yu up and down. She didn’t care much about her friend’s boyfriend, but this person was Xia Qiange’s boyfriend. Her gaze lingered on Su Yu’s face for a little longer, but this was really not a good reason. In the end, she glanced at the paper bag he was holding in his hand. She recognized the logo on it. The bag was limp, and it probably only had a few roses in it.
“It’s quite romantic…”
The girl commented with a somewhat nonchalant expression. She didn’t feel that it was a pity. She just thought that it seemed that no one could escape the fate of looking at faces. She sighed and patted the expensive shoulder bag on her waist. “I’ll be going now. I won’t disturb you two. See you next time.”
Su Yu watched as the girl walked away. He was very familiar with that look. He hadn’t paid much attention to it after a long time, but even the smallest thorn would still pierce his flesh.
He turned around and held Xia Qiange’s hand and sat down on the bench he had been sitting on for a long time. The corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the thin and long high heels under Xia Qiange’s feet. The leather of the heel was on her fair and tender skin, and a dazzling red mark was opened, and a thin layer of blood was seeping out. He clenched the paper bag in his hand, and it rustled. He didn’t hand out the flowers.
“You’re so tired like this.”
“It’s always like this at the beginning. I’m doing pretty well. It will be better in the future.”
She lowered her head and rubbed her red and swollen ankle. Her body was as soft as if it had no bones, and she was leaning on Su Yu’s shoulder. A few playful strands of hair were lifted by the dry and cold evening wind, and there was a fresh gardenia fragrance, which stirred his sense of smell.
A few scattered sparks were burning in the corner. The bright red sunset was pouring over the entire sky. The streetlights were not yet on, and they could only see each other’s side face in the hazy halo.
It was just the rush hour, and the surroundings were noisy and chaotic. They were surrounded by a chaotic crowd, and their eyes were only filled with each other’s shadow. They were as isolated as a lonely island in a remote sea, and they didn’t know when they would be drowned by the noisy seawater around them.
Su Yu was as if he had been defeated. He had retreated from her gentle gaze, which was as if it had been soaked in water. Perhaps it was because of his unfortunate fate in the past, but his perception was always sharp, which was why he felt that that gaze was really strange. The surface of her eyeballs was filled with an indifferent and cold silence, and in the depths, it seemed to be hiding a deep and lingering love, like a river that had been frozen for thousands of miles in the winter, but there was still a clear and warm stream of water flowing at the bottom.
“You always say that, but you’re still so busy later…”
He muttered a few words in a barely audible voice, with a hint of a complaint. But he didn’t have the heart to let her hear it. He reached for the paper bag by his hand.
“What did you say?”
She tilted her head and glanced at him lightly. Her seaweed-like, soft and dark hair was scattered, exposing the fair and delicate skin on the side of her neck. Her eyes were dark and bright, and she was staring at him without letting go.
“Nothing…”, he shook his head.
“Yeah…”
“Then… let’s go back.”
“Oh!”
She turned her head away as if she were aggrieved, and her cheeks were slightly puffed out. There was his shadow at her feet. Her waist was slender and powerful, and it was flashing long and short under the lit streetlights, as if it were kissing the instep of her foot.
She childishly stepped on him a few times, on his hair, on his head, on his eyes… those beautiful and captivating eyes. The force of her toes immediately and visibly loosened, and she was even more reluctant to touch his lips. She licked her round lips and secretly glanced at him.
He was so annoying. Why wouldn’t he hold her in his arms, lower his head and kiss her, and say he loved her… no matter how many times, it wouldn’t be too much.
Her soft and full breasts, which were hidden under her collar, were almost pressing on his arm, and they were rubbing into a seductive and deformed shape. Was her hint not obvious enough?
She was dawdling and following him. Her dejected expression was like a child who had had her candy snatched away. She had long since passed the age of having such a bland and tasteless love. Her love was deep and suppressed, but she couldn’t get any relief. She hated his indifference, but he was so alluring. The unsatisfied mood was rolling in her heart again.
She was a little tired of acting, but she also knew very well the ugliness under this skin. The beautiful fruit was hanging on the branch in front of her, but with a single step forward, she would step into a swamp. If she was not careful, she would be pricked by the thorns under the mud and would be covered in blood.
It was like a weed that was rooted in the cracks of the bricks. Why couldn’t it be worn away, and why couldn’t his only remaining pride be crushed?
Xia Qiange ran a few steps forward to catch up with his slightly faster pace. Su Yu had almost never left her alone like this. She held his hand tightly and would not let him shake her off again.
Su Yu turned his head and looked at her a few times. His lips parted and then closed tightly. He did not let go of her hand. He pulled her to a bus stop on the side of the road. On one side was a stream of traffic, and the night was like water. On the other side was a place he had been longing for.
He suddenly remembered the paper bag he had been holding in his hand. His heart beat faster for a moment. He immediately opened the bag and looked at the flowers inside. They had been in the bag for too long, and the bright red petals had already withered a little. They were drooping on the flower stems, and they were no longer suitable to be given to the delicate and bright her.
“Is this for me?”
Xia Qiange was one step ahead of him and reached into the paper bag and took out the few roses. A few petals were accidentally rubbed off. She brought her face closer to the stamen and twitched her nose. She nodded very seriously. “Yeah, it smells so good. Not many people have given me flowers.”
“I…”
The bus slowly arrived at the station, not giving him a chance to speak. Xia Qiange pulled him onto the bus first. The two of them were hugging each other. Su Yu was acting as a human shield. He squeezed past the crowded crowd in the front row and actually found a double seat in the back. She smiled in surprise and pulled him over.
Su Yu was sitting on the outside, protecting Xia Qiange. The vehicle was bumpy. He was holding a hanging ring with one hand and was secretly looking at her profile. The car lights were warm and yellow, and the light was on her smooth and small arm, which was casually propping up her chin. Her eyelids were tiredly fighting up and down.
The night outside the window was as dark as ink, and the figures were swaying. The car was filled with all kinds of people, and the whispers were mixed together and became chaotic. But there were only the two of them, as if they were special.
He suddenly wanted to turn his head and explain something to her. But a light breathing sound suddenly came from his ear. He saw that she was leaning on his shoulder and was fast asleep, her face full of fatigue, which was unrestrainedly on her face.
The few bouquets of flowers were cherished by her and were inserted into the lock of her collar. The petals were gently blown by her breath, and they looked a little comical.
