Chapter 7: Exposed
On the way back, Su Xi was almost constantly fiddling with her hair. Looking at herself in the mirror, she still couldn’t feel a single bit of confidence. Beauty and ugliness were things that could never be defined by oneself. So she was anxiously looking forward to what kind of evaluation the boy would make of her change.
Su Xi stood at the door, straightened her collar, and checked her makeup in her phone before she took out her key and unlocked the door.
She pushed the wheelchair that the supermarket owner downstairs had helped her assemble into the entryway. Before she could change her shoes, she first carefully scanned the room. There was almost nothing out of the ordinary. It was still the same layout as when she had left. She couldn’t help but smile, and a sweet joy bloomed in her heart like a flower.
This kind of happiness was not related to desire, but was simply… the result of her love being reciprocated.
Su Xi closed the door with her key. The knob that was used to turn the lock had long since been broken by her. This door, besides the key, could only be opened by brute force. Unfortunately… the boy in the room was even struggling to sit up from the bed.
The wheelchair was filled with the things she had bought on her trip out. Almost all of them were for the boy. There were clothes for the boy to change into, ingredients to improve his meals for the next few days, and also…
When Su Xi picked up that box of things, her palm couldn’t help but tremble. She felt her face was so hot that it was shaking. The thought of the things being used in a few days made a blush spread across her cheeks like a rising tide.
Su Xi… why is your mind full of such dirty things? The boy would probably scold her for being shameless if he knew. She secretly cursed herself a few times and carefully hid the things.
After she had done all this, she looked up and saw the wooden cabinet on the shoe cabinet. The cabinet door was ajar, and in the darkness of the cabinet, a little bit of dark red was faintly shining. She looked at it for a few seconds and gave up the idea of taking it down to take a closer look.
Su Xi walked barefoot on the cold floor, her steps silent. She didn’t have the intention of secretly checking what the boy would do behind her back. Instead, she wanted to give the boy a surprise. She touched the slightly curled, linen-gold hair that was draped over her shoulders, the curve of her lips almost unable to be suppressed.
The door was ajar. She quietly peeked her head out. With the light from the bedside lamp, she saw the boy leaning quietly against the headboard, a novel she had left for him to read before she left resting on his lap. The boy seemed to be reading very seriously, and it took him a long time to read a page. Just as she thought the boy might have fallen asleep, he turned a page with his slender, bamboo-like white fingers.
The fluorescent white light shone on the boy’s handsome and gentle profile, and his long, neat eyelashes trembled slightly. That refined and elegant appearance, like an orchid under a stage, was the handsome young man who had walked out of her dream.
“Zhiyan, I’m back.”
Su Yu suddenly heard the girl’s voice in his ear, and the fingers that were pressed on the page trembled imperceptibly. He looked up, and his light gaze fell on the girl’s shy and coy face. The girl’s slender, white fingers were wrapped around her linen-gold, slightly curled long hair, which made her look even more bright and moving.
He looked for a while, suppressing the momentary surprise in his heart. His eyes moved slightly, and the corners of his lips slightly upturned. “No wonder you were gone for so long. You’re very beautiful… it suits you very well.”
“Is that so?” Su Xi was immediately relieved. She approached the edge of the bed with a happy expression and slowly sat down next to the boy. The other party did not resist her close contact as he had before. She suppressed her excited emotions and tried her best to maintain her appearance in front of the boy. “As long as you like it, Zhiyan. I will do whatever you like.”
“Don’t say such things. No one in this world lives for others.”
“Is that so?”
Su Xi did not refute Su Yu’s lecture as usual. She obediently agreed, but her deep pupils were still gloomy. “I’m probably too stupid… I can’t figure out such a big principle for a while. But I think what Zhiyan said is very right.”
“I’ve prepared a wheelchair for Zhiyan. It’s very convenient to go to the bathroom or to the dining room to eat. I’ll push you to the living room to watch TV now. A few new movies have just been released recently. I’ll put them on for you. I’m going to change the bedding. In the morning…”
Su Xi’s face immediately turned red when she said this. She suddenly remembered the white cloth that was still in the shower and hadn’t had time to wash. She stammered a little embarrassedly, “I accidentally got the bedding wet. It’s time to change it. Otherwise… it will smell.”
“N-Now?” Su Yu’s tone suddenly became a little flustered. He hadn’t expected the girl’s actions to be so swift.
“What’s wrong?”
Su Xi parted the light-colored hair on her forehead, and her round, cat-like eyes stared at the boy for a few moments, as if she were sizing up her prey. Her intuition was as sharp as a wild cat’s, and she had heard a hint of something wrong.
“N-Nothing. I just read for too long. I’m a little sleepy.”
“Oh~ so that’s how it is.”
Su Xi nodded and put away her somewhat sharp gaze. She still pushed the wheelchair that was in the living room in and very gently tidied up the boy’s clothes. “Then go to the other room to sleep. I really should clean up. Let’s see the house…”
She deliberately whispered in the boy’s ear, her hot breath brushing against his fair and slender neck. A few beads of sweat were particularly eye-catching in this season, which had just begun in spring.
“Are there any dirty things?”
Su Xi used some strength to help Su Yu, whose hands and feet were weak, from the bed to the wheelchair. She pushed the boy to the living room, locked the wheels with a chain, and touched the boy’s thick, smooth black hair. She said with a smile, “Be good… it will be quick.”
“Okay, I know.”
Su Yu smiled and nodded. He watched as the girl went back into the room, his palm, which was on the handle, was covered in cooled sweat.
The girl was not in the room for long. The anxiety in Su Yu’s heart dissipated a lot when he saw the girl come out and smile at him. He gathered his strength and pressed his palm on the fabric to absorb the cold sweat.
“Are you done?”
“Yeah. When the weather is clear, I’ll go and sun it. But…” The smile on Su Xi’s face was still brightly carved on her face, but her deep and dark pupils were a little uncomfortable to look at. “Maybe it’s not necessary anymore.”
After Su Xi finished speaking, she left the somewhat uneasy Su Yu in the living room. She came out with a cup of hot water, a few capsules in her palm. She smiled at the boy. “Take your medicine.”
“Didn’t… didn’t I just take it during the day?” Su Yu hesitated for a few seconds. He felt that a meticulous girl like her couldn’t have made such a low-level mistake. He carefully reminded her.
“Did you? Maybe I remembered it wrong. Then let’s watch TV, okay?”
Su Yu swallowed the saliva that had accumulated in his mouth, his Adam’s apple rolling. He said in a deep voice, “I’m sleepy… let’s do it at night.”
Su Xi ignored the boy’s refusal. She pulled him to sit in front of the TV, turned on the TV with the remote control, and played a video.
She kept a smile on her face the whole time, which was a little creepy to look at. Her cool palm was intertwined with the boy’s fingers.
A picture soon appeared on the huge screen of the TV. The filming technique looked very clumsy, and the camera was held very high. But the picture in the camera was so familiar to Su Yu. The picture covered the distance from the entryway to the sofa in the living room. The camera was silent for a while, and soon the protagonist of this video appeared from the bedroom door.
He was crawling with difficulty, almost on all fours, slowly inching forward by rubbing his body against the floor. Although the boy had a handsome and delicate face, his movements in the video still looked extremely ugly, like a weak and pitiful caterpillar, slowly shortening the distance to the entryway. His clear and gentle eyes were filled with a deep desire for survival.
The boy’s movements were difficult, but that was still not the vitality he should have after taking the medicine. It took him a long time to crawl to the door. He gritted his teeth and lifted his weak arm, resting it on the doorknob. He pulled down with the force of his weight. The flame of hope that had been burning in his eyes was completely extinguished by the reality of the unmoving handle.
He tried a few more times, all ending in failure. The video ended abruptly.
Su Xi picked up the cooling water on the table and smiled at Su Yu. Her eyes were still filled with a deep gentleness, but it was like a knife stabbing into Su Yu’s heart. He endured the pain… and was speechless.
Su Xi tilted her head and looked at him seriously, her tone without a single fluctuation.
“Zhiyan, can you take your medicine obediently now?”
