Chapter 40: Cloudy
The night in Jiangnan was still very cold in late spring. The wind was blowing against the glass window, and the rusty and mottled latch was stuck in a rough and small pit, and it was creaking, and it was a little harsh. It had woken her up from her drunken sleep.
Her head was as if it had been stirred by a spoon, and her consciousness was out of place. It was a mess of black threads, and her nerves were limp, and her limbs were numb. She was lying in the darkness, and she was as if she had seen another her in her dream.
He Mu Qing curled up her knees and shrunk under the blanket. Her head was in the soft pillow, and she was a small one. The night had painted her eyes a deep color, and a dim lamp was on at the head of the bed. She was staring blankly at the gray and white ceiling, which was dyed a harmonious warm yellow. Her gaze was out of focus, and she felt that there was an abstract and blurry look of an oil painting, which was very unreal.
The air in the room was very cold, and the water vapor was very heavy. After a while, she felt that her eyes were wet. As if she were afraid of the cold, it was a long, long time before she had gathered her courage. Her hand had slowly come out from under the blanket, and her fingertips were pale. The lines of her palm were clearly visible under the light, and they were wet and sticky.
Alcohol was a bad monster. It had seduced her, who was not clear, to drink it. It had been raging in her body. When she had woken up from her hangover, she was always so tired that she couldn’t control herself. Her energy had been completely drained, and her head was aching. She had thought for a long time, but the memory was blurry. She only vaguely remembered that it was hot and scorching, as if she had had a fever.
It was cold outside, but her heart was restless. It was as if it would burn her uneasy heart to ashes.
He Mu Qing gritted her teeth and suddenly lifted the blanket. The cold wind was like a needle, and it had pierced into her pores. She had let out a panicked cry and had immediately covered her mouth to block the sound. Her pupils were trembling, and the thick blanket had once again covered her beautiful and charming body, and her chest was heaving violently.
After a long while, she had clenched her fingers and had slowly lifted the blanket. The light had seeped in, and the pure white bedsheet was clean. There were some wrinkles, and it looked very messy.
She had bitten her dry lips, and her mouth was filled with the aftertaste of blood.
The cold wind was bone-chilling, but her heart was warm. She had fallen back on her back, and her elbows were on her eyes. The corners of her pale lips were slightly upturned.
A feeling that she couldn’t describe was lingering in her heart. Should she be glad? And she was also vaguely a little disappointed.
The next time, would she still have the guts to go crazy again?
…
He had fallen asleep on the sofa outside. The living room was dark. He didn’t dare to turn on the light to wake him up. With a little bit of light from the bedroom, he had seen his sleeping face.
His soft and thick black hair was half-drooping, and under his thin eyebrows, his eyes were closed, and his thin, red lips were pursed. It was only now that he had looked carefully that he had found that there was a dark circle under his thin eyelids. He was as if he had been tired for a long time and had not had a good rest. Now he was not sleeping soundly, and his eyebrows were tightly furrowed.
Despite this, his features were still beautiful. His unguarded appearance when he was asleep was a little childish, and his neat and sharp jawline was mature. The past and the present were both the person she had been thinking about.
The boy’s warm breath was flowing in her palm. She licked her lips, and she had lightly kissed his smooth forehead, which was after his dark hair had been scattered.
Her heart, which was pounding, had slowly calmed down. Her eyebrows and eyes were curved, and she was smiling gently and beautifully, like the narrow and thin crescent moon, and it was illuminating her porcelain-white face.
The phone on the coffee table was vibrating. It was very abrupt in the quiet environment.
She had thought for a moment and had looked up. The phone was almost out of battery, and the screen was not very bright. But she could still vaguely see that a message had just come in.
It was three or four in the morning. She had either just woken up, or she had not slept all night. No matter what, she thought that the woman must have been supported by a deep obsession.
“Ah Yu, let’s get married. Okay?”
…
The sky was bright very quickly. The sunlight from the window was on his thin eyelids, and it was flashing. He had woken up, and he had ruffled his soft black hair. He had reached for the phone on the coffee table. The screen was so bright that it was dazzling. The battery was full, and it was different from his memory.
His sleepy eyes had opened, and he had seen the few messages on the screen. His fingers were still in the ends of his hair, and the distinct blood vessels on the whites of his eyes had not yet faded. It was a long time before he had pressed the power button. His dark screen had reflected his eyes, which were struggling in his fatigue.
Su Yu had stood up, and his stiff and sore bones had been twisted, and a crisp sound had been made.
The bedroom door was ajar. He had gently pushed the door and had gone in. The bedding on the bed was undulating, and it had printed a human shape. He had walked to the side of the bed and had squatted down. He had seen the little girl sleeping peacefully and soundly. He could hear her light breathing. Her light pink lips were slightly parted, and a few strands of hair were drooping by the corner of her mouth.
He had looked at her for a long time. He had seen her delicate and thin, soft eyebrows furrowed, and then they had slowly relaxed. The girl’s skin was clean and clear, like an exquisite and beautiful porcelain doll.
He had smiled silently and had reached out his hand and had stopped by her lips. He had gently parted the few strands of messy hair. He had accidentally touched her soft lips, and his fingertips were warm.
The girl seemed to have noticed. Her delicate skin was sensitive, and her eyebrows were furrowed even more. After a while, she had suddenly opened a crack, and the light had rushed in. She had looked at him in a daze, and his gentle face was slowly outlined in her eyes. Even his breath was warm and was on her face, as if it were real.
After a long while, He Mu Qing had come around. Her small mouth was open, and she was like a cat. She had quickly jumped back and had kept a distance from him.
She was holding a pillow and was hiding in a corner. Her eyes were evasive, and a blush had spread from the side of her neck to the base of her ears. She had immediately messed up her hair to cover it. She also knew that her ears were soft, and they were a weakness. Without the wine… her whole body was full of flaws. The courage she had had last night was all gone. She was like a hedgehog without its thorns, and she didn’t even dare to raise her head.
He Mu Qing, He Mu Qing, can you be any more embarrassing?
Although she had some impression, she had still lifted the blanket and had looked down. She had let out a sigh of relief. Her clothes were intact on her body. Her nerves, which had been ravaged by the alcohol, were limp, and her limbs were weak. But at least her mouth was still hard, and she had not lost her momentum.
“What are you doing? Are you trying to be a rogue?”
“Haha. You look the same as before when you’re asleep. Your eyebrows are furrowed together.” Su Yu smiled and opened his mouth and thought for a while. “You’re very cute.”
“Ah, you…
He Mu Qing was stunned for a moment. She tilted her head and digested the meaning of his words. The hair that was on the side of her face could not cover her increasingly red and beautiful cheeks. Her fair fingers were in the pillow and were making fingerprints. She had thrown it at him, who was by the side of the bed.
Her voice was trembling, and her emotions were swaying violently. He couldn’t tell if she was angry or shy. “Alright, you. You stinking rogue. You didn’t admit it before. You’ve really been peeking at me when I’m asleep.”
“I haven’t changed. But you’ve changed. You’re more glib than before.” She had glared at him, and her fingers were in the blanket, and she was rubbing them at a loss. She just felt that it was hot everywhere, and her gaze was nowhere to be placed.
Su Yu didn’t dodge. He was hit squarely by the pillow, and a casual smile was on his lips. “Is that so? Actually, I’ve always thought so.”
“You don’t have to think. I know. There were a lot of people who were chasing me before…”
She had glanced at him, as if she still didn’t believe him. Her face was hidden under the blanket, and a pair of round eyes were rolling. She was in bed and was not moving.
Su Yu stood up and walked to the window. He pulled at the thick and heavy curtains. The gears might have been rusty, and it was a little difficult. When he was using force, he had turned his head and had looked at her.
“We’ve graduated. Is there anywhere you want to go?”
Her light pupils had lit up. Her lips had parted, and her voice had disappeared in her throat. She had lowered her eyes, and her thick and curled eyelashes were trembling slightly. “Someone is waiting for you. There’s no need to waste your time on me.”
Su Yu’s action of pulling the curtains had frozen. He had then heard her say, “Anyway, I’m clinging to you. There’s plenty of time in the future. I really have other things to do tomorrow.”
“What is it?”, he had asked casually.
“My mom asked me to go to Qingchuan to have a gathering with them and Uncle Su and the others. We’ll have a banquet to celebrate my graduation. And by the way, with that who was it…”
He Mu Qing had ruffled her messy hair and had raised her eyebrows and had thought for a while. Her tone was regretful. “They said it was to celebrate a grandson’s birthday. The daughter that Auntie Fang Yan had brought seemed to have been cheated by a man. She’s a single mother. Her grades in high school were quite good, but now she hasn’t even finished college… it’s a pity.”
His heart had suddenly hit his ribs. His hand had for a moment not been able to hold back its strength, and the rusty gears had rattled. The pale daylight had rushed in from behind the curtains.
The clouds were thick. It was a cloudy day.
