Chapter 87
Chu Xinrou’s hand was held tightly. Qiao Xiaoxiao looked down at her, the desire in her eyes finally tearing away the pretense. With the swaying, dim lights, it came pressing down.
Once upon a time, it was always Chu Xinrou who was in control of everything, with the gentle posture of an elder, and Qiao Xiaoxiao was always the girl who looked up to her and depended on her.
But at this moment, the scales had been tipped.
Chu Xinrou looked up at the “strange” Qiao Xiaoxiao. All her resistance and reason had turned into a blank, and only the sound of her heartbeat in her chest was deafening.
Qiao Xiaoxiao knew she couldn’t be too hasty. Her sister hadn’t pushed her away today, which was already a huge step forward. She slowed her pace, her burning gaze moving inch by inch over Chu Xinrou’s flushed cheeks, as if to remember her every subtle expression. When she finally leaned in, she only gently brushed her nose against that snow-white neck, like a cat testing the waters, both greedy and restrained. But just this, where her warm breath swept over, Chu Xinrou’s skin trembled with fine goosebumps, and even her breathing became rapid.
“Xiao… Xiaoxiao…” Her voice trembled, as if in a plea, and also as if in a helpless indulgence.
“Yes,” Qiao Xiaoxiao replied in a low voice, her voice slightly hoarse. She then gently rubbed her cheek against that delicate skin, as if to confirm her existence.
Their temples were touching.
This isn’t a dream, is it?
To have come this far was already beyond her most beautiful fantasies.
But how could a dream be so vivid?
There was no such thrilling body temperature, no such soul-stirring breath, and even more so, no such wildly beating pulse against her palm at this moment.
She was intoxicated by this test, but she didn’t know what sweet torment the person under her was going through. Chu Xinrou’s knuckles, clutching the bedsheet, had long since turned white, her eyes misty and helpless.
When Qiao Xiaoxiao’s lips finally touched that long, slender neck, a cool hand suddenly pressed against her shoulder. The force was very light, but it made Qiao Xiaoxiao instantly stop all her movements.
But Qiao Xiaoxiao, whose dream had come true, was not a good person. She deliberately pressed her lips to Chu Xinrou’s ear and murmured, “Jiejie is trembling.” She looked with satisfaction as that jade-like earlobe instantly flushed with blood. “So it’s not just me who gets nervous.”
This Qiao Xiaoxiao was someone Chu Xinrou had never seen before. She stared at Xiaoxiao for a long time. After she had calmed down a little and had a bit of strength, she gently pinched her cheek and threw out a fatal question. “Xiaoxiao, why are you so skilled?”
One sentence had shattered all the ripples. A cold sweat broke out on Qiao Xiaoxiao’s back. She quickly shook her head. “No, no, I’m not skilled at all.”
Chu Xinrou’s eyes deepened, and a meaningful “hmm?” escaped her nose.
Still saying you’re not skilled? Just the touching and rubbing had made her breathing chaotic. What would it be like if she were skilled?
This “hmm” was like a life-taking call. Qiao Xiaoxiao explained in a panic, “Jiejie, I really have no experience, and I can’t be called skilled… I just… just…”
She was afraid her sister would misunderstand.
Chu Xinrou’s slender fingers pinched her cheek. “Just what?”
The tips of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s ears were so red they were almost dripping blood, her voice as thin as a thread. “I… I’ve just… secretly practiced many times… in my dreams…”
Before she could finish, the air suddenly froze.
This was the absolute truth.
Chu Xinrou’s pupils slightly dilated, and then a vivid color spread from the roots of her ears to her neck. Even the fingertips pinching Qiao Xiaoxiao’s cheek became scorching hot. She subconsciously wanted to pull her hand back but was held tightly by the other in a panic.
Chu Xinrou pressed her hot cheek tightly against her heart, her long lashes gently sweeping over her collarbone, causing a fine tremor.
“Jiejie…?” Qiao Xiaoxiao held her breath. The response was a sudden tightening of the arms around her waist. Chu Xinrou buried her face even deeper, her muffled voice coming through the fabric. “…Don’t say any more.”
In the dark, Qiao Xiaoxiao grinned.
She had seen her sister in a million different ways, but this was the first time she had been like this.
At the crack of dawn, Chu Xinrou woke up in Qiao Xiaoxiao’s embrace.
She was in a daze for a moment before she realized that she had had a dreamless night. The long-awaited peaceful sleep had made her whole body soft, and she felt as if she were sinking into a warm cloud, her nose filled with the unique light fragrance of Qiao Xiaoxiao, like sun-dried cotton.
Chu Xinrou tilted her head up slightly, her gaze tracing the sleeping face so close to her. The corners of Qiao Xiaoxiao’s lips were still lifted in a faint smile, and her eyelashes cast fine shadows in the morning light. She must be having a sweet dream. This sight made her heart soften.
Her fingertips uncontrollably lifted and gently stroked Qiao Xiaoxiao’s cheek. The moment she touched that delicate skin, last night’s whisper suddenly echoed in her ear.
“I… I’ve just tried it many times in my dreams…”
Her fingertips instantly curled back as if they had been burned. Chu Xinrou hastily pulled her hand back, but she couldn’t stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks again. She subconsciously shrank into Qiao Xiaoxiao’s embrace and buried her face in the other’s shoulder.
This action made her unable to see the smile on Xiaoxiao’s face.
Qiao Xiaoxiao did have a sweet dream.
Perhaps it was because that heart, which had been dry for too long, had finally been moistened by her sister’s daily gentleness, and even her dreams had been dyed with sweetness.
She dreamed of her childhood self.
At that time, her parents were still alive, and the sun was golden. Her mother was holding her baby sister in her arms, her smile softer than the spring breeze. Her father had let her ride on his shoulders. She was holding a melting lollipop in her hand, the sticky sugar all over her hand, but her smile was sweeter than the candy.
But this dream was too distant.
The sweet picture had faded, like a yellowed old photo. In the black and white image, even the laughter was filled with a rustling static. It was clearly the warmest memory, but it was separated by the haze of time, and she couldn’t see it clearly.
Qiao Xiaoxiao had always had this dream when she was a child, especially when she had just arrived at her uncle’s house. It had been a long time since she had dreamed of it.
While she was eating noodles in the morning, she had even muttered to Chu Xinrou, “This time when I go back, Jiejie, I’ll go and visit my father’s grave.”
Chu Xinrou had nodded and had said softly, “Our Xiaoxiao has grown up.”
In the past, Xiaoxiao had resented her father, her mother, and everything.
But now, she had everything, and she was loved by her sister like this. The emotions that had been suppressed in her chest seemed to have dissipated.
Just like some dreams can be restored, but some dreams, no matter how real, can never be returned to.
When she was leaving, Qiao Xiaoxiao insisted that her sister not see her off.
She was afraid that she would be reluctant to leave.
Chu Xinrou saw through her thoughts and just nodded silently, handing her the packed luggage. As she saw her off at the door, she still couldn’t help but remind her softly, “Come home early.”
Qiao Xiaoxiao nodded heavily and got on the car, looking back every three steps. The moment the wheels started to turn, a tide of longing surged in. The first step she took away from Chu Xinrou, she had already started to miss her.
She didn’t know what was wrong with her recently. Xiaoxiao would always think of her childhood.
She still remembered when she was eight, she would always be curled up in a corner of the cowshed, counting the mold spots on the straw pile. The winter wind would drill in through the cracks in the wooden planks, and a small pile of snow would accumulate by her frozen feet. The summer heat would steam the sour smell of feces, and flies would lay eggs on her festering wounds. But when her uncle had dragged her away, she had still clung to the rotten doorframe, looking back at the straw nest full of lice. That was the first and last place she could call “home” after she had memories of her childhood.
For many years after that, she was like a dandelion seed blown by the wind, stopping briefly under countless eaves, but never being able to take root.
Until she met Chu Xinrou.
The person who would always leave a night light on in the entryway, who would wrap her cold fingertips in her warm palm, and who would gently remind her, “Come home early.”
Qiao Xiaoxiao’s chest was hot. Looking at the scenery outside, it was as if it were also wrapped in a warm color.
Her heart had taken root.
This was probably the feeling of having love and strength in her heart.
Qiao Xiaoxiao’s broken heart was not only pieced back together bit by bit, but under Chu Xinrou’s care, it had seen the sun, had felt the rain, and even the darkest corner had bloomed with a small flower.
After getting on the high-speed rail, Qiao Xiaoxiao had just reported her safety to Chu Xinrou when she had received a video call from Nuonuo.
Nuonuo had been daydreaming in class recently, and her mood was not high. Qiao Xiaoxiao had received several “complaint” calls from the teacher. But every time she had called Nuonuo, her sister would always be silent. She was clearly a half-grown child, but she would still look at her with the same watery eyes she had had when she was wronged as a child.
Qiao Xiaoxiao was very worried and had asked her more than once, “Were you bullied? What on earth happened?”
Nuonuo would just shake her head and force a smile at her.
She was grown up now and had her own thoughts. She was no longer like when she was a child, relying on her for everything.
Qiao Xiaoxiao, who was like a mother to her, felt a strange feeling in her heart. Just like today, when the video connected, Nuonuo was still not very happy. Her gaze was faintly looking at her sister on the screen for a long time before she asked, “Are you going back to the village?”
Qiao Xiaoxiao nodded. She looked into her eyes and asked, “Are you in a better mood?”
Nuonuo sighed. “It’s not good, but it’s not bad either.”
…
Gritting her teeth, Qiao Xiaoxiao asked very seriously, “Nuonuo, tell me the truth. Have you been so depressed recently because you broke up with that little mixed-race girlfriend of yours?”
Nuonuo: …
In her sister’s heart, is this the kind of image she has?
Nuonuo was no longer the little bean bun from before. A girl changes eighteen times between childhood and womanhood. Now, she had grown into a little beauty. She and Qiao Xiaoxiao had completely different looks. Unlike Qiao Xiaoxiao’s long and cold phoenix eyes, Nuonuo had a pair of expressive almond-shaped eyes, the corners of which were slightly drooping, like a little deer in a forest. Her full lips were red without any lipstick, and when she smiled, they had a honey-like luster.
The two sisters were like the clear moonlight and the scorching sun.
After a long silence, Nuonuo suddenly raised her hand and signed to Qiao Xiaoxiao.
—Sister, I love you.
This sudden “confession” stunned Qiao Xiaoxiao. In addition, Nuonuo was using sign language, which made her even more confused.
In the past, every time she was beaten and curled up in a corner, every time she was chased out of the house and came back drenched, that little figure would be the first to rush into her arms.
Nuonuo would always be crying and stubbornly making this gesture. In the past, this simplest gesture was the warmest salvation in Xiaoxiao’s life. Later, when Nuonuo grew up, she was rarely so direct and passionate.
She hung up the phone.
Qiao Xiaoxiao was uneasy. She looked at the scenery outside the window, her heart as if it were overgrown with wild grass, unable to be calm.
My sister… what’s wrong with her?
Speaking of Nuonuo at school, she was protected by the teachers, and the children around her were not big. With her personality, it was not very likely that she would be bullied again.
What could have happened?
Could it be Uncle?
Qiao Xiaoxiao started to let her imagination run wild. She even thought that Qiao Banshan had been coughing a lot a while ago. Could it be that there was something wrong with his lungs? Could it be some serious illness…
She had been thinking uneasily all the way until she got off the car. Qiao Xiaoxiao then switched to a bus. As the wheels rolled over the last section of the mountain road, the setting sun had already sunk to the shoulder of the distant mountains.
Qiao Xiaoxiao jumped off the bus with her luggage, and the evening wind, mixed with the scent of rice paddies, rushed to meet her.
The dusk in Wuliu Village was like a smudged ink wash painting. The dark green distant mountains held the orange-red setting sun. On the winding field ridges were scattered farmers returning home. A few white egrets flew over the golden waves of rice, the tips of their wings dotted with the fragmented light of the sunset.
She took a deep breath. The fragrance of the soil still carried the taste of her childhood memories.
This country road seemed to have never changed. The crooked-necked willow tree by the roadside still had that rusty bell, which would jingle in the wind.
But the branch that she had had to stand on her tiptoes to touch back then was now within her reach.
Qiao Xiaoxiao saw that familiar figure from a distance. Qiao Banshan was squatting under the old locust tree, smoking a pipe, the embers in the pipe glowing and fading. She couldn’t help but quicken her pace, the wheels of her suitcase making a cheerful sound on the gravel road.
“Uncle!”
Hearing the sound, Qiao Banshan looked up, and the wrinkles on his face instantly smoothed out. He quickly knocked his pipe on the sole of his shoe and rushed up in three steps, taking the luggage from her hand. “You’re back, Xiaoxiao.”
He was still the same, the first thing he did was to size up Qiao Xiaoxiao. “Have you grown taller again?”
These past few years, Xiaoxiao had grown too fast and was almost as tall as her.
Qiao Xiaoxiao smiled. Seeing that her uncle was in good spirits and the frown lines between his brows had faded a lot, she smiled. “I’m already in university. Am I still growing?”
She was no longer the person she was as a child.
Now, she was the veritable head of the family.
“Where is she?”
On the road, when she mentioned Huang Sulan, Qiao Xiaoxiao no longer cowered. The “she” was as if she were talking about an unrelated person.
Qiao Banshan relit his pipe and puffed out a cloud of blue smoke. “The same as always. When you come back, she’ll hide at her parents’ house.”
Before, when Qiao Xiaoxiao came back, Huang Sulan would just go to the neighbor’s house to chat and pass the time before she came back. The two of them would not interfere with each other. But now, Qiao Xiaoxiao had helped the village sell oranges, had expanded the online platform, and had even helped to build a very important main road in the village. The jinx in the mouths of the villagers had already become the most promising person in Wuliu Village. Who would dare to take Huang Sulan in their house now? Now, whoever saw her would roll their eyes at her. She could barely stay in the village anymore.
Qiao Xiaoxiao nodded and didn’t say much. On the way, many villagers greeted Xiaoxiao.
“Xiaoxiao is back?”
“Oh my, come to Auntie San’s house for dinner later.”
“Xiaoxiao, I saw you on the Weibo hot search a few years ago. You’re amazing!”
“That’s for sure. She’s the pride of our village!”
…
Amidst the chorus of local accents, Qiao Xiaoxiao was in a daze, remembering that rainy day many years ago when she had stood at the village entrance, drenched, but no one had been willing to take her in.
To be honest.
She was not without a bit of resentment.
But Chu Xinrou had once told her, “Xiaoxiao, you have to know that this world is like this. People step on the low and praise the high. It’s not just to you, but to everyone.”
If it weren’t for her sister, with the environment she had grown up in, who knows what a twisted person Xiaoxiao would have become.
But now, she could smile at everyone, nod, and greet them cheerfully.
Qiao Banshan said very little, as if he had something on his mind. Qiao Xiaoxiao asked, but he was the same as always, not saying a word, not looking at Xiaoxiao.
After Xiaoxiao got home, she first went next door and knocked on Grandma Wang’s door.
After hearing that Xiaoxiao was coming back, Grandma Wang had kept her cane by the kang these past few days. The moment she heard a little noise, she would go out to see if it was Xiaoxiao.
“Grandma, I’m back. I’ve bought you some nutritional supplements!”
That “meal of kindness” back then was really remembered by Qiao Xiaoxiao to this day. No matter when she came back, she would always go to Grandma’s house to see her.
Grandma Wang smiled so much that the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes smoothed out. She held Xiaoxiao’s hand and wouldn’t let go. An old person, lonely, just wants to chat more with the young people.
They talked for more than half an hour, mostly about Qingxin and Wang Ning.
Although Grandma Wang didn’t understand, just by listening to Xiaoxiao, she was so happy that her dentures were showing.
At the end, she suddenly looked out the door cautiously, then at Xiaoxiao, and lowered her voice. “Xiaoxiao, do you know?”
Qiao Xiaoxiao looked at Grandma with a smile, thinking that she was talking about Sister Wang Ning’s salary increase or promotion, and said casually, “Of course I know.”
Grandma Wang sized up her expression. Seeing her smiling face, she knew in her heart that she had misunderstood.
She didn’t say much, just held Qiao Xiaoxiao’s hand tightly and reminded her worriedly, “If anything happens, just come to Grandma’s.”
…
After coming out of Grandma’s, Qiao Xiaoxiao was in a daze for a long time. Thinking about Grandma’s words, which had a hidden meaning, and then thinking of Nuonuo’s hesitation and her uncle’s silence, she felt uneasy no matter what.
She decided to go home and ask her uncle properly.
But when she reached the door of her house and saw the strange yet familiar woman standing under the eaves, her whole being was as if struck by lightning, frozen on the spot.
