Chapter 15 "Why are you panicking?"

He is afraid of water.

Tang Ci paused for a moment, then reached into the bathtub and pulled out the soft plug.

In the cramped and stuffy bathroom, the sound of rushing water was frantic, and the water in the bathtub roared as it gushed into the pipes.

A few seconds later, the water in the bathtub was gone.

Sheng Yu's rough breathing gradually subsided, and his rapidly rising and falling chest returned to normal, though his arms were still tightly wrapped around Tang Ci's shoulders.

Tang Ci braced his palms against the floor, trying to lift his upper body, but he couldn't budge the weight on his shoulders even slightly.

She tentatively patted Sheng Yu's arm and gently reminded him, "The water has been drained, could you take a look?"

Upon hearing Tang Ci's voice, Sheng Yu relaxed his clenched teeth and his furrowed brows eased slightly. Without looking into the bathtub, he released her from his embrace.

Tang Ci didn't stand up; she remained squatting on the floor. In the dim light, she looked up at him with a bewildered expression and asked softly, "Sheng Yu, why are you afraid of water?"

Sheng Yu had no expression, but raised his hand with bulging veins and grabbed a handful of his wet hair in frustration.

Tang Ci frowned slightly, her lips tightened and then loosened, and as she looked at Sheng Yu's eyes, which had regained their indifference, she swallowed the rest of her words.

A few seconds later, he replied in a low, hoarse voice, seemingly unrelated to the question: "I only take showers."

Tang Ci paused for a moment, straightened up, and pulled the shower curtain over the bathtub to separate the bathtub from the shower. "Is this okay?"

Sheng Yu hummed in agreement, his brow still furrowed. He pushed himself up with his palms on the ground, then bent down and naturally took Tang Ci's wrist, pulling her up.

Tang Ci's gaze met his bare chest. She lowered her eyelids, looked at the floor, and said, "I'm going out now. Be sure to call me if you need anything."

The bathroom door closed, and Tang Ci heard the sound of the shower running from inside. She waited a few more seconds before leaving the bathroom.

She hurried back to her bedroom, squatted under her desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a brochure from among the neatly arranged documents.

The edges of the promotional page were yellowed, but the words "Nanling City Middle School Swimming Championship" were clearly written in artistic font, and Sheng Yu, who had won the championship for several consecutive years, was in the center of the image.

Even though he was still a junior high school student, Sheng Yu was already very tall. Standing by the crystal-clear swimming pool, with his handsome features and relaxed demeanor, he smiled confidently as he accepted the television interview.

A person who wins swimming championships year after year.

How could I possibly be afraid of water?

Tang Ci's throat tightened, and a strange sour feeling welled up in her heart.

Knock knock.

There was a sudden knock on the bedroom door.

Tang Ci was startled. She turned the brochure upside down and stuffed it into the drawer, then looked up towards the door.

Sheng Yu stood in front of her bedroom door, his head almost touching the door frame, and slightly raised his chin towards her. "What are you doing?"

Tang Ci lowered her eyes and rubbed the tip of her nose, "Looking for study materials..."

As she spoke, she stuffed the brochures into the drawer again.

Sheng Yu saw through her lie and asked with a hint of mockery, "Did you find it?"

Tang Ci said "Mmm" in a low voice, closed the drawer, stood up, picked up the test papers and textbooks on the desk, and said, "Let's go to the living room to do our homework."

After walking to the door, she closed the bedroom door again, seemingly trying to cover up her misunderstanding, and said, "The desk in the bedroom is too small; there's not enough room for both of us."

Sheng Yu glanced around the living room, raised an eyebrow and said, "Then let's write at the big coffee table in the living room."

"..."

Tang Ci followed his gaze to the miniature coffee table placed in the center of the living room, and guiltily curled her fingertips.

Although Sheng Yu made sarcastic remarks, he did not continue to complain after sitting down on the sofa.

However, Tang Jianwei's clothes were clearly too short for him, and his long legs were awkwardly crossed under the table, so his expression was not good.

His brow was always slightly furrowed, and the handwriting he wrote on the exam paper was messy and arrogant.

Tang Ci couldn't help but glance at his test paper several times. Finding that his steps and answers were correct, she felt at ease and started writing her own.

The rustling sound of writing gradually drowned out the sound of rain outside the window. After the two finished their homework, Tang Ci checked it for them again before she realized that the rain had become heavier.

Tang Ci glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already 11:30. She walked to the balcony, opened the screen window, and looked out. The rain had covered the sky and the earth, and she couldn't even see the buildings across the street.

She turned to Sheng Yu anxiously and said, "The rain is getting heavier, you may have to wait a while before you can go home."

Sheng Yu took the cigarettes and lighter and walked to the window. "You go to sleep. I'll leave as soon as the rain stops."

Tang Ci nodded and agreed, but when she turned her head, she caught a glimpse of his collar out of the corner of her eye, and her gaze suddenly stopped.

I hadn't noticed it in the living room, but now, under the bright light of the balcony, there was a bright red bloodstain on the back of Sheng Yu's neck. The mark looked like a snake coiled around his pale neck, which was particularly glaring.

Thinking about what he said on the phone about fighting with Sheng Hong, Tang Ci clenched her hands and hesitated before asking, "Is your dad still home? Why don't you stay at my place tonight?"

Sheng Yu tapped his cigarette case lightly on the windowsill, pulled one out with his fingertips, and asked without raising his eyelids, "Afraid I'll get into a fight with him again when I get home?"

Tang Ci swallowed hard and asked, "Really?"

"No." Sheng Yu turned her head and smiled at her, but there was no warmth in her eyes. "The old man got punched a few times and went to the hospital."

Tang Ci was stunned and speechless. She tried to organize her thoughts for a long time, but couldn't say anything.

"Scared?"

She shook her head.

"So, will you still let me stay at your house?"

"Yes, please." Tang Ci looked gently into his eyes and said, "You can stay in my room, I'll sleep on the sofa."

Now it was Sheng Yu's turn to be silent. He looked down at her for a few seconds with his dark eyes, a self-deprecating smile on his lips, and flicked her forehead.

"I'll sleep on the sofa."

/

Tang Ci was still somewhat dazed when she walked into the living room with her blankets and pillows.

Sheng Yu, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, hung the washed clothes on the balcony. As he reached up to hang them on the clothes rack, the short hem of the clothes tumbled up, revealing his lean waist and abdomen.

Tang Ci quickly looked away and instinctively cleared her throat.

Sheng Yu removed the cigarette butt from his lips. "Cough?"

The sliding door to the balcony was closed, so the smell of smoke didn't seep into the living room. Tang Ci listened to his hoarse voice and still said, "A little."

Sheng Yu stubbed out his cigarette, raised the clothesline, and pushed open the door to ask, "Do you have a toothbrush?"

"There should be." Tang Ci spread the blanket on the sofa and said, "Let me look for it."

Due to the nature of his engineering work, Tang Jianwei often travels for work. Every time he returns home, he brings back some simple toothbrushes and towels that are provided free of charge by the hotel. Tang Ci remembers that these daily necessities are kept in the cabinet on the bathroom door.

The cabinet door was too high for Tang Ci to reach, so she moved a stool over and stood on it to look for it.

The cabinet was filled with all sorts of odds and ends, including train tickets, souvenirs, and so on. With all these items piled together, it wasn't easy to find a specific item.

Sheng Yu walked to the cabinet and was a little taller than Tang Ci, who was standing on the stool.

Is it easy to find?

Tang Ci glanced at him sideways and quickened her rummaging. "Easy to find."

In her haste, the old, dilapidated cabinet door started to cause trouble, lightly bumping against her head.

Tang Ci let out a low groan and covered her head in embarrassment.

Sheng Yu tugged at the corner of her lips and reached out to press the cabinet door shut.

Tang Ci caught a glimpse of Sheng Yu's straight nose out of the corner of her eye. Her breathing paused slightly, and in her panic, her fingertips touched the sharp corner of a plastic bag in the corner of the cabinet.

Thinking it was a disposable toothbrush bag, Tang Ci secretly breathed a sigh of relief, grabbed a corner of the plastic bag, and pulled the whole bag out.

When she finally saw the words on the plastic bag packaging, she held her breath.

When the Nanda Affiliated Hospital was still operating at its old site, it would provide free nursing kits to hospitalized patients.

When Tang Ci was hospitalized around the time she graduated from elementary school, Tang Jianwei came to take care of her several times and brought her a lot of money.

So many years have passed, and these care kits have long since expired. Tang Ci casually threw them into the trash can.

Sheng Yu glanced at the writing on the nursing kit and casually asked, "You also stayed at the old site of the affiliated hospital?"

Her breath hitched, and Tang Ci pursed her lips and hummed in agreement. When she started rummaging through her things again, her movements were noticeably stiff.

Seeing the long, rectangular package standing upright at the back of the cabinet, she stood on tiptoe to reach it without thinking.

The stool flipped over due to her movement, causing her to lose her balance and fall backward with her head.

A strong arm wrapped around her back, and Sheng Yu gripped her arm tightly to help her steady herself.

Tang Ci's chest heaved, and the brush with danger made her heart race.

When she caught a glimpse of Sheng Yu's eyes so close to hers out of the corner of her eye, her heart suddenly stopped beating, and even her breath caught in her throat.

After finally regaining her senses, she swallowed hard, her throat dry, and said in a muffled voice, "Thank you... you can put me down now."

Sheng Yu remained unmoved, slowly raising an eyebrow: "What are you panicking about?"