006 | (V) Handprint

The chandelier lit up, casting a flurry of shadows. The eyelashes of the constellation Su Xingmao were also densely packed, floating with light and shadow, like tiny, scattered diamonds.

Do kittens masturbate?

Seeing that she bit her lip and refused to speak, Su Xingmao pressed her for an answer again.

Xie Qingyan couldn't hold her breath and turned her face, only to meet Su Xingmao's indifferent eyes. She deflated; how could she possibly answer?

The lights were so bright, like daytime, that they made my eyes sting and feel swollen and painful. I really wanted to rub them.

The parts that are difficult to talk about also want to be rubbed.

Su Xingmao is really annoying! I've been annoyed with her since she was little. Her fingers were clearly on the wet and sticky entrance of her flower, she could clearly feel it... why wouldn't she move? Why did she have to force her to ask? She's so mean.

Her lips and teeth clenched together, forming a row of tightly closed, pure white seashells. She blinked, peeking through her fingers. Red vine marks crawled across her fair, jade-like cheeks. "That annoying Su Xingmao's handprint is so red!" Xie Qingyan wondered. "Was her grip really that strong?"

Will it hurt a lot?

Does it hurt as much as the slap she received when she was a child?

With a "snap".

Her face turned a deep red, a complexion overflowing with anger, irritation, and resentment.

"Xie Qingyan!"

After receiving a heavy slap on the buttocks, Ms. Xie Jinyu pressed her down onto the sofa, her face dark and her eyes narrowed with anger: "Tell me the truth, why didn't you finish the test?"

She clenched her lips tightly, refusing to utter a sound, her face turning a deep purplish-red, her eyes fixed on Su Xingmao, who stood on the other side with his head bowed and eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to her presence.

It must have been that bastard who snitched, otherwise how could Mom have found the one she hid in such a big stack of papers?

Enraged, a wicked idea began to sprout within him.

Finally, just as Ms. Xie Jinyu was about to deliver her next slap in her uncontrollable rage, she screamed, tears welling up in her eyes, feeling incredibly wronged. She immediately jumped up from the sofa, pointing at him: "It's Su Xingmao! He took me to play games! You're always lecturing me, go hit him then!"

Ms. Xie Jinyu looked stunned. She slowly turned her head and looked at Su Xingmao in disbelief, her brows furrowed. She clearly did not believe Xie Qingyan's nonsense, but she was able to say it with extreme accuracy: "If you don't believe me, go and look through his schoolbag. He's the one who instigated me."

Sure enough, there were still two unused game coins lying brightly in the bottom of my pocket.

Xie Jinyu brought Su Xingmao over, straightened her face, and sternly questioned him: "Xiao Xing, did Yan Yan say that? You took her to play games?"

With a slight twitch of his lips, Su Xingmao silently raised his head, his gaze like an arrow shot from a bow, suddenly piercing Xie Qingyan, who was hiding behind the door frame, peeking inside.

The boy looked at her quietly, his eyes, partially obscured by his sideburns, were devoid of emotion and cold.

Upon meeting his dark, unyielding eyes, Xie Qingyan took a step back, her face turning pale. She quickly turned away and hid her small body.

Her chest pounded, and she gritted her teeth, refusing to admit that she was a little scared.

Why is Su Xingmao looking at her like that? His eyes are scary.

Like a mirror, she didn't dare to look him in the eye.

Su Xingmao is an excellent student, while Xie Qingyan causes trouble at every turn. Anyone with eyes can see that this is an extremely childish attempt to frame him. As long as Su Xingmao doesn't admit it, no one can blame him.

But then, through a door, she heard Su Xingmao speak calmly.

"It's me."

Xie Jinyu shook her head in disappointment: "Xiaoxing, tell the truth."

"It's me."

A monotonous tone.

Xie Jinyu scolded, "Xiaoxing! That place is a mess, how can you two children go there?"

...

Xie Qingyan could no longer hear what was said next.

She got the result she wanted and happily turned to leave. Xie Qingyan was not even ten years old at the time, and her little head couldn't understand the many twists and turns. She smiled smugly.

She couldn't help but feel smug about her own cleverness, not caring why he would admit it. Her mother was strict and demanding. If she knew that Su Xingmao wanted to corrupt her, she would definitely tell his parents and lock him in a dark little room to see how he would still act arrogantly and pretentious!

Just thinking about it makes me feel better.

Even their hopping steps became lighter, as if they were flying on a cloud.

She hummed a song in a clear and crisp voice.

As expected, Su Xingmao was put in solitary confinement!

Xie Qingyan was secretly delighted that she was not allowed to leave her bedroom for seven days. She secretly slipped out of the room to admire her spoils in a grand manner.

The two villas were close together, and the Su family and the Xie family had a good relationship. They could easily cross over the fence and into the Xie family's yard.

The wind was still and the moon was quiet at night.

The tree canopy, lush and verdant during the day, becomes a dark mass at night, its shadows creaking and rustling in the wind.

Like a thief trying to steal the moon, she laboriously climbed up the railing by the faint, pale moonlight.

For Xie Qingyan, who was not very tall, the fence, which was a little over a meter high, was still quite a challenge. It took her a lot of effort to climb over it, and she accidentally fell into the flower bushes.

He scrambled to his feet, his face covered in mud, his hair tangled with red and green flowers and grasses, dewdrops rolling into his eyes, and his mouth making endless hissing noises.

Surprisingly, this isn't Mount Qingcheng, so how come there's a little snake that's become a spirit? It's hissing and flicking its red tongue, making me gasp for breath, and tears are streaming down my face as I sob incessantly—it turns out that its attempt to steal a chicken backfired, and instead of mocking Su Xingmao, it ended up scraping its own knee.

The constellation Mao is truly a jinx, a bad luck star, an evil star, and a jinx!

Getting close to him is never a good thing.

She had just tidied her messy hair and was looking up when, through a hazy glass window, she met those deep, calm black eyes again. Xie Qingyan glared back fiercely, baring her teeth and brandishing her claws: "What are you looking at? It's all your fault!"

She staggered a few steps, stumbled forward, pressed her nose against the screen window, and exhaled a puff of hot air.

Get closer to the culprit.

To their astonishment, Su Xingmao's fair and delicate right cheek was swollen, with two faint bloody palm prints visible.

Xie Qingyan was stunned, her bright blue eyes wide open, and she stammered, "Who...who hit you?"

Su Xingmao didn't say a word, half of his face was hidden in the shadows, so dark that it was hard to see clearly. He just stared at her with his eyes and eyebrows, staring straight ahead without blinking.

Su Xingmao's skin was excessively pale, and under the cold moonlight, it appeared even more listless and deathly white. Paired with a pair of sharp, bright eyes, it was quite frightening, making Xie Qingyan feel guilty.

...After all, she was the one who framed him first, and he suffered injustice.

They both knew it perfectly well.

All right.

Xie Qingyan was neither good at coaxing nor at backing down; the fact that she was even willing to speak was already an awkward attempt to make amends: "Don't be a mute, okay?"

On a midsummer night, the moon, like a wild goose in flight, slowly climbs across half the azure sky, hanging among the treetops, its brilliance undiminished by even the thickest green canopy.

August is the season for crape myrtle to bloom, with its branches laden with blossoms in shades of pink and purple, which fall to the ground like a frost of deep and light red.

The mountain wind was strong at night, casting dappled shadows on the trees. The scattered, swaying light shone on Su Xingmao's face, which was covered with red finger marks, but he remained silent.

He just gazed at her quietly.

Like being in a daze.

All around, the wind rustled, carrying the cool fragrance of flowers. Occasionally, cicadas chirped and frogs croaked, their loud calls drowning out her soaring heartbeat.

“…Su Xing Mao.” She kicked her feet, stepping on her own shadow covered with fallen flowers.

Completely intimidated by his gaze, Xie Qingyan said timidly, "You're not allowed to look at me like that, it's scary!"

As Su Xingmao wished, his eyelids drooped, and he didn't even look at her anymore.

She became even more unhappy.

"Alright, alright, I apologize." Xie Qingyan awkwardly pointed to her knee, which was red and bruised. Tears were still welling up in her eyes, and her eyelashes were still damp. She shamelessly tried to make amends: "Look, I was just trying to help you, and I fell down."

Su Xingmao stared intently into her bleeding skin, motionless. The white, smooth skin resembled a peach that had been pinched and peeled open with fingers, revealing deep red veins of blood crawling through the tender flesh, spreading from the pit.

Why are you still ignoring her?

"...You're so annoying." Xie Qingyan pouted, her lips so pouty they could hang a gourd. She'd always been the one being coaxed; when had she ever coaxed anyone else?

Why is this guy so ungrateful? All he did was wrong him, get him locked up, and get slapped twice... that's all! Besides, she wasn't much better off. Ms. Xie Jinyu even criticized her severely and made her copy the test paper as punishment.

She's so pitiful! So pathetic!

"At worst, I'll play whatever you want in the future."

Su Xingmao then raised his eyes and stared at her intently.

He's so stubborn; she could say the same thing over and over again, but he always remembered that one sentence.

He shifted his gaze slightly upwards, landing on the girl's head, which was covered in flower petals, and said very softly, "Xie Qingyan, you have flowers in your hair."

It was as light as a sigh.

Years later, his vengeful spirit lingered, seeking revenge on Xie Qingyan.