13

"Why...why are you crying?" Xiao Jian asked Li Muqing anxiously.

"Crying? Which eye of yours saw me cry?" Li Muqing glared at Xiao Jian fiercely. "What else is there?!"

“You…your clothes, here you go…” Xiao Jian raised his hand and handed over a paper bag.

Li Muqing took the paper bag, coldly said "No need to see me out," and closed the door. Xiao Jian held his fellow villager's clothes, still faintly smelling the clean scent of laundry detergent. He had only used soap when washing them, so why did they smell of detergent? It seemed Li Muqing had washed his clothes again. Xiao Jian immediately regretted his harsh words. He was increasingly certain that Li Muqing's sadness wasn't just due to her breakup with Zhao Yezhi, but also significantly because of his verbal abuse. But he truly hadn't meant it!

No matter how Xiao Jian thought about it, he felt he had gone too far. On his way back to the dormitory, he kept kicking the pebbles on the road in frustration. He decided that he must apologize to Li Muqing properly and tell her that he did not look down on her at all!

Just as Xiao Jian made up his mind to apologize, he heard a "ouch" from in front of him. He looked up and saw a girl wearing a white top and gray capri pants, looking down and rubbing her calf.

"Hey? What's wrong with this girl? Did she get bitten by a bug?" Xiao Jian stared at the girl carefully for a while, but found nothing. Just as he was about to turn around and continue walking, he heard the girl say, "You think you can just run away after kicking someone?"

That voice is so beautiful.

This was Xiao Jian's first impression.

Was it talking to itself? Xiao Jian looked left and right, but there was no one else there. Could it really be talking to himself?!

“I’m talking to you, why are you looking elsewhere!” The girl looked up at Xiao Jian and said.

“Me…?” Xiao Jian pointed at himself, looking incredulously at the girl rubbing his legs.

"Are you wearing hooks on your feet?! You've kicked up so many stones while walking, and they've all hit my leg. It's definitely going to be bruised now, and I can't wear my skirt anymore!" the girl complained.

"I...I'm sorry!" Xiao Jian was so focused on apologizing to Li Muqing that he didn't pay attention to anything else. How could he have known that kicking a stone could hit someone? Sigh, no wonder Xiao Jian is so unlucky!

"It's okay, just be more careful when you walk next time, don't be so absent-minded! It would be troublesome if you kicked a child." The girl stood up and said nonchalantly.

"Xiao Heizi!" At this moment, Wang Youai ran over from the side. She stared at the girl in front of Xiao Jian for a long time, her eyes wide open, and she didn't come to her senses even after the girl had walked quite a distance away. Xiao Jian patted Wang Youai on the shoulder: "Haven't you stared enough yet? Don't you have a girlfriend?"

Wang Youai turned her gaze back to Xiao Jian: "Damn! Are you kidding me? In this sweltering heat, why are you wearing a mask? I saw you weren't wearing one just now, are you trying to pull some kind of magic trick on me?"

Xiao Jian smiled awkwardly. He didn't want his classmates to know that he usually deliberately darkened his face, so he had to wear the mask he always carried with him to avoid giving himself away.

"Wait a minute..." Wang Youai suddenly noticed something, "Xiao Heizi... why do I feel like... you look like someone!?"

Oh no! Xiao Jian broke out in a cold sweat. He usually wore a mask when selling pancakes, and although he wasn't wearing a white coat today, it wouldn't be difficult for others to recognize him! He was about to be exposed!

Xiao Jian dared not look Wang Youai in the eye, and could only look away. Wang Youai was displeased: "What are you afraid of?! I'm not gay! What can I do to you? I just think that when I can't see your dirty face, your eyes look a lot like a movie star! From Korea! I have to say, the more I look at them, the more they look alike! You'd better take care of yourself tomorrow, stop neglecting to wash your face, do you still want to find a girlfriend in the future?"

"Oh..." Xiao Jian breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Wang Youai was also a carefree guy and didn't notice anything wrong, otherwise he would have been really embarrassed this time...

"Hey, by the way, who was that girl just now? When did you hook up with her? Is she your wife?" Wang Youai suddenly asked seriously.

"No, no, I don't know her," Xiao Jian answered honestly.

"Don't know her? How could that be!? I just saw you two chatting away so enthusiastically! What's wrong? You want to keep this pretty girl all to yourself and not share her with your buddy? When did you become so cunning? You can't do this to me! Introduce her to your brother! What's her background?" Wang Youai stared wide-eyed at Xiao Jian, as if he could figure something out from him if he looked at him for a while. He was completely absorbed in the moment.

Xiao Jian scratched his head, shook it, and looked blank, answering somewhat embarrassedly, "But I really don't know her..."

"Damn!" Wang Youai felt like she'd been doused with cold water, now embarrassed and unable to salvage the situation. "You're getting more and more cunning!"

As Wang Youai was speaking, she reached out to punch Xiao Jian, but Xiao Jian reacted quickly and dodged. Wang Youai suddenly remembered something and asked him, "By the way, lately, you seem to be getting quite close to my boss?"

"Who's your boss?" Xiao Jian asked back.

Wang Youai chuckled: "Didn't I tell you? It's Li Muqing!"

Li Muqing.

When Xiao Jian heard the name, his heart skipped a beat. He had indeed been in frequent contact with Li Muqing recently, and he had found that although he had encountered one bad thing after another since meeting her, his life had become much more interesting. But what about the future…? Thinking of this, Xiao Jian's head drooped, and he looked dejected. Wang Youai thought that Xiao Jian had broken up with his girlfriend, so she quickly went up to him and asked if he had broken up with the girl he had just met.

Xiao Jian quickly shook his head, said some trivial things, and then walked back to the dormitory with Wang Youai.

After returning to his dormitory, Xiao Jian lay on his bed, staring blankly at the white wall beside him. He had never comforted anyone before, nor did he know how to apologize properly, so he spent the whole afternoon worrying.

Wang Youai noticed that Xiao Jian seemed troubled, so she moved closer to him, complaining about his dirty face while asking him what was wrong.

Xiao Jianshi couldn't think of a way to appease Li Muqing, so he gritted his teeth and told the first lie of his life.

"Why do you always look so gloomy? What's wrong?" Wang Youai asked.

"I...I think I've upset someone." Xiao Jian tried to appear calm and began to ramble on.

"Who? It's that woman from just now, right? I told you she's your girlfriend!" Wang Youai said, looking indignant.

"No, no... it's someone else." Xiao Jian quickly shook his head.

"Oh? Who is it?"

"The person I... like."

This somewhat autumnal afternoon became unusually hot because of the rising temperature on Xiao Jian's face.