Chapter 45

"Are you okay?" Jin Xi supported Ren Qiao'an and walked to a bench for rest.

Ren Qiao'an clutched Jin Xi's hand tightly with one hand, supporting his waist with the other, his posture stiff. "It hurts, my butt hurts—it hurts and it's cold—" Ren Qiao'an walked slowly. They were skating on real ice. It was cool to be at the rink on a hot summer day, but if you accidentally fell, it would really hurt! Ren Qiao'an fell hard, especially since he had no protective gear on his butt.

"Haha~" Jin Xi laughed again.

Ren Qiaoan glared at Jin Xi, "You're still gloating over someone else's misfortune, you scum."

Jin Xi said angrily, "You are the one who wants to show off." But you can't blame her. Jin Xi even tried to pull Ren Qiaoyuan, although she failed to hold him.

After sitting down, Ren Qiao'an let go of Jin Xi's hand and bent down to take off his skates and knee pads. Jin Xi lost the strength of Ren Qiao'an's hand, and her heart suddenly felt empty and lost. The next second, she saw Ren Qiao'an squatting in front of her, helping her remove the knee pads.

"What are you doing?" Jin Xi couldn't help but shrink her body.

"Look at your knee." Ren Qiao'an had already noticed a red spot on Jin Xi's calf. The knees were not as resistant to falls as the buttocks, and were the most vulnerable part to scratches, not to mention that someone was wearing shorts today.

The warm palm brushed across the cold calf. Ren Qiao'an's touch made Jin Xi shiver instantly, and goose bumps appeared. Jin Xi moved her legs and escaped from Ren Qiao'an's palm, "I can do it myself."

Ren Qiao'an stood up and looked down at Jin Xi, "Then open your hands and let me see."

Jin Xi looked up at Ren Qiao'an, not knowing why, but her body took the initiative and she stretched out her hands obediently. Her fingers were slender and long, which looked good.

"..." Ren Qiao'an reached out and covered the white back of the hand in front of him, turning it over so that the palm was facing up. Only then did Jin Xi see her palm, which was completely red, with some tiny bloodstains on the edge of her palm, which must have been rubbed when she was supporting herself on the ground.

"You call this nothing?" Ren Qiao'an said in a rather fierce tone.

Jin Xi was slightly startled. Bruise and scrapes were common during badminton training, and she was used to these minor injuries. Furthermore, since she had been on the icy ground for a while, her palms were cold and she didn't feel any scratches at all. It wasn't until Ren Qiao'an lifted her palm that Jin Xi felt the slightest bit of pain.

Ren Qiaoan asked seriously, "Does it hurt?"

Jin Xi wanted to say that it didn't hurt, but seeing Ren Qiao'an holding her hand as if it were a treasure, his eyes full of love and heartache, Jin Xi's nose felt a little sour and her chest felt a little swollen, "A little." It feels so good to be cherished.

"Then let me blow on you." Ren Qiao'an held Jin Xi's hands to his lips and blew a wisp of hot air. When she was injured as a child, her grandmother would always blow on her wounds, saying that blowing on them would make the pain go away.

For some reason, although Ren Qiao'an looked clear-headed and focused, and had not done anything that crossed the line, Jin Xi smelled a hint of ambiguity, which made her feel itchy inside.

After blowing, Ren Qiao'an thought of buying a Band-Aid and putting it on. "Do you want to continue? If you want to continue, I'll go buy a Band-Aid first. You wait here."

Jin Xi was about to shake her head, but a familiar figure entered her sight, and Jin Xi subconsciously avoided it.

Ren Qiao'an's body stiffened. She didn't know why Jin Xi suddenly buried her face in her waist. "What's wrong?" Ren Qiao'an could feel the warmth of Jin Xi's breath, which sprinkled on her waist in waves. Ren Qiao'an resisted the urge to push her away.

"Li Duocai." Jin Xi saw Li Duocai. Jin Xi poked her head out from Ren Qiao'an's waist and took a closer look.

Li Duocai? The playboy who always stalked Jin Xi? Ren Qiao'an asked curiously, "Is he alone?"

"There are others." Jin Xi also saw Gao Yu and another person. Fortunately, Ren Qiaoyuan had his back to them, so they didn't notice them.

"You know them all?"

Jin Xi nodded, and Ren Qiao'an didn't ask any more questions.

In order to avoid running into Li Duocai and the others, Ren Qiao'an and Jin Xi hurriedly left the skating rink and went to the game city, which was Jin Xi's home turf.

Ren Qiao'an had never seen anyone so good at playing games. She could play dance machines, racing machines, shooting machines, basketball machines, and even red and white machines with ease. There was no game she couldn't play, and there was no game Ren Qiao'an could beat Jin Xi at.

In fact, for Jin Xi, she was tired of many games in the game city, but playing with Ren Qiao'an had a different kind of fun. She liked to see Ren Qiao'an get frustrated.

In the end, Ren Qiao'an returned home with a full load of the dolls that Jin Xi had caught.

"Hey, you're back, looking so happy. Where have you been?" Wu Nianzhi was packing her luggage to go home.

Qian Baoer was also packing her luggage for home, with two full boxes. "Wow, so many dolls, An'an, who did you go play with?"

Originally, their dormitory had planned a group activity today, but Ren Qiao'an didn't participate, so the three of them lost interest.

"Tsk, like an idiot." Wu Nianzhi knew with her toes who Ren Qiao'an had a date with. "Did he go on a date with Jin Xi?"

"No." Ren Qiao'an denied. She threw a few dolls on the bed and placed an ugly one on the table.

Under normal circumstances, Yan Yiyi might have believed Ren Qiao'an's words. But that night, they witnessed Ren Qiao'an sending someone home, returning late at night, and then disappearing again early the next morning. Even now, he still exuded a lingering aura. "What happened between you and Jin Xi?"

"Nothing." Ren Qiao'an tried to pretend to be normal. She and Jin Xi were just interacting like normal friends. "Nothing happened."

Wu Nianzhi: "Go to bed?"

Yan Yiyi: "Kiss?"

Qian Baoer: "Holding hands?"

"..." Ren Qiao'an frowned. How could she have such a group of roommates? "What nonsense are you talking about? We are just friends and we just go out to play together."

"Oh~ friends." The three of them looked at each other and understood.

Wu Nianzhi glanced at Ren Qiao'an and jokingly said, "It seems someone's spring has arrived~"

Yan Yiyi didn't expect that the person who got single the fastest in their dormitory was actually Ren Qiao'an, "Tsk, bastard."

Qian Baoer encouraged Ren Qiaoan, "Come on, An'an!"

A week passed quickly. Ren Qiao'an and Jin Xi went to the aquarium, the amusement park, the planetarium, and everywhere they wanted to go. They watched a movie, watched dolphins, watched the stars, and even saw the night view of City B. In a blink of an eye, seven days had passed. Neither of them took the initiative to bring up the matter of a couple, as if they were both avoiding the topic. Ren Qiao'an said, "I'm going home." Jin Xi said, "Okay."

The way the two get along is like friends, but also like lovers. It is more ambiguous than friends, but far less intimate than lovers.

Sometimes, when two people look into each other's eyes, they can both feel the air heating up, but neither of them takes a step closer.

Ren Qiao'an was happy, but also sad. Especially after staying at home for a few days, away from Jin Xi, Ren Qiao'an was able to examine his heart more clearly and judge her feelings towards Jin Xi.

There were sparks between them, Ren Qiao'an was sure of that. But what made Ren Qiao'an hesitate was how serious they were about their relationship. Ren Qiao'an's view on love was "choose one person to spend the rest of your life with." So what about Jin Xi? Was she the only one he could be with, or was she just another "ex"?

Ren Qiaoan sat under the pomelo tree at the door of his house, gazing at the starry sky, letting his sorrow drift away, "Alas..."

"Auntie, why are you sighing again?" The child looked at Ren Qiao'an with his big eyes, his amber pupils were exactly the same as Ren Qiao'an's.

Ren Qiaoan glanced at her nephew and said, "Ah, auntie is feeling upset."

"What's bothering you? Is it because there are too many homework assignments at school?" For first-grade children, the biggest worry is doing homework.

Ren Qiaoan smiled and said, "No, Auntie doesn't have much homework now. What about Yiyi, have you finished your homework?"

Yi Yi put on a stern face and acted like an adult. She said seriously, "I really envy you, auntie. You don't have homework now that you're in college, and grandma even gives you money to spend. It's really enviable."

"Haha~" Ren Qiao'an patted his nephew's head and said with a smile, "Then Yiyi, grow up quickly and go to college."

Yi Yi tilted his head and said, "Huh, if I'm smart I can get into university. If I'm not smart enough, I won't be able to get into university no matter how much homework I do."

"Hahaha..." Ren Qiao'an laughed, "You won't be able to get into university if you don't do your homework."

"It's a lie! You won't pass the exam even if you do your homework." I've heard this kind of talk many times. It's all a trick used by adults to trick children into doing their homework. The reality is that you can never finish your homework and you may not be able to get into university.

Ren Qiaoan laughed and said, "Haha, Yiyi, do you think studying is just for the purpose of getting into university?"

They nodded one by one, "Yes, that's what grandma said."

"That's not right. The purpose of learning is to increase knowledge. Knowledge is the ladder of human progress and is very useful." Ren Qiao'an explained to the children, "No matter what you do, you should focus more on the process and less on the results. For example, when studying, you should enjoy the fun of learning, rather than just judging the results by the grades."

"No, auntie, you're talking nonsense." Yiyi is already eight years old and has his own ideas. He will doubt what adults say. "Who would want to do something that has no results? Only fools would do that."

"No. Not everything can have a result. For example... love" Love... Ren Qiao'an was speechless. Yes, not all feelings can have a beginning and an end, otherwise there would not be so many sad people in the world.

So, Ren Qiao'an, what are you pursuing? You finally found love, but why can't you enjoy it properly? Why do you have to make things difficult for yourself and others...

"Auntie." Ren Qiao'an was called out one by one. He couldn't understand why adults also liked to daydream. "Auntie, Auntie, your phone is ringing."

"Ah?" Ren Qiao'an came back to his senses and saw his cell phone beside him, flashing and playing music.

“It’s the same sun setting, what’s so special about that?

You are still the same, but the warmth is far away...

Facing impossible love, we should also be like the hanging sun

Let it fall..."

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Today's sharing——"Hanging Sun"——Hebe Tien