Sun shower

On Sunday, Lu Er went to Ruan Xiyan's house for tutoring as usual.

Compared to the normal tutoring rates in the market, Ruan Xiyan's offer to her was far too generous: short sessions, high hourly wage, and he even paid her daily. Over the past few days, Lu Er had the persistent feeling that Ruan Xiyan was some foolish, rich, and unintelligent son of a wealthy landowner.

She was used to doing everything perfectly, so she wanted to be even more dedicated to tutoring Ruan Xiyan. She didn't want to seem like she was taking advantage of her, even though she certainly was.

Ruan Xiyan's foundational knowledge is not solid, but fortunately, he is willing to follow Lu Er's study plan and diligently complete the assignments she gives him. As long as he perseveres, he will definitely make progress during this month-long summer vacation.

During the break, Lu Er browsed through various shopping apps, secretly considering buying suitable practice problems for Ruan Xiyan. But since she couldn't actually buy the products online, and she was afraid of wasting money on unnecessary items, her shopping cart remained empty after several comparisons.

She planned to visit the largest bookstore in Huai'an City that afternoon. Lu Er pondered; if all else failed, she would manually create a test for Ruan Xiyan. That wasn't out of the question either.

Meanwhile, Ruan Xiyan, who was standing next to her, was replying to WeChat messages.

After responding to a few jokes from her friends in the group chat, Ruan Xiyan clicked on one of their profile pictures. He typed, "Are you there?"

The reply came instantly. "What's wrong with you? I live only a hundred meters from your house. If you need anything, come over, or just say it quickly, don't dawdle."

Ruan Xiyan found it amusing that Sheng Jiao always spoke to people in a tone as if she had swallowed gunpowder and wanted to set off a firecracker.

He was used to her way of speaking, and typed a few words: "Do you have any recommendations?" He paused, then deleted all the words and typed a new line: "Where did you buy your dresses?"

After a long silence, Sheng Jiao sent over five words full of resentment: "Online, clothing store."

"..." Ruan Xiyan realized he had no choice but to speak up. He glanced at Lu Er out of the corner of his eye, then lowered his head to continue typing, "I have a female friend whose birthday is coming up soon. I want to give her a dress as a gift."

After a while, Sheng Jiao tossed over several store links and addresses, concisely and efficiently: "I usually buy from these flagship stores and e-commerce platforms online. There are also many physical stores in the city center; you can ask around. I need to play games, so don't bother me."

Just as Ruan Xiyan was about to quickly reply with her thanks, Miss Sheng casually added, "When you buy a dress, remember to check the size on the other side, otherwise don't blame me if you make a fool of yourself."

Ruan Xiyan's lips curled up slightly, and she sent an emoji with her eyes lowered.

On Monday, the tutoring class held its usual pop quiz. After the math test, Tao Yangnian sighed to Ruan Xiyan, "With my luck on the multiple-choice questions, I'd be lucky to get 20 points on the whole paper. When will I ever get 100?"

Ever since Lu Er made it clear that the prerequisite for pursuing her was getting a perfect score of 100 in math, Tao Yangnian was on a roll for a while, no longer sleeping in math class and even starting to work on his summer homework. However, just the first question on the test, a complex number problem, brought him back to reality.

Ruan Xiyan thought to herself, "That's right, once you get a hundred points, I'll raise the cutoff score to 130."

That night, Ruan Xiyan was lying in bed, thinking about how to get Lu Er's size.

Lu Er was probably around 1.6 meters tall, he estimated. Ruan Xiyan gestured slightly with her hand. But he couldn't estimate her weight. He only knew she was probably quite petite.

Not only do you need to know this, but also your waist circumference, hip circumference, etc.

Images of warm water steaming under the showerhead flashed through Ruan Xiyan's mind, making him feel like his face was being boiled. He quickly interrupted his shameful thoughts.

Does it really have to be this detailed? If it's really impossible, he could just estimate it based on the person's usual clothing size, or ask a sales assistant in a physical store...

As Ruan Xiyan was thinking this, it suddenly started raining outside. A glimpse of her surroundings revealed Lu Er's room, which felt somewhat familiar.

"..." Ruan Xiyan calmed his breathing, glanced at the wardrobe diagonally above him, and thought, then flipped through the size chart on the back of the clothes.

Yes, really. He had no other intentions.

-

The test scores came out the next day, and Tao Yangnian lived up to expectations, getting a score of five in math. He frowned and said, "Sure enough, I only guessed one multiple-choice question correctly." In contrast, Ruan Xiyan's scores in all three subjects were surprisingly much better, and she even scored a record-breaking ninety-two in Chinese.

"Damn it, Ruan Xiyan, your comeback wasn't just talk after all. I thought you were just putting on an act for me the whole time. All my sincerity was wasted..." Tao Yangnian's eyes were about to pop out of their sockets as he slammed his fist on Ruan Xiyan's table, desperately accusing her.

Lu Er was also a little surprised when she saw his score; she hadn't expected Ruan Xiyan to be such a promising talent. Only a few weeks of tutoring had raised his Chinese score by more than twenty points. After all, since their souls had swapped, she had taken many of his classes.

Tao Yangnian humbly asked for advice: "Great Master Ruan, I need your secret manual, your brain-boosting gadget, and your quick-run strategy."

Lu Er hadn't intended to pay him any attention, but he clung to her like a water ghost for most of the class, and even after the math class was over, he was still haunting her.

"Do you really want to learn?" Lu Er looked at his eager face and raised an eyebrow helplessly.

Tao Yangnian thought the dawn was just around the corner, and his eyes lit up: "Please enlighten me." He wanted to use this code to turn his mathematical skills around and then win over his sweetheart!

“Well, because—” Lu Er swallowed hard, imagining the countless possible answers Ruan Xiyan might give, then tilted her head and smiled, “I’m a genius.”

"...Ruan Xiyan, you son of a bitch!"

Joking aside, Lu Er summarized some study tips for Tao Yangnian on her phone. But that was a matter for later.

After she told Ruan Xiyan about it via WeChat, he was clearly very happy and immediately asked Lu Er out for a nice meal. Lu Er thought it was a rare opportunity, so she simply let him go.

The two agreed to meet at an intersection. While waiting, Lu Er bumped into Ruan Tang, who had just said goodbye to her friends and was on her way home. Ruan Tang saw her cousin waiting for someone, and no matter how she tried to get him to talk, he only said he was going to play. Immediately, her curiosity was piqued, and she stayed by Lu Er's feet, insisting that he take her with him.

Lu Er couldn't argue with this little girl, and besides, it was just going to get something to eat, so bringing Ruan Tang along shouldn't be a big problem, and he agreed.

"I'm here." A figure gradually came into view, with shoulder-length short hair and big eyes. Ruan Tang thought smugly, "I guessed right, it really is this older sister. These two, their relationship is definitely not simple."

Ruan Tang's inner thoughts were completely unknown to the two parties involved. Lu Er glanced at Ruan Xiyan: "My cousin, one yuan."

"OK."

The three of them boarded the bus and sat in the last seats by the rear window. They discussed what they wanted to eat, and Lu Er said anything was fine. Ruan Xiyan thought for a moment and then took them to a small shop that sold fruit salad.

“I come here often. Their food is my favorite in Huai’an. Eating this in the summer is very refreshing,” Ruan Xiyan said as she walked.

Ruan Tang exclaimed "Oh!" and looked up at Lu Er: "Cousin, I remember you like coming here too, right?"

Lu Er nodded without changing his expression. Lu Er and Ruan Xiyan went into the store, while Ruan Tang followed behind them, her large eyes gradually becoming deep.

The small shop was bustling with business; even on an afternoon like this, groups of young people lingered inside. The colorful fruit slices displayed in the small glass tank resembled beautiful, still tropical fish.

"Take this and pick out your favorite fruit." On the bus, Ruan Xiyan learned that this was Lu Er's first time eating fruit salad. He handed Lu Er a plastic bowl and tweezers, "The toppings are on the side. In the end, you can choose coconut milk or yogurt. I recommend yogurt."

Lu Er nodded: "Okay, thank you."

-

After buying fruit salad, the three of them took a walk in the street. There was a small swimming pool in the park next door, and Ruan Tang wanted to go and play in it, so Lu Er and Ruan Xiyan followed her.

There were many children from the neighborhood playing at the swimming pool. They ran around in slippers, dragged their swim rings, and chatted happily.

It was afternoon, and the sun was hidden behind the western clouds. The summer light, a bright sunflower color, shone on the pool, making the water sparkle. Ruan Tang was playing with other children, while Ruan Xiyan and Lu Er lagged behind her.

“I bought you a comprehensive question bank. It should be under my study guide. It has questions for all the main subjects.” Lu Er turned to him and said, “I’ve looked at it. The questions are basic and it’s perfect for you. You should spend an hour on it every day and then ten minutes on the answers.”

"So much in one hour." Ruan Xiyan didn't say this aloud. He was still eating his fruit salad when he heard this. He smiled and his eyelashes fluttered slightly. "Okay, thank you for your hard work, Teacher Lu. I'll look it up when I get back."

"If you don't understand the questions after reading the answers, come back and ask me again after class the next day."

These words are exactly like what the teacher said. Ruan Xiyan couldn't help but say, "Teacher Lu, how come you look so old at such a young age?"

"...What do you mean?" Lu Er looked at him in confusion. He turned his face to the side, and she could only see the tip of his ear.

“It means exactly what it says.” Ruan Xiyan scooped out the last spoonful of fruit salad and put it in his mouth. He licked his lips and slowly put the empty bowl into a plastic bag. “Like that day at the basketball court, you should smile more and find some suitable topics to talk about with people your own age, like that.”

Ruan Xiyan threw the plastic bag into the trash can: "Like now." He squinted, gazing at the pool in the distance, and gestured, "Perhaps you should try asking me if I want to go for a swim."

"..." Lu Er said seriously, "It's about to rain. Besides, we didn't bring swimsuits."

She wasn't lying; a large dark cloud was blowing in from the east and approaching. Lu Er guessed it might be a sun shower.

“You don’t necessarily have to stay out of the water. For example, you can just sit by the pool and soak your feet.” Ruan Xiyan’s voice was tinged with laughter as he jogged towards the poolside. Lu Er watched him from where she stood, and after a moment, half helpless and half amused, she followed him.

The path beside the pool was overgrown with green trees, making it difficult to spot someone suddenly appearing. For example, just now, as Ruan Xiyan turned the corner, several barefoot children rushed out, chasing and playing. One of them, wielding a water gun, was incredibly strong and aggressively shoved Ruan Xiyan aside.

Unfortunately, there was a pool of water next to it.

With a loud "plop," the water splashed quite a bit. Startled, Lu Er immediately called out, "Ruan Xiyan!"

"Are you alright?" Lu Er ran over, and Ruan Xiyan popped his head and shoulders out of the pool. His hair and clothes were soaking wet, and he had swallowed several mouthfuls of water, almost choking on his breath. "I'm fine. Luckily, the pool isn't deep."

The pool was filled with the commotion, so no one paid any attention to what was happening there. The culprits, in particular, ran off without even looking back.

"I give up." Ruan Xiyan climbed ashore. "Now I can really feel the cold water without swimming."

As if things weren't going to go wrong, large raindrops began to fall, accompanied by howling winds, yet the sun still shone brightly in the sky. The two seized the opportunity to escape to a roadside bubble tea shop to take shelter from the rain.

In an instant, she felt her clothes sticking damply to her body, feeling both humid and stuffy. A chill belatedly crept up on her, and she looked down and sneezed.

"I'm sorry, I even got you wet." Ruan Xiyan was genuinely ashamed; he had fallen into the water, but Lu Er was the one who got cold. Hearing his words, Lu Er shook his head.

"Put this on first." Lu Er was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt and trousers, while Ruan Xiyan took off her own shirt jacket. "You'll catch a cold if you wait any longer."

Ruan Xiyan saw Ruan Tang across the street and sent her a few messages on his phone. Ruan Tang said she had met a friend and would be home later, which reassured Ruan Xiyan.

"I have an umbrella in my bag, I'll go home and change my clothes first," Lu Er said, her eyes downcast. She was a little afraid of the cold.

“Then I’ll take you back,” Ruan Xiyan said hurriedly.

The bus had passed two stops when the sun shower stopped, and the summer heat and the cicadas chirping in the sycamore trees swept in again. Only Lu Er was unlucky enough to be soaked to the bone.

This bus goes to Lu Er's house. Ruan Xiyan needs to get off halfway to go home.

"You should go back first," Lu Er said to him, seeing that they were only one stop away from their destination.

Ruan Xiyan: "I'll take you home."

"It's okay to go back now that the rain has stopped." Lu Er tightened the coat on her shoulder. "You can go back now, it's alright. I'll wash the coat and return it to you later."