Chapter 46: Heavy Rain Thin, cold, and rain-soaked summer pants...

After dinner, Zhu Yingning put away the dishes and asked Xu Sirui, "Do you want to take a shower first?"

He stupidly asked back, "What?"

"I said, do you want to take a shower first?"

"Oh, I can do anything."

"Then go wash up. There's a pot of hot water in the kitchen."

Xu Sirui nodded and walked straight to the kitchen. When he entered the kitchen, he suddenly forgot what he came in for. He stood there in a daze for a while, and finally walked out empty-handed.

Zhu Yingning looked at him puzzledly outside the kitchen: "What's wrong? Didn't you say you wanted to take a shower?"

"oh oh."

He suddenly understood, nodded, and walked back. Only Zhu Yingning was left outside, frowning and looking at his back worriedly. He felt sad in his heart - he didn't expect Xu Sirui to love his deceased pet dog so much. Look, he was so sad that he was in a trance.

She stood there thinking for a while, then turned and walked towards Chengcheng's house.

**

Xu Sirui had just finished his shower and was drying his hair, about to head back inside when he saw Zhu Yingning squatting on the floor by the door. In front of him was a bucket for burning paper money. In his left hand, he held a wad of paper money, and in his right, he held a lighter. Puzzled, he asked, "What are you doing?"

Hearing his voice, she turned her head and waved to him.

He looked confused, but still squatted next to her.

Zhu Yingning gave him a few pieces of paper money and said a little embarrassedly, "I asked the villagers, and everyone said there's no paper money specifically for burning pets, so I asked them for some paper money for burning people. I figured it might be useful for pets, too. Burn some paper money for your dog, say a few nice words to it, and let it take the money to eat something delicious. With your care for it, it'll definitely have a good life over there."

“…”

Xu Sirui was choked for a moment, opened his mouth, and seemed to want to say something several times, but finally just glanced at her with complicated eyes.

"Take it." She didn't understand what he meant, so she pushed the paper money given to him forward and spoke softly, signaling him to take it quickly.

Helpless, he could only reach out and take it.

Everything that happened next was like a whip repeatedly lashing his conscience. He watched Zhu Yingning light the paper money and throw it into the iron bucket, clasping her hands together, closing her eyes, and reciting the eulogy for the deceased incessantly. Her expression was so pious that it seemed as if the one who had passed away was not a pet dog that was completely unfamiliar to her, but a friend she had known for many years.

"that……"

Xu Sirui raised his hand, trying to interrupt her.

She opened her eyes a little and urged, "You should also burn it quickly. You are the master, so your words will have more effect."

He swallowed the truth that was about to burst out of his mouth, nodded, and recited the message to the non-existent dog with difficulty.

After he finished his halting words of blessing, he felt that he was not only mentally ill, but also terminally ill, and the person next to him was even more stupid. The two of them were simply the purest fools in the world.

The fool himself was completely unaware. He put out the fire, clapped his hands, and stood up, looking proud of having accomplished something great. He said to him, "Xu Sirui, the paper money has been burned. You are not allowed to be sad anymore. If you are sad again, the happy funeral will turn into a sad one."

"……Um."

His Adam's apple rolled and he lowered his eyes slightly.

**

The next day when he went to school, Xu Sirui had planned to find a suitable opportunity to tell the emperor that he was leaving, but he had been thinking about it all day, from morning to noon, and from noon to afternoon, even until the poetry recitation rehearsal began, but he still hadn't come up with anything.

What is the right time?

He couldn't figure it out.

But every time he met Zhu Yingning's clear black and white eyes, he felt that the timing was wrong and everything was rotten.

After yesterday's after-school rehearsal, most of the students participating in today's recitation had found the key to their technique. That awe-inspiring roar had disappeared, replaced by a perfectly balanced melancholy and tenderness. Xu Sirui wished they could roar like they did yesterday; today's proper recitation only disturbed him.

The young voice itself is a poem, mixed with the tiny dust particles floating in the air, and the dark clouds outside the window, freezing time and space into an old painting.

He heard them read—

The mountain breeze brushes the hair/neck/exposed shoulders

And the moonlight dresses me in gorgeous clothes

Moonlight clothes me with gorgeous clothes

The new green in the forest resembles my youth

Youth is as transparent as fine wine / drinkable / finished / parted

…

Sorrow shattered/transformed into countless voices, faces, and smiles

On the night of April / attack me with fragrance

I am struck by the melancholy of the return of spring

**

"Everyone read very well today! We are about to win the championship!"

After the rehearsal, Zhu Yingning stood on the podium as usual to summarize the results of today's rehearsal, and at the same time gave a speech of positive encouragement in a mature and passionate manner.

After the students had packed their bags and left one after another, she locked the classroom, placed the key under the window pane, and said to Xu Sirui, who was staring blankly at her, "Let's go home."

Xu Sirui dragged his feet and followed silently.

Yang Ji said the car would arrive around 8 or 9 p.m., and it was already past 6 p.m. If he didn't tell her now, he'd have to wait until the car arrived. He took a deep breath, feeling that it would be too rude to wait until then to tell her. So, as he walked outside the school gate, he quickly went over his thoughts in his mind and said, "Zhu Yingning, I have something I must tell you..."

Before he could finish his words, a flash of lightning shot across the sky, illuminating the dark mountains nearby. Then there was a loud rumbling noise, and as they stared at each other in confusion, there was a loud clatter—

It was raining heavily.

Xu Sirui's mouth remained half-open until he tasted rainwater. Then he reacted and cursed loudly: "Fuck! I'm really impressed... Is this weather sick?"

The photographer who was filming behind them forgot to waterproof his camera before going out. A second before the rain fell, he quickly hid the camera inside his clothes, screamed and rushed back to the teaching building, leaving the two of them standing there.

Xu Sirui raised his hands to shield his head—though this action had no effect in the torrential downpour—and sprinted off. He wanted to take shelter, but he had no idea when the rain would stop, and he was afraid of missing his flight. He could only console himself by thinking he was already soaked, so he might as well just rush home.

Zhu Yingning had originally wanted to follow the photographer back to the teaching building to avoid the rain, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Xu Sirui running in the opposite direction. She was stunned and exclaimed in shock, "Xu Sirui, where are you running to? Back to school to avoid the rain!"

"Leave me alone!" It was too troublesome to explain, so Xu Sirui could only run forward and shout, "Go take shelter from the rain by yourself!"

Of course, Zhu Yingning couldn't leave him alone to take shelter from the rain. She quickly caught up with him and wanted to ask him what was wrong and why he didn't find a place to hide in the rain. However, her mouth was blocked by the rain, so she had to purse her lips tightly and ran beside him towards home.

They ran for nearly two kilometers, and Xu Sirui was so tired that his vision went dark. He had to slow down and glance at Zhu Yingning beside him. She didn't look tired at all, just soaked. She was small to begin with, and the rain made her look even more miserable and pitiful.

"you……"

Xu Sirui felt a little sorry and was about to persuade her to find a place to take shelter when another bolt of lightning struck from the sky, this time even closer to them, striking the nearby mountains. Zhu Yingning frowned and shouted through the pounding rain, "Xu Sirui—do you remember what we learned in physics? Can water conduct electricity—"

She said: "Let's find a cave to hide in - otherwise we might be struck by lightning -"

The thunder really scared him. Nothing in the world is more important than life safety. What's more, if you miss the flight, you can still change it. Xu Sirui immediately agreed.

"Follow me—"

There was no village or shop around, so she waved her hand and led him around to a nearby mountain where there were fewer trees.

Soon she brought him to a cave and drove him inside.

"You have so many caves here." Xu Sirui said as he used his hands and feet to crawl inside. After crawling into the cave, he found that this cave was not as neat as Zhu Yingning's secret cave. This cave looked very primitive, with a lot of black soil, rotten branches and grass leaves inside.

Goose bumps appeared on his arms. "Are there any snakes in here?"

Zhu Yingning nudged his back from behind, signaling him to crawl a little further inside so she could get in. "It's okay if there are snakes. The snakes here are basically non-venomous."

"I still feel uneasy..." He was pushed by her and had to move a few centimeters inside.

She chuckled helplessly: "If there is any, I can take it away, okay?"

"You can catch a snake with your bare hands?" He turned around and sat down curled up. Although he had witnessed Zhu Yingning's archery skills, catching a snake with his bare hands still sounded unbelievable.

"Of course it would be better to have tools, like a snake fork. But as long as you are brave enough, you can do it with your bare hands." She also curled up.

The cave was small, narrow, shallow, and long. Xu Sirui sat inside, Zhu Yingning outside. To avoid getting wet, their thighs were practically touching. Xu Sirui had been so preoccupied with worrying about snakes that he hadn't noticed. Now, in his silence, he could clearly sense a body temperature and the touch of her skin, a stark difference from his own, coming from their touching areas through two thin layers of summer fabric. He quickly glanced at her and asked, "Are you afraid of nothing?"

"How is that possible?" She also noticed the difference in her legs, but didn't want to show that she cared too much about it, so she tried to focus on his question. "Everyone has something they're afraid of, right?"

"Oh...then what are you afraid of?" He couldn't help but move his thighs, intending to pull them back a little, but they were too close together, and the effect was more like he was actively rubbing his legs against her. He cursed inwardly, his ears flushed, and he stopped awkwardly.

Zhu Yingning didn't dare to turn her head to look at him. She could only stare at the wall of the cave and said dryly, "I'm afraid I can't study."

This answer made him glance at her subconsciously.

It would have been fine if he hadn't looked, but after he looked, he realized that her ears were also slightly red.

……Hold.

Xu Sirui gritted his teeth and quickly looked away.

But in the narrow cave, once you stop talking, it's like falling into a closed cradle, and all other sounds will be amplified.

For example, breathing sounds.

For example, the sound of a heartbeat.