bad weather

But after catching a glimpse of the only light in the rainy world, someone suddenly grabbed the back of his head and he fell heavily into the mud.

Escape failed.

The shadows closed in again, dragging her back into the abyss.

She couldn't escape the rainstorm at the age of eleven.

Couldn't save myself.

The butterfly bones of an eleven-year-old are so thin and weak that they cannot withstand the eternal night.

Thus, he was permanently imprisoned in a glass bottle named "Zhao Zhao".

The butterfly bones of a twenty-one-year-old are strong and tenacious, enough to support the falling soul, for oneself, for the youth, and for the dawn.

The rain gradually became heavier and heavier, and the entire vision was blurred.

The cobblestone road in the old alley was rugged and slippery, and I almost lost my balance several times.

The invisible night is even darker, but she ran to the dim street light where he took her in.

She ran to the open-air staircase where he had grabbed her wrist and made it burn.

The weeds at the base of the wall rustled in the wind, and the smell of rust and rotten soil permeated through the stems and leaves.

The light bulb in the corridor on the first floor had long been broken, leaving only a dim yellow glow lingering on.

His legs were so tired that they lost feeling, but he still climbed up mechanically, his frozen face no longer able to sense temperature.

When I ran to the fourth floor, everything was pitch black.

A ray of pale moonlight filtered through the frosted glass window. Looking down, the darkness at the bottom had swallowed up the light source. Only the sound of breathing was deafening in the silence.

The key was inserted into the keyhole and turned half a circle, and the creaky door panel opened easily.

The soaked clothes clung to his skin and he was shaking all over.

He placed the medicine bag, which was hidden in his arms and not stained by the moisture of the night rain, on the cabinet at the entrance.

He immediately wiped off the mud on his shoes, put on soft slippers, and rushed straight to the only bedroom in the rental house.

The figure moved so fast that the man, who was lying on the sofa with his cigarette between his fingers, was distracted for a moment.

Knowing that she is back.

He resumed his nonchalant look.

The swirling smoke blurred his eyebrows and eyes, but the corners of his mouth were stubbornly raised, as if mocking the world.

Bai Luo returned to his bedroom without even locking the door, but only opened it lightly, knowing that the figure huddled on the sofa would not enter rashly.

I took off the wet clothes that were sticky on my skin, wrapped myself in warm fleece pajamas, and without taking a shower, I hurried out of the bedroom and came to the small bathroom with a musty smell, and stuffed the crumpled clothes into the washing machine.

Pour in the laundry detergent, press the start button, and the machine starts vibrating.

The washing machine, which has been in service for who knows how many years, makes a hoarse buzzing sound.

When she stepped out of the musty smell of the years, the scene before her was destined to become an indelible mark in her memory.

The night is dark.

The young man lay dejectedly on the sofa, a half-smoked cigarette pinched between his slender fingertips. He smoked very slowly, occasionally taking a light puff and casually spitting the green smoke into the night sky.

He seemed to have buried himself completely in the night, not hiding, but letting it go, letting the darkness soak into the folds of his clothes, climb up the ends of his hair, and even seep into every inch of his breath.

The flickering sparks in the darkness were the only sign of life he was willing to reveal.

The fingers in Bai Luo's sleeves gradually closed, and his eyes, which had been sparkling from the rain before, began to burn.

I don't know if it was the night wind sneaking in through the half-closed floor-to-ceiling window, or if it was some heartstring that was slowly plucked, but a thin haze of light pink spread out.

In my ears, I could hear the ridiculous sound of heavy rain outside the window, the humming of the washing machine in the bathroom, and the weak breathing of the young man on the sofa.

This seemed to be all the sounds in the rental house on winter nights.

Private, isolated, this moment is theirs alone.

The cold air rushed through the house, and the unheated rental house felt like it was immersed in ice water, airtight and overwhelmingly cold.

She walked towards the French window, trying to close the gap that let in the air, but was stopped by an unbridled force.

The bloody red color is scorching to the eyes.

His facial features were pale and heartless, and were disfigured everywhere.

He was brave enough to do what was right and to fight fiercely.

Amidst the flickering sparks, Bai Luo caught a glimpse of his half-closed eyelashes. His pupils seemed to be filled with the coldness of midnight dew, dark yet empty.

The jawline appears and disappears in the interweaving of light and shadow, revealing a decadent angular feel.

In the dim moonlight, I saw his shadow fade into a blur of gray in the twilight.

It seems that like her, the background color of life is the darkness of a rainy night, and all the warm colors of fireworks in the world have nothing to do with them.

Damp light surged across my vision, soaking me in damp ash with every breath I took.

Bai Luo gave up the idea of ​​closing the window and went to get the medicine bag from the cabinet in the entrance hall.

When he turned around, his other leg was already domineeringly resting in the shadow of the coffee table.

Completely blocking her way.

Unable to advance or retreat.

A blatant old stubborn.

The night tide, carrying the cold saliva of moonlight, seeped into the gauze curtains, and countless transparent blue fish swam in the reflection of the floor.

She pursed her lips slightly.

The person on the sofa watched the sparks between his fingers burn close to his joints before he lazily pinched them out.

He raised his eyes sideways, with a playful smile on his face.

"Did you choose my side on purpose?"

“…”

Bite back.

"Does it hurt?"

Don't bother with people who fight for a just cause.

"It hurts so much."

Bo Xi breathed in exaggeratedly, his tone drawn out long and unrestrained.

He was clearly trembling with pain all over, but he insisted on making the conversation sound ambiguous.

"Little bedmate."

“…”

"I'll get the medicine."

Bai Luo walked around his outstretched legs and went to the entrance, where he took medicine from the counter.

Bo Xi looked at the man in childish pajamas taking the medicine bag from the entrance, and his eyebrows moved slightly.

I thought she always had a suitcase, but no.

Newly bought, specially bought for him.

"How did you know I was fighting?"

"The high school kid at the grocery store said that."

Bai Luo knelt down, the cold moonlight casting her shadow on his knees.

"The little brother who called you beautiful sister?"

I deliberately put the emphasis on it.

“…”

Bai Luo quietly dipped the iodine in the solution and silently applied it to the injured areas on his jaw, nose and temples.

Her movements were extremely measured, not even for a moment crossing the line and touching his skin.

It was a rainy night, moisture seeped out from every corner of the wall, and the whole area was hazy like flowing fog.

Even the figure in front of me seems to be shrouded in reality and illusion, seeming real and illusory.

Bo Yi's dark pupils were hard to see, only fixed on her drooping eyebrows, and her eyelashes cast a small fan-shaped shadow.

For a moment, I felt dazed, as if a lonely figure from the rainy night ten years ago appeared through the fog.

The shadow of the little girl has been immersed in my memory for too long, and has long been blended with the boundless water vapor. It is hard to tell whether it is an illusion caused by a high fever.

Being in a drug den, there are dangers all around and little hope of survival.

The word "survival" has always been a luxury lie.

"Beautiful sister."

The distance is so close that the warm breath touches each other.

The throat was itchy, and the sting of the wound was permeated with a sweet itch.

Bai Luo glanced at him indifferently without stopping his movements.

The wound was so deep that the bone was visible. After cleaning with iodine, antibacterial gel was applied. It will not get infected.

But he was given a look of disgust by Bo Xi.

"Just put a Band-Aid on it."

Bai Luo ignored him and applied the ointment on his fingertips.

A cool feeling covered my hot cheeks.

This caused people to hiss softly.

The moonlight blended the shadows of the two people, and the blue fish swam into a mist in the reflection.

Bai Luo realized that his strength was too great, so he restrained himself for a moment.

Bo Xi closed his eyes as if enjoying himself, and his whole body became much warmer, and his dejection dissipated a little.

Antibacterial ointment was applied to the jaw, wings of the nose and corners of the temples, and band-aids were applied to the dull pain everywhere.

Like a patched rabbit, a tattered boy.

As Bai Luo was packing up her medical supplies, Bo Xi suddenly grabbed her hand as she tried to pull it away. He bound her tightly, leaving her no room for struggle.

A cold wind blew, and her wrist bones burned inch by inch in his palm.

It was so hot that her eyelashes trembled.

As if possessed by some mysterious force, his other hand touched the scar on his left eyebrow.

Under the cool moonlight, the edge of the scar was stained with dried blood, like an old wound that had not yet faded.

"Is it from a fight too?"

"no."

As he took a deep breath, the frosty cold air penetrated his nostrils, piercing his lungs and making his brain dull.

"A long time."

The dilapidated rental house twisted and deformed in the moonlight, with mottled walls, moldy corners, and a creaking wooden bed...

Suddenly, the objects in my field of vision began to blur, and I returned to the damp basement ten years ago.

＿＿

At that time, he was curled up helplessly in a damp corner, and the drug dealer grabbed his hair fiercely, forcing him to raise his head.

The slender needle eye pressed coldly against his brow bone.

"Plead for her? Then I'll leave you a mark first."

The drug dealer sneered as the needle pierced his skin fiercely. The severe pain of his flesh being torn apart almost made him faint.

The drugs mixed with blood seeped into the wound, and the scar twisted and broke as it healed, becoming a permanent severed eyebrow.

＿＿

Bai Luo's fingers stopped on the hideous scar, and his fingertips trembled slightly.

＿＿

It reminded her of the little boy who protected her in the basement ten years ago.

In the eyes of drug dealers, he is a wild dog that refuses to surrender.

But if a dog is forced into a corner, it will go crazy and bite people.

If you bite someone, you will die.

＿＿

"It's late, go to bed."

Bai Luo withdrew his fingers, his long eyelashes hiding the obscurity in his eyes.

The person holding her wrist loosened their grip.

The voice is unclear.

"Go ahead."

"Aren't you going back?"

"Too lazy to move."

"It's just a few steps."

"That's tiring too."

"...You'll catch a cold just by covering yourself with a blanket."

"As long as I don't freeze to death."

“…”

Why did she feel that he was acting weird today?

Ever since she confessed that she had no boyfriend, he returned to the rental house every day.

Two figures squeezed together on the thin single bed, with the blanket covering each other.

Every morning, she would see him going out to buy breakfast in the dim light, leaving the room quiet and the bedside empty.

But yesterday it was early, and when she opened her eyes she happened to see a shocking scene.

I curled up in his arms, my fingers hooked on the collar of his pajamas, my ankles touching the warmth of his calves.

She always thought she was a peaceful sleeper, so... it was hard to judge herself.

Bai Luo couldn't guess what he was thinking, but after all, he was the host and she was the guest.

"The living room is always colder than the bedroom. I'll use a blanket and you'll use a quilt."

Her slender fingers pulled at the blanket that was pressed down by Bo Xi, but he held it down without moving an inch.

Intentional.

With no other options, he exerted force with both wrists, but at a certain moment, he released the force.

Intentional.

Due to inertia, his body leaned forward uncontrollably and crashed into him.

In fact, Bo Xi had already been in a daze due to the high fever.

Since the rainy night when his grandfather passed away, he stood alone in the heavy rain until dawn.

Later, whenever there were lightning, thunder, or heavy rain in Hangzhou and Hong Kong, a high fever would always occur without warning.

Perhaps only the body temperature that can evaporate the mind into chaos can slightly alleviate the unbearable dull pain in the heart.

The sound of wind and rain outside the window filled their ears.

Bai Luo's forehead hit Bo Xi's jaw, causing her to hiss in pain.

But she had no time to care about her own pain.

Why is it so hot?

Instinctively, I reached out and touched his forehead.

The temperature almost burned her tactile nerves.

She hastily withdrew her hand and tremblingly reached out to the tip of his crimson ear. The burning heat seeped into her blood through his thin skin.

The sick man's mumbling fell on his lips.

"Don't go...it's cold..."

My eyes were instantly filled with soreness.

He had a fever but remained silent and stayed alone.

Is he afraid that she will see through his vulnerability?

There was no thermometer or fever-reducing medicine in the rental house.

The rain outside the window was pouring down like a waterfall, and it was difficult to even go out to seek medical treatment.

It's terrible.

Bai Luo's heart was in a knot. She straightened Bo Xi first, then went to the bedroom to get a warm blanket and gently covered him with it.

The heavy rain hit the glass like crazy.

It seemed as if it wanted to devour the entire Nanfeng Lane before it would give up.

He turned and walked into the bathroom, turned on the cold water tap to soak a towel, wrung it dry and returned to the living room, carefully applying the towel to his thin forehead.

He frowned slightly, as if he was uncomfortable, but he never opened his eyes.

Bai Luo stared into the night, his eyelids covered with the cold winter rainy night.

I decided to go out in the rain to buy medicine, at least to reduce Bo Xi's temperature.