Chapter 26 "They laugh at me for being henpecked."...
For a fleeting moment, Tang Ci's mind went blank.
Sheng Yu was too close to her, and Tang Ci was enveloped by his aloof aura, as if the two of them were the only ones left in the world. Her ears were ringing, and she could even hear the sound of her blood flowing slowly.
Tang Ci, like the holly tree beside her, stood there dumbfounded, only blinking after a long while.
"If it makes you feel better..."
Sheng Yu's lips curled up again, but his dark pupils were deep and unfathomable. His movements were casual as he kneaded her lips with his thumb, parted the slit with his fingertip, and probed inside a little.
The cool touch on his skin instantly startled Tang Ci awake. She quickly pursed her lips, retreated hastily, and her back slammed against the fence with a thud.
Her commotion was so loud that the holly branches were startled, and clumps of snow fell down, all landing on Sheng Yu's head.
"..." Tang Ci opened her mouth, then awkwardly curled her fingers: "Are you alright?"
Sheng Yu lowered his head and patted the snow off his head, his voice suppressing displeasure: "You're so afraid, yet you still dare to agree to my request?"
Tang Ci pointed to the top of his head, blushing as she reminded him, "There's still a bit of hair at the back that hasn't been rubbed off."
Sheng Yu leaned closer to her and said, "Help me swat it off."
Because he was looking down, his beautiful eyes were drooping, and his thick eyelashes covered his captivating pupils, which reduced the sense of oppression by a large part.
With her breathing becoming easier, Tang Ci exhaled softly and carefully brushed the snow off his head while standing on tiptoe.
"alright."
Sheng Yu hummed in response, and when he looked up, he saw her hand hanging down by her trouser seam, her fingertips red from the cold.
Tang Ci, oblivious to everything, raised her hand and rubbed the tip of her nose, asking in a muffled voice, "Shall we go?"
Before she could lower her hand, Sheng Yu grabbed it.
Tang Ci stared blankly as Sheng Yu opened the paper bag she was holding to her chest with one hand, deftly tore open one of the boxes, took out white gloves, and put them on her hands without saying a word.
The white cashmere gloves were silky and soft, instantly warming her skin. As the temperature rose, her overly cold fingertips felt itchy and tingly.
"Don't you know to wear it?" Sheng Yu said in a displeased tone, tapping her forehead with his finger bone.
Tang Ci lowered her head, her vision blurring as she looked at the falling snow below the steps. She blinked, and after the moisture dissipated, she looked up at him and whispered, "I didn't feel cold just now."
Sheng Yu lowered her eyelashes, then wrapped her head tightly with a scarf as if punishing her, and answered her previous question: "I'm leaving."
Tang Ci pulled down an inch of her scarf to reveal her eyes and followed in his footsteps.
/
Sheng Yu parked downstairs at Tang Ci's house as usual, and drove away only after Tang Ci went up to the third floor.
When she arrived at her doorstep, Tang Ci first put her gloves and phone into her bag before taking out her keys to open the door.
The living room lights were on. Construction projects were difficult to advance in winter, so Tang Jianwei and Qin Ling were coming home earlier and earlier.
Hearing the door open, Tang Jianwei, who was lying on the sofa watching TV, looked up and asked, "School's out?"
Tang Ci nodded, changed her shoes, and went straight back to her bedroom. After catching a glimpse of a red figure on the balcony, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
Qin Ling, heavily pregnant, looked up to tidy up the freshly washed clothes on the clothesline. A red plaid scarf hung on a wire hanger, its tassels swaying back and forth as she moved it.
Tang Ci's breathing quickened almost immediately. She strode to the balcony and took the scarf down along with the clothesline: "You came into my room?"
In this family, Tang Ci has always been an outsider, excluded from the household. She washes her own clothes and hangs them on the clothes rack in her bedroom.
"I went to your bedroom to get scissors this afternoon while I was sewing," Qin Ling said, glancing at the scarf in her arms. After a few seconds, she looked into her eyes and smiled. "I noticed this scarf had been hanging there for several days, and I thought you'd forgotten to wash it, so I washed it for you."
Tang Ci's tightly pursed lips relaxed slightly. She didn't say anything, picked up her scarf, and turned to go back to her bedroom.
"What kind of attitude is this?!" Tang Jianwei sat up from the sofa, slamming his wine glass on the coffee table and shaking up the still-burning ash in the ashtray. "Your Aunt Qin kindly washed your clothes, and you're blaming her?"
Tang Ci's chest heaved as she held her breath and emphasized, "I can wash my own clothes."
Tang Jianwei frowned and made a move to stand up and show off.
Qin Ling hurriedly came out from the balcony, pressed Tang Jianwei's shoulder, and gently persuaded him, "It's all my fault. I didn't see the label on the scarf clearly. I washed the cashmere scarf until it was wrinkled. I'm sorry to Xiao Ci."
Although Tang Jianwei was a rough man, he had been in business for so many years that he had heard of good things, even if he hadn't seen them. He immediately asked suspiciously, "Cashmere? Is it very expensive?"
Qin Ling nodded her chin toward Tang Ci's chest: "That's right, and it's a luxury brand too. It feels different from ordinary materials."
Tang Jianwei looked at Tang Ci with a complicated expression, and when he spoke again, his tone was no longer impulsive, but rather more meaningful: "Xiao Ci, Dad has never asked you whether the money your mother left you was quite a lot?"
Qin Ling exclaimed "Oh dear!" and lightly patted Tang Jianwei's back, as if blaming him.
Tang Ci watched the two of them sing and dance in unison, feeling as if something sticky was stuck in her throat, making her unable to move and causing waves of nausea to rise in her chest.
Since starting junior high school, Tang Jianwei had secretly inquired about his mother's savings several times, but Tang Ci always managed to evade the question by remembering his mother's instructions.
Tang Jianwei cleared his throat, took a swig of baijiu, and mumbled, "If you don't want to tell me, fine. I was just asking casually. Do you really think I would want your money?"
Tang Ci took a deep breath and said in as calm a tone as possible, "I bought the scarf for sixty-nine yuan at the school gate; it's probably a fake."
Tang Jianwei gave a listless "Oh" and waved her away, telling her to go back to her bedroom.
Qin Ling tightened her grip on Tang Jianwei's shoulder and said with an embarrassed smile, "The quality of these counterfeit goods is really good these days."
Tang Ci ignored her and went back to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.
She opened the locked drawer under her desk, took out her bankbook and account book, and began recording this month's expenses.
After listing all the expenses, Tang Ci's brows furrowed. This month's expenses were 500 yuan more than originally planned. She bit her lower lip and crossed off the avoidable expenses one by one.
Even so, her meager savings could only cover her medical expenses until she graduated from high school.
This means that if she follows the doctor's advice for treatment, she won't even have enough money for food in the months leading up to the college entrance exam.
Tang Ci closed her eyes wearily, and when she opened them again, her gaze fell on the closed door. She could vaguely hear the noisy television program and the rough voice of Tang Jianwei talking on the phone outside.
From the moment she fell ill, Tang Ci knew clearly that her father, Tang Jianwei, would not spend a single penny on her.
Her eyes caught sight of the scarf hanging behind the door, and her gaze dimmed. The scarf was new and expensive, but it didn't match her dejected state.
The phone on the desk vibrated twice, breaking the stuffy, suffocating air in the bedroom.
Tang Ci let out a breath, picked up her phone to look at the message, and saw that it was from Sheng Yu.
Remember to use the gift; you'll receive one every year from now on.
Tang Ci stared at that line of words quietly until her eyes welled up with tears before she finally closed them.
She reached out and hugged the hanging scarf to her chest, burying her face in it.
The original light soap scent on the scarf had completely disappeared, replaced by a damp, strong smell, like a wad of wet cotton stuck in her chest, making even breathing a luxury.
Her heart, however, wouldn't obey her commands, pounding wildly and pounding against her eardrums.
Tang Ci belatedly realized that this was the first time she had ever so strongly desired to have a healthy body.
That way she could receive gifts from Sheng Yu every year.
It sounds like a dream.
/
Senior year of high school felt like a rapidly accelerating gear; after several rounds of intense review, the first semester's final exams were just around the corner.
Tang Ci was more nervous than anyone else, bearing the weight of two people's grades on her shoulders. Every day during breaks, she would sit at her desk, either working on difficult problems or helping Sheng Yu review.
The day before the exam, many students were still studying diligently in the classroom after school.
The smoking boys went downstairs together, including Sheng Yu, but he had two more thermos cups than the others. He didn't stop when he reached the laboratory building.
Zhou Yiyang raised an eyebrow: "Won't you have one?"
"You go."
A boy chuckled and offered him a cigarette, "Didn't you always smoke before and then get water? Is Tang, the academic genius, going to forbid you from smoking now?"
The boys burst into laughter upon hearing this, and some of the bolder ones even jokingly called him "henpecked."
Sheng Yu lazily lifted her eyes and raised her foot as if to kick someone: "Which eye looks at me like I'm being controlled?"
The boy nimbly dodged, grinning mischievously as he stopped spouting nonsense.
After summarizing the key points of each subject, Tang Ci took out her math notes and wrote detailed explanations and steps under each formula.
Just as she finished writing, she heard familiar footsteps behind her, and the cool rim of a cup brushed against her cheek.
Tang Ci reached out and took the cup, looked up at Sheng Yu and said thank you, then pushed the notebook onto his desk: "Shall I explain the formula to you again?"
Sheng Yu pulled out a chair and sat down, glancing at her sideways: "I've said it three times already, do you really think I'm a fool?"
Tang Ci pursed her lips: "Reviewing the old helps one understand the new."
Sheng Yu leaned back in her chair, tapped her finger on the table, and said in a calm voice, "Don't worry, I'll definitely make sure you get the scholarship."
Tang Ci swallowed, her little face still tense: "Don't limit yourself to improving by two hundred places. With your potential, if you work harder, getting into the top fifty in your grade won't be a problem. Then you can get into a very good university."
Sheng Yu was lectured by her, but instead of getting angry, she smiled and said, "Teacher Tang is so thoughtful. She even considered my college education."
Tang Ci frowned: "It's time to think about it."
"You're in such a hurry—" Sheng Yu said, resting his head on one hand and rubbing her temples with the other, "as if we'll never see each other again."
The color drained from Tang Ci's face, her long eyelashes drooped, and she murmured without making a sound.
The corridor was filled with hurried footsteps, interspersed with the thud of basketballs hitting the ground.
Zhou Yiyang stood outside the door and called out, "Sheng Yu, want to come downstairs and play ball for a while? Everyone's waiting for you."
Sheng Yu flipped through the pages of her notebook, tilted her head, and asked Tang Ci, "Can we go?"
Tang Ci looked out the dark window, where the north wind howled and rattled the glass.
She said worriedly, "It's better not to go. It's easy to catch a cold if you exercise in this weather."
Sheng Yu remained seated, then gestured with his chin toward Zhou Yiyang: "Did you hear what she said?"
Zhou Yiyang gave a forced smile: "What they said is absolutely right, you are just a wife—"
“Zhou Yiyang,” Sheng Yuping interrupted him in a low voice.
Zhou Yiyang raised his hands in surrender, picked up the basketball, and turned to go downstairs.
Tang Ci was completely baffled and subconsciously replied, "What qi? What qi?"
"Do you really want to know?" Sheng Yu asked lazily.
Tang Ci, eager to learn, blinked and nodded.
Sheng Yu beckoned to her mysteriously.
Tang Ci had no choice but to lean closer and whisper in her ear.
Sheng Yu deliberately lowered his voice, his warm breath brushing against her ear: "They laugh at me for being henpecked, are you going to do anything about it?"
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