Chapter 13 The Unexpected Fate of Bitter Summer
Just as she was wondering whether to feel disappointed or happy, Xia Qing returned again, holding an umbrella.
He tilted the umbrella towards her head, and then held something else in his hand.
Shen Qingli stared blankly at him as he returned. He handed her a pack of tissues and said, "Wipe your tears. You look ugly from crying."
"..." Shen Qingli, who was initially a little embarrassed to take his tissue, was speechless for a moment. She took it forcefully in a fit of pique and used it to wipe the dried tears off her face.
The tears on her face had dried in the wind, and now she felt a burning pain on her face.
Xia Qing stood there quietly watching her the whole time, holding the umbrella over her without moving or saying a word.
Noticing his actions, Shen Qingli looked up at the person standing straight in front of her and awkwardly and quietly said, "Thank you."
"No need, but in your current state, do you really not need to go home?" He shook his head, looking worried as he asked her.
Upon hearing this, she didn't know how to answer and fell silent for a moment.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Xia Qing wasn't in a hurry. He kept his hands still in the same position as before, quietly waiting for her answer.
"..."
A gust of wind picked up, and the heavy rain, which had veered off course, drifted into the eaves. However, because Xia Qing was standing in front of her, most of the rain fell on him.
Seeing that he had been forced to get soaked because of her, Shen Qingli felt embarrassed and stammered after a long while, "I... I don't want to go back to my grandparents' house right now, and I don't want to go back to the city..."
As she spoke, her voice grew weaker and weaker. She was afraid that the person in front of her would think she was picking a fight, but she really didn't want to go back to any of her nominal homes right now.
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Qing was clearly taken aback, not expecting her to say that.
Noticing the change in his expression, Shen Qingli lowered her head in despair and closed her eyes. At that moment, she felt like digging a hole and burying herself in it.
They both fell silent for a moment. Just as she felt the atmosphere was becoming awkward and frozen, Xia Qing's conciliatory voice suddenly came from above her head: "Okay, but I suggest you don't stay here. The rain outside is getting heavier and heavier. If the rain blows in, you'll still get wet even if you squat here."
As he finished speaking, the rain outside grew heavier with his voice. Shen Qingli knew he was telling the truth, but she really didn't know where else she could go.
"I have nowhere to go for the time being." She bit her lip hard, staring at the crumpled paper in her hand, and said weakly.
Xia Qing naturally knew this, so he lowered his head and stared at her head for a few seconds, as if he was hesitating about something, but he couldn't withstand the heavy rain behind him, which was accompanied by bursts of thunder.
After hesitating for a while, he finally asked her tentatively, "If you don't mind, I can help you find a place to stay temporarily."
Unexpectedly, Shen Qingli had already prepared herself for him to leave again, so she looked up in surprise, as if she was surprised that he would actually help her.
When he met her surprised gaze, he turned his head away, coughed lightly, and explained, "We're classmates after all, I wouldn't just stand by and watch you die at a time like this."
Well... her behavior and words do indeed fit the image of Xia Qing that she knows.
However, she had no other choice at the moment, so Shen Qingli nodded in agreement almost without thinking for long, and then smiled gratefully at him: "Thank you."
"fine."
Xia Qing tried to help her up after she agreed.
But her legs must have gone numb from squatting on the ground for too long, plus the blood was still oozing from her injured knee. The moment Shen Qingli stood up, she gasped in pain, her legs went weak, and if she hadn't been holding onto Xia Qing's hand, she probably would have fallen again.
Noticing the injury on her leg, the two looked at each other in surprise.
"Can you still walk?" he asked worriedly.
"It might not work..."
Hearing her say that, Xia Qing pursed her lips, then stuffed the umbrella in her hand into hers. With an apologetic look on her face, she turned around and left her back to her.
Seeing his actions, Shen Qingli was stunned for a moment. She didn't react immediately. She looked at the umbrella in her hand, then at him, wanting to say something.
Before she could even speak, Xia Qing said, "Get on, I'll carry you. Otherwise, at your current walking speed, we'll both get soaked to the bone in the rain."
She knew he was right, but she hesitated as she looked at her clothes, which were so wet they could practically hand over water. Just as she was about to speak, she noticed that the back of his clothes was also soaked.
He must have gotten wet from the rain while standing in front of her.
Seeing this, she felt even more guilty. Perhaps it was because she was injured and soaked in the rain, but she was particularly vulnerable. Her eyes welled up with tears, and she held back her tears, unable to say no. She could only nod and whisper, "Okay, thank you."
Upon hearing her agreement, Xia Qing unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, but the next second, his back tensed up again.
Shen Qingli was in no better shape. She bit her lip awkwardly and nodded blankly after the other person reminded her to hold the umbrella properly.
The two walked in the heavy rain, the sound of the rain was deafening, but Shen Qingli felt that her heartbeat was even more chaotic than the sound of the rain.
They remained silent the entire way. After a long, long time, as the road in front of her became increasingly familiar, she finally spoke and asked him in a low voice, "So, where are we going?"
"My home."
"Huh?" she exclaimed in surprise, then panicked slightly. "No, you're not kidding me, are you?"
Shen Qingli's reaction was exactly what he expected, so he shook his head and said, "No."
"No, that's not a good idea. What if Aunt Xia sees me...?" She hesitated, about to say something, but Xia Qing quickly interrupted her.
"No, my mom has always liked you the most." He dismissed her worries with one sentence, and continued, "Besides, I see that your leg is injured, you should find a place to treat it."
"Okay...you're right." She could feel the throbbing pain in her palms and knees. She glanced awkwardly at her hands wrapped around his neck. Because both her palms were bleeding, she didn't dare to hold the umbrella too tightly with one hand, but Xia Qing probably didn't notice.
Thinking of this, she instinctively tried to cover it up, not wanting the other person to see the wound on her hand.
He noticed her carrying him on his back, but didn't point it out, seemingly to protect her fragile self-esteem.
After all, in Shen Qingli's eyes, being caught in such a disheveled state by her should be a particularly shameful and infuriating experience.
At this moment, Shen Qingli was thinking the same thing as him. She looked at herself and sighed deeply. Her warm breath brushed against Xia Qing's neck, giving him goosebumps. He paused slightly as he took a step, but Shen Qingli did not notice anything unusual about him.
She stared intently at Xia Qing, the rain outside blowing against their faces in the wind. His bangs, as if sprayed with rainwater, were wet and haphazardly stuck to his face.
But he seemed oblivious, staring straight ahead with a normal expression, steadily carrying her on his back without uttering a single complaint.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect you to be such a kind person."
Hearing her suddenly praise herself, Xia Qing was stunned for a few seconds, then chuckled and asked, "So what kind of person was I in your eyes before?"
"Hmm... it's hard to say." She thought for a moment before continuing, "Anyway, in my grandparents' eyes you're the good kid next door, the kind of kid that everyone talks about."
"And what about in your eyes?" He clearly hadn't gotten the answer he wanted, so he pressed on.
"Me? In my eyes, I'm just Aunt Xia's son."
"..."
Well, that's not wrong, he thought speechlessly.
Shen Qingli looked at his tense profile with some confusion when she saw that he suddenly stopped talking.
They weren't actually very close; to be precise, they were junior high school classmates who weren't very familiar with each other.
Five or six years ago, Xia Lin moved here with Xia Qing, living next to Shen Qingli's grandparents' house.
Her grandparents were very talkative and warm-hearted people, and they gradually developed a good neighborly relationship with Charlene, but this relationship was limited to their elders.
Xia Qing is a quiet person who rarely speaks. Apart from being polite and greeting her neighbors, she has almost no interaction with others.
Shen Qingli is not a lively person; she doesn't like going out or socializing.
But Charlene liked her very much. Whenever she had something delicious at home, she would ask her to bring it to her house.
During those years, her parents rarely came back. Having never experienced maternal love, Shen Qingli saw a motherly figure in Xia Lin for the first time. Children abandoned by their parents in the countryside always crave love more and want to receive it. So, she sometimes couldn't help but visit Xia Lin's house, and that's how she got to know Xia Qingli.
But neither of them is likely to initiate communication with the other, so they are just acquaintances.
Later, they attended the same primary and junior high schools and coincidentally ended up in the same class.
The other person's outstanding performance was both admirable and enviable. He also began to become the outstanding child that Shen Qingli's grandparents talked about, urging her to study with Xia Qing every day.
Shen Qingli, whose grades had always been only average, gradually grew tired of these words. During her junior high school years, she would run away whenever she saw Xia Qing. In fact, she secretly disliked him. Because of his existence, her life seemed to have an inexplicable comparison point. It seemed that because she was not as outstanding and ambitious as him, she would be compared by many people.
She had been secretly competing with him for a long time without his knowledge, so if it weren't for this rain, she never imagined that she would be able to talk to him so much, or even become friends with him later.
Fate is often unpredictable. For the first time, Shen Qingli changed her opinion of Xia Qing, this cold guy, and discovered that beneath his indifferent exterior, there seemed to be a gentle and caring heart.
For the first time, she also felt curious about him.
Little did she know then that the initial spark of attraction often begins with curiosity about the other person.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Xia Qing: Come to my house.
Shen Qingli: What?!
Friendly reminder: This behavior is only allowed among people you know.
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