Chapter 14 Summer Heat, Your Hair is a Mess
There was a knock at the door. Xia Lin went out of the living room and opened the door, where she saw two people who were soaked and disheveled.
"Xia Qing, and Qing Li? What happened to you two?" Xia Lin stared blankly at the two of them, not knowing what had happened.
“Aunt Xia…” Shen Qingli awkwardly put her hands behind her back, clenching them tightly, not knowing how to start the conversation.
In the end, Xia Qing took her into his home and briefly explained the situation to Xia Lin.
Xia Lin quickly realized that Shen Qingli must have had a fight with her family. So, under her uneasy gaze, Xia Lin didn't immediately say anything to blame her. Instead, she quickly took out a set of pajamas from her closet, pulled her to the bathroom, and said, "Qingli, these are Auntie's clothes. They might be a little big for you, but we don't have any other clothes for you to change into right now. Can you take a shower at Auntie's first? Otherwise, you'll really catch a cold. We can talk about everything after you shower."
Xia Lin's gentle voice fell into her ears. Shen Qingli stared blankly at her, then suddenly her eyes stung with tears. She stared at the clothes in her hands and nodded in a muffled voice, "It won't be a compromise. Thank you, Aunt Xia."
After saying that, Xia Lin quickly adjusted the hot water in the bathroom for her and thoughtfully closed the door for her.
She looked up at her son, whose hair was still wet and plastered to his forehead, and urged him, "Xia Qing, you should go and change into some clean clothes and dry your hair."
"Okay, Mom." He nodded obediently, and before going upstairs, he still took out the things he had bought from his pocket. "Mom, you asked me to go out and buy some painkillers, but are these really enough? Should we go to the hospital to get checked out?"
He asked worriedly, but Xia Lin didn't answer directly. She took the box of medicine, forced a smile, and said stubbornly, "I'm fine, it's just an old ailment. Okay, don't worry about it. Go upstairs and change your clothes quickly, so you don't catch a cold too."
"Oh well……"
-
After a while, Shen Qingli finished showering and came out first. Xia Lin's clothes were a bit too big for her. She awkwardly opened the bathroom door and found Xia Lin coming out of the kitchen.
She was carrying two bowls of steaming ginger tea. Seeing that she had finished washing up, she invited her to sit down. "Come on, Qingli, drink this ginger tea first to warm yourself up."
"Okay, thank you, Aunt Xia." She walked to the table and sat down, reaching out to grasp the teacup. The scalding heat stung the wound on her palm, and she instinctively moved it away.
"What's wrong?" Charlene asked worriedly, noticing her strange behavior.
"It's nothing..." She shook her head reluctantly, not wanting to trouble them by showing the injury on her hand again.
So she carefully held the cup in her hands and took a sip. The warmth immediately spread throughout her body, making her feel much more comfortable.
Shen Qingli took a few sips of ginger tea, looked around, and realized that Xia Qing was nowhere to be found.
Xia Lin noticed this and explained to her, "Xia Qing went to change her clothes. I saw that you were both soaking wet, and I was really worried that you two would catch a cold."
"Actually, it's all my fault. If he hadn't run into me on the way, he wouldn't have gotten wet." She felt guilty listening to Xia Lin's words. If Xia Qing really caught a cold, she would be in big trouble.
"What are you thinking? I'm actually glad that Xia Qing met you and brought you back. Look at you, running out in the pouring rain and not going home. Aren't you afraid of running into some bad people on the road?" Xia Lin sighed helplessly as she looked at her, but as she spoke, she saw her lower her head and stare at Shen Qingli's hair whorl. Seeing her pitiful appearance, she couldn't bring herself to say any other words of reproach.
Finally, Charlene pursed her lips helplessly, softened her tone, and asked gently, "So, can you tell Auntie what happened?"
From the moment they became acquainted, Shen Qingli had always been completely open and honest with Xia Lin. Therefore, she told Xia Lin everything that had happened tonight.
After she finished explaining the whole story, Xia Lin fell silent. Shen Qingli carefully glanced at her face, wondering if it was because she had stayed at her parents' house that she had learned to be so careful and observant.
She was afraid of making her angry, after all, for someone her age, running away from home was indeed a very serious matter.
The expected reprimands and admonitions were delivered, and Xia Lin frowned along with her, her tone even sounding somewhat sad: "How could you be such parents..."
As she finished speaking, her gaze towards Shen Qingli became even more tender. In her mind, Shen Qingli had always been a very sensible girl. She had lost a daughter at a young age. Perhaps it was fate that she liked this little girl the first time she met her.
So over the years, in her heart, Shen Qingli has been like her own daughter.
She tried to comfort Shen Qingli, knowing that such suffering couldn't be eased with just a few words, but she had no other choice. The only thing she could do was to make Shen Qingli feel more comfortable and happy while staying at her home.
Thinking about this, she suddenly remembered something and immediately stood up, saying, "Qingli, Auntie suddenly remembered something. Why don't you sit here by yourself for a while..."
Before going upstairs, she gave some instructions, but before she could finish speaking, she heard footsteps coming downstairs.
Xia Lin and Shen Qingli looked toward the source of the sound and saw Xia Qing wearing a clean white shirt and carrying a first-aid kit.
Charlene stared at the object in his hand, then immediately asked, "What's wrong? Which of you is injured?"
When they came in, their clothes were soaked and had changed color, so she didn't notice the injury on Shen Qingli's leg.
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingli glanced at him in a moment of panic. Xia Qing noticed her gaze and said helplessly, "It was me. I accidentally got a scratch."
"Is it serious? Why weren't you more careful?"
As expected, he received a scolding from Charlene. He glanced at the girl sitting on the table, who dared not look at him anymore, and gently shook his head, saying, "...It's nothing, just a minor injury."
"Then remember to take care of it. I have something to do upstairs. You keep Qingli company. Oh, and drink the ginger tea on the table as soon as possible, don't catch a cold," Xia Lin said, glancing at him with concern.
"good."
Upon hearing this, Xia Lin headed upstairs.
After watching his mother's figure disappear around the corner, he walked up to Shen Qingli, opened the box in his hand, took out disinfectant and alcohol swabs, and placed them in front of her, saying, "Here, take care of this."
"Okay." She stared blankly at his smooth movements for a few seconds before replying.
After saying that, she pushed another cup of tea on the table to his side and said with concern, "You should drink it quickly."
"OK."
He sat next to her, drinking ginger tea. The pants Xia Lin had given her were a bit loose, and Shen Qingli easily rolled up the cuffs. Looking at her pitiful knees, she pursed her lips, then gritted her teeth and pressed a cotton swab directly onto her wound. A sharp pain shot through her, making her wince.
Xia Qing looked at her actions, turned her head away somewhat awkwardly, and took a big gulp of the ginger tea in her hand.
After a while, he turned around and found that she had already treated the wound on her leg.
Seeing that she didn't make any other movements, he looked at her for a few seconds, hesitated, and asked, "Aren't you going to treat the wound on your hand? And..."
"What?" She didn't expect that even though she tried her best to hide it, he still found out, and her voice changed.
Seeing the incredulous look on her face, he helplessly tugged at the corner of his mouth and continued, "Your forehead is also cut."
Upon hearing this, she almost instinctively touched her face. When her hand touched a spot on her forehead, she felt a burning pain on her face.
She couldn't pinpoint the location of her wound or how large it was, and tried wiping it several times with an alcohol swab without success.
Seeing this, Shen Qingli glanced at the person next to her, feeling a little embarrassed. The person was staring at her with a half-smile.
"How about... I help you?" He and she exchanged a glance, and he asked appropriately.
"Ah... thank you for your help."
Disheartened, she handed him what she was holding, deciding not to make things difficult for herself anymore.
Xia Qing took the cotton swab soaked in iodine and carefully moved closer to her. Shen Qingli brushed her bangs aside so he could see the injury on her face clearly.
Seeing the two of them so close, she couldn't help but hold her breath, but felt a cold touch on her face. She raised her hand, but her eyes were unsure where to look.
Compared to her bewilderment, Xia Qing was much calmer. He gently applied ointment to her wound.
Seeing that the wound was almost completely treated, he immediately restored the distance between them, then pointed to her hand with his other finger, cleared his throat, and said, "Ahem, the wound on your hand..."
"Oh! I can do this myself." Hearing his voice, she snapped out of her daze, hurriedly pulled herself back from her wandering thoughts, and lowered her head to start treating the wound on her palm again.
After she had finished dealing with most of the issues and tidied up the things outside the box, she looked up at him again.
Now there were only the two of them in the living room. They glanced at each other and then looked away. They were both silent for a long time. Shen Qingli was at a loss and could only look at the first-aid kit on the table. Thinking back to what had just happened, she couldn't help but admire Xia Qing's thoughtfulness.
After thinking about it, she felt a warmth in her heart and finally said to him, "Thank you for treating my wound earlier, Xia Qing."
"You've thanked me so many times today."
"Oh, really..."
"Hmm. But it's quite rare to hear you call my name." After all, she used to run away whenever she saw him, and the number of times they had managed to greet each other was very few.
Xia Qing is his name, but for the future, this should be his former name.
The person Shen Qingli was familiar with was Xia Qing, not Lin Xiaqing.
_
After saying that, he looked down at Shen Qingli in front of him. Her bangs were a little messy from what she had just messed up, with a few strands sticking up. So he reminded her, "Your hair is messy."
Following the direction of his finger, she hurriedly said "oh" a few times, feeling somewhat embarrassed as she raised her hand to tidy her hair.
Just then, Xia Lin came downstairs. She called out to Shen Qingli and said gently, "Alright, it's getting late. Qingli, why don't you stay at Auntie's house tonight and get some rest?"
"Ah... no need, Aunt Xia, and besides, my grandparents' side..." Shen Qingli subconsciously wanted to refuse.
But before he could finish speaking, Xia Lin cut him off with her next words: "I've spoken to your grandparents on the phone, so don't worry. I've also told them that you can stay here with me tonight. We can talk about anything that's bothering you tomorrow, okay? Get a good night's sleep tonight."
Hearing that Xia Lin had arranged everything for her, she gave her a grateful look. After all, she really didn't want to go back right now, so she didn't refuse anymore.
Xia Lin led her towards the guest room, and said to Xia Qing, "Alright, Xia Qing, you should go to sleep early too."
"Okay, Mom." He watched his mother lead him upstairs, then stood up and walked towards his room.
A note from the author:
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Note: "Your hair is messy." —Haruki Murakami
Lin Xiaqing = him now.
Xia Qing = His past self.
Just in case everyone finds it confusing, I'm explaining it in advance so it'll be easier to distinguish. ^^
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