Cloud Girl Chapter Seventeen
Along the way, Liu Shixi chatted enthusiastically with a gentle man from a family of doctors in the School of Life Sciences, while the rest of the people were in small groups, not disturbing each other.
Upon reaching the seaside, everyone scattered like wild horses let loose.
Chen Nanyi's clothing style is always that of an old-fashioned scholar, black and blue, very androgynous.
This time, she only changed into a pair of five-point cotton pants and a navy blue short-sleeved shirt.
She wore a large sun hat, and her long arms and legs made her look thin and pale in the summer heat.
Chen Nanyi dislikes crowds, so she only walked in the shallow water that just reached her calves.
Walking on the crowded beach, surrounded by laughter and chatter, yet without a single familiar face by my side—it was a strange feeling of being surrounded by the whole world, yet finding joy all by myself.
When it was noon, one of the more boisterous boys, seeing that Xu Xiaomeng had been "chatting happily" with the female boss that morning, suggested that they also go to that shop for lunch.
Xu Xiaomeng's refusal was unsuccessful, so at noon she had to return to that place for lunch.
Unexpectedly, when they were only halfway through the meal, those troublesome classmates started pushing Xu Xiaomeng to ask the restaurant owner she knew for a discount, so as to save some money.
Xu Xiaomeng hesitated and did not agree—it was obvious to everyone that he was refusing, but they still cheered him on.
Finally, worn down by the delay, Xu Xiaomeng could only reluctantly walk over.
Before she could even speak, the female boss's husband came out. Seeing her shy expression, he was instantly enraged and started cursing.
"Xu Xiaomeng, what are you doing here, you illegitimate child..." followed by a lot of local dialect, which was easy to tell the difference between good and bad without even listening.
That viciousness left everyone present completely dumbfounded.
Fortunately, the female boss reverted to her fierce, tigress-like self when dealing with her husband, dragging him straight into the kitchen, thus preventing an even more awkward situation from occurring.
When Xu Xiaomeng returned to her seat, she could clearly feel the stagnant atmosphere.
Some people wanted to say a few words of concern, but it's harder to say such private things in public, so no one said anything.
Xu Xiaomeng, who had just sat down, felt a lump in her throat and her eyes welled up with tears.
He knew that many people were probably thinking about him secretly, or even looking down on him.
And this matter will definitely cause a stir after he returns to school—after all, no one at Lu's Academy knows that he is an illegitimate child.
But Xu Xiaomeng could only endure it and pretend not to care as she finished her meal.
After finishing his meal, he got up and went outside.
Under the deep blue sky, Xu Xiaomeng let the salty sea breeze caress her cheeks.
Surprisingly, he felt a sense of detachment amidst the noisy blue sea and sky.
After finishing their meal, everyone stepped out of the pavilion and basked in the bright, almost blinding sunlight. They were heading to the boat rental shop on the other side of the beach to rent a boat from the captain for a sea excursion.
As they passed a sandy area, Xu Xiaomeng stopped and greeted an old man who was planting beach radishes, "Uncle An."
The old man looked up and chuckled, "Hey... Xiaomeng, you're back before the holiday... I was wondering why I saw a girl in your room yesterday, so, you have a girlfriend now..."
The old man's accent was a bit heavy, but many people could understand him.
Although Xu Xiaomeng hurriedly interrupted them, some people still heard them.
So someone took the opportunity to ask him where he lived.
Xu Xiaomeng had no choice but to point to the house and show it to them.
When the group saw the white villa in the tall, copper-framed area from afar, they exclaimed in amazement and jokingly scolded him for not taking them inside to see it. After that, their attitude towards him became much warmer.
Xu Xiaomeng accepted all comers, but lacked genuine enthusiasm. However, he concealed it so well that no one noticed for a moment.
However, they were very unlucky and it took them a long time to reach the place where they rented the boat.
The dock is filled with all kinds of boats, and even on a hot day, there are plenty of boatmen outside repairing them.
The boatmen were shirtless, some even wearing only briefs, which were bulging out.
Seeing such a large group of people walk by didn't make me feel shy—that's how people who have lived here for a long time are.
Several timid female students were "stimulated" by this scene and repeatedly expressed their shy fear.
But the boatmen here are well-disciplined. Although they are young, they have gone to school and started families early. They are all very down-to-earth and honest people who just do their own thing and no one makes fun of them.
One of the younger boys even ran over and asked them what they were doing there, and whether they needed any help.
The people at the dock had all changed, and Xu Xiaomeng didn't recognize him either. She just smiled and patted his head, "Thank you, but it's alright. I've already spoken to the boat captain. I'm Xu..."
"Oh! The boat captain told you to go straight in," the boy said, then skipped back onto the boat.
The boat captain, however, came out on his own after hearing the noise.
He was a tall and burly man, but he had a long scar on his face, which looked like he had been injured by a hook on the ship.
Xu Xiaomeng wanted to go up, but the person waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to board the boat, and then shouted directly to Xu Xiaomeng—in a deep voice that could cut through the wind and waves, "Ah Xiu, wating your jar o, danai ou tuai hong, mo tang qie ke luo..."
Xu Xiaomeng frowned slightly after hearing this, responded a few times, and then turned around to explain, "The boat captain said there's a typhoon coming these days, it's very dangerous. He can't rent the boat to us..."
Xu Xiaomeng explained earnestly, but still couldn't dissuade them from their desire to go to sea.
In the end, Liu Shixi, seeing that the discussion had failed, said a few words and the matter was dropped.
On the way back, someone suggested that we go to Xu Xiaomeng's house to play.
But after looking around Xu Xiaomeng's house, I found that her yard was poorly maintained, with only a few short, yellow, and withered trees, so I lost all interest.
Then they saw another house next to Xu Xiaomeng's house, which was connected by a wall.
There was a huge swimming pool right at the entrance of the house, surrounded by lush greenery, which felt incredibly cool on a hot summer day.
So they took the opportunity to have Xu Xiaomeng borrow the swimming pool from the neighbors, suggesting that it would be a good idea to have a pool party.
Unexpectedly, Xu Xiaomeng, who was always all smiles, suddenly looked troubled, her refusal already evident.
The person who made the suggestion became dissatisfied.
In fact, many times it's because Xu Xiaomeng is too kind that they act this way, which is why they make so many troublesome things and offer so many troublesome suggestions when he's leading the team.
If it were Xu Yingxiang or someone else, they would probably be as quiet as chickens.
However, many things cannot be assumed, and things have come to this point.
Xu Xiaomeng explained to everyone in a gentle tone that the family was not there at the moment, and that he had not seen them for several years, so it would be inappropriate to go in rashly.
"Who are you trying to fool! That courtyard is so clean, someone must be cleaning it. You don't need to make up an excuse if you don't want to go!" someone retorted.
Some people know that Xu Xiaomeng is a man of character—he rarely refuses anything he can do, so he has no reason to lie about this kind of thing, and therefore they can understand.
However, after walking around in the middle of the day, feeling hot and tired, the clear blue water of the pool, shimmering and rippling, and the lush green plants that provided shade and coolness overhead, were a pleasant sight that attracted everyone's attention.
It's so cool, I wish I could go inside!
With this in mind, there are always some daring people who dare to make such embarrassing requests.
They even discussed having Xu Xiaomeng ask if there was a spare key, or else they could just ask around, break the lock, and then pay the other family for the lock—it was just a pool of water, after all, it wouldn't matter.
A group of people were making a lot of noise, but Xu Xiaomeng kept her eyes down and didn't say a word.
The village elder, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, appeared and shouted in his broken but deafening Mandarin, "Someone died in that pool! Right by the pool, it's full of blood... He bled all his blood out! You still want to go in and play?"
Upon hearing those words, the people who had made the suggestion felt a chill run down their spines in the sweltering summer heat, shuddering at the thought of the terrifying scene before finally giving up.
Finally, the group grumbled that the trip was utterly boring, and then wandered around Xu Xiaomeng's bare white room.
The group strolled along the beach, chatting and laughing. Some people played in the water for a bit before heading back to the hotel. Then, they settled down to watch TV, play on their phones, or play cards, as if they had simply moved to a different place and stayed home.
Xu Xiaomeng probably felt bad because she had refused their request for a pool party, so she later invited them to go swimming at the beach. She not only went to great lengths to prepare several games, but also booked a restaurant for them.
Chen Nanyi was naturally included as well.
They had originally avoided the female shop owner's shop from that morning, but unexpectedly, they ran into her husband nearby.
He probably had a fight with his wife and had nowhere to vent his anger, so he rushed over in a fit of rage and made sarcastic remarks about Xu Xiaomeng's status as an illegitimate child.
At this moment, Chen Nanyi saw that there were no other classmates around and was about to give the female boss's husband a good talking-to. However, just as she was about to speak, Xu Xiaomeng pulled her back, and for some reason, she swallowed her anger and left.
Chen Nanyi, unaware of Xu Xiaomeng's thoughts, remained silent upon seeing this.
Chen Nanyi's hand, which had been about to break free, paused because Xu Xiaomeng, who had been walking quickly with her head down and not daring to look at her, stopped her—"Let's just give him some encouragement for now!" Chen Nanyi thought to herself, silently following behind him.
When they arrived at the hotel, Xu Xiaomeng had already made plans to inform them of the location of the dinner party and to take good care of them.
But those people said that if they only played in the water and didn't go out to sea, they would have stopped playing long ago. So Xu Xiaomeng had no choice but to go home dejectedly, not even realizing that she had been holding Chen Nanyi's hand the whole way.
After returning to Xu Xiaomeng's house, Chen Nanyi did not go out.
One afternoon, Chen Nanyi only took a few books from Xu Xiaomeng's bookshelf to pass the time.
Xu Xiaomeng also spent the afternoon reading in the study next door, and didn't leave her seat until evening.
As evening approached, Zhou was nowhere to be seen. Xu Xiaomeng made a simple dinner and ate with Chen Nanyi. Not knowing what to do, they were both bored and went upstairs to rest early.
Zhou didn't return until late at night. After Xu Xiaomeng confirmed that the door was safe, the entire villa fell silent again.
Everything was peaceful at first.
But in the early hours of the morning, Chen Nanyi was awakened by a loud knocking on the door.
The room Xu Xiaomeng had prepared for her was right above the main entrance. The person, who had been woken up by the noise, got up and went to the window, where she saw Xu Xiaomeng in a snow-white nightgown. She hurriedly ran down the stairs, opened the door, and stood timidly at the entrance, only to be scolded by the village leader.
"...What kind of classmate did you bring! He stole the boat in the middle of the night and disappeared somewhere..."
Xu Xiaomeng was also taken aback upon hearing this, and apologized repeatedly, appearing sincere and anxious, which made people reluctant to criticize her.
The village chief was just furious, but seeing that he was innocent, he softened his attitude.
Actually, the village leader didn't send the boat captain out to sea immediately, but instead came to find Xu Xiaomeng, mainly to confirm the number of people who stole the boat and went out to sea, so that he could search for them.
However, after confirming the number of people still in the hotel by phone, Xu Xiaomeng refused to stay and insisted on going to sea to search for them.
“It is my duty,” he said.
Chen Nanyi hurriedly changed her clothes to help, and ran down the stairs. Before she could even speak, the village elder said something in the local language, then smiled and walked away.
Xu Xiaomeng glanced shyly at Chen Nanyi, who was standing frozen at the door, and stammered, "You just wait at home!" Then she followed the boatman into the night.
Unable to keep up, Chen Nanyi had no choice but to retreat and sit on the sofa in the living room to wait.
Small Theater
Chen Nanyi: "You shouldn't like me. The person I hate most in this world is my father. But actually, I've learned all his bullying, snobbishness, stubbornness, and cunning, only I've hidden it well, never said it out loud, and never had the chance to do it... I don't want to deceive you, but I don't love you enough to change these things."
Xu Xiaomeng: "But you haven't taken any real action, and you're not hiding anything from me now! You've said things to me that you haven't even said to your family with whom you've lived for over ten years, and I'm so happy—and besides, that's how much I like you, what can I do?"
Chen Nanyi: "Okay! But (╥╯^╰╥), at such an emotional moment, can you please stop being so lewd?! Let go of my hand! You son of a bitch~"
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