"Ah!" She let out a short, terrified gasp, and pulled her hand back suddenly as if she had been electrocuted. She felt as if all her strength had been drained from her. If Xiao Li hadn't held on to her tightly, she would have almost collapsed again.
Her eyes were wide open, filled with even greater horror, helplessness, and utter despair than last time.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Little boy! I... I didn't mean it! I really didn't mean it! Damn it! I..." She was incoherent, her voice trembling, and the great fear almost suffocated her.
She felt completely finished! Once was unintentional, twice was unforgivable! She had actually fallen twice in the same place, once again desecrating the young man who had treated her with such kindness that he was like a god.
The immense shame and despair instantly overwhelmed her like a cold tide.
She didn't even dare to look at Ye Qingliu again, but just held Xiao Li's arm tightly, as if grabbing the last straw, her body shaking violently.
Xiao Li was also frightened by this sudden change. While holding the staggering Sun Guixiang tightly, he looked at Ye Qingliu nervously, his face full of worry and apology.
The sparsely populated tables of guests in the restaurant were also attracted by the commotion and looked over curiously.
The air seemed to freeze again.
However, amidst this suffocating silence and Sun Guixiang's despair on the verge of collapse——
The night air was flowing.
He didn't raise his hand to fix his hair like he did last time.
He didn't even look at the "offended" part of his head.
He simply picked up the wool coat draped over his arm very calmly and slowly. His movements were natural and smooth, as if he was just picking up an object casually.
Then, under Sun Guixiang's terrified and desperate eyes and Xiao Li's nervous and anxious gaze—
Ye Qingliu took the dark gray, fine wool coat, stretched out his arms, and naturally, with even a hint of barely perceptible gentle force, draped it over Sun Guixiang's shoulders, which looked particularly thin due to the violent trembling.
The warm wool fabric with a faint cold cedar scent instantly wrapped around the old man's cold and trembling body.
This action was too unexpected.
Sun Guixiang was completely stunned. The huge fear and despair were like hitting an invisible wall, and she stopped instantly.
She looked up in disbelief, her cloudy eyes filled with great shock and confusion, tears still hanging on her face, but she had forgotten to flow.
She stared blankly at Ye Qingliu's cold face so close to her, feeling the endless warmth brought by the expensive coat on her shoulders, her mind going blank.
Xiao Li was also completely stunned, and forgot to use force while holding Sun Guixiang's hand.
Ye Qingliu didn't look at Sun Guixiang's shocked face. He lowered his eyes slightly, and his slender fingers naturally and instinctively adjusted the collar of her coat to ensure it better wrapped around her neck and shoulders.
His movements were steady and focused, as if he was just completing a very ordinary task.
After doing all this, he raised his eyes, and his gray-blue gaze fell calmly on Sun Guixiang's still frightened face.
His voice was still clear and calm, like a cold mountain stream, but it carried a strange, soothing power as it rang out clearly:
"The ground is cold." Just three words, calm and peaceful.
He paused, his eyes sweeping over the empty chair in front of Sun Guixiang, which was covered with an off-white tablecloth, and added, with a hint of unquestionable gentleness in his tone: "Sit down and talk."
After saying this, he no longer looked at Sun Guixiang's reaction, as if the action of putting on his clothes and the words "sit down and talk" were just the most natural arrangement.
He sat back in his seat, his posture relaxed and natural, his eyes fell back on the tablet on the table, his slender fingers tapped the screen, and he continued to handle his affairs.
There was such concentration and calmness, as if the little chaos just now and the expensive coat draped over the shoulders of the strange old man had never happened.
Only the dark gray wool coat that carried his body temperature and scent, wrapped heavily and warmly around Sun Guixiang's thin body, silently telling everything.
Sun Guixiang stood there blankly, the warm weight on her shoulders so real, so heavy, while the faint, crisp aroma of cedar lingered at the tip of her nose.
The huge warm current was like a flood that broke through the dam, instantly breaking down all the fear, despair and cold dams in her heart.
This time, the tears flowed out, no longer out of fear and despair, but of great, indescribable warmth and shock.
She looked at the boy who lowered his head to look at the screen again, looked at his cold and calm profile, looked at his meticulously short black hair... She finally understood that this little boy didn't care about those so-called "offenses" at all.
His calmness wasn't indifference, his distance wasn't disgust. He simply embraced all of her clumsiness, insecurity, and gratitude in a way she couldn't fully understand.
Xiao Li finally came back to his senses from the shock, and hurriedly supported Sun Guixiang, whose legs were still a little weak, and let her sit down slowly on the chair opposite Ye Qingliu.
Sun Guixiang sat in a soft chair, wrapped in the boy's warm coat. The overwhelming emotion left her unable to speak fully. She could only choke back her sobs and repeat over and over in the simplest words: "Thank you... little friend... thank you..."
Ye Qingliu didn't look up, but just slid his fingertips across the screen, his gray-blue eyes focused on the information flow on the screen.
The sunlight filtered through the greenery, dancing on his long eyelashes. Only the corners of his lips, slightly pursed, seemed to curve upwards, almost imperceptibly, in a subtle yet real arc, unnoticed.
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