Chapter 2138 An Unspeakable Request
When Xiao Jun heard the word "Ruomu", he thought for a moment that he was dreaming.
Didn’t she leave?
She should be in Haicheng now.
How could she appear outside his study door again?
Before his brain could make any decisions about the next course of action, Xiao Jun had already raised his legs and walked towards the door.
He suddenly opened the door and saw the thin little girl standing in front of him.
She was wearing a washed-out brown coat, a single layer of clothing. The snow on her shoulders had not completely melted, but the snow on her hair had already turned into water droplets. The snow soaked her hair, and the hair stuck to her forehead, making her look a little pitiful.
She appeared in front of Xiao Jun, shivering and with red eyes, as if in a dream.
Without waiting for Xiao Jun to speak, she pulled the corner of her mouth and forced a smile, "I'm sorry, Master Xiao, I'm disturbing you again..."
"What happened?"
As Xiao Jun asked, he accidentally lowered his head and saw her feet. She was not wearing shoes, only a pair of cotton socks. She stepped on the cold marble floor of the corridor, and her instep was slightly arched.
Xiao Jun frowned and said, "Where are the shoes?"
Ruomu quickly explained, "I took them off downstairs. I stepped in mud and got them dirty. I couldn't find a spare pair of slippers..."
Xiao Jun breathed a sigh of relief, thinking she came barefoot.
As for the spare slippers at home, he never paid attention to such trivial matters. He was relieved to know that she didn't come barefoot. He made way in front of the door and said, "Come in first."
Ruomu nodded and walked into his warm study.
The study had wooden floors, so her feet were not cold. She stood in the middle of the room and gradually relaxed her toes.
Xiao Jun sat on the chair in front of the drawing board and pointed to the sofa next to him: "Sit down and talk."
Ruomu looked at his clothes, as if he was afraid of dirtying the sofa. Finally, he walked silently to a wooden chair facing his drawing board and sat down.
Usually, Xiao Jun practices basic skills. When painting still lifes, he will set up the scenery on a chair, which is nothing more than flowers, fruits and utensils.
But today, Ruomu became his model.
Looking at her sitting upright on the chair with her frightened and nervous eyes open, Xiao Jun seemed to see the girl who appeared in his dreams every night walking into reality.
The only difference was that she was wearing clothes this time, but not in the dream.
Xiao Jun turned his gaze away, picked up the palette and brush, and mixed the colors aimlessly, so as not to look at her anymore.
"I thought you had settled down in Haicheng. Why did you come back suddenly?" Xiao Jun tried his best to speak in a normal tone.
"Well...I...I think..."
Xiao Jun looked at her again, examining everything about her.
She had her head lowered, her fingers twisted together, as if she was about to say something that was difficult to say.
He put down the palette and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it directly. It's okay."
"I want to... I want to borrow some money from you..."
After saying this, she lowered her head and clenched her fists on her knees.
It seemed as if these words had exhausted all her strength.
Borrowing money was something Xiao Jun had not expected, but he also felt it was normal. For a girl to come to Haicheng where she was unfamiliar with the place, her daily expenses would definitely be more than she imagined.
If I had known that, I would have given her more money.
"How many do you need?"
She looked up and looked into his eyes, and it seemed even harder to speak.
Do you need too much and are embarrassed to tell me?
Xiao Jun calmed down and said, "I have some cash at home. If you don't need much, I can give it to you directly in cash or transfer it to you. If you need more, I can also write you a check."
Ruomu stared at him blankly, "Why don't you ask me to borrow money for you?"
"You can say it if you want to, and it's okay if you don't want to."
Xiao Jun has never lacked money in his life, but he also knows that a penny can make a hero fall, let alone a little girl.
The feeling of bowing your head and asking for help from others must be unpleasant. Xiao Jun didn't want to increase her psychological burden. At least when she was in trouble, she would think of coming to him for help instead of being stubborn and refusing to turn back even if she hit a wall.
Seeing that she was indeed having trouble speaking, Xiao Jun continued to ask, "How much do you need?"
"I want to borrow 100,000 yuan from you," she paused, then continued, "I know you have money, but I will write an IOU and I will definitely pay it back..."
"So do you want cash or bank transfer?" Xiao Jun interrupted her.
She swallowed the unfinished words and whispered, "Cash...if you have cash..."
"Wait here for a moment." Xiao Jun said, standing up from the chair and walking towards the study room.
After a few minutes, Xiao Jun came out with a small leather bag, walked up to Ruomu, and handed the bag to her: "Take it."
She took it with both hands, bowed to him, and the tears in her eyes fell to the floor.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Xiao Jun didn't like her using honorifics, nor did he like her always bowing to him so nervously.
He reached out to help her up, but before he could touch her body, he pulled his hand back, clenched his fingers, and placed it at his side.
"Is there anything else?" Xiao Jun returned to his drawing board.
Ruomu walked to his desk, picked up the notepad, lay on the table and wrote something.
Xiao Jun glanced at her and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'll write you an IOU."
Xiao Jun frowned, wanting to say that it was not necessary, he didn't need this little money at all, and just considered it as a friendly support for her.
But Ruomu had already written it. She took the neatly written IOU and handed it to him with both hands.
Xiao Jun took it and took a look. It turned out that her surname was Wang, Wang Ruomu.
Behind her name, there was a phone number written, which seemed to be her contact information.
After thinking about it, Xiao Jun folded the IOU in half, stood up, walked to the desk, and put it in the drawer.
"I'll keep the IOU, but you don't have to pay it back in a hurry."
Ruomu thanked him again, and then said politely: "Then you are busy, I... I will go back."
"What brought you here? I was thinking of going out to sketch, so I could give you a ride."
She quickly waved her hand and said the car was waiting outside the manor.
Xiao Jun didn't insist anymore.
Ruomu turned around and walked out, but halfway through, he turned back.
Xiao Jun was staring at her back in a trance when Ruomu suddenly turned around. He subconsciously wanted to look away, but he still met her gaze and asked, "Anything else?"
She shook her head and glanced at the window. "Please close the window. It's quite cold. Don't catch a cold."
Xiao Jun felt warm in his heart and nodded: "Okay."
"Goodbye, Master Xiao."
"Well, bye."
Xiao Jun also smiled at her.
When she came, she had a sad face, but when she left, she finally smiled.
It seems that these tens of thousands of dollars solved her problem.
Xiao Jun felt somewhat relieved, but at the same time he couldn't help but be curious about what kind of difficulties she had encountered.
Ruomu opened the door and left, leaving Xiao Jun alone in the room again. An inexplicable feeling of loneliness came over him...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
