Chapter 88 Hiding from the rain, even if you get sick, it’s okay
Chang Xile lived in Yangcheng until he started junior high school. As the name suggests, it's a city with abundant sunshine year-round and rarely rainy.
She likes sunny days, but unlike other children who like to go out and have fun on sunny days, sunny days mean peace and security to Chang Xile.
At that time, Chang Xile had few friends. Ms. Tang Shixin was puzzled by this and even went to the school to find out if her daughter was being bullied or isolated.
But the reason is very simple. People don’t play with Chang Xile much because she is a weirdo.
"Hey, who are you talking to?" The speaker was eleven-year-old Tong Xin, a scoundrel in Chang Xile's class who was ignored by everyone. He was known for pulling girls' braids and removing their chairs when their classmates weren't paying attention.
Today was supposed to be break time for morning exercises, but it suddenly started to rain, so the run was canceled. Tong Xin rushed back to the classroom to get some water and saw Chang Xile standing alone in the water room, talking to the air.
In such hot weather, all students had to run laps around the playground every day during break, but Chang Xile claimed she was exempt due to poor health, which Tong Xin had always felt subtly unhappy about. It was rare for him to find Chang Xile alone, so he asked her bluntly.
Chang Xile looked at him with a smile, not getting angry. She just pointed ahead and said, "This sister asked me for directions."
Tong Xin scratched his head and looked in the direction she pointed. Not only was there no one there, let alone a sister, but he couldn't even see anyone. He said impatiently, "Stop playing tricks. There's nothing in front of you!"
Chang Xile frowned, puzzled, and asked him, "Didn't you see the girl in red? She's greeting you."
Tong Xin felt a chill run down his spine as he watched her speak so earnestly. He stiffly turned his head to look in the direction Chang Xile pointed. There was a window there, and outside was a ginkgo tree, over ten meters tall, planted by the school. Beyond that, there was nothing.
In the reflection of the window, he seemed to actually see a figure in red. The woman glanced in his direction, a creepy smile on her lips.
"Wow!" Tong Xin felt goosebumps shooting up from the soles of his feet to his forehead. He was so scared that he ran out of the water room and almost bumped into a teacher who came to get water. Later, I heard that he had a high fever for three consecutive days and was almost driven crazy by the fever.
All of Tong Xin's male friends knew about this. Elementary school boys loved hearing these kinds of weird horror stories, and rumors started to spread, becoming increasingly terrifying in private, though no one had told the teacher.
The girls also occasionally heard about this matter, but looking at Chang Xile left and right, she was just a pretty and smiling girl.
One day, Chang Xile's deskmate, Wu Yutong, a light sleeper, was awakened from her nap by a gentle drizzle. Rubbing her eyes, she looked up to see all the other children fast asleep. Except for her deskmate, Chang Xile, who was half-slouched over the table, gesturing towards the corner as she played rock-paper-scissors.
"What are you doing?" Wu Yutong asked Chang Xile softly in a whisper.
Chang Xile's eyes curved as she whispered back, "I'm playing a game with my new friend. She promised that if I win, she'll take her head off and let me kick it around like a ball."
Wu Yutong blinked and stared at her for a long moment, confirming that Chang Xile was just like the other naughty boys, saying weird, scary things. She recalled the strange rumors about Chang Xile in her grade, and immediately couldn't hold back her tears.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you crying?" Chang Xile was at a loss and took paper from the drawer to wipe her tears.
"But there's no one in the corner..." Wu Yutong became more and more scared as she thought about it, and finally revealed the reason for her crying, "Besides, people can't take their heads off, or they'll die!"
After Chang Xile heard what she said, she also felt that this was true. Her originally hazy eyes suddenly cleared up. When she turned back to look at the corner, it was empty. The little girl's face turned pale. She wanted to cry, but she was so terrified that even tears could not flow.
Some students who sat nearby had already woken up, and after hearing bits of conversation, they started crying too. Eventually, the commotion of half the class finally attracted the head teacher.
This wasn't the first time Chang Xile had been in this situation. The teachers had heard about it, but initially, they'd assumed it was just a mischievous little girl trying to scare people, and this time was no exception. But before they could figure out what was going on, they touched Chang Xile's hand, and it was startlingly cold. Then they touched her forehead, and—wow!—she had a high fever! The head teacher quickly called her parents.
She was so sick that she was talking nonsense, holding her head and saying, "I can't take my head off!"
Tang Shixin knew her daughter's situation. She had been born with a weak horoscope and was easily exposed to unclean things. The family moved to Yangcheng specifically because of its beautiful scenery and abundant yang energy.
Chang Xile's illness lingered for a long time. Tang Shixin took her to see a doctor, but her condition didn't improve. The doctor simply said the child wasn't in any serious condition, but was simply frightened and worried.
Later, her fever subsided, but she still didn't want to go to school. When she heard about going to school, her hands and feet turned cold with fear.
She stayed at home to recuperate for a long time.
Yangcheng, known as one of the five most livable cities in Country C, boasts stunning natural scenery. Chang Xile's home sits on the urban-rural divide in the southeast corner of Yangcheng. It's a property her grandfather purchased in Yangcheng years ago, and it's only a ten-minute bike ride from her school.
Because the house was large and there were so few people living there, Chang Xile's room was a combination of several rooms, occupying a single floor. However, despite having a study and a living room, she usually spent most of her time in her bedroom.
There was a large window in front of her bedroom desk. Whenever the weather was nice, Chang Xile would open it and see lush green mountains and a vast field. Beside the field was a coastal road, and from time to time, a large group of cyclists would pass by to enjoy the sea view.
In the past, Chang Xile would always start studying in the afternoon on weekends, but she would usually take a nap comfortably in the sunshine and put the annoying homework aside.
While she was recuperating at home, she didn't have homework to do, but she kept up her sunbathing habit. On weekdays, when her parents had to go to work, she would bring a few extracurricular books to sit at the table in the sun. When she felt sleepy, she would take a nap and then pick up her book again when she woke up.
Chang Xile doesn't feel bored. She has a special friend somewhere unknown to her parents.
It was a white cat that often visited her window sill.
When Chang Xile first spotted the cat, it was curled up on the counter outside the window, taking a nap in the sun. The sunlight shone on its long white fur, making it look like it was sleeping with a furry scarf as its pillow.
She was so engrossed in watching that after a while she quietly ran to the study to get a CCD camera that her mother had left there and took a picture of the white cat.
She moved very quietly, but the white cat still woke up. It opened its eyes, looked at her, then stood up gracefully, flicked its tail, and jumped off the windowsill and left.
"Ah..." Chang Xile sighed in disappointment. She scratched her head, picked up a pen and wrote on the notebook she had opened:
[Shh, no noise while the kitten is sleeping!]
But just one day later, the white cat came back to visit. Perhaps because Chang Xile's room was too sunny, it curled up on the windowsill as usual. This time, Chang Xile had learned her lesson. She simply rested her head in her hands and watched it quietly, doing nothing extra.
The man and the cat formed a special tacit understanding. Sometimes Xile would wake up from his sleep, and when he saw the kitten outside the window as expected, his heart, which had been beating wildly with fright, would slowly calm down.
But that day, Chang Xile opened the window and fell asleep on the table. She slept very restlessly, shivering from the cold. When she woke up again, she was awakened by the cool sound of raindrops hitting the window.
Chang Xile opened her eyes and looked up. Outside the window, dark clouds gathered and heavy rain began to fall. The rain was so strong and the wind was so strong that even though the eaves were wide, the rain still drifted into the house.
She shuddered and reached out to close the window, but subconsciously looked out the window again, and sure enough, she saw the white long-haired cat lying on the windowsill.
The rain came so suddenly that the white cat had no time to escape. It tried to huddle under the eaves, but its fluffy fur was still soaked by the rain, revealing its already frail frame, making it look rather disheveled. The white cat heard noises from inside the house and instinctively tried to avoid anyone, but the downpour blocked its path, and the whisper of the girl behind it caught its attention.
"Hey, kitten." Chang Xile found a large, dry, pure white bath towel from somewhere and spread it on her desk. She leaned forward and waved to the white cat. For the first time in many days, she broke the delicate balance between them and called softly, "Come here."
The white cat hesitated for a moment, but eventually gave in to its natural dislike for heavy rain. It slowly approached the window sill, then raised its front paws and stepped on the towel the girl had prepared for it.
The originally dry and smooth towel was soaked by the cat's claws. Seeing that the originally clean thing was soiled, the white cat hesitated again, not knowing whether he should go into the house.
But Chang Xile was quick to act and had already rolled up the large towel, wrapping the white cat tightly, leaving only its head exposed. She closed the window, took a deep breath, shivered, and then said, "I'm freezing! I'm freezing!"
Her own bangs were already mostly wet from the rain, sticking to her forehead and cheeks, making her feel uncomfortable. However, Chang Xile simply focused on wiping the white cat's body with both hands, muttering, "Don't let it catch a cold, or you'll get a minor illness worth thousands of dollars."
Her neighbor once had a small black cat, nicknamed "Coal Ball," which they kept for fun and only fed. Later, the cat fell ill, and after a child's crying, they took it to the hospital. The treatment cost thousands of dollars, and there was no guarantee it would be cured. They had originally adopted the cat from another family's litter, and the family wasn't willing to spend the money.
When Chang Xile heard the news about their family again, he didn't even know where the cat's body was thrown.
Although she had never seen Coal Ball many times, she cried for it, thinking that if she had begged her parents to take Coal Ball in and take care of it, perhaps it would not have died.
"It's okay. I've saved up a lot of pocket money." Chang Xile didn't stop moving her hands, but she didn't know what she was thinking about. She said to the white cat very seriously, "So even if you get sick, it's okay. I will definitely save you."
The white cat looked at her with a somewhat sad expression, not knowing whether it understood or not. But, unusually, it stopped struggling.
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