Entering the city
After a moment of silence, Wu Meilai lowered her eyes to look at the top of her head and asked, "Is Jiang Chunmei okay now?"
"You really care about my friend." Zhou Qianling muttered softly, and then replied: "Her grandfather is fine, so Chunmei is in good condition now."
"oh."
No words again.
Zhou Qianling didn't dare ask why she ignored him the day before yesterday. Feeling bored and dizzy, she soon fell asleep leaning on her shoulder. Half asleep, she even asked, "Is it too late for me to work out now?"
The voice was mumbling and Wu Meilai didn't hear it clearly, but it didn't matter because it wasn't a question for her.
The car was chartered directly to Biji City, where the traffic police were strictly checking the vehicles. So when we arrived in town, there were only four passengers and the driver in the car, which made the space much more spacious. However, Zhou Qianling didn't wake up, and Wu Mei didn't push her away when she came.
Feeling that she was about to slide down again, Wu Mei came and lifted her chin and put it into her shoulder socket.
Her original intention was to be so steady, but when the other person's breath hit her face and her lips occasionally brushed her skin, she realized that she was uncomfortable.
At the beginning, Wu Meilai thought: We are all women, why are we so petty?
That being said, when the heat reached her neck, she couldn't help but smooth her throat.
As the car entered the suburbs, the sky darkened and a steady drizzle began to fall. The closer we got to the city center, the heavier the rain became, forming winding columns of water on the black window glass, completely blocking the view outside and making the reflections of the people inside the car even clearer.
Wu Meilai lowered the car window slightly to let the cool breeze take away some of the heat from her face. Thinking that Zhou Qianling had only been ill for a few days, she closed it again.
As we approached the city, the roads started to become congested and I heard that traffic police were checking cars.
"When they ask you later, remember to say we are in the same group and are friends." The driver turned around and reminded.
"Hey, sister." The driver called out to Zhou Qianling, but Wu Mei came to stop him. "We know."
Her shoulders felt a little sore, so Wu Meilai moved them slightly, but Zhou Qianling hugged her arms tightly with a groan.
Unconsciously curling up the lips.
This person looks like a child after falling asleep.
The van in front left and a traffic policeman came over with a breathalyzer.
The driver blew a breath of air and was about to raise the window when the traffic police saw the people behind him and asked, "Where are you going?"
"station."
Wu Mei looked over at the person in the car window.
The traffic police stepped forward and knocked on the glass in front of him.
The windows are down.
Traffic police: "Are you all going to the station?"
"That's right."
"I don't know about them."
The driver and the passenger said in unison.
A few minutes later, Zhou Qianling was woken up by Wu Meilai and got off the bus. Bewildered, she watched as a few people argued on the roadside. Then, a passenger, smiling, called a friend to take him to the bus station. The driver cursed, dutifully paid the fine, spat, and drove back home.
"Are we there yet?" asked the confused kitten.
Wu Meilai relaxed her brows and shook her head, saying, "We're still a bit far away. The rain won't stop anytime soon. I remember there's a hotel up ahead. Let's go take shelter there first."
As he spoke, Zhou Qianling had already taken off his coat and covered the two men's heads with it, and readily agreed: "Okay."
Hotel, nice.
As the two people walked away, the car that the passenger was waiting for arrived and he was happily showing off that he had saved dozens of dollars.
Now Wu Mei came to confirm that this guy did it on purpose.
She couldn't say whether taking an illegal taxi was right or wrong. They were banned out of concern for lives lost and a people-first approach. But they persisted despite repeated bans because this mode of transportation suited people in remote, isolated areas like hers: it was convenient and hassle-free.
Wu Meilai stopped thinking about it and moved to Zhou Qianling's other side. A motorcycle sped past, leaving a splash of ink on her clothes.
Zhou Qianling chuckled and pulled the person inside: "Thank you, sister, for coming here to block the water."
Wu Meilai was originally worried that she would get splashed on the roadside, so she accepted the thanks with a clear conscience, but still corrected her, "I'm younger than you."
"Then Chunmei is the same age as you."
Wu Meilai remembered that Jiang Chunmei had called her sister, but she didn't expect that she would even care about this.
It's indeed a bit childish.
Perhaps because he was afraid that she would get wet in the rain, Zhou Qianling moved a few inches closer to her, so that their heads were almost touching. Zhou Qianling was holding up his clothes, so it seemed as if he was holding her in his arms.
The collar of his coat drooped, making the already dim and enclosed space even more stuffy.
A bit strange.
The air I breathe smells like another woman.
"I--"
"Sister, come here."
I stopped moving, feeling a little uneasy for some reason.
Raindrops fell on the exposed back of the hand, like a small insect slowly crawling down, crawling into the gaps between the fingers, and then winding down along the index finger, falling wetly on the fingertips.
Slightly itchy.
A car passed by, and the wheels made a sticky sound as they rolled over the water, which seemed a little distant because of the cloth blocking the sound.
The hem of his clothes swayed, and Zhou Qianling turned sideways to face her.
Water drops fell to the ground, splashing ripples on the ground.
The usual gentle mask faded, and the suppressed animality was rampant in his eyes.
Darkness not only breeds woodlice, but also breeds filth that dare not poke their heads in the sun. It belongs to Zhou Qianling, and also...
Whose is it?
Wu Meilai's breathing became a little disordered. She took a half step back and threw herself back into the embrace of the light.
"The rain seems to have subsided." Wu Mei came to make small talk.
The raindrops dispersed the fog accumulated in the mountains.
Zhou Qianling folded his clothes and put them on his arms, following behind silently.
"Is there a sea in Yanzhou?" The person who suddenly became talkative looked up. The branches extending from the mountain to the road had grown green leaves. The raindrops on the tips of the leaves gathered into a dot and fell on her eyebrows.
"Qianzhou is full of mountains, and I haven't seen the sea yet."
"We can go to the sea together if we have the chance." Zhou Qianling suppressed his emotions, put on a gentle appearance, and took two steps forward to her side.
The backs of their hands touched each other, and Zhou Qianling raised his little finger to hook and bend it.
There was nothing between his fingers.
Wu Meilai raised her hand to wipe the rain off her face, then stepped aside, leaving a small gap between them.
Zhou Qianling glanced sideways, put his coat on his other arm, and gently suggested: "It's not far from the city center. You don't need to go to the hotel. You can get there quickly by taxi."
She took out her cell phone to check the distance and waited for the person who was walking forward to respond.
Hearing this, Wu Meilai breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay."
I wiped my face. The rain seemed to be getting heavier. There was a crackling sound above my head. Before I looked up, I heard a scream behind me. Then the world spun around and Wu Meilai was pushed to the ground.
--
"Do we really not need to go to the hospital?"
In the hotel, Wu Meilai knelt beside the bed and carefully smeared Zhou Qianling's calf with a cotton swab dipped in iodine. She wiped off the mud and water, blew it gently, and then tore off a Band-Aid and put it on.
"No, it's just a scrape."
Zhou Qianling said it lightly, but his tender arms and calves were covered with scratches, and anyone who saw them would feel pain.
Wu Meilai gently touched the small piece of gauze on her knee and murmured, "You're killing yourself."
Wu Meilai was still scared. If a small car had not happened to pass by and blocked her way, she would have really died.
"He's not dead." Zhou Qianling chuckled.
At that time, probably due to the continuous rainfall in the city, the soil on the mountain became loose and a pine tree fell down with its roots, right above Wu Meilai. Her mind went blank, and when she reacted, she had already pushed Wu Meilai away and was lying on the ground.
Therefore, she didn't specifically want to save Wu Meilai.
However, she did not intend to clarify.
"Have you treated the wound on your hand?" Zhou Qianling looked at Wu Meilai and shook her hand.
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