Chapter 42
She calmed herself down, stood up and went to get the TV remote control.
The TV lit up, and the noise of the power on drowned out the sound of water, and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
While waiting for GG to end, Zhang Jusong's eyes inadvertently swept across the white latex paint wall, where a large wooden glass photo frame was hanging quietly.
Xia Zhiheng seemed to like collecting photos very much. With this thought in her mind, she walked over curiously and looked at the photo frame carefully. There were photos of different sizes pressed on the glass, and the age of the photos could be seen from the different degrees of yellowing of the photo paper.
The first one is of a young couple holding a baby. It should be Xia Zhiheng’s full moon photo?
A photo of Xia Zhiheng riding a rocking horse, with a chubby face, looking serious and thoughtful. Zhang Jusong looked at it and smiled unconsciously.
Next to it was a group photo, a little boy and a little girl standing side by side, each holding a bunch of sunflowers, laughing with joy. Zhang Jusong leaned in to take a closer look, and was surprised. Was this... a photo of her and him when they were little? It seemed like she had no memory of it.
Looking further ahead, there were some photos of Xia Zhiheng with his father and mother, including photos of Xia Zhiheng and his mother together. After looking through them all, she suddenly realized that, except for the photo of herself and Xia Zhiheng, all the photos were of Xia Zhiheng's family. It was as if the first half of his life journey had been frozen in this glass frame, until it came to an abrupt end when his parents divorced, and there were no new photos.
She stared at the photo frame, lost in thought. Xia Zhiheng... he must have been very sad at that time, right? Was there anyone to accompany him through that time? It's hard to say. At that time, she... she was also immersed in her own pain and didn't ask for any news from him.
She sighed softly, and a trace of shame crept into her heart. During the previous quarrel, she said that Xia Zhiheng didn't understand her, but on the other hand, how much did she know about him?
He never talked about the years of their absence, and she never asked. Thinking of this, Zhang Jusong frowned.
"What's wrong? How did this photo offend you?"
A chuckle woke her up from her thoughts. When she turned around, she found that Xia Zhiheng was already standing behind her, not far away. He was wearing a loose white home suit and exuding the refreshing citrus scent of shower gel.
Zhang Jusong's gaze lingered on him for two seconds.
She hastily turned her head away, looked at the photo frame hanging on the wall, and said, "Nothing."
Although she wanted to ask him about his past, it would be rude if she really asked him. She was not one to pry into other people's affairs, so although she wanted to ask him, she had no idea how to start.
Xia Zhiheng asked: "Is it really nothing?"
His eyebrows drooped, and he looked very lost. He said sullenly, "Is it because I'm not good enough that my sister doesn't want to tell me the truth?"
"How could that be?" Zhang Jusong said, "I... I was looking at the photos just now and wanted to ask about your parents, but I was afraid of being too abrupt..."
"Not at all." Xia Zhiheng smiled and pulled her to sit on the sofa. He leaned slightly towards her, and her tiny shadow was reflected in his eyes.
"On the contrary, I am very glad," he said. "Sister, you would like to know me better, wouldn't you?"
If humans had tails, they would probably shake their tails to leave afterimages.
Zhang Jusong was stunned for a moment. She wanted to ask about things related to him. Was it because she wanted to know more about him?
Realizing this, she was somewhat surprised and curious, and murmured, "I think, probably."
Xia Zhiheng's handsome eyes and eyebrows were tinged with smiles. He wiped his hair with a towel while briefly recounting the past events.
"…Anyway, after you moved away, the conflicts between my parents got worse, but they didn't say anything, especially in front of me, trying to act as if nothing had happened."
"Then, I picked a time when all my relatives and friends were around and brought the matter to light."
When he talked about these things, he downplayed them, as if he was not the protagonist of the story.
However, Zhang Jusong frowned when he heard it.
Xia Zhiheng put down the towel, was silent for a moment, and said: "Later, they divorced. They must have been sad for a while, but then they gradually got better."
He lowered his eyes, and his long, thick eyelashes cast a shadow.
"It's good, they can all be happy."
Zhang Jusong looked at him and had an urge to hold him in his arms.
What a good child he is. He loves his parents and hopes they can be happy, even if the price is that he will drift away from them.
Thinking of what she had seen before in Xiangzhang Garden, where he was all alone guarding the old house, her heart ached uncontrollably.
After finishing the story, she should say something, but what should she say? She hated herself for being so tongue-tied. After thinking about it, she finally said something as simple as possible: "You...you are really good."
Xia Zhiheng blinked and was stunned for a moment.
Did I really say something wrong? Zhang Jusong thought in annoyance, and she was trying to find some words to make amends.
Suddenly, Xia Zhiheng laughed, showing his little tiger teeth: "Me, okay?"
Zhang Jusong nodded.
He moved closer to her, his voice rising at the end, his tone almost coquettish: "Since I am so kind, sister, can I ask you for a reward? For example - can I borrow your knees to rest my head on?"
"Ah?" Zhang Jusong was a little confused, but still nodded, "Sure."
Xia Zhiheng slowly leaned down, resting his head on her knees, looking at her without missing a single moment.
Being so close, I could clearly smell the crisp citrus scent coming from Xia Zhiheng.
At such a distance, if it were anyone else, she would have jumped three feet high and run away, but... but this was Xia Zhiheng, so she didn't feel the slightest bit of discomfort or embarrassment.
I kind of want to ruffle his hair.
Xia Zhiheng was obedient and didn't move, just looking at her. The collar of his home clothes was a bit loose, and from her perspective, looking down from above, she could see his beautiful collarbone.
Zhang Jusong unconsciously leaned back and adjusted his sitting position so that his knees would be flatter. As he moved, a few strands of hair fell from his ears and brushed Xia Zhiheng's face.
He held his breath for a moment, then raised his hand, grabbed the strand of hair, and played with it in his palm. The black hair was wrapped around the tip of his ring finger, circle after circle. Zhang Jusong tilted his head to take a look, and inexplicably felt his face getting hot, and his heart was pounding.
He said nothing, just tangled her hair.
Just like that, I sat quietly for a while.
Xia Zhiheng suddenly said: "But I can't be that good to you."
"What?" Zhang Jusong looked at him in confusion.
Xia Zhiheng didn't look at her, but played with her hair intently, saying, "When you were angry with me, a thought flashed through my mind: would you be happier if I didn't appear in your life?"
"But the next second, countless voices appeared in my heart, and each one said 'no'."
"You see, I just can't let go of you."
Xia Zhiheng suddenly and gently kissed her hair that was entangled around his fingertips.
"What should I do, sister? I have become a bad boy to you."
Hair has no feeling, but why does she feel alert all over?
Noticing her strangeness, Xia Zhiheng laughed softly: "That's all, you're reacting so strongly, sister?"
"Get out of the way—" Zhang Jusong pushed him angrily like a cat whose tail was stepped on, but failed. This guy! He was actually acting like a rogue.
"Hey, I was wrong, sister," Xia Zhiheng apologized with a smile, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. Let's just talk quietly for a while, okay?"
Zhang Jusong glared at him, untied her hair, and turned her face away: "What did you say?"
"What are you talking about? Let me think about it." Xia Zhiheng paused for a moment and said, "You said I'm a very good person, so you, who I like, are the best person in the world."
"What?"
"I'm serious," Xia Zhiheng said, "Maybe you heard a lot of discouraging voices before. I'm sorry I wasn't by your side at that time. But from now on, I promise that I will remind you every day how good a person you are."
"I admit that I approached you in the beginning because of my previous obsession, but I am not a person who indulges in dreams. I am very sober. I like you, the you of the past and the you of the present, the embarrassed you, the strong you, the brave you, the kind you... Everything about you makes me extremely happy."
He held her hand, his palm slightly hot, warm and firm.
"After meeting you, I have no other stars. You alone have replicated and multiplied my entire universe."
Zhang Jusong turned her head and met his gaze. He looked at her like a planet looking at the entire universe.
After a while, she pursed her lips and rubbed his hair hard, rubbing it clockwise and counterclockwise, making his hair messy.
"Humph, you're trying to fool me with Neruda's poems."
Xia Zhiheng was a little confused by her kneading. When he came to his senses, he suddenly stood up, stretched out his long arms, and hugged her tightly: "So, am I fooled?"
His embrace was filled with the rich scent of citrus, which made Zhang Jusong feel at ease.
She gently put her face against his chest: "Okay, I admit that I was fooled by you."
She had read Zhang Ailing's novels before, and she forgot many of the plots after reading them, but there was one line that she always remembered vaguely, which said "You are the medicine that heals me." How could one person be another person's medicine? She didn't understand it when she was reading the book, but at this moment, she suddenly remembered this sentence again.
In the boundless night and infinite silence, she hugged him as if she was holding medicine to relieve her worries, and her originally tense shoulders completely relaxed.
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