30
Ji Shengsheng sent many messages, which Cheng Yu read to Xu Yu one by one.
Cheng Yu asked in a high-pitched voice, "I saw the news. How are you? Are you hurt? Can I come see you?"
Xu Yu: "...Tell her I'm fine."
“Tell her she doesn’t need to come,” Xu Yu said. “If she wants to see me, I will go to her.”
Cheng Yu trembled several times and almost rolled on the ground.
"I'm not trying to be mean, but you're not even one percent as gentle as I am with you."
“Ji Shengsheng doesn’t speak in a high-pitched voice,” Xu Yu said bluntly.
Cheng Yu: "...Okay."
Then, suddenly becoming serious, she said, "She said she wants to see you."
"Okay." Xu Yu finally smiled a little.
"Should we use it again?"
"Return."
"say what?"
"Say thank you to her." Thank her for giving him the opportunity.
After Cheng Yu finished typing, she couldn't help but say, "These two people are really inexplicable."
...
Xu Yu returned to Taoyuan City three days before the Lunar New Year. Ji Shengsheng had been waiting for him ever since he set off.
Because of Xu Yu's hand injury, they have limited time to contact each day, and she doesn't know Xu Yu's current situation.
She wanted to find Xu Yu, but Xu Yu wouldn't tell her where she was, so she only had a short time to call him each day.
Xu Yu parked his car at a location quite far from Ji Shengsheng's house and walked alone for half an hour to reach Ji Shengsheng's building.
He looked up and saw Ji Shengsheng staring intently out the window.
Seeing him go downstairs, before he could even send a message, Ji Shengsheng had already disappeared from the window. Not long after, a huge, warm hug greeted him.
"...You're not angry with me anymore?" Xu Yu raised his hand and ruffled Ji Shengsheng's hair. "Why didn't you wear your scarf and hat properly before coming down?"
After saying that, Xu Yu wanted to take off her scarf and wrap it around Ji Shengsheng, but Ji Shengsheng wouldn't let go.
"...Why did you do something so dangerous without saying a word?" Ji Shengsheng hugged Xu Yu tightly.
“Listen to me, tie your scarf first,” Xu Yu said worriedly, looking at Ji Shengsheng’s exposed neck. “You’ll catch a cold.”
"Let me see your hand..." Ji Shengsheng released Xu Yu and quickly grabbed his wrist.
Almost every finger has blisters that haven't fully healed, and there are several scars on the back of my hand that haven't completely healed yet.
Ji Shengsheng stroked Xu Yu's fingers: "I've looked it up, massaging them more can improve blood circulation."
She tried very hard to help Xu Yu. Xu Yu then took his hand and helped her tie her scarf first.
"Have you eaten?" Xu Yu looked up and brushed the stray hairs from Ji Shengsheng's forehead. "Why are you crying?"
Ji Shengsheng shook his head.
When she first learned that Xu Yu had gone to participate in the rescue, she didn't quite grasp the reality of it. She's always like this; when she's worried, she quickly puts herself in a position where nothing unexpected will happen, thus gaining a brief sense of peace.
She kept blindly telling herself to stay calm and composed, and that nothing unexpected would happen.
Until I saw Xu Yu's hand.
She then learned that frostbite can cause blisters, and that frostbite can turn fingers black and cause fingerprints to fall off.
She recalled the casualty figures in the news, and Xu Yu was one of them.
"Don't cry, okay?" Xu Yu gently comforted her, raising his hand to wipe away her tears.
The temperature is very low; if this continues, Ji Shengsheng will get sick.
"Let's go back." Xu Yu had checked the weather forecast before setting off. "It'll snow lightly again in a little while."
"...Then where are you going?"
Ji Shengsheng really wanted to take Xu Yu home, but there was no way to do so under the current circumstances. She had to ensure that Xu Yu's meeting with her parents was in a more formal setting and at a suitable time; she was afraid of accidentally messing things up.
“Let’s go to a nearby hotel.” Xu Yu put his arm around Ji Shengsheng’s waist and looked at her flushed cheeks. “I’ll stay here for a week or two before going back to Lucheng. I’ll come see you again tomorrow.”
"Then I'll come to see you tomorrow, okay?" She couldn't move out with Xu Yu because it was hard to get past her mother's objections, so she could only wait until tomorrow morning to find an excuse to go out.
"good."
After Ji Shengsheng went upstairs, she immediately leaned out the window to say goodbye to Xu Yu. Only after confirming that she had returned home safely did Xu Yu head towards his car.
"Why did you rush back?"
Hearing her mother's voice as she returned from Xing Xing's house, Ji Shengsheng was startled and immediately stood up from the window.
"It was too hot at home, so I went downstairs to get some fresh air," Ji Shengsheng made up a flimsy excuse.
"Who was that boy downstairs just now?" Ji's mother sat down in front of Ji Shengsheng, not wanting to let the matter off easily this time.
"A boy?" Ji Shengsheng shook her head, feigning ignorance. "I didn't see him."
Before her mother could ask any more questions, Ji Shengsheng quickly ran back to her room to send a message to Xu Yu.
"Have we arrived at the hotel yet?"
After Xu Yu replied, Ji Shengsheng said nervously, "...My mom thinks she just saw us!"
Xu Yu had just stepped off the elevator when he saw Ji Shengsheng's message and hesitated for a few seconds.
He did see an older woman when he left. If that was Ji Shengsheng's mother, they probably made eye contact.
"Your mother... doesn't approve of you dating?" Xu Yu asked cautiously.
Thinking that Xu Yu might have difficulty typing, Ji Shengsheng made a voice call. After Xu Yu answered, she whispered, "Let me tell you about the situation beforehand. Please don't overthink it or get angry."
"Okay?"
"Okay," Xu Yu agreed.
"...My parents care about me a lot and are afraid that I will be wronged. They have seen a lot of social news over the years and may not trust the people they know in society."
"Hmm?" Before Ji Shengsheng could finish speaking, Xu Yu probably already understood what she meant.
If someone doesn't trust "outsiders," then they must have a rather ideal person in mind.
Therefore, it is highly likely that it is someone who knows the person better.
"So, if we meet again in the future, my mother might be quite strict with you, not because she's targeting you personally, but because... she might find it difficult to adjust her expectations no matter who I bring home. I'll figure something out then..."
Fearing that Xu Yu would be unhappy about this, Ji Shengsheng added, "Give me some time, let me think of a solution."
"Okay," Xu Yu reassured her. "I'll help you."
He will find a solution.
That evening, Ji Shengsheng and Zhu Xiaodan discussed this matter.
Zhu Xiaodan was unaware of what had happened during this time; her memory was still stuck on the day Xu Yu helped her take her home. She was very surprised: "Are you and Xu Yu officially together now?"
Ji Shengsheng: "...I guess so?"
"Has he not confessed yet?" Faced with Ji Shengsheng's muddled approach to love, Zhu Xiaodan was afraid that she would suffer. "You're not even together yet, and Xu Yu hasn't said he wants to visit your parents. Why are you more anxious than him?"
Ji Shengsheng: "..."
Even if she were to ask, she would have to wait until Xu Yu recovered and they returned to Lucheng. For now, she wanted to enjoy a moment of peace.
...
Ji Shengsheng woke up at five o'clock in the morning.
I quietly prepared breakfast in the kitchen, left a message for my mother saying I was going to a junior high school reunion, and then quickly left the house.
It takes half an hour to drive from her home to the hotel where Xu Yu is staying.
Ji Shengsheng was eager to see Xu Yu and arrived in twenty minutes.
When she arrived at the hotel entrance, before she could even knock, Xu Yu had already opened the door to greet her.
...wearing a deep-V nightgown from the hotel.
Ji Shengsheng quickly looked away: "...Why are you up so early?"
"Because I was waiting for you." Xu Yu reached out and took the breakfast bag from her left hand, then grabbed her wrist and led her into the room.
Ji Shengsheng's face quickly turned bright red.
She thought Xu Yu would say it because he knew she would arrive early.
Xu Yu's reaction left her completely bewildered.
"Let's have breakfast first?" Ji Shengsheng tried to open the breakfast bag, but Xu Yu disagreed and pushed the bag aside.
Ji Shengsheng: "Aren't you hungry?"
"I'm not hungry." Xu Yu stared intently into her eyes, unblinking. "Don't you want to hug me anymore?"
"...I still want to."
As soon as Ji Shengsheng finished speaking, she saw Xu Yu had already opened his arms...
...After opening her arms, the neckline became even deeper.
She dared not look.
While she was struggling with her decision, Xu Yu was already embracing her.
"Sheng Sheng." Xu Yu called her name softly, his head lowered to her ear, "It was my fault."
"Don't forgive and forget, don't let bygones be bygones. Tell me what I did wrong, or even take your anger out on me."
"Don't let me off so easily, don't run away just because you're unhappy, okay?"
She hadn't originally intended to bring up those things at this time... but Xu Yu's words stirred up her emotions again.
Ji Shengsheng sniffed: "...I can't figure it out. Sometimes I think you're so good, so good it's unreal. So good that I can't believe I can have you like this."
"And at other times?" Xu Yu ruffled the hair at the back of her head and hugged her even tighter.
"Sometimes I just can't understand why you suddenly become so cold, or why you suddenly say hurtful things that I can't understand. I've been so serious and tried so hard to love you and protect you... but I feel like I can't warm you up at all."
"Then I must be terrible, and I should be punished to learn to behave." Xu Yu closed his eyes, feeling Ji Shengsheng's body temperature.
The comforting temperature and touch. He would even be willing to die at this moment.
"I didn't mean to go home that day..." Ji Shengsheng thought for a moment and still felt she had to explain.
"I told you I liked you, but you didn't respond. I hugged you, but you ignored me. I just got home, and you're already leaving..."
“I feel a bit overwhelmed emotionally. After you left, I’m afraid that seeing traces of our shared life in the house will make me even more heartbroken.”
"It won't happen again."
"It won't happen again, okay?"
"I don't really want to think about these things..." Ji Shengsheng tried hard not to cry. "I just want to think about happy things. As long as you respond and we're doing well, I'm willing to be happy for that one day."
"I have always treated you with this mindset."
"It has never changed."
Xu Yu had never regretted anything like this before.
He should have responded long ago.
He should have taken the initiative long ago.
He should have accepted his true thoughts and needs long ago, instead of pretending that he could endure loneliness.
"It was my fault..." Xu Yu pinched Ji Shengsheng's cheek. "I'll change, okay?"
Ji Shengsheng couldn't bring himself to look Xu Yu in the eye at such close range. He didn't even look away.
"...Don't look at me like that." Ji Shengsheng tried to look away, but Xu Yu wouldn't let go.
"shy?"
“…No.” Ji Shengsheng simply closed her eyes.
Xu Yu looked at Ji Shengsheng's face, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes were tightly closed, and her nose was wrinkled from straining so hard.
He always thought Ji Shengsheng was very "experienced". They weren't even together yet, and she dared to hold his hand.
Hugs, kisses, and uncontrollable relationships all seem to be guided by Ji Shengsheng.
However, it turns out that when he takes the initiative, Ji Shengsheng is actually quite shy and embarrassed.
Feeling that Xu Yu hadn't moved for a long time, Ji Shengsheng opened her eyes, and the next second, Xu Yu's kiss landed on her lips.
Ji Shengsheng almost immediately tried to struggle, but Xu Yu grabbed her wrist.
"how?"
Xu Yu's warm breath lingered on her cheeks, the corners of her eyes, her chin, and the base of her ears.
"Don't be so proactive..." Ji Shengsheng raised her hand and pushed against Xu Yu's chest, "I'm a little scared."
What are you afraid of?
“…I can’t explain it,” Ji Shengsheng said softly, “I’m a little afraid.”
It seems that when she has the rhythm in her hands, the situation is always relatively easy to control. And if things really get out of control, she can always escape. But now, with Xu Yu like this… she doesn't know what will happen next, and she's a little scared.
Xu Yu did not force him.
He thought Ji Shengsheng liked these things, and it seemed more like she would only take the initiative to do something when she felt safe in the relationship.
They hadn't seen each other for almost two months, separated by distance and misunderstandings, and she still had her defenses.
Feeling a pang of loss at Xu Yu's departure, Ji Shengsheng was unsure of what to do. She felt both afraid and hopeful that Xu Yu would cross the line.
"Then, shall we eat?" Xu Yu saw the hesitation on Ji Shengsheng's face, turned around and smiled.
"...I don't really want to eat it." Ji Shengsheng muttered.
"How about we go see a movie?" Xu Yu suggested, noticing her reluctance.
"...I don't want to go out to see a movie either." Ji Shengsheng's left and right brains were fighting each other wildly. "I want to be alone with you in the room."
"Well, I just want to eat," Xu Yu said, reaching out to take the bag from Ji Shengsheng's hand.
"No, I'm not eating..."
Emotions overcame reason, and Ji Shengsheng nudged Xu Yu's hand: "...I still want a kiss."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
