Warmth is deceiving
The next morning, Shixu was waiting downstairs ten minutes early.
He leaned against the wall, his head slightly lowered, the morning light casting a small shadow on his thick eyelashes. When Yunxi's footsteps came from the stairwell, he immediately looked up, his gaze precisely capturing her. A glimmer of light instantly appeared in his clear eyes, like a pebble being thrown into a calm lake.
"Good morning." He straightened up, his voice a few degrees gentler than usual.
"Good morning." Yunxi walked up to him and naturally handed him a small paper bag. "Here you go. My mom baked these cookies herself. She said thank you for... taking care of me."
Shi Xu paused for a moment, then took the still slightly warm paper bag, his fingertips curling slightly. "Thank you, Auntie," he said softly, a strange warmth—the feeling of being included in the care of an elder—enveloping him, leaving him somewhat at a loss.
On the way to school, the atmosphere was noticeably different. The silence was no longer suffocating; instead, it flowed with a peaceful understanding. He would naturally walk on the side closer to the traffic, and when passing through crowded areas, he would subconsciously put his arm around her shoulder, protecting her in a safer position beside him.
(Yunxi's inner monologue: His protective instincts are practically ingrained in his bones. But they no longer carry the cold distance of before; instead, they've become... an instinct.)
During the break, when Dang Xu appeared at the door of Yunxi's classroom as usual, ready to go to the library with her, he saw her with her brows slightly furrowed, staring at her phone screen.
"What's wrong?" He walked over.
Yunxi looked up and turned her phone screen toward him: "Look at this."
It was an anonymous forum post with a rather sensational title: "A deep dive into the background of transfer student Yun: Her mother has close ties to the Shi Xu family, a possible prelude to a business marriage?"
The content is extremely sensational, distorting Yunxi's mother's ordinary job transfer into a prelude to a purposeful marriage, implying that Yunxi was able to get close to Shixu through family connections.
Shi Xu's brows furrowed instantly, and his eyes turned cold. He took out his phone and quickly made a few gestures.
“Don’t worry,” he said to Yunxi, his tone carrying an unquestionable calmness. “Ten minutes.”
Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, the post and related discussions disappeared without a trace, as if they had never existed.
(Yunxi's inner monologue: His speed in handling this kind of thing is astonishing. It seems... he was prepared in advance?)
As school let out, a light rain began to fall. Shi Xu took a black umbrella out of his schoolbag and held it steadily over their heads.
The fine rain shrouded the world in a hazy mist. The space under the umbrella became small and private, where one could clearly hear each other's soft breathing.
"Are you cold?" Shi Xu asked, turning his head to her. His voice sounded particularly deep and gentle, enveloped by the sound of rain.
"It's not cold," Yunxi shook his head. The umbrella was mostly tilted towards her, and his right shoulder was soaked.
As they walked, her fingertips accidentally brushed against his hand hanging at his side. She paused slightly, then gently and tentatively hooked her little finger around his.
Shi Xu's breath hitched, and his entire arm stiffened. He didn't move, nor did he look at her, simply letting that slender finger hook around him, as if it were the only link connecting him to the real world. He gripped the umbrella handle even tighter, his knuckles turning white.
(Shixu's inner monologue: She's getting closer to me. Actively. This time… will it be different?)
They didn't separate until they reached the bottom of the stairs and closed their umbrellas. Shi Xu's ears flushed red again.
“Tomorrow…” Yunxi looked at him, her eyes sparkling, “I want to go eat at that newly opened rice noodle shop on the corner. I heard it’s really delicious.”
Shi Xu nodded almost immediately: "Okay."
"It's a deal then." Yunxi smiled, turned and ran into the building, waving back at him from the doorway.
Shi Xu stood there, watching her figure disappear, before slowly lowering his head to look at the little finger that had just been hooked, where the soft touch seemed to linger. He raised his hand and gently pressed his fingertip to his lips.
The air after the rain was crisp and cold, but his chest was filled with an unprecedented, burning warmth.
(Shi Xu's inner monologue: This tenderness feels like stolen time. The more beautiful it is, the more he fears losing it in the next second. The shadow called "father," and the countdown to the end he knows, hang over his head like the Sword of Damocles. He must be faster, before she completely succumbs, before she... is implicated by him again, to find the key to breaking the deadlock.)
The gentleness on his face gradually faded, replaced by a deep, desperate resolve.
He turned around and, instead of going home, headed in the opposite direction. He needed to see someone and get some information, even if... it would come at a price.
Beneath the facade of tenderness, the gears of fate were turning faster. He craved this moment of warmth, yet he was acutely aware that the storm was fast approaching.
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