Chapter 72 Klein (6) After so many years, it feels like we are meeting for the first time.
For several mornings in a row, Lin Xia woke up from the cold. Her electric blanket had a timer, so she didn't dare leave it on all night. She always set it to a few hours. It was fine for the first half of the night, but in the second half, it automatically shut off and stopped heating. The warmth gradually dissipated, eventually turning into a freezing cold.
But today, Lin Xia woke up slowly in a warm and comfortable atmosphere.
She opened her eyes and was stunned for a few seconds. The returning five senses gradually transmitted information about the surrounding environment to her brain. Only then did Lin Xia realize that she was actually lying in He Chuan's arms.
The two quilts that they originally owned were now overlapped and covered the two of them, making them feel a little cramped. She almost curled up in his arms, resting her head on his arm and leaning against his chest. He Chuan put one hand under her neck and the other hand on her waist. The two of them lay facing each other, as close as they could be.
Looking at the face so close before her, with eyes slightly closed and a calm expression as if she were still fast asleep, Lin Xia couldn't help but hold her breath.
What happened? Why did they sleep like this? She clearly remembered that at the end of last night, they fell asleep with their backs to each other! Was her sleeping posture that bad? Probably not, right?
So, could it be that He Chuan came over and hugged her in the middle of the night? Was he sleepwalking? Or was he doing it on purpose?
Lin Xia couldn't help but think wildly, and the more she thought about it, the hotter her face became. She felt that this couldn't go on. How embarrassing it would be if the two of them woke up like this this morning!
So she slowly reached out and grabbed the cuff of He Chuan's arm that was around her waist with two fingers, carefully lifted it up, trying to get out of his arms without waking him up.
Unexpectedly, just as she finally managed to lift his hand a little higher, a voice suddenly came from above her head:
"Are you awake?"
Lin Xia froze and reflexively dropped the thing in her hand, then let out a gasp when the arm fell on her.
"What's wrong?"
Lin Xia looked up. He Chuan's face was very close to her. His voice was slightly hoarse and his expression was confused from waking up in the morning. Their eyes met and they could hear each other's breathing.
"Have you been awake?" she asked.
He responded softly, "I was afraid of waking you up, so I didn't dare move."
"We, why... why are you..."
She stammered, but he understood what she meant and said helplessly:
"Xia Xia, you squeezed in here in the middle of the night."
"impossible!"
Lin Xia subconsciously objected, but when she looked carefully, she found that the two people were indeed sleeping on the inside of the bed. To be precise, she and He Chuan were both sleeping on the pillow that originally belonged to He Chuan. He Chuan's back was against the wall, and he had nowhere to retreat.
She vaguely remembered that she did feel a little cold in the middle of the night, and subconsciously moved towards the heat source next to her...
Ahhhhh——
After figuring out the whole cause and effect, Lin Xia's face instantly turned red. Even if she was given another crack in the ground, she would crawl into it, she must crawl into it!
Her mental activity was clearly written on her face, and He Chuan saw it. He did not point out her embarrassment, but just smiled and asked softly:
"Does your throat still hurt?"
After hearing what he said, Lin Xia remembered the most important thing. She swallowed quickly a few times and felt it carefully.
"It doesn't hurt anymore! It's not as swollen as it was yesterday!" she said happily. "How about you? Are your symptoms getting better?"
Seeing Lin Xia's expectant eyes, He Chuan followed her wishes, sniffed, and told her:
"My stuffy nose is gone too."
"So we shouldn't have a fever now, right?"
As she said this, she wanted to test her own body temperature, but her hand was halfway extended when He Chuan held it.
He leaned over and placed his lips on her forehead, just like a parent testing the temperature of a young child. The touch of warm, moist skin was itchy.
"Well, it's not burning."
He told her so.
"Very good!"
For a moment, the joy of surviving the disaster enveloped the two people. After experiencing a day and a night of fear, their tense nerves relaxed, and what followed was overwhelming fatigue.
At this moment, they still maintained an intimate distance to test each other's temperature, their eyes met, their breaths heard, and many words seemed unnecessary, as their bodies' instincts had already given all the answers.
I don't know who took the initiative first, or maybe it didn't make any difference. By the time they reacted, the few inches of space between them were no longer there. They were leaning against each other, kissing and hugging each other gently, constantly asking for each other, and at the same time constantly devoting themselves to each other.
The bed in the early morning is a very dangerous place, especially for these two men and women who are already hesitant to speak, ambiguous, and have just experienced a false alarm. Everything is spiraling out of control.
Lin Xia's mind was already a mess. He Chuan's kisses and caresses had robbed her of her remaining rationality and calmness. She didn't want to think about the consequences or weigh the pros and cons anymore. At this moment, she just wanted to sink into this long-lost intimacy...
Meow--
"Did you...did you hear anything?"
"What?"
He Chuan asked vaguely, but did not stop his actions at all. Lin Xia originally thought that she was hallucinating, but the faint cry became more and more obvious and clear, as if it was right next to her ear.
"It's a cat! Really, there's a cat meowing!"
Lin Xia pushed He Chuan away from her with force. Their eyes met, both of them were breathing rapidly, their faces flushed, and there was still a passion and desire in their eyes that had not faded.
"...Uh, it looks like there really is a cat. I'll go check it out, okay?"
Lin Xia was a little embarrassed and spoke in a low voice.
A trace of helplessness flashed across He Chuan's brow, but he finally obeyed her wishes. Finally, he lowered his head and kissed her lips heavily, and said in a hoarse voice in her ear:
"Okay, go ahead."
After He Chuan turned over and moved away, Lin Xia hurriedly tidied up her messy pajamas, got up, and followed the sound of the cat to the window.
The sound came from outside. She opened the window and looked around, but found nothing. After all, this was a building with more than 20 floors. Could it be just the cat next door? But she always felt that the sound was getting closer.
After a while, He Chuan came behind Lin Xia and asked:
"Did you find it?"
"No...Ah, look! There it is!"
Lin Xia suddenly discovered something and pointed it to He Chuan. They both looked over and saw a small black cat lying on the platform where the air conditioner outdoor unit was placed, diagonally below the window. The sound was coming from it.
"Is it the neighbor's? How did it end up there?" Lin Xia was worried. "It's such a high building, what if it accidentally falls down?"
The cat had a collar around its neck, so it looked like a domestic cat, not a wild cat. Lin Xia took a photo and sent it to the apartment residents' group, hoping to help it find its owner.
But after waiting for a long time, no one came to claim it. He Chuan frowned:
"That won't do. Let's rescue it first."
Lin Xia's house was indeed the window closest to the platform, but it was still some distance away. Even if they called 119, the fire ladder probably wouldn't be able to reach such a high building.
Lin Xia was in a dilemma: "What should I do?"
He Chuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's make a hanging basket and lower it down, then lift it up."
“Good idea!”
So the two of them rummaged through the drawers and cabinets looking for tools. Although there was no basket, there was a shoe box. However, the rope was really hard to find. In the end, Lin Xia only found a jump rope for fitness, which was barely usable.
They tied a jump rope and a shoe box together to make a simple hanging basket. Because they were afraid that the kitten would refuse to come up, they also put a sausage in the box. The two people opened the window and slowly lowered the hanging basket.
Unfortunately, the jump rope was still a little short, and even at the lowest position it couldn't reach the platform. The kitten seemed to understand their actions and meowed even more rapidly.
He Chuan said, "I'll lean out and give it a try."
"Can you do it?"
Lin Xia was a little worried. Such a high building was really dangerous, so she squatted on the ground and held He Chuan's legs tightly, fearing that he would fall.
The platform was diagonally below, at a tricky angle. He Chuan held onto the window frame with one hand and tried to swing the hanging basket over with the other, trying his best not to look down.
Time and time again, it finally succeeded. The basket landed smoothly on the platform. The kitten hiding behind the external unit stuck its head out and observed for a while. After making sure there was no danger, it took graceful steps and nimbly jumped into the shoe box.
Lin Xia and He Chuan both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw this, then carefully pulled up the rope and retracted the hanging basket.
The kitten must be hungry, as it had finished half a sausage in just a short while. After entering the house, it immediately jumped out of the shoe box and crawled into He Chuan's arms, rubbing against him constantly, as if it knew who had saved it.
He Chuan didn't dislike it, he just gently stroked the cat's head and chin, with a soft smile on his eyebrows and eyes:
"Are you scared? Why are you so naughty as to run to such a dangerous place?"
Lin Xia looked at the man and the cat, her heart beating violently.
The scene before her eyes seemed to have traveled through time and space, overlapping with the scene from many years ago. The young man in white clothes who climbed the tree to save the cat at the risk of his own life walked out vividly from the depths of her old memory.
Perhaps it was from that moment that all the ignorant love of her girlhood began. After so many years, so much time, so many regrets and struggles, so many misses and separations, it was like a seed buried deep in the soil. Until this moment, it finally broke through the soil, took root and sprouted, and after withering and decaying, it regained its vitality.
There is long summer and no winter in the south, and the cold wind is raging outside the window, but at this moment, her heart is bathed in the spring breeze.
After many years, it seems like the first time we met, He Chuan is still the same He Chuan.
.
One morning, Lin Xia and He Chuan didn't have time to eat. They kept taking care of the kitten that fell from the sky, feeding it water and food, checking its injuries, and even using the shoe box they had used to rescue it to convert it into a simple cat bed.
When she looked at her phone again, Lin Xia realized someone was flooding her with messages in the group chat:
【Ahhhhhh! It's my cat! 】
How did it get outside?! I clearly closed the window!!!
How is it now? Is it still there?
[Please, some kind soul please come and save my little one!!!]
Lin Xia quickly sent him a private message. It turned out to be a man who lived on the 23rd floor. He had returned to his hometown for the Lunar New Year holiday. He had asked a friend to come and feed his cat, but the sudden lockdown meant outsiders couldn't enter the apartment. He was also quarantined in his hometown, unable to return for a while. Fortunately, there was plenty of food and water at home, and with surveillance cameras monitoring the situation, they could barely hold out for a while. This morning, he searched the house and couldn't find his cat. Only after seeing Lin Xia's message in the group chat did he realize his cat had escaped through the window.
The young man thanked Lin Xia and He Chuan profusely and begged them to help him take care of the cat temporarily. He would pay the expenses during the period and would take the cat back immediately after the lockdown was lifted.
Lin Xia and He Chuan agreed to his request and refused the fee. However, neither of them had any experience in raising cats, so they asked him many things to pay attention to, as well as the cat's usual habits and temperament, to avoid any mistakes.
"So your name is Jiujiu!"
Lin Xia smiled and stroked the kitten that was licking its fur.
"Don't you meow, but chirp?"
Meow--
The cat took the time to look up and glance at her, answering her question with action.
Jiujiu is a pure black British Shorthair with beautiful amber eyes. He's only eight months old and still a toddler. He's aloof in front of people, but more lively when his owner isn't home. He's very curious and clever, often lingering by the window, eager to catch a glimpse of the birds. This frightened his owner, who never dared to open the window. Unexpectedly, this time, he somehow managed to open the window, breaking through the screen and leaping onto the platform. But he was too foolish to jump back out, and that's how he got stuck.
"It seems we have to lock the windows at home for the next few days. We can't let it jump out again."
Lin Xia said worriedly to He Chuan beside her. The two of them were squatting side by side in front of the cat's bed, watching Jiujiu lick his fur, stretching and preparing to go to sleep.
He Chuan was slightly stunned, a smile flashed across his eyes:
"good."
She blurted out "our family" so naturally and logically that she probably didn't even realize it.
Suddenly, the bell outside the door rang, and He Chuan got up to open the door.
At this point, both of them thought that the protective personnel had arrived. Unexpectedly, after opening the door, they found a strange woman wearing a mask standing outside. She was carrying a huge thermos and rushed into the house without even looking up.
"Didn't you say you weren't locked up in the building? I've been forced to drink all the soup I make every day by myself. I've gained quite a bit of weight these past few days. If I'd known you were home, I'd have come looking for you earlier... Eh? Who are you? Did I come to the wrong door?"
Lin Xia hurried over when she heard the familiar voice, only to see Wen Qianqian and He Chuan deadlocked at the door, looking at each other. When Wen Qianqian saw Lin Xia appearing from behind, she was even more shocked, and her eyes, exposed outside the mask, were wide open as if their eyeballs were about to pop out.
Lin Xia couldn't help but sigh and hold her forehead. How was she going to explain this complicated situation to Wen Qianqian?
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