Haha, the weather is about to change.
Behind the dormitory in the warehouse is an open space that gets plenty of sunshine. It's usually deserted, but now rows of bamboo poles are set up, and thick cotton quilts are hung on them, absorbing the rare solar energy in winter.
A breeze carries the unique scent of sun-dried cotton, filling the open space with a comforting aroma. Occasionally, someone passing by will casually pat their own or someone else's quilt, jokingly saying, "Patting makes it even softer."
Wen Sheng struggled to swing the thick quilt onto the bamboo pole, her arms aching. Fortunately, Li Qingmiao reacted quickly and caught the quilt, and the two of them finally managed to hang it up together.
"Phew, finally done." Li Qingmiao spread the blanket out and shook it, then suddenly slapped it hard.
"Qingmiao, this is my blanket, don't be so rough," Wen Sheng said anxiously, her heart aching.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I got angry and forgot this is your blanket, not mine." Li Qingmiao immediately withdrew her hand, looking guilty, and apologized by smoothing the corner of the blanket for her.
Wen Sheng was both amused and exasperated, reaching out to protect her blanket: "Alright, alright, if you keep hitting it, it'll deflate."
She glanced up at Li Qingmiao and said, "Alright, the blankets are all hung up to dry. Let's go find your brother."
Wen Sheng was already fully prepared, but after seeing the anger in Li Qingmiao's eyes, she became even more prepared, making it an even greater preparation.
When the two were almost at the boys' dormitory, Wen Sheng didn't rush forward. Instead, she reached out and pulled Li Qingmiao behind a big tree, lowering her voice to ask, "How do you plan to contact him? Are you just going to call for him downstairs in the dormitory?"
Li Qingmiao also forgot about this question. "What else can we do? We don't have a phone, and I don't know which dormitory my brother lives in."
“201,” Wen Sheng answered instantly.
"How did you know?" Li Qingmiao asked, squinting her eyes.
Wen Sheng touched her nose guiltily, her eyes drifting outside, "Your brother is very famous in the dormitory."
Li Qingmiao didn't delve any further. Her heart was filled with anger. She stared at the dormitory building in front of her, gritting her teeth: "Perfect! I'm going to drag him out and get to the bottom of this today!"
Just as Li Qingmiao was about to rush forward, Wen Sheng grabbed her arm: "Qingmiao, don't do anything rash. It's more appropriate to ask someone to call for help."
Seeing Li Qingmiao's defiant expression, she lowered her voice and explained, "What if, I mean, what if, when you rush in, you accidentally hurt someone else? What if someone hasn't changed their clothes or something? Wouldn't you be in trouble?"
Li Qingmiao's breath hitched, and her face instantly turned bright red.
Seeing that her emotions had calmed down a bit, Wen Sheng let go of her hand and stopped a tall boy who was walking into the dormitory building. He said politely, "Excuse me, could you do me a favor? Please call out to Li Changshui from room 201 and tell him that his sister is looking for him downstairs."
The boy readily agreed: "Sure, I'll call for you."
Wen Sheng thought the other person would come into the dormitory building, knock on the door, and call the people inside to come downstairs. But to his surprise, the other person looked up and shouted at the top of his lungs towards the second floor: "Li Changshui from Room 201! Your sister is looking for you!"
Afraid the people inside wouldn't hear him, he repeated even louder: "Li Changshui from Room 201! Your sister is looking for you!"
Wen Sheng stood there, stunned. She had originally planned to secretly ask someone to pass on a message, but she didn't expect the other party to shout downstairs, with an extremely loud voice, no different from shouting through a megaphone.
What's the difference between this and them just barging in?
"Hey classmate, don't worry, I'll call again." The helpful male classmate saw Wen Sheng lower her head and assumed that she was embarrassed because she wasn't coming down.
What Wen Sheng wanted to say to him was, "Why don't you go upstairs? It's on the second floor."
A burst of laughter immediately erupted upstairs, as heads popped out to watch the commotion. Some whistled, others shouted, "Li Changshui, come down here! Your sister's looking for you!"
The boys downstairs getting water joined in the commotion, shouting, "Come down quickly! If you don't come down soon, the whole school will know!"
Wen Sheng could only laugh awkwardly, thinking to herself, "It's all over, it's all over." Seeing that Li Qingmiao next to her showed no intention of leaving, she could only secretly pray that Li Changshui would come down soon.
The windows and doors of dormitory 201 were already open, and several boys were engrossed in eating sunflower seeds around a plate when they suddenly heard a loud shout: "Li Changshui from dormitory 201! Your sister is looking for you!"
And not just once.
"Hey, Li Changshui, your sister's looking for you!"
"Haha, so loud, are you afraid you can't hear me?"
"Hurry up, get down there! If you dawdle any longer, the whole school will know!"
Li Changshui stood up and paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, "What should I do? Did she find out I stole her New Year's money?"
"Did you sneak away and eat the braised pork behind her back last time?"
Either one of them is doomed...
In stark contrast to his panic, Xu Jianing leaned against the bed, his legs half-bent, and slowly turned a page of a novel.
"Ah Ning! Brother!" Li Changshui was almost crying in desperation. "Please come down with me! Otherwise, I'm sure I'll lose my life!"
Xu Jianing didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, only humming in response: "Your sister is looking for you, not me."
Li Changshui knelt down beside Xu Jianing's bed, clasped his hands together, and almost kowtowed. "Brother, if you don't come down with me this time, I might not see the moon tonight! Tomorrow is the fifteenth of the lunar month, the moon will be fullest. Don't you need someone to accompany you to admire the moon?"
“We don’t lack anything,” Xu Jianing said calmly.
Just then, the third sound rang out. One of my roommates curiously peeked out and came back with a grin, asking, "There are two girls downstairs, which one is your sister?"
Upon hearing this, Li Changshui froze, his face turning even paler than before. He turned to the person reading the novel on the bed for help again, grabbing his sleeve tightly.
"Ah Ning, saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda!"
Xu Jianing closed the book, glanced thoughtfully at the door, and vaguely guessed what was going on. He stretched out his long leg, casually shook off his hand, and bent down to tie his shoelaces.
"Let's go."
Upon hearing this, Li Changshui's eyes lit up immediately, and he quickly followed up: "A-Ning! I knew you wouldn't leave me alone! Tomorrow, I'll go moon-gazing with you!"
“No need, there are already people admiring the moon.” Xu Jianing said, opening the door. “Let’s go, the people downstairs are already calling for the third time.”
The cement staircase was narrow and steep, and the walls were mottled. Even though it was the time when the sun was at its strongest, the stairwell was dark and cramped due to insufficient light.
Xu Jianing walked ahead, his shoulders and back half-hidden in the shadows. Occasionally, a ray of light from the stairwell window would fall on his brow bone, outlining his cold and stern features.
"Ah Ning, wait a minute and help me stop my sister," Li Changshui instructed, following closely behind, hoping the person in front could block him.
Xu Jianing nodded perfunctorily, his face as gloomy as the stairwell, his thin lips pressed into a straight line, his eyebrows and eyes shrouded in the dim light, exuding a cold and aloof aura, and every step he took carried a sense of oppression.
He knew very well that he hadn't come down to mediate the fight, but was simply going to see someone he had long been prepared to meet.
They lived on the second floor. The stairwell was short, just a few steps away. As they reached the exit, light suddenly flooded in.
Xu Jianing looked up and immediately found the person he was looking for in the space where the darkness met the light.
She stood with her arms crossed by the stairwell exit, unlike the angry person next to her, she looked at the male classmate who was still opening his mouth to shout for the fifth time with a helpless expression.
Xu Jianing's tightly pursed lips immediately relaxed into a bright smile, the coldness in her eyes was diluted, and the aloofness that kept strangers at bay disappeared instantly.
He walked straight towards the figure and asked gently, "Why are you here too?"
Xu Jianing stumbled, and the person behind him lost his cover and was immediately exposed. Li Qingmiao finally saw her dearest brother.
"Li Changshui!"
Li Changshui originally thought that Xu Jianing would stand in front of him, even if it was just a pretense of shielding him, as a sign of brotherly loyalty. But instead, Xu Jianing simply walked away, leaving Li Changshui standing there unattended.
"Qingmiao, Miaomiao, sis, why did you run into my dorm?" Li Changshui forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, not daring to take another step forward, and stopped at the entrance of the corridor.
"Come here, I can't hear you," Li Qingmiao said with her arms crossed and a cold snort.
Li Changshui chuckled and said, "Sis, I heard everything perfectly well from here, I don't need to go over there..."
As the gunpowder was fully ignited, Xu Jianing finally remembered a bit of brotherhood and asked Wen Sheng, "What happened?"
Wen Sheng shrugged, her tone helpless: "I don't know either." She then took two steps to the side to avoid being accidentally hurt.
Just then, Li Changshui suddenly blurted out: "Sis! I did eat that braised pork! I also stole the fried dough sticks you couldn't find last time! You were short two yuan from your New Year's money, I used that to buy New Year's goods! And also, your pen went missing last time, I actually took it apart!"
Li Qingmiao was stunned, and it took her a while to come back to her senses.
"What?!" Her eyes widened suddenly, and her voice rose sharply, "So it was you who did it! Give me back the money!"
Wen Sheng and Xu Jianing watched with great interest, occasionally offering their own opinions.
"So there are so many old grievances," Wen Sheng said.
Xu Jianing was already used to it. He suddenly turned his head and asked her in a low voice, "Did you just arrive?"
Wen Sheng was taken aback by his sudden change of topic, and nodded: "Yes, I just arrived this morning."
"The sun is shining so brightly today." Xu Jianing looked up at the sky and shielded her eyes from the glaring sunlight with her hand.
Wen Sheng was taken aback by his untimely remark, and crossed her arms to agree, "Yes, the sun is shining so brightly, perfect for airing out blankets."
Their discussion about the weather was suddenly interrupted by Li Qingmiao: "Li Changshui, where do you usually take a bath?"
Li Changshui stomped his toes firmly on the pebbles on the ground, scratched his head with an embarrassed smile, and muttered, "It's just a public bathhouse...where else can I go to take a bath?"
The two sides reached a stalemate, and the onlookers gradually dispersed, leaving only the four of them downstairs in the boys' dormitory.
Upon hearing this, Wen Sheng turned to look at the person beside her, smiled maliciously, and asked, "And what about you?"
Xu Jianing was taken aback by her sudden question, and smiled with her eyes down: "It depends. When there are a lot of people, I go to the towel factory next door, which costs about four cents a time. When there are fewer people, I go to the school bathhouse."
After getting the answer, Wen Sheng immediately leaned close to Li Qingmiao's ear and reported: "Qingmiao, the two of them took a bath at the towel factory next door."
Li Qingmiao was taken aback at first, then her face darkened instantly, and her fists clenched tighter and tighter.
Just then, the originally clear sky suddenly darkened, the sunlight at the entrance of the building was blocked by thick clouds, and a gust of wind blew, causing dust to fly everywhere at the entrance of the dormitory building.
Looking at the brother and sister, Wen Sheng thought to himself: Haha, things are about to change.
But the next second, the smile on her face vanished, and she suddenly realized: Oh no, the weather is about to change! Her blanket is still on the ground!
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