Chapter 51
“It’s snowing!”
The corridors of the teaching building of Wenhua No. 1 Middle School were crowded with students who came out to see the snow, accompanied by exclamations of joy.
Tao Xi was also squeezed in, but he was not looking at the snow. He shivered violently, and his eyes unconsciously passed through the fluttering snow to the asphalt road leading to the school gate. Under the dim street lights, he could only see snowflakes like goose feathers flying lightly and falling on the deserted road.
The bell for the last evening self-study class rang, and soon there were no people in the corridor. Tao Xi waited until the bell stopped ringing before he walked towards the classroom. When he took a step forward, he couldn't help but turn his head to look at the road.
This sight made him stop in his tracks instantly.
Tao Xi turned around quickly and walked closer, pressing his body against the cold corridor railing, leaning outward and looking at the asphalt road with his good eyesight. There was a familiar figure on the road, walking towards the teaching building with an umbrella.
Even though there was such a long distance and heavy snow, he was sure who that person was.
At that moment, Tao Xi didn't think at all. He turned around and ran to the stairs. Because the class had already started, the stairwell was silent. He ran downstairs alone and almost fell on the way because of the slippery ground.
He ran towards the biting cold wind and heavy snow outside the teaching building. Snowflakes kept flying on his face, getting into his neck and turning into icy water, but he was completely unaware.
On the deserted road, Tao Xi saw in his swaying vision that Lin Qinhe had stopped not far away, standing quietly in the heavy snow in the dark night with an umbrella, as if looking at him.
He ran faster, and without stopping, he ran to Lin Qinhe in one breath. He just stood still, his eyes gleaming, and he asked while panting:
"You have finished your business..."
Before he could finish his words, he was suddenly hugged by Lin Qinhe.
The heavy snow and darkness surrounded them tightly. Lin Qinhe lowered his head and buried it in his shoulders which were slightly soaked by the snow. The arms that were holding him were constantly tightening, holding his whole body between his strong chest and arms, as if he was afraid that he would disappear.
Tao Xi couldn't see Lin Qinhe's expression, but he seemed to feel an indescribable fragility and sadness in this person. He raised his hand and hugged Lin Qinhe back, and asked worriedly:
"What's wrong?"
Lin Qinhe remained silent, with his head buried deep in his neck. He could only hear her heavy breathing. He had no choice but to stay quietly in Lin Qinhe's arms, patting Lin Qinhe's back gently, at a loss.
He said softly, "It's too cold outside, how about we go back to the classroom for evening study?"
Lin Qinhe finally spoke, but his voice was a little hoarse: "Go back."
Tao Xi was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously asked: "Where to go back to?"
Lin Qinhe did not answer and slowly let go of him, but held his hand tightly, tilted her head and kissed him lightly on the cheek, slightly cold and gentle, yet with a hint of solemnity.
Until he got into the taxi, Tao Xi was still thinking about the heavy and hot emotions when Lin Qinhe hugged him just now. He looked at Lin Qinhe beside him. The light in the car was dim, but gorgeous neon lights were flowing outside the window, outlining a soft glow on the side lines of Lin Qinhe's face.
Lin Qinhe noticed his gaze, turned around to look at him, and held his hand tightly.
Lin Qinhe had been holding his hand tightly all the way, so tightly that his palms were sweating.
After getting off the bus, the snow was lighter and many people on the street were no longer holding umbrellas. Lin Qinhe still held his hand and led him through the scattered snowflakes and the bustling crowds on the street.
It was not common for two boys in their teens to hold hands, especially since both of them were eye-catching. Many people looked at them. Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe nervously, but Lin Qinhe didn't seem to care and just walked forward with him.
Lin Qinhe held his hand as he walked into a shopping mall, where the perennial Christmas hit "All I Want For Christmas is You" was playing and advertisements for Christmas store promotions were everywhere.
Tao Xi thought Lin Qinhe was going to take him to buy something, but Lin Qinhe took him into a small shop at the edge of the mall. He looked up and saw that it was a photo studio. The store was decorated in a retro style of the 1980s.
He asked Lin Qinhe in surprise: "Do you want to take a photo here?"
In his impression, Lin Qinhe seemed to dislike taking photos. Every time there was a group photo for class activities, Lin Qinhe seemed a little impatient.
Before Lin Qinhe could answer, the owner of the photo studio, who looked to be in his twenties, came over and said with a smile, "Hey, long time no see. What brings you to my place?"
Seeing that the two knew each other, Tao Xi tried to pull his hand away in panic, but Lin Qinhe did not let go. Instead, he held his hand tightly and squeezed it gently in a soothing manner.
Lin Qinhe said to the boss in a familiar tone: "I would like you to take a photo with him for me."
Tao Xi stared at Lin Qinhe blankly, his hands still.
The boss pushed back the long hair that fell on his forehead, glanced at Tao Xi, and his eyes fell on the hands held by the two. The smile on his face deepened, and he joked:
"My shop mainly takes wedding photos and family portraits. Are you sure you found the right one?"
Lin Qinhe glanced at Tao Xi beside him, smiled slightly, and said to the boss: "Sure."
The boss clicked his tongue and wanted to continue joking, but Lin Qinhe gave him an unfriendly look. He had to make an OK gesture: "Then I'll go prepare it." Then he walked into the workshop.
Tao Xi's cheeks were burning from the moment she heard about the group photo, and she whispered to Lin Qinhe, "It's the same if you use a mobile phone, why do we have to come to a photo studio to take it?"
Lin Qinhe was silent for a while, then whispered, "I want to take a more formal photo with you."
Tao Xi looked at Lin Qinhe, his heart seemed to be filled with warm spring water. He smiled and said, "Well, I haven't been to a photo studio for a long time. I only took one photo when I was in elementary school..."
He paused before continuing, "It was a family photo with Tiananmen Square in the background. The Chinese teacher asked us to write an essay based on a photo. The photo I wrote about was titled "I Love My Family."
Lin Qinhe held Tao Xi's hand tightly, turned his head to look at Tao Xi, and said, "After we finish shooting, you can also write an essay."
Tao Xi joked, "Then Teacher Lin, please give us a topic."
At this time, the owner of the photo studio came out and said, "Come in, you can take pictures."
He and Lin Qinhe walked into the studio together. The setting in the studio was the same retro style as the store. Like everyone else who came to take pictures, they changed into white shirts and sat side by side on stools placed together.
The boss fiddled with the camera and took a few pictures. The more he looked at the pictures, the more satisfied he became. He said to the two of them, "Look at each other."
Tao Xi turned his head when he heard that, and Lin Qinhe also turned his head to look at him. He and Lin Qinhe stared at each other, and perhaps it was because they stared at each other for too long, or perhaps it was because Lin Qinhe looked at him too gently, he didn't know why his eyes felt hot, and Lin Qinhe's face became blurry in his vision.
He suddenly remembered that the family photo he had once treasured in his notebook was lost somewhere and he couldn't find it after searching for a long time.
Later on, there was no point in looking for it anymore.
Lin Qinhe looked into Tao Xi's eyes, suddenly leaned closer, and gently kissed the corner of his eyes.
The scene was frozen in the camera.
After taking the photos, the boss quickly developed several small-sized photos and sent the large photos to Lin Qinhe a few days later.
Lin Qinhe carefully put the photo into an envelope and gave the boss an address that sounded like a residential area. Tao Xi thought that the address might be Lin Qinhe's home.
They got into another taxi, and Tao Xi heard Lin Qinhe tell the driver an address, which turned out to be the address that Lin Qinhe had just given to the owner of the photo studio.
He suddenly became nervous, his head buzzing. Could it be that Lin Qinhe wanted to take him back to his home?
The journey was not far, and the car stopped after driving for only twenty minutes. Tao Xi followed Lin Qinhe out of the car and found that they were at the entrance of a high-end residential area, which looked like where Lin Qinhe's home should be.
Tao Xi looked up at the tall building, his fingers curled up unconsciously, and the next second his hand was held by Lin Qinhe again. His palm trembled, and he tilted his head to look at Lin Qinhe.
Lin Qinhe seemed to sense his doubts and said to him, "There is no one else in my family."
Tao Xi breathed a sigh of relief, then asked in surprise, "You live alone now?"
He knew that Lin Qinhe had always lived with his mother, and that Yang Duole also often lived there.
Lin Qinhe did not answer his question. Instead, he took his hand and led him into the gate of the community, through the garden and into the elevator of a building. The elevator was spacious and there was no one else in it.
Tao Xi saw Lin Qinhe press the button for the 32nd floor. As he watched the numbers on the electronic screen grow at a constant speed, his heart kept beating along with the numbers.
The elevator door opened. Tao Xi took a deep breath and followed Lin Qinhe to a door. He stood aside stiffly and watched Lin Qinhe open the door.
"Come in." Lin Qinhe turned on the light and turned to him.
He followed him in, but paused instantly.
What comes into view is a bright and spacious living room, which is newly decorated in cool tones that match Lin Qinhe's style. There are no curtains on the entire floor-to-ceiling window, and outside the window is a city night view that is as brilliant as a sea of stars.
But what attracted his attention was not the scenery outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, but the colorful balloons and dazzling lights in the living room that were out of tune with the decoration. They surrounded a huge multi-layered fondant cake. There was a white wool carpet next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, and a Christmas tree full of candies in the corner.
Lin Qinhe glanced at Tao Xi and said unnaturally, "Sorry, there are only two of us at this birthday party, so it's not very lively."
He asked Qiao Yitang about these arrangements, and Qiao Yitang came over specially to help him make them. He was not very satisfied as he thought they were too fancy, but Qiao Yitang said that this was how a birthday party should be to create an atmosphere.
Tao Xi stared at the cake in a daze. After a long while, she shook her head and said:
"It's quite lively with just two people."
After all, he had always celebrated his birthday alone before, and it was the wrong birthday.
He followed Lin Qinhe to change into slippers, took off his coat and hung it on the hanger, walked to the center of the living room to look at the birthday cake, and then he discovered that there was a moon made of fondant on the top of the cake.
The moon was the same as the small cartoon he drew for Lin Qinhe, but right next to the moon was not the meteorite he drew, but a deep blue star surrounded by a silver-white band of light, as if it was shining in its own orbit in the Milky Way.
Tao Xi looked up at the star motionlessly.
Seeing Tao Xi staring at the cake in a daze, Lin Qinhe thought he wanted to eat the cake, so he said, "The cake we'll eat later won't be this big, but it will taste better."
He always felt that fondant cakes looked good but were not tasty, and that they were more for decoration, so in addition to custom-making this cake, he also bought another cake that tasted better.
Tao Xi uttered "hmm" with a nasal tone, turned to face Lin Qinhe, hugged Lin Qinhe's waist, rested his forehead on Lin Qinhe's shoulder, and rubbed it back and forth gently.
Lin Qinhe raised his hand and rubbed Tao Xi's hair, but found that his hair was a little wet, probably because he had been caught in the snow before. He was worried that Tao Xi would catch a cold, so he said to him, "Go take a shower, and then we'll eat cake together."
Tao Xi still buried her forehead in Lin Qinhe's neck, her face a little hot, and said sullenly: "I didn't bring any clothes when I came here."
He didn't bring anything with him and had already planned to climb over the wall back to school in the middle of the night after celebrating his birthday.
There was a hint of laughter in Lin Qinhe's voice, and he could feel a slight vibration when he spoke. He said, "Just bring someone with you."
Tao Xi felt her face getting even hotter and just nodded.
Lin Qinhe really has everything here, towels, toothbrushes, pajamas... even underwear, all of which are freshly washed and just the right size for him to wear.
Tao Xi was holding a set of light beige cotton pajamas in his hand. He watched Lin Qinhe fill the bathtub for him. He suddenly asked, "Aren't you afraid of living alone in such a big house?"
He was most afraid of living alone. When he was a child, Guo Ping would occasionally take Tao Le back to her parents' home for a few days, leaving him alone at home. He had to check the door several times at night, turn on the old radio to listen to the radio station, and wrap himself tightly with a quilt before he dared to go to sleep.
Lin Qinhe put the water in place, stood up, wiped his hands with a towel, and said casually, "I am a little scared."
Tao Xi opened his eyes wide in surprise. Lin Qinhe always gave him the feeling of being calm, indifferent and reassuring, as if nothing could make this person nervous or sad.
He couldn't help laughing, and exclaimed in an exaggerated tone: "Lin Qinhe is actually afraid of living alone."
Lin Qinhe half leaned against the edge of the sink behind him and looked at him. He said to him in a low and soft voice:
"I won't live alone anymore."
Tao Xi's heart suddenly skipped a beat and he stared at Lin Qinhe blankly, his mind going blank. He opened his mouth but no words came out.
Lin Qinhe stood up straight, took a step closer to him, raised his hand and rubbed his earlobe, and said softly: "Take a shower first, and remember to blow dry your hair."
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