Chapter 5
In late autumn, the weather can change in an instant. A sudden autumn rain poured down as evening self-study ended.
Xu Nianlei stood at the entrance of the teaching building, looking at the continuous rain outside, and sighed. She hadn't brought an umbrella.
After hesitating for a moment, she took off her school uniform jacket and put it on her head, gritted her teeth and rushed into the rain.
The rain quickly soaked her hair and shoulders, clinging coldly to her skin. She covered her head and tried to run along the eaves, looking quite disheveled.
Suddenly, the "whoosh" of rain overhead stopped, replaced by the dull thud of raindrops hitting the umbrella. A dark blue umbrella stood steadily overhead, providing shelter.
She stopped abruptly and turned around.
Lu Baiyan appeared beside her at some point, holding an umbrella. The umbrella was clearly tilted towards her, exposing most of his shoulder to the rain. The dim yellow light of the streetlamp shone through the rain, casting soft shadows on his handsome profile, and tiny raindrops seemed to cling to his eyelashes.
The two stood in the rain, very close, close enough that Xu Nianlei could smell his clean scent mixed with the crispness of the rain.
Time seemed to stand still. The world was filled only with the sound of rain and our slightly disordered breathing.
“Let’s go, the dorms are in the same direction.” Lu Baiyan spoke first, his voice sounding somewhat muffled in the rain.
Xu Nianlei nodded blankly and followed his steps. Neither of them spoke the rest of the way. The space under the umbrella was small and quiet; Xu Nianlei could hear her own heart pounding like a drum. She secretly glanced up at his rain-soaked right shoulder, and a huge, bittersweet warmth welled up inside her.
Love is like a tilted umbrella, silent, yet it shelters her from the rain, creating a small patch of dry and warm sky.
The scene of them sharing an umbrella on a rainy night was witnessed by several classmates.
The next day, whispers began to circulate in the class.
"Hey, did you see that? Yesterday, the class monitor and Xu Nianlei shared an umbrella."
"Really? How could the class monitor be with her..."
"Who knows? She's usually so quiet, but she's got some tricks up her sleeve."
"Isn't Liu Yiduo interested in the class monitor? This is going to be interesting."
These words felt like needles, pricking Xu Nianlei's back. She sat there, feeling as if she were sitting on pins and needles, as if everyone's gaze was filled with scrutiny and mockery.
Liu Yiduo and Wen Wanyu sat in the front row, whispering to each other, glancing back at her every now and then with icy eyes. Wen Wanyu even let out a sneer without any attempt to hide it; her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough: "Scheming woman."
Xu Nianlei lowered her head even further, her nails digging deep into her palms. She was afraid of these rumors, and even more afraid that they would reach Lu Baiyan's ears and make him hate her.
On Friday night, Xu Nianlei arrived home half an hour later than usual because her math teacher kept the class running overtime.
As soon as she opened the door, a glass shattered at her feet.
"You still know how to come back?!" Wang Xiuqin stood with her hands on her hips, her face ashen. "Tell me! Where the hell have you been? Which wild man have you been fooling around with?"
Xu Nianlei turned pale with fright: "Mom...no, the teacher went overtime..."
"Going overtime? You're kidding me!" Wang Xiuqin interrupted her sharply. "I've heard that some boys and girls in your school are up to no good?! Did they go to hotels together? Huh?!"
The foul language sprayed out like venom, and Xu Nianlei trembled all over, tears welling up in her eyes: "I didn't! You're lying!"
"I'm talking nonsense?" Wang Xiuqin rushed over, snatched her schoolbag, roughly opened it, and flung all the books and workbooks out onto the ground. She then stomped on and tore at them frantically. "I'll teach you to study properly! I'll teach you to be just as bad as your deadbeat father! Disgusting! Why don't you just die out there!"
The books were torn to shreds, and the pages were scattered all over the floor, covered with dirty shoe prints. Xu Nianlei looked at her cherished study materials being destroyed, and at her mother's contorted face. Overwhelmed by despair and humiliation, she almost suffocated.
Finally, Wang Xiuqin shoved her out the door and slammed it shut.
"Get out! Don't even think about coming home tonight! Go die outside!"
As night deepened and the dew grew heavy, Xu Nianlei huddled in the cold stairwell, hugging her knees. Listening to her mother's faint cries and curses from inside the door, she felt that her life was like the torn pieces of paper on the ground—tattered, worthless, and utterly worthless.
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