Chapter 44: Cousins' Situation - A Separate Side Story - The Fall (Part 1)
Upon opening the door, the first thing that catches the eye is the dim lighting inside the private room.
Li Xiao quickly focused his gaze on the couple on the sofa.
The lingering mixed smells in the air made the young man frown.
"Ah Xiao, you've come—"
As Zhuzhu spoke, she hurriedly stood up from the sofa, glanced at Yu Qingzhou who was sleeping beside her, and then looked at the newcomer, looking as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
"Your classmate?" Li Xiao asked, raising an eyebrow, his gaze remaining fixed on the sofa as he spoke.
"Yeah, it was a senior from the same club. It's all because of me that Senior Yu had to drink a lot of alcohol for me, and then—"
Just as Zhuzhu was hesitating about how to handle the current situation, she saw her childhood sweetheart, who always acted like a young master, suddenly pick up the unconscious Yu Qingzhou and carry her in his arms.
Let's go.
As Li Xiao spoke, without waiting for Zhu Zhu's reaction, he immediately started walking outside.
About half an hour later, the SUV carrying two men and one woman slowly pulled up in front of the brightly lit villa.
Zhu Zhu got out of the car, turned around and looked at her childhood sweetheart in the driver's seat, and couldn't help but hesitate.
"Senior, he—"
"With me here, you still don't feel at ease?"
Li Xiao scoffed lightly, then waved to the girl through the driver's side window.
"Go back early, lest the old man hears something and misunderstands that I've corrupted his most obedient and precious goddaughter."
"Well, my uncle actually..."
Zhuzhu instinctively wanted to explain something.
Before he could finish speaking, the car had already sped off a long way.
Seeing this, the girl had no choice but to silently shut her mouth again.
—Is it just my imagination?
I always felt that Ah Xiao seemed to have known Senior Yu for a long time.
...
It felt like I was floating in the air, soft and light.
A sliver of light pierced through her thin eyelids, illuminating a burning rose color.
However, it seemed too dazzling for a muddled person.
Yu Qingzhou couldn't help but turn her head, her nose brushing against the smooth fabric of her clothes.
Then I smelled a sweet fragrance that I couldn't quite describe.
"This is wonderful..."
He murmured a sigh.
He grabbed the smooth piece of fabric, intending to use it to stand up.
My feet were wobbling, and suddenly I fell into something soft.
It's so hot.
Yu Qingzhou groggily tilted her head back, struggling to lift her heavy eyelids.
But I couldn't do it... I was just too tired.
Half-asleep, Yu Qingzhou groggily turned over, his cheek pressed against something cool. He murmured contentedly, reached out and hugged the cool object, and drifted back to sleep...
My head... hurts so much.
This was Yu Qingzhou's first thought after waking up.
After struggling to open her eyes, the first thing she saw was a jade-white arm.
Upon seeing this, Yu Qingzhou was taken aback.
He then seemed to realize something and quickly withdrew his face from the stranger's arm.
Then, without making a sound or looking back, he retreated.
So shocked was Yu Qingzhou that she didn’t even realize she had moved to the edge of the bed… and with a thud, she fell so hard that she saw stars.
On the other side, the owner of the arm seemed to hear the noise, grabbed his hair and slowly sat up from the bed, turning his head sleepily toward them.
The moment their eyes met, Yu Qingzhou was slumped to the ground in a disheveled state.
Yu Qingzhou's gaze lingered on that incredibly beautiful face for a moment, then slowly moved down, finally letting out a sigh of relief after touching the other person's flat chest.
"...Why am I here?"
Yu Qingzhou asked, his unexpectedly hoarse voice startling even himself.
Upon hearing this, the man grinned, revealing a rather unfriendly, perfunctory smile.
"Thanks to Zhuzhu, you didn't end up homeless."
"Zhuzhu—"
Upon hearing the girl's name, Yu Qingzhou vaguely recalled some fragments of the events leading up to her passing out, and her gaze softened slightly.
"So you're Zhuzhu's...brother?" He pondered for a moment.
"More or less."
Li Xiao's smile faded, and he nodded listlessly. He was slightly grumpy when he woke up.
Seeing that Li Xiao had no intention of continuing the conversation, Yu Qingzhou wisely ended the conversation and began to bend down and rummage through her clothes.
They were completely unaware of how they appeared from the other person's perspective.
Li Xiao stared silently at the boy's undulating, bare back for a while, until Yu Qingzhou looked up at him again, before finally uttering a word.
"The clothes are in the laundry basket outside."
Upon hearing this, Yu Qingzhou walked straight out of the room.
Li Xiao watched his retreating figure, whistled softly, and her previously gloomy mood suddenly brightened.
"...So you're always this calm about these kinds of things?"
When Li Xiao asked this question, Yu Qingzhou was drinking milk. Upon hearing it, she merely glanced at him indifferently.
"First of all, I don't always wake up in a stranger's room. Secondly, given that we are both men, there's nothing to be uneasy about."
"Oh, that's really... such a pity."
Li Xiao said regretfully, although it was not visible on his face at all.
Suddenly, he changed the subject, saying with great interest, "We've only known each other for a short time, and you already trust me so much?"
"..."
Yu Qingzhou did not respond.
Li Xiao then pressed on, his deliberately lowered voice carrying a malicious hiss.
"After all, who can guarantee that your classmate's brother isn't a bad person?"
As they were talking, Li Xiao suddenly put a hand on Yu Qingzhou's shoulder.
The next instant, Yu Qingzhou, who had been looking down, suddenly stood up straight as if she had been electrocuted, the chair scraping against the floor with an unpleasant, ear-piercing noise.
Yu Qingzhou uncontrollably shook off Li Xiao's hand.
During this time, he accidentally bumped into the corner of the table, and milk spilled from the overturned glass, dripping onto the floor.
"I'm...I'm sorry..."
Immediately following were hurried apologies and footsteps, followed by the click of the door lock closing.
Li Xiao stood there, silently staring at the closed door for a moment, then walked to the table and reached out to pick up the cup.
A bright red mark was now imprinted on the once fair back of her hand.
However, he didn't seem to care much.
Her slightly pale fingertips gently caressed the rim of the cup, and a thoughtful expression appeared in Li Xiao's blue eyes.
After rushing out of Li Xiao's house, Yu Qingzhou plunged into the sweltering air.
The oppressive atmosphere before the downpour was truly suffocating.
Yu Qingzhou rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on.
—What awful weather.
I was just thinking about whether to call home when I suddenly remembered that I had left my phone at home.
You must be worried if he doesn't come home all night.
—No. It's possible that it's been completely forgotten.
It's been a long time since I've had such a humiliating moment.
Yu Qingzhou closed her eyes, feeling slightly dizzy, and the images that flooded her memory were equally suffocating and damp.
...
Gray rain fell from the sky, and everyone had left.
—If you had an umbrella, you wouldn't need to wait foolishly.
Little Yu Qingzhou stood alone under the eaves, thinking to herself.
As children gradually develop self-awareness, they often inexplicably reject the care and attention of their family members.
But when I think of my brother's pleased smile, a smile unconsciously appears on my lips. Indeed... it's still very happy to be recognized.
"What, haven't your family members arrived yet?"
The heat emanating from my shoulder made me feel slightly uncomfortable.
Yu Qingzhou turned her head and was met with a man's face.
The other person's thick eyebrows were raised comically, his exaggerated appearance resembling a character from a fairy tale—he was "Bear," a nickname given to him by his classmates in private. The male teacher was said to have a very good temper.
"So you want to surprise your brother by going home by yourself? That's great. Here, I can lend you an umbrella, but—"
The bear stroked its smooth, whisker-free chin and added with a chuckle, "You'll have to go get it yourself."
Upon hearing this, Yu Qingzhou hesitated for a moment, but after glancing at the empty school gate amidst the continuous rain, he finally followed Mao Xiong's directions and walked deeper into the teaching building.
—It's so dark here.
Yu Qingzhou walked down the empty corridor, unable to resist looking back, feeling as if someone was somewhere nearby—pui pui pui, don't scare yourself.
(Consider it a test of a man's mettle.)
With the encouraging words of the bear echoing in her mind, Yu Qingzhou swallowed hard and continued walking inside.
—Ah, I found it.
Yu Qingzhou glanced at the doorplate, reached out and turned the doorknob, then gently pushed the wooden door, which creaked softly.
The door opened.
Is anyone there?
It was quiet in the darkness.
There was an indescribable dark atmosphere about it.
Yu Qingzhou then reached out to touch the switch on the wall, but only felt the rough, cold, and hard texture of an unpainted cement wall.
However, the more Yu Qingzhou touched it, the more uncertain she felt.
There aren't even any lights here..., are there?
Just as I was thinking this, I suddenly felt a strange touch on my hand.
It felt warm, soft, and furry... like something alive!
Yu Qingzhou was startled and hurriedly withdrew her hand.
In the very next instant—
Snap.
With the crisp sound of the switch being pressed, the flashing incandescent light illuminated the man's magnified face.
A large, hairy hand pressed down on the door leading to the outer room.
The man gazed at the child, a kind smile spreading across his face. His thick eyebrows rose high, making him look like an adorable bear mimicking a human's comical expression.
But Yu Qingzhou couldn't laugh.
He instinctively stepped back, his heart pounding.
A wave of dizziness washed over him; his hands and feet felt cold, and he found it increasingly difficult to breathe.
"What an obedient child."
The grizzly bear, its towering body blocking the overhead light, stretched out its paw in praise, casting a massive shadow in the dim incandescent light large enough to devour a child whole…
——
"call!"
Yu Qingzhou suddenly woke up with a start.
I actually fell asleep just now.
Yu Qingzhou tried to calm her still groggy mind and catch her breath for a while, but she still felt the urge to vomit.
At this moment, Yu Qingzhou suddenly noticed voices coming from not far away.
He then turned his head and saw a middle-aged man bending down to coax a little boy, seemingly reaching out to touch the child's face, but being refused.
"Children should be obedient," the man said, ignoring the child's wary look as he reached out his hand again.
Yu Qingzhou's throat tightened involuntarily.
He was about to get up and walk over.
A woman who looked like a housewife suddenly appeared in the frame.
The woman—who appeared to be the little boy's mother—took her child's hand and thanked the man repeatedly with gratitude, to which the man responded with a kind smile.
"It's just temporary help, and besides, the child is so adorable," the man said with a smile.
Yu Qingzhou lowered her head and pressed her temples, her ears buzzing as if insects had flown in.
Suddenly, a jarring human voice broke through the noisy clamor of insects—a familiar voice that was more unpleasant than the insect chirping itself.
Yu Qingzhou suddenly looked up and met the smiling face of the middle-aged man she had seen earlier.
"...You don't look well, are you sick? Do you need any help?"
The man asked, revealing what he thought was a kind and concerned expression.
He had noticed the people on the bench earlier; their pale complexions and clean-cut appearances were quite attractive.
Although he may have grown up, his features still retain many characteristics of a teenager.
That frail, swaying figure...
This adds even more points.
Thinking this, the middle-aged man's smile became even more genuine.
Yu Qingzhou stared quietly at the man who had approached her, talking to himself, for a moment, then suddenly spoke. Her pale lips parted, uttering weak words.
"Go to hell."
His voice wasn't loud, and his tone was somewhat flat, but it was sincere enough.
Upon hearing this, the man's smile froze instantly.
He clearly thought he had misheard and was about to move closer when a red umbrella suddenly appeared, unexpectedly blocking their path.
"Honestly, it took me so long to find this."
Li Xiao embraced Yu Qingzhou intimately, causing the latter to pause in surprise, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
Looking again at the man who had left sheepishly, Yu Qingzhou suddenly realized that the man was not Mao Xiong, or even anyone he knew.
He looked down at his hand; the spasm had stopped.
At the same time, the buzzing sound in my ears disappeared.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the side and gently grasped Yu Qingzhou's outstretched palm.
The touch was slightly cool, the fingers were long and slender, and there were even some red marks left on the back of the hand—the marks left by Yu Qingzhou when she shook off the other person.
Yu Qingzhou stared at the unusually bright red for a while. She thought to herself, "What kind of 'Princess and the Pea' is this?"
However, considering that the other party had just helped her out of a tight spot, Yu Qingzhou ultimately did not shake them off again.
However, his brows still furrowed slightly without his notice.
Li Xiao, however, seemed oblivious to his overly intimate behavior.
He casually called out, "Let's go back and get something to eat, and maybe contact our families. Seriously, are all kids these days this willful?"
This guy who's talking to himself doesn't seem that much older than me, maybe just a little taller...
Although Yu Qingzhou thought this to herself, she still stood up.
"Have we... met before?"
Yu Qingzhou heard herself ask the question with some hesitation.
The other party replied with great certainty: "Of course."
As she spoke, Li Xiao smiled slightly, her emerald eyes curving upwards, looking... just like a cunning white cat.
She paused, then added softly, "I'm glad you finally remembered."
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