From a very young age, Lin Yingtao realized that she was a girl.
As girls grow up, they have to face more and more pain.
Lin Yingtao sat in bed with grievance. Her fragrant hair, which had just been washed last night, was all stuck to her shoulders and neck because of too much sweat. She reached out to lift the quilt and supported herself to get out of bed. She realized later that the bed sheet had been changed. She squatted beside the box. Just squatting down made her waist and legs hurt, as if the pain was caused by excessive exercise during the time when she practiced splits in the dance studio.
She found the clothes and held them in her arms. She really couldn't find another coat from the box, so she simply opened Jiang Qiaoxi's closet, grabbed a sports coat from it, wrapped it around her, and went out.
In the bathroom, Lin Yingtao lowered her head to examine her body in the dim light. She wiped the water droplets from her cheeks several times, lowered her head to look at the bruises on her chest and thighs, and couldn't see her neck. She would have to go out and look in the mirror later to find out.
She turned the water on as high as possible, trying to wash away all the milky-smelling body lotion on her body and to remove all the fragrance from her hair.
Lin Yingtao took a deep breath. No matter how she thought about it, she felt that Jiang Qiaoxi was going too far.
She reached down into the water and Lin Yingtao's face immediately turned red again.
How on earth did he do that
Last night she only remembered the pain and crying, she could say she didn't remember anything meaningful. But what happened this morning made it hard for Lin Yingtao to avoid it. Now when she closed her eyes, her mind was still full of him and his affairs.
The scalding hot water hit her back, making Lin Yingtao upset. She turned off the faucet, picked up a strand of her hair and smelled it, but it was no longer smelly. She began to put on her clothes, her original pink lace underwear, and wrapped herself in Jiang Qiaoxi's coat. She took her things and walked out despite the pain in her legs.
While blowing her hair, Lin Yingtao suddenly remembered that when she was in the lab, no matter what time she arrived at school in the morning, Jiang Qiaoxi's cup was always on her desk. At that time, Lin Yingtao felt terrified: what kind of life did Jiang Qiaoxi live in a place that ordinary students could not see? What time did he come to school in the early morning every day, and how late did he stay in the competition class every night? Cai Fangyuan once said that Jiang Qiaoxi never had a day of leisure during the winter and summer vacations. His parents arranged for him to go to class and study.
With his talent, it should be OK if he doesn't work so hard. But Jiang Qiaoxi seems to be not allowed to have freedom and happiness. Maybe Jiang Qiaoxi himself has given up the need for this. He has faced difficulties since he was a child, and all he wants is to get through it alone and persevere. Maybe he has pushed himself to that extent to ensure that he will get out of this hell without any mistakes.
So he didn't tell anyone, he left without saying goodbye and came to Hong Kong. Lin Yingtao put down the hair dryer, and she remembered that when Jiang Qiaoxi was in the mountains, he always did Olympiad math problems. No matter how Lin Yingtao tried to attract his attention, Jiang Qiaoxi kept his head down and studied indifferently, unmoved. He was indeed the kind of person who was overly focused, and once he determined something, he would not waver, and he would not give up until he achieved his goal.
Lin Yingtao was combing her hair with a red face, and suddenly she thought of Jiang Qiaoxi yesterday and this morning. She suddenly felt that he treated her like a math problem.
Lin Yingtao broke off some jujube flour buns to eat. She woke up because she was hungry. Then she folded the quilt and made the bed. Lin Yingtao was upset again. With such a small bed, they could only sleep together all night. How could they not think about that
Lin Yingtao didn't know whether she should communicate with Jiang Qiaoxi.
But how to communicate
Jiang Qiaoxi is the kind of strange genius who can do math problems for twenty hours without getting a headache. When he sees that Lin Yingtao doesn't understand a certain knowledge point, he will simply handwrite a test paper and ask Lin Yingtao to work on it until she understands it. He has this kind of personality and this kind of way of doing things. So when he repeatedly hinted to Lin Yingtao in the past that she was not good at English and should take the TOEFL, she felt that she could never keep up with him, even if she went to the United States.
To put it bluntly, Lin Yingtao has never been a person who forces herself to make too much effort. The degree of her efforts is only measured by the happiness and comfort of herself and the people around her.
Before she lived with Jiang Qiaoxi, Lin Yingtao would not have thought so much about his character. She only enjoyed being loved and indulged by Jiang Qiaoxi.
But if they were to live together in the future, Lin Yingtao felt that she still had too many things to communicate with him. For example, Lin Yingtao wanted to say, it's not like they won't be together anymore, it's just the first night...
Lin Yingtao also wanted to tell him not to "just focus on doing homework" anymore.
Lin Yingtao would not be like his parents who would not give him any response. They could communicate slowly about any ideas she had.
Lin Yingtao lowered her head and folded the silk nightgown that was tucked in the quilt, wrapped the torn black lace underwear that was stained with body milk inside, and hid them all under the box. She looked at the time, it was almost noon, Lin Yingtao took off Jiang Qiaoxi's coat, and without looking for new clothes, she put on the thin sweater she wore yesterday.
She also put on the long skirt, which her mother asked her to buy, saying that it would keep her warm. Lin Yingtao's legs were so sore that she really couldn't wear a short skirt anymore. Lin Yingtao picked up Jiang Qiaoxi's coat and put it close to her nose to smell it. She couldn't help but take a deep breath.
She happily hung his coat in the closet.
Lin Yingtao has loved daydreaming since she was a child. She walked out of the rental house and stood by the corridor window looking out. All the people coming and going in Hong Kong are strangers, people who have nothing to do with Lin Yingtao. The world is so big, and in this world, in addition to her parents, Lin Yingtao has an unusual connection with a new person.
She really felt that she would never forget Jiang Qiaoxi for the rest of her life.
She couldn't just ignore such a relationship. Even if they would break up in the future, Lin Yingtao would never forget him.
As children grow up, they leave their parents and move on to their equally important partners of their own choice. Looking at the sky of Hong Kong, Lin Yingtao wondered if this was the meaning of love.
Even someone like Lin Yingtao, who is so attached to her parents that she would be laughed at by others, would unconsciously treat her parents as "adults taking a nap behind the closet" when she is with Jiang Qiaoxi.
Jiang Qiaoxi got out of the elevator and pulled up his coat to smell if there was any residual smoke. From a distance, he saw Lin Yingtao wearing a light pink sweater, leaning against the corridor in a daze. Lin Yingtao turned her head and saw him. She was as pretty as a peach, which made Jiang Qiaoxi's heart surge with waves.
Pushing open the door of the rental house, Jiang Qiaoxi hugged Lin Yingtao and walked slowly. Because Lin Yingtao was walking backwards, her legs were obviously bent and she couldn't stand steadily, so she could easily trip. "Are you still feeling uncomfortable?" He lowered his head and asked. Lin Yingtao was in his arms, and as soon as she shook her head, he kissed her on the face.
When Lin Yingtao shook her head, her long hair swayed, and Jiang Qiaoxi smelled it, unable to resist the sweet smell. The kiss turned into a gentle bite, just like eating a juicy and ripe peach.
Lin Yingtao raised her eyes and looked at him. She sat on the wrinkle-free bed sheet and thought, "This is what I'm going to wear when I go out."
"Aren't you going out for dinner?" she asked hastily.
When Lin Yingtao lay down, she no longer had any thoughts of "talking to him". She hugged his shoulders. She liked him so much. She tasted a hint of sweetness from his mouth.
Lin Yingtao whispered, "Where did you go to drink Coke?"
Jiang Qiaoxi held her in his arms. The bed was too small, so Lin Yingtao rested on his sweaty T-shirt. Jiang Qiaoxi rubbed her hair and said, "I went out to smoke for a while. Can you smell it?"
Lin Yingtao shook her head, closed her eyes, her hair was covered with sweat, and she continued to breathe slowly.
The first time is always difficult. Jiang Qiaoxi thought as he held her. It was like prying open a clam, the clam meat was pink and tender, and tightly closed. It was difficult at first, but once Cherry got used to it, she would not resist.
"Let's go downstairs to eat now?" Jiang Qiaoxi said softly.
Lin Yingtao pressed her cheek against him and shook her head.
At this moment, the mobile phone on the retractable table beside the bed suddenly rang.
It was Lin Yingtao's phone, but she was too lazy to answer it. Jiang Qiaoxi reached out, picked it up, and took a look at it.
Lin Yingtao heard the ringing sound continuing, but Jiang Qiaoxi didn't say anything.
"Who is it?" She opened her eyes and reached out to take it.
Jiang Qiaoxi raised his hand to prevent Lin Yingtao from taking it.
He simply slid her phone away and put it to his ear.
"Senior Rongrong," the phone said excitedly, "The text message I sent you a few days ago—"
"Qi Le?" Jiang Qiaoxi said softly.
The other party was stunned immediately.
"Why are you calling your senior?" Jiang Qiaoxi asked.
"Jiang...Senior Jiang...?" Qi Le asked in surprise.
Lin Yingtao had just finished taking a shower, so she couldn't take another shower right away. She went to the bathroom to wipe herself a little, tidied her clothes and hair, and came out to be hugged by Jiang Qiaoxi, and went to eat together.
Jiang Qiaoxi took her on the subway, and the two of them slowly went to a very expensive Cantonese restaurant.
"Why is it so expensive?" Lin Yingtao asked in a low voice.
Jiang Qiaoxi sat across from him and ordered food. He didn't look like a poor student living in a rented house of only 4 square meters. Jiang Qiaoxi leaned back in his chair and said that this was a restaurant he and his cousin often ate at before: "I wanted to bring you here before. If you came to Hong Kong to take the TOEFL, you would have come a long time ago."
Seeing him like this, Lin Yingtao couldn't help but laugh.
Inexplicably, Lin Yingtao was still thinking in the morning that she was going to tell Jiang Qiaoxi that they could face the failures and setbacks in life together in the future, whether they were poor or anything else, they had to be honest with each other.
But now Lin Yingtao felt that Jiang Qiaoxi looked very handsome and cute when he maintained his self-esteem.
It’s just a meal anyway, Lin Yingtao thought, we still have money in the bank.
She took Jiang Qiaoxi's phone, took photos of the dishes, and posted them to her campus account and the Qunshan group to show off. Lin Yingtao told Jiang Qiaoxi that there is something called "Weibo" now: "Cai Fangyuan asked me to register for Sina, Tencent, and NetEase Weibo to become his fan."
When Jiang Qiaoxi saw the waiter serving the food, he said, "Try this meal."
Lin Yingtao took a bite of the seafood fried rice that Jiang Qiaoxi loved to eat when he was a child. Just one bite, she puffed up her cheeks and chewed: "Did I eat fifty yuan?"
Jiang Qiaoxi looked at her with a smile: "Is it delicious?"
Lin Yingtao looked at him from the opposite side. She felt that Jiang Qiaoxi should stay in this kind of environment, in the attentive service of a high-end restaurant, in the halo of diamond color. She liked the way he smiled with ease, and liked the way he always wanted to surprise her, even if they were both poor.
"You say." Lin Yingtao asked Jiang Qiaoxi to learn how to speak like her.
"I say." Jiang Qiaoxi squeezed her hand.
They took a small boat together and sailed on the sea of Victoria Harbour.
"You are the boss of the Hong Kong underworld." Lin Yingtao said suddenly.
Jiang Qiaoxi turned his head to look outside, and he laughed again: "What?"
Lin Yingtao returned to the rental house and changed into her childish nightgown. She drank a drink while sitting on the cushion, leaning on Jiang Qiaoxi's arms to call her father. Jiang Qiaoxi bit the jujube bun she had broken open, and she suddenly handed him the phone, and heard Jiang Qiaoxi hesitantly say, "Uncle Lin." Lin Yingtao squatted beside the box, took a pill and put it in her mouth, swallowed it with the drink. She turned her back to Jiang Qiaoxi and continued to drink the drink, listening to Jiang Qiaoxi and his father chatting, she felt that she couldn't be happier.
The author has something to say: Some readers asked if it is going to end. No, the full text of Cherry is more than 300,000 words, and it will continue until Cherry and Jiang Qiaoxi walk down the aisle.
－－－－－－－－－－
Notes to this chapter:
* In August 2009, Sina launched the beta version of "Sina Weibo", becoming the first portal website to provide microblogging services. In addition, there are also Tencent Weibo, NetEase Weibo, Sohu Weibo, etc. On March 27, 2014, Sina Weibo was renamed "Weibo".