Asking for leave once did not arouse suspicion. On the way to school the next day, Jiang Shuyi even kindly asked Lin Qingle if he was feeling better.
"I just had a stomachache yesterday, it's nothing, don't worry."
Jiang Shuyi: "Are you having your period?"
"No." Lin Qingle didn't want to reveal Xu Tingbai's private affairs last night, so he just said, "Probably... he ate something bad."
"Then you have to be more careful next time."
"Um."
The two were approaching the school gate. Not far away, a black car stopped and a boy in school uniform got out from the back seat.
"Yu Jiayou!"
Jiang Shuyi had sharp eyes, and when she saw that it was her school hunk, she quickly raised her hand to greet him.
Yu Jiayou turned around and saw the two of them, and walked over: "Qingle, squad leader, good morning."
Jiang Shuyi: "Good morning."
"You haven't had breakfast yet?"
"I've eaten." Jiang Shuyi glanced at Lin Qingle after saying that, and then he realized that she was still holding the buns she had just bought near her home, "Why haven't you eaten yet?"
Lin Qingle had something on his mind, and as he walked, he forgot to eat.
"Ah... I forgot." Lin Qingle looked at the inspection team standing at the school gate and said, "Then you go in first. I'll come in after I finish eating."
Yu Jiayou glanced at his watch: "It's still early, no hurry, I'll wait for you."
Lin Qingle waved his hand quickly: "No need, I'll be quick."
Jiang Shuyi: "We are waiting for you, don't waste time, eat quickly."
Since the two insisted, Lin Qingle didn't say anything else. He had to open the bag of buns and take two bites.
The school gate is the busiest in the morning, with groups of students in uniform passing by from time to time.
Yu Jiayou is good-looking and a well-known figure in the school. When he stood there, he naturally attracted many glances. Jiang Shuyi straightened his back and smiled brightly.
Lin Qingle didn't pay attention to the gazes that occasionally fell on her. She was absent-minded, eating the buns bite by bite. She thought that it would be difficult to find an excuse to take a leave of absence from the evening self-study tonight.
"Qingle, where did you buy these buns?" Yu Jiayou suddenly spoke.
When Lin Qingle heard his name, he looked up at him and said, "Ah? Are you talking about this?"
"yes."
Lin Qingle hadn't swallowed the bun in her mouth yet, her cheeks were puffy, and her eyes were slightly widened with confusion, looking so cute that people wanted to pinch her.
Yu Jiayou couldn't help laughing: "You make me hungry when you eat."
Lin Qingle glanced at the bun in his hand.
"Hey! You're right. Her eating really makes me hungry. I've gained several pounds eating with her recently." Jiang Shuyi looked at Lin Qingle with a smile, "Actually, this bun was bought from a small stall near our house. The taste is average. If you want to eat it, I can bring one tomorrow."
Yu Jiayou: "Okay, then buy me the same one."
"No problem, this is custard bun. Qingle likes custard bun the most and only eats this kind every day."
Lin Qingle: “…”
Finally, under the gaze of the two people on the side, Lin Qingle quickly ate the bun in his hand.
Then the three of them entered the school together.
Today is Thursday, and the last two classes in the afternoon are for a chemistry test. Chemistry is a subject that Lin Qingle is good at, so she handed in her paper half an hour early.
After leaving the school gate, she hailed a taxi directly to save time.
I was in a hurry today, so when I arrived at the Yueqian Road intersection, I hurriedly bought a bowl of rice noodles from a rice noodle shop owner and then ran straight to Xu Tingbai's house.
By this time, she was already familiar with Xu Tingbai's house. She knocked twice and waited for no one to open the door, so she directly reached for the key at the door and unlocked it.
I pushed the door open and it was dark again.
"Who?" A young boy's voice came from the corner.
Lin Qingle closed the door with his backhand, "It's me."
Xu Tingbai sat on the small sofa in the living room, his whole body hidden in the darkness.
He frowned when he heard Lin Qingle's name. He had forgotten to put the key away.
"You're taking leave again?"
Lin Qingle couldn't see him clearly, but could hear his dissatisfied voice.
"No, the evening self-study hasn't started yet, so I came here during the break." Lin Qingle walked to the balcony and opened the curtains in one go.
The light shone in, and the boy who was shrouded in darkness on the sofa suddenly became clear.
Lin Qingle felt more comfortable and walked over to stand in front of him. She lowered her eyes to look at him, hesitated, and said, "Xu Tingbai, can you take off your clothes?"
The boy on the sofa froze: "What did you say?"
"I said yesterday that I won't take off your clothes randomly, so can you take them off by yourself..." Lin Qingle squatted down in front of him and whispered, "I want to see."
Her voice was frank and without any impurities, but the words she said did not seem pure to a boy who was almost an adult.
Xu Tingbai froze, his breathing becoming heavier, "Lin Qingle, do you know how old you are?"
Lin Qingle: "But you have to lift your clothes, otherwise... how can I apply medicine to you."
"No, I can do it myself."
"But you can't see any injuries—"
"I know where it hurts!"
Lin Qingle was stunned for a long time, and then said sullenly: "Who hit you, Zhang Yikun? Or someone else?"
“…None of your business.”
"But next time if I see you like this again, I, I..." Lin Qingle thought for a moment and said firmly, "I will call the police. I will use my own methods to protect you."
Protect…
Who does a little girl want to protect
Xu Tingbai showed a mocking smile on his face, but his heart felt uncontrollably stuffy and sour, and the feeling was unbearable.
"Go back to class, I don't need you here." He stood up suddenly and went straight into the room.
Lin Qingle looked at his back and said, "Then remember to come out and eat after you finish taking the medicine. I've put something on the dining table."
Xu Tingbai didn't respond and closed the door.
—
Applying medicine was not a difficult task for Xu Tingbai. He was used to doing things in the dark and was used to getting hurt.
The wound still hurt, so he casually applied some ointment twice, then stood up, lightly covering his abdomen.
It was very quiet outside the room. When he came out, he could no longer sense anyone there—Lin Qingle was gone.
It’s better to go.
Xu Tingbai walked to the dining table with a sullen face and touched a plastic bag which contained a bowl of noodles.
He picked up the bag and wanted to throw it away, but when he walked to the trash can, he was hesitant to put it down.
The noodles are a little cold.
Just like the human heart, it can easily grow cold.
He thought that one day she would become like everyone else, disgusted with him and feel sick of him.
Just like today... She must have been a little fed up with his cold words, because she hadn't even been here for three minutes today.
But this is good.
This was the ending he wanted.
Wow!
Just as the malicious thought came to my mind, suddenly, I heard the sound of a door being opened behind me. It was the balcony door that was opened!
Xu Tingbai was startled, and before he could react, he heard a girl's soft voice: "Xu Tingbai, there are not enough hangers outside, so we can't finish drying all the clothes..."
She actually... hasn't left yet
Xu Tingbai's heart tightened, and he turned around: "Why are you still here?"
Lin Qingle stood on the balcony and said curiously, "There's still half an hour until evening self-study. I'm not in a hurry."
The thought that he had just thought of was suddenly denied, and Xu Tingbai felt a little helpless.
"What clothes are you talking about... What are you doing?"
Lin Qingle said, "I saw a few pieces of clothes thrown in the basin just now, so I put them in the washing machine for you to wash."
He can't see, so many things are a hundred times harder for him than for ordinary people, and he is injured now.
Lin Qingle was really distressed, but at her age, she didn't know how to really help him, so she felt that she should do what she could in life, such as helping to apply medicine, bringing meals, or hanging out some clothes to dry.
These are all small things, she really just did them casually.
Xu Tingbai suddenly frowned, and he walked over quickly, as if he could see her, and pulled her in.
She had a pile of undried clothes on her arms, and she almost dropped them.
"Who asked you to wash clothes?"
Lin Qingle: "It's okay, I have time... Um, where is the clothes rack? I haven't finished drying them yet."
Xu Tingbai grabbed her randomly and pulled all the clothes on her arms. The clothes had just been taken out of the washing machine and were originally rolled together, but when Xu Tingbai grabbed them, the clothes spread out and a T-shirt fell to the ground.
The rest were in Xu Tingbai's hand. After he sorted them out, he felt something was wrong. One was a T-shirt, one was a pair of pants, and the other was a small one, which was his... underwear.
The air around me seemed to be still.
Lin Qingle also saw him take out a pair of black, square-legged underwear from his clothes and pants...
Lin Qingle's eyes widened slightly. She swore that when she was pouring the clothes into the washing machine just now, she didn't notice that there were underwear in it at all. When she took it out later, the underwear must have been tangled in the clothes, but she didn't notice it.
Lin Qingle glanced at Xu Tingbai cautiously: "Give me the hanger, I'll go hang it..."
Xu Tingbai had a cold face, and the knuckles of the fingers holding his underwear had turned slightly white due to the force. But if you look closely, you will find that his ears are slightly red.
But Lin Qingle, who was a little nervous at that time, didn't pay any attention to these things at all.
"Don't touch me..." Xu Tingbai opened his mouth, but didn't say the word underwear. He just said stiffly, "Don't touch my clothes. You don't have to wash them."
"I didn't wash it, the washing machine did it."
"… "
"Xu Tingbai, are you angry?"
His face was indeed not good. Lin Qingle lowered his eyes to glance at the underwear he was holding tightly in his hand, and apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't know your underwear was in there. My mom said that clothes and underwear can't be washed together. It's unhygienic... I didn't mean it."
“… … ”
Xu Ting's face turned even darker.
Lin Qingle blinked and said, "I'll pay attention next time... Um, I'll dry these for you first."
"No need!" Xu Tingbai took a step back and unconsciously put his underwear behind him, "I can dry it myself."
"ah… "
"What are you still standing there for? Go back to class!"
He is so fierce, it seems he is really angry.
Lin Qingle was annoyed at his carelessness and had to compromise. He slowly moved to the door of the room and said, "I know. I'm leaving now. Be careful."
Xu Tingbai turned his back to her and didn't say anything.
Lin Qingle retreated.
Bang-
The door closed and she left.
Xu Tingbai stood there, clutching his T-shirt and underwear.
She just moved his...
No... it shouldn't have moved.
But maybe, she did move, but she just didn't say it...
Xu Tingbai's face turned pale and red. What was she talking about? What was she talking about? Was this the point
Xu Tingbai's thoughts were in a mess. It was not until the room was quiet for a long time that his tense face relaxed slightly.
Finally, he went into the room to find two clothes hangers, walked to the balcony, and fumbled to hang the clothes up.
The balcony was filled with the fragrance of laundry detergent, which was familiar to him. But today, in this fragrance, he inexplicably felt that there was another faint but disturbing smell lingering around.
In a trance, it was like the scent of jasmine on a girl's hair that he had smelled before.