[Coming out of the rental house, Guan Yuejing walked in the rain. The cold rain washed away the warmth of the blood remaining on her hands. The wet clothes soaked by the rain covered the greasy blood left on her body. The smell of the soil stirred up by the rain penetrated into her lungs, replacing the fishy smell of blood.]
[She didn't know where to go. She waited until the feeling of the rain completely covered the feeling of blood, then walked into an alley.]
[She never expected to meet you, and she never expected to hear you talk about the house that was buried deep in her memory. Her spirit and her destiny were captured by that house.]
[In the memory box that stores the images of the house, there are also happy memories of childhood, the initial pain, and the disintegration of the family. ]
[The house reminded her of the family portrait, but also her mother's bloodshot eyes, her father's vomited blood, and her life that took a sharp turn for the worse.]
[Happiness mixed with pain entered her heart, and she made a decision in an instant. Compared with the pain, she cared more about the joy. She wanted to spend the rest of her life in the house where she had her only beautiful life.]
[She accepted your invitation.]
[You take off your blue raincoat and put it on her.]
[You and her came to the old house of Guanyue's family. You have bought this villa and asked Ichinose Shiori to restore the house to the appearance of Guanyue Jing when she was a child.]
[The rain was heavy and the wind was strong. The umbrella in your hand could not block the wind, and naturally could not block the rain. When you stepped into Guan Yuejing's old house, you put down the umbrella, and your body was soaked just like Guan Yuejing.]
[Guanyue's house is not big. There are three bedrooms and a toilet on the second floor. There is only one bathroom on the first floor.]
[Water drops flow down your T-shirt and casual pants, dripping onto the dark floor, and soon forming a small puddle.]
[You took out a dry towel, wiped your body briefly, and gave the right to use the bathroom to Guan Yuejing first.]
A memory scene appeared in Nan Youxi's mind, from Guan Yuejing's perspective.
"Auntie, go wash first. I'll go in and take a peek later."
The boy's teasing voice and eyes failed to arouse Guan Yuejing's shame and anger.
Her palms wrapped in the raincoat were dry, the feeling of rain left, and the touch of blood returned, running up her arms, sweeping over her body, making her tremble. It was not until she entered the villa and used the same space to connect with her childhood feelings that her spirit recovered a little.
She glanced at the boy and did not respond to the title or the crime warning.
The warm water from the shower covered her skin. Associations and memories could hardly conceal her true feelings. The real warm water dispelled the blood of impressions.
But illusions often do not confront reality, but instead cling to and lurk in real feelings, and strike back when people relax.
The warm water suddenly turned into blood, splashing down and flowing over the right wrist. The smooth touch returned, and bright red filled the eyes.
She held her wrist, her heart beating violently and her breathing quickened.
At this moment, she heard movement in the locker room outside the bathroom. The young man pushed open the outer door, and his voice interrupted the illusion.
The outline of a young boy was visible on the frosted glass separating the bathroom and the dressing room.
"Aunt Jing, what color underwear do you want? Is pink okay?" The boy's voice was clear.
"Black." Guan Yuejing leaned her hands on the wall, trying hard to suppress the nausea in her chest.
"What size?" Nan Youxi asked again.
Guan Yuejing then realized that she had fallen into the boy's trap. She said, "No need. I'll use a hair dryer to dry my clothes."
There was no reply from the boy. Guan Yuejing saw the boy leaning down on the glass. She heard the sound of a drawer being opened and the footsteps of the boy leaving.
Half a minute later, the boy's silhouette was re-imprinted on the frosted glass.
"The hair dryer is missing." the boy replied.
What's missing? You just took it out of the drawer and hid it!
Guan Yuejing didn't want to argue about this topic. She looked up and saw a heater on the top of the bathroom: "Then hang it in the bathroom and bake it for a while."
She saw the boy's silhouette leaning down again, taking something from the clothes basket and walking out of the dressing room.
More than ten seconds later, he came back and said, "My clothes are gone."
"… "
Turning off the shower, Guan Yuejing opened the frosted glass door of the bathroom. She walked barefoot past the surprised boy, following the water marks left by the boy on the ground, and came to the cabinet deep in the corridor.
Her wet clothes were placed deep in the closet, along with the hair dryer.
Holding the clothes in her left arm and holding the hair dryer in her right hand, she walked past the boy again and hit him on the head with the hair dryer in her right hand. The blow was neither light nor heavy, and the boy's cry of pain was somewhat exaggerated.
The frosted glass door closed again, and the mist that had dissipated in the bathtub became thick again. After the boy's interruption, Guan Yuejing's mind returned from the memories of the blood. She put on shampoo and shower gel.
The boy did not come in to peek as he had declared before. Maybe he was just talking nonsense, or maybe the wave of the hair dryer made him back off. More likely, he had already seen enough when she came out of the bathroom and came back.
This was the first time she exposed her body in front of a man. She used to care a lot about this, but now, she has nothing to care about.
After washing her body, Guan Yuejing went to the dressing room and used a hair dryer to dry her hair and then her clothes. The clothes dried in this way were inevitably wrinkled and unsightly, but she didn't care. If it weren't for the fact that the curtains in the living room were open, she would not even think of putting on this troublesome cloth.
The curtains in the living room were not actually open. The boy closed them to prevent her from appearing in her most natural state as she did in the corridor.
Guan Yuejing looked at the young man sitting on the bamboo chair. The young man's body was still dripping with water. There was no shyness of seeing the forbidden fruit on his face, nor was there any uneasiness of being caught doing evil. There was some disappointment in his eyes, disappointment that Guan Yuejing had clothes on, and his action of pulling the curtains was meaningless.
"I'm going to take a shower. Aunt Jing can come in and peek at me anytime." The young man stood up and glanced at Yue Jing with anticipation.
Guan Yuejing certainly wouldn't go in to peek. She lay on the sofa, the light from the ceiling shone into her eyes. She squinted her eyes and felt dazed.
“I want to live here.”
After Nan Youxi came out of the bathroom, Guan Yuejing said to the boy.
"I don't need the rent money. Auntie, are you mentally prepared for this?"
The boy sat next to her and wiped his wet hair with a dry towel.
Guan Yuejing held the boy's wrist and knocked him on the head with his knuckles. The boy covered his head with his remaining hand and rubbed his injured hand, very busy.
"No, auntie." Guan Yuejing corrected. Her eyes looked fierce to begin with, and when her face was tense, her calm words carried an aura of terror.
"It doesn't matter, Auntie Abu, just take off your clothes quickly, I need to collect the rent!"
This time, it was Guan Yuejing's own knuckles that fell on Nan Youxi's head. Her knuckles were thinner and harder than Nan Youxi's.
(End of this chapter)