Ye Cheng's wet school uniform exuded a cold breath, and she curled up in her warm and firm embrace, with her arms still tightly wrapped around her waist.
His hands were tightly bound, Lu Xiao felt a little short of breath, and the sound of her heartbeat was louder than the thunder outside.
Boom, boom, boom.
He has lived for seventeen years, and has never hugged anyone of the opposite sex except his mother, let alone the same sex.
The person in his arms lost his usual aloofness, trembling on his chest like a wet kitten.
Lu Xiao's Adam's apple twitched, and she stood there helplessly, not knowing whether to push him away or hug him back to comfort him.
It doesn't seem right to do anything.
Until the voice at the end of the corridor sounded again.
"Aww-meow-"
Weak and non-aggressive.
Ye Cheng gradually came to his senses, the tone... seemed a bit familiar, not quite like the baby spirit in ghost movies.
A hand patted his back, the movement was very jerky, but the tone was very gentle: "Don't be afraid, it's a wild cat, there are often here."
Only then did he realize what he had done, his face blushed, and he quickly let go of his hand and took a step back.
If you were going to die, why did you hug her.
Lu Xiao patted his hand hanging in the air, and took it back in embarrassment.
Ye Cheng remembered the purpose of coming here, temporarily put the shock behind her, looked at him and said, "Are you all right, why did you come to the hospital?"
Originally it was Lu Xiao who questioned him, but now he asked him instead.
Lu Xiao looked at his dripping trousers, and didn't answer him, but suddenly realized: "You... are you here to find me?"
"That's right, why don't I come for a picnic in such a heavy rain." Ye Cheng said.
He lifted his clothes uncomfortably, feeling extremely sticky all over his body, as if he was entangled by some mollusc creature.
Hearing his words, Lu Xiao's breathing became messy, and the fists hanging by her sides were clenched and then loosened, as if she was suppressing some emotion.
Ye Cheng looked around and said, "There isn't even a night shift here."
Seeing Lu Xiao coming in from the door with something in his hand, he asked, "You don't feel unwell, do you want to call a doctor for you?"
"No, I'm not uncomfortable." Lu Xiao's voice was slightly hoarse, hiding a trace of tenderness that he didn't even realize.
Ye Cheng looked at him and asked tentatively, "Have you been in a bad state of mind recently?"
He's been as tactful as possible.
Lu Xiao choked, and finally understood what he meant.
"I'm fine. It's... a relative is hospitalized." He said awkwardly.
Ye Cheng instantly relaxed, and the stone in her heart fell to the ground: "It turned out to be like this, I thought it was you."
"How do you know..."
Lu Xiao opened her mouth, and just halfway through the question, Ye Cheng couldn't help but sneezed.
He was drenched in the rain for a long time, and in the air-conditioned place, he was really freezing.
Lu Xiao was wearing a jacket, and immediately took it off and put it on for him.
He obviously had never done such a thing before, the jackets were piled up on Ye Cheng's shoulders in a mess.
Ye Cheng thanked her, pulled off her clothes and put them on.
"Wait here for me," Lu Xiao shook the plastic bag in his hand, and said, "I'll go up and put something, and then I'll take you to the room."
As soon as the words fell, both of them felt that something was wrong.
Ye Cheng touched her nose and said "Oh".
Lu Xiao didn't say anything, and turned around with an unnatural expression and walked towards the elevator.
While waiting for him, Ye Cheng sent a message to Gao Qiulan, telling her that the rain was too heavy and she would not go back.
Originally, it was difficult to take a taxi in this kind of weather, let alone in a place like Qingshan.
Sure enough, Gao Qiulan didn't sleep, so she replied to remind him to pay attention to safety, and send her a location when he arrived at the residence.
Ye Cheng didn't want her to worry, so she agreed one by one.
Five minutes later, Lu Xiao came down.
"There's only one umbrella upstairs, and I left that one there," he said, empty-handed.
Ye Cheng said: "Use mine, where are we going?"
On the way to the hospital, he vaguely remembered seeing a small hotel.
Lu Xiao said, "Let's go, it's not far from here."
"Don't you need an escort?" Ye Cheng asked him.
"No need." He lowered his head, as if he didn't want to say more.
When the two walked out of the automatic door, the strong wind and the torrential rain rushed towards their faces, and the rain hit their arms sorely.
"It's big again." Lu Xiao couldn't help but say.
Ye Cheng returned the jacket to him, and opened the umbrella against the strong wind.
He had to grab the handle of the umbrella with both hands so that the wind wouldn't blow it over.
"Come here!" Ye Cheng had to shout because the thunderstorm was too loud.
Lu Xiao immediately moved closer to him, shoulder to shoulder.
The two huddled under an umbrella and stepped into the rain.
The stagnant water quickly engulfed the shoe uppers, pouring down on them like a torrential rain.
The umbrella surface seemed to have been pressed by a large basin of water, and it was even sunken downward.
"I'm fucking convinced, I have to do this every summer." The umbrella was still not big enough, and Lu Xiao said helplessly and furiously after being splashed with water all over her face.
A flash of lightning flashed by, and Ye Cheng saw his appearance clearly.
The wet hair was smeared all over his forehead, the rain dripped from his forehead to his chin, and his dark eyes were flickering with displeasure.
Like a furious puppy, Ye Cheng was amused by this thought.
He didn't know that he was also an animal analogy in the heart of the other party, otherwise he would quarrel on the spot.
Lu Xiao shook her hair, squinted at him and said, "Why are you laughing, you can still laugh."
His expression was a bit sinister, so handsome that people couldn't take their eyes off.
Ye Cheng was distracted for a moment, and didn't grasp the angle of the umbrella, and the strong wind suddenly blew the umbrella over.
Crash, the rain poured down.
Now it's all right, both of them look like they just got out of the water.
"Ye Cheng! What are you doing?" Lu Xiao was so angry that her voice broke.
Ye Cheng couldn't help laughing, Lu Xiao and him looked at each other, and couldn't help but laugh.
They were like two fools, pointing at each other in the rain and laughing wildly.
The ribs of that umbrella were broken and could no longer hold up.
In the end, Lu Xiao had no choice but to cover their heads with his more than 20,000 jackets and run all the way in the rain.
Two pairs of slender legs jumped over puddles, splashing monstrous water and mud spots.
During summer thunderstorms, they cuddle up to run and laugh.
Soon, they arrived at the small hotel that Ye Cheng saw.
A dilapidated light board hung at the door, with the words "Ruyi Hotel" written on it.
It looks like a red light district.
Lu Xiao stayed here last night, because it was the only shop around.
At first, Ye Cheng was worried about whether he could check in without his ID card, but the hotel owner only asked him to write his ID number by hand.
The boss was an old man in his sixties, his cloudy and blue eyes swept back and forth between the two of them, sizing them up constantly.
"Are you sure you want two rooms? Don't come to me in the middle of the night thinking it's not worth it to check out." He asked in Qingshan dialect.
His tone was as mean and sharp as his appearance, and the hands that recorded the information were full of age spots, and he was so thin that it seemed that a layer of skin had been pasted on the skeleton.
Lu Xiao said impatiently: "Two rooms. Another plate of mosquito coils and new towels."
He said to Ye Cheng, "There are a lot of mosquitoes here at night."
Ye Cheng looked at the surrounding environment, the moldy walls were covered with cobwebs, the ceiling had two cracks, and every place smelled of disrepair.
The only boss was chattering, with an expression like he was about to curse at any time.
While he turned around to look for mosquito coils, Ye Cheng lowered his voice and said, "This is not a black shop, is it?"
Lu Xiao glanced at him: "You have quite a rich imagination."
"Ten yuan." The boss tremblingly handed over the mosquito coils and towels. The mosquito coils are still the kind that need to be lit with a lighter.
Lu Xiao scanned the QR code to pay, and took Ye Cheng upstairs.
The boss stood at the front desk and looked at them, motionless like a statue, very strange.
The corridor on the second floor is covered with a dark red carpet, which is mottled with oil, and unknown hairs are stuffed in the gaps.
There was a smell of humidity mixed with disinfectant in the air, which was not pleasant.
I don't know if it was because of the rain, but Ye Cheng felt chills all over her body, and her heart was tingly.
Until Lu Xiao took him to the last room and swiped his card to open the door.
"Here, you live in this room, and I live next door to you."
Ye Cheng suddenly had goose bumps all over her body.
Fuck! The most haunted last room in the legend!
Fateful last room!
He hesitated to speak, and the words were very hot.
Would it be too embarrassing to talk about changing rooms at this time...
He was frightened by a stray cat just now, and now he has to change rooms again. It is estimated that Lu Xiao will be able to make fun of him for ten years in the future.
—Forget it.
Lu Xiao helped him turn on the light, and there was a twin room inside.
He skillfully took out the iron plate from the cabinet and lit the mosquito coil with a lighter.
The pungent smell spread, and Ye Cheng coughed twice due to choking.
"It will take about an hour to burn, remember to put out the fire." Lu Xiao said.
Ye Cheng nodded.
The two stood facing each other in the room, and the cramped feeling of being suppressed came up again.
Lu Xiao couldn't help feeling nervous, and didn't know where to put her eyes and hands.
"I'm leaving first, call me when you have something to do." He left in a hurry after leaving a word.
Ye Cheng actually wanted to find an excuse to stay with him for a while, such as playing cards or something, at least until he finished taking a shower.
Now that Lu Xiao is gone, he has to take a bath alone.
Many people who love to watch ghost movies and are timid have a common problem, that is, they will fantasize as soon as they close their eyes.
It's not that I'm naturally cranky, but I can't help it at all.
Ye Cheng almost collapsed under the shower, always feeling that there are a pair of eyes staring at him, blood red and blood red, and will devour him in the next second.
After rushing out of the combat shower, he ran out of the bathroom, only to find that he hadn't changed into clean clothes.
Ye Cheng was suddenly glad that Lu Xiao wasn't here, otherwise it would be embarrassing.
He turned on all the lights and lay on the bed with half-dry hair on his head, his bare skin was itchy from being rubbed by the inferior sheets.
He was obviously very sleepy, but he still couldn't fall asleep.
The mobile phone signal is extremely poor and keeps spinning in circles.
Ye Cheng tossed and turned for a while, suddenly, there was a bang above her head, and the light went out.
He jumped out of bed in shock and sat stiffly in the dark.
The mobile phone with the charger plugged in by the bed also dimmed, and it seemed that the power was cut off.
There was the sound of the shower dripping from the bathroom.
Tick, tick.
Ye Cheng hugged her head, and the hairs all over her body stood up.
He is slightly night blind, and when the power goes out, he is like a blind man, as if he is in a dark abyss.
After two seconds, I finally couldn't bear it anymore and got out of bed decisively to get dressed.
He groped in the dark in a panic, and even put on his pants backwards.
However, he couldn't wait any longer and ran out barefoot.
Ye Cheng ran to the next door, slammed on the door hastily, and whispered: "Lu Xiao, Lu Xiao."
The door was pulled open from the inside, and the surroundings were pitch black.
Ye Cheng couldn't see the figure in front of him, but could only hear the uneven breathing.
He stared wide-eyed, tried to keep his voice steady and said, "The power is out, uh, can I stay with you for a while?"
Lu Xiao was quiet, cursed something in a low voice, then stretched out her hand and dragged him in.
"You don't move yet," he said.
The deep voice was a bit disordered, but Ye Cheng didn't notice it, he stood nervously by the door and waited, even if Lu Xiao didn't let him move, he didn't dare to move.
There was a rustling sound in the room, and it was only then that he realized that Lu Xiao hadn't put on any clothes just now, and now she was putting wet clothes on her body.
Ye Cheng felt very insecure in the dark, groping forward with both hands.
A hand touched him, then held him back.
Lu Xiao's hands were a little bigger than his and wrapped him tightly.
With the hot palm on the back of his hand, Ye Cheng couldn't help shivering, but his heart felt a little more stable.
"Follow me, don't hit the wall." Lu Xiao dragged him to the bed and asked, "Can't you see?"
Ye Cheng blinked and said, "I can't see clearly, walk slowly."
Lu Xiao was very patient and let him move forward inch by inch.
After touching the edge of the bed, Ye Cheng relaxed and staggered to sit down.
Lu Xiao unilaterally grabbed his hand, and then unilaterally let go.
The moment he let go, Ye Cheng suddenly felt a little lost, and sat with his back stiff.
On the other bed, there was the sound of Lu Xiao lying down.
Ye Cheng swallowed, and asked him without words: "Will I bother you?"
"No." Lu Xiao answered quickly.
There was a moment of silence in the room.
Ye Cheng bit her lip, and asked again: "How is your relative, do you want to accompany him tomorrow?"
The side was silent for a while, and said: "It's okay, I'm sick, I'll go back to Jiulong with you tomorrow."
"Oh, all right."
Ye Cheng grabbed the corner of her wet clothes, cleared her throat and said, "You are wearing wet clothes, don't you feel uncomfortable?"
Lu Xiao suddenly chuckled, "Are you afraid to sleep alone?"
"I didn't." Ye Cheng immediately denied it.
Lu Xiao moved a little to the side, patted the vacant space, and said with an unconcealable smile in her voice,
"If you're afraid, come here."
Ye Cheng's face suddenly turned red, even though she knew that the other party couldn't see her, she still felt ashamed.
He is a person whose mental age is approaching three years old, but he has been reduced to being ridiculed by a high school student.
"Can't make it through?" Lu Xiao raised the corners of her lips, confident.
Ye Cheng gasped for breath, and finally lost in the psychological struggle, turned up from the bed and moved to his side.
The feeling of being close to people instantly dispelled the fear of space.
Ye Cheng's beating heart finally calmed down.
Lu Xiao's arm was close to his, and she stretched out her hand and tugged at his cuff: "You still talk about me, you don't wear wet clothes yourself."
Ye Cheng's eyes flickered: "Then I can't run over naked."
"I can't just open the door for you."
The two were quiet again, this topic made people feel inexplicably uncomfortable.
They are obviously two old men, but they are shy like little girls. They would rather stick together in wet clothes than be shirtless in front of each other.
Even knowing it, the other party can't see it at all.
Ye Cheng lay on the pillow, feeling the people next to him watching him.
In the room where he couldn't see his fingers, he seemed to be able to feel those sparkling eyes.
puppy eyes.
"Lu Xiao, can you promise me one thing?" He suddenly asked.
This sentence seemed a bit abrupt, but Lu Xiao was not surprised at all.
"Tell me, what's the matter." He adjusted his posture.
Ye Cheng said: "In the next year, no matter what happens, I have to stay in No. 13 Middle School and study hard, is that okay?"
Lu Xiao was startled, then sneered: "Sir, do you have an occupational disease?"
"It's not an occupational disease, it's just an expectation for you." Ye Cheng couldn't see his face, but kept looking in that direction, and his voice gradually softened, "Come on to the university with me, Lu Xiao."
The light words were like a heavy hammer, slowly pressing on Lu Xiao's heart.
No one had ever said anything like that to him.
No, it should be said that among the people he knew, there had never been anyone like Ye Cheng.
Inexplicably transferred from the best high school and appeared beside him.
Inexplicably, he became his deskmate from being displeasing to the eye.
Inexplicably, while urging him to study, he ran to Qingshan for his rainy night.
…
There are too many inexplicables, and perhaps it is not inexplicable to sum up.
Even his mother never said these words.
Meng Li can only complain endlessly, your father took that bitch to vacation again, sooner or later I will kill them.
Even one sentence never cared about his study and life.
"Go to university with me", Chen Zhen didn't mention this.
Because no one seems to think that he can pass the college entrance examination, and he will be thankful if he has a high school education.
And someone like Ye Cheng, who was the first in every class, even said that he wanted to go to college with him.
In Lu Xiao's short life of more than ten years, she has always been self-centered.
He is a little bully, arrogant and unreasonable, and everyone is afraid of him.
But he has never had a sudden inferiority complex like this moment.
In his eyes, Ye Cheng is not from the same world as him.
He is so outstanding, so dazzling, and what lies before him is a bright future that is completely different from him.
"Hey, why don't you talk?" Seeing that he hadn't answered for a long time, Ye Cheng poked him with his elbow and said.
Lu Xiao's face changed, then returned to normal, and asked casually, "Which university do you want to go to?"
"My ideal is Peking University," Ye Cheng said, "but don't worry about it. I'm not asking you to take the Peking University exam. You can go to the school you like."
Lu Xiao didn't have any favorite schools. Apart from Qingbei University and Nandu University, he couldn't even recognize the names of other schools.
"Understood." He nodded silently.
Ye Cheng's eyes curled up: "So you agreed?"
"Ok."
"Then pull the hook."
"...?"
Ye Cheng got up and put his arms on the bed: "You guys are tall...don't your basketball team like to high-five, then let's make a hook as a promise."
He almost slipped his tongue by accident, high school kids should like this "sense of ritual".
Lu Xiao almost wanted to roll her eyes, but she was still dragged up by him.
"Hanging on the hook, it must not be changed for a hundred years."
Ye Cheng hooked his little finger around his, childishly pulled it back and forth, and then put her thumbs together, stamping it with a click.
He smiled and felt very satisfied.
"After stamping the seal, you are not allowed to go back on your word."
"We must go to college together."
Ye Cheng lay down slowly, her voice gradually decreased.
He was already too sleepy to keep his eyes open, but it was because of fear and anxiety that he survived until now.
At this time, a thought came up, and the sleepy bug came up naturally.
There was a distance of ten centimeters between Lu Xiao and him, and through the dim light outside the window, he could vaguely see his silhouette lying on his side.
From the shoulders to the waistline, like the darling of heaven.
Ye Cheng likes to curl herself up when she sleeps, with her left arm resting on her right arm, showing a protective posture.
This is a relatively insecure sleeping position.
Lu Xiao felt in a daze as if she had seen such a scene before. Ye Cheng fell asleep peacefully beside him, as if it was a matter of course.
He was overwhelmed by his own feelings.
It didn't make sense, this was obviously the first time they were lying on the same bed.
Lu Xiao shook her head and closed her eyes.
But that kind of peace of mind couldn't fool anyone, and as the breathing beside him gradually stabilized, he also fell asleep.
The next morning, Ye Cheng woke up from thirst.
He opened his dry eyes, feeling like a ball of cotton stuffed in his throat.
It rained yesterday and still caught a cold.
There was no one around, and there was a faint body temperature on the sheets.
Ye Cheng got up to wash up. As soon as she came out of the bathroom, Lu Xiao came in with breakfast.
"There aren't any shops nearby, just make do with something and eat something else when we go back." Lu Xiao threw the bun to him.
It was still raining lightly outside, and the ends of his hair were a little wet.
Ye Cheng sniffed, her cheeks flushed abnormally.
"Do you have a fever?" Lu Xiao noticed that he was abnormal, and touched his forehead, it was indeed a little hot.
Ye Cheng drank soy milk and said in a sluggish way: "It's okay, just take some medicine and you'll be fine."
He had a fever since he was exposed to the rain since he was a child. He thought that drinking ginger soup would make him feel better, but he still got caught after wearing wet clothes all night.
"You wait here, I'll go buy medicine." Lu Xiao frowned.
Ye Cheng is afraid of trouble: "Go back and buy it, I'm going to be late for class."
"Wait." Lu Xiao stopped talking nonsense with him, turned around and left.
Ye Cheng had no choice but to wait for him to come back in the room. Twenty minutes later, she took the medicine and went to check out.
Lu Xiao didn't ask him to get up early, it was already past nine o'clock when he got up. After a bit of dawdling, after school, the morning class was over.
As soon as they entered the class, Jiang Jin shouted, "Brother Cheng, where have you been? You haven't come all morning, and Hua Wangchun even asked."
With a strong nasal voice, Ye Cheng said listlessly: "Is he in the office now, I'll make up a leave note."
"Yes, Yu Kun went to look for him just now." Jiang Jin looked at him, "Why did you catch a cold?"
He looked at Lu Xiao again, and the hidden culprit was refreshed, without any sign of illness.
"Why do you ask so many questions?" The culprit glanced at him unkindly, and Jiang Jin closed his mouth wisely.
Ye Cheng came out of the classroom and went directly to the teaching office.
There was a person sitting in the teaching office, who seemed to be a student's parent, talking to Hua Wangchun.
"Report." Ye Cheng knocked on the door and said.
The figure with his back turned turned around.
Ye Cheng paused and froze in place.
After a long time, he murmured, "Dad, why are you here?"