The last rainstorm in late summer of 2004 was the first thunderstorm night in Qin Lou’s life when he did not go crazy.
The devil that walked out of the nightmare hell of memory roared and wandered unwillingly in front of his window, trying to drag him into the abyss of despair and fear again and again, but every time there was another voice blocking his ears -
The voice said, "I am here."
Qin Lou couldn't count how many times Song Shu said it that night. It was probably more times than all the words she had said before combined. He said it over and over again, without getting tired of it.
That was also his first good sleep without nightmares. Other places appeared in his dreams - no longer the abandoned and dilapidated backyard, no longer those dark man-eating metal barrels, no longer the group of devils with child faces waving iron bars and hitting him, no longer the nightmare of the thunderstorm night when he tore everything to pieces, including himself, from which he could not escape.
He first dreamed of a soft lawn outside the front door of the orphanage. He lay on it, the sun soothing every inch of his burning wounds, the warm light embracing him.
Even though the wounds on my body were painful, and even though the slightest movement would tear the wounds and cause blood to flow.
But he still reached out and hugged his light tightly.
He would never let go.
--I am here.
――Then please stay here forever. Never leave.
"There is a strange girl next to the young master of the Qin family."
--Two years after Song Shu moved into the Qin family, everyone related to the Qin family was spreading this rumor.
The girl was really strange, because she was quiet, didn't like to talk, and had no expression. The most important and strange thing was that she was not afraid of Qin Lou.
"She is not afraid of Qin Lou" - everyone who spreads the rumor should add this sentence, and it is better to raise the ending tone a little, so as to fully express their inner shock.
In fact, the servants in Qin Lou's house knew better: Song Shu's attitude towards Qin Lou was more than just "not afraid".
In the past two years, Qin Lou and Song Shu entered the affiliated junior high school of No. 2 Middle School together. In just one or two days, Qin Lou became a "celebrity" whose reputation spread to the high school department.
Reasons include but are not limited to:
At the oath-taking ceremony for new students, he stood in the first row, "bathed" by the spit of the school leaders on the stage, spinning a six-level Rubik's Cube in his hand, and after being pointed out by the teacher who could no longer bear it, he still turned a deaf ear and quickly restored it in a short time, and then put it in the hands of the girl next to him. The teacher was furious on the stage, and the boy turned a blind eye and grinned at the girl. The scene was photographed by a reporter from the school newspaper and circulated privately throughout the school.
In the first math class, they talked to the math teacher who originally wanted to give them a warning. They extended their discussion from the derivation and proof of "why the sum of two sides of a triangle is greater than the third side, and the difference of two sides is less than the third side" to "the rotation symmetry of triple integrals", and refuted the math teacher until he blushed and slammed the door. As a result, they won the "fruits of victory" that the whole class of students could not understand but did not prevent them from jumping on the table to applaud...
There are countless examples like this.
So in the end the school and the Qin family negotiated on both sides, and the school earnestly expressed its willingness that "we cannot afford for a child of your talent to come to our school". In exchange, Qin Lou did not have to show up in school except for major exams and group activities he wanted to participate in, but this did not prevent him from successfully obtaining his diploma and being promoted to high school. It was a "win-win" result.
The people who were most dissatisfied with this "win-win" result were probably the servants in Qin Lou's house who dared to be angry but not to speak out.
Song Shu's arrival reduced Qin Lou's mood swings a lot. Even on the occasional thunderstorm nights, they no longer had to worry about those horrible scenes and sounds. But there was a price to pay - as long as Song Shu was not in the house, such as when he went to No. 2 Middle School, Qin Lou's emotions would be easily triggered to the breaking point.
For example, today.
A black car braked suddenly in front of the house. Before it even had time to turn into the parking space next to it, the servants who were waiting anxiously like ants on a hot pot in front of the door had already rushed over.
The driver's door opened and the driver got out.
"Did you get it?"
"Here, here." The driver was urged to open the back door.
As soon as the girl with the schoolbag stepped on the ground, she was grabbed by the servant, "You are finally back. We were almost dying of waiting."
"The teacher keeps the class late..."
Before the girl could finish her sentence, she was dragged into the house by the servants.
"We'll talk about this later. Young Master has been busy for half the morning. You better hurry up and go and save the life!"
"… "
After the two figures, one big and one small, disappeared, the driver who went to pick up Song Shu parked the car. He was still a little scared after getting out.
He asked the man mowing the lawn nearby, "Young Master, is making trouble again today?"
The man smiled bitterly: "I've been standing here mowing the lawn all morning, what do you think?"
"Alas. Only Song Shu can control the young master's temper."
"That's true. If I were to leave this little ancestor, I really don't know if I could survive."
"But Song Shu is Miss Bai's daughter after all, and it's impossible for her to stay with the young master forever. And no matter how young a child is, he will eventually grow up. If she wants to leave someday, the young master will be so angry that he won't..."
Having said this, the two looked at each other and fell silent.
No one said the rest.
When Song Shu stepped into the entrance hall of the outer building, a crisp sound of a vase falling to the ground was heard in the hall.
The servant next to her shuddered.
Song Shu didn't react much. She just blinked, her expression and movements were normal, and she quietly changed her shoes and walked in.
The servant subconsciously wanted to pull her back, but then changed his mind and quickly put his hand down.
When I entered the hall, the floor was a mess.
The servant who was standing at the corner and wanted to stop him but didn't dare to, saw Song Shu, and his eyes immediately lit up as if he had seen a savior. He tried his best to wink at Song Shu.
Song Shu walked in.
She didn't ask or say anything, and she walked until she reached the boy sitting on the armrest of the sofa before stopping. Then she took off her backpack, took out a sixth-order Rubik's Cube, and handed it to the boy.
The boy was holding the vase halfway in his hand, and he didn't know whether to smash it or not. He glanced over with a stern face and spoke in a harsh voice.
"Can't you see I'm mad?"
The girl didn't answer and lifted the Rubik's Cube.
The servants in the corner watched anxiously. They saw their young master's handsome face tense for a few seconds, but he put down the vase and took the Rubik's Cube.
The servants all breathed a sigh of relief.
The Rubik's Cube started to turn with a clattering sound, and the sound could be heard in the living room.
Song Shu looked down at the armrest where Qin Lou was sitting, and she also sat sideways on it. She quietly lowered her eyes to watch Qin Lou playing with the Rubik's Cube, and asked in a calm voice: "Why are you angry?"
"…" The Rubik's Cube got stuck and started spinning again, "He wants me to skip a grade and go to the high school department."
"He" refers to Mr. Qin Liang, and Song Shu knows it without any explanation.
Song Shu asked, "You don't want to go?"
"Of course not."
"Why?"
Qin Lou didn't rush to answer. He frowned and looked up at her, then lowered his head and continued to turn the Rubik's Cube, "Because you are in the junior high school department."
“You can’t go to school.”
"..." The Rubik's Cube got stuck again. And this time the person playing with it was a little too strong, and it seemed that he almost twisted off a layer of the sixth-order Rubik's Cube, which had a weak structure.
The servants in the corner held their breath again, almost suffocating from the anxiety—
This was why Song Shu dared to speak so honestly in front of their young master. If it were anyone else, he would probably have been carried out on the spot.
Not only was Song Shu not carried out, but when she saw Qin Lou stopped, she poked the Rubik's Cube with her fingertips.
The expression on her little face was still blank, and her tone was the same.
“Too slow.”
Either they complain or they are so flat, so flat that it can make people angry to death.
"That's faster than you." The boy sneered, "I haven't learned it in several years. You are so stupid."
The boy with a bad attitude lowered his head and frowned to speed up his recovery after he finished mocking. He was so obedient that he didn't even realize it.
Song Shu was not angry at all after hearing this. He nodded expressionlessly with a stern face, "Because you are smart, Grandpa Qin let you go to the high school department."
——One of the biggest improvements Song Shu made after staying in the Qin family for two years is that he learned how to address people.
Qin Lou: "Then I won't go either."
Song Shu thought about it.
"Well. Then I won't go."
The servants in the corner: "..."
Fortunately, Song Shu was only here to comfort him, not to persuade him. Otherwise, Mr. Qin would have been so angry that he would have a problem.
The Rubik's Cube was restored, and the boy's emotions calmed down. The servants relaxed from their tense state and began to clean up the mess in the living room.
Qin Lou and Song Shu went back upstairs together.
“――”
"What did you call her?" The young man suddenly turned his head and asked the servant who spoke with a frown.
"Book,?"
"Who told you to call her that?"
"..." The servant was choked and smiled awkwardly after a while, "We have been calling her this for more than two years since she moved in."
"Then you are not allowed to shout from today on."
"-?"
The servants could hardly believe their ears, but their young master had already dragged the girl upstairs.
The two went to the study on the second floor.
The sunshine was very bright at noon, and the curtains of the large floor-to-ceiling windows in the study were drawn, letting the lazy sunshine in.
The study was divided into two parts. One was for Song Shu, filled with paintings and related books of various schools; the other was for Qin Lou, with stacked bookshelves filled with advanced mathematics-related books.
Usually after entering the study, they all play by themselves.
But today, after coming in, Qin Lou stopped and turned to look at Song Shu, "Draw me a picture."
Song Shu didn't quite understand what he meant.
Qin Lou pointed at himself and said, "Draw me."
"… "
After she finished speaking, Qin Lou saw the girl, who seldom had any expression, frowned very slowly, like a little sloth.
Qin Lou was very angry.
But before he could express that he was angry, the girl nodded.
"good."
"… "
Qin Lou was no longer angry at once, and even felt a little cheerful.
"Draw it more beautifully."
He returned to his row of mathematics bookshelves, which could bury ten of him if they fell down, took out a book, and after reading it unconsciously with a smile for two minutes, he finally came to his senses.
What is he laughing at
For the first time in his life, Qin Lou, who had an IQ of over 160, suspected that he was mentally retarded.
Half an hour later, Song Shu walked to Qinlou with the sketchbook.
Qin Lou put down the heavy book in his hand.
For him, the contents of these books were still a little too confusing.
"Done?"
"Um."
"Let me see."
"… "
Taking the sketchbook, Qin Lou tried hard to control his expression and voice so as not to appear anxious.
Then he saw the picture in the sketchbook clearly.
A Gothic-style castle with a spire, slender and tall.
Except for a small window at the top, there are no other windows anywhere else, and the entire spire castle is completely enclosed.
And in the only window, stood a young man.
There is no doubt that it was Qin Lou - because in this painting, he really couldn't find another thing that could be called a human.
The suppressed joy in Qin Lou's eyes turned cold.
"And you?"
"?"
"Why aren't you here?" The young man clenched the sketchbook and turned to look at the girl, not realizing that his expression looked a little pale at the moment.
Song Shu suddenly realized something. She pulled up the other side of the sketchbook and pointed down the tower. "I'm here."
Qin Lou looked down and frowned.
“This is a garden.”
"Um."
"There are only flowers in the garden, where is you?"
"These are violets," said the girl. "I like violets."
So violet represents her.
After understanding this, the boy finally relaxed his expression. He looked at the painting and whispered to himself, "Flowers are good too. Flowers won't grow legs and run away."
His voice was too soft, Song Shu didn't hear it clearly and looked at him curiously.
The boy's fair face turned red, and then he deliberately put on a stern face, "Then why am I so far away from you?"
Song Shu thought for a moment, "Have you heard the story of Rapunzel?"
"That's for kids. And it's called Rapunzel, not Rapunzel."
Song Shu nodded and pointed to the bottom edge of the sketchbook.
Only then did Qin Lou discover that hidden among the violets in the garden was the title of the painting written lightly in pencil:
"The Adventures of Prince Rapunzel".
Qin Lou: “…”
Song Shu smiled mischievously for the first time, "When the prince grows violet-colored hair, he can come out of the castle, and Violet will catch him downstairs."
"… According to this logic, shouldn't it be Prince Violet?"
Song Shu thought about it and nodded, "Do you want to change it?"
"… "
After thinking for 0.1 second between "Prince Rapunzel" and "Prince Violet", Qin Lou shook his head firmly.
Then he picked up the sketchbook again and looked at it carefully.
This time, as he watched, a smile slowly appeared on the boy's face.
Song Shu stood nearby.
After a long silence, she spoke softly: "I know it's not because of Grandpa Qin."
“…” The boy stopped laughing.
"Why are you unhappy?"
"… "
Qin Lou put down the sketchbook and turned to look at the girl.
In the boy's eyes, Song Shu saw a shadow that he had not seen for a long time, swallowing up the light bit by bit.
She saw the boy's smile fade away.
She heard the boy ask in a low voice.
“They said, one day you’ll leave me.”
"Will you, doll?"