Chapter 19

Every year, there was always a light rain during the National Day holiday.

Xu Xiyi lifted her head from her homework. The glass window by her desk was blurred by raindrops.

Today was the 2nd, the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the Lin household was very quiet. Even Aunt Zhang, who usually cooked and did the housework, had gone home.

She was alone.

Du Juan had gone to the Lin family’s old residence to accompany her in-laws for the festival.

Before leaving last night, Du Juan came to her room, apologetic and uneasy, saying that she had to leave Xu Xiyi behind and couldn’t take her along.

Du Juan didn’t explain why, but Xu Xiyi understood. Her godmother didn’t seem very welcome in the Lin family and had to be cautious.

The atmosphere in the Lin household felt much like the décor of the house itself—solemn, peaceful, yet somewhat cold and desolate.

“Ding.”

Suddenly, a WeChat message arrived, breaking Xu Xiyi’s long train of thought.

[Yi Yi, are you there? Are you there?]

Xu Xiyi picked up her phone. More messages kept coming.

- [I’m coming to Xindu today!]

- [Are you there? Are you there??]

- [I’m coming to find you! 😊😊😊]

It was Tan Xiaotong.

She was Xu Xiyi’s good friend from junior high in Ze’an.

Xu Xiyi’s eyes curved into a smile, and she replied with a single word: [Here!]

—-

“Sigh, such a nice holiday, and the rain just won’t stop.” Tan Xiaotong lifted her umbrella slightly to glance at the gray sky drizzling fine rain.

The pedestrian street was crowded with people all carrying umbrellas, making the crowd a bit tight.

Xu Xiyi and Tan Xiaotong each held an umbrella, walking among them.

“The rain’s not heavy now; it’s actually not bad,” Tan Xiaotong said with a sideways glance and a smile at Xu Xiyi. “Yi Yi, you have such a great personality. No matter what happens, you stay calm and gentle.”

Smiling softly, Xu Xiyi looked down and saw her canvas shoes stepping over a puddle, the reflection showing her calves in jeans.

“Yi Yi” was her nickname. It originated from a junior high Chinese teacher who, due to a certain regional accent, always pronounced “Yi” as “Yi” with a different tone.

“Has Ze’an No. 1 High School changed much?”

“Nope,” Tan Xiaotong snorted. “Everything’s the same as ever. Just a few new teachers transferred from Xindu. There’s a biology teacher who’s pretty handsome!”

“Looks don’t really matter,” Xu Xiyi said. “As long as the lessons are good and the teacher is patient, that’s enough.”

Tan Xiaotong smiled, knowing Xu Xiyi wasn’t one to indulge in wild fantasies. She was quite conventional.

“How can looks not matter? You don’t know—there’s a girl in our class who has a crush on him.”

They stopped walking. Xu Xiyi tilted her umbrella and looked at Tan Xiaotong in surprise. “A crush on a teacher??”

“Mhm!”

“Oh my…” Xu Xiyi murmured. “Isn’t that kind of weird?”

“Not really. The teacher’s only about twenty-six or twenty-seven, pretty young.”

“Twenty-six or twenty-seven is still way older than us. And he’s our teacher…”

Xu Xiyi was quite traditional in this regard, and Tan Xiaotong understood. “I know, I know. You can’t accept it. The conservative and chaste Miss Xu.”

Xu Xiyi gave her a mock glare and smiled.

The pedestrian street buzzed with people, and the two girls, like other ordinary high school students, chatted about their little worlds: stories from junior high, family, classmates.

Then Tan Xiaotong suddenly remembered something and leaned close to Xu Xiyi, whispering mysteriously with a sweet smile, “Yi Yi, guess what… I have a boyfriend now!”

Xu Xiyi was startled. “You’re dating already?”

“Shh.”

Tan Xiaotong put her hands behind her back, beaming. “Keep it down!”

She confided that he was from the junior high’s neighboring class, although Xu Xiyi had no memory of him.

“Remember Xu Muzhou from the class next door? The tall, handsome guy who plays basketball really well?”

Xu Xiyi’s eyes brightened slightly. She twisted her umbrella handle half a turn, hiding a touch of shyness. “…I remember.”

“I knew you would,” Tan Xiaotong said meaningfully. “My boyfriend is the one who always played basketball with him. He has a bit darker skin.”

Xu Xiyi finally recalled a little. “Oh, it’s him.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“But I think he’s…”

“Not handsome, right?” Tan Xiaotong bit her lip. “I don’t think he’s very handsome either…” Then she laughed. “But being in love feels pretty nice.”

Evening fell, and the sky darkened.

They planned to find a small restaurant to have some crossing-the-bridge rice noodles.

Tan Xiaotong kept chatting all the way, while Xu Xiyi’s mind wandered. Her friend was lively, frequently mentioning the name “Xu Muzhou.”

“Yi Yi, why did you stop walking?”

Xu Xiyi was thinking about old classmates when she suddenly looked ahead in surprise. The city lights were dazzling, and under the light rain, a young man leaned against a lamppost, smoking.

His casual black sports hoodie and pants made him look clean-cut and upright.

“Brother Lin.”

Then Xu Xiyi glanced to the side. It was a restaurant, and Lin Sheng’s car was parked by the entrance. She understood now—he must be here to eat with someone. It was Mid-Autumn Festival after all.

Tan Xiaotong followed her gaze. “Wow, so handsome… Yi Yi, do you know him?”

Xu Xiyi nodded.

At that moment, an elderly lady and a beautiful woman came out looking for Lin Sheng.

Xu Xiyi recognized the woman; she was Guan Yuejiao’s older sister, whom she had met a few days ago.

A rose vendor approached, trying to get Lin Sheng to buy flowers for Guan Yuejiao. The elder seemed to be encouraging this, but Lin Sheng kept smoking, ignoring them.

The flower seller lingered, hesitant. After a long while, Lin Sheng finally took out some money from his pocket and tossed it to the vendor.

Startled, the flower seller carefully opened the bills, took out one, and handed the flowers to Lin Sheng. But Lin Sheng didn’t accept them. Thinking quickly, the seller gave the flowers directly to Guan Yuejiao.

Guan Yuejiao looked a little embarrassed but happily accepted and even thanked Lin Sheng.

However, the elderly lady’s expression was less pleased.

Though they were some distance away and couldn’t hear the conversation, Xu Xiyi sensed Lin Sheng was in a bad mood. But his deep demeanor made him appear calm.

“Is that woman his girlfriend?” Tan Xiaotong asked.

Xu Xiyi shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“She’s so pretty. They make such a handsome couple.”

Xu Xiyi truly didn’t know.

Lin Sheng had quite a few beautiful women around him. But that time in the car, Chu Yuefei had said he was single and urged him to hurry up.

“Alright, let’s go in,” Lin Sheng said, exhaling smoke.

Madam Lin exhaled in relief and gave Guan Yuejiao a reassuring look, who seemed nervous.

A car’s headlights swept across the street. Lin Sheng squinted and glanced in that direction.

Then he saw two girls on the sidewalk under umbrellas. The one on the left stood quietly in the night rain, looking directly at him.

His deep eyes brightened slightly.

Their gazes met instantly. Xu Xiyi was caught off guard and instinctively pulled her neck back.

Lin Sheng smiled faintly, his eyes shimmering through the mist and pale smoke.

—Little rabbit?