Chapter 38: Riverbank

“This is it.”
Wen Xuelan stopped beside a large, smooth rock and whispered to Xiahou Ming.
“When I’m unhappy… I come here and sit.”
She walked to an old willow tree on the riverbank, squatted down, and carefully took out a small iron box wrapped tightly in plastic cloth from a tree hole covered by dense grass.
She placed the iron box on the stone and opened it in front of Xiahou Ming.
There were only a few pebbles of strange shapes, some unknown wildflowers, and a small stack of letter papers covered with words.
It seemed that they were letters she wrote to someone who didn’t exist.
This was her whole world, a little nest built of loneliness and fantasy.
The two of them sat side by side on the stone, holding the cup of still-steaming smoothie, and for a moment, they didn’t know what to say.
“That…”
In the end, it was Wen Xuelan who mustered up the courage first, carefully scooped up a spoonful of smoothie with a spoon, and handed it to Xiahou Ming’s mouth.
“You… don’t want to eat?”
“You eat, I’m not thirsty yet.”
“Oh…”
Wen Xuelan withdrew her hand somewhat disappointedly and began to eat in small bites.
“Is it… because I just ate too much fried food, and then ate something cold… that I got diarrhea?”
Xiahou Ming didn’t expect her to be so considerate.
She was speechless for a moment and could only say “hmm” vaguely.
The atmosphere fell into silence again.
“Classmate Xia Houya,”
Wen Xuelan took the initiative to speak again, her eyes flickering with pure curiosity.
“You just… raised your finger to those girls. What did that mean?”
“Ah?”
Xiahou Ming was stunned for a moment before realizing that she was referring to her middle finger-raising gesture.
“That… that’s a… gesture to express displeasure. I saw it on TV,” she explained vaguely. “It means… ‘Please be quiet.’”
“Oh… I see.”
Wen Xuelan nodded, not quite understanding, as if she really believed it.
She even extended her middle finger and imitated it, but then felt that this action was not polite and quickly withdrew her hand.
Xiahou Ming looked at her innocent appearance, and the guilt in her heart deepened a little.
Silence enveloped the two of them again.
The wind from the river blew over, carrying a few willow leaves and gently falling at their feet.
“Xia Houya… you… do you think I’m weird? I always come to places like this and hide away alone.”
Xiahou Ming turned to look at Wen Xuelan and found that her cheeks were slightly flushed, but her eyes were staring at the river, not daring to look her in the eye.
“No… it’s fine.” Xiahou Ming replied stiffly, “It’s very quiet here.”
When Wen Xuelan heard this, a small smile appeared on her face.
She lowered her head and gently hugged the small iron box.
“I… I never dared to tell anyone this before.”
“Because… there’s no point in saying it. No one would care about someone like me.”
Xiahou Ming’s heart suddenly tightened.
“Back in school, people always liked to… tease me.”
“They would throw my schoolbag into the trash or… throw dirty water on my head.”
“Every time I hide here, I can pretend none of that happened.”
When she said this, she paused, as if she was afraid of scaring Xiahou Ming.
She raised her head and smiled with forced strength.
“But… now that you’re here, it feels different.”
“…I’m sorry…” Xiahou Ming blurted out, her voice so low that it was almost inaudible.
“Eh?” Wen Xuelan was stunned and waved her hands hurriedly, “No, no, no! Don’t get me wrong! I don’t want you to think… I just want to say… I’m really happy to have you by my side!”
These words hurt Xiahou Ming’s heart even more.
She wanted to tell her the truth, wanted to say that she was the one who hurt her, but she couldn’t open her mouth.
Wen Xuelan looked at her lowered head and thought she had said something wrong, so she quickly changed the subject:
“Right… right! Is your brother… okay now?”
This question put a more cruel reality before Xiahou Ming.
She looked at Wen Xuelan’s clear eyes and felt like a criminal about to be publicly executed.
How should she answer?
“…He…”
Xiahou Ming felt as if her throat was blocked by something, and her voice became unusually dry.
“He’s… had some problems recently. He should… shouldn’t be the same as before.”
“Really? That’s good.”
When Wen Xuelan heard this answer, a smile from the heart appeared on her face.
“Actually… I sometimes envy him.” She looked at the river and whispered, “He seems… never afraid of anything. He does whatever he wants…”
Xiahou Ming listened silently.
“Unlike me… I can’t do anything right.”
To Xiahou Ming, this sudden tenderness was a torture more cruel than any accusation.
She couldn’t stand the conversation any longer and stood up abruptly.
“It’s getting late. I… we should go back.”
Wen Xuelan was startled by her sudden action and quickly stood up.
She looked at Xiahou Ming’s face, which seemed a little dim in the twilight, and then looked at her long hair, which was blown by the evening breeze and scattered on her shoulders.
She hesitated for a long time, and finally, as if she had made a huge decision, she took off a blue hairband she had been wearing from her wrist.
“Um… Xia Houya…” Her voice was so soft that it was hard to hear, and her cheeks were flushed. “Your hair… can I… can I help you tie it up?”
Xiahou Ming was stunned.
She had never expected this to happen.
She wanted to refuse, but looking at Wen Xuelan’s eyes full of expectation and pleading, she couldn’t say it.
She finally acquiesced, turned around stiffly, and sat down with her back to Wen Xuelan.
The soft fingertips gently touched the skin on the back of her neck, bringing a shiver that made her scalp tingle.
In order to gather her hair, Wen Xuelan leaned forward unconsciously, and the warm breath gently blew on her neck and earlobes.
“I… I’ve been thinking about this since the first time I saw you…”
Wen Xuelan said softly while combing her long hair awkwardly.
“Your hair is so beautiful… If you tie it up and expose your neck… it will definitely look great.”
When Wen Xuelan finally tied her hair into a neat ponytail with a hair tie, Xiahou Ming felt an unprecedented refreshing coolness on her neck.
And a feeling… that she really seemed to have become a “pretty girl.”
Just when the ambiguous atmosphere reached its peak, the clock tower of the factory on the other side of the river rang dully seven times.
“Dong—dong—”
The sound of the bell was like thunder, waking the two of them up instantly.
Wen Xuelan screamed “Ah!”
“Oh no… oh no! The school closes at 7 o’clock! If I go back now… it will definitely be too late!”
Xiahou Ming looked at Wen Xuelan, who looked like she was about to cry, and felt filled with self-blame.
Just as she was thinking about what to do, Wen Xuelan’s expression suddenly became unusually calm after her panic.
“…Forget it.” She lowered her head and said softly in a self-deprecating tone, “I’ll… be punished if I’m punished.”
“Anyway… it’s not the first time.”
“Come with me!” Xiahou Ming suddenly grabbed Wen Xuelan’s hand, “I’ll take you back!”