Chapter 94: Covered In Softness
The originally clear sky outside turned into strong winds in the afternoon, followed by a heavy rain.
Jiang Ning looked at his school uniform, somewhat troubled: “My home doesn’t have needle and thread and such things.”
“Changed your mind and not sewing it?”
Jiang Ning: “…”
“I’m not that kind of person!”
Xie Jingyan nodded: “Alright then, after school this afternoon, come to my home. My home has some in the cabinet. Once sewn, it can be worn right away. The ones washed yesterday aren’t dry yet.”
So after school that afternoon, the two left school.
Jiang Ning rode the bicycle, struggling to carry Xie Jingyan.
She gritted her teeth: “You can play basketball, so what’s riding a bicycle to you!”
Xie Jingyan sat calmly: “This leg needs rest to prepare for Friday’s game. For five hundred yuan, it can’t be strained anymore.”
Jiang Ning: “…So, it’s okay if I get tired?”
Xie Jingyan fell silent.
Halfway there, the sky started drizzling again.
Jiang Ning freed one hand, flung Xie Jingyan’s school uniform over her head directly.
Xie Jingyan, who accidentally got slapped by the hem of the school uniform: “…”
“Be a person, will you.”
Jiang Ning coughed lightly to change the subject: “Cough, how much farther is your home? The rain is getting heavier.”
“Alley entrance ahead, turn right.”
This was an old residential flat building.
Four stories high, each floor divided like a dormitory into many small rooms.
The balcony was enclosed with rusted iron railings.
The walls weren’t painted with porcelain powder, but that grayish wall surface, looking old and mottled.
The house Xie Jingyan rented was in the farthest corner room on the top floor, not facing the sun, a bit dark.
Opening the door, Jiang Ning was greeted by a shallow puddle on the floor. She stood at the entrance, hesitating whether to go in, when she saw Xie Jingyan casually stepping through the water inside as if used to it.
Jiang Ning had no choice but to follow. This house was very old and ordinary, a standard two-bedroom one-living-room layout, total area not over sixty square meters. The walls were very mottled, and the floor was full of water stains.
Jiang Ning stood in place, somewhat silence.
Could people live in this house?
Because it was the top floor, the wall cracks from wind and sun exposure were splitting, and water was dripping from the corner of the living room.
Jiang Ning pointed at the ceiling: “Xie Jingyan, your house is leaking.”
Xie Jingyan calmly carried a bucket out from the bathroom and positioned it under the dripping wall crack: “No leak, this is my home’s water pipe.”
Jiang Ning: “…”
Does he think she’s a fool?
She just assumed it was his pride acting up and didn’t bother to call him out.
Looking around, she asked: “Where should I go to sew for you?”
Xie Jingyan pointed to a room: “Go there, needle and thread are in the drawer.”
Jiang Ning went in.
This seemed like a girl’s room; the half-open cloth wardrobe inside still had a few skirts.
Jiang Ning found the desk, searched inside for needle and thread, and unexpectedly saw a photograph.
It seemed like a family portrait.
In the photo, a pair of young parents.
The woman was very beautiful, smiling happily.
In front stood an exquisite youth around ten years old, smiling faintly at the camera, his right hand holding a four-year-old little girl with sheep-horn braids, and behind the little girl stood a refined-looking man.
The family of four looked very happy.
Even though the boy in the photo had youthful features, Jiang Ning recognized at a glance that this boy was Xie Jingyan.
As for this little girl, she should be his sister with leukemia.
Jiang Ning was about to observe more when the door behind her was suddenly pushed open.
The loud noise startled Jiang Ning, making her body tremble.
The next second, Xie Jingyan swiftly snatched the photo from Jiang Ning’s hand, his expression extremely serious.
A few seconds later, Jiang Ning patted her chest lightly: “What are you doing? Trying to scare me to death so you can inherit my bank card?”
Xie Jingyan kept a straight face, hiding the photo behind him: “Don’t touch other people’s things casually.”
Jiang Ning was speechless: “You told me needle and thread were in the drawer. I open it and this photo is right there in front of me. Did I want to see it? As if I care!”
Jiang Ning took the needle and thread, pushed past Xie Jingyan, and went directly into another room.
Xie Jingyan wanted to call her back, but she was fast; in a few seconds, she shut his room door.
Xie Jingyan: “…”
Suddenly a bit regretful about bringing Jiang Ning here.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of Jiang Ning seeing this photo, but…
Xie Jingyan flipped over the back of the photo.
Their family of four’s names were written on it.
Xie He… Xiao He.
Similar names, and the same condition.
He was afraid Jiang Ning would discover he was Meng Jing.
It wasn’t time yet; he couldn’t expose…
He took a deep breath, put the photo into the interlayer of the cloth wardrobe, ensuring it wouldn’t be found.
Then he returned to his own room.
He saw Jiang Ning sitting on the chair, not touching anything, her little face stern, clearly angry.
“Jiang Ning.” He spoke.
Jiang Ning ignored him.
He walked closer, stood in front of her, thought for a moment: “I’ll make you some oatmeal to drink.”
Jiang Ning: “…”
She narrowed her eyes, sneering coldly at him: “Heh, think a cup of oatmeal can make me forgive your rudeness just now? I’m not some gluttonous girl, I don’t fall for that!”
“And a crispy duck.” He added.
Jiang Ning: “…”
“Later I’ll treat you to beef noodles, with extra meat.”
Jiang Ning: “…”
She finally closed her eyes, sighed lightly: “What flavor oatmeal…”
Xie Jingyan honestly: “Milk.”
Jiang Ning: “…Go make it.”
Sorry, she really was a gluttonous girl, wuwuwu.
In the end, Xie Jingyan earned her forgiveness with a cup of oatmeal, a crispy duck, and beef noodles with extra meat.
Then she sat in the room, huffing and puffing as she sewed the clothes.
Xie Jingyan looked at the mess in the living room, mopped the floor until it shone. It was tile floor, water stains not dry, a bit slippery.
He stood there with the mop, rubbing his still aching right leg, his dark eyes scanning the corners to see which nook or cranny he had forgotten.
Once cleaning was done, he could call Jiang Ning to go back to school for evening study session together.
He was just about to turn when Jiang Ning rushed excitedly out of the room: “Xie Jingyan, sewn it. Come try it on, see how my skills are.”
Xie Jingyan was just about to remind her to walk slowly because the floor was slippery, when the next second, she slipped over with a whoosh, her hand instinctively grabbing his collar to steady herself. He was bumped by her, his feet slipped uncontrollably too, he hugged her and spun once, and the two fell onto the sofa together.
Jiang Ning grabbed his collar, the next second, her lips covered softness.
Her whole body was enveloped in Xie Jingyan’s arms, pinned under him.
Due to the sudden mishap, their bodies stiffened, warm breathing intertwined, nightfall outside. Three seconds later, Jiang Ning came to her senses. She quickly let go of Xie Jingyan’s collar, turned her head away, her whole person embarrassed like a cooked shrimp.
“G-get off!” She pushed with her hands, but he didn’t move.
Jiang Ning’s hair was messy, face flushed red, no intimidating power at all.
Xie Jingyan pursed his lips, his eyes profoundly dark.
“Jiang Ning.”
Jiang Ning turned to look at him. Why does he keep calling her? Get off, he’s crushing her.
The next second, he lowered his head again, covering the softness.
Typo correction~
