Chapter 209: You Are So Beautiful ②
The four of them followed closely, Li Kai carrying Nie Qiu, and Zhang Haiyang carrying Huang Yan, as they emerged from the haunted house, which was as eerie and disgusting as a horror movie.
Although Nie Qiu tried not to look, she was still so scared her legs went weak. After leaving the haunted house, she kept patting her chest and gasping for air. Even Zhang Haiyang and Li Kai, who were boys, were a bit overwhelmed. There were some things they might not fear, but there were others they did, and it was hard for them to show it in front of the girls.
Of course, Huang Yan was the same. All four of them were quite disheveled after leaving the haunted house. After standing still for a few minutes, Huang Yan looked at Zhang Haiyang and said, “Let’s go to the night market for dinner!” It was already late, and time for dinner.
Nie Qiu snapped out of her fear and said, “I want to go home to cook for my mom and then go to the market to eat.” When Huang Yan and the others came to find her, it was three o’clock, just after the market crowd had finished their lunch. They took a taxi to People’s Park, and then came out of the haunted house in People’s Park. It should be half-past five now. She should go home to cook and then take the food to the market to eat with Nie Aifang.
The days in winter get dark very quickly. It’s basically completely dark after six o’clock. The horizon was already adorned with fleeting, indistinct streaks of orange-red sunset clouds.
Li Kai heard Nie Qiu say she was going home to cook and thought to himself, so Nie Qiu can cook! In his opinion, girls nowadays don’t know how to do laundry or cook, because his older sister was one of them; she never did any housework, and their room was always tidied by Auntie Li. Of course, he hadn’t done any either. Although he had eaten pan-fried dumplings made by Nie Qiu before, he had always thought they were frozen dumplings bought from somewhere and just heated on the iron plate at their barbecue stall. He hadn’t tasted Nie Qiu’s stir-fry dishes yet! Thinking this, Li Kai quickly said, “I’ll take you!”
Nie Qiu nodded and looked at Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang. “Then we’ll be going. Zhang Haiyang, it’s getting a bit late now, you must make sure Huang Yan gets home safely. The news is full of stories about female students being robbed and abducted.” Nie Aiwen had bought them a color television about a dozen inches in size a few days ago. Although it wasn’t big, it could receive quite a few channels, many more than their old black and white television. Even though Nie Aifang scolded Nie Aiwen for wasting money, once Nie Aiwen had it set up, Nie Aifang couldn’t put it down.
Before, after work and dinner every day, Nie Aifang would go out for a walk in the residential area, do some dancing and exercises with the people there, or wander around the night market, picking up plastic bottles and cardboard garbage to save and exchange for money. Now that they had a television, Nie Aifang didn’t go out after work and dinner anymore. She liked to watch TV series from the Republic of China era and the Anti-Japanese War era. Of course, a television isn’t like a computer; there are many advertisements and news programs. Recently, the most frequently watched programs were news about female university students being arrested, robbed, and dismembered. Nie Aifang, having heard these stories often, would tell Nie Qiu about them, so she wasn’t at ease with Huang Yan going home alone. Huang Yan’s home was in a residential area with many buildings, connected by small paths. Not to mention the paths between buildings, there were also the hallways within her own building. Nie Qiu was also worried that Huang Yan might encounter danger.
Zhang Haiyang smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely see her to her door.” He would indeed see Huang Yan to her door, not inside, because they also knew they weren’t old enough to be dating, and they knew teachers and parents opposed so-called early romance.
The four of them walked out of People’s Park. People’s Park truly lived up to its reputation as one of the most bustling areas in City A; a wave of a hand and a taxi was hailed. Nie Qiu and Li Kai got into one taxi, while Huang Yan and Zhang Haiyang got into another. The two cars headed in different directions.
Nie Qiu told the driver her residential area’s address. The driver took the two of them and quickly headed in the direction of Nie Qiu’s home.
Nie Qiu looked at Li Kai, who was sitting beside her, and smiled. She carefully reached out and gently took Li Kai’s hand. This boy’s chest might not be thick enough yet, and his shoulders might not be broad enough, but in the haunted house, listening to his heartbeat, she knew that he was also scared, yet he held her firmly, comforting her, without flinching or hiding. She knew this was enough to prove that he could use his not-so-thick chest and not-so-broad shoulders to shield her and protect her.
She didn’t necessarily need protection, but no one would refuse the feeling of being protected, the feeling of being loved. If one word could describe this feeling, it would be like bathing in a spring breeze. Warm like the spring breeze, yet steadfast and unchanging, nourishing the earth and awakening all things.
Li Kai felt Nie Qiu holding his hand. Nie Qiu’s gaze was a little intense. He looked at Nie Qiu and smiled, “What’s wrong?”
Nie Qiu shook her head. She had always found it strange that although she was old enough, she was deeply attracted to this pure boy in front of her, as if she were truly Nie Qiu, still only fifteen or sixteen, being confessed to and pursued by the most handsome boy in class, and then feeling a heartbeat, a flutter.
Nie Qiu tightened her grip on Li Kai’s hand and smiled at him. “What if you don’t get into the top 100 in the whole grade? You…” Before Nie Qiu could finish speaking, her palm touched a sticky liquid due to the pressure. Nie Qiu’s expression changed drastically. She let go of Li Kai’s hand and lifted his hand.
Li Kai’s expression changed. Before he could retract his fist, Nie Qiu opened his palm. Inside were three fingernail marks with congealed blood, and some fresh blood was flowing out. Turning his hand over, there was another fingernail mark on the back of his hand.
“This… I did this when we went into the haunted house?” Nie Qiu looked up and asked.
“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt. You didn’t pinch hard enough to hurt…” Li Kai withdrew his hand and tugged at his sleeve, intending to cover his hand.
Before his hand could be covered, Nie Qiu grabbed it. She held Li Kai’s hand and blew on the wound, saying to Li Kai, “How could it not hurt?” The ten fingers are connected to the heart. If the pain of kicking one’s toe is the most painful sensation for a minor injury, then an injury to the palm is no less so.
“Hehe…” Li Kai smiled sheepishly and said to Nie Qiu, “This is when I was holding your hand when we first entered the haunted house, and you pinched me. It hurt a bit then, but it doesn’t hurt now. If you hadn’t noticed, I would have forgotten about it. It really doesn’t hurt now.”
Nie Qiu frowned and couldn’t help but complain, “How could I…” As she spoke, Nie Qiu looked annoyed.
“It’s just a small injury, and it doesn’t hurt, really doesn’t hurt.” Li Kai didn’t pull his hand away either, letting Nie Qiu hold it.
The more Li Kai said it didn’t hurt, the more self-reproach Nie Qiu felt. She held Li Kai’s hand, a standard Chinese complexion, with well-defined knuckles. The fingernail marks on his palm were somewhat shocking and unsightly. She took out a handkerchief from her purse and gently wiped the bloodstains for Li Kai.
