Chapter 1921 — Sister-in-law Xinyan
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Back at the row houses, Wei Zhao found the long communal beds already piled with bedding and luggage—only the innermost stretch had been left clear, plainly saved by Bai Weituo for the two of them.
Without a word, Wei Zhao set his own luggage down there, while Wang Xinyan took the innermost spot, hugged her knees, and curled up on the bed, silent, as though lost in some thought she would not share.
Wei Zhao had no idea how to comfort her. After such an awkward business, the more he explained, the more awkward it would only become.
"Come take a walk with me..." Wang Xinyan said to him after a while.
"Ah? All right..." Wei Zhao did not ask why; he simply nodded. Right now, whatever Wang Xinyan asked of him, he would agree to if he could manage it—though of course, that rested on the fondness he held for her, on truly counting her a friend.
Had she been some stranger out of nowhere, Wei Zhao would have looked and thought nothing of it—who told her to be careless?
The two of them left the row house without drawing the class's notice this time; everyone was sitting on the ground in circles, playing cards or chatting. Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan turned off toward the drainage ditch behind the row houses—the one place where no one else was about.
But halfway there, they suddenly stopped in their tracks!
For from the direction of the ditch came waves of moaning. Wang Xinyan's face flushed at once, and Wei Zhao felt awkward too; he knew that sound well enough. Following it with his eyes, it seemed to rise from the ditch behind another row house not far off. A partition blocked the view, but by the sound of it, a couple was in the middle of a desperate sprint...
They could not see, and yet it was mortifying enough. Wang Xinyan could not help recalling the strange looks her classmates had given her and Wei Zhao when they had come out from the back earlier.
"Maybe we should go somewhere else..." Wei Zhao sighed inwardly. These people had energy to spare—no lunch, dinner not yet served, and still they had the strength for that?
"No, let's just sit here a while..." Fearing that if they went around the corner they would be laughed at by their classmates again, Wang Xinyan covered her ears—out of hearing, out of mind.
"All right." Wei Zhao smiled wryly and sat with her on the stone steps of the ditch. A breeze drifted past, and the fragrance on Wang Xinyan had a way of seeping into the heart; breathing it in, Wei Zhao felt very, very comfortable.
Seeing that Wang Xinyan said nothing, Wei Zhao simply closed his eyes and let himself enjoy it...
After a while, the commotion over there died down, followed by the rustle of clothes being pulled on. Wei Zhao nudged Wang Xinyan with his wrist and said, "There, it's quiet now. That fellow's a quick-draw..."
"?" Wang Xinyan blinked, then understood at once and shot him a glare. A quick-draw? As if he were any faster?
Wei Zhao could only keep smiling wryly. What had gotten into him, that his mouth ran so fast? Blurting that out to Wang Xinyan? He truly had not meant it—only the fragrance on her had left him a little drunk, and a careless remark had slipped out.
Still, earlier in the classroom he had not smelled any fragrance on Wang Xinyan. What was that about? Could the scent be coming from... Wei Zhao's gaze drifted oddly toward Wang Xinyan's chest...
Before, a bra had blocked it; now there was none—which would mean...
So, instinctively, she dodged to the side—and lost her balance, wobbling, nearly tumbling headfirst into the drainage ditch.
Wei Zhao was horrified. He thrust out his hands, caught her by the waist, and pulled her back; the momentum of that pull and her own recoil carried Wang Xinyan straight into his arms. She let out a soft cry, mortified, and tried to push him away, her body shrinking back of its own accord.