Lin Ran didn’t leave until he saw Sheng Qingxi enter the Shengkai Welfare Home. By the time he got home, it was already 11:30 p.m. Lin Yanyan had long since gone to bed, and the house was pitch dark.
After turning on the lights, Lin Ran went to the fridge and grabbed a bag of milk candies.
He sat on the couch, doing nothing but eating the candies. The sweet, syrupy taste helped soothe his tightly wound nerves.
Before heading upstairs and turning off the lights, Lin Ran habitually checked the newly installed fire alarm system and fire safety equipment in their home, something that had become his routine every time he left and returned.
When Lin Ran first came back to life, he had considered moving, but he realized that uncontrollable accidents like fires could happen anywhere, and he still didn’t know the cause of that fateful fire.
After thinking it over for a long time, he put the idea on hold.
From that day on, he never smoked in the house again. He stopped bringing lighters home, and every candle in the house had been thrown away. He also forbade Lin Yanyan from going near the stove.
After taking a shower, Lin Ran lay in bed and glanced at his phone. The group chats he had joined were always buzzing with activity, with over 999+ new messages every day. He didn’t care about most of the groups, but the three-person chat he had with Xie Zhen and He Mo was another story. Every day, it was also flooded with 999+ messages, and he couldn’t figure out what those two did with their time.
Lin Ran opened the group chat to take a quick look.
Share the Joy, Drop the Pain (3)
[Sea of No One: Zhen, did you check out the cool stuff I sent you?]
[PandaDadada: No, I’m not into that kind of thing.]
[Sea of No One: You don’t like that? Come on, those legs are amazing!]
[PandaDadada: What’s wrong with you? Watching this stuff all the time?]
[Sea of No One: I’m almost an adult. Why can’t I watch?]
[PandaDadada: You seriously think a normal person would watch that?]
[Sea of No One: I’m going to send it again, and I’m telling you, if you don’t watch it, don’t even think about sleeping tonight. I’ll get a cab and come to your place right now, you will watch it.]
[Sea of No One: *Video.*]
[PandaDadada: You’re seriously messed up.]
Lin Ran frowned and clicked on the video. In the video, a person in a white lab coat was stroking the fur of an owl sitting on a desk. When the soft feathers were brushed aside, it revealed the owl’s long, slender legs.
Elegant, thin, and tall.
[Firegun: Is this really what you do instead of homework every night?]
[Sea of No One: Brother Ran, just tell me, what do you think of those legs?]
[Firegun: Going to sleep. Don’t bother me.]
[Sea of No One: The world is so big, and yet no one understands me!]
Lin Ran tossed his phone onto the nightstand and turned off the lights, preparing to sleep. The curtains were tightly drawn, with only a small crack in the window allowing a few strands of cool night air to sneak in.
He closed his eyes.
Even though he wasn’t consciously thinking about anything, his mind involuntarily drifted to the scene he had glimpsed through the window earlier that night—a beautiful girl, head bowed, her dark hair falling softly. Her expression had been quiet and focused.
Even with just a few sheets of paper, he could see how much she treasured them.
Lin Ran pulled the blanket over his head, flipping over in frustration.
It wasn’t until much later that he finally fell into a deep sleep.
Since his rebirth, Lin Ran had struggled with sleep each night. His dreams were filled with endless fires or the sound of Lin Yanyan’s terrified cries. But tonight was different.
Perhaps it was because of the events earlier, but Lin Ran had a very strange dream.
He found himself sitting on a park bench. The shimmering light and the glistening green grass suggested it was a beautiful, sunny day.
Yet, in the middle of this perfect day, standing on the wide, verdant lawn, was an owl. Someone, in a bizarre act of madness, had shaved the owl’s feathers, leaving its long, bare legs fully exposed.
This featherless owl, with its thin, elegant legs, walked toward him with an air of disdain in its eyes.
Before Lin Ran could leave, the sky suddenly changed.
What had been a sunny day instantly turned into a storm. Dark clouds gathered, and rain poured down in torrents.
The featherless owl flew away in the blink of an eye, and soon the park was empty, leaving Lin Ran alone. He was soaked to the bone, yet it felt like he was glued to the bench, unable to move.
The scene shifted, and Lin Ran was no longer in the park.
He was now in an alleyway, but it wasn’t the one near the school. Lin Ran couldn’t remember exactly, but he vaguely heard someone screaming. When he ran deeper into the alley, however, there was no one there.
The dream kept shifting, and Lin Ran was left wandering through it alone, struggling.
The alley was dimly lit, and soft arms wrapped around Lin Ran’s waist like vines.
He felt someone hugging him tightly from behind. Without thinking, he blurted out, “Sheng Qingxi.”
The girl behind him softly called his name, her voice gentle and familiar, as if he’d heard it countless times: “Lin Ran, Lin Ran.”
Lin Ran instinctively looked down, but the face in front of him was blurry and indistinct. However, he could see her rising up on her tiptoes, getting closer and closer to him. Something warm and slightly moist brushed against the corner of his lips.
It was her lips—a fleeting touch.
She whispered to him, “Lin Ran, can I kiss you?”
…
The first light of dawn crept in.
Lin Ran came out of the bathroom with a scowl after taking a cold shower, feeling the urge to rush to He Mo’s house and throttle him. Every night, instead of sleeping, He Mo posted all kinds of weird things in the group chat.
After changing his clothes and getting ready to leave, Lin Yanyan was still asleep. It was six in the morning, and she usually got up at 6:30. Not wanting to wake her, he sent her a message and left.
Outside, the spring rain was drizzling softly.
Lin Ran walked into the light rain, carrying only one helmet. He had promised to take Sheng Qingxi to school by bus, and he would keep that promise. He planned to take her by bus and then return later to pick up the bike.
At 6:20, Lin Ran parked his bike outside the welfare home.
Hearing the sound of the motorcycle, Sheng Qingxi came running over with her backpack, holding a floral umbrella and a bottle of milk in her hand. When she reached him, she tilted her face up and asked, “Lin Ran, why aren’t you wearing a raincoat?”
His school uniform was dotted with tiny raindrops, though his hair remained dry.
Sheng Qingxi handed the umbrella to Lin Ran, then took out a tissue from her pocket, intending to wipe the water off his shoulders.
To Lin Ran, in that moment, Sheng Qingxi looked just like she did in his dream, standing on tiptoes and slowly leaning toward him. He seemed to hear her again, “Lin Ran, can I kiss you?”
Without thinking, Lin Ran blurted, “If you’re going to kiss, hurry up and do it.”
Sheng Qingxi froze mid-action, looking at him in confusion, clearly not understanding what he had just said.
Lin Ran: “…”
Damn, he was mortified.
—
In all seventeen years of his life, Lin Ran had never felt so embarrassed. When he realized what he had just said to Sheng Qingxi, he no longer wanted to strangle He Mo—he wanted to strangle himself.
Sheng Qingxi wondered if she had heard him wrong. She pursed her lips and asked, “Lin Ran, what did you just say?”
With a sullen expression and a poor tone, Lin Ran replied, “I didn’t say anything.”
Sheng Qingxi glanced up and saw the frustration in his eyes. Quietly, she said nothing more, simply raising her hand to wipe away the rainwater from his shoulder. Lin Ran didn’t move away; he just held the umbrella, keeping them both sheltered in the shadow.
The boy standing in front of her looked awkward. He averted his gaze, unwilling to meet her eyes.
After Sheng Qingxi finished, Lin Ran, feeling uncomfortable, asked, “Did you have breakfast?”
Sheng Qingxi nodded, “What about you?”
Lin Ran jerked his chin up, “Let’s catch the bus. I’ll eat at school. Xie Zhen will bring me something.”
He didn’t return the umbrella to Sheng Qingxi. He held it at an angle, shielding her from the chaotic spring rain, even though most of his own body was left exposed.
There were only a few people waiting at the bus stop.
When Lin Ran folded up the umbrella, Sheng Qingxi instinctively pulled out two coins from her bag and handed them to him.
In her pale, delicate palm lay two shiny one-yuan coins. Lin Ran glanced down, took the cool coins between his fingers, feeling the brief warmth from her hand.
Her hand was so soft.
Lin Ran tightened his grip around the coins.
Seeing him take the money, Sheng Qingxi pulled out a straw and prepared to drink her strawberry milk. As she punctured the straw into the bottle, her movements paused for a second, the bright red strawberry on the bottle catching the eye.
The next bus, the 113, wasn’t due for another ten minutes.
So, Sheng Qingxi pulled a sandwich and some cookies out of her bag and, with her milk, pushed them all toward Lin Ran.
Lin Ran raised an eyebrow at Sheng Qingxi, who looked like a hamster offering her hidden stash of food to him. “You’re giving me everything? What are you going to eat?”
Sheng Qingxi blinked innocently, “I can go to the supermarket with Shiman.”
Lin Ran: “…”
He had intended to refuse, but hearing that, he angrily snatched the sandwich and tore into it, biting down hard as if taking out his frustration on someone.
The strawberry milk was barely bigger than his palm. After two gulps, it was gone.
Lin Ran tossed the empty bottle and glanced at the girl sitting quietly beside him, staring at him with empty hands. He thought about it for a second and figured he couldn’t be so heartless. He pushed the small packet of cookies toward her. “Eat the cookies yourself.”
Sheng Qingxi shook her head slightly, “You eat them. You didn’t get enough.”
Lin Ran thought to himself, I’m not a pig. How could I not be full?
But, in truth, he wasn’t full.
No matter what Lin Ran said, Sheng Qingxi refused to take the cookies back. So, adhering to the principle of not wasting food, Lin Ran ate all the cookies.
The cookies and the sandwich had been made by Sheng Qingxi’s mother, Sheng Lan. They were different from anything Lin Ran had eaten before, but they tasted really good. After finishing, he even found himself savoring the taste for a moment longer.
He still felt a lingering sense of satisfaction after eating, but it wasn’t quite enough.
Once Lin Ran finished eating, Sheng Qingxi spoke softly, “Lin Ran, I didn’t tell Sheng Mama about what happened that day. I just said you were giving me a ride to school since it was on your way. She said, from now on, whenever you come by, you should have breakfast at our house. Would you like that?”
Lin Ran’s expression stiffened slightly. Would he like that? Of course, he would.
But he also felt a little awkward about it. Sheng Qingxi had already given him boxing gloves, brought him breakfast, and even took a hit for him. He didn’t know how to repay her kindness.
Lin Ran frowned, rubbing his black hair. After a moment of contemplation, he lowered his hand, cleared his throat, and asked, “Sheng Qingxi, as a trade-off, how about I pick you up and drop you off at school for the rest of the semester? How does that sound?”
Sheng Qingxi was a bit stunned by this offer.
It was because Lin Ran had been picking her up for the past few days that Sheng Lan suggested he come for breakfast. But now, in response to being offered breakfast, Lin Ran was offering to pick her up for the entire semester.
It felt like a never-ending loop.
Sheng Qingxi glanced at Lin Ran cautiously. His face was calm, completely unaware that anything about this situation seemed strange.
So, she tried to carefully suggest, “Lin Ran, going back and forth every day seems like a lot of trouble for you. Those people probably won’t come after me again. The police station in the West District is just one street behind the welfare home.”
Lin Ran’s lips curved downward slightly, and his dark eyes flashed with a clear hint of threat. It was as if, if she dared to refuse, he would take it out on her immediately. “Trouble? I don’t know what that means.”
Sheng Qingxi: “…”
What had been a simple arrangement for the past two weeks had suddenly turned into a whole semester commitment.
Sheng Qingxi pursed her lips, feeling like something about this development was a bit off.
As the wind blew the rain at sharp angles, the 113 bus approached the stop. Lin Ran held the umbrella for Sheng Qingxi as she boarded first, the sound of coins dropping into the fare box crisp and clear.
Lin Ran closed the umbrella and stepped onto the bus, pulling out his phone to scan the fare code before following Sheng Qingxi to the back seats.
The 113 bus was relatively empty, and Sheng Qingxi, out of habit, took a seat by the window. Lin Ran naturally sat down beside her.
Like Song Shiman, Lin Ran rarely took the bus. After a few sharp turns and sudden stops, he frowned in dissatisfaction. The bus ride was too bumpy. So this is how she gets to school every day?
Even knowing that Sheng Qingxi had transferred to No. 1 for him, Lin Ran found it difficult to understand. It was an action that seemed to have little chance of being rewarded. And yet, she had once told him she won’t date in high school.