Chapter 43: A Fox in Rabbit’s Clothing — “Tie you to my side, never leaving…”
Lu Xunye resigned himself to fate. “…Forget it, call me whatever.”
“Okay, Uncle.” The boy didn’t understand but respected it.
Being ignored, the kid opposite exploded in temper, picked up a stone, and threw it at the eldest Zhang child.
“Hey! Teacher changed seats this time, why aren’t you sitting with your previous deskmate? Ah-Qiu is my friend, you’re not allowed to steal him!”
Beside Lu Xunye, the eldest child, angry after being hit, yelled back, “Are you sick? Changing seats is based on grades. I chose first! If you have the ability, score higher than me and go in to pick a seat first. Otherwise, stop yapping.”
“Then do you dare to compete with me now? Let’s see who gets to the pier first. The loser has to run a lap around the island shouting their name and admitting defeat.”
“If you lose, go tell the teacher you don’t want to be Ah-Qiu’s deskmate; if I lose, I won’t trouble you anymore. How about it?”
Hearing this, the second child hurriedly pulled his brother’s sleeve, afraid he would be impulsive. “Brother.”
The eldest child lifted his chin high, speechless. “You already lost to me, okay? Why should I still compete with you?”
“You!” Seeing the other didn’t take the bait, the furious kid pushed aside the bicycle under his hands and charged over aggressively.
Lu Xunye’s gaze jumped back and forth between the two, seeking help from Shen Yunqian. “What to do?”
Shen Yunqian opened his mouth to ask, “Is Ah-Qiu your friend?”
“He’s my friend! Not his!”
The kid opposite was furious, aiming the spearhead at Shen Yunqian.
“Don’t think just because you have some money you’re amazing. It’s always you broken tourists throwing trash everywhere when you come. Our island’s scenery isn’t as good as a few years ago!”
“Littering and spitting are matters of personal quality found everywhere. Don’t generalize and blame a whole group.”
Just as Shen Yunqian finished speaking, a familiar local old man nearby set down his stool, spat out phlegm, and ground it with his foot, causing the kid who was about to retort to flush red.
“Also, because you are dissatisfied with the result of a classmate choosing a deskmate, instead of reporting to the teacher, you ran over here acting arrogant and hurting people. Similarly, I don’t think your quality is much higher than those who litter.”
Shen Yunqian scanned his indignant expression lightly and continued.
“Before blaming others, shouldn’t you ask for the person’s opinion?”
“You should ask Ah-Qiu who he wants to be his deskmate, then go reflect the situation to the teacher. Instead of using Ah-Qiu as a betting chip or a reward for winning a competition.”
In a corner no one paid attention to.
Lu Xunye leaned down, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered into the second child’s ear, “Is this Ah-Qiu a little girl? Your brother’s deskmate?”
“Ah-Qiu is a boy. He’s very beautiful, just his health hasn’t been very good.”
A boy… Lu Xunye was dumbfounded. He asked again, “So this kid was deskmates with Ah-Qiu before, that’s why he ran over to target your brother?”
Once he asked, the second child confessed everything, blabbering a whole bunch.
“Before, Ah-Qiu was deskmates with the first-place student in my brother’s class, but in this mock final exam, the first-place boy became last place.”
“So the one being targeted before was this boy. This boy has a bad personality. Everyone says his mom is crazy, no one wants to play with him.”
Lu Xunye: “So do you also think he’s crazy?”
The second child was confused. “I don’t know. One day after school at the gate, I dropped my books and he picked them up for me. I think he should be… pretty good.”
Lu Xunye rubbed his head. “Everyone can be a good person or a bad person, it just depends on the angle you look at the problem. To judge a person’s character, don’t use your ears to listen, use your eyes to see.”
The second child seemed to understand but not fully. “Oh, I know.”
…
The eldest child put his hands on his hips. “My brother is right. Do you dare to go find Ah-Qiu with me and see if he is willing to be your deskmate? Stop being so clingy and annoying all day!”
“Let’s go then!”
Neither accepting the other, the two ran off angrily, looking like whoever ran to Ah-Qiu’s house first would have the upper hand. They disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Leaving only the bicycle in place.
Seeing this, the second child hurriedly kicked off the kickstand and mounted the bicycle to chase.
While pedaling, he shouted back to the people behind, “Brother, Uncle, you guys play, don’t worry about us—”
The old people around who brought stools to watch the movie turned their eyes at this shout, then sighed with emotion. “Those kids again. It’s good to be young.”
“You really have a way with words, Brother Shen.” Lu Xunye teased Shen Yunqian. “Indeed, beautiful person, clever mouth.”
Shen Yunqian said indifferently, “Not as clever as Uncle Lu.”
Lu Xunye, who was less than three years older than the person, took the opportunity and said with peace of mind.
“Hmm—I think this ‘Uncle’ sounds extremely pleasant. I’m very satisfied, obedient nephew.”
“…”
The village cadres set up the projector in the square and shouted for order with a loudspeaker. The screening was at 7:30 PM. The older people picked good spots in advance, sat down, and started chatting.
Seeing that the movie wouldn’t start for a while, Lu Xunye suggested, “How about going for a walk by the seaside?”
“Okay.”
The sound of waves came one after another, like deep drum beats hitting the beach, gently surging up or rushing fiercely.
The two sat side by side on the beach where they were rescued last night, leaning against the red inflatable boat.
Watching the warm yellow sunlight reflecting on the satin-like sea surface, shimmering with waves.
Lu Xunye’s pupils lost focus as he stared at the sea in a daze. Listening to the breeze and shallow waves, his heart couldn’t calm down. “I implicated you this time. I thought I had already deceived Lu Yan.”
“If we did it again, would you still jump down alone… to save me?” Shen Yunqian’s voice drifted with the wind.
Lu Xunye almost forgot what the system said: Shen Yunqian wouldn’t die after falling into the sea, but would return three months later to continue his abusive love affair with Si Jinyan.
He guessed that during these three months, he was probably saved by the people on this island.
According to the original book, Shen Yunqian experienced the ruin of his family, confinement in a basement, stand-in scandals, leg injuries, provocation by relatives at banquets, being given away for humiliation, amnesia, falling into the sea…
Item by item, no matter what happened in between, he would always return to the plot in various forms eventually.
The task issued by the system seemed to let him change the ending, but it seemed… nothing had changed.
That night on the deck, Lu Xunye had clearly grabbed the rope. He had clearly grabbed it, but it still… broke.
Why… the rope was clearly very strong.
Although Lu Xunye jumped down impulsively, he passed out completely later. The panic and fear Shen Yunqian was destined to experience, he didn’t miss a single bit.
He thought, if he hadn’t acted rashly and provoked that kidnapper, maybe Shen Yunqian wouldn’t have been tied up and thrown into the sea at all.
Lu Yan wouldn’t have interfered and blocked their signal for help from outside the island. Everything could have had a better ending.
It was supposed to be three months, but now because of his rash intervention, the return date was undetermined.
His heart felt like it was squeezed by a big hand, throbbing with pain. This feeling was like the helplessness of watching his mother being beaten by his father when he was a child… making one want to escape regardless of everything.
Even as he grew up, he still had no power to change anything.
Perhaps at this moment, Lu Xunye no longer positioned himself as a spectator.
In this brief time, everything in the book was far away from him. Only the breathing beside him was vivid and alive.
Lu Xunye opened his mouth but found his voice was terribly hoarse. “…I don’t know. Maybe I should have stayed in the dark to save you.”
His face was cupped by Shen Yunqian, turned, and made to meet his eyes.
Shen Yunqian’s brows and eyes held a gentleness he had never seen before. “You’re crying.”
Lu Xunye was stunned, realizing that his vision was really blurry. He wanted to say no, but was too weak to make a sound.
“Is the wind too strong?”
Shen Yunqian’s considerate voice came.
Lu Xunye nodded dazedly. The tears filling his eyes instantly converged into a bead, sliding down his cheek.
Shen Yunqian suddenly leaned closer. Lu Xunye’s eyes darted away, breath held, cheeks cupped, unable to move.
To his surprise, Shen Yunqian stared at his lips, but finally changed direction and only placed a light kiss on his forehead.
Lu Xunye’s hands on his knees tightened instantly, knuckles turning white from the force.
This kiss was fleeting, like brilliant fireworks scattering before one could even look at them.
Unknowingly, a force guided him. Lu Xunye rested his head on Shen Yunqian’s shoulder, hearing the person say, “I am very happy you chose to save me.”
“Sleep. The movie is starting soon.”
Lu Xunye didn’t react, and actually felt a wave of drowsiness. He closed his eyes, muttering a sentence in his hazy consciousness: “If one day I disappear, will you remember me?”
The breathing by his ear became steady. Shen Yunqian turned his head sideways, his eyes dark and dangerous.
The words he spoke had none of the kindness he showed when lecturing the children just now. “Then… I can only tie you to my side, never leaving a single step.”
Perhaps sensing danger, Lu Xunye frowned slightly, but was smoothed out by a gentle force carrying a bewitching intent. “Sleep.”
Lu Xunye slept soundly, so he didn’t see that Shen Yunqian—who supposedly had no friends and remembered no numbers—fished out an object from the crevice of the inflatable boat.
Looking at the battery that was almost depleted, Shen Yunqian hung the object on his ear without hesitation and tapped it. “Lu Xunye is on Qinghu Island. Notify Lu Feng.”
After speaking, the battery ran out and shut down.
…
The sky darkened.
Rustling sounds came from not far away.
Lu Xunye was woken up by this commotion. Realizing it was already dark, he looked up and met Shen Yunqian’s gaze.
“Awake?”
“…” Lu Xunye rubbed his shoulder, a bit embarrassed. “Uh… is it numb?”
“No.”
Lu Xunye breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what you want to do. I’m warning you, don’t think about things you shouldn’t.”
Suddenly, a voice raised in anger rang out. Lu Xunye turned his head to look at the source.
“You misunderstood, I didn’t. Let me go.” Another tender voice defended weakly.
Splash—Water sprayed up. Lu Xunye stood up abruptly. “Let go!”
In the shallow water area in the distance, one figure threw another figure into the water.
Walking closer, it was the two kids again.
One with a gloomy temperament and sharp eyes pressed another boy—carved like jade and about his age—into the water.
The child in the water choked on the water, coughing until his face turned pale.
Lu Xunye hurriedly fished the child out of the water, turning to scold the other one. “What are you doing? Do you know he could die? Can’t you just talk things out?”
The gloomy child glared at him coldly, saying nothing.
Lu Xunye laughed in anger. Is there something wrong with all the kids here?!
He wanted to say more, but the weak boy in his arms tugged at his sleeve, looking like he was about to breathe his last, gasping faintly: “Pocket… medicine.”
“No need to look.” Shen Yunqian walked over, extending a hand to the silent boy on the side. “Hand it over.”
Seeing the person unmoved, Shen Yunqian said coldly, “If you don’t hand it over, this is attempted murder.”
The medicine bottle was thrown into the water, and the other party strode away.
After the boy took the medicine, his face gradually regained color. He thanked them, then looked at the two with deep meaning, saying something inexplicable to Shen Yunqian: “Getting what one desires… how nice.”
Lu Xunye couldn’t follow the train of thought. “What did you say?”
“Ah, I said I’m going back. Goodbye, two brothers.” The boy waved his hand and turned to leave.
Shen Yunqian was sure he didn’t know this boy. He stared at the departing figure, pondering in silence.
“Brother—Uncle! The movie started!” The second child’s shout drifted over. He ran up, stopping when he bumped into the boy from just now. “Eh, Brother Ah-Qiu? Why are you here?”
Lu Xunye: “So he is Ah-Qiu.”
The second child ran over panting. “I asked around for two good-looking guys, and found out you were here. The movie has already started, let’s go back.”
Just arriving at the square,
The projection screen was playing an opera, moving the crowd below to tears.
The second child comforted them: “Let’s wait a bit longer. There will be cartoons after this one finishes.”
Lu Xunye smiled perfunctorily. “…Hehe.”
“It’s you!”
A thick, shocked voice sounded from behind.
Lu Xunye turned around to see an old man, looking over seventy, grabbing Shen Yunqian’s arms.
“For eight years, I’ve been regretting that I didn’t have the ability to save you back then. Child, I didn’t expect you to really be alive!”
Lu Xunye hurriedly went over to separate the two. “Grandpa, you got the wrong person. Eight years ago he was still a kid, only 13 years old.”
“Impossible, I definitely didn’t recognize him wrongly. Even if this face changes, it won’t be wrong.”
The old man asked Shen Yunqian emotionally, “Do you still remember eight years ago at sea, you asked me to save someone?”
Author’s Note: If there are bugs in the timeline, can you guys remind me, babies [Kisses] [Kisses] [Kisses] [Sunglasses] Posted a new chapter and the backend bugged out, almost deleted my first chapter [Melting]
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