“Ah!!!” Xu Nian closes her eyes and screams. The feeling of instant weightlessness overcomes her; her heart is full of despair. But as she feels certain she"s going to die, she winces at the pain on her wrist. She opens her eyes to realizes she"s suspended in the air.As long as Xiao Mingluo holds onto her, it"s just a matter of time before she falls.
“Ah! Help! Help! Pull me up!” Xu Nian reaches out with her free hand to the railing to help reduce her weight on Mingluo"s grip.
It"s not like she is in love with Xiao Mingluo, but her survival instincts kick in. Tears roll down her cheek and she is regretful for her actions that led to this moment. If only she didn"t push An Chuxia.
This made her immediately hate Chuxia. At first, she hated her because everyone loves her. Now, her hatred stems from hate.
“Qilu, just say the word and I"ll let go.” Xiao Mingluo"s face looks unaffected, like he doesn"t care whether Xu Nian lives or dies.
This is a no-brainer. Han Qilu knows Xiao Mingluo is deliberately trying to stimulate him. He knows this has to remain quiet.
The school bell rings, and students pour out of cla.s.srooms and start looking up after gathering outside the building. Several teachers start pondering whether they should involve the police.
“Pull her up,” Han Qilu says, deflated.
Xu Nian is relieved the moment she hears this. As she waits to be pulled up, Han Qilu disappears. The only people left on that roof was her, Xiao Mingluo, and Ling Hanyu.
As soon as her feet touches ground, she realizes her legs are trembling so badly, she has no strength to hold herself up. In the end, she falls limp on the ground.
“It"s all right,” Xiao Mingluo says. He looks at Xu Nian"s sweaty forehead. He retrieves something out of his pocket for Nian"s wound.
Upon seeing the band-aid, she finally realizes what her cooperation with Mingluo was about. He really didn"t mean to dangle her; he was trying to help her.
He may have said he"s helping Han Qilu, but he was helping her, too.
A warmth flows from her heart. She used to be blindly in love with Han Qilu. But, she didn"t know what love was. Now, as she looks at Xiao Mingluo, his caring eyes on her, her heart thumps. The dusty balcony is like a rose, a sweet scent at the tip of one"s nose.
“Thank you.”
The roof door suddenly opens from what sounds like a kick. All three of them are suddenly startled. Their eyes turn toward the sound.
“Why did you pull her up?”
It is none other than Meng Xiaonan. She was emerging from the canteen restroom when she saw Xiao Mingluo round up the girls who bullied An Chuxia and march them out the door.
She ran up the stairs to ask the girl why she bullied An Chuxia. While bullying her friend is not necessarily bad. Seeing Han Qilu rescue her friend was beautiful. She was choked up!
But if it weren"t for the teacher walking in before the break, she would"ve gone to the music room.
“Don"t make a big deal out of this,” Xiao Mingluo tries to persuade Xiaonan. “We"re trying to put things back in order before this blows up.”
She knows this can"t go too far. But as she stands in front of Xu Nian, she notices she"s holding on to a bear band-aid.
She gave that band-aid to Xiao Mingluo to hold on to since she"s constantly getting hurt. This bear band-aid is very novel; so novel it"s rarely seen.
“You gave this band-aid to this woman?” Xiaonan reaches out to Xu Nian despite accusing Xiao Mingluo.
If he gave the band-aid to any other girl, she wouldn"t be bothered. But this girl bullied An Chuxia, and he gave Xu Nian her band-aid!
“She"s injured, and that was in my pocket,” Xiao Mingluo calmly says as he pulls Meng Xiaonan away from Xu Nian. Given Xu Nian"s temporary weakness, she looks pathetic squatting on the ground.
Xiao Mingluo is trying to be objective, [trying to convince Xiaonan] that Xu Nian is pitiful and is suffering. However, Xiaonan doesn"t see her as pitiful!
“Are you nuts? You can"t have her use it!” Xiaonan pushes Xiao Mingluo. She takes the few steps toward Xu Nian and s.n.a.t.c.hes the band-aid from her hand. Xu Nian hasn"t even opened it yet, and the band-aid is tossed from the railing.
Xiao Mingluo"s eyebrows knit, looking at Xiaonan. “What are you doing?”
“I threw away the band-aid, didn"t you see it?” she says to Mingluo before turning to Xu Nian to say, “No one can bully An Chuxia. You can"t! Stand up and fight!”
“What are you doing? Let go!” Xu Nian really dislikes this Meng Xiaonan. Xiao Mingluo looks at her with stars in his eyes, and her heart can"t take it. Now would be a good time for them to quarrel.
“Let go? You want me to let you go?” Meng Xiaonan pulls Xu Nian up with all her strength and pushes her back toward the rail.
Xu Nian subconsciously clings to Xiaonan. Her slender fingers wrap around her so tightly, she bruises Xiaonan.
She winces in pain the same time Xiao Mingluo rushes to hold on to Xu Nian so she doesn"t fall.
“Don"t lean back!”
A fierce Xiao Mingluo burns into Xiaonan"s memory. The distance between them gets bigger. Her throat feels parched, and a bitterness is suddenly caught in her larynx. Tears start gushing from her eyes.
Holding back her emotions, Xiaonan smiles bitterly. “Xiao Mingluo, I ask you, who"s being too much? “
He lets out an exasperated breath. His eyes dart elsewhere. “Go back and calm down.”
“I am calm,” she says. A gloomy Meng Xiaonan turns away. She punctuates every step with anger as she walks down the steps.
Bearing witness, Ling Hanyu shakes his head as he sighs. “Mingluo, I want to make a bet with you.”
“Don"t gloat.” Xiao Mingluo stares at Ling Hanyu.
“Fine, fine. Happy, unhappy, whatever, right? Since you have your new toy, I"m taking off… .” Ling Hanyu says. Xiao Mingluo doesn"t worry as he watches Hanyu leave through the door.
He always liked the world to be chaotic.He"s the one who"s afraid the world won"t talk!
Once Ling Hanyu leaves, Xu Nian whispers into Xiao Mingluo"s ear and sinks into his arms saying, “I seem to bring you trouble. Do you need me to explain to them for you?”
“No,” Xiao Mingluo refuses. “Just pick yourself up and go to the clinic to have your feet looked at. They"re badly sc.r.a.ped.”
Then, Xiao Mingluo turns his head from Xu Nian and he too quickly disappears.
“Master Han, I won"t hang on to you anymore since you don"t love me back.” Xu Nian looks down and sees the bear band-aid that fell from the railing. She picks it up and holds it in the palm of her hand. A meaningful smile hangs from her lips.
***
Meng Xiaonan returns to cla.s.s to see An Chuxia return. An Chuxia realizes her friend"s eyes are rimmed red like a rabbit"s and it shocks her.
“Hey, what happened?”
Xiaonan wants to tell her, but there were too many cla.s.smates gathered.
She wipes the tears from her swollen eyes while she tries to swallow the rest of those tears. “I want to break up with that basta*d, Xiao Mingluo.”
Those words shock the crowd.
An Chuxia recovers quickly and puts the back of her hand against her friend"s forehead. “You don"t have a fever!”
Meng Xiaonan pushes An Chuxia"s hand indignantly. “I"m serious!”
An Chuxia is speechless. What happened while she was in the cabin?
While it"s awkward to ask, An Chuxia needs context. But the school bell rings, and everyone returns to their seats, including An Chuxia.
The following cla.s.s happens to be art, and the teacher wants them to be “adventurers”. In fact, all he wants to do is play on his phone while he is at the podium. He won"t even take control if an explosion takes place.
While the teacher plays, An Chuxia changes seats to sit next to Xiaonan.
Meng Xiaonan ruins her drafting paper by poking holes in it with a pen.
“Tell me what happened,” An Chuxia whispers.
“What can I say? That Xiao Mingluo yells at me while protecting that girl who bullied you!” She grinds her teeth and shakes her head. “I didn"t want to tell you this, but I"m telling him goodbye.”
“Okay!” An Chuxia sighs. “Is there no way for you? You don"t have to tear a page from my book.”
Get your own book! An Chuxia doesn"t even want to look at her own.
Meng Xiaonan says with resent: “I asked him not to force me to ask him whether he still loves me.”
“I … .”
An Chuxia was about to say something when a sudden knock on the door interrupts them.
The whole cla.s.sroom becomes quiet.