Chapter 82 ☆ I’m leaving (Part 2)

After hanging up the phone, Cheng Yaoyao sighed. Her father was the same in her previous life. Every time she had a fight with her stepsister or stepmother, he would buy her a lot of fancy things or give her a big check.

In the past, she thought her father just wanted to use money to shut her up, but today she suddenly understood his feelings—he just wanted to make her happy. Her father was like a scale, with her on one side and her stepmother and stepsister on the other. He stood in the middle, caught in a dilemma.

Realizing this, the anger she had held for years finally started to fade. As she hung up the phone, the man with the braids, Hou Zi, said, “Three yuan and seventeen cents!”

Back then, long-distance calls weren’t cheap, and people usually rushed to finish their conversations. It was rare to see someone like Cheng Yaoyao talking for so long. Hou Zi didn’t know that this behavior would later be called “talking on the phone for a long time.”

Cheng Yaoyao didn’t even blink as she reached into her purse. A hand in front of her handed over a five-dollar bill. It was Xie Zhao.

After getting the change, Xie Zhao turned to Cheng Yaoyao and asked, “Are you leaving?”

Cheng Yaoyao nodded happily, “Yeah.”

The two held an umbrella and walked back into the rain. The rain splashed everywhere, and the wind blew coldly. Cheng Yaoyao had hurried out, wearing only a thin pink shirt. Feeling cold, she moved closer to Xie Zhao. But Xie Zhao’s arm was hard like iron, with no warmth.

The water on the ground was almost up to her ankles. Cheng Yaoyao walked carefully through the water. Her white, slender feet were soaked, making her uncomfortable. She wanted to act cute and ask Xie Zhao to carry her, but it was a pity they were in the city. She only raised her head when Xie Zhao suddenly stopped.

The sign for the “Lin’an City Railway Station” was right in front of them. It was raining heavily today, so there were few people in the waiting hall, and the ground was wet.

Cheng Yaoyao’s peach blossom eyes widened slightly as she saw Xie Zhao hand her the umbrella and say, “Go inside to avoid the rain; I’ll go buy the ticket.”

“Huh?” Cheng Yaoyao took the umbrella, feeling the warmth from Xie Zhao’s palm on the handle. She looked at his tight jaw and frown, and she didn’t realize what was happening until he turned and walked toward the ticket window.

Did Xie Zhao think she was going back to Shanghai? An idea popped into Cheng Yaoyao’s mind to tease him.

Xie Zhao returned shortly after, holding the train tickets: “There’s a train back to Shanghai at 1:30.”

“Oh,” Cheng Yaoyao said, “Then we wait a bit longer.”

The two found a row of chairs and sat down. Cheng Yaoyao took the tickets and looked at them. There were two tickets. “Why are there two?”

Xie Zhao said, “I’ll take you there.”

Cheng Yaoyao asked, “But what about the village?”

Xie Zhao replied in a hoarse voice, “I’ll take you home and come back.”

“Oh.” Cheng Yaoyao lightly tapped the ground with her toes, “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“Mid-Autumn Festival^[1] is a Chinese festival celebrating the harvest and moon. is coming soon,” Xie Zhao finally said.

Cheng Yaoyao blinked, looked at him, and asked, “And then?”

Xie Zhao’s dark eyes held back countless emotions as he softly said, “By Mid-Autumn Festival, the melons you planted will be ripe… I’ll keep them for you.”

Cheng Yaoyao almost laughed out loud but quickly turned her head away, saying, “But I don’t know if I can come back.”

Xie Zhao’s speech speed increased immediately, “So long? Didn’t your father recover?”

Cheng Yaoyao said, “But I’m still worried. I have to go and take care of Dad for a while. Besides…”

Cheng Yaoyao drew out her words, looked back at Xie Zhao’s anxious eyes, and said, “Maybe I won’t come back.”

Xie Zhao said flatly, “Impossible!”

“My father found some connections, and he’ll help me get a medical retirement when I go back this time.” Cheng Yaoyao said seriously, “If everything goes well, I won’t come back.”

“…” Xie Zhao’s aura suddenly became intense, like a volcano shaking under an iceberg, and the veins on the side of his neck were faintly visible.

Cheng Yaoyao covered her mouth and snickered before saying, “Hey, why are you ignoring me?”

Xie Zhao’s jaw muscles tightened, and he said nothing. Cheng Yaoyao watched him sulk for a while, then said, “I’m hungry. I want to eat steamed cakes^[2]are a type of cake cooked by steaming.”

This time, Xie Zhao reacted. He stood up and walked out without even looking at Cheng Yaoyao.

“Dummy… You’re so mad you didn’t even say a word to me.” Cheng Yaoyao rested her chin on her hand, wondering if she should be mad at him a bit longer. But when she saw Xie Zhao’s back disappearing in the wind and rain, her heart softened and sweetened, “…Xie Zhao, you big dummy.”

  The curtain at the entrance of the train station’s waiting hall was suddenly lifted, letting in a cool, fresh breeze mixed with rain. The scattered passengers looked up and saw a tall, handsome young man walking in.

An old lady sighed, “Young man, it’s raining heavily, and you don’t even have an umbrella. Be careful not to catch a cold!”

Xie Zhao had a blank expression, his eyes scanning the waiting hall. Suddenly, his face changed, and he grabbed the person next to him, asking, “Where is the girl who was sitting here just now?”

The man, startled from dozing off, looked at him in confusion: “Which girl?”

Xie Zhao said, “The one in the pink shirt!”

Someone immediately said, “She just left and got on the train.”

Xie Zhao turned and rushed to the platform. It was raining heavily, and there was a white mist on the rails. The train had already left, taking the travelers away, and Cheng Yaoyao was nowhere to be seen.

Is she gone?

The heavy rain lashed against his face, and Xie Zhao seemed oblivious, as if a part of his heart had been torn out. After spending so much time together, he had thought Cheng Yaoyao was willing to be with him, but it seemed he was wrong.

Xie Zhao pinched his palm tightly with his nails, not noticing the blood dripping through his fingers.

Suddenly, someone patted him on the back. “Why are you here?”

Xie Zhao turned around abruptly, startling Cheng Yaoyao. She asked, “Why do you look so bad?”

“You…” Xie Zhao began, only to find his voice hoarse. “Where did you go?”

In the dark, Cheng Yaoyao might not have noticed the intensity in Xie Zhao’s eyes or his strange expression. She raised the money in her hand and said, “I’ll return the ticket.”

Without waiting for Xie Zhao to respond, she explained, “My father is well and doesn’t want me to go back to Shanghai. I was just teasing you.”

The tension in Xie Zhao’s body eased gradually. His eyes, now showing a hint of red, softened, and his clenched fists loosened. Rain and blood dripped from his fingertips.

Cheng Yaoyao noticed his pale face and pulled his hand gently. “Let’s go back.”

Cheng Yaoyao suddenly covered her nose, saying, “What’s that smell?”

Xie Zhao brought his blood-stained fingertip to her eyes. Cheng Yaoyao was startled and moved away, struggling to breathe.

“Your palm is bleeding… you should bandage it up.” Cheng Yaoyao turned away and handed him a handkerchief.

Despite the rain and wind, Cheng Yaoyao could still sense the strong pure yang energy. Xie Zhao’s aura was unusually aggressive, making her feel weak. If not for the rain, she might have embarrassed herself.

Xie Zhao looked at her thoughtfully, washed the blood off his palm with rain, and bandaged the wound with the handkerchief.

Cheng Yaoyao turned around and scolded him with a rosy face, “You are too careless!”

Xie Zhao responded, “Let’s go home.”

Cheng Yaoyao then asked, “Where’s the steamed cake?”

Xie Zhao took out an oil-paper bag from his pocket, unwrapping it layer by layer. The steamed cake inside was white, tender, and steaming hot. It had a sweet fragrance and was soft and spongy, with a honeycomb-like texture.

The journey home was muddier than before. Cheng Yaoyao sat in the back of the tractor, holding the big steamed cake and chewing it contentedly. The cake was delicious and sweet.

Cheng Yaoyao looked through the oilcloth covering the tractor. Xie Zhao sat in the driver’s seat, his back to her, with water dripping down his neck and back.

Cheng Yaoyao puffed up her cheeks, feeling that this was the first time Xie Zhao had ignored her for so long.

Just as she was thinking, the car suddenly shook and stopped. Cheng Yaoyao wondered why Xie Zhao lifted the curtain of the rear compartment.

A vapor mixed with the scent of grass and trees hit her face. Behind Xie Zhao was an unfamiliar forest, not the way back to the village.

Cheng Yaoyao asked, “What’s going on?”

Xie Zhao stood with his back to the light, so Cheng Yaoyao couldn’t see his expression clearly, but she could sense his strong, aggressive aura and a faint trace of bloodiness.

Realizing she was frightened, Cheng Yaoyao moved back and said, “Xie Zhao… I’ve already apologized to you,… um!”

The curtain fell, and raindrops hit the oilcloth, creating a continuous sound that isolated them from the outside world.

Cheng Yaoyao’s back was against the cold, hard bar, and Xie Zhao’s warm breath was close to her. His tone was intimate but carried a hint of something unspoken: “Sister, you are so naughty.”

“I… I was wrong,” Cheng Yaoyao admitted. “I shouldn’t have lied to you. Please forgive me.”

Xie Zhao chuckled, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He said seriously, “I’m really angry. What do you think we should do?”

Xie Zhao’s voice was intense and resonant, making Cheng Yaoyao’s ears feel hot and her toes curl up.