Shu Nian could hardly believe it. Nervous and flustered, she almost hung up the phone. She steadied her breathing and answered the call.

The next second, a deep and cold male voice came from the other end.

“Who is this?”

Shu Nian’s breath caught, her fingers unconsciously picking at the blanket. She opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.

Surprisingly, the person on the other end was very patient, neither hurrying her nor hanging up.

After a long while, Shu Nian asked in a husky voice, “Hello, is this Xie Ruhe?”

The other side remained silent for a long time, so quiet that not even breathing could be heard.

It was as if the phone had been placed far, far away, forgetting to end this sudden call. Indifferent, not knowing with what feelings the person on the other end had made this call.

Outside the window, it was still raining—torrential rain sounds, splashing noisily, accompanied by gusts of wind. It overlapped and merged with the rain sounds in her memories.

After an unknown length of time.

The man spoke, his voice hoarse, cold, and emotionless, like an ice-cold cola suddenly pressed against one’s face, numbing.

“You’ve got the wrong person.”

…

The first time Shu Nian met Xie Ruhe was also on a rainy night like tonight. It carried the same chill; with each breath, what filled her lungs was cold and damp.

It was during her second year of junior high, in that small place called Shi Yan Town.

Walking home from school took about twenty minutes.

Winter was approaching, and darkness fell quickly. The lights along the path weren’t very bright, with small flying ants fluttering their wings inside. The sound of rain was loud in her ears, and the puddles accumulated on the ground gleamed, reflecting light.

After school, Shu Nian didn’t want to go home too early, so she finished her homework in the classroom before leaving the school gates. She held her umbrella, carefully avoiding puddles on the ground, afraid of dirtying her shoes.

She walked slowly. By the time it was almost seven o’clock, she had only reached the water bridge near her home.

Once across this bridge, she would arrive at her residential area.

Shu Nian was about to cross when she heard cursing from the distance. She blinked, thinking briefly, and seconds later matched the voice with one in her memory.

It was Uncle Li Hong who lived next door to her family.

“Can’t you do anything right?! If it weren’t for Yu Peng recommending you, I would have kicked you out long ago!” Li Hong wore a raincoat, hands on his hips, spitting as he shouted, “Tell me, now that all these goods are wet, how am I supposed to explain it?”

Hearing this, Shu Nian stood on tiptoe and looked over.

She saw a tall, thin boy standing in front of Li Hong, head lowered. His loose blue and white school uniform jacket was unzipped, revealing the school uniform short-sleeve underneath. The pants seemed a bit short on him, with water dripping from the hems.

His face was obscured by the rain mist; only a vague outline was visible.

Shu Nian wasn’t sure what had happened and slowly walked towards them.

The closer she got, the clearer the situation became.

Behind the two was a small three-wheeled cart with several cardboard boxes. The cart had a canopy, but it was punctured, allowing raindrops to leak through, soaking the boxes until they were wrinkled.

Shu Nian recognized the cart; it was Li Hong’s. The canopy had always been broken.

Li Hong continued cursing, even pushing Xie Ruhe’s shoulder, his expression domineering.

“Anyway, today’s losses will be deducted from your wages!”

Xie Ruhe stumbled back a step from the push but still didn’t say a word. His head hung low; from this angle, only his exposed nose bridge and lips were visible, his jawline rigid, masseter muscles tightened. He was completely soaked.

In this weather, it was as if he would freeze solid.

The ugly cursing continued unabated.

During this time, Shu Nian walked up beside the two, sharing half of her umbrella with Xie Ruhe.

She was very small, with a small face, fair and smooth skin, and delicate features, looking just like a porcelain doll.

Shu Nian looked up at the overbearing Li Hong in front of her and called softly, “Uncle Li.”

Seeing Shu Nian, Li Hong’s expression grew even more unpleasant.

“Little brat, hurry back home.”

Shu Nian immediately corrected him: “I’m not a little brat.”

Li Hong gave a cold laugh.

Shu Nian pointed at the three-wheeled cart and said seriously, “I remember your cart’s canopy was already torn. Isn’t this a problem with the tool you provided him? You can’t just withhold his wages because of this.”

Having his intentions exposed, Li Hong was very displeased and quibbled, “I handed the goods to him, and if there’s a problem with the goods, of course, I’ll hold him responsible. Do you expect me to take the loss myself?”

Shu Nian was a bit stunned but wasn’t misled by him and wanted to continue reasoning.

“But this cart—”

“That’s enough, don’t say anymore. It’s annoying,” Li Hong picked at his ear and got on the three-wheeled cart. “What kind of thing are you to lecture me? There must be something wrong with your head.”

Shu Nian pressed her lips together and said, “Don’t insult people.”

“What’s wrong with insulting you? When goods have problems, you find the delivery person. That’s the rule here. What nonsense are you talking about?” Li Hong turned his head and shouted, “This is so damn unlucky!”

After saying this, he didn’t wait for Shu Nian to speak again, stepped on the pedal, and quickly left.

Only the two of them remained on the water bridge, silent and wordless.

Shu Nian scratched her head, having no solution, and could only turn to look at Xie Ruhe beside her, asking, “Do you live around here?”

He didn’t speak, didn’t look at her, and turned to walk in the opposite direction of the residential area.

Shu Nian was stunned and hurriedly followed.

His steps were larger than hers; Shu Nian had to jog to keep up with him.

Her shoes splashed through puddles, getting stained, all her careful efforts along the way wasted. Anxious, Shu Nian instinctively grabbed the corner of his clothes, somewhat angry: “Hey!”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe paused, his footsteps stopping.

This action immediately dissipated Shu Nian’s slight anger.

Remembering her impolite shout just now, Shu Nian wrinkled her face in annoyance. She pointed at the umbrella handle and asked softly, “Can you hold this for me?”

Shu Nian looked up, her gaze meeting his.

His bangs were somewhat long, half-covering his eyes, making it difficult to see his expression.

But he seemed confused by her behavior.

However, this time Xie Ruhe did respond to her words. After a moment of silence, he obediently took the umbrella from her hand.

Shu Nian thanked him softly, unzipping the small compartment of her backpack while secretly observing him.

The boy’s hair was wet, with water droplets falling from the ends, and his face was very pale. His eyelashes were dense and long, like two small fans. His eyes were like spots of lacquer, clear and distinct. His nose bridge was straight, beneath which his cold-purpled lips were lightly pressed together.

Shu Nian didn’t have a rich vocabulary and couldn’t think of how to describe his appearance.

The first word that surfaced in her mind was—”beautiful.”

Though gloomy, he was an extremely beautiful boy.

She didn’t have much to do; she just wanted to give him the umbrella.

Shu Nian thought for a moment, took out a mango soft candy from her backpack, and placed it in front of him as if to comfort him.

“Have a candy.”

Xie Ruhe didn’t take it.

Shu Nian looked at him with round eyes, and after a standoff, she gripped the candy a bit tighter. Like a little adult, she sighed deeply and put the candy in his pocket.

“On a rainy day… uh, don’t get rained on. My home is right here; I can run back quickly.”

He still ignored her.

Shu Nian didn’t get angry and added, “Take the umbrella and go home early.”

After saying this, she didn’t wait for his response, lowered her head, and moved her backpack to her front.

Just as she was about to run forward, Xie Ruhe suddenly held the umbrella over her. The umbrella completely covered her, while his body was once again exposed to the heavy rain.

Shu Nian paused and turned to look at him.

The heavy rain drenched him completely, the hair on his forehead clumped together, and his short-sleeve shirt clung to his body, outlining his somewhat frail figure, the whole person in a sorry state.

Shu Nian didn’t take the umbrella; her eyes were coated with a layer of moisture in this rainy weather, like two black beads soaked in water.

“Aren’t you cold? Why don’t you use the umbrella?”

Xie Ruhe lowered his eyes, avoiding her gaze.

Shu Nian didn’t know what to say anymore, but having spent so much time on this matter, it didn’t make sense to stop now. With lowered eyes, she said softly, “Then goodbye.”

She had just taken a step forward.

The person beside her also took a step forward.

Shu Nian turned to look at him, somewhat puzzled: “Or is your home also in this area?”

He didn’t move his head at all, showing no sign of nodding. Shu Nian could only say hesitantly, “Then come under the umbrella, let’s go.”

Silence all the way.

After crossing the bridge, continuing straight ahead, seeing a house with an old locust tree in its yard, turning right, and walking to the fourth streetlight, they arrived at Shu Nian’s home.

She stopped: “I’m here, goodbye.”

Shu Nian fumbled in her pocket for her key, hearing Xie Ruhe’s footsteps leaving behind her.

She opened the door.

When she looked back, Xie Ruhe had already walked to the second streetlight on this road, still holding her umbrella, his silhouette blurred by the rain curtain.

That spot was right in front of Li Hong’s house.

In the narrow yard sat the three-wheeled cart from earlier and an old black bicycle. He suddenly stopped, quietly looking at the bicycle.

Light and shadow crossed his pale face, his expression obscure and unclear.

After entering the house.

Hearing the commotion, Deng Qingyu came out from the kitchen. Noticing Shu Nian’s dirty shoes and empty hands, her expression became displeased: “Why so late? Where’s your umbrella? Given to someone else again?”

Shu Nian took off her shoes and socks, nodding: “I saw a boy being cheated out of his wages by Uncle Li Hong, and he didn’t have an umbrella, so I gave mine to him.”

“I’ve told you hundreds of times!” Deng Qingyu immediately became fierce, “How many suffering people are there in the world? Can you help every one of them? Take care of yourself first! Stop listening to that nonsense from your father!”

“I don’t need to help everyone in the world,” Shu Nian picked up her shoes and walked into the bathroom, “but when I see someone, I can’t just ignore them. An umbrella isn’t that expensive.”

Shu Nian listened to her mother in everything except this aspect, where she was as stubborn as her father. Deng Qingyu didn’t want to hear her say so much and looked her over: “Did you get wet? Go take a shower quickly; leave the shoes for now.”

Shu Nian stood at the washbasin, obediently finding a basin to soak her shoes.

“No, that person walked me home before leaving.”

A moment of silence.

Deng Qingyu took a deep breath and pulled Shu Nian out of the bathroom. This time her voice was no longer loud but serious, as if trying to reason with her: “Shu Nian, I’ll tell you one last time. There are many bad people in this world; you can’t always be like this, without any sense of caution.”

“But everyone around is familiar…” Shu Nian was startled by her sudden action, her speech becoming a bit rushed, “That boy should be about my age; he was still wearing a junior high school uniform.”

“Bad people come in all ages. And with the rain so loud, it could completely mask your voice.” Deng Qingyu closed her eyes briefly, her expression tired, “Can you listen to your mother? I can’t control others, but you are my child.”

“…”

“From now on, come straight home after school, understand? Don’t linger outside.”

“…”

Shu Nian lowered her eyes, looking at the floor.

After a long while, she said softly, “Okay.”

Because of this incident, Shu Nian was dispirited all day. She felt she hadn’t done anything wrong, yet her mother scolded her, saying she was like a bad child who didn’t listen.

The next day after school, Shu Nian no longer lingered at school and walked home with her backpack.

It was still bright, the rain had stopped, and the ground was gradually drying.

On the way home, Shu Nian encountered several familiar neighbors. She gripped her backpack straps, walking forward with a heavy heart. Passing by the house with the old locust tree, she suddenly heard women inside mentioning Li Hong’s name.

Shu Nian’s footsteps inexplicably stopped, and she leaned against the outer wall to listen to their conversation.

After listening for a while, the summary seemed to be:

Li Hong had gone out today, riding his rickety bicycle, when the brakes failed. He crashed into a tree by the roadside, breaking half his leg, and was now lying in the hospital.

Shu Nian’s expression froze as she inexplicably recalled the final scene from yesterday.

The boy standing there as if isolated from the world. His gaze fixed on Li Hong’s yard, his expression dark and full of malice.

Surely it couldn’t be…

Recalling her mother’s words from yesterday, Shu Nian unconsciously clenched her fists, continuing to walk with confused thoughts.

She was almost at her front door.

Looking up, Shu Nian’s footsteps paused again.

The boy she had just been thinking about was now standing in front of her house’s yard.

He was slender but tall, standing straight, no longer in the sorry state of yesterday. Wearing the junior high school uniform, his features were young but devoid of any emotion. Black bright almond eyes, a nose bridge as if carved by a knife, and lips as if dyed with rouge.

In his hand was the umbrella she had given him yesterday.

Shu Nian silently crowned him with the title of “Most Beautiful Junior High Student.”

She walked over.

Noticing her figure, Xie Ruhe glanced at her. He came over, his movements not gentle, directly stuffing the umbrella into Shu Nian’s arms before leaving.

Not lingering for even a second.

But Xie Ruhe hadn’t gone far.

The next moment, Shu Nian suddenly ran in front of him, strenuously pulling him aside. Her expression was very serious, her soft voice lowered, exceptionally delicate: “Do you know Uncle Li Hong is in the hospital?”

Xie Ruhe looked at her expressionlessly, saying nothing.

With him like this, Shu Nian didn’t know what he was thinking and became somewhat anxious: “It wasn’t you, was it?”