Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
An Shaojie rushed forward too recklessly, and by the time he reached the shore, he couldn't stop his momentum.
Perhaps he didn't want to stop, because when he saw Qinglan fall from the high bank, his hand instinctively reached toward the bottom of the shore, and his body followed hers without hesitation as he jumped down.
An Shaojie and Qinglan landed almost simultaneously. Oh no, An Shaojie actually hit the ground first because he jumped straight down, while Qinglan's body rolled down along the bank, causing her to land a bit slower.
The two of them fell into the grass-filled ditch at the edge of the shore. An Shaojie got up from the ground and glanced at Qinglan lying there. Seeing that she seemed to be mostly unhurt, he was preparing to brush himself off and leave alone.
Yes, this is fine. He had originally planned to take revenge on this stubborn, self-righteous girl who thought herself clever and overly sentimental. Well, now there was no need for him to devise any revenge; fate had already punished her. All he needed to do was not lend her a hand.
Let her wait here for her family to find her!
An Shaojie looked up at the sky. The dense trees obscured it, blocking out any light, but judging by the heavy dusk settling on the ground and around them, a heavy rain was about to wash over this thick forest.
Lying on the ground, Qinglan looked at An Shaojie with a pained expression, her mouth open in distress as she struggled several times but couldn't support her body to stand up.
Clearly, her leg was injured. Her clothes were disheveled, her hair was a mess, and her face was covered in dirt and scratches from thorns.
She looked at An Shaojie with helpless eyes.
An Shaojie smirked slightly, a mix of grimace and cold laughter. "Let yourself suffer then, you fearless girl."
Just as An Shaojie was about to step away, he heard a buzzing sound approaching from afar, growing louder.
"This is bad." An Shaojie felt a jolt of alarm; a swarm of black bees was heading toward them.
The attack by the bees is quite fierce, and everyone in the mountains knows that during this season, it's easy to stumble upon a wasp nest. Once encountered, one should cover their head and face with clothing; it is said that running only makes the bees chase closer.
However, An Shaojie and Qinglan had never faced such a situation before. Lacking experience, when they saw so many bees coming towards them, their first reaction was to run.
An Shaojie took off running.
But the groans from the person lying on the ground reminded him that she couldn't move; she couldn't run, and she had no cloth to cover her head and face.
The short dress barely covered her head and face, let alone her body.
Hearing the groans, An Shaojie hesitated for a moment, paused, stood still, and looked back at her.
At that moment, bees had already swarmed onto her head and face. The scattered bees began to settle on him as well, covering his head and face.
Qinglan held her head with both hands, unable to care for her face; she covered her face but neglected her head. The thin fabric of her short dress offered no protection for her body.
Her legs were immobile, and her hands flailed wildly in the air. She could no longer pay attention to the pain in her legs and feet.
In utter distress, she began to whimper softly, and after a while, she started to cry. Accompanied by her low sobs, tears blurred her vision as she occasionally lifted her eyes from her palms. Her gaze shifted from helplessness to a faint sadness.
An Shaojie remained rooted in place; he neither ran nor approached. The bees surrounded him as he bounced around trying to dodge them.
Watching her sorrowful eyes, her helpless demeanor, and her frantic attempts to swat away the bees for self-protection—her face, legs, and arms already dotted with red welts from bee stings—a surge of tenderness suddenly welled up in An Shaojie's heart. A feeling of heartache flooded through him.
His vision began to blur.
He forgot to fend off the Bee attacking him and slowly raised his arm, taking off his shirt as he moved towards her.
Qinglan stared at him with a look of terror as he approached her slowly.
Suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit him, accompanied by pain from the bee venom, perhaps mixed with fear, exhaustion, and fatigue. Qinglan collapsed and fainted.
An Shaojie stepped forward, scooping Qinglan up from the ground into his arms. He raised his shirt and swatted at the few buzzing Bees left above them, then covered her head and face with the shirt.
Tears streamed down An Shaojie's face.
Sitting on the ground, he held the unconscious Qinglan, her head and face covered, letting the Bee sting him.
It wasn't until he felt raindrops falling through the gaps in the trees that he stood up from the ground.
The Bees had dispersed, and the forest returned to silence. A few sparrows occasionally chirped, while the raindrops falling from the trees grew larger and more frequent. Outside and above the forest, the mountain wind howled through the sky.
The entire forest was quiet and still.
An Shaojie lifted the unconscious Qinglan onto his back. He looked up at the sky; although he couldn't see it, he could still imagine that it was bright beyond the trees.
So, he had to carry her out of the forest and into the bright sky.
However, An Shaojie did not feel that his actions were great or heroic. He even felt wronged and suffocated, feeling uncomfortable from the injustice and the pressure.
When he finally walked out of the forest, the rain outside was thick and misty, and the mountain path was rugged and difficult to navigate. The weight of Qinglan on his back grew heavier.
He walked for a while before stopping, his hands gripping Qinglan's arms resting on his shoulders. He wanted to put her down.
If he put her down, he would feel relieved. He could stride back home without getting drenched, and the pain on his body and face would not be so unbearable.
Most importantly, his heart would not ache anymore.
Because he owed her nothing; he could disregard her. She and her family had brought him so much humiliation. He had originally planned to punish and take revenge on her.
Yet, he carried her on his back, taking on the responsibility of caring for her.
An Shaojie felt unwilling, resentful of his own weakness, especially during this critical moment.
Thinking of Shaw Min, "Sister, I’m sorry. I actually carried the sister of my enemy on my back."
Tears welled up in An Shaojie's eyes like a flood breaking through a dam, cascading down his cheeks.
As he thought of the deepest pain in his heart, he even opened his throat, tilting his face up to the rain in anguish. In this silent mountain filled only with the sound of rain, mist, and trees, no one would mock his weakness or laugh at his cries. So he allowed himself to be vulnerable; there was no need to suppress the choking in his throat as he looked skyward in pain. For Bai Cuifen's grievances and humiliation, for Shaw Min's suffering, for the disdain and shame he had endured himself, tears mixed with rainwater streamed down his entire face.
Comment 0 Comment Count