Chapter 349: Bringing Him Home for Dinner
So, when they heard Xie Siyuan say that with such a serious expression, they all scattered.
After all, they couldn’t beat her in a fight.
Don’t be fooled by how sweet and beautiful Xie Siyuan looked. In reality, she was quite a violent girl!
With the crowd dispersed, no one was left daring to stare at her. Xie Siyuan frowned.
‘Seriously, getting through to Lu Xunyu is going to be a bit difficult.’
But she didn’t want to give up.
So for the next few days, Xie Siyuan used the excuse that she didn’t like milk and gave hers to Lu Xunyu every day.
Sometimes, she would also share her snacks with Lu Xunyu between classes.
Lu Xunyu, in turn, went from being ice-cold at the beginning to eventually exchanging a few words with Xie Siyuan.
However, he still didn’t seem to enjoy talking much.
Sometimes, Xie Siyuan would say a great deal, only for him to reply with a sentence or two.
Xie Siyuan felt a bit helpless about this, but there was nothing she could do.
‘I’ll just have to accept it as his habit.’
The two of them were assigned to cleaning duty together.
One day, just as they finished cleaning, a sudden clap of thunder echoed from outside, followed immediately by a heavy downpour.
Xie Siyuan jumped, not expecting the weather to change so abruptly.
“I didn’t bring an umbrella.” Xie Siyuan frowned and looked over at Lu Xunyu.
But she saw the boy staring out at the rain, his face deathly pale. His pitch-black pupils were completely vacant, as if his soul had left his body.
His expression startled Xie Siyuan.
She hurried over and blocked the boy’s view of the window. “What’s wrong with you?”
The girl’s voice, carrying her sweet scent, snapped Lu Xunyu out of his daze.
He gradually came back to his senses, the initial look of tension and worry fading from his face.
“What’s wrong?” Xie Siyuan asked again. “Are you afraid of the thunder? Don’t be scared. I’m right here with you.”
As she spoke, she reached out and took Lu Xunyu’s hand.
The girl’s hand was soft, her slender fingers warm. The moment she touched him, Lu Xunyu flinched as if he’d received an electric shock, instinctively pulling his hand away.
“I’m fine.” He turned and went back to gather his things.
Seeing him finish packing and start to walk out, Xie Siyuan immediately called after him, “Wait! How are you going to get home in this downpour?”
At that moment, the rain was pouring buckets, which wasn’t a common sight in Beijing.
‘The temperature must be about to drop, for it to suddenly rain so hard.’
Lu Xunyu’s gaze drifted unwillingly to the window, his thin lips pressed into a tight line.
Xie Siyuan could tell that he didn’t actually want to leave.
But for some reason, it was as if he’d encountered something terrible. He’d lost his usual indifference and seemed to be on the verge of breaking down.
Of course, he was trying his best to keep it suppressed.
Xie Siyuan thought for a moment. Finally, she took a piece of candy from her schoolbag and offered it to Lu Xunyu. “How about you have a candy? My mom bought them for me, and they’re really yummy!”
Lu Xunyu looked at Xie Siyuan’s open palm, where a single piece of candy lay.
It was a strawberry milk candy, and from the wrapper, it looked quite fancy.
‘Her family is rich.’
‘But, she’s giving it to me?’
Lu Xunyu didn’t move.
Xie Siyuan simply unwrapped it and held it to his lips. “Go on, eat.”
Seeing how insistent she was, Lu Xunyu had no choice but to open his mouth and take the candy.
The sweet candy dissolved in his mouth, releasing the fragrance of strawberries and the rich mellowness of milk. It was a strange, wonderful sensation.
He had never tasted such a delicious candy before; it was like drinking actual strawberry milk.
“Is it good?” Xie Siyuan asked, her eyes crinkling into a smile.
Lu Xunyu nodded.
“Then can you do homework with me for a while?” Xie Siyuan opened her workbook and looked at Lu Xunyu. “You seem really good at science and math. That’s exactly where I’m weak. Can you help me?”
Before Lu Xunyu could refuse, Xie Siyuan started asking him how to solve the problems. Lu Xunyu was helpless.
‘Forget it,’ he thought. ‘It seems that no matter how I refuse, I have to give in to her in the end.’
‘In that case, I might as well just accept my fate.’
By the time they finished their homework, the rain had stopped. The air carried the clean, fresh scent of the world after a shower.
As Xie Siyuan and Lu Xunyu walked out of the school, she looked at him. “You really seemed to hate the rain earlier, didn’t you?”
Her mother had once told her that if someone has a strange aversion to something, it means there’s a story hidden behind it.
‘It was most likely something very unpleasant.’
‘I wonder what it is.’
Hearing this, Lu Xunyu said flatly, “No. I just find it troublesome. Everything gets wet and damp. It’s annoying.”
‘Is that all?’
Xie Siyuan was lost in thought.
As they walked toward their respective homes, Xie Siyuan was surprised to realize they lived on the same street, just about ten meters apart.
‘We live so close!’
“My house is right over there!” Xie Siyuan pointed, then turned to Lu Xunyu. “I can’t believe we live so close! We can walk home together from now on when we have time.”
When the girl spoke, her eyes curved into beautiful crescents.
Even though the light had grown dim, Xie Siyuan’s face seemed to have a soft glow, making her look exceptionally beautiful.
“Why don’t you come to my place for dinner? I’m telling you, my mom’s cooking is unbelievably good. Come on!” Xie Siyuan once again tugged on Lu Xunyu’s hand, pulling him toward her house.
‘This is a good chance for my mom to meet him,’ she thought. ‘He looks so pitiful, with no friends and all alone in a new city.’
She had grown up surrounded by love, so she was more than willing to share a little of that warmth with Lu Xunyu.
At the very least, she wanted to make him feel that being alive in this world was something worthwhile.
This time, Lu Xunyu didn’t resist.
Perhaps it was because a part of him also yearned for a bit of liveliness, for the warmth of a family atmosphere?
Otherwise, returning to that cold, empty house would be just too awful.
Before, they had wanted to hire someone to look after him, but he had refused them all.
He had always been quite self-sufficient. When his parents were busy with work, he was the one who did all the cooking.
He had been taking care of himself since elementary school.
This was even more true now. In fact, he had grown unaccustomed to being around strangers; it made him feel insecure.
His gaze fell to where the girl was holding his hand. ‘How strange,’ he thought. ‘Doesn’t she know that boys and girls aren’t supposed to be so casual with physical contact?’
‘Why is she always grabbing me?’
And yet, he found he wasn’t pulling away.
The Xie Family Home.
Xie Siyuan burst through the door and shouted, “Mom, I brought my deskmate home for dinner!”
Lu Xunyu followed her in, looking a bit reserved.
A woman walked out of the kitchen. Lu Xunyu’s gaze fell upon her, and he froze.
‘As expected of Xie Siyuan’s mother,’ he thought. ‘She’s so young and beautiful. You’d never guess she has a daughter this old.’