CH 8

The rain was still falling, but the frequency of raindrops tapping against the eaves and leaves had slowed down slightly. Still, the rain was urgent and impatient, and its noise was loud and chaotic.

The students who had stayed on the first floor without an umbrella slowly gathered together, and their voices mixed in with the sound of rain, making it even noisier.

“What nonsense,” Xi Ning raised her voice in the midst of the buzzing, with a hint of displeasure in her raised eyebrows. “Helping you last time was just a favor. Don’t take advantage of me. Were you the one pursuing that girl, or was I?”

“I was, I was~” Xi Mu showed his small and white teeth, grinning foolishly. His mind seemed to be out of whack as he whispered, “But if you wanted to pursue her, I’d support you too.”

What nonsense.

Xi Ning was too lazy to deal with this guy who seemed to always come up with strange ideas. But after thinking about it for a moment, she felt that his words were twisted and something was not quite right. Her eyebrows gradually furrowed into a “little mountain.”

“Are you joking?” Xi Ning was speechless. “So, you want me to deliver the umbrella?”

Had this guy lost his mind?

“You’re in the same class. It was a good opportunity to show love to your fellow classmates. Both of you are girls, so she shouldn’t refuse,” Xi Mu said.

Thinking of the words she had heard on the dormitory terrace the previous night, Xi Ning casually said, “How do you know she hasn’t refused a girl before?”

“Ah…”

Not wanting to waste any more time with him, Xi Ning took a step forward, saying, “Since it’s someone you want to pursue, you should figure it out yourself.”

As she opened the clasp of her folding umbrella, Xi Ning turned her head and asked, “Are you coming or not? If not, I’ll leave.”

Xi Mu, seeing that she was leaving so decisively, hurriedly said, “Don’t go, Sister! If you help me again, no, twice, I’ll tell you about the dirt I have on Old Man Xi. How about that?”

Because Xi Mu was five years older than Xi Ning and had a somewhat dull personality compared to her carefree nature, she often pampered Xi Mu. Despite the small age difference, there was a strong feeling of an older man and younger woman romance between them, so privately, the two siblings gave him the nickname “Old Man Xi.”

Xi Ning paused, feeling a little tempted.

In fact, her personality was more similar to Old Man Xi’s. Although she was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl in the prime of her life, she seemed less lively because of her lack of interest. She couldn’t even be described as a “bubbly young girl.” Apart from her academic goals and her naturally superior athletic ability, she seemed to lack interest in anything else. Even Xi Mu occasionally had bursts of girlishness and bought some cute pink hair accessories, but because of Xi Ning’s lack of interest, they ended up on Xi Mu’s head.

However, it couldn’t be said that Xi Ning didn’t have a girlish heart at all. Among her barren interests, the only thing that could make her heart beat faster was fluffy things – especially small animals that were fluffy and could make noise. If she encountered a stray cat that was not afraid and actively approached her on the side of the road, she would stop and not be able to move.

So, having a pet had always been her wish, and Xi Mu was also somewhat interested, but Old Man Xi firmly disagreed.

Xi Ning turned her head back and asked, “What do you have on him?”

“I’ll tell you if you promise to help me,” Xi Mu said.

Xi Ning turned around and was stopped by Xi Mu. “Um…he secretly stashes away his personal money, and I accidentally found out. If you knew, wouldn’t it cause a fuss?”

…I didn’t expect it to be this kind of “dirt.”

However, for Xi Mu and Xi Ning, this “leverage” seemed to be useful in persuading Old Man Xi to agree to adopt a pet, although it was a bit unfair.

“Ahem.” Old Man Xi cleared his throat, feeling a bit uncertain.

Old Man Xi took advantage of the opportunity and pulled out his phone, opened his photo album, and added, “Chen’s dog just had a litter of golden retriever puppies, and one of them looks exactly like its mother. I asked him to keep it…”

“The last two times, you said no,” Xi Ning stared at the fluffy litter in the photo, feeling a bit shameful, but she was really tempted.

Old Man Xi changed the situation and began to negotiate, “The last two times were leverage, but this is a kitten…”

Xi Ning warned him with a glance, but he responded with a fearless smile.

At the nearby stall, Kong Nianxi rejected another person who came to deliver an umbrella. The young man had white skin that reflected light and wore gold-rimmed glasses, giving him a nerdy look. Xi Ning vaguely remembered him because they had met in the stairwell before the lab class. Tuo Xiaoyuan had been excitedly exclaiming how handsome he was, but as they passed by each other, he winked and made an awkward gesture, which made Xi Ning feel embarrassed, so she remembered him.

Xi Ning walked slowly through the crowd with the umbrella, approaching Kong Nianxi from behind. The young man was still standing beside her.

She slowed down even more, almost crawling like a snail. But there were less than two meters left, and she couldn’t drag it out any longer.

Kong Nianxi lowered her head and stared at her phone quietly, while the young man next to her kept talking and occasionally leaned over to see her phone screen. Kong Nianxi moved to the side, and her cold profile lifted.

Xi Ning hesitated for a moment and didn’t know how to start. She instinctively turned to the side and saw Xi Mu gesturing wildly in the distance, pointing at the young man with one hand and making a “cut throat” gesture with the other, while mouthing the words “leverage.”

This guy looks like a monkey. And is he threatening and ordering her?

Xi Ning became angry in an instant, but before she could react, she caught a glimpse of Kong Nianxi turning around half a meter away from her, and their eyes met directly.

For a moment, Kong Nianxi was clearly stunned, and her eyes were full of surprise.

One second, two seconds. The time that the atmosphere was frozen could be short or long. If she wasn’t so close and the target wasn’t so obvious, she would have wanted to rush past the two of them.

Until the young man with glasses looked back curiously, Xi Ning gritted her teeth and handed the umbrella to Kong Nianxi neatly, saying, “Did you need an umbrella?”

Although it was clear that she had come to offer it, her tone sounded a bit like “take it or leave it.”

Combined with Xi Ning’s current appearance, which clearly showed that she had been standing behind them for a while, there was a subtle feeling between them.

The surprise in Kong Nianxi’s eyes slowly disappeared, replaced by a shallow smile with some hidden meaning.

“Did you come here to find me on purpose?”

Her tone was gentle, with a hint of joy.

Xi Ning had originally expected her to refuse or simply take the umbrella and leave, but she didn’t expect to be asked such a question. She was taken aback for a moment but then realized that she had indeed come to find her and nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s go.”

OKong Nianxi pointed her toes and intimately linked her arm with Xi Ning’s, pulling her past the young man with glasses and walking straight ahead.