Chapter 38
Su Qiuge was surprised and looked up at him.
The 17-18 years old youth had clean and deep eyebrows. His eyelashes drooped and created shadows underneath his eyes. His expression was light and indifferent, but the shadows made him appear a little lonely and desolate.
As if he had experienced countless days like today.
He forcibly removed the thorns that suddenly appeared on his body. Right away, the force on his body felt more restrained and the hostility was also weaker.
For some reason, Su Qiuge felt that he was more real and lively when he pinched her chin and questioned her.
It resembled the demeanor he revealed outside of school; when he was beating the gangsters like a rogue or when he was the internet cafe’s supervisor that threw her out.
Vigorous, proud, and reckless with the youthful energy that a young adult at this age should have.
Now he appeared depressed and gloomy, as if he had locked away all the dark emotions behind his own mask.
Su Qiuge’s heart felt a little inexplicable. She couldn’t help but said, “Seatmate, have you ever heard that people can’t breathe when they’re smiling?”
After she spoke, she carefully observed his expression. Who would’ve expected that Xie Xinglin’s face remained the same.
“……”
This method didn’t seem to be effective and she suddenly felt a little stupid.
Su Qiuge: “I’m joking.”
“Although you might be experiencing some bad things right now, you have to believe that the future will be better.”
Because this was originally the story of him overcoming obstacles and standing at the pinnacle of success.
Su Qiuge also promised, “And I definitely won’t tell anyone about this.”
She patted her chest and further promised, “Don’t worry, my mouth is tight.”
At this moment, the quiet Xie Xinglin raised his eyes and stared at her lips. His eyes were a little dark and he asked with an unknown meaning, “Really, how tight?”
“……”
???
Su Qiuge didn’t react at first but later realized that he was talking obscenely with a solemn expression.
She immediately coughed and said, “I just remembered that I haven’t finished my homework yet, I’ll go back first.”
It was afternoon and as the warm wind blew by, the sunlight also broke up the shadows on the rooftop bit by bit.
The teenager that stood at the top looked down at the girl’s disappearing back as she went down the stairway. The pieces of black hair on his forehead were gently blown by the wind and swayed in front of his eyes.
He lowered his eyes and subconsciously rubbed the fingers that had just pinched her chin.
The warmth of her skin still remained on his fingers, just like the fragrance of the rooftop plants, it lingered and couldn’t be dispelled.
He further lowered his eyes and recalled the way her pale pink lips would open and close as she explained in a panic. How, when her chin was forcibly pinched, her voice was soft, and her cheeks were filled with a lovely blush due to her nervousness.
It made others want more.
In almost the next second, he turned his face away and the corners of his mouth uncurled into a cold straight line.
**
Later, when Su Qiuge chatted with Peng Jianda, she would intentionally or otherwise inquire about Xie Xinglin’s home situation.
Although Peng Jianda was the only student in the class who could have a “normal” conversation with Xie Xinglin, he still knew very little about Xie Xinglin’s home life. He only knew what happened to Xie Xinglin’s family when he was young.
After the rooftop incident, Su Qiuge discovered that the relationship between her seatmate and her actually did not improve like she previously thought. The peace that she nervously strived for was all fake.
They went back to how they interacted when they first became seatmates.
——And that was by not interacting whatsoever.
Whenever there was a question she didn’t understand, it didn’t feel right to ask him, so she could only go ask the teacher during break the next day.
And the black math book for the competition review class was also stuffed into her schoolbag. She would only take it out at home.
And it wasn’t only Su Qiuge who felt awkward during this time period.