Initially, Chai Qianning was about three fists' distance away from her opponent.
As lightning pierced through the blackout curtains, bringing a sliver of light, Chai Qianning shifted her body slightly, moving closer to Sheng Muxi.
After lying down, Chai Qianning didn't say a word. Her breathing was shallow and hot as it spread across Sheng Muxi's exposed shoulders.
In the dim light, Sheng Muxi glanced at her sideways. The other woman was bent over slightly, her eyes closed, a few strands of hair falling onto her face and drooping listlessly onto the back of her hand.
The two were less than a fist's distance apart; if either of them made a single move, they would collide.
Time ticked by, and Sheng Muxi took longer to fall asleep than usual because there was someone else beside her.
In a daze, my consciousness gradually faded.
In the quiet night, the sound of rain was particularly noticeable, but suddenly, a clap of thunder resounded through the sky, instantly waking Sheng Muxi from her drowsiness.
As Sheng Muxi opened her eyes, she felt the skin of the person next to her pressed against hers.
Chai Qianning rustled a few times, seemingly startled by the thunder.
The glass windows groaned in the wind, as if they might be torn off at any moment.
As the second clap of thunder sounded, it's unclear who approached whom first, but their warmth was transferred to each other, making the cool rainy night feel hot.
Chai Qianning remained silent throughout, but Sheng Muxi thought she wasn't asleep and assumed she was afraid of thunder. After hesitating for a few seconds, he reached out and gently patted her back.
Chai Qianning then nestled into her arms.
In the latter half of the night, Sheng Muxi woke up several times, while the rain outside continued to drizzle.
At that moment, Chai Qianning, already fast asleep, adopted an even more unrestrained and carefree posture. This made Sheng Muxi realize that her initial peaceful sleeping posture was all an act.
Sheng Muxi rolled over, her arm touching the edge of the bed and even dangling in the air.
She propped her head up and realized that Chai Qianning had somehow taken over her pillow.
After her eyes adjusted to the darkness for a while, Sheng Muxi was able to see the other person's sleeping posture more clearly.
Anyway, it wasn't a very well-behaved sleeping position.
She watched for a few seconds, found it funny and cute, and then lay down again.
Before long, the other person's hand covered her, followed by their feet, all of which were placed on her body.
Sheng Muxi froze, too stunned to move.
She slowly turned her head, and without noticing from a blind spot, her lips brushed against the corner of the other person's lips.
In the dead of night, she could almost hear her own heartbeat.
Afraid of waking the other person, she didn't dare to move too much, only moving little by little. First, she turned her head back, stared at the ceiling, and exhaled.
Both of their pajamas were very thin and offered virtually no insulation.
Sheng Muxi was wearing a tank top that was below her knees, so at this moment, Chai Qianning's legs were draped over hers, almost completely touching her skin.
She remained lying in that position for an unknown amount of time until her legs started to sweat. She gently, quietly, and slowly pulled her legs out.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
But I couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night.
Chai Qianning slept quite peacefully.
Her collar was tilted to one side because of her sleeping position, leaving a large gap in the middle that revealed her pale collarbone, and below that, it was a completely different scene.
Sheng Muxi seemed to only then realize that the other person wasn't wearing a bra!
She nervously looked away. Because the movement of turning over was a bit loud, Chai Qianning also made some rustling sounds. She hugged the corner of the quilt and turned to the other side.
The air wasn't so hot anymore, and Sheng Muxi touched her face with her hand.
She felt that she was the one who had been enduring and suppressing everything that night.
The next day, Sheng Muxi was woken up by an alarm clock.
She weakly raised one hand to reach for her phone on the bedside table and turned off the alarm.
Feeling as if her body was being restrained by something soft, Sheng Muxi rubbed against it without even opening her eyes. The warm, fluctuating breath made her realize something was wrong. She suddenly opened her eyelids and saw Chai Qianning hugging her.
The worst part was that she was also holding Chai Qianning with her other hand.
She gasped, wondering what was happening.
Chai Qianning's eyelids twitched, and she lazily lifted them to meet Sheng Muxi's gaze.
".."
Chai Qianning closed her eyes again and naturally let go of her. Sheng Muxi also turned to the other side and opened her phone to check messages.
A notification in the group stated that many roads in City A were flooded due to the heavy rain last night.
For the safety of all teachers and students, the school will be closed for one day. Teachers and students staying on campus should stay in their dormitories and not leave the campus.
Sheng Muxi forwarded the notice to the class group and the parents' group, and then lowered her wrist.
Turning around, he found that Chai Qianning had already sat up, staring blankly into the air as if she hadn't woken up yet.
After a while, Chai Qianning came to her senses and turned to look at Sheng Muxi: "Good morning, Teacher Sheng."
"Good morning," Sheng Muxi replied.
Chai Qianning's voice was a little hoarse as she woke up: "It seemed like it rained all night last night, I even heard thunder in my dream."
"Did you sleep well?" Sheng Muxi asked.
"good."
Their conversation was so natural, as if the excitement of last night and the awkwardness of this morning had vanished.
Sheng Muxi slowly got out of bed and drew back the curtains. The mess left by last night's storm came into view.
Many wet, rotten leaves had fallen onto the windowsill, and a few needle-like brown plants were stuck to the glass.
Several trees in the neighborhood have broken under the pressure, and among their sprawling branches hang a few things that are hard to tell whether they are clothes or rags.
Several staff members wearing identical vests were handling the situation below.
The air was filled with the scent of fresh grass, mixed with the aroma of earth and the smell of rain.
Are you going to school today?
Chai Qianning had somehow gotten behind her.
"Classes are suspended for one day, you don't need to go."
"Okay." Chai Qianning walked towards the entrance.
Sheng Muxi stared at her disheveled back and reminded her, "It rained heavily all night last night, and many roads are flooded. If you don't have anything to do today, try to stay home and don't go out."
"I understand." Chai Qianning's tone rose slightly at the end, tinged with a hint of pleasure.
Watching the other person leave and close the door, Sheng Muxi's gaze lingered on the entryway for a while, thinking to herself, "It seems the other person really slept quite well last night."
Thinking about it, Sheng Muxi crawled back into bed to catch up on sleep.
Lying in the spot where Chai Qianning had lain, a strange feeling rose in her heart.
A few minutes later, as if remembering something, she picked up her phone and sent a message to Chai Qianning: "Remember to eat breakfast, otherwise it's bad for your stomach."
Chai Qianning didn't reply to her, and she guessed that the other person might have fallen asleep again after going back.
As it turned out, her guess was correct.
Around 11 a.m., Sheng Muxi finished catching up on sleep and saw Chai Qianning's reply from a few minutes earlier: 【Okay.】
Sheng Muxi typed: 【Are you sleeping?】
Chai Qianning: [Yes.]
Sheng Muxi: [Didn't you say you slept well last night? Why are you taking extra naps?]
Chai Qianning: [I endured it all night.]
Sheng Muxi: ...
[If you're not afraid of thunder, why are you thinking about other things?]
Chai Qianning: [It's precisely because I'm afraid of thunder that I try to distract myself by thinking about other things.]
".."
Chai Qianning got out of bed, put down her phone and went to the kitchen. She was hungry after waking up, but the refrigerator was empty.
She picked up her phone again and asked Sheng Muxi if there were any vegetables left at home.
More than ten minutes later, the two arrived outside the residential area.
City A experiences this situation several times a year, but its drainage facilities remain unresolved.
In some places, the roads are poorly maintained, and four-wheeled vehicles can't even see their wheels when driving on them, with the vehicle body bobbing up and down as it experiences the bumps and jolts of the waterway.
The neighborhood where Chai Qianning lives has a very artistic name, Cuiwanju, but now only the three characters Cuiwanshi remain.
The supermarket is opposite Cuiwanju, but there is a lot of water on the road. Several volunteers wearing red clothes are working, and a few traffic police officers are directing traffic from stone blocks not far away.
Who could have predicted that the torrential rain would last all night, flooding the roads the next day? But daily necessities are still essential, and there will be just as many people out buying groceries as usual.
Since I couldn't cross the road, I had to go around to the supermarket on the other side.
Several flat stone blocks are placed in the middle of the road for pedestrians to walk on. People walk over them, winding and turning, feeling like they are on a mountain road with eighteen bends just to buy groceries.
Sheng Muxi stepped onto the first stone block and reached out her hand to Chai Qianning behind her: "Come here, be careful."
Without hesitation, Chai Qianning took Sheng Muxi's hand and followed him step by step.
A place that used to be just across the street, less than a three-minute walk away, now takes several times longer.
There was a restless child in front of me who wanted to play in the water. He broke free from his mother's arms and stepped into the water, but was picked up and scolded by the adults within seconds.
Chai Qianning lowered her eyes, staring at the intertwined hands of Sheng Muxi, and the corners of her lips curled up slightly.
Afraid of accidentally stepping into the water, she kept her head down, looking at the road. She took a step to the next stone pier, but found that Sheng Muxi hadn't moved.
Two adults standing on a stone pier were still a bit crowded. Chai Qianning lifted her eyelids, her questioning gaze seeming to say: Why aren't you moving?
Then they saw that the person on the stone block in front of them hadn't moved, so the line came to a standstill.
Not knowing what was happening ahead, Chai Qianning had to hold onto the other person's waist to keep her balance.