Chapter 40 The Flowing Stream
The early autumn nights are a bit chilly.
The leaves fell silently to the ground, then drifted away again with a gust of wind.
The two of them came out of the food stall, feeling a bit full, and walked on the sidewalk to digest their food.
The pace was slow and deliberate, the streetlights casting long, dark shadows.
The dark blue sky reflected the outlines of the branches and leaves, and a gentle breeze swept through their hair.
Chai Qianning and Sheng Muxi walked side by side, with a distance between them that was neither too large nor too small.
Just by chance, the fingers hanging at her side accidentally brushed against another person's fingers.
As she felt the cold touch, Sheng Muxi's little finger twitched, and she turned from looking at the scenery to looking at Chai Qianning. Chai Qianning turned her head at the same time and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Am I walking too slowly?"
Just as they reached a street lamp, Chai Qianning leaned against the lamppost and muttered, "I didn't want to walk slower than a snail, but I'm really, really too full. I should have just sat there for a while before coming out."
Sheng Muxi stopped and stood beside her: "You didn't eat much, how come you're so full?"
"I drank too much soup."
She finished almost the entire pot of pork tripe, ginseng, and chicken soup, while Sheng Muxi only drank a small bowl.
A few seconds later, Chai Qianning said again, "I want to go to the restroom."
Sheng Muxi looked around and pointed to the opposite side: "There's a public restroom over there."
Chai Qianning crossed the road and went inside, where Sheng Muxi was waiting for her on the stone steps outside, gazing into the distance.
A lake lies in front of the neatly trimmed lawn, and benches are scattered throughout, indicating that this is a park.
After the other person came out of the restroom, Sheng Muxi and she went for a walk in the park.
Chai Qianning washed her hands, and the water droplets on her fingertips were not completely dry. The cool touch accidentally brushed against Sheng Muxi's hand as she walked.
Sheng Muxi couldn't resist hooking her fingers together, but then let go in an instant: "Your hands are so cold, are you cold?"
"Cold?" Chai Qianning rubbed her fingertips together, and with a smile, took her hand when she wasn't paying attention: "If you hold my hand, I won't feel cold."
Sheng Muxi turned her face away to look at the shadows of the lotus leaves swaying on the lake, but subconsciously she actually tightened her grip on her hand.
The atmosphere tonight is exceptionally harmonious, like plants and trees shrouded in a soft veil of moonlight, peacefully enjoying a moment of tranquility.
"Teacher Sheng, do your family all call you by your nickname Xiao Liu? But why is your nickname Xiao Liu? Shouldn't it be Xiao Xi... Oh!" Chai Qianning slapped her forehead: "Xiao Xi, Xiao Xi, a stream flows, so it's called Xiao Liu, right?"
The two were sitting on a bench with a lake in front of them. Across the lake, some online celebrities were live-streaming their singing, and a few people were playing the erhu in a pavilion on the other side.
Sheng Muxi listened quietly to her nonsense, only retorting with one sentence: "My family doesn't call me Xiaoxi or Xiaoliu."
"That means I'll call you Xixi."
Sheng Muxi nodded.
Chai Qianning was beaming with pride because she had guessed her nickname.
"So how did you get the name Xiao Liu?"
".."
“I’ve been attending a full-time boarding school since elementary school. My mom would forget to pick me up during holidays. Ms. Ni Chujing, who was my homeroom teacher in my boarding school class, would take me to her home first if she saw that I was staying at school with no one to pick me up. Then she would contact my mom. If my mom was busy, Ms. Ni would let me stay at her house for a few days. Occasionally, my uncle would pick me up. Sometimes, Feng Jianting, who was the old Chinese medicine doctor last time, would take me to his house to play with his granddaughter if he saw that I was alone. Anyway, I was always on the move and had no fixed abode. So the people in the alley gave me this nickname.”
Chai Qianning listened attentively to her words, a barely perceptible hint of heartache flashing in her eyes.
"Actually, my parents were busy when I was a child and didn't really take care of me."
“I know,” Sheng Muxi said with a gentle smile.
"Oh, you know? How do you know? When did I tell you?" Chai Qianning scratched her head, thinking she had forgotten what she had said.
“Your sister said that last time she asked her parents to come, she said they were too busy to come.”
".."
Well, this is definitely an advantage of having a younger sister at school.
Chai Qianning placed her hands on either side of her and smiled at her.
But she knew that she and Sheng Muxi were actually different.
Sheng Muxi's parents are not around when she needs them, while her parents only appear when she needs them.
No wonder she saw Sheng Muxi frequently visiting Ni Chujing, but she had never heard of her ever voluntarily visiting her mother.
If someone with no blood relation can make Sheng Muxi remember them so fondly, while someone with blood relation can't evoke any feelings in her, it's clear how unsuccessful she is as their mother.
When she brought up the past, Sheng Muxi showed no regret or sadness whatsoever; her tone was rather nonchalant.
But she couldn't be sure if the other person was hiding some emotions, and she still hoped that the other person could be happier now.
“Then I think the flowing stream makes sense, and it even suits your name quite well,” Chai Qianning said with a smile.
The stream is flowing.
Sheng Muxi found it unusual and couldn't help but chuckle, "That's a valid understanding."
I got home at 10 p.m.
Chai Qianning finished taking a shower.
A friend just messaged her on WeChat asking if she was playing games.
So she picked up her phone and prepared to relax on the beanbag chair for a few hours.
However, before she could even warm up her bed, she heard the doorbell ring.
She had no choice but to tell her gaming friends to wait for her a while. Then she checked the peephole before opening the door. What she saw was Sheng Muxi standing at the door in her pajamas.
What time is it? Is Sheng Muxi here for a late-night snack?
She blinked slowly: "Teacher Sheng, is there something you need?"
The other person's red lips parted: "I heard that you feel lonely, empty, and cold living alone?"
".."
Do you want me to come with you?
".."
It wasn't good to leave someone standing outside the door, so Chai Qianning asked her to come into the entryway first.
After closing the door, Chai Qianning opened her lips and said, "Did I say those words when I was drunk?"
"No," Sheng Muxi denied.
Who could have told you that?
Chai Qianning tried to recall who she had said those words to.
She never saw Shi Manwen and Qiu Jie again after they left the guesthouse.
Aside from these two, she and Sheng Muxi don't seem to have any other mutual friends who she can joke with like this.
Feng Jianting? Ni Chujing?
That's unlikely.
Oh—Chai Shuqing!
She just said it casually and forgot about it afterward. She never expected that Chai Shuqing would actually convey such a joke!
Tsk!
Seeing that she seemed a little lost in thought, Sheng Muxi said again, "It's raining and thundering outside. Aren't you afraid of thunder?"
It turns out they were worried that she was afraid of thunder if she lived alone.
As soon as she got home, Chai Qianning drew all the curtains and then didn't pay much attention to the outside world.
She ran to lift the curtains and saw large and small water droplets hanging on the glass. She could vaguely hear a few muffled claps of thunder. The rain wasn't heavy, so she didn't notice it because she was indoors.
"Mmm." Chai Qianning smiled and said, "Yes, of course I want you to come with me."
There's no reason not to accept kindness that's offered to you!
Seeing Chai Qianning holding her phone horizontally, Sheng Muxi glanced at her casually and then asked, "Are you playing games?"
"It's over," Chai Qianning said with a smile.
Turning away and looking down at her phone screen, she typed: "Sisters, I have something to do and can't play anymore. See you next time! (Hands clasped in prayer)."
In the game room.
Immediately afterwards, a voice message popped up in the dialog box.
Chai Qianning: [Please type a message; I can't see voice messages.]
Jelly: [Hey, hey, hey, what's up so late? We agreed to play games together.]
Su Ye: [These few points? Is something wrong? Are you alright?]
Because Sheng Muxi was present, she couldn't send a voice message, so she patiently typed while holding the screen horizontally: 【Getting to serious business! I'm leaving now. I'll treat you to dinner next time.】
Su Ye: [What serious business is it? Is it going to be done at night?]
Ah Chu, who had been silent all along, quietly sent a message: "[It's not what I'm thinking, is it?]"
Su Ye: 【!!】
Jelly: [Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap!]
To avoid being bombarded with messages from her friends, Chai Qianning left the game room and returned to her phone.
Turning around, she saw Sheng Muxi staring intently at the pharmacy bag she had placed on the shelf. Seeing Chai Qianning looking over, she looked away.
"I saw you buying medicine in the elevator last time, but I didn't have a chance to ask you if you were feeling unwell at the time."
I didn't expect the other party to still remember this.
Chai Qianning said, "It's nothing."