The Unreturnable Refrigerator - Chapter 21.2
Chapter 21.2
The movies at the theater also didn’t get updated every day. A friend who watched movies at that frequency would have to watch the same movie repeatedly most of the time…
Sheng Xiali didn’t know that because of her, the movie theater manager had decided to find more summer interns next year.
She listened to her colleague’s words and thought of Lu Yin. She wondered if she was still angry and if she was willing to listen to her explanation.
“She’s busy,” Sheng Xiali replied to her colleague, thinking about how she would explain things to Lu Yin when she got back.
She hadn’t come up with a solution until her tutoring class ended that evening.
A sudden clap of thunder. Sheng Xiali looked up. Dark clouds were swirling overhead, and a storm was coming. Sheng Xiali quickened her pace toward the bus stop and got on the last bus.
As soon as the bus started, raindrops began to beat violently against the windowpane.
Summer night storms always came on fiercely.
Lu Yin was humming a song and eating a pear when a clap of thunder scared her so much that she almost dropped the pear in her hand.
The rain poured down, and the world was covered in a curtain of water.
Lu Yin quickly put down the pear and ran to the balcony to get the clothes. In that short amount of time, she was drenched by the rain that had been blown into the balcony.
Wiping her hair with a towel, Lu Yin looked out the window at the rain that showed no signs of stopping. She tried to recall her quick glance at Sheng Xiali that morning. Did she have an umbrella?
No. She just had her bag. Was there an umbrella in her bag?
After drying herself off, Lu Yin went to the shelf by the dorm room door and opened Sheng Xiali’s cabinet.
She remembered that Sheng Xiali kept things like her umbrella in the cabinet.
When she opened the cabinet, she immediately saw Sheng Xiali’s black folding umbrella, folded so neatly that it looked like it hadn’t been opened since it was bought.
Sheng Xiali was a person who used one item for many purposes. If she had one umbrella, she wouldn’t buy a second one. She used the same one for sun and rain.
Lu Yin felt that with Sheng Xiali’s personality, even if she found herself in the rain, as long as she had an umbrella at home, there was no way she would buy one just because she needed one temporarily.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have only one umbrella.
Lu Yin took the umbrella and went to the balcony to look again. The rain hadn’t gotten any smaller. It was getting heavier. It was impossible to get back to the dorm from the bus stop without getting drenched.
She had originally planned to give her the silent treatment for a couple of days. Yesterday, Lu Yin was a little unhappy and wronged, but seeing Sheng Xiali’s nervous expression, Lu Yin suddenly had an idea.
She was using the opportunity to her advantage, a step back to take a step forward.
Didn’t the art of war also say, “When the enemy advances, retreat; when the enemy retreats, advance”? It must be the same when pursuing someone.
Lu Yin had no experience and was just fumbling her way through. Seeing Sheng Xiali’s hesitation before leaving that morning, Lu Yin felt that this method was probably right.
She was always running after her. How could she get her to turn around and look at her, to wait for her? It was when she stopped running!
If she suddenly started running back, wouldn’t the person who was being chased be confused? What was wrong with this person? Why wasn’t she chasing her anymore?
Maybe she would stop walking and might even turn around and run after her.
Lu Yin laughed out loud. Unfortunately, this storm ruined her plan. The rain was so heavy that she couldn’t bear to let Sheng Xiali walk back in it.
She would find another opportunity to “retreat to advance” in the future.
Lu Yin changed her clothes and shoes, grabbed the umbrella, and went out.
…
Sheng Xiali looked at the strengthening rain, leaning her head against the windowpane that was blurred by the rain outside. It probably only took ten minutes to run from the bus stop to the dorm.
Getting caught in the rain for ten minutes was not a big deal for her. When she was a child, it would rain on her way to school, and no one would bring her an umbrella. It would take her over half an hour to run home.
But that was a long time ago. Later, there was always an umbrella in her bag.
If no one thought of her, she had to be more prepared herself.
She had always carried an umbrella in her bag, but ever since Lu Yin came, and she went out with her in the morning, she would put all her things in her bag.
She had a lot of things. Besides her sun umbrella, she also had snacks that could fill half her bag.
Sheng Xiali had taken out her umbrella to make more space.
Today, her bag was empty…
Sheng Xiali sighed. She didn’t know if she was still mad and if she was willing to listen to her explanation.
The bus slowly pulled into the station. Sheng Xiali was the only one left in the empty bus. Before getting up, she tightened her shoelaces and her hair tie.
As soon as the bus stopped, she rushed into the rain and saw Lu Yin standing at the bus stop with a clear, long umbrella—she was soaked, and water was dripping from her bangs.
Even though she was holding an umbrella, she looked as if she had just climbed out of a puddle.
Lu Yin had indeed climbed out of a puddle…
As soon as she left the dorm and walked down the alley to this road, she fell into a big hole.
For some reason, Hengcheng had a habit of doing road construction every summer! There were holes dug everywhere!
The rain suddenly became much heavier, making it hard to open her eyes. She couldn’t see the road at all. As soon as she got up, she tripped on another hole. The black umbrella in her hand also flew out.
She gritted her teeth and got up to pick it up, but she tripped on a rock, staggered a few steps, and stepped on Sheng Xiali’s umbrella.
“I broke your umbrella.”
Lu Yin saw Sheng Xiali open her mouth and the first thing she said was about the umbrella. She was explaining why she was holding an umbrella but not giving it to Sheng Xiali.
Sheng Xiali looked at the transparent umbrella tilted toward her. The raindrops that fell along the surface of the umbrella dripped onto Lu Yin’s other shoulder. Hearing that she had fallen, her heart tightened.
She didn’t care what happened to the umbrella. She just looked at Lu Yin: “Are you okay?”
Lu Yin shook her head: “I should be. It doesn’t hurt much.”
She had felt a lot of pain when she fell, but now she didn’t feel much. Even if there were injuries, they were probably small ones.
Sheng Xiali frowned, took the black umbrella from Lu Yin’s hand, and threw it in the trash can. She held the hand that Lu Yin was using to hold the umbrella with one hand and wrapped the other arm around Lu Yin’s shoulder, holding her tightly.
“We’ll talk when we get back.”
She led her forward quickly, but her steps were steady.
Lu Yin was being led forward but still had time to look at the umbrella above her head. The entire umbrella covered her. Sheng Xiali’s hand completely wrapped around her shoulder, which had been a little cold from the rain.
Under one umbrella, two people were at their closest distance.
The path that was so difficult to walk on the way there was surprisingly smooth on the way back. Lu Yin didn’t even look at the road and didn’t fall. Sheng Xiali brought her back to the dorm steadily.
A towel was placed over her head, and she felt that Sheng Xiali had also rubbed her head.
“I’ll go get some hot water. You wipe yourself first.”
When Sheng Xiali put Lu Yin in the bathroom, she saw the water dripping from her own body. It was as if she didn’t see her own disheveled state.
When Lu Yin came out after cleaning up, Sheng Xiali was still in her wet clothes, holding a bandage and waiting for her.
She insisted on treating the few scratches on her skin before going to the bathroom to clean herself up.
Lu Yin touched the bandage on her leg. Now she was starting to feel a little pain…
The heavy rain outside gradually lost its overwhelming momentum and became gentler. The wind was no longer fierce, making the summer night quiet.
And it had also become cooler.
Lu Yin looked at the neatly folded bed cover on the bamboo mat where Sheng Xiali slept. This was probably not warm enough for the night. The only blanket Sheng Xiali had was being used by her…
When Sheng Xiali came out of the bathroom, she saw Lu Yin on the bed holding the blanket.
“It’s cold tonight. A bed cover won’t be enough. I’m giving you back the blanket.”
Sheng Xiali’s steps stopped. She looked at the blanket Lu Yin was offering but didn’t take it.
Lu Yin urged: “Take it. The temperature has dropped.”
“What about you?” Sheng Xiali didn’t see Lu Yin with a new blanket.
Lu Yin shrugged carelessly: “I’ll freeze. I can’t let you freeze. You don’t like to squeeze in with people.”
Lu Yin said this and threw the blanket directly at Sheng Xiali. She lay back, crossed her legs, and looked at the bandage on her leg, silently counting.
“One, two, three…”
When she counted to five, the bed vibrated slightly. She looked up and saw Sheng Xiali climb onto the bed with the blanket.
But the next second, her vision went black. Her head was covered by the blanket. The bed moved with a bigger motion. When she pushed the blanket away, she saw the person lying next to her.
Sheng Xiali’s eyes were closed, and her eyelashes were fluttering slightly. Whether it was because she had just taken a shower or for some other reason, her ears were a little red.
Lu Yin’s heart was beating wildly.
It was more tumultuous than the storm that had just passed.
She tried hard to calm her rapid breathing. She hadn’t expected it to actually work!
She also hadn’t expected the feeling of success not to be excitement, but more of fear and nervousness.
She had finally “lured” her onto the bed. What now…?
After retreating to advance, should she advance now? How should she advance? How much?
What should she do? Who would tell her what to do now?
And what did Sheng Xiali mean by this?
Why did she agree? Hadn’t she been refusing her all this time?
Lu Yin even doubted if she was dreaming… She carefully turned to her side and looked at the other person on the same pillow.
Sheng Xiali was so quiet that she seemed to be asleep, with her eyes tightly closed. But the light was still on. Lu Yin could clearly see her fluttering eyelashes.
What did she mean?
Lu Yin was a little confused, but her intuition told her that Sheng Xiali was a little different.
Could it be that her giving her an umbrella had moved her so much?
That couldn’t be. How could it be that easy? What was it then? Was she really cold? But she wasn’t covered by the blanket. The blanket was on her.
Lu Yin hesitated and pulled the blanket, covering half of Sheng Xiali’s body.
Sheng Xiali opened her eyes, turned her head, and looked at Lu Yin.
Their eyes met, and their breathing was chaotic.
Who was the first to lose control? Lu Yin thought it was probably her. Looking at the person so close that she could feel her breath, the little deer in her heart was not only jumping around, it was also kicking, making Lu Yin’s chest feel hot and her breath become scorching.
Her rationality was also being kicked out the door at this moment!
Under the blanket, Lu Yin’s hand moved little by little, crossing the small gap between them, and touching the other’s slightly cold hand.
Her hand felt cold, but her breath became even hotter. Lu Yin boldly looked at Sheng Xiali, but she could only see a deep pool in her eyes, with no emotion.
Lu Yin’s movements stopped. But after a while, the hand under the blanket became as hot as her breath, and Sheng Xiali still didn’t pull away.
Lu Yin’s flustered heart was like a rolling leaf on the sea that suddenly found a dock to rest on. She opened her fingers and intertwined them with the other’s slender fingers.
With their fingers intertwined, their eyes met. Lu Yin suddenly saw a flickering light in that deep pool.
It was like seeing the light of a lighthouse on a night of being lost at sea. Lu Yin followed the light, her breath probing inch by inch. But just as she was about to reach the other shore, the light trembled.
Seeing Sheng Xiali’s lips turn away, Lu Yin’s breathing hitched, and a trembling sound escaped her mouth.
“Sheng Xiali.”
Lu Yin called out her name softly, like a stone thrown into a deep abyss, waiting for an echo. She was a little unwilling…
Or maybe she felt that it shouldn’t just be this. She had already reached the other shore. She wanted to bring something back. In the quiet moment after the summer night storm, urged by her heartbeat, she wanted confirmation.
“Hmm.”
A hoarse, muffled sound came out. The sound was trapped between their scorching breaths, but it was clear and full of languid emotion, falling into Lu Yin’s ears.
Lu Yin smiled brightly and silently, burrowing her head into Sheng Xiali’s shoulder. When she lifted her head again, she slightly changed her direction.
A kiss, gently landed on Sheng Xiali’s brow.
…
Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.
A sudden ring of the doorbell. Lu Yin woke up with a start from her dream and turned on the light with a click.
The jarring ring continued. Lu Yin’s consciousness gradually became clear. Seeing the key by her pillow, she remembered that because of this key, she had remembered the past. She didn’t know when she had fallen asleep and dreamed about the past.
Lu Yin lit up her phone and saw that it was past eleven at night. She had slept for over seven hours.
Ding dong, ding dong, the doorbell rang again, with a persistent tone.
Lu Yin’s heart, which had been beating erratically in her dream, was now beating even more intensely with the doorbell. She got up. Who would be ringing the doorbell so late at night?
Lu Yin grabbed her phone, slipped on her slippers, and went to the entryway to check the security camera.
Outside the door, Sheng Xiali’s face was flushed. She was leaning against her door as if she were drunk.
It seemed that she knew Lu Yin was watching her. She looked up at the camera and uttered two words.
“Open the door.”