After the next two days of class, it was the first short vacation after enrolment.
Xia Xiao and Ouyang Bi were going home, and Gao Nian would play games in the dormitory for the week. Qi Ying got up early to clean up and waited for Ji Rang to pick her up to visit the Forbidden City.
After receiving the message that Ji Rang had reached downstairs of the dormitory, she waved to Gao Nian and asked, "Nian, what do you want to eat at night? I will bring it back for you."
Gao Nian was focused on the game: "Whatever."
Qi Ying nodded. She ran downstairs with excitement. Ji Rang was standing under a tree outside the dormitory building. The morning sun was a bit dazzling. He wore white T-shirt and jeans, which looked simple and refreshing. He leaned back lazily on the tree and played with his mobile phone, attracting attention.
On the front steps, two girls were whispering, seeming to be taking selfies, but they were actually taking pictures of him.
Ji Rang lifted his eyes and glanced up, kicked the soles of his feet back, stood up straight, and walked towards them.
The two girls were agitated, then they heard the boy say coldly: "Delete."
When he wasn't smiling, he looked a bit fierce, and things became more awkward when he deliberately chilled his face. The two girls were afraid and embarrassed. They had a feeling that the boy was going to hit someone in a moment. They cursed a few words in their heart but could only delete the photo.
Just after deleting, they saw a little girl running towards them, standing behind him and pulling at the corner of his clothes: "I have come." Then asking him: "What are you doing?"
Ji Rang's face became still for a moment. After dissipating the cold look on his face, he turned his head and gently touched the little girl's head: "It's okay, they asked me to scan the code. Have you had breakfast?"
Qi Ying shook her head and smiled sweetly with her eyes bent: "Kept my belly empty so as to eat with you."
Ji Rang held her hand, "Let's go, what do you want to eat?"
The two girls behind them: ...... Scan your mother's code?!
After walking far away, Qi Ying turned her head and asked the person beside her in a low voice: "Did you frighten others just now?"
Ji Rang didn't change his face: "No."
The little girl shook his hand: "You have to be polite even when refusing."
Ji Rang was so impressed by her coquettish actions that even if she wanted the stars in the sky, he might find a way to pick them for her. Then he coaxed her in a low voice. "Okay, I will remember to say thank you when refusing in the future."
She was satisfied, and patted his thin hair on tiptoe, like a little adult: "This is good."
The two went to eat the authentic miso noodles before they went to the Forbidden City.
When they arrived at the door, they found a long line of people.
Tourists nearby said that the past two days happened to be the Ten X Big Party. Not to mention martial law in the whole city, security checks everywhere were also very strict. Ji Rang glanced at the crowd of people in line and felt that they would not be able to get in without waiting for three to five hours.
For the festive season, what was it about visiting the Forbidden City?
He asked Qi Ying: "Should we go?"
Qi Ying hesitated: "Since we have come…"
Okay, the four principles of the Chinese were all present, everyone is dead, there is a New Year, and the child is still young.[1]
So, the two lined up.
The sun gradually rose, and the temperature also gradually rose with it, the crowd was already hot when crowded together, now the air was full of the smell of sweat.
After waiting for almost two hours, Qi Ying had a heatstroke just as victory was around the corner.
Ji Rang: "…"
The little girl's face was pale, her body was sweating constantly, her limbs were weak, her body had gone soft and she was lying in his arms. She cried and said, "I want to vomit."
Ji Rang found it funny as well as distressing, then he scraped the bridge of her nose: "Are you uncomfortable here?"
Qi Ying hummed uncomfortably.
He bent down, put his arm through her knee socket, picked her up sideways, squeezed out of the crowd, and went to the street to take a taxi.
The little girl put her arms around his neck, buried her face in his neck and asked in a low voice, "Where are we going?"
Ji Rang kissed her forehead: "Go back and rest."
Qi Ying originally thought he would take her to the hotel, but she was a little bit ashamed of her thoughts in her heart. After getting on the taxi, Ji Rang reported the name of an alley.
The taxi went round and round and arrived at the place in an hour.
The alley in front of them was criss-crossed with grey walls and grey tiles. Ji Rang got out of the taxi and wanted to hug her. Qi Ying shook her head: "I can walk by myself."
So, he took her from one alley to another, moving around, while still buying heatstroke medicine for her from a pharmacy, he finally stopped in front of a small courtyard house.
He took out the key and opened the door.
The small yard was overgrown with weeds, and an old tree in the yard was growing wildly, the place was obviously uninhabited all year round. But the yard was very clean, there were no cobwebs and dust, as if someone had come to clean it recently.
Qi Ying looked around curiously, now even her heatstroke symptoms were becoming milder: "What is this place?"
Ji Rang pulled her into the house: "The place I lived in when I was young."
The room was neat and clean, although there was nothing left in it. Ji Rang took out the cotton quilt from the closet to make the bed and let her go to bed and rest.
It was obviously hot outside, but it was chilly in this small courtyard. Qi Ying took off her shoes and got into the bed, obediently covering herself up.
The weather in City B was dry, unlike Haicheng, where the houses would be moldy and damp. The bedding here was very clean, with a warm smell after being exposed to the sun.
Ji Rang quickly boiled the water, poured a cup and brought it in. He pushed open the wooden window, and the water glass was placed on the window sill. The sunlight was sprinkled on the bedside through the cracks in the leaves. Qi Ying thought all this was wonderful.
Ji Rang looked at her with bright eyes and smiled and asked: "Do you like it here?"
She nodded: "Like it."
He laid down on the bedside, with his arm resting on his head: "During break, we will come over and stay for a while."
He pressed the quilt under his body, Qi Ying couldn't move. She simply crawled out of the quilt, crawled to his side, and sat on his knees on the bed while looking out through the window sill.
There was wind, flowers, trees, and sunshine.
Very comfortable.
Her little feet swayed happily, rubbing against his waist.
Ji Rang opened his eyes, drew her to his side, hugged the little girl, and pressed her to his chest.
She couldn't sit still, and she almost lay on him. Her two hands were supported on his shoulders and she wanted to sit up, but Ji Rang didn't let go. Both of his arms stretched out to encircle her, pressing her tightly onto him.
Qi Ying's face was blushing, and her words were soft: "What are you doing?"
Her body was very close to him.
The bumps were soft and tight.
The look in Ji Rang's eyes deepened, and he asked her, "What do you say I do?"
She grabbed him like a koala and tried to raise her head: "I don't know, you put me down."
"Yeah." He spoke.
Then he turned over, Qi Ying was actually put down by him, but it became the position where she was on the bottom and he was on top.
The teenager still put his hands on her waist, arched slightly, but did not press her. But her body was still close, and she didn't know if it was intentional, but she was stuck to his chest.
He smiled maliciously and deliberately asked: "So?"
Qi Ying was almost ashamed.
Ji Rang approached her a little bit, her heart beating like thunder, crimson spread from her ears all the way to her neck, and the collarbone visible from her collar also turned pink.
His breathing stopped at her neck.
After a while, his breath became hot and heavy.
After a long time, she heard the teenager cursing.
Then he took a bite of her collarbone, and her body went limp. He turned over and got up and jumped out of the bed. He threw a sentence "Take the medicine". He didn't wear any shoes and walked out of the door barefoot.
It didn't take long for the sound of running water to be heard from next door.
Qi Ying flushed and got up from the bed, took the medicine obediently, thought about it, put on her shoes, and walked outside.
When Ji Rang came out of the shower, he saw the little girl squatting under a tree playing with an ant hill.
He walked over and squatted down next to her, Qi Ying took a small wooden stick in her hand, turned her head and glanced at him, a blush flashed across her face, so she quickly changed the subject: "Why did you live here when you were a kid?"
Ji Rang picked up a small branch on the ground and dug out the ant hill with her.
"My grandfather worked here back then, and I went to elementary school here."
He lived here for six years and this counted as half his home.
After the grandfather passed away, he asked the lawyer to donate the estate. There was only this yard. Because it was allocated by the state that year, if you wanted to donate it, all kinds of procedures required were very troublesome, and he had to submit several applications. He didn't bother to do it and asked the lawyer to keep this yard.
Before going to school, he came here to take a look.
After many years away, many memories were blurred. He didn't have too many thoughts and feelings about this place. The first thought when he opened the courtyard door was that his little baby might like it here.
So, he cleaned it, both inside and out.
Waiting for her to come.
She really liked it, and finally those unpleasant memories scattered with her smile in the wind.
She liked it.