After Qi Mei parted ways with Wu Xiangdai, she got into the car and went home. It was starting to drizzle outside, and it was raining harder than ever. She took out her phone during the boring ride and opened WeChat, staring at Song Bojian's profile picture at the top. She thought that she should ask him when he would be back.
However, it seemed a little abrupt given their delicate relationship since they were familiar but not that familiar with each other. After much consideration, she decided to post something on her WeChat Moments to keep herself "visible".
She wrote "Today's Date" in the post and attached several photos of her and Wu Xiangdai in the pub that night. There were group photos of them with their faces pressed together, as well as a photo of her single face.
Qi Mei rarely posted on her WeChat Moments, not to mention a selfie.
As soon as she finished the post, comments and likes flooded in. However, even when the taxi arrived near her house, she did not see Song Bojian's profile picture under that post. She thought that he definitely didn't like to check what happened in his WeChat Moments.
After getting out of the car, Qi Mei realized that the rain was getting heavier. She didn't bring an umbrella and could only carry her bag on her head while running back home, letting the raindrops fall on her body. She wore a silk shirt, but now it was completely wet and stuck to her body.
"Qi Mei." In the muzzling rain, a familiar male voice rose.
She looked diagonally ahead at the entrance of the small courtyard house. There was a black umbrella. It slightly raised, revealing half of Song Bojian's face.
When she could no longer feel the raindrops hitting her face, she found she was already covered under the umbrella.
Song Bojian passed the umbrella handle to her and said in a low voice, "Take it."
She took it obediently and wrapped her cold fingers gently around the handle which still had the residual temperature of his hand. The warmth spread through the handle to her fingertips.
They were brought closer as he moved toward her. She pursed her lips slightly. In the next second, she seemed to be wrapped in warmth. His coat was draped over her.
"Do you mind?" he asked in a low voice as he held up his sleeves.
"Huh?" She raised her head in confusion.
At that moment, he pinched his sleeve and wiped away the tiny raindrops on her eyelashes.
They stood under the huge umbrella, completely isolated from the rain and fog. They were so close that even their breaths were intertwined. Qi Mei wanted to say something in such an atmosphere. However, her mind was totally blank as her thoughts were in turmoil.
"Are you going to stand here and accompany me in the rain?" His voice suddenly rang out in the drizzle. She was so startled that she looked up at him.
But his words suddenly reminded her. "Oh, right. Let's hurry home." She nodded as if she had just woken up from a dream.
As soon as she finished speaking, he lowered his eyes, and their gazes met under the umbrella. When he slightly raised the outer corner of his eye, she suddenly realized how ambiguous her words were.
"I mean it's raining heavily. Let's hurry back to our own homes." She tried to make up for it.
If she only treated him as an ordinary classmate, it wouldn't be a big deal for her to say so. But in his opinion, she was drooling over him, so he would probably think that she said that on purpose.
She quickly stopped her thoughts from running wild because she soon realized there was another problem. They only had one umbrella now. If she went home using this umbrella, wouldn't he have to go back in the rain? "I'll walk you home first, and then you will lend me your umbrella so I can go home with it," she suggested.
They wouldn't get wet in the rain. Perfect!
He lowered his head to look at her expression and said leisurely, "I don't think it'll work."
She was confused.
So, why did he stop her? To show a person who got caught in the rain that he had an umbrella?
"This is the only umbrella at my home. If I lend it to you, then I won't have any," he said slowly.
"Okay, I'll go first..." Since he said so, she couldn't ask him for it anymore. She prepared to run home.
"But I can send you back first."
He interrupted her before she could finish.
She was speechless.
He reached out and took the umbrella from her. "Let's go."
So she walked toward her home with him.
Along the way, the two of them did not talk much. When they entered her neighborhood, she said, "Turn left up ahead and you can see my house."
"Uh-huh." Before she continued, he had already walked to the left.
She raised her head and looked upstairs. He had sent her back, so she should invite him inside for a glass of water, but…
"Go home and sleep early." Instead, he beat her to it.