Rebirth: My dad is too obedient

Chapter 48 Don't Look Back

Bus No. 16 stops in front of the town’s junior high school.

Xu Chen got out of the car, and the dull air made him feel suffocated.

I looked up at the leaden sky and the thick dark clouds hanging low above my head.

The wind had not yet picked up, and the air seemed thick and condensed.

Xu Chen did not stop and walked quickly towards the deserted and dilapidated playground.

He pushed open the iron door with a creaky sound and walked in sideways.

Looking up, I saw an empty and gray runway.

The football field surrounded by the running track is covered with half-dried and uneven weeds.

No one was around.

After looking around, Xu Chen seemed to have a destination in mind and walked straight towards the tattered podium.

After walking around the half-person-high concrete podium, they found the missing Xie Bingran as expected.

She huddled in a corner beside the podium, her head buried in her knees.

She lowered her head, her short hair covering her face, so her expression could not be seen.

She was barefoot.

Holding in my arms...the pair of red running shoes.

……

The dark, low and heavy clouds in the sky seemed to be pressing down on her.

Xu Chen looked at Xie Bingran curled up in the corner from afar.

At this moment, time seemed to flow backwards.

She is still the introverted, thin, self-abased, silent, and poor classmate who often doesn't have enough to eat a few years ago.

In the past few years, she has armed herself with "Ice Brother".

And at this moment, under the dark clouds, in the empty and desolate playground...

Some invisible, unprovoked, and unforgivable force finally turned her back to her original form.

Xu Chen said nothing and walked slowly to Xie Bingran.

Xie Bingran heard the noise and moved his head slightly, but did not raise it.

Xu Chen squatted down in front of Xie Bingran and stroked her head with his hand.

Just like when Xu Chen was young, the boys in the same village laughed at him and called him a "motherless child", and his father stretched out his big hand and gently stroked his head.

It was just like when I was a teenager I saved a puppy with a crippled leg and reached out to touch its furry, dirty little head.

Xie Bingran raised her face, her eyes passed through the messy and wet hair, and saw the smiling Xu Chen.

Her arms were huddled around her knees, still hugging the red running shoes tightly.

"Are you hungry?" Xu Chen asked.

Xie Bingran was startled and spoke in a low voice:
"Hungry……"

"I still have biscuits in my bag." Xu Chen smiled.

Xie Bingran blinked her big wet eyes.

She is not Brother Bing, the famous student in No. 1 Middle School, but just a poor little girl who is starving.

Xu Chen took off the backpack from behind and was about to look for it when raindrops as big as beans fell down.

In an instant, it poured down like a torrent.

But there was nowhere to hide in this vast playground.

Xie Bingran shrank back and held the pair of red running shoes in his arms.

Xu Chen raised his large backpack and covered the two men’s heads with it.

Xie Bingran said nothing, raised his head slightly and looked towards the locker room in the corner of the playground.

Xu Chen stood up and pulled Xie Bingran up.

In just this short period of time, most of their bodies were soaked.

"Come on!"

Xu Chen shouted, grabbed Xie Bingran's arm, and rushed to the locker room beside the playground.

He ran two steps and quickly grabbed her.

"Put on your shoes! You'll get your feet pricked if you go barefoot!"

Xie Bingran still held the pair of red running shoes in his arms and shook his head at Xu Chen.

She ignored him, turned around, rushed into the heavy rain barefoot, and ran towards the edge of the playground.

Xu Chen was a little annoyed again, and hurriedly followed with his schoolbag on his head.

……

In the northwest corner of the playground, there are two low bungalows, which used to be the locker rooms for sports students, but now they have become storage rooms.

The door is open.

The last time Xu Chen and Xie Bingran came, Xie Bingran kicked the locked door open and the two of them rushed into the dim house.

A few overturned iron cabinets, some broken sundries, cramped and dark, but able to keep out the wind and rain.

Xu Chen was a little out of breath and turned to look at Xie Bingran.

She was almost soaked, but she still held the pair of running shoes.

She was still barefoot, and there was no telling whether her feet were scratched when she ran on the track covered with coal slag.

Xie Bingran was stunned for a moment, then seemed to come to his senses. He bent down and put the shoes in his arms on a dry ground.

She shook the rain off her black jacket and smoothed her wet hair.

Xu Chen looked at Xie Bingran and thought that since she was holding the pair of running shoes, she was originally planning to participate in the city games selection.

This morning's interview, punishment, and expulsion from school were naturally completely beyond Brother Bing's expectations.

"Where are your own shoes?" Xu Chen asked.

Xie Bingran raised his hand and pointed.

Only then did Xu Chen realize that behind the door in front of him, there was a worn backpack and a pair of dirty and old canvas shoes.

It turned out that Xie Bingran had been here before and left her bag and shoes here.

As for why she was squatting on the edge of the playground barefoot and holding her running shoes, no one knew.

But Xu Chen seemed to understand.

It was a feeling of unwillingness and helplessness.

She was in a bad mood.

She didn't know what to do.

……

Xu Chen took off his backpack and found a bag of Oreos inside.

He wiped the rain off his clothes and handed them to Xie Bingran with a smile.

Xie Bingran reached out to take it, and tore open the package with a "swish", revealing neatly arranged biscuits, but he handed it to Xu Chen first.

Xu Chen picked one up and put it into his mouth, and then Xie Bingran took one and started eating it.

It's raining heavily outside.

The deserted playground seemed to be completely submerged in the surging rain.

This small, cramped locker room with no room to step in is like a safe and stable boat, standing still on the turbulent sea.

The two wet men squatted on the ground, silently sharing a packet of biscuits.

It was exactly noon and Xu Chen had no time to eat lunch.

Xie Bingran probably didn't even have breakfast...

The two of them finished their biscuits in silence, then squatted in the small locker room, looking up at the heavy rain outside.

Xie Bingran shrank his body and shivered slightly.

"You are soaked. Do you have any other clothes?" Xu Chen asked.

Xie Bingran smoothed her wet hair back and looked at the backpack at the door.

"And the clothes you bought me."

Xu Chen stood up, reached out to take the worn backpack on the ground, and handed it to Xie Bingran.

"Then change it quickly, you can't get sick."

Xie Bingran took the backpack but didn't move.

"You signed a contract with me, and now you are mine.

You can't let my property get cold, catch a cold, or get sick."

Xie Bingran frowned, revealing a hint of "Brother Bing"'s anger.

But she said nothing, silently opened her backpack and took out the black sportswear.

"You're here, I can't change."

Brother Bing’s tone was icy.

Xu Chen laughed and said, "It's okay. I'll go out."

As he said this, he stood up and was about to go outside to get wet in the rain.

"Hey!"

But he was grabbed by Xie Bingran.

"Just go to the door... and don't look back."

Xu Chen gave two wicked smiles and walked obediently to the door, facing the empty playground outside where heavy rain was pouring down.

"Don't look back, or you will die."

"Oh……"

Why do I suddenly feel like dying?

(End of this chapter)