Still waiting for Zhaoyang

Chapter 12
Aunt Zhao saw the clue, and said proactively: "You husband and wife rest, I will go to the kitchen to boil a pot of water to scald your bodies."

Zijin's face froze, and she wanted to correct the word "husband and wife", but she was afraid that this would offend other people's kindness, so she thanked: "I don't need it, and I would trouble you to put the water on hot and wash her up." " He looked down at Xia Yue, hesitated for a while, "Can I borrow another set of clothes for her from the auntie?"

Aunt Zhao poked her head over to look at Xia Yue, and said intentionally, "Oh, it's so wet, don't catch the wind and cold, I'll go to boil the water right away."

After the water was boiled, Mrs. Zhao found clothes, and it was almost the second watch.

Xia Yue didn't say anything except she kept crying.

Zijin asked Mrs. Zhao for help, but she couldn't even sit still. As soon as Zijin let go of her hand in the bathtub, her body would slide down, and she didn't even feel her face sinking into the water.

So he had no choice but to stand by the tub, holding her shoulder with one hand, and propping up her chin with the other, then turned his face away in embarrassment, his face blushing.

Aunt Zhao took off the incomplete underwear for her little by little in the water, her eyes wet: "What a crime."

After getting Xia Yue settled down, Aunt Zhao said to Zijin, "Son, you should wash and change into clean clothes too."

When Mrs. Zhao said it for the first time, Zijin was carrying Xia Yue back to the house, with her back turned to her, and did not answer.She just wondered, it was impossible not to hear at such a close distance.After a while, she went to the room where they lived, and said, "When the water is boiled, you go and scald it too."

Zijin was about to refuse.

Aunt Zhao was the first to say: "Don't say no, your face is blue from the cold. My child, you didn't expect that you would collapse too, what would she do?"

Zijin looked at Xia Yue in her arms, and seemed a little convinced.Aunt Zhao took the opportunity to wave her hand: "Go, I'll help you guard her. The clothes are on the bench next to the stove."

So, Zijin put Xia Yue on the bed, and when she was about to get away, she was pulled by something.Turning around, it was Xia Yue's hand.

Her hand tightly grabbed Zijin's sleeve, refusing to let go.

Zijin felt a little bitter.

"I'd better stay here. It's your trouble."

"Alas—" Aunt Zhao saw it, and didn't say any more.

"Don't worry, ma'am, the clothes will dry after a while."

"Then you rest."

After a while, Mrs. Zhao moved another brazier, and then went back to sleep in peace.

A lamp on the table is like a bean.

"My sleeves are wet and I catch cold." He slowly dried her hair.

She leaned in his arms, let him manipulate, did not speak, but shed tears, and that hand did not let go of his clothes.

He took the cloth from the heel to the tip of the hair, and wiped away the water droplets bit by bit.Many eager beads dripped onto the already wet skirt of Zijin's chest, and the color became darker again.

It's raining again outside.

He frowned, watching Xia Yue grabbing his cold hand, and reaching out to touch it, her warm hand was cold again, so he wanted her to let go.

"Yue'er, I'm not going anywhere, I'm here. Relax, or I'll hold your hand." Even after coaxing and persuading, she slowly moved her hand into her own.

He suddenly thought of when they were young.

"Yue'er, do you remember when I was sick and afraid of the dark at night, you just held my hand and stood by the bed.

"When I was young, I walked around the streets and alleys of Jinluo by hand during the day, as if I was afraid that I would be bullied by others. Do you still remember the Wu Ye who was taught by you in the academy?"

He put her on the bed, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked at Xia Yue.

She closed her eyes and said nothing.

"Now that I have grown up, why are your hands still so small, so it should be me to protect you."

Zijin's expression darkened.

"I know, you don't want to talk to me anymore.

"If I didn't do that kind of thing to you suddenly, how could you run out.

"That's why...

"I obviously passed that place many times, but I didn't hear you call me.

"If I wasn't deaf, if I could hear, if I wasn't what I am now." When Zijin said these words, a great sadness rose in Zijin's heart, and his voice began to tremble.

For the first time, he felt a kind of overwhelming sadness for his own incompleteness.

Even if others pointed at his back and laughed at him before, he didn't mind much.

"It's my fault, it's my fault..." The long soliloquy finally turned into a painful self-blame.

Sitting until late at night, most of the moisture in the clothes has gone.

He was very tired, but when he closed his eyes, he would think of the scenes of the evening.

He was restless for a long time, and he didn't dare to move, for fear that if he moved his palm, it would disturb Xia Yue on the bed.

It's rare to see her have such a quiet moment, as if the tears were drying up her heart, and he didn't dare to leave her alone for fear that she would do something.

Now, she finally closed her eyelids, she seems to be asleep, her breathing is very steady.

Suddenly, his throat felt a little itchy, and he wanted to cough very much. He couldn't hold back a deep breath, so he had to cover his mouth with his left hand, and coughed muffledly, suppressing his voice.

This cough became the fuse of the old illness in the past, causing a burst of disordered breathing, his face suddenly changed, he couldn't help bending down, and gasped with difficulty.Even at such a moment, he exerted all his strength to control the right hand that was holding Xia Yue, and tried his best to keep it still, so as not to let her in deep sleep notice.

But the wheezing was getting heavier, much worse than he had imagined.So I couldn't just bend over blindly to relieve the pain, so I shook my left hand to support the edge of the table, and then slowly raised my upper body upright, trying to breathe more smoothly.

But every moment like this is suffering, not to mention asking him to use willpower to straighten his body. When his fingers tightened, his right hand shook uncontrollably.

Noticing the movement, she opened her eyes in horror, and then saw Zijin who was ill. She was anxious and angry for a while, and the tears that had just dried were wet again.

His face was covered with cold sweat, his lips were purple and blue, and he was so panting that he couldn't speak at all.But seeing Xia Yue's impatient face, he raised his arms and waved his hands with great difficulty, signaling that he was fine.

After panting for a long time, those few breaths finally slowed down.

Back home the next day, Zijin only said that he had stayed out overnight because of the rain.

Afterwards, both of them fell ill each other.

Zijin kept silent about what happened that night, as if it had never happened to Xia Yue.The more he avoided, the more silent Xia Yue became, and she became alienated from Zijin, and she didn't talk much to others.

"Miss..." Seeing Xia Yue's temperament change, He Xiang felt a little strange.

"Huh?" She stared blankly at the embroidery in her hand, and didn't get a stitch for a long time.

"I...I want to say something."

"Ah."

"Last winter when Miss was suffering from a cold..." He Xiang stammered, "I brought medicine into your room to see the young master...the young master...he...wanted to kiss you."

She is a little girl who can't hide things, and this matter has been tormenting her all the time. Now she finally made up her mind to tell it, but Xia Yue was not surprised, and said "hmm" lightly, even the needlework in her hand She didn't let it go, which surprised her greatly.She didn't know what happened behind this that Zijin regretted for the rest of her life.

After a while, Xia Yue raised her head: "He Xiang, no matter what happens to him, he is my younger brother. So there is no need to mention such things in the future. He is still a child, and he is only worried that I can't help acting recklessly. It's just ignorance." There was no wave in his eyes, and he knew in his heart that maybe the two of them had been together since childhood and were too dependent on each other, which gave him an illusion of love.

Now that his father has passed away, it is even more inappropriate to depend on each other for life.

Soon after, Xia Yue was going to move to Qi'an's academy with He Xiang.

She explained: "The building staff in the west of the city sent a letter saying that they want to buy Mr. Qi's house, and I will bring my wife to see it in a few days. Anyway, I have nothing to do these days. I will live there for a few days and tidy up the house with He Xiang. Let’s negotiate a good price for Mr.

Zijin knew that she was just looking for an excuse to stay away from him, he looked at her hesitated for a while and asked, "Yue'er, can we not do this?"

When Xia Yue heard his unrepentant address, she was suddenly annoyed, and said resolutely: "There are only siblings between us, and there will be no Yue'er, otherwise--I will cut off my hair and become a nun."

His lips trembled suddenly, and the word "Yue'er" that he was about to spit out finally didn't dare to say it again, and said sadly: "If you want to move, I will go. I will move to the academy. There is no one living there for half a year. It's better to stay at home." convenient."

Xia Yue said: "The academy is too trendy, it's not suitable for you to live in. What's more, Mr. Qi and I have a marriage contract, so it's not your turn to go anyway."

His face turned pale in an instant, and he couldn't find a single word to keep her.

Xia Yue is a man of integrity, she took the keys to the academy to clean up at noon, and moved out in the evening.

For several days in a row, Xia Yue felt empty in her heart, so she and He Xiang worked together to weed and fertilize the yard, and they were so busy that they couldn't rest for a moment.

"Miss, you said you wanted to become a nun to fool the young master, right?" He Xiang asked tentatively.

Xia Yue bowed her head and did not answer whether she was working, but instead said: "You are not young anymore, it's time to find a husband's family."

He Xiang suddenly felt bad, and asked again: "Are you scaring the young master?"

Xia Yue said again: "You see, Chang's mother's daughter-in-law is about the same age as you, and they have already had children."

He Xiang said: "Miss will worry about me when she marry herself."

Xia Yue smiled: "Who can say for sure, it might just be a blink of an eye. Yesterday, Mrs. Fan next door came to me and said that she had heard the news that the second young master of the Shen family, Shen Juren, wanted to invite someone to come to me as a matchmaker. Get married within a hundred days of father's death."

He Xiang stood up all of a sudden, and said anxiously: "Why are these people so relieved? That Shen Juren has just died and his wife is dead. Maybe he wants to find our lady to make a sequel. He wants to eat swan meat, and he doesn't think about himself. Do you deserve it or not!"

Xia Yue smiled wryly again: "What kind of good marriage can a person like me have? Maybe it would be better if I really became a nun."

Seeing her like this, He Xiang said loudly: "Miss, what are you talking about!"

Xia Yue said indifferently: "What a nice nun, the six senses are pure, and I have no desire or hope. Anyway, I have no father or mother, no relatives and no reason."

He Xiang was suddenly startled by her appearance and cried. She hugged Xia Yue and said, "Miss, what are you talking about? What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you recently? , if you think I'm a servant, you still have the young master, and the young master defends you so much, why would he let you become a nun? Wouldn't that kill him?"

Xia Yue's tears also flowed down.

That kind of tears, like the rain in spring in Jinluo, is pattering and can't stop falling.

(End of this chapter)