On the way back, Su Yanxi stopped by a small store and bought two notebooks. Her parents were already sleeping when she got home. They reminded her to sleep early and went to bed.
In her room, Su Yanxi couldn’t focus on studying. Checking the time frequently, when the clock struck ten, she lay on the door, quietly listening to the sounds outside. It was silent, indicating her parents were asleep. Quickly, she wore a small cotton jacket, took her phone and wallet, and gently opened the door.
To avoid her parents checking if she was asleep, she turned off the table lamp and stuffed the pillow under the covers. Then, tiptoeing, she left the house.
Once outside, she immediately started running. She had called a cab in advance and, when it arrived at the entrance of the community, she got in, heading to the hospital.
Hu Ying was sitting next to her, playing with her phone while glancing at the IV bag.
Mu Qi had already fallen asleep.
When Su Yanxi approached, Hu Ying was still engrossed in her phone. It wasn’t until Su Yanxi stood in front of her that she looked up in surprise. Seeing Little Cutie, who should have been sleeping at home, now appearing here, almost caused her phone to slip from her hand.
“Didn’t you go back?” Hu Ying stood up and asked.
Su Yanxi, looking at Mu Qi, who was already asleep, whispered, “I was afraid you guys would be hungry, so I bought some snacks for you.” She raised the bag in her hand and presented it to Hu Ying.
Hu Ying was moved by her considerate gesture and quickly hugged her, exclaiming, “Little Cutie, you’re too warm-hearted!”
Mu Qi, awakened by their conversation, opened her eyes with annoyance. The first thing she saw was the two hugging, and she muttered with gritted teeth, “Damn!”
“Mu Qi, you’re awake!” Su Yanxi’s eyes instantly lit up. She pushed Hu Ying aside and walked over, reaching out to touch Mu Qi’s forehead. Feeling a lower temperature, her eyes and brows curved into a smile, and dimples appeared on both sides of her cheeks.
Mu Qi turned her head slightly, avoiding her hand. Then, she glanced at the snacks in Su Yanxi’s hands, and her stomach immediately growled.
Su Yanxi quickly placed the snacks on a small table nearby, opened the bag, unfolded disposable chopsticks, and placed them in front of Mu Qi.
Without paying attention to the overly considerate girl, Mu Qi hesitated for a moment when she remembered the cleaning. She then lowered her eyelids and continued to eat the beef noodles.
This girl was really crazy. She let a little girl tidy up her room. Standing together, the girl barely reached her shoulders.
Thinking about cleaning the room, Mu Qi paused with the chopsticks in her hand. Then, she reluctantly ignored the girl’s pink and tender scarf and continued eating the beef noodles.
Hu Ying, on the side, was also eating quickly. Between bites, she said, “I was starving. I thought I was going to starve to death, but fortunately, there’s Little Cutie. I really love you.”
Su Yanxi laughed, sitting down on a stool nearby.
Before going to the hospital, she saw a noodle shop across the street that hadn’t closed yet. Thinking they would have to wait for a long time, she bought some.
The intravenous drip was almost finished around eleven. Exiting the hospital, the cold wind blew, and Mu Qi shrank her neck.
Su Yanxi took off the scarf around her neck, tiptoed, and wrapped it around Mu Qi’s neck, saying as she organized it, “You just finished the drip; it’s better to stay warm for a faster recovery.”
Looking at the scarf that was as pink and tender as the girl, Mu Qi pulled it disdainfully.
Hu Ying, exhausted, said while yawning, “Qi Ge, go back and sleep early. Keep warm, and you should be fine tomorrow.”
Mu Qi glanced at her and said, “You go back first; I’ll take her home.”
“What?” Hu Ying was a little stunned, her hand holding the phone pausing.
Ignoring her, Mu Qi asked Su Yanxi, “Is your home in the South City community ahead?”
Su Yanxi also looked a bit confused but nodded.
Mu Qi took a step forward without stopping, saying, “Let’s go; I’ll take you home.”
In the middle of the night, such a cute girl walking alone on the road, no one knew who might have abducted her.
Hu Ying shouted from behind, “Qi Ge, let me go too.”
“No need.” Mu Qi, not looking at her, said to Su Yanxi with a wave, “You go back; see you tomorrow.”
Finally, only the two of them remained, one in front, half of her face buried in the scarf, walking with her head down, and the other behind, watching the figure in front with a smile.
When they reached the entrance of the South City community, Mu Qi stopped. Just as she was about to turn around, the girl behind her, who had been focused on her, collided with her back like a ball, bouncing back a step.
Mu Qi: “…”
“In which building is your home?” Mu Qi asked with a pause.
Rubbing her slightly sore nose from the collision, Su Yanxi, with a hint of a nasal tone, said, “In Building 4.”
Mu Qi glanced at the community, too vast to pinpoint Building 4. Finally, she looked at Su Yanxi and said, “Lead the way.”
“Sure.” Su Yanxi nodded obediently.
Reaching the ground floor, Mu Qi asked, “Do you want me to accompany you to your doorstep?” It was a courteous offer, considering that she brought them snacks tonight.
“No,” Su Yanxi shook her head. After all, she had sneaked out, and she needed to sneak back. If Mu Qi accompanied her to the doorstep, she feared her parents might hear the noise.
“Alright.” Mu Qi nodded. She hadn’t intended to escort her to the doorstep either. At this point, she was feeling a bit unsteady, having used up all her strength fighting the fever.
“Thank you.” Su Yanxi looked up, her eyes seeming to shine, as she stared straight at the girl in front of her.
Seeing that gaze, Mu Qi was momentarily stunned, then reached out to pat her head, saying, “Go upstairs. I’ll leave when I see your light on.”
“Okay!” The girl said, smiling, and ran upstairs.
Mu Qi stood below, unable to resist taking out a cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and leaned against a tree trunk. She looked up.
In a short while, the light on the third floor came on. The girl opened the window, waved to Mu Qi, and smiled brightly.
Mu Qi waved back, then turned and walked away.
Despite having little energy and a slight bend in her waist, she couldn’t help but like the girl’s departing figure. Only when the girl’s figure disappeared at the entrance of the community did Mu Qi rub her frozen red nose and enter her room.
Turning off the main light, switching on a small desk lamp, she took out a thin photo album from the lowest drawer and opened it.
There were only three photos inside, but each one featured her and Mu Qi, taken in their first-grade year.
Looking at herself and Mu Qi leaning against each other, laughing brightly, Su Yanxi smiled. After a long while, she turned off the light and went to sleep, with dreams filled with images of Mu Qi.
“Qi Ge, do you want to rest for another day? You’ve almost recovered from yesterday’s illness. Today, we can go out and have some fun,” Hu Ying said, nagging.
Mu Qi’s head was buzzing from her incessant words. She slapped the back of Hu Ying’s head, irritably saying, “Just a few words would be enough. Do you believe I’ll beat you up if you don’t stop?”
Hu Ying, recalling yesterday’s punch from Qi Ge, burst into laughter.
Hearing her quacking laughter, Mu Qi couldn’t help but smile, then slapped the back of Hu Ying’s head again, saying, “You’re not far from being an idiot.”
“Damn!” Hu Ying also laughed.
Today, Mu Qi had plans with Qi Wei to play basketball, a good exercise despite the cold weather.
Hu Ying tugged at her collar, looking at the empty basketball court. She cursed, “Damn!”
She felt like they were a bunch of idiots. In this freezing weather, playing basketball here, with cold wind blowing from all sides, it was like turning into a fighter jet in the idiot’s arena.
“Who suggested this? I want to hang her up and beat her,” Mu Qi muttered.
The one who suggested this arrived.
Qi Wei came with a few of her little brothers and sisters. In total, there were five people.
Upon seeing that only two of them had come, Qi Wei, who had just taken a sip of her milk tea, sprayed it out. She stared, saying, “Is it just you two?”
Hu Ying, disdainfully looking at her mouth full of milk tea, said, “I alone can beat all of you to your knees, calling me daddy!”
This trash-talking made Qi Wei’s followers almost lose their temper. Qi Wei was also angry, but it wasn’t the time for verbal fights. She frowned and asked, “Can you call a few more people? If you’re short, I can borrow some for you.”
Hu Ying wanted to retort, but Mu Qi hugged her and said, lifting her chin, “You call.”
At this point, with a day off, it would take at least half an hour to call people over. She just wanted to finish quickly and go back to sleep.
“Alright.” Qi Wei, a bit confused, immediately called people over.
In a short while, a group of people rushed over.
Hu Ying couldn’t believe it and said, “Stinky Mushroom, are we playing basketball or starting a fight?”
Qi Wei was also a bit confused. Turning around to look at her group, she asked angrily, “I only called three people. Why did all of you come? Da Mao, Er Mao, who allowed you to come?”
Da Mao grinned and said, “Sis Wei, we just wanted to see some excitement, so we couldn’t help but come.”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s too boring at home. We wanted to come out for some fresh air.”
Some fresh air in this weather, they were probably out of their minds.
Qi Wei, finally losing her patience with her group, waved impatiently and said, “All of you stand aside. Don’t linger here. With such a big group, people might think we can’t handle it and call reinforcements.”
Immediately, the group of onlookers obediently moved aside, standing or sitting to watch.
As for the three people who were called to help, Qi Wei pointed at them and assigned them to Mu Qi’s side, saying, “These three are decent at playing basketball. Don’t say we’re bullying you.”
“Okay.” Mu Qi unzipped her cotton jacket, pulled the baseball cap brim over her head, and said, “Let’s go.”
