Chapter 1 Turbulent Emotions

  Xiang Hong leaned against the railing of the wall, watching her classmates wildly shouting and chasing after the volleyball on the playground, feeling a surge of envy in her heart.

  At this age, her world should also be as clear and simple, but...

  She turned around, her hands grasping the black iron railing of the campus wall, and the world in her line of sight was divided into strips of space by these evenly spaced iron bars, like a cage, leaving her feeling desolate and lost.

  Her mother's medical expenses were still unsettled, and her father's gloomy face made her tremble with fear. The college entrance exam was just a month away, and her future prospects seemed almost out of reach; her life could only revolve around her bedridden mother and searching for her drunkenly wandering or compulsively gambling father.

  As her thoughts gradually returned, Sang Hong let out a breath and smoothed her short hair. Her life shouldn't be so bleak!

  At this time——

  A sleek black sedan glided slowly to the edge of the wall, and finally came to a silent stop in front of her.

  A faint smile flashed across her empty eyes, the beautiful dreams of her childhood should have awakened, reality has shattered and crushed her fantasies.

  Qin Luoshui gazed through the car window with a thoughtful expression, sizing up the young face pressed against the railing, yearningly looking up at the sky.

  Her face was lit up with a faint smile, although she knew she couldn't see herself, but the bright sunlight poured onto her small face, and jumped out from her eyes, that smile was dazzling.

  The car window slid down like a slow-motion shot, revealing a handsome man's face bit by bit.

  The man in the car was extremely demonic, with elegant features and a sparkling light in his peach blossom eyes that seemed to smile but not quite.

  Xiang Hong raised an eyebrow, her eyes suddenly sharp, revealing scrutiny and inquiry, meeting the man's gaze with a hint of confrontation.

  Qin Luoshui's eyes measured her straightforwardly and unapologetically, with a critical tone.

  The face in his memory wasn't very similar, yet somehow it just gave him a sense of déjà vu.

  The girl's skin is very good, tender and delicate to the point where you can see the faint blue of the blood vessels under her skin. Her chin is pointed, her nose small and neat, her eyes are like stars, big and bright, without any makeup or eyelashes, which makes her pupils appear extremely black and shiny, exuding a captivating aura that is both cunning and sharp. At this moment, she also has an air of unusual pride about her.

  Her eyebrows are a bit thick and the ends of her eyebrows are flying up in a beautiful arc, it is said that people with this kind of appearance have strong personalities.

  Her lips were all right, but compared with the provocative charm of her usual makeup, they looked pale and childish.

  It's been a long time since I've seen such a fresh and pure face.

  He concealed the small joy in his heart, and a careless smile spread across his face. He pursed his thin lips and lightly uttered a sentence: "Little girl, your lip color is too pale, otherwise you'd be a little beauty!"

  The sunset behind him as the background, accompanied by a slightly exotic tone of voice, burst open like fireworks, and for an instant, let Sang Hong's eyes have a momentary daze, then great interest was aroused.

  "You're a beauty when you don't speak, but once you do - tsk tsk!" Xiang Hong's eyebrows rose, her whole body exuding thorns as she laughed unreservedly: "You're just a rascal!"

  At this moment, her eyebrows and eyes were infecting him with a sense of unrestrained freedom, making him involuntarily raise the corners of his lips, and his bright smile was tinged with a hint of mystery.

  "Huh? Does the punk look good? Just now, you seemed to be staring blankly..."

  Qin Luoshui curled up the corners of his lips, and the word "oh" was dragged out with a deep meaning. His smile was mixed with an inexplicable interest, although he said something that didn't quite fit, but he didn't have a hint of shame or self-awareness, really having a thick skin.

  "Beautiful!" Xiang Hong nodded heavily.

  Qin Luoshui didn't get angry, instead he smiled and shook his head, turned around, and his eyes instantly became filled with a dense indifference. The car window slowly rose, isolating the scarlet world outside.

  Xiang Hong sighed, closed her eyes and thought to herself, this is how it should be, they were people from different worlds after all!

  Qin Luoshui was about to leave, but the girl's suddenly dim and gloomy eyes made him feel a little unbearable.

  He lifted his wrist to check the time, he still had half an hour of free time, opened the car door and looked at her thin back.

  "Can you come out now?"

  Xiang Hong was stunned, she stopped in her tracks, turned around, the tall man's body leaned lazily against the car door, one hand pressed on the open car door, smiling warmly at her.

  "Out?" She lowered her eyelids to conceal the dullness in them and raised an eyebrow to confirm: "Now?"

  Yes.

  "What are you going out for?" Her eyes were filled with growing doubt, her fingers gripping the railing had turned pale, and she was on guard.

  Qin Luoshui was amused by her reaction, and with a slight lift of her finger, she promised her:

  "Don't worry, I'm not interested in selling you as a little girl, but... it's okay to treat you to something."

  "Okay, wait for me."

  Xiang Hong crisply agreed, vigilantly looked back, and since no one on the distant playground noticed her, she casually exercised her shoulders a few times, then trotted along the railing to the nearby lush wisteria - where it was a blind spot for the school's surveillance cameras.

  She took a deep breath, bent her knees, and sprang up, nimbly grasping the horizontal bar with both arms. With a swift swing of her long legs, she hooked them over, and then, with another effort, her body cleared the sharp railing and landed lightly on the outside.

  Qin Luoshui had already driven over, and this seemingly weak little girl was surprisingly decisive and efficient in her actions, which was beyond his expectations. He smiled awkwardly and curiously as he helped open the car door, while teasing her mercilessly at the same time.

  "Actions are skilled, difficulty is relatively high, habitual truant."

  "Thanks for the compliment," she said with a smile. "If I get caught by the school security, I'll say you lured me."

  "Abduction? You're underestimating my insight." Qin Luoshui sneered and deliberately struck back at her.

  Xiang Hong smiled and shrugged her shoulders indifferently.

  ……

  A few minutes later, under Sang Hong's guidance, the two sat in an ice cream shop on a street corner near the school.

  Xiang Hong sat on a pale blue chair, facing a handsome young man, enjoying a large plate of colorful cold dishes.

  The dessert's icy crystals danced on her tongue, the delicate and dense sweetness making her close her eyes in comfort: "Ah, so comfortable, it's simply a taste of happiness..."

  Qin Luoshui heard her exaggerated tone and couldn't help but look at her with a puzzled expression, her eyes narrowing like a cat's. Was it really that delicious?

  He averted his gaze, bravely looked at the delicate plate in front of him with the green and flowery things, under her encouraging eyes, gritted his teeth, pinched up a spoon to scoop up a bit and sent it to his mouth, then swallowed with a bitter face.

  "Ah, is happiness this flavor?"

  He disdainfully curled his lips, casually threw away the spoon, grabbed a tissue from beside him to wipe his mouth, and leaned back in his soft chair, not intending to take another bite.

  Xiang Hong looked up and saw his elegant eating posture and expression of disgust, and couldn't help but look at him with disdain and mutter under her breath.

  "Are you exaggerating? People who don't know might think you just ate pig feed!"

  "Hmm, but it seems like you've gotten yourself tangled up too; I'm Qin Luoshui, what should I call you, little student?"

  "Will we meet again?" She raised an eyebrow, clearly unwilling to say more.

  This answer is off the topic. Qin Luoshui thought for a moment and shook his head: "It shouldn't be."

  "Now that you've asked this, right, you can say the purpose of inviting me to eat." She changed the subject.

  "What's the purpose? Hehe, why must there be a purpose?"

  Xiang Hong shook her head and said: "Maybe not before, but now, who can say for sure? Life is unpredictable after all!"

  Qin Luoshui smiled lightly: "Well, one can't predict that. So, you tell me, what purpose could I possibly have?"

  His careless expression was taken in by Sang Hong, who lowered her head and smiled, then nodded as if it were a matter of course and said: "Your reaction shows that running into me is coincidental. So, you riding your bike on the road behind our school playground is also coincidental?"

  Qin Luoshui rarely saw a girl who could get him to talk without making a sound, he was too lazy to explain, but seeing her serious expression, thinking of the word "entice", he vaguely didn't want to be misunderstood as doing it on purpose, so he casually explained:

  "Uh, I used to attend this school too. An old friend who's been away for a long time is coming back in two days. We have many memories here from the past. Today, as I passed by, my speed slowed down involuntarily, and I happened to catch a glimpse of you. It reminded me of some past events... and that's it."

  "What's past is past? Is it related to girls? Or is she similar to me?"

  Xiang Hong's enthusiasm grew as she spoke, and after three questions, her eyes sparkled brightly, and the gossip factor rarely bubbled up.

  Qin Luoshui was taken aback for a moment, and with a lost smile, he gestured to the table with his chin: "Your plate is empty, what flavor do you want another plate of?"

  The smile on Xiang Hong's face stiffened for a moment before disappearing, and she pursed her lips in disdain, saying, "Cut it out, you're just changing the subject after I guessed it."

  Qin Luoshui pursed her lips and looked at her, but didn't intend to take the bait. In terms of skillfully changing the subject, the two were evenly matched.

  She could only seem to be embarrassed, rolling her eyes and moving them to the plate in front of her. Her gaze quickly shifted to the almost full plate across from her, and with a faint smile, she used her spoon to point at the ice porridge in front of him:

  "My taste is very particular, this dish in front of you will do, I see you don't have the appetite to eat, so let me take care of it."

  Qin Luoshui refused without hesitation. He was used to making others feel extremely comfortable when asking for something, even if it was a girl who didn't stand on ceremony like her. Besides, they were just strangers, how could they be familiar enough to share a dish?

  "I can go get you a clean one." The tone was unmistakable.

  "That's great, waste is shameful!" The paws were eager to move.

  "I'll go get it, don't move." Qin Luoshui made a gesture to stand up and saw that the woman's claws had moved excitedly, immediately becoming vigilant.

  The two gazes met again, neither yielding an inch. Finally, Shang Hong couldn't help but smile, her little fingers drawing circles in the air as she spoke first, her voice carefully controlled to be soft and gentle:

  "Your spoon hasn't touched the second one yet, I don't mind."

  "But I mind." Qin Luoshui's eyes were slightly cold, and he didn't give in at all.

  "Hmph, don't you think I'm taking advantage of you in that aspect?" The woman intentionally laughed with an evil tone, and some cheesy and corny scenes flashed through her mind.

  "Ah——" A black line fell from his forehead to the ground, "What's going on here?!"

  Xiang Hong saw that this guy was hopeless, it was just a bowl of leftover congee, and she couldn't help but curse loudly:

  "Stingy, huh? I'll just finish this dish then."