QTMWSFC Chapter 8

Xia Qingmeng cried for a very long time. She cried so much that the front of Xu Xinghe’s shirt became soaked, and only then did her sobbing gradually subside.

“S-sorry.” Xia Qingmeng wiped the tear stains on Xu Xinghe’s chest with her fingers, as if that could somehow dry the tears.

Xu Xinghe was a bit amused by her actions.

Feeling the vibrations from his chest, Xia Qingmeng only then realized that she was still being held in his arms. She struggled to pull her clothes together and put some distance between them.

Xu Xinghe pretended to cough and immediately let go of her. The warmth and softness disappearing from his arms was a bit regrettable.

“I’m going to go change my clothes first.” Xia Qingmeng pointed towards the bathroom before turning and running off.

“Mm…” Xu Xinghe scratched his head, his eyes wandering as he felt too embarrassed to look at her.

He hoped Xia Qingmeng wouldn’t think he had overstepped just now.

Inside the bathroom.

Xia Qingmeng changed out of her torn school uniform. The collar was ripped, but a tailor shop downstairs could stitch it up a bit, and it would be wearable again. Luckily, the pants were fine, just a little dirty but not damaged anywhere.

Xia Qingmeng breathed a sigh of relief. At least she didn’t have to buy a new set. That would have been another expense.

Xu Xinghe was so tall that his pant legs were very long. Xia Qingmeng had to roll them up four or five times before they barely fit.

When she came out of the bathroom, she saw him returning from the doorway carrying a large bag.

Xu Xinghe waved the bag at her. “You’re changed, right? You definitely haven’t eaten breakfast yet. I just ordered some takeout. Let’s eat together.”

After the chaos of the whole morning, it was nearly noon now. He hadn’t managed to eat breakfast and even got into a fight, so he was starving.

Xia Qingmeng instinctively thought about splitting the bill again, but remembering the look Xu Xinghe had given her earlier when she tried to share the taxi fare, she decided maybe she shouldn’t be so clear with him. That seemed too pretentious, at least for someone like Xu Xinghe, who clearly wasn’t short on money.

Sometimes, being too clear about sharing costs can actually harm a relationship.

“Do you have any medicine at your place?” Xia Qingmeng asked, looking at Xu Xinghe’s untreated hand.

“Huh? Are you hurt? Where does it hurt?” Xu Xinghe instinctively grabbed her slender wrist and felt very anxious.

Xia Qingmeng shook her head and pointed to the dried blood scabs on Xu Xinghe’s hand. “No, I want to help you take care of your hand.”

Even though Xu Xinghe said the blood on his hand was all from other people, Xia Qingmeng didn’t believe it. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. His hand must have been injured too.

Xu Xinghe searched his memory, found the first-aid kit under the coffee table, and handed it to Xia Qingmeng.

Xia Qingmeng took him to wash his hands first. Sure enough, there were many scrapes and broken skin.

“Does it hurt? If it hurts, just say. Don’t bear it.”

Xia Qingmeng started by applying iodine. Xu Xinghe’s expression didn’t change much, but Xia Qingmeng’s little face scrunched up as if she were the one feeling the pain.

“It doesn’t hurt.” Xu Xinghe felt that this little bit of pain was nothing. It was certainly a lot better than being hit by a truck.

“Does this hurt?” Xia Qingmeng applied the disinfectant and medicine bit by bit, afraid of causing him pain.

“It really doesn’t hurt. Just go ahead and do what you need to do.” Xu Xinghe grinned at her, his brows and eyes relaxed, as if he truly felt no pain at all.

Xia Qingmeng stared steadily at his smiling face. Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling window, and his smile against the light looked especially bright and clear. For no reason, Xia Qingmeng’s heartbeat skipped a beat.

She felt like something was wrong with her.

She thought it must be because Xu Xinghe saved her. She was so moved.

Yes, that has to be it.

After all, they are from different worlds…

Once the wound was treated, Xu Xinghe opened the takeout bag. The receipt with the price had already been thrown away.

He ordered a lot of dishes, both meat and vegetables. He’d even ordered enough to cover dinner as well.

Because he knew that given Xia Qingmeng’s personality, she would definitely not eat well. So he figured he’d find an excuse to let her take the leftovers home.

Sweet and sour spare ribs, boiled prawns, shredded pork in garlic sauce, stir-fried shredded potatoes, minced pork with eggplant, pickled fish with Sichuan cabbage…

Xia Qingmeng noticed that all the dishes he ordered were homestyle with nothing too picky or taboo.

“Eat more. You’re too thin.” Xu Xinghe piled a lot of food onto her plate in one go.

Looking at the growing mountain of food in her bowl, Xia Qingmeng felt a warmth in her heart.

So this is what it feels like to be cared for…

She found herself a little greedy for it.

But she also knew very well that this was only temporary. She shouldn’t let herself have any delusions. After today, things would most likely go back to the way they were, each going their own separate way.

Sure enough, the two of them couldn’t finish all the food Xu Xinghe had ordered. Several dishes were not even touched by a chopstick.

Xu Xinghe decisively cleared the table, repacked the leftovers, and said to Xia Qingmeng, “Looks like I accidentally ordered too much. There’s no way I can finish all this by myself tonight. Why don’t you take some back with you when you go and help me get rid of it? We can’t waste food.”

Xia Qingmeng nodded. She never wasted anything, and wasting things was a bad habit. If these dishes ended up being thrown away, she would feel really pained.

Seeing her nod without hesitation, Xu Xinghe breathed a sigh of relief inside. Looks like this plan works!

“Oh, right, I’ve got one more thing to give you. Come with me.” Xu Xinghe took Xia Qingmeng’s hand and led her toward the study.

Xia Qingmeng looked down at his large hand holding hers, her heart surging.

How could he hold her hand so naturally?

Didn’t he not really like talking to girls? Didn’t he think girls were troublesome creatures?

“Here, try it out and see if it feels comfortable to use.” Xu Xinghe handed her a phone box.

Even though Xia Qingmeng had never used an expensive phone, she wasn’t so out of touch that she couldn’t recognize one. She knew that the phone in front of her would cost at least seven or eight thousand yuan, so she quickly shook her head. “No, this is too expensive. I can’t accept it.”

Xu Xinghe insisted on giving it to her. “Listen to me first. I’m the kind of person who loves tinkering with electronics when I’ve got nothing to do. I just got a new one a while ago, so this one is useless to me now. And since your phone was taken away by the police, I thought it’d be perfect to make use of something that would otherwise go to waste. Isn’t that a good idea?”

Xia Qingmeng: “I guess that makes sense…”

There’s no way Xu Xinghe could have known what would happen today and bought this phone in advance, right? Xia Qingmeng thought.

“So go on, try it out and see if you can get used to it.”

Blushing under his eager gaze, Xia Qingmeng opened the box.

It really didn’t look brand new. The instruction manual and charging cable were all stuffed in there messily. But messy as it was, once tidied up, it still looked almost as good as new.

The phone was already on. It had probably been formatted, right? There were none of Xu Xinghe’s personal accounts on it. It did have a SIM card, actually two.

Xia Qingmeng downloaded a couple of apps she often used and tried them out. The phone ran smoothly and worked very well.

“Thank you.” Xia Qingmeng wasn’t sure how to express her gratitude. She wasn’t a fool. She knew that Xu Xinghe’s words earlier were probably just a roundabout way of thinking about her feelings, afraid of hurting her pride and self-esteem.

“There’s not really anything I can give you in return. If you have any questions you can’t solve in the future, as long as I can answer them, I’ll be there at any time,” Xia Qingmeng said solemnly.

“Does that include video calls?” Xu Xinghe’s eyes sparkled as he looked at her.

“Yes.” Xia Qingmeng nodded without hesitation.

Xu Xinghe laughed in his heart.