The blanket was pressed tightly around her, and the air inside was gradually becoming thin.
Lin Qingle gripped her phone tightly, letting it grow hot against her ear, unwilling to let go.
“Did you hear what they’re saying about me?” she asked softly.
“Zhang Yikun came by.”
Lin Qingle immediately tensed up. “He—he went looking for you again! Did he do anything to you?”
“No.” Xu Tingbai paused for a moment, sounding a little helpless. “You’re still worrying about others right now.”
“I’m fine,” she murmured.
“If you’re fine, why are you crying?”
He was sure she had been crying—and he was right.
Lin Qingle didn’t deny it anymore. She scrunched up her nose, her eyes heating up again. Maybe because it was Xu Tingbai on the other end, she couldn’t hold back and felt the urge to open up. “I’m not like Li Minshan. I never wanted to kill anyone…”
“I know.”
“That time when I was a kid, it was because they were bothering my mom. They kept hitting her. I was scared and just wanted them to leave our house, so I used that little boy to threaten them… but I didn’t want to hurt him. I just wanted them to leave.”
“I know.”
“But it’s been so long now. No one would believe me even if I explained… A lot of people online think I’m scary.”
“Lin Qingle, do you remember what I told you before?”
“What?”
Xu Tingbai said, “What your father did wasn’t your fault, and it has nothing to do with you. You don’t need to care about what people who blame you because of it think.”
Lin Qingle froze.
This was the first time since their reunion that Xu Tingbai had taken the initiative to speak to her calmly and at such length.
It gave her the illusion that they were back in the past when Xu Tingbai was still the gentle person she knew, and they were still close.
Her mood improved significantly. In that moment, even the strange looks her classmates gave her didn’t feel as painful anymore.
“Yeah… I remember,” Lin Qingle said.
“So don’t hide and cry like you did when you were a kid. Understand?”
That’s right. After all these years, why should she still care so much about what others thought?
She wasn’t the one who had killed someone. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
Lin Qingle couldn’t help but smile. “Did you call just to comfort me?”
Xu Tingbai was silent for a moment. “I just wanted to see if the number you gave me worked.”
“Of course it works!”
“Okay.”
“…”
“Are you still crying?”
“…No.”
“Then I’m hanging up.”
“Wait, wait!”
“What is it?”
Lin Qingle gripped her phone, wanting to say something, but in her nervousness, she didn’t know what.
“I… I’m still a little upset. Can you keep talking to me for a bit?” she lied a little. She wasn’t upset anymore—she just didn’t want to hang up.
This moment gave her a rare sense of contentment, as if there was still someone in the world who understood her and stood by her side.
Xu Tingbai paused. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Uh…”
“Qingle, Qingle, are you in your room?” At that moment, Lin Yufen’s voice came from outside. She was back from work.
Lin Qingle jumped, quickly stuffing her phone under her pillow. “Yes, I’m here!”
Lin Yufen pushed open the door. “Why are you still lying in bed? You haven’t eaten dinner yet, have you? I brought some food back. Come out and eat.”
“Okay…”
“Feeling better now?”
“Yeah.”
“Then come eat.” Lin Yufen turned and left but didn’t close the door behind her. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Lin Qingle stared at the doorway. Only when the sound of her mother’s footsteps faded did she crawl back under the blanket and retrieve her phone. Quietly, she asked, “Are you still there?”
“Yeah.”
“My mom asked me to eat dinner.”
“I heard.”
“Then I’ll go eat first.”
“Hang up.”
“Wait.” Lin Qingle hesitated, lowering her voice. “Xu Tingbai, can we talk again tonight?”
“…”
“I’ll call you tonight, okay?”
Xu Tingbai was silent for a moment. Just as Lin Qingle began to grow nervous, afraid he would refuse, she heard his low voice from the other end.
“Okay.”
Lin Yufen had brought porridge for Lin Qingle. After watching her finish it, she took her temperature again.
“Good, no fever.”
“I told you I didn’t have a fever. I just suddenly felt a bit weak…”
“Tsk, looks like I’ll need to get you some tonic next time.”
“No need. That stuff is expensive.”
“Nothing’s more important than your health. If your condition affects your studies, that would be a big deal.”
There it was again—tying everything back to her studies.
Lin Qingle sighed lightly, giving in. “Then get some for yourself too. You work so hard.”
“Don’t worry about me. Just take care of yourself.”
…
After finishing the porridge, Lin Qingle went back to her room.
Worried about her health, Lin Yufen kept checking on her—bringing hot water, fruit, and occasionally peeking into her room.
Naturally, under her mother’s watchful eye, Lin Qingle didn’t dare make a phone call. Eventually, she pulled out her workbook and began working on problems at her desk.
Their house was small, with poor soundproofing. Lin Qingle kept studying until late, listening for signs of her mother going to bed.
But for some reason, Lin Yufen stayed up in the living room until 11 p.m.
It made Lin Qingle anxious. She worried that Xu Tingbai might have already gone to sleep.
“Qingle, don’t stay up too late,” Lin Yufen called, poking her head in.
Lin Qingle replied, “I’ll sleep soon, Mom. You should rest too.”
“Alright. Just don’t overdo it and wake up feeling unwell again tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
After that, Lin Yufen closed the door and left.
Lin Qingle set her pen down and tiptoed to the door. Pressing her ear against it, she listened closely to her mother’s footsteps.
**Bang—**
The door to the opposite room slammed shut.
Lin Qingle’s eyes lit up. She immediately darted into her blanket, pulling her phone out from under the pillow. She scrolled through her contacts, found Xu Tingbai’s number, and dialed.
She was a little nervous—afraid he might already be asleep and worried about disturbing him. She told herself she’d let it ring only three times. If he didn’t pick up by then, she’d hang up to avoid bothering him.
But to her surprise, the phone was picked up after just one ring.
“Hello.”
“You’re still awake!”
Xu Tingbai made a sound of acknowledgment. “Are you about to sleep?”
“Of course not. My mom was here earlier, so I didn’t dare call…”
“She’s not around now?” You are reading on novelping.com, the official source.
“No, she went to bed. As soon as I heard her go to her room, I quickly called you.”
Lin Qingle’s voice was soft, muffled by the blanket she was hiding in. In the quiet of the night, her excited and candid words carried a slight ambiguity, as though their relationship was unusual or as if they were sneaking around to talk for some reason.
Xu Tingbai sat on the edge of his bed, holding the phone with one hand while absentmindedly tugging at the bedsheet with the other. “Say whatever you want.”
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Thank you for calling me this afternoon. I was in a bad mood, but now I feel much better.”
Xu Tingbai replied, “Oh, I just called randomly.”
“Well, I didn’t listen randomly! How about this… to thank you, I’ll cook something delicious for you next time.”
Her cheerful tone made it obvious how much her mood had improved since earlier in the day.
Xu Tingbai’s lips curved slightly. “One compliment, and you’re already so confident about your cooking.”
“It *is* good!” Lin Qingle declared. “Next time, I’ll make cola chicken wings. That’s my specialty.”
Her voice over the receiver was even more bubbly now, sweet like it carried tiny hooks, tugging at his mood and making it lighter.
Leaning against the bed, Xu Tingbai found himself actually looking forward to her cola chicken wings. He lowered his gaze and murmured, “Really.”
“Of course! It’s my secret recipe. First, you need to…”
…
She rambled on, mostly about trivial things, but he listened the entire time.
Finally, Lin Qingle stopped herself, saying the air under the blanket was getting thin. She peeked out for some fresh air and glanced at her phone screen.
It showed they’d been on the call for 15 minutes.
“Xu Tingbai?”
“I’m here.”
“Did I talk too much?”
“You called to talk, didn’t you?”
“Well… yeah.”
“Is there anything else you want to say?”
Lin Qingle thought for a moment before blurting out, “How about… we talk about you? Is that okay?”
“There’s nothing to say about me.”
“Yes, there is.”
“What do you want to know?”
She could hear his reluctance, but she knew tonight was a rare opportunity. If she didn’t get him to open up now, she might not get another chance anytime soon.
“I want to know about your eyes. How bad is it? What did the doctor say? Will it get better?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?”
“It won’t get better. It’s just like this.”
Lin Qingle’s eyes widened in disbelief. Did he mean that his father hadn’t even taken him to see a doctor—or that they couldn’t afford to?
“You’ve never been to a hospital?”
“If there’s nothing else, let’s end the call.”
“Xu Tingbai!” Lin Qingle exclaimed urgently. “Even if you’ve been to a hospital in Xicheng, it doesn’t count! This is just a small place. But the big hospitals outside are different—they have better technology and amazing doctors. We can figure something out, save money, and go see them. We—”
“Is it really worth seeing?” he interrupted coolly.
“What…?”
“There’s nothing worth seeing.” Xu Tingbai chuckled faintly, his tone laced with mockery. “Why are you so obsessed with my eyes?”
Does he not want to see this world? Doesn’t he want to see the people and things around him?
What should she do then…
Lin Qingle grew anxious and blurted out, “Because I want you to see *me*!”
Xu Tingbai froze.
Lin Qingle gripped her phone tightly. “I might not be that great to look at… but I’ve grown up now. You haven’t seen what I look like as an adult yet.”