After they entered the stairwell, Luo Yun closed her umbrella and shoved aside the main culprit that had been clinging to her and hindering her movement, the one who had turned her into a drowned rat.
He Rou felt a slight push on her back and turned around to look at her.
At that moment, Luo Yun’s shoulders were soaked, and the hair at her temples was stringy and stuck together, looking quite ridiculous.
“Here you go.”
He Rou held the painting with both hands and extended it in front of her.
“Why?”
“What… why?”
“This is your painting.”
“But it’s also yours.”
Luo Yun looked at the painting before her, and upon careful thought, she realized He Rou was right.
“Then it’s both of ours. You keep it, don’t give it to me. Too much trouble.”
Upon hearing this, He Rou withdrew her hand, and in her heart, she felt a little uncomfortable.
This was the first time in her life she had worked so hard for someone, only to find it was all one-sided.
He Rou didn’t know how that day passed—classes, breaks, school ending.
Everything was just like usual.
The only difference was that she spent the whole day running around carrying a painting.
This painting was very precious, at least in her eyes.
—
Today’s rain was heavy; it had been falling all day without stopping.
He Rou’s regular classes for the day were over.
What remained were mandatory enrichment classes.
She had chosen piano, but today the piano teacher had called in sick, so the enrichment class naturally disappeared.
“It’s so heavy…”
The rain truly kept getting heavier.
The usually quiet campus was filled with white noise.
He Rou hugged the painting board, stood by the classroom window, and looked outside, unsure what to do next.
And it had been a whole day, yet she still hadn’t peeled off the tape from the painting board.
“Will they come?”
Since she started attending this school, the number of times her parents had picked her up or dropped her off could be counted on one hand.
Now, He Rou could only keep praying that the rain would let up, enough to let her dash to the bus stop outside the school with minimal suffering.
“What are you looking at?”
A sudden voice came from beside her.
He Rou turned her head and saw Luo Yun, who was imitating her by looking out through the glass.
“How are you here?”
“My painting supplies are gone, so I called home to have them pick me up early. What about you? Why aren’t you in class?”
“The teacher’s gone.”
“My condolences…”
“Can you take me home?”
“Why? Is it because you don’t have parents after all?”
“Something like that…”
“My condolences…”
“…”
He Rou looked speechlessly at Luo Yun, who didn’t know how to talk, and felt a headache coming on.
“So can you take me home? I don’t know when this will stop.”
“About six o’clock. Didn’t you check the weather forecast?”
“It’s four now. That’s a long wait.”
“Then wait. My family’s driver should be here already. I’m leaving.”
With that, Luo Yun left the window and walked toward the classroom door.
But before she had taken two steps, she looked back at He Rou, still clinging to the window.
She looked so lonely, with such a melancholy expression on her face.
Perhaps she couldn’t bear it, or perhaps she felt that face of He Rou’s shouldn’t wear such an expression.
In any case, she didn’t abandon her.
“Hey, you… want to come home with me?”
Hearing the voice from behind, He Rou was a bit surprised.
She quickly turned around and looked at Luo Yun.
Suddenly, she felt that this person, who was usually a bit cold and not suited to be a friend, wasn’t so bad after all.
“Is that okay?”
“Hmm… it’s possible, but I have some conditions. Change your enrichment class to painting, and then every day you’ll be responsible for carrying my stuff. That way, I’ll consider taking you home every day.”
He Rou heard her conditions.
She originally wanted to refuse, but thinking about whether this situation would occur often in the future, and that she was the only one who would talk to her now, she ultimately agreed.
“Okay, but you can’t just abandon me.”
Luo Yun looked at He Rou’s face and felt inexplicably pleased.
“Then let’s go.”
She reached out, grabbed He Rou, and led her outside.
That’s right—she had taken a liking to her face.
This heart-stirring feeling had only happened once before in her life, when her mother gave her a birthday teddy bear.
So now that she had encountered another one, she would never let go, no matter what.
If there was something else besides the face, it would be that she had taken a liking to He Rou’s painting talent.
Someone who had never even held a paintbrush had actually painted a picture she liked.
Such a person was very suitable as a pet dog.
This wasn’t given by anyone. It was hunted by her own ability.
She liked it very much.
But such thoughts could not be told to anyone, especially the person she was holding hands with.
Soon, the two of them reached the bottom of the building.
The rain was still heavy, and Luo Yun only had one umbrella.
“Why didn’t you bring two?”
“I don’t have two.”
“Okay.”
He Rou realized she had asked a stupid question.
Her already lacking presence diminished even further.
In her conversations with Luo Yun, she was already at a disadvantage, and she didn’t want to be seen as an idiot.
This feeling was really unpleasant and painful.
The main reason she had no friends here was because everyone treated her like an idiot—a useless idiot, a country bumpkin.
Even though she was a transfer student, her IQ was so low, her mind so slow.
Despite having a pretty face, during the school years when jealousy was at its peak, that face became a spear that helped others hurt her.
And Luo Yun, due to her upbringing, only classified people into three categories: first, her family; second, those who had made great contributions to humanity; and third, hairless monkeys.
He Rou was special.
She was classified as someone who could be kept as a pet.
Therefore, no matter how stupid she was, Luo Yun could tolerate her.
So He Rou’s worry was unnecessary.
Soon, the car that was to pick up Luo Yun drove from outside the campus to the teaching building where they were.
“Let’s go.”
Luo Yun again took her hand, opened the umbrella, pulled her into her arms once more, and then dashed toward the car.
“Your name is He Rou, right? Since you’ve gotten into my car now, you can’t ever leave me from now on, okay?”
He Rou blushed.
After all, being hugged so casually felt extremely embarrassing no matter where they were.
“I… I understand. And, can you please not hug me so casually? We haven’t known each other for long, have we?”
“What? Am I that casual? I kindly worried about you getting wet in the rain, and this is your attitude?”
“S-sorry.”
He Rou realized that she had only been thinking about her own embarrassment and felt very shy.
She was still young, and had only been in the city for a little over a year after moving from the countryside.
Her emotional intelligence and understanding of social nuances were just starting to develop.