The eldest aunt and Jiang Mingzhu and Jiang Mingjie came back from the county very late at night. Grandma had already gone to bed. Jiang Suichu was in the house and heard the three people talking, but did not go out.
She was lying on the wooden bed, and the room smelled of dampness and mold. It smelled so bad that she couldn't sleep. Fortunately, grandma had changed the quilt for her into a clean one, and it had a light scent of soap.
Jiang Suchu hid in bed and looked at Lu Zhinian's WeChat profile picture, suddenly missing him a little. But she didn't dare send him a message for fear that he would be busy.
Just as she was looking through the chat history between the two of them, Lu Zhinian's video call invitation suddenly popped up on the screen.
The ringtone was so abrupt in the silent room that Jiang Suchu was startled. He hurriedly tried to turn off the sound but didn't want to click to answer it.
Lu Zhinian had just finished taking a shower. He put his mobile phone on the table and was wiping his hair with a towel. When the video was connected, he saw a dark patch on the screen. He leaned closer to the screen.
"Where are the people?"
Jiang Suchu couldn't help but hold her breath as she watched his face getting closer and closer to the screen.
Lu Zhinian leaned close to the screen and could barely see the blurry outline of her face in the black shadow. He picked up the phone and sat beside the bed, "Jiang Suichu, what are you doing?"
Jiang Suchu didn't dare to speak loudly, so he replied in a low voice, "I'm going to sleep."
Lu Zhinian curled his lips and said, "Aren't you afraid if you don't turn on the light?"
Jiang Suchu shook his head, realizing that he couldn't see him, and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm in bed."
It turned out to be hiding under the quilt.
Lu Zhinian was half-leaning on the head of the bed. His wet hair was a little messy after he wiped it, and it hung down in front of his forehead, making him look particularly lazy.
He raised the corners of his lips and coaxed, "Baby, please turn on the light and let me see you."
Jiang Suchu was stunned and his tongue was tied, "What did you call me?"
Lu Zhinian raised his thick eyebrows slightly, leaned close to the phone and called again in a low voice, "Baby~"
ah! ! !
Jiang Suichu was still confused just now, but now after he called "baby", her face suddenly burned.
Suddenly, Lu Zhinian saw that the only faint light on the screen disappeared, leaving it completely dark. Jiang Suichu put the phone on the pillow, covered his face with his hands, and his whole body was almost twisted into a knot on the bed.
Lu Zhinian knew that she was shy and didn't rush her.
Jiang Suchu twisted it for more than a minute, and the tingling feeling in his heart calmed down a little. She quietly picked up her phone, but didn't want to catch it in Lu Zhinian's eyes.
He didn't know when he had already laid down, lying on his side and looking at his phone quietly without calling her.
Lu Zhinian saw the blurry figure on the screen and smiled slightly, "Will you come out?"
Even though she knew he couldn't see her face clearly, she still looked away embarrassedly, not daring to look into his eyes: "...Who told you to scream?"
Lu Zhinian raised his eyebrows, "What did I yell about?"
"Just..." Jiang Suichu couldn't say those two words as naturally as he did, so he pursed his lips and looked at him without speaking.
Lu Zhinian turned over and lay on his back holding up his mobile phone, "Baby, I haven't seen you for three days."
He became more and more fluent as he shouted, but Jiang Suchu's ears became increasingly hot.
"Don't you miss me?" His tone seemed a little aggrieved, and he looked at the screen eagerly like a docile big dog.
Jiang Suichu really couldn't imagine the expressions of those who regarded Lu Zhinian as the favored son of heaven when they saw him like this.
My jaw will probably drop.
Jiang Suchu looked at him, he could actually look so good at such a tricky angle. Because he was lying flat on his back, his hair hung back, revealing his broad and strong forehead, and his sword-shaped eyebrows and stars were embodied on his face. Jiang Suchu bit his lower lip and secretly took a few pictures.
"Huh?" Seeing that she remained silent, Lu Zhinian frowned, "Do you really miss me?"
Jiang Suchu looked at his aggrieved expression and smiled, and said in a low voice: "I want to~"
I really miss him. They used to see each other every day at school. This is the first time we have been separated for so long, and we will not be able to see each other for another month.
When Lu Zhinian heard what he wanted to hear, his frown relaxed and he said, "Then turn on the light and let me see you."
Jiang Suchu paused. She didn't want Lu Zhinian to see the moldy and peeling walls and the corridor compartments filled with debris.
She thought for a moment and lied: "Grandma is next door to me. I turned on the light to avoid waking her up."
Lu Zhinian looked at the screen and said nothing for a while, not knowing what he was thinking. Jiang Suchu was a little nervous. He was so smart, could he tell that he was lying?
After a while, Lu Zhinian turned sideways and lay on the pillow, looking at the screen, "Are you afraid of it being so dark?"
She smiled and poked Lu Zhinian's dimples on the phone screen with her fingers, "Don't be afraid, I have a flashlight."
At home, she dared not leave the light on all night, as her aunt would scold her. But she has a small rechargeable flashlight that Jiang Minghao gave her before. She'd mostly slept with the flashlight on over the years, just a little light before she fell asleep.
After falling asleep, she was no longer afraid.
Lu Zhinian: "Flashlight?"
"Yeah. Wait a minute, I'll show you." Jiang Suichu put the phone on the bed, got out of bed and took the charging flashlight from the bedside cabinet.
The flashlight hasn't been charged for a long time. It took a while to charge until it was fully charged, so it didn't last long. She turned on the flashlight and got back into bed.
"Look, this is it."
The quilt was illuminated by the light of the flashlight, and Lu Zhinian finally saw Jiang Suchu's face clearly. She was lying on the bed, her hair was a little messy, her eyes were brightly looking at her phone and showing him her flashlight.
Just like when she was a child, she got some novel toy and couldn't wait to show it off to him.
The light of the flashlight is not very bright and is a bit dim.
Lu Zhinian reached out and touched her face on the screen, "Baby, let me sleep with you today."
"Huh?" Jiang Suchu was a little confused and hadn't realized what he meant.
At this time, the flashlight's power had just run out, and the light suddenly went out, leaving only the light on his side of the phone in the bed.
Lu Zhinian slightly curled his lower lip, looked at her in the darkness and said, "Turn on the video and I'll sleep with you."
No need for this flashlight.
Jiang Suchu bit his lower lip, "Don't you still want to compete? You won't be able to sleep well."
Lu Zhinian sighed and said, "If I don't look at you, I won't be able to sleep well."
He had learned about her situation at his uncle's house from Jiang Minghao before, and knew that she didn't want to turn on the light because she was afraid that he would see something bad and worry about her.
Jiang Suchu felt a warm current flowing through her heart. She curled her lips and called him.
"Lu Zhinian."
"Um?"
"Can you sing?"
Lu Zhinian raised his lips slightly and looked at her, "Want to hear me sing?"
Jiang Suichu pursed his lower lip and nodded, "Well, is that okay?"
He laughed lazily, "Okay, what do you want to hear?"
Jiang Suichu thought for a while and said, "Do you know the English song you posted on the post bar before?"
When she was bullied by Sun Feifei, both Lu Zhinian and Pei Shuo posted a post for her on Tieba. At the time, she didn't know that the English sentence Lu Zhinian posted was lyrics.
Later, she heard Tang Mi humming by chance and realized that it was a song.
Lu Zhinian curled his lips and said, "Close your eyes."
Jiang Suichu closed his eyes obediently. Lu Zhinian slowed down his movements and looked at her sideways, his thin lips slightly opened, and his low and magnetic voice slowly flowed out.
——
When She Was yOUnger, She WOUld pretend,
When she was a little girl she fantasized all day long,
That her bedrOOm WaS a CaStle, She WaS faireSt in the land,
And ShegOt Older, and it all Changed,
ThereWaS nO time fOr make believe and all the magiC Slipped aWay,
Untilthe light inher eyeS itWaS all bUt gOne,
'CaUSe all the dreamS that She had tUrned OUt tO be WrOng,
Childhood dreams turned into stupid mistakes,
SO keep yOUr head Up prinCeSS 'fOre yOUr CrOWn fallS,
Dear princess, raise your head and don’t let the crown fall,
KnOW theSe vOiCeS in yOUr head Will be yOUr dOWnfall,
Those voices in your head only keep you from shining,
I know it getS SO hard bUt yOU dOn't gOt far tO gO,
I know it's hard right now, but you're not stuck there,
Yeah, keep your head Up prinCeSS, it's a lOng rOad,
Dear princess, lift your head. The road is long but worth it.
And the path leadS right tO Where they WOn't gO,
Because it is so inaccessible, it is full of flowers,
I knOW it hUrtS right nOW bUt I knOW yOU'll make it hOme,
I know it's painful right now, but you'll eventually return to your castle,
SO keep your head Up,
So lift your head,
Yeah, keep your head Up,
Keep your head high and move forward.
……………..
After finishing the song, Jiang Suichu fell asleep. Lu Zhinian looked at her sleeping face and there was a bit of softness and care between her brows.
"Good night, baby."
