“I have what…” Shu Nian instinctively continued his sentence, but before she could finish, her expression froze, and she stared at him blankly. “You, you can speak?”
Xie Ruhe withdrew his gaze and said nothing more.
After realizing what had happened, Shu Nian’s heart filled with irritation at being tricked. Perhaps because she rarely encountered such situations, her entire face turned red with anger, leaving her speechless.
After a while, Shu Nian sullenly managed to say, “How could you do this… you lied.”
Xie Ruhe frowned. “I never said so.”
“Exactly.” His response made Shu Nian even angrier. “You never said anything. When I asked if you couldn’t speak, you said nothing. Now you’re telling me you never said you couldn’t speak. You’re too much!”
Shu Nian couldn’t think of any harsh words to say and couldn’t bring herself to curse. Her speech became incoherent.
Her string of words sounded like a tongue twister.
Xie Ruhe didn’t catch everything, only hearing the last five words she said. When she stopped, he lifted his eyelids and calmly asked, “Done scolding?”
Shu Nian was stunned and immediately protested, “I wasn’t scolding you.”
Hearing this, Xie Ruhe’s demeanor remained casual. “Then I guess not.”
“…”
This attitude was undoubtedly adding fuel to the fire.
Shu Nian’s eyes were round and large, naturally somewhat downturned, making her look inexplicably pitiful at this moment. She took a deep breath and said stiffly, “Just now I defended you, and you turned around and said I also have a defect.”
Xie Ruhe’s lips moved, but he hadn’t said anything yet.
Shu Nian quickly continued, “Is this because I wrongly accused you that day?”
“…”
“Then I’m sorry!” Her tone was fierce, yet she was like a small kitten trying to scratch with clawless paws. “I’ve been trying to apologize to you all this time, but you wouldn’t listen.”
“I didn’t have time.”
“You’re lying.” Shu Nian bluntly exposed him. “You just wanted to hold a grudge against me. But I’m still so young, it’s perfectly normal that I didn’t think things through completely. And I’m willing to correct my mistakes, which is a noble virtue.”
“…”
“I lent you an umbrella, I did a good deed. Because of that, I was even scolded by my mother, and yet you treat me this way. You’re too, too… not…” Shu Nian couldn’t bring herself to curse, so she changed her words. “You’re too much!”
Xie Ruhe, twice labeled as “too much,” found it amusing. “You came to apologize?”
“Yes.” Shu Nian immediately suppressed her anger, her voice becoming subdued, not forgetting her original intention, though she felt stifled. She took a deep breath and after a moment said, “I’m sorry, I was too subjective that day. I said the wrong thing and wrongfully accused you.”
Xie Ruhe gave a light “mm” in response.
Shu Nian said, “Since you acknowledged it, that means you accept my apology, right?”
But he had no further reaction.
Shu Nian didn’t want to speak with him anymore either. She pressed her lips together and walked toward the staircase.
“Goodbye then.”
For a long time after that, Shu Nian didn’t see Xie Ruhe again. He was on the third floor, she was on the second; unless deliberately seeking each other out, they wouldn’t coincidentally meet.
Shu Nian gradually put this little episode, as well as this person, out of her mind.
In the blink of an eye, half a semester passed, and they welcomed the midterm exams. After the results came out, the school arranged a parent-teacher meeting.
Then, something happened at the school.
A big incident.
Just two days after the parent-teacher meeting.
Chen Xiang from Class 5, Grade 2 of Shiyan Junior High School didn’t return home after school. Her parents called the homeroom teacher at ten o’clock that night. The teacher immediately contacted a girl who was close to Chen Xiang, only to learn that she had been picked up by her father after school and had not gone home with Chen Xiang as usual.
Chen Xiang’s parents immediately realized the seriousness of the problem and reported it to the police station.
The small town’s facilities were outdated, with most areas lacking surveillance cameras. After two days of investigation, the police still couldn’t find any trace of Chen Xiang. They only knew that the last place she was seen was at a convenience store near the school.
Shu Nian learned this news from Chen Hanzheng.
During lunchtime, with no air conditioning in the classroom and old fans that had little effect when turned on, Shu Nian went with a group of classmates she got along with to eat lunch at the stairway entrance.
It was well-ventilated there, much better than the stuffy classroom.
Five or six people were chattering away.
Adhering to the principle of not talking while eating, Shu Nian hadn’t spoken, but she was listening carefully to what they were saying.
After quite a while, Chen Hanzheng suddenly lowered his voice and said mysteriously, “Hey, have you heard? Chen Xiang from Class 5 has been missing for two days.”
Hearing this, the others immediately fell silent.
Shortly after, a boy said with a grin, “Maybe she ran away from home? Probably staying at a friend’s place.”
“They’ve already reported it to the police, so it’s not that.”
One of the girls spoke up, seemingly incredulous, her voice stuttering, “H-how could she go missing?”
“Chen Xiang…” He Xiaoying recalled, “Isn’t she the girl the principal mentioned during the flag-raising ceremony?”
“That’s right.”