Shi Niannian’s head was still covered by Jiang Wang’s school uniform.
The uniform still carried his body warmth, with a faint tobacco scent lingering around her nose.
She didn’t pull the uniform down, but lowered her gaze to fold the crumpled paper twice and stuff it into her pocket.
It was only about five minutes before a pair of shoes appeared in her line of sight—Jiang Wang’s.
She raised her head while still in uniform.
“Like a bride,” he teased with a smile.
Shi Niannian’s mouth opened slightly as she hesitantly raised her hand to lift the clothing.
Before her eyes was a scene of aftermath, as if a violent storm had just swept through. Those few boys were all lying on the ground, Cheng Qi’s clothes had a dirty spot, and the other girls were huddled in the corner.
She looked at Jiang Wang’s face: “Your spot here…”
She pointed to the position near her eye corner.
“It’s nothing,” Jiang Wang said dismissively.
Shi Niannian folded the uniform twice and extended her hand to return it: “Thank you…”
“You keep it.”
Shi Niannian withdrew her hand, holding the uniform against her chest with both hands crossed.
Jiang Wang walked forward. Shi Niannian glanced at the group of people on the ground, quickly averted her eyes, and jogged to catch up with him.
Jiang Wang walked to the parking lot, pulled out car keys from his pocket, and sat in the driver’s seat. Shi Niannian stood beside the car without moving.
She hadn’t expected him to drive here, but then she realized that he was the same age as Xu Ningqing. When Xu Ningqing graduated from high school, his uncle bought him a car, so it wasn’t that surprising to see Jiang Wang driving.
“Come over,” Jiang Wang called to her after rolling down the window.
She stepped closer and said softly, “I need to go, go home.”
The wind blew, sending the girl’s ponytail back, revealing her slender, fair neck.
Jiang Wang rested his elbow on the car window and looked her up and down: “You want to go home looking like this?”
She was dirty all over, with muddy spots on her clothes.
She didn’t move, and Jiang Wang just waited. Finally, she stepped forward, opened the back door, and got in.
By the time they drove to a shopping mall, it was already dark. The evening breeze wasn’t as hot as during the day, carrying the coolness of early autumn.
As soon as Shi Niannian got out of the car, Jiang Wang grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. His fingers hooked onto her school uniform jacket. Before she could dodge, Jiang Wang had already pulled down her zipper.
Then he bent down to retrieve his jacket from the car and tossed it to her: “Wear mine.”
“No need… You wear it.”
“I’m not cold,” Jiang Wang looked at her with drooping eyelids. “Yours is too dirty.”
Her jacket was indeed very dirty, covered in mud spots. With people coming and going around them, it wouldn’t be good to bump into others. Besides, looking so disheveled beside him, maybe Jiang Wang would find it embarrassing.
Shi Niannian hesitated for two seconds, then took off her dirty jacket. Instead of leaving it in the car, she folded it twice and stuffed it into her backpack.
“Thank you.”
The tobacco scent from his jacket once again enveloped her senses. His clothing was much larger than hers, the sleeves completely covering her hands and hiding half her thighs.
She gently sniffed and pulled the zipper up to her chest.
The vague outline of her chest made the zipper rest on a slightly raised curve.
Jiang Wang tilted his head, coughed unnaturally, and turned to walk toward the mall.
Shi Niannian calmly lowered her eyes and followed him, quietly walking alongside him into the mall. Only after entering the brightly lit shopping center did she ask: “Why did… you bring me here?”
“Do you want to buy a clean set of clothes before going home?”
She gently shook her head, declining.
She wanted to get home early now.
“Then how about watching a movie?”
“I want to… go back.”
“I saved you, shouldn’t you thank me somehow?” Jiang Wang turned his head, looking down at the top of the girl’s head as he asked with a light laugh, “Watching a movie isn’t too much to ask, is it?”
She didn’t respond, neither agreeing nor refusing, but continued following him.
Jiang Wang took it as consent and pulled out his phone to buy tickets.
With the National Day holiday approaching, all the blockbusters were waiting for the holiday period. Currently, the only options are some films they’d never heard of.
He handed his phone to her: “See which one you want to watch?”
She scrolled through the page, looked for a while, and chose an art film with a rating of only 5.8.
Jiang Wang studied it for a moment, then laughed: “Did you pick the one with the shortest run time?”
She quietly said, “I want to get back… early.”
Jiang Wang felt his patience being worn down by her.