Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

Outside the window, the sky was dark and gloomy.

The lead-gray clouds hung low, as if within reach, and even the air became sticky and heavy, making it difficult to breathe.

"Wait two more days. If there's still no news..."

Inside the inn, Shen Jingyuan drew a heavy red circle on the map at "Tianjinmen". He raised his head and looked solemnly at Lin Xi across from him. "Then let's give up this place and continue north to contact the next one."

"Okay." Meeting his solemn gaze, Lin Xi couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart. She let go of the corner of the clothes that she was unconsciously holding in her hand and nodded solemnly.

After the words were spoken, the room fell into silence for a moment.

Shen Jingyuan said no more and lowered his head again, his fingertips moving slowly on the map, as if he was continuing to calculate the route to the north and the possible risks.

Lin Xize was a little uneasy, his eyes unconsciously drifted to the window, and he felt inexplicably panicked.

The sky, which was gloomy just now, is now as dark as ink, with thick clouds rolling, as if a huge storm is brewing.

The branches and leaves of the old locust tree in the yard swayed wildly in the increasingly violent wind, and its twisted black shadows were cast on the window paper, baring their fangs and claws.

The sky was dark, with dark clouds overhead. A rainstorm was imminent, and that familiar, suffocating feeling of dampness and coldness seemed to have penetrated through the window and enveloped me.

Ever since she was a child and nearly got lost while visiting her brother Lin Min's grave, she has hated rainy days.

The loneliness and fear of being abandoned by the whole world seemed to be deeply engraved in her heart. From then on, whenever it rained, she would lock herself in the house, close the doors and windows tightly, draw the thick curtains, and see no one except her parents and the necessary servants who delivered meals.

It seems that just by doing this, all the dampness, coldness and uneasiness can be isolated outside.

But now, she can no longer retreat into that carefully crafted protective shell with peace of mind like before.

The uncertain journey north, the sudden loss of contact with the Lihe Foreign Company, and the omnipresent sense of urgency in the city of Tianjin...all of these were like heavy stones pressing on her heart, making it difficult for her to breathe.

Lin Xi, who always did things based on her heart and never cared about the results, began to doubt for the first time whether her decision to chase Shen Jingyuan and come to this place thousands of miles away from home was right.

at this time--

"Boom——!"

A sudden thunderclap exploded, shaking the window frames so much that they seemed to buzz.

Lin Xi, who was immersed in her thoughts, was frightened by the sudden loud noise and trembled all over. She let out a low cry and subconsciously clenched her palms. Her whole body was tense and she froze in place.

A dazzling silver snake tore through the dark sky, instantly illuminating the solemn faces of the two people in the room.

Following closely was an even duller rolling thunder.

The big raindrops finally fell down with a crackling sound, hitting the roof and windowsill rapidly, and soon formed into a dense rain curtain, blurring the outside world.

The strong wind, carrying the smell of rain, forced its way in through the window cracks, bringing with it bursts of coldness.

The papers and maps on the table were blown up by the wind and were about to fly everywhere, but the next moment, they were pressed back onto the table by a big, bony hand.

Shen Jingyuan gathered the scattered pages, took a ruler from the side and pressed them down, then stood up and prepared to close the window.

The moment he stood up, his eyes inadvertently glanced at Lin Xi beside him, and his movements couldn't help but pause.

Her whole body was tense, her face was extremely pale, her eyes were staring blankly out the window, even her lips were bloodless. If it weren't for the faint rise and fall of her chest, she would have looked like a soulless sculpture, trapped in some silent nightmare.

Shen Jingyuan's eyes suddenly darkened. He quickly walked to her side, leaned over, grasped her thin shoulders, and called in a low voice: "Lin Xi?"

no response.

Shen Jingyuan's eyes darkened, and he couldn't help but increase his strength and raise his voice, "Lin Xi!"

After calling out several times, Lin Xi's body trembled violently. Her scattered eyes focused with difficulty. She looked blankly at Shen Jingyuan who was close at hand, and said in a dry voice: "Shen... Jingyuan, what's wrong?"

Shen Jingyuan frowned, his eyes fell on her tightly clenched hands, pursed his lips, reached out and held her wrist, and said in a deep voice: "Let go."

Hearing this, Lin Xi slowly followed his gaze to look at her clenched fist, and only then realized that there was a sharp pain in her palm.

She slowly loosened her fingers, revealing several deep red marks on her fair palms, left by her fingernails, that were almost bleeding.

Shen Jingyuan looked at the red mark on her palm, then shifted his gaze back to her still pale face, his brows knitted tighter, "What's wrong with you?"

Lin Xi let out a breath that had been pent up for a long time, and tried to tear his eyes away from the incessant rain outside the window. His voice was a little weak, "It's okay."

Her movement was extremely slight, but Shen Jingyuan, who was very perceptive, caught it immediately.

His eyes darkened, as if he understood something in an instant. He stopped asking questions, let go of her hand, turned around and walked to the window. He closed the window tightly with a "bang" and pulled the curtains tight, completely isolating himself from the stormy world outside.

The room suddenly became quiet, with only the soft breathing sounds of the two people remaining.

It was not until the suffocating sound of rain was blocked out that Lin Xi's tense body seemed to have lost all its strength. She suddenly relaxed and leaned softly against the back of the chair.

Shen Jingyuan walked to the table silently, poured a cup of warm tea and handed it to her cold hands.

Feeling the warmth of porcelain on her palm, Lin Xi held the cup and took small sips. The warm liquid slid down her throat, dispelling some of the chill and calming her frightened heart a little. A hint of color finally returned to her face.

Seeing that she had recovered, Shen Jingyuan frowned and spoke with a subtle complexity in his tone, "It's been so many years, and you're still not well?"

He knew that ever since she got lost while visiting the grave that year, Lin Xi had developed a fear of rain.

But later Commander Lin and his wife found a Western doctor to treat her, and she later ridiculed and deliberately alienated him. He was then sent to a military academy and entered the barracks, and rarely returned to the Lin Mansion. Therefore, he had no idea that her old illness had not been cured for so long.

Lin Xi forced a smile, with a hint of self-deprecation: "It's much better than before. At least it's not as violent as when we were little."

Shen Jingyuan looked at her forced smile, pursed his lips, and asked, "Didn't you see a doctor at the beginning?"

"I saw it. The foreign doctor said a lot of things that I couldn't understand. The general meaning was that it was a heart disease and no medicine could help." Lin Xi lowered her eyelashes, staring at the tea shaking in the cup, her tone flat, as if she was talking about someone else's business.

"As long as we don't get wet in the rain, we'll be fine. Anyway... no one will die." She paused, a hint of sarcasm on her lips. "Come to think of it, I have Xu Yucheng to thank for that. If I hadn't met him in that desolate wilderness and he had carried me back, I'm afraid I would have died there."

Shen Jingyuan, who was refilling her tea, paused almost imperceptibly when he heard this, and the spout of the teapot hung in the air.

His eyelashes drooped, hiding the emotions that were surging in his eyes. Then, as if very naturally, he asked casually, his voice without any emotion, "Did he carry you back?"