The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

Not long after leaving Wen Yao's house, a light drizzle began to fall.

A light drizzle dampened the wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, creating a picturesque scene under the glow of dusk.

"If everything has already turned into smoke and rain."

"Could I become mud, and stain you once more?"

......

Xu Xi hummed a little tune she had recently learned, and strolled around the stalls with small, quick steps.

Whenever she comes across ingredients that look very fresh and are suitable for hot pot, she stops to ask about the price.

Even if the price is right, some haggling is inevitable.

The stall owners were amused by this sweet-talking and pretty little guy and readily offered him the lowest price.

In no time, her hands were full of various ingredients.

As darkness fell and the rain intensified, the stall owners began to pack up and head home, and Xu Xi also prepared to return.

As she passed the entrance to a flooded alley, Xu Xi paused and looked inside.

This is the shortest route back to Wen Yao's home. Because of her past experience of being kidnapped, she didn't dare to go into this alley and chose to take the long way around.

At this rate of rain, my little umbrella won't be able to keep out the rain in less than twenty minutes.

Xu Xi looked into the alley. The streetlights were quite bright, and she could clearly see the end of the alley from there.

She hesitated for a moment, but decided to take a shortcut from here.

Not long after stepping into the alley, Xu Xi unexpectedly discovered a figure with long red hair squatting in the corner of the wall, reflected in the water.

That look was just like when I first followed my brother home, afraid to knock on the door, and with nowhere to go and unable to leave, I could only stand outside my brother's door in the rain, praying that the person inside would show me some leniency.

Zhao Lin did not cry, because she had already cried all her tears.

Overnight, she fell from the heights of fame to the depths of despair.

Her father's company went bankrupt, and the family property was seized. Everything that had once made her extremely proud vanished like smoke.

Even her only remaining relative in the world jumped off the building where she had worked for half her life.

This black swan, still in its rebellious phase, instantly became a beggar on the street.

Not only were they homeless and stripped of everything, but they also faced being kicked while they were down by their former enemies.

The underlings who once fawned over her scattered as she lost power, fearing to have anything to do with her.

The way he looked at her was like he was looking at a dying person covered in plague.

At this moment, she was covered in wounds and squatting in the corner, starving, briefly licking her wounds.

She was still wearing a thin summer coat, perhaps because she was still wearing short sleeves when the incident happened, or perhaps because her coat was snagged by a tree branch during one of her escape attempts.

Even her expensive summer clothes were riddled with holes, and through those holes, one could vaguely see blood seeping from her snow-white skin.

Sure enough, the more gorgeous and exquisite something is, the more easily it crumbles.

It seemed the raindrops had stopped hitting my cheeks.

Zhao Lin weakly raised her head and saw the person she least wanted to see standing in front of her, holding up an umbrella to shield her from the heavy rain.

Blood gushed from his head, dripping down his red hair into the pool at his feet, staining it crimson.

"Heh...So you're here to laugh at me too?"

Xu Xi didn't reply, but simply extended her hand.

"I don't need charity!"

With her last bit of strength, Zhao Lin shifted her battered body to the side.

Once she was no longer protected by the umbrella, the heavy rain once again soaked her collar.

"Achoo!"

My body betrayed me and I sneezed.

"You're injured and need to go to the hospital."

Xu Xi squatted down, carried the somewhat unconscious Zhao Lin on her shoulder, and slowly left the alley.

Fortunately, Zhao Lin is lighter than her brother, so if she can carry him, carrying her is no problem at all.

However, Xu Xi was only a small girl weighing seventy or eighty pounds, and it was still very difficult for her to walk while carrying someone who was taller and heavier than her.

She wasn't strong enough to walk to the hospital, so she found a nearby clinic that was still open and struggled inside.

The old doctor, who was dozing off, was startled by Zhao Lin's blood-covered body and quickly put on his glasses to check her injuries.

"What's wrong, little girl?"

Xu Xi shook her head; she didn't know where Zhao Lin's injuries came from either.

The old doctor examined Zhao Lin carefully, breathed a sigh of relief, took out alcohol and gauze from the medicine cabinet, and began to treat her wound.

"This injury looks like she was beaten. How could a young girl like her get into a fight? It's not good."

"She looks so haggard. She hasn't eaten for days. There's a porridge shop next door. Go and get her a bowl of porridge."

He said to Xu Xi.

Xu Xi nodded, opened her umbrella, and stepped into the heavy rain.

A short while later, she returned to the clinic carrying a bowl of millet porridge.

When Zhao Lin woke up, she saw Xu Xi feeding her porridge spoonful by spoonful.

That gentle look reminded me so much of how I took care of Song Jiayi in the hospital a few days ago.

Zhao Lin turned her head to the side and gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"You can leave now, I have no money to give you."

Xu Xi didn't say anything, placed the half-eaten porridge in front of Zhao Lin, walked over to the old doctor, and paid off the treatment fees with her own money.

Zhao Lin was extremely confused.

After losing all her money, everyone avoided her.

She thought she could be saved by her father's former subordinates who had once been kind to her, but they disappeared without a trace after embezzling the funds left by her father for the project.

She had thought it was all a dream, and that she would be back in her father's arms when she woke up. But the cold rain constantly reminded her that she had fallen into an abyss from which there was no return.

She even thought that Song Jiayi might give her a place to stay out of consideration for their past relationship.

How ridiculous, I actually thought of him again.

"Do you have anywhere to go now?"

Zhao Lin fell silent.

Looking at Zhao Lin's blank expression, Xu Xi was reminded of her own past.

Back then, I was just like Zhao Lin now, longing to be accepted yet afraid of being rejected, and could only use that humble stubbornness to maintain the last bit of self-respect I had left.

"Are you still able to walk?"

Zhao Lin stretched her limbs and nodded mechanically.

Xu Xi took her hand and led her away from the clinic.

Along the way, Zhao Lin shivered as the cold wind rubbed against her skin.

Xu Xi took off her coat and put it on her.

"I'm not cold..."

Just as Zhao Lin was about to take it off and return it to Xu Xi, Xu Xi stopped her.

She pointed to her cat-ear hoodie.

"It's okay, I'm wearing many layers."

Looking at Xu Xi's innocent and pure smile, Zhao Lin smiled with relief.

"Now I finally understand why Song Jiayi is so devoted to you."