Chapter 49: The Unfinished Match
"Xixi, are you okay?" Lu Dongqi rushed over quickly and saw Xia Xixi's disheveled appearance, his anxious expression becoming even more pronounced.
"I'm fine." She forced a smile at him, feeling the emptiness on her wrist, that warmth from Chen Yan suddenly withdrawn, somehow, her heart became flustered.
She knew Chen Yan had left, the Chen Yan who pulled her out of the thick smoke, let go of her hand and silently turned to leave when he saw her smile at Dong Qi. She wanted to thank him but found herself unable to speak, even turning her head to glance at his departing back was such a difficult thing to do. So she forced a bitter smile towards Dong Qi in front of her: "Look, when someone's having bad luck, they can even encounter a fire while going to the bathroom."
Dong Qi didn't smile along with her, but instead looked at her warmly and took off his own jacket to hand it over, saying: "Quickly take off your wet jacket, don't catch a cold."
Luckily, the jacket on her body was thick, and the clothes for the aerobics competition inside were not yet wet. Xi Xi obediently took off her own jacket that had already gotten wet halfway through, and put on Lu Dongqi's. In her mind, she kept replaying the scene of Chen Yan pulling her to run just now, and the sudden raindrops rippling the lake into circles of ripples.
Dong Qi took over Xi Xi's wet jacket, flipped over the dry side and handed it back to her, "Wipe your hair, we still have a competition later."
His voice brought Xi Xi out of her daze, and she suddenly remembered that there were still many classmates sitting outside the district, so it was not suitable for them to see her wearing Lu Dongqi's coat, so she wanted to take off the coat.
Dong Qi stopped her with a firm tone, "Put it on properly." His voice was insistent and left no room for refusal.
Xi Xi undid the hair tie that bound her hair, and with a burst of strength from her clothes, she rubbed it vigorously several times. Her originally smooth hair, which was stuck to her scalp, curled up due to her brute force, resembling a small porcupine.
Dong Qi saw her "new hairstyle" and burst out laughing, stretching out his hand to help brush the bangs back behind her ears. However, Xi Xi became alert due to his sudden movement, took two steps back, and didn't let his hand touch her hair.
"Look at you, scared." Dong Qi teased her, but his eyes flashed with a subtle sense of loss. The Xia Xi from before would never have refused him, she relied on his meticulous protection and he was used to thinking everything through for her, but this relationship seemed to have undergone a subtle change since they started high school.
He is increasingly unsure of what she thinks.
"Hehe" Xi Xi realized her reaction was too much, so she dryly laughed twice and tucked that strand of hair behind her ear.
The host's clear and loud voice came on the broadcast: "The story in the back field has been resolved in a timely manner, please ask each school's participating team to return to their respective seating areas, and the competition will continue."
As soon as this remark came out, the atmosphere in the gymnasium became even more turbulent, and the voices of protest that erupted from the crowd far exceeded the fear of just now. Mixed with the sound of shouting and discontent, it boiled over.
"Not even basic safety issues can be guaranteed, how can people compete?"
"Not even an apology, and you're still competing? What's the point of this?"
……
The host's thin voice was unable to suppress the excitement in the venue, where all the seated were hot-blooded young men, who, upon seeing someone heckle, followed suit and shouted loudly, deafening the ears.
Under such circumstances, the game naturally could not continue, and by the time Xi Xi came back to his senses, they had already boarded the bus returning to Yi Zhong.
"I've practiced for so long." XiXi sighed regretfully and complained to XianCai beside her. Having experienced fear, hope, her mood fell back to the starting point, or even a more desolate area, an accident, some originally forgotten emotions were awakened again.
She remembered that sunny day as sweet as orange juice, Chen Yan said "yes" to her with a smile against the light, and now it seems like a past life when she recalls that moment.
Such an easy promise is also easily overturned.
They were like two living beings from different planets, trying hard to communicate, yet forever separated by prejudice and estrangement.
Xiao Meng glared at her, this dead girl completely missed the point. "You almost scared me to death," she said with lingering fear.
"I was almost scared to death myself." Xi Xi's tense emotions suddenly relaxed, and she grabbed Xuan Mei's hand. She released her fear in front of Chen Yan and Lu Dong Qi, and showed it all to Xuan Mei without reservation.
"It's okay, it's okay, nothing happened." Xian Mi patted her back.
"I'm the ancestor of bad luck, a relative of the god of decline. When others go to the bathroom, they meet CEOs and handsome men, but I'm the one who encounters fires. It's just not fair!" XiXi lamented with tears in her eyes, making fun of herself. As she caught a whiff of death, she also felt the joy of survival. The feeling of being reborn after a disaster was like a barren land suddenly blooming with colorful flowers.
