Chapter Thirty-Five: Heart Still Racing

  This scene made Yu Songyuan's blood boil. He picked up a brick the size of his fist from the ground and fiercely threw it at the yellow dog, hitting its hind leg. The yellow dog yelped in pain, let out a loud cry, and limped away with an injured leg. It was definitely seriously hurt. Looking around, he picked up half a yellow brick again and threw it far away at two vicious dogs that were about to escape into the dense forest. Although he didn't hit them, the two vicious dogs still fled in panic.

  Lin Xue was still crouching on the bridge, hugging her head, covering her ears, closing her eyes, and wailing loudly in a heart-wrenching manner.

  Yu Songyuan rushed onto the bridge, embracing the frightened Yu Ya, Yu Xiaohui, Chen Jing or Yu Xiaohong, and tightly hugged the girl in his arms. Lin Xue was clearly scared out of her wits, still crying with her eyes closed. He held her tight, patting her back comfortingly: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I'm here, I've chased that vicious dog away."

  Lin Xue opened her eyes when she heard his voice, stopped crying, but her eyes were still filled with fear, cowardice, stupidity and confusion.

  Yu Songyuan felt a pang of heartache, she wouldn't be scared silly, would she?

  Holding her like that for a while, she finally caught her breath, but her face was still pale and bloodless. Finally, she broke free from his arms and said in a low voice: "I'm fine, thank you."

  "Why did you come back if one person didn't dare to go?" Yu Songyuan asked.

  Lin Xue said: "I was in a hurry this morning, and I forgot to bring the 'Cutting Report' that I had counted last night. I originally wanted to run back and get it, but who would have thought..."

  It turned out that when Lin Xue ran to the bridge, she happened to see two dogs walking out of the woods on the other side and standing on the road staring at her. She was afraid in her heart and wanted to retreat. But unexpectedly, a dog appeared behind her, and the way back was also blocked. The more she shouted at the dogs to leave, the more they stared at her without moving. The more timid she became, the more arrogant the local dogs were. In this stalemate for over half an hour, her huge fear finally made her collapse.

  Yu Songyuan was a bit annoyed, "This won't do, this won't do, you scared me to death. You need to come back in the middle, you can find me at the tutoring class, I'll accompany you back and there won't be any trouble."

  Lin Xue said in a low voice: "How can I be so presumptuous?"

  "We're neighbors, your master said something like that, she specifically entrusted me to take care of you. Besides, it's just a matter of ten or so minutes, what's there to be embarrassed about? Haven't you thought, if something happens to you, can I shirk my responsibility? I'd be done for too, we're in this together, like ants on the same vine. We've got an agreement, from now on, if you need to come back halfway through, just go find me. The cram school is different from other classes, it's relatively relaxed, do you understand?"

  She said: "Then thank you. Brother Yu, what did you come back for?"

  "I'm back to get some materials. If I hadn't happened to have something to attend to and come back today, what would you have done?"

  She then said in a low voice: "I don't know either, I thought I was going to die today."

  Yu Songyuan walked with her, he found out that although she was grateful for his rescue, she still kept a certain guard against him. So while walking, he said: "I have three sisters as old as you, and I also have three lovely little nieces. I treat you like my sister or little niece, don't always be on your guard against me, it makes me feel uncomfortable, feeling like a bad person."

  Lin Xue futilely defended herself, "I didn't."

  Yu Song looked at her and saw that she didn't seem confident, so he reminded her again: "I'm serious. Thinking about what happened today is terrifying. From now on, I absolutely won't allow it to happen again. If you're not brave enough to do something alone, you must call me. This includes even going to the bathroom at night, did you understand?"

  Lin Xue's face turned red and she lowered her head, he quickly comforted her saying: "I was a bit too serious, I'm afraid something will happen. Let me tell you, just the two of us living in this wilderness, you're a kid and I'm an adult, if something happens to you, I'll be implicated and won't be able to rest easy for the rest of my life. Do you understand?"

  “……”

  "Besides, we were originally the poorest people at the bottom of society, and we must live with our heads held high. You are a formal worker in an urban household registration, and the school is so big that there isn't even a place for a female worker to live. I'm the same, after all, I'm also a student, and I study better than those people, but the school can't even spare a bed for me. The more others look down on us, the more we must live with dignity, avoid trouble, and earn respect. From childhood, my grandmother, parents, uncle, teacher, and aunt taught me that 'no matter how poor you are, you must live with dignity!'"

  Lin Xue's waist straightened a bit, and she nodded solemnly.

  This matter really scared Yu Songyuan quite a bit.

  From then on, every night before going to sleep, a strange scene would appear. He would pat her door and say: "Go to the toilet, I'm going to bed." Lin Xue would take out a flashlight from the room and walk out, accompanied by Yu Songyuan and Da. They would stand not far from the toilet door until she finished using it, then send her back to the door, only returning to their room after she closed the door.

  Sometimes, when she was about to enter the door, he would also remind her: "At night, if you want to go to the toilet, just knock on this wall in the middle, and I'll get up to accompany you, did you hear?"

  She said: "I heard it, thank you Yu Ge."

  The sky is getting colder and colder, with two heavy snowfalls in a row, the earth is covered with silver armor, white and clean.

  One evening, the snow had stopped, but the wind was very strong, cutting into her face like a knife. The trees on the embankment kept making whistling and screeching sounds. Before going to bed that night, Yu Songyuan accompanied her to the toilet, with Da Jiang following carelessly behind them. Outside the toilet, Yu Songyuan and Da Jiang stood in the wind, letting her go into the toilet alone.

  Who would have thought that as soon as she walked into the women's restroom, it was as if she had been set on fire, and she let out a loud "Ah!" before quickly fleeing and rushing into Yu Songyuan's arms. A white cat also let out a pained meow at the same time and rushed out of the restroom, running wildly away.

  Yu Songyuan patted her back to comfort her: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's nothing, just a stray cat." At the same time, he said to the general: "General, catch it."

  The general immediately ran off. A moment later, he slowly ran back with a large white cat that was desperately begging for mercy in his mouth.

  Yu Songyuan continued patting her back and said: "Don't be afraid for now, see what the general has caught."

  She dared to turn her head back, only to see the general holding that big white cat, at this moment, the big white cat was "meowing" and begging bitterly.

  Lin Xue's fright had just subsided, and she left Yu Songyuan's arms, still trembling with fear, saying: "It's really going to die, what is it doing running into the toilet? I stepped on its body with one foot, soft and still struggling desperately, my soul was scared away."

  Yu Songyuan said to the general: "Let it go." The general relaxed his mouth, and the white cat immediately fled hastily into the darkness.

  Yu Songyuan teased her: "This must be a female cat, you see the general never enters the women's restroom. This female cat may have just finished using the toilet, and you stepped on it with one foot, scaring it to death. Then, let the general catch it and show it off, you say how unlucky and wronged it is."

  Lin Xue let out a snort and was amused.

  Actually, Lin Xue's fear of the "ghost house" made her not dare to stay alone in the dormitory even during the day. On weekends, when Yu Songyuan needed to go out, he would tell her and she would sometimes follow him to stroll around the streets, but never bought anything.

  She sat in Yu Songyuan's car, and Yu Songyuan often felt like he was taking Yu Ya, Xiao Hui or Chen Jing out for a spin. Sometimes, she would go to the school's textile factory's delivery room or the school's delivery room to read the newspaper and kill time. Only when he returned would he go to the delivery room to pick her up again.

  Yu Songyuan slowly felt that although she was gradually trusting him and no longer as vigilant as before, she still maintained her vigilance towards him. Especially since she disliked dogs and didn't like Da Jiang, she was highly vigilant around it, even to the point of extreme disgust. But Da Jiang just liked to tease her, sometimes at night when Yu Songyuan went to the bathroom, Da Jiang would follow her there, and she would tightly grab onto Yu Songyuan's clothes, deliberately avoiding Da Jiang.

  On the contrary, Da Jiang would continue to be cold-shouldered by her, and he would shamelessly hover around her, or even take the initiative to rub against her clothes to show his affection. She, on the other hand, would be so frightened that she would stand still with her eyes closed. Da Jiang would then reveal a bewildering expression, his pair of perplexed eyes staring at Yu Song Yuan, as if to say: "What's wrong with her? It's inexplicable!"

  Yu Songyuan repeatedly told her, "A large dog is different from those local stray dogs and wild dogs. He's friendly to people he's familiar with, and he can protect you. You should try to slowly accept him."

  Although she repeatedly expressed "Okay, okay, I'll try", when the general took the initiative to show her kindness again, she still showed strong disgust and resistance, making it difficult for the general to advance or retreat.

  Another weekend, Yu Songyuan is washing clothes in front of the pool, while Da Jiang is playing alone happily at the door.

  Lin Xue wore a large, loose-fitting factory work uniform, with the kind of yellow rubber boots that workers often wear on her feet, and nervously held a basin to wash clothes. Normally, she would cover her head tightly with a hat that matched her work uniform, but today, the hat was also washed, revealing her lively and cute ponytail swinging back and forth.

  The general rushed to her side, and she let out a loud "ahh" of fright, her face pale, her hands clasped over her chest, the basin slipping from her grasp and crashing to the cement floor with a loud clang, sending clothes spilling all over.

  The general obviously felt that he had scared the girl, and sat down on the spot with a very apologetic look. He looked at Yu Songyan for a while, then tilted his head and looked at the girl in a friendly and mischievous way, as if to say: "I really didn't mean to."

  Yu Songyuan saw Lin Xue being scared and immediately rushed over, wiping the water off her body with his hands, stroking her head, and comforting her, saying: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, it's okay, this dog will never bite its own people."

  Lin Xue said with a lingering fear: "How did it come without any preparation and suddenly rushed over, scaring me to death."

  Yu Songyuan said: "I'm worried to death. It can't go on like this, the knot in your heart must be untied today, it can't be delayed any longer."

  She said with a sob: "I've tried hard, but I'm really afraid of it. Can't you not force me? Can't I just get used to it slowly?"

  Yu Songyuan patted her shoulder and then walked in front of the general, squatting down to stroke the general's head, saying:

  "Can you forget to be afraid? I'm here, what are you afraid of? Listen to me, this is not an ordinary dog, it's a high-priced, pure-blooded German Shepherd, a military dog. It is absolutely friendly and loyal to its own people and comrades, and dares to fight with its life against enemies, willing to shed blood and sacrifice itself. It can understand human language, interact well with comrades, and coordinate with each other. Very disciplined, it will not eat food that it's not sure about, no matter how delicious."

  Seeing her still not believing, Yu Songyuan changed his approach, "Look, it did something wrong earlier and is feeling very upset. Now it's apologizing to you. If you just look into its eyes and say 'it's okay', it will be happy again. Don't be afraid, try it now."

  Lin Xue was very curious: "You're bragging, it's so mysterious and divine! No wonder it never barks randomly." She plucked up the courage to walk towards the general, lowered her head and said to it: "It's okay earlier, I'm just too timid, not your fault."

  The big dog got up with excitement, rubbed its head against her cotton pants leg again to show apology. It apparently liked the little girl very much and kept circling around her, its eyes filled with joyful expression.