PDLP Chapter 176 Typhoon Day
Chapter 176 Typhoon Day
In the sweltering heat of May, even the wind felt scalding.
The ceiling fan in the classroom spun slowly, and the dust on the blades was shaken off and floated in the sunlight.
Song Huan was writing on her physics exam paper with her head down. She stopped writing halfway through the last big question.
He glanced out the window. The sky was still blue, and the clouds were still white, but in the distance there was a hazy gray thing, like ink dripping into water, slowly spreading.
The dark cloud was huge, like a black cloth, covering half the sky.
The microphone suddenly went off.
"Feed—feed—!"
Wang Feng's voice blasted from the speaker, accompanied by a crackling sound from the electrical circuitry.
The whole class was startled by the sudden sound and looked up abruptly.
"As per the Education Bureau's arrangements, due to the typhoon, day students are immediately dismissed and sent home. Boarding students should return to their dormitories, lock their doors and windows, and follow the instructions of the dormitory supervisor!"
There was a moment of silence, then the side with the day students exploded.
"Have a holiday!"
"Typhoon holiday!"
"Let's go, let's go!"
The sound of chairs scraping the floor, textbooks slapping against the table, some people standing up to stretch, and others already packing their schoolbags.
Zhao Qihang sprang up from his seat, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and turned to look at Chen Xu.
"Let's go to the internet cafe. The new one, the computers are good."
Chen Xu shook his head. "I want to stay home during a typhoon."
Zhao Qihang curled his lip, "What a coward."
Chen Xu ignored him, stuffed the textbooks into his schoolbag one by one, and zipped it up.
Song Huan leaned back in her chair, looking to the side.
Xiao Yunqing sat there, her face expressionless, neither excited nor surprised, slowly packing her things.
He zipped up his pencil case, stacked his textbooks neatly, and put them into his schoolbag, moving at a leisurely pace.
Song Huan glanced at her for two seconds.
Those with connections probably received the news a long time ago.
Xiao Yunqing felt his gaze, turned her head and glanced at him, "What are you looking at? Pack your things, let's go."
"oh."
Song Huan folded the test paper and stuffed it into her schoolbag, then stood up.
When I walked out of the school gate, the sky was already overcast.
It wasn't the kind of gloom that gradually darkens; it was sudden, like someone turning off the lights.
The wind picked up, making the banner at the school gate flap loudly, and bending the small trees by the roadside, turning their leaves over to reveal their grayish-white undersides.
The first drop of rain hit Song Huan's face.
He looked up and saw that the sky, which had been clear and bright, had suddenly turned gray and hazy, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Moreover, the wind was very strong, causing the trees along the roadside to sway from side to side.
He quickly opened the umbrella, the black cloth spreading out above his head, the frame creaking.
Xiao Yunqing stood next to him and took a step inside the moment he opened his umbrella, her movements as natural as if she had rehearsed them.
Her shoulder was pressed against his arm, and her hair brushed against his chin.
Song Huan glanced down at her and couldn't help but complain, "Couldn't you have brought an umbrella?"
Xiao Yunqing kept her eyes fixed ahead, her expression unchanged. "I forgot."
"How many times have you said that? You forgot last time, and you forgot the time before that."
"I just have a bad memory, so what?"
She turned her head and glared at him, her lips slightly pouting.
Song Huan didn't say anything, but tilted the umbrella towards her.
My thoughts drifted over from her, softly, like raindrops falling on the water.
[Hehe, actually I brought an umbrella; it's in my backpack.]
[But how can we compete with him if we take it out?]
[fool.]
Song Huan was stunned for a moment when she saw the smug little upturn at the corner of her mouth.
So that's what this little girl was thinking.
I never expected this, I never expected this.
This girl has gone astray too!
He smiled helplessly and tilted the umbrella further towards her.
The rain is getting heavier.
Large raindrops pounded on the umbrella, making a pattering sound, like someone drumming on your head.
The water on the ground was getting more and more piling up, splashing water as you stepped on it, and half of your shoes got wet.
When she arrived at Xiao Yunqing's building, she stepped out from under the umbrella, stood at the entrance of the building, and turned around.
"You should go back quickly, the rain is going to get heavier soon."
Song Huan nodded, turned around and left.
After taking a couple of steps, I heard her call out from behind, "Be careful on the road! Remember to watch out for cars when crossing the street, and don't step on manhole covers!"
"I see!"
Song Huan didn't turn around, but waved her hand.
The rain is getting heavier.
The rain curtain hung down from the edge of the umbrella, like a curtain made of water.
There weren't many people on the road, and even those who were were in a hurry.
Occasionally a car would drive by, its wheels splashing through the puddles.
Song Huan quickened her pace, and when she was almost at the entrance of her residential compound, she saw someone.
At the traffic light intersection, she stood in the rain, her hands covering her head, her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, her school uniform mostly soaked.
Her hair clung to the side of her face, and water dripped down her chin.
Feng Nian.
Song Huan was stunned for a moment.
What's she doing here? Isn't she a boarding student?
Without a second thought, he ran over and held the umbrella over her head.
Has the rain stopped?
Feng Nian looked up in confusion, glancing at the black umbrella above her head and then at the person under it.
Water dripped from her eyelashes, and she blinked.
"Song Huan?" The voice was filled with surprise.
She's not usually like this.
The impression Feng Nian left on him was that she was quiet, indifferent, and never surprised by anything.
With that expression now, his eyes are wide open and his mouth is slightly agape; he seems genuinely surprised.
"Aren't you a boarding student?" Song Huan asked. "Why did you run away?"
Feng Nian remained silent for a while.
The rain was loud, pattering against the umbrella.
She sighed softly, her voice mostly drowned out by the sound of the rain.
"My home is in the countryside, in an old house."
She paused for a moment, then said, "There's a typhoon. I have to go back and check on things, in case something unexpected happens."
At this point, she added, "Last year during a typhoon, an elderly person in our village was killed when a wall collapsed on them."
Song Huan nodded.
For students, a typhoon means a holiday.
But for some, a typhoon is a disaster.
The people living in the old houses, the crops planted in the fields, the year's harvest, all gone in a single typhoon.
"Are you going to the station?"
Song Huan asked.
Feng Nian nodded.
"Here's the umbrella." Song Huan handed it over. "It's a bit far to the station. You'll get soaked if you run like this."
Feng Nian didn't answer, and asked, "Then what are you going to do?"
Song Huan pointed ahead, "My house is over there, I can just run there."
The green light is on.
Song Huan shoved the umbrella into her hand and turned to run away.
The rain was hitting my face, and I couldn't open my eyes.
He shielded himself with his hand, ran a couple of steps, then put it down again, since it was already wet anyway.
Feng Nian stood at the intersection, holding the umbrella handle in her hand.
The umbrella handle still held the warmth of his palm.
She tried to call out to him, but her mouth opened slightly and no sound came out.
The green light is flashing.
She held the umbrella and quickly crossed the road.
Once on the other side, I turned around, but the figure was gone from behind the curtain of rain.
There was nothing in the gray rain.
She stood there for two seconds.
He lowered his head and looked at the umbrella in his hand.
She tilted the umbrella towards herself, then turned and left.
The rain was still falling, and it was getting heavier.