Chapter 63: He Qing’s Feelings |
“Huh?…” She blushed.
“We have a dryer at home. I’ll wash your clothes too while I’m at it—they’ll be dry in no time.”
Little He Qing nodded slowly, her attention focused more on the second half of his sentence.
Lin Zhengran turned to leave, and she instinctively tried to follow. But before she could even take a step, a sharp pain shot through her ankle, making her nearly collapse. She barely managed to grab hold of a nearby bench for support.
Lin Zhengran turned back. “What’s wrong?”
He Qing lowered her head to look at her ankle. “It suddenly hurts a lot… I don’t even know why…”
Lin Zhengran had her sit down and checked her foot. He squatted down and carefully pulled down her sock a little. He Qing shyly watched him.
He quickly discovered that the area she had injured last time was swollen and red again. He frowned and looked up. “What happened? Why did you twist your ankle again? And in the exact same spot?”
He Qing was just as confused. It hadn’t hurt earlier.
Noticing Lin Zhengran’s darkening expression, she hurriedly apologized. “S-Sorry… Please don’t be mad… I know I’m kinda clumsy… You can scold me if you want.”
Lin Zhengran suddenly recalled how, when she was little, she used to call herself brainless when she messed up.
Turning his back to her, he crouched down slightly. “I’ll carry you. Let’s go home and put some medicine on it.”
He Qing was caught off guard, her eyes widening in surprise. Seeing his clean clothes, she quickly waved her hands. “No, no! I’m really dirty. I got mud all over me—you shouldn’t carry me. I can walk… I’ll just go slow.”
Lin Zhengran glanced back at her.
That one look made He Qing go pale with fear. Her voice shrank to a mosquito-like murmur. “I… I can…”
“Get on.”
“But I’m really dirty…” She didn’t dare refuse him, but she still hesitated. Fortunately, Lin Zhengran casually said, “Just wash my jacket later, and we’ll call it even.”
Since he put it that way, He Qing finally, hesitantly, climbed onto his back. Feeling bad, she kept apologizing, “Sorry, Lin Zhengran… I got your clothes dirty…”
Lin Zhengran told her to hold onto his neck. Awkwardly, she freed one hand and wrapped it around him.
Then, securing his grip on her legs, Lin Zhengran stood up and carried her home. The little girl weighed less than a hundred pounds, and with Lin Zhengran’s naturally strong physique, she felt practically weightless.
Still, He Qing worried about being too heavy for him. She nervously asked, “Am I heavy? Is it tiring to carry me?”
“Why do you talk so much?”
“Wuwu…”
As they passed by the kindergarten He Qing had just walked past earlier, Lin Zhengran glanced over with her.
“So?”
She blushed and nodded, knowing exactly what he was asking.
Lin Zhengran carried her across the street. Some curious pedestrians gave them a glance, and even the kids playing at the kindergarten entrance took notice. Feeling her heartbeat quicken, He Qing clung to his back.
Lin Zhengran had a pretty good idea of what was on her mind.
“I really don’t get you girls and your constant inner drama. But I’ll just say this—I have no interest in middle school girls.”
He Qing froze. Her eyes instantly turned red, as if she was about to cry.
No interest…? What does that mean? Did I just get rejected? But I haven’t even confessed yet! I haven’t said anything—how did I already fail?!
Just as Lin Zhengran was about to say something else, he suddenly heard her sniffle.
“…Are you crying?”
“No… I’m not crying… Wuwuwu…” She bit her lip, tears welling in her eyes. “I’m not crying… wuwu…”
Lin Zhengran sighed. “Crying won’t change anything. Stick your head forward.”
“Huh? …Oh…” She leaned forward as much as she could. “And then?”
Lin Zhengran said, “Take the hand you’re holding onto me with and put it on your forehead. Then flick yourself. Hard.”
“…Oh. Okay.” Sniffling, He Qing placed her hand on her forehead and gave herself a hard flick. “Ahh—ow!” She yelped from the pain, then teared up even more. “That really hurt… I hit myself too hard…”
Lin Zhengran found her ridiculous. She really went all out on herself. “Good. That way you’ll learn your lesson. Do you remember what you said when you were little? Why did you want to learn Taekwondo in the first place?”
Still feeling wronged, she sniffled, her eyes brimming with tears. “I remember… I wanted to become strong… so I could p-protect you when you got bullied… I wanted to grow up into someone strong…”
Lin Zhengran asked, “So have you done that? Do you think you’ve grown up?”
“N-No…” She was completely honest with him. “Actually, my Taekwondo training hasn’t been going great lately… and I keep making you mad…”
She held onto the small box in her hands tightly.
“If you know you’re not grown up yet, why are you overthinking things?”
Lin Zhengran adjusted his grip on her legs and continued walking. After a pause, he added, “If you win the town’s Taekwondo competition next year, as a reward, I’ll grant you one small wish.”
He Qing blinked. …A small wish?
Then Lin Zhengran suddenly said, “Also, when we start high school, we’ll be sixteen, right?”
She answered automatically, “Yeah, sixteen in high school, eighteen when we graduate… Mom says that once I start high school, I’ll be a real young lady.”
At first, she was just responding casually. But after a second, something clicked in her head. Her eyes widened, and her whole face lit up. Blushing, she muttered to herself,
“Wait… a real young lady? When I start high school, I won’t be a little girl anymore—I’ll be a real young lady!”
Remembering what he had said earlier, she gathered her courage and asked, “Lin Zhengran… You do like girls, right?”
Lin Zhengran was speechless. “Huh? What kind of question is that?! I’m not planning on becoming a monk—what do you think?”
He Qing’s face broke into a bright smile. “R-Really?! Then… then if you don’t like little kids, and I win the town’s tournament next year, and I become strong, and I’m not a little girl anymore when I start high school… y-you…”
Her brain worked fast, and she instinctively reworded her question. Carefully, she asked,
“You won’t abandon me, right? When we were little, you said I could stay by your side forever.”
“Yeah, back in kindergarten, I did say you could follow me. That promise still stands.”
Overjoyed, He Qing burst into a happy giggle. “Really?!”
Then her expression froze. She blinked blankly.
Wait…
So does this mean… did I just succeed in confessing or fail?
Emmm… But I don’t think I even confessed…
This feels… weird.