Ye Jiahuai was holding an umbrella—the one she had given him earlier.
He had likely just finished smoking; even the earthy smell of dust in the air could not cover the choking scent of tobacco.
The group of exquisitely dressed people around him was gone, leaving only him. Somehow, it added a few more traces of aloof pride to that face of his, as though he stood apart from the world.
This man made people feel, from the very first meeting, that he kept others a thousand li away.
“What did you say?” She had been too busy trying not to fall in just now and had not heard him clearly at all.
“Can you row a boat?” Ye Jiahuai repeated.
“Yes.” Ying Yun nodded, her answer firm and seemingly very credible.
But only she herself knew that all she could do was push with the pole a few times.
He asked, “Can you carry passengers too?”
She replied, “Yes.”
“Then take me around for a few laps.”
The moment Ying Yun picked up the pole, her heart began to panic terribly. Probably because she was afraid he would expose her lie, she could only brace herself and start pushing.
She secretly glanced over. Ye Jiahuai’s gaze was not on her, and he did not seem to have noticed the awkwardness of her movements.
Fortunately, the waterways of Jiangnan did not have any particularly bumpy stretches. After rowing for a while, things naturally became steady.
When the boat reached a place far from the houses, Ye Jiahuai suddenly said, “All right. Stop here for a while.”
The sky had already begun to darken. Vast swaths of deep blue covered the heavens. There was no starlight, only heavy clouds drifting uncertainly through the air.
There would probably be another downpour tonight.
This place was far from the shore, so the lights that could be seen were even dimmer.
Ying Yun glanced toward where Ye Jiahuai sat. She could not see him very clearly, so she asked, “Should I turn on the light?”
“Okay.”
She switched on the small lamp at the bow. A soft glow lit up—one of the most ordinary lights among thousands of household lamps, yet it illuminated just enough.
She closed her eyes instinctively for a moment. When she lifted her gaze again, by some coincidence, it collided with Ye Jiahuai’s, then slid away.
The rain outside pattered down. Ying Yun shrank into a corner of the cabin, carefully drawing her feet farther inside, but a few drops of rain still inevitably splashed onto her clothes, leaving water marks.
“May I smoke?” His tone was one of inquiry.
Ying Yun nodded and said yes.
As soon as she finished speaking, there was a crisp ding. His fingertip brushed across the lighter wheel, and a tongue of flame devoured the tobacco. As he breathed in and out, curling smoke made the distance between them feel even greater.
“Still in school?” Ye Jiahuai’s voice, mixed with the sound of rain, seemed especially deep.
Perhaps it was because the rain was growing heavier, but her ears did not seem to be working very well today. She kept failing to hear what he said clearly. “Hm? Oh, yes. I’m a junior.”
The space inside the cabin truly could not be considered large. No matter how much Ying Yun curled herself up, the distance between the two of them could not become very far.
He asked, “Studying in Beicheng?”
“Yes.”
The conversation between them was unbearably dull. Basically, Ye Jiahuai asked, and Ying Yun answered with a sentence or two.
She did not say much, maintaining the proper attitude of a “boatwoman.”
Gradually, only the sound of rain and the chirping of cicadas remained. The conversation from just now ended just as abruptly as it had begun.
Ying Yun’s heart sank for no reason. She rested her head on her legs, most of her hair falling down. The misty drizzle formed tiny droplets on it, as though coating it with a layer of autumn dew.
The places where mosquitoes had bitten her had already been treated with medicine, but now that the effect had worn off, they had begun to itch uncontrollably again.
Ying Yun endured the itch. Amid her tangled thoughts, a notion suddenly surfaced in her mind.
If today’s rain could just keep falling like this forever, that would not be so bad.
But the instant this peace was broken, Ying Yun regretted it a little.
“Mm…” She let out a low cry and hurriedly shrank her neck, wanting to turn and look for the source of that cool sensation.
“Don’t move.” It was Ye Jiahuai. His voice carried a measure of solemnity that made one involuntarily stop the movement of struggle they had intended to make.
A refreshing mint scent entered her nose. The itchy spot was wiped by someone’s fingertip, the touch smooth and slick—it was ointment.
Only, unlike the coolness on her neck.
Ying Yun only felt her face burning fiercely. Even with the sound of water and the cicadas as cover, she was still afraid that the person so close at hand would hear her overly chaotic heartbeat.
The already oppressive atmosphere brought her discomfort to its peak at this moment, and even her breathing grew disordered.
Much of the time, the body’s instinctive reactions could not be controlled.
For instance, right now, every time his fingertip brushed over the red, swollen area, Ying Yun could not stop herself from trembling lightly.
She could not see the man’s expression. There was only his faint breathing spilling over the back of her head.
Too close…
Ye Jiahuai noticed her overly stiff neck. He withdrew his hand and gave a light laugh, the end of it rising slightly. “Hm… You’re that afraid of me, hmm?”
Ying Yun covered her neck and buried her chin into her knees, stammering, “No… I’m not.”
It would have been better if she had not said anything. Like this, it only seemed more like she was trying to cover things up.
Ye Jiahuai was in the mood to tease her. He asked frivolously, “What? Did I bully you?”
Ying Yun’s eyelashes trembled twice. She turned her head slightly to look at him. Her fair complexion made the blush rising on her cheeks seem even deeper, and her light-colored pupils appeared especially clear beneath the dim yellow glow.
There was a touch of vexation in her expression. On that exquisitely delicate face of hers, it really did make it look as though he had bullied her.
After only a few seconds, she quickly withdrew her gaze and muttered in an extremely small voice, “You scared me.”
Her tone was very serious.
But with the soft Wu dialect lilt of her hometown, it did not sound like a complaint. It sounded more like she was acting spoiled.
The corner of Ye Jiahuai’s lips curved faintly. His tone returned to its previous cold distance. “I saw that spot of yours was badly swollen. I happened to have medicine with me. I was rude for a moment; please forgive me.”
It was summer. Carrying some ointment was not strange, she thought.
From the corner of her eye, she saw that Ye Jiahuai had already straightened up. He was looking out the window, his knuckles resting on his suit trousers and tapping lightly along with the sound of rain striking the black awning, as though he were appreciating the rain.
Just as he had said, a moment of rudeness, born of good intentions.
Her thoughts had become a mess; it had nothing to do with him.
It was no different from encountering a stray cat by the roadside and teasing it a few times on a whim.
Ying Yun tidied her hair. The words of thanks came out with a faint edge. “Oh. Thank you for your kindness.”
Ye Jiahuai’s brow lifted slightly. When he looked over again, all he could see was the back of her head.
The young girl could not take teasing, and her temper was quite something.
The rain outside was falling hard. She had curled herself into a ball in the corner, as if in the short span of a few minutes, she had learned the lesson of growing wiser after suffering a setback and had made up her mind to draw a clear line between them.
Ye Jiahuai acted as though nothing had happened. After a few seconds, he spoke again in a淡淡 voice, asking, “I heard from your family that you’re studying translation at Beicheng Language University?”
Ying Yun was angry and did not make a sound. After a long while passed, the man did not speak again either.
In fact, from the first moment Ying Yun saw that group of people, she had been able to hear it—the authentic Beijing accent. They were probably people whose families had lived in that city for generations.
Their speech and bearing, their clothing and dress, were likely not things she would ordinarily encounter.
“Mm.” A soft, tender sound counted as her answer to the man’s earlier question.
Ye Jiahuai did not take issue with the awkward silence just now. He chatted idly, one remark after another. “Studying translation—where do you want to go after graduation? The Translation and Interpretation Department?”
Hearing his careless tone, Ying Yun felt secretly annoyed. Grandpa really had to fix that habit of telling outsiders everything during casual conversation.
She lifted her eyes and looked at him, then said nothing more.
Ye Jiahuai saw a few traces of mockery in her eyes.
What translation student had never had such a dream? It was clearly a place whose threshold one might not touch even after exhausting all one’s strength. Yet when it came from his mouth, it somehow made people feel as if it were so very easy.
It was not naivety born of ignorance, but an innate confidence that gave rise to a somewhat detached arrogance, untouched by the smoke and fire of the mortal world.
Such was the world: something beyond your reach might be nothing more than ordinary in someone else’s eyes.
Ying Yun understood herself. She did not have such grand ambitions. She only wanted to earn a little money simply and plainly, so that Grandpa and Grandma could live a bit more comfortably.
Thinking of this, Ying Yun knew she truly could not continue chatting with this man.
In the span of a few sentences, the rain had weakened somewhat.
Though a few threads of drizzle still fell outside, her clothes were already wet anyway, so the rain no longer counted for much.
Ying Yun stood and picked up the boat pole. “I’m going back. I’ll take you back.”
Without waiting for Ye Jiahuai’s opinion, the boat had already cut through the calm water, swaying slightly all the way as it drew close to the stone wall at the edge.
Just as she did when receiving guests as usual, Ying Yun spread out her palm and waited for him to disembark. “I hope you’ll come again next time.”
Ye Jiahuai looked at the outstretched palm before him and let out a low laugh. He stepped a little closer and asked in return, “Do you really hope so?”