It Turns Out I Really Love You - Chapter 4

Su Nianqin put down his phone. He had been sitting at the dining table, reading and preparing lessons, but now he closed his book and frowned.

Sitting opposite him, Yu Xiaolu, who was keeping him company, turned a magazine page and asked, “Who called you?”

“No one,” he said blandly.

“No one? Then why did you hang up so quickly, like you were avoiding the plague?” Yu Xiaolu chuckled.

Su Nianqin was too lazy to waste words with her. He slightly curled the fingers of his right hand, tapping rhythmically and lightly on the book cover.

“Su Nianqin.” Yu Xiaolu turned another page of her book.

“Hmm?” He tilted his head.

“You’re distracted,” Yu Xiaolu smiled.

He didn’t answer, reaching out to touch the braille board beside him.

“That girl knows you’re Yi Jin?” Yu Xiaolu asked. From the call just now, Sang Wuyan’s voice was loud, and she vaguely heard a few words, guessing the general idea.

“Mm.”

“Really?” Yu Xiaolu asked. She knew that although Su Nianqin responded nonchalantly, it was still a serious matter for him. The reason he never publicly revealed his privacy was partly due to his family, and partly due to his unwilling-to-be-disclosed eye condition.

“I met her when I went to the radio station for the interview.”

“I should have known this would happen. I shouldn’t have agreed to Sister Xi’s request no matter what. What do we do?”

“Ignore her.”

“Should I go find her? It’ll be a lot of trouble if she tells the media.”

Su Nianqin remained noncommittal. After a long silence, he slowly said, “She probably won’t.”

He said “probably won’t.” Yu Xiaolu didn’t quite understand whether he meant she wouldn’t tell the media, or that it wouldn’t be much trouble if she did. When she wanted to ask again, she saw Su Nianqin’s face turn impatient, so she wisely kept quiet.

That day, Yu Xiaolu went to pick him up according to Su Nianqin’s phone instructions. When she stood in front of the car and saw Su Nianqin emerge from KFC, her jaw dropped.

Because of his poor eyesight, Su Nianqin’s judgment of the outside world largely relied on sound and smell. Therefore, he disliked places with strong smells and noisy human voices, and this Western fast food restaurant happened to combine both on a grand scale.

When the girl beside him said goodbye to Su Nianqin, she said with a grin, “See you next time, daddy of the child.”

At that moment, an almost imperceptible vein in Su Nianqin’s temple twitched.

As Yu Xiaolu got into the car, she couldn’t help but wonder, “What ‘daddy of the child’?”

“Drive!” Su Nianqin’s face instantly became overcast.

After the Lantern Festival, school resumed. Su Nianqin was still a braille teacher for third grade, and Sang Wuyan continued to be Teacher Li’s assistant homeroom teacher.

Ever since the last incident, Sang Wuyan started paying attention to Xiao Wei. For example, whether her clothes were clean or torn, and whether her shoes were warm. During recess, some children would rush to the small shop to buy snacks, while others brought food from home. But Xiao Wei clearly didn’t have these privileges; she would just sit alone at her desk every recess, silently.

That day it was raining, so no children ran out to play on the playground. Thus, during recess, they were all eating snacks from the small shop in the classroom. The entire classroom was filled with the smell of food. Sang Wuyan stood in the corridor outside the window, watching Xiao Wei in the corner.

She had experienced such awkwardness before. When she was little, she had strict family discipline. Every day, she would only leave after eating breakfast, and Sang Mama wouldn’t give her any pocket money besides bus fare. After the second class, there was a thirty-five-minute break, and many people ate breakfast during this time. Watching her classmates eat with relish while she sat awkwardly beside them was a subtle kind of self-esteem among children, regardless of whether she was hungry or not.

Sang Wuyan hurried back to the office, opened her drawer, took out her handbag, and went downstairs to the small shop. But in front of the shop, the children were packed three deep, and she was half a teacher, after all, so she couldn’t possibly squeeze in with the children. After hesitating, she took her handbag and returned to the second-floor office.

“Xiao Sang, I thought you had gone back,” Teacher Li said.

“No, I was going to go buy something, but there were too many students.”

“Didn’t eat breakfast?” Teacher Li was always quite concerned about her. “If you didn’t eat breakfast, I have biscuits here.” Saying that, she took out biscuits from her drawer for her.

“No, no, no,” Sang Wuyan waved her hand. “I wasn’t buying for myself.”

Teacher Li smiled, “Next time, you have to rush down before the bell rings for class.”

Opposite her, Su Nianqin looked up, his gaze seeming to fall on Sang Wuyan’s side, yet not quite.

Although Su Nianqin had been avoiding her ever since the last incident, trying his best not to be alone with her, and she had thought of excuses to approach him, he always naturally avoided her. They never spoke about the topic of “Yi Jin” again, both tacitly understanding.

Sang Wuyan also wondered why he was so confident that she wouldn’t blab it out?

For the third period, Sang Wuyan went to observe Teacher Li’s class. When she reached the third-floor classroom door, Teacher Li realized she had forgotten her water bottle. She had a sore throat recently, and her cup was always steeped with herbs; she would lose her voice if she didn’t drink for one class. Sang Wuyan said, “It’s okay, you go to the classroom first, I’ll get it for you.”

She took the cup, found it empty, and then rushed to the water dispenser, filling it up. As she was putting on the lid, she turned to leave.

Just as she was backing up and turning around, she accidentally bumped into someone coming from the opposite direction. This person was none other than Su Nianqin. Half of the boiling water in the cup sloshed out, spilling all over Su Nianqin.

Fortunately, it was winter, and Su Nianqin was wearing thick clothes, so the water didn’t immediately soak through. Before she could finish celebrating, she saw Su Nianqin’s hand.

Sang Wuyan couldn’t help but gasp.

The scalding hot water poured onto his hand, and his skin quickly turned red.

“Are you burned?” she quickly put down the cup, grabbed his hand, and asked.

“I’m fine,” he said, pulling his hand back.

She didn’t know if he was truly fine, or if he simply wanted to maintain distance from Sang Wuyan. But, contrary to his wishes, the burned skin was not only crimson but began to quickly blister.

Sang Wuyan started to panic, “How can it not be serious? It’s boiling water.”

In her panic, she suddenly remembered that there was aloe vera in the garden below the teaching building. Back home, Sang Mama used to apply aloe vera as burn medicine for her.

“You sit and wait for me.” With that, she dashed downstairs, not caring about the rain, tore off a few aloe vera leaves from the garden, and then thump-thump-thumped back up.

Then, she led Su Nianqin’s hand under the faucet, rinsed it with cold water, and then gently rubbed the raw, reddened back of his hand with the broken part of the aloe vera leaf.

“What is this?” he asked, tilting his head.

“Aloe vera,” Sang Wuyan replied.

A blister seemed to have formed at the base of his index finger. When the aloe vera juice was applied over it, his hand trembled slightly.

It must hurt a lot.

His five fingers were long and slender, with faint blue veins visible beneath the skin. Probably due to years of playing the piano, his hands weren’t perfectly flawless, with slightly thicker knuckles and fingertips that curved upwards, and calluses on his fingertips.

His perception of this world largely relied on these hands, so his sense of touch might be more sensitive than ordinary people.

“I absolutely didn’t do it on purpose,” Sang Wuyan said guiltily, “Don’t be angry.”

“Really?” he inadvertently countered.

Sang Wuyan said anxiously, “I swear!”

The transparent, viscous aloe vera juice touched the skin, immediately giving a cool sensation. The window was open, and the wind, carrying moist air, gently brushed through, dispersing the delicate plant fragrance between them.

Su Nianqin took a shallow breath.

So that’s what aloe vera smells like, he thought.

“What happened next?” Cheng Yin asked.

“Someone came upstairs, and I was too embarrassed to still be holding his hand, so I picked up the cup and went to the classroom.”

Cheng Yin chuckled, “You actually didn’t take advantage of the situation?!”

“Get lost.” Sang Wuyan kicked her. “Stop teasing me and quickly come with me to the supermarket.”

“What for?”

“To buy food.”

Early the next morning, Sang Wuyan carried a bag of snacks to work. Upon arriving at the office, Su Nianqin was already there.

Sang Wuyan glanced at his hand; the blister had been popped, and he had carefully applied medicine.

With so much food in her hand, she felt a bit embarrassed, so Sang Wuyan unwrapped two bags of candy and distributed a handful to each teacher’s desk. When she reached Su Nianqin’s desk, she hesitated before saying, “Teacher Su, have some candy.”

He blandly refused, “I don’t eat sweets.”

A concise five words, primly establishing distance between them, as if yesterday’s incident had never happened.

Sang Wuyan bit her lip, then smiled again, “Then… I’ll treat you to something savory next time.”

Then, she carried her things to the classroom, unexpectedly, Xiao Wei hadn’t arrived yet.

After the second class ended, Teacher Xiao Wang returned to the office and reminded Sang Wuyan, “Xiao Sang, weren’t you looking for Su Xiaowei just now? She’s in the classroom now.”

Sang Wuyan picked up her things and went to the classroom. Xiao Wei had a student duty armband on her arm and was wiping the podium at the front of the classroom.

“Xiao Wei.” Sang Wuyan stood at the doorway and called her name. The school broadcast was playing calisthenics music, and the child was very focused on what she was doing, so she didn’t hear her.

She wiped very carefully, first with a dry cloth, then washed the rag thoroughly in a basin of water, wrung it out, and used it to wipe a second time. Her left hand scouted ahead, and her right hand with the rag moved little by little.

Sang Wuyan smiled, “Xiao Wei.”

Xiao Wei turned her head, “Teacher Sang?”

“I’ll give you…” Sang Wuyan hadn’t finished her sentence when Su Nianqin appeared behind her, took the bag from her hand, shook his head, and placed his index finger on his lips in a shushing gesture.

“What’s wrong, Teacher Sang?” The child hadn’t noticed Su Nianqin at the classroom door.

“Are you on duty today?” Sang Wuyan changed the subject.

“Mm-hmm. When they were playing in the classroom just now, they threw the broom on the table. The next period is Teacher Su’s class, and Teacher Su likes things clean, so I have to wipe this place clean before he comes, so I don’t dirty his clothes.”

Sang Wuyan wasn’t originally someone who liked children, but seeing Xiao Wei’s serious and earnest expression, she couldn’t help but smile.

“You like Teacher Su?”

Xiao Wei squinted her eyes and smiled, “Teacher Su is very gentle.”

“Really?” How come she had never noticed? Sang Wuyan asked, turning to look at Su Nianqin.

Su Nianqin seemed to sense her gaze and turned his head slightly away.

Finishing their conversation, she followed Su Nianqin to the end of the corridor.

“Why didn’t you want me to give it to her?”

“What they need is not your bag of candy today, or someone else’s box of biscuits tomorrow.”

“But…” Sang Wuyan felt a loss for words, “But, isn’t this all I can do?”

“Precisely because you can only do these things, it’s better to do nothing at all.” His expression was not indifferent, but such harsh words coming from his mouth still sounded exceptionally cold.

Sang Wuyan also got a little angry and said, “It’s clearly you who’s too sensitive. I just wanted her to know that even without parents, there are still so many people who care about her and think of her.”

“Sang Wuyan, please put away your pity and charity. They don’t want these things; you simply don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand? What makes you understand?” Sang Wuyan’s words were tinged with sarcasm and resentment.

Su Nianqin turned around, paused slightly, and then slowly said, “Because I also grew up in an orphanage.”

Upon hearing this, Sang Wuyan instantly looked up, staring at him in astonishment. He stood with his back to the window at the end of the corridor, and from Sang Wuyan’s angle, he was somewhat backlit.

At that very moment, Su Nianqin in the morning light, his face was unclear. Sang Wuyan’s fingers slightly curled, her five fingers gently rubbing against each other a few times. Yesterday, it was this very hand that had touched his skin. At that time, his brows were relaxed, his expression exceptionally calm and gentle, appearing so real.

But at this moment, that tall, straight figure standing against the light suddenly felt somewhat ethereal…

Before knowing that Su Nianqin was Yi Jin, Su Nianqin’s source of income had always been a mystery to Sang Wuyan.

Teacher Xiao Wang said that Su Nianqin was a substitute teacher, and the school paid him by the hour. However, teaching in this type of school, even for teachers with permanent positions, the salary was meager, let alone for a substitute teacher who taught less than six classes a week.

His eyes couldn’t see, and his income was meager, so how did he live?

His clothes were always very neat. In winter, he wore a thick woolen coat or a black down jacket. Sometimes he wore them for several days in a row, but they were still very clean. The clothes had clear labels or logos.

Su Nianqin’s way of dressing gave people the feeling of a living example of what Sang Mama often taught her: no matter what you wear, as long as it’s clean and tidy, it’s beautiful.

Later, she found that every time he went home, a young woman would pick him up in a gray-blue sedan, a common car model in A City, neither good nor bad.

For this, Sang Wuyan had even discussed it with Cheng Yin.

“She’s a rich woman, and this Su Nianqin is willing to be her kept man,” Cheng Yin said.

Sang Wuyan rolled her eyes, “You watch too much celebrity gossip.”

It couldn’t be as Cheng Yin thought.

She had seen Su Nianqin give that woman a cold face. If it were that kind of relationship, could a secretary be more arrogant than her sugar daddy?

“Or it’s the other way around. He’s the boss, she’s the secretary,” Cheng Yin said again.

Sang Wuyan shook her head again.

Still not like it.

It wasn’t until she learned that Su Nianqin was Yi Jin that the truth seemed not hard to see through. Sang Wuyan didn’t quite know how much one of his songs could sell for, but from a market response perspective, it should be considered “expensive.”

But no matter how many times she guessed, she never guessed that Su Nianqin had such a background.

Sang Wuyan sat on the bus ride home, staring blankly out the window at the street. She recalled the Aunt Zhang she had chatted with at the welfare institute during the New Year.

Aunt Zhang said that many abandoned children were female infants, and some had physical defects. Some parents felt their children had defects, and rural people considered it inauspicious and feared being laughed at by their neighbors. Some families simply didn’t have the financial ability to raise such children, always feeling it was a burden. Even if they grew up, they would still be a burden to the family, a lifelong drag.

Thinking of this, Sang Wuyan felt a pang of sadness.

She sat silently and quietly in the second-to-last window seat, and just like that, inexplicably shed tears. Passengers got on and off the bus, her face turned towards the window, and no one noticed.

That evening, Sang Wuyan lay in bed, doing slimming exercises alone. The next day was Wednesday. Su Nianqin had no classes on Thursday or Friday, so he wouldn’t be at school. She wouldn’t see him again until next week.

Sang Wuyan stopped her movements and stared blankly at the ceiling. She was often bullied when she was little, and at that time, it was Huang Xiaoyan who protected her. But in middle school, she hit rock bottom and then bounced back, becoming especially competitive. If anyone provoked her, she would surely bare her teeth and claws and fight back, unlike with Xu Qian and Wei Hao. But only in front of Su Nianqin could she not be aggressive.

He mocked her repeatedly, again and again. But, she…

After enduring four difficult days, on Monday, Sang Wuyan arrived at school only to learn that Su Nianqin had taken leave for a few days and wouldn’t be coming to class.

Sang Wuyan casually asked the gossipy Teacher Xiao Wang, “Then what about our class’s braille lesson?”

“At the meeting, they said it depends on Teacher Su. If he’s delayed for too long, they might have to invite another teacher.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” Xiao Wang shrugged.

Sang Wuyan bit her pen. She hoped he wasn’t deliberately avoiding her.

As it turned out, Su Nianqin appeared on time the next day, and behaved perfectly normally towards her. Only then did Sang Wuyan realize she had overestimated her influence on Su Nianqin.

It was raining again.

A City’s climate was very humid. To exaggerate, the rain would often fall from autumn of one year until early spring of the next, so Sang Wuyan often carried a folding umbrella in her bag.

Sang Wuyan received a temporary call to return to A University to fill out her graduation information form, so she left before the fourth period. As she reached the entrance, she happened to see Su Nianqin waiting for the bus. He also had no more classes and had come out a few minutes before Sang Wuyan. Clearly, the bus hadn’t arrived yet.

The rain was falling in a drizzle.

It wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t light either; it was enough to soak clothes. Su Nianqin, like many men, didn’t like carrying an umbrella, saving whenever possible. Now, he happened to encounter rain.

He stood under the shade of a tree on the sidewalk, but some raindrops still leaked through the leaves, falling on his shoulder. A small patch on his shoulder was already wet.

Sang Wuyan walked over, held up her umbrella, and shared half the space with him.

He noticed and turned.

“It’s me,” she said.

“It’s fine, the rain isn’t heavy,” he gently refused.

“Anyway, I have nothing better to do,” Sang Wuyan continued to be thick-skinned.

So, the two of them stood under the privet tree, sharing an umbrella. He didn’t talk much, and she couldn’t carry a conversation alone, so she simply closed her mouth too, lest she annoy him again.

Sang Wuyan also tried closing her eyes. Then, she heard the patter of raindrops on the umbrella, and occasionally the sound of cars speeding past on the road.

Is this how he experiences life?

And… she suddenly smelled a floral fragrance. She opened her eyes and looked up, discovering that under the cover of the privet tree’s green leaves, some tiny flowers had already bloomed ahead of schedule.

Privet trees were always planted on the sidewalks of A City. Perhaps due to the climate, the privets here bloomed earlier than in other places, and their flowering period was also longer.

Tiny white flowers would fill the entire street, and on a rainy day, their fragrance, mixed with the moist air, appeared exceptionally fresh.

It turned out that spring had unknowingly arrived.

“Oh, the privet trees are blooming,” Sang Wuyan exclaimed.

“Privet?” Su Nianqin asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Someone once told me this tree was a holly,” he murmured.

“Privet and holly are not the same.”

To prove her point, she handed the umbrella to Su Nianqin, looked up, and walked around the tree. She finally found the lowest branch, then jumped up and plucked a leaf.

With this tremor, the privet tree suddenly shed the rainwater accumulated on its leaves like a broken string of pearls, hitting Su Nianqin’s umbrella with a pattering sound, and naturally soaking Sang Wuyan.

Sang Wuyan wiped the rain from her forehead and walked back under the umbrella. She took Su Nianqin’s right hand and said, “The simplest way is that the leaves aren’t the same. Feel it.”

She guided his index finger to feel the edge of the leaf, “This one is smooth. Holly leaves have serrated edges.”

“The aloe vera from that day also had serrated edges,” he said.

“Yes,” Sang Wuyan nodded, smiling at the studious child in front of her.

A moment later, the car that came to pick up Su Nianqin had already parked by the roadside.

On the way back, Yu Xiaolu glanced at Su Nianqin two or three times in a row, finally unable to resist asking, “What are you doing holding a leaf?”

“Nothing,” Su Nianqin replied blandly, then opened the car window and released his hand.

The privet tree leaf flew away with the wind.

Psychology seemed popular, but finding a job was difficult.

Her family, knowing that Sang Wuyan’s chances of passing were slim, told her not to look for a job but to go straight home, study for another six months, and retake the postgraduate entrance exam.

Sang Mama said, “Four years ago, I let you go to such a distant place to study. Now that you’ve graduated, you must come back no matter what. At most, you can apply to your father’s school. Come back and I’ll hire someone to tutor you.”

For this, Li Lulu often mocked her, saying, “Having a professor for a dad is just different; the good stuff doesn’t flow to outsiders’ fields.”

Li Lulu was also taking the postgraduate entrance exam, applying to B City’s M Normal University, where Sang Papa taught. Its psychology department was nationally renowned.

However, if she wanted to return to B City, she would have studied seriously for the postgraduate exam the first time. Why go through so much trouble now?

“I want to stay here. The job at the radio station isn’t bad either. I…” Sang Wuyan explained over the phone.

“No!” Before she could finish, Sang Mama immediately vetoed.

That afternoon, Sang Wuyan listened to a class, then pulled a rattan chair out of the classroom. Xiao Wei suddenly bravely called out to her, “Teacher Sang.”

“What is it?” Sang Wuyan bent down to look at her.

“Tomorrow is Saturday. We have an event at the welfare institute, and there will be many performances. I will also be performing. The director said we could invite our teachers to attend. I wanted to ask if you are free?” She spoke very fluently, unlike her usual shy demeanor, indicating that she must have thought about it for a long time before speaking.

Sang Wuyan thought to herself that she had nothing else to do anyway, so she cheerfully agreed.

“At ten in the morning, okay?”

“Absolutely no problem.”

Xiao Wei nodded contentedly, not forgetting to add, “I’ll wait for you at the entrance.”

“Only me? What about Teacher Li?”

“Teacher Li’s child is sick; she can’t come.”

“What about Teacher Su?”

“We didn’t invite Teacher Su. I was afraid Teacher Su was busy. And the director said to invite the homeroom teacher. Teacher Li is the homeroom teacher, you’re the assistant homeroom teacher, but Teacher Su isn’t.”

“Actually,” Sang Wuyan’s mind raced, “Teacher Su is a teacher, and he’s not busy at all. If you invited him, he’d definitely be happy to come.”

At this moment, a group of boys rushed out of the classroom, bringing a gust of wind and noise.

“These boys are so annoying,” Xiao Wei muttered. At her age, she disliked the opposite sex.

“But Xiao Wei really likes Teacher Su.”

“Of course, Teacher Su isn’t like them.”

Sang Wuyan thought, yes, even a ten-year-old girl knows the difference between men and boys.

“Doesn’t Xiao Wei want Teacher Su to go?”

“Yes!” Xiao Wei nodded. “But Teacher Su isn’t coming to school today.”

“Then it’s simple. I’ll call him for you,” Sang Wuyan said, reaching for her phone.

“But… I don’t know what to say.”

“What you just said to me was fine. Just say it to Teacher Su again.”

As soon as the call connected, Xiao Wei indeed repeated the sentence she had memorized perfectly.

“Okay, I’ll go,” Su Nianqin said.

Sang Wuyan secretly closed the phone and chuckled. She was indeed a black-hearted queen, very wicked.

Saturday? That’s tomorrow.

Saturday, March 5th.

The weather forecast said: cloudy with light rain.

The calendar printed: China Youth Volunteer Service Day, Lei Feng Memorial Day.

However, the traditional Chinese almanac said: All matters are ill-suited.

At nine-fifteen, when Sang Wuyan arrived at the welfare institute entrance, she saw Su Nianqin already there. Today, Xiao Wei was dressed beautifully, with a small red mole dotted on her brow.

Su Nianqin was squatting on the ground, talking to her. It seemed he was listening to Xiao Wei sing. He nodded slightly, fully engrossed. When she sang a wrong note, he opened his mouth to correct her.

She hadn’t expected him to be so gentle with a child.

Sang Wuyan looked up and saw the banner hanging at the main gate: “Warmly welcome the Municipal Youth League Committee’s Youth Volunteers to our institute for a慰问演出 (comfort performance).” Seeing this, she couldn’t help but feel dizzy. So there was such a performance; no wonder they needed people to cheer them on.

They had all become background actors.

The welfare institute had two buildings: one for offices and activities, and the other for dormitories and the cafeteria. In between was a sizable open space.

Now, a stage had been set up in the open space, with several rows of plastic stools arranged as audience seating. The first row was the VIP section, with tables covered in tablecloths, tea sets, and name cards indicating the attendees’ names and positions.

Behind them sat the children and teachers of the welfare institute, as well as “guests from all walks of society who care for and support welfare undertakings.” Regardless of whether it was true, the director, an old man, had said so.

She and Su Nianqin sat together.

“What a coincidence,” Sang Wuyan said.

“Is it?” Su Nianqin paused, then countered.

Sang Wuyan suddenly felt as if he had seen through her, and she blushed, lowering her head. Then she thought again, He can’t see her expression, so why should she avoid him?

Even though it wasn’t yet ten o’clock, the audience and performers were already ready.

But it wasn’t until half past ten that the leaders arrived like stars around the moon, followed by a group of newspaper and television reporters.

Then, a secretary from the Municipal Youth League Committee gave a speech on stage.

“Comrades, young friends, children, on this day in 1963, Chairman Mao inscribed: Learn from Comrade Lei Feng…”

The reporters below continuously took photos, and the cameramen also crouched in front of the leaders to get close-ups.

Then, the leaders kindly distributed the comfort items they brought, such as stationery and sports equipment, one by one to the children’s representatives of the welfare institute.

Facing the cameras and reporters, the leaders pinched the children’s cheeks, then picked them up for group photos.

In this harmonious and joyful atmosphere, some reporters pulled children aside for interviews.

Xiao Wei had just escaped from the reporters, holding a box of colored pencils, and was led by a companion to the back, calling, “Teacher Sang! Teacher Su!”

“We’re here,” Sang Wuyan waved.

The companion brought Xiao Wei to them.

“Wow, such beautiful pencils,” Sang Wuyan teased her.

“They said I can use them to draw colorful pictures.”

Su Nianqin touched her head.

“Don’t leave, okay? I’m going to perform. I’ve practiced for a whole month; you both have to stay and watch.”

Before the three of them could exchange more than a few words, Xiao Wei was taken away by the director.

“This is Su Xiaowei,” the director said to the media reporters. “She was six years old when she came to us. At that time, her birth parents brought her to the city hospital for pneumonia treatment. Later, due to the severity of her condition, she was hospitalized. The next day, her parents never appeared again. She was then sent to us, already confirmed as abandoned.”

The director spoke earnestly, and the reporters sighed, shaking their heads.

But those people paid no attention to the sad expression of the child in his arms.

The director continued, “Although she is a child abandoned by her birth parents, having lost a father’s love, lost a mother’s love, the warmth of our society has made her happy again. Now, Xiao Wei is in the third-grade blind class. Look,” the director gestured towards Sang Wuyan’s direction, “that’s her homeroom teacher.”

All the cameras and gazes suddenly shifted to Sang Wuyan, and some even eagerly wanted to come and interview her.

Sang Wuyan was momentarily at a loss, “What do I do? They’re all looking at me.”

“Ignore them,” Su Nianqin said.

“How do I ignore them?” Sang Wuyan was on the verge of tears. She didn’t want to be in the spotlight on TV or in newspapers. Moreover, if she was recognized as an impostor teacher, the thought alone was unbearable.

Su Nianqin said seriously, “Head straight forward, eyes fixed, and think back to when you were bothering me.”

“Pfft—” Sang Wuyan couldn’t help but laugh. This man was quite petty, still holding a grudge about the “daddy of the child” incident.

With that laugh, she actually wasn’t nervous anymore. She put on a straight face and blurted out a few nonsensical sentences to the person who came to interview her, and that was that.

Turning her head again, the reporters’ focus had shifted back to Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei, like a little adult, said, “Thank you to all who care for and help us. Although we don’t have parents, this society is like a warm big family. Every auntie is like our mother, and every uncle is like our father. They love us, so we always carry a grateful heart, ready to repay society when we grow up.”

Sang Wuyan saw Xiao Wei fluently say all these words, taking several breaths, just like when she invited her yesterday. It was clear it had been carefully prepared and rehearsed many times.

These words sounded reasonable, but…

Su Nianqin’s expression, however, was extremely displeased.

A few minutes later, the performance began.

Originally, the entire performance was self-produced and self-directed by the volunteers. But to give the children of the welfare institute a sense of participation, the first program was a sign language song, “Grateful Heart,” performed by these children.

Xiao Wei and a group of chubby children, led by an aunt, walked onto the stage, took their positions, and then the music began.

Before the children had even sung half the song, the leaders in the VIP section quietly stood up, got into their cars, and left. The director and vice-director of the welfare institute also bowed and left with them.

Why did they leave? Sang Wuyan wondered. She was about to glance around, but the TV camera was正好 capturing the audience, and the lens swept over her. Sang Wuyan quickly sat upright, sitting up straight and paying close attention to the stage.

After a few shots were taken, the two TV station personnel discussed something, and then, along with some reporters, they also left one after another.

Sang Wuyan was dumbfounded. The show had just started.

“Why did everyone leave?” Sang Wuyan murmured.

Before the announcement for the second program, another vice-director went on stage and interrupted, saying, “The leaders had important meetings elsewhere, so they left early. Let’s give them a warm round of applause.” After speaking, the vice-director was the first to applaud.

In fact, the leaders’ cars had long since sped away, so they couldn’t have heard the applause. Su Nianqin’s face was calm, but Sang Wuyan suddenly felt that even the bright red banners hanging on the stage background were a bit harsh.

Amidst the enthusiastic applause that surged one after another, she recalled Su Nianqin’s words when they discussed Xiao Wei’s issue last time.

He had said, “You simply don’t understand.”

He was right. They, including Sang Wuyan herself, didn’t understand what these children truly needed. Or rather, it wasn’t that they didn’t understand, but that they had never tried to understand.

When the event ended, a few late reporters who hadn’t managed to capture anything had no choice but to interview a few volunteers and orphans under the guidance of the staff.

Among them, was Xiao Wei again.

During the interview, the reporters repeatedly uttered sensitive words like “abandoned,” “orphan,” and “disabled” in front of the children. Hearing these words, some children were already composed, while others still revealed a sadness that didn’t match their age.

Subsequently, Xiao Wei repeated the long speech she had given earlier to different interview cameras several times, even more fluently. Sang Wuyan vaguely understood what made her uncomfortable about it.

When it was time to leave, Xiao Wei reluctantly went to the door to see them off.

“It’s so early. Let’s arrange something,” Sang Wuyan said, stating the true purpose of today’s event.

“No interest,” Su Nianqin said.

“Su Nianqin, you should thank me. If I hadn’t been here, maybe they would have interviewed you. I bought two tickets for the amusement park across the street. Let’s go together; it would be a shame not to.”

Xiao Wei pulled Su Nianqin’s sleeve, “Teacher Su, please agree to Teacher Sang. Teacher Sang originally said she would take me, but Auntie didn’t agree. Now, you can take her. Teacher Sang is usually very good to me, and you’re good to me too, so you should be good to Teacher Sang as well.”

Sang Wuyan looked at Xiao Wei gratefully. This child, she hadn’t spoiled her for nothing; she was really thoughtful at crucial moments.

Sang Wuyan quickly chimed in, “I’ve already bought the tickets. Wouldn’t it be a waste not to go? Really, I’m sincerely inviting you.”

“I don’t like thrilling things.”

“There are also non-thrilling ones.”

Like the Ferris wheel.

Even the most stubborn man can only compromise in front of a stubborn woman.

This was Cheng Yin’s motto. Sang Wuyan tried it out, and it worked as expected.

The two of them sat in the Ferris wheel, one on each side, facing each other. The circular glass cabin slowly moved away from the ground.

At this moment, it started to rain. Raindrops fell on the glass and then flowed down in streaks.

The entire city was enveloped in mist.

Sang Wuyan suddenly thought of a line from one of Su Nianqin’s songs.

“The city is misty, rain fine, a clear capital.” It sounded like a verse straight out of a Song dynasty poem.

Sang Wuyan suddenly felt that even a blind person could write such beautiful scenery. Perhaps imagination was more romantic than sight.

Su Nianqin seemed to be completely lost in his own thoughts, having not uttered a word. He sat in his seat, his back perfectly straight. His eyes seemed to see, his gaze fixed on the distant urban landscape behind Sang Wuyan.

Sang Wuyan carefully observed him.

Perhaps due to not often being active outdoors, his skin was delicate and pale, and his eyelashes were long and thick, making Sang Wuyan wonder if he weren’t blind, would his eyelashes obstruct his vision?

Those unfocused eyes were incredibly beautiful, as deep black as ink.

At this moment, Sang Wuyan was even a little thankful for his blindness. Because of it, she could stare at him so uninhibitedly.

His lips were always tightly pressed, giving him an indifferent appearance. His lips were very thin, and their color was also very light, like a child’s complexion.

Suddenly, a strange thought popped into her head.

She—really wanted to kiss him.

Sang Wuyan was startled by her bold and peculiar thought.

She had kissed her parents’ faces, kissed Cheng Yin, and even a snot-nosed Wei Hao when they were little, but she had never kissed the face of such a stunningly handsome adult man.

However, the next second, she was so ashamed of this horrifying thought that she wished she could sink into the ground, so she forced herself to turn her head and not look at him again.

Such a man, who would probably be disgusted by even holding hands, how could he be kissed?

Speaking of hands, she thought of the place she had burned, so she couldn’t help but turn back again. Both his hands were on his white cane, white and long, his knuckles like jade.

Unintentionally looking up, her peripheral vision still caught sight of those lips.

At this moment, he had, unbeknownst to her, slightly parted his lips, making his lower lip appear fuller than his upper.

But it was indeed a fleeting opportunity. She felt she could fully simulate it; no one was watching anyway.

Thinking this, she felt a flicker of joy.

She gently leaned her head forward, inching closer to his face, then held her breath tightly, afraid that he would notice her breath and expose her.

When their faces were still two finger-widths apart, she stopped. She couldn’t get any closer; a blind person’s senses were very acute.

She slowly, gently, closed her eyes, letting her heart be immersed for a moment.

If I can’t get his kiss, simulating it like this is good too, she was convincing herself.

In such a small glass cabin, suspended halfway in the city, accompanied by fine drizzle, it seemed as if time itself was intoxicated.

Unexpectedly, in such a tranquil and frozen moment, Su Nianqin suddenly said, “Things like this usually involve the man taking the initiative.”

His warm breath hit Sang Wuyan’s face with that sentence. She shrieked in fright and quickly tumbled back into her seat.

The series of movements made the entire cabin shake.

“You…” Sang Wuyan was like a thief caught in the act, her face as red as a large tomato, “How did you know?”

“Miss Sang, have I ever mentioned that I am blind?”