She and him?
The thorny question made Su Qing nervous. She pinched her fingers, pursed her lips, and changed the subject.
"Jiang Sui, are we going to study?"
He didn't answer her, his obsidian eyes fixed on her.
Perhaps because she felt uncomfortable being stared at, Su Qing grabbed the soda on the table and took a few sips. Her hands were stained with water droplets from the glass. She drank too quickly, and the irritation of the gas entered her throat and nasal cavity, making her eyes red.
"Slow down, no one's competing with you."
The young man pulled a tissue from the second shelf of the table and slowly wiped the wet stains from her hands, a faint, almost imperceptible smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
Su Qing tried to pull away, but her weak strength was no match for Jiang Sui's, so she could only let the young man wipe her clean.
Su Qing lowered her eyes, not daring to look up at the young man.
"Jiang Sui, did you install the streetlight along my house?"
Su Qing stammered, the question that had been lingering in her heart for so long, the question that had kept her pondering for half the night before.
Jiang Sui slowly tossed the damp tissue into the trash can, his lips curled.
"How could I possibly be that capable?"
He was self-deprecating and emotionless, his piercing eyes flickering with surprise. He wondered how the girl had known about this.
"Oh, my mom said there was an idiot who not only fell from a telephone pole a few days ago, but also shamelessly ate a bowl of rice at my house."
"He didn't even pay for it."
Seeing he denied it, Su Qing slowly raised her head, observing the boy's every move with cold eyes. He nearly choked on his soda.
So it was Mother Su who said that. No wonder.
Putting down the bottle, the boy's eyes were dangerous.
"Qing Qing, who are you calling an idiot?"
She tilted her head and looked at him, her courage growing.
"How would I know who I'm talking about?"
He wouldn't admit it anyway. He just fell from a telephone pole, and don't know if he'd seen a doctor. As Su Qing spoke, her eyes flicked to Jiang Sui's chest.
Because she remembered the boy's hissing, gasping sound from last night.
But she was still puzzled. After falling, shouldn't he have landed on his back? Was he face-first? How could his face be unharmed?
"Jiang Sui, thank you."
Even though she knew he wouldn't admit it, she thanked him anyway.
"But streetlights can only illuminate the way home, not the darkness in people hearts."
The girl's words were pointed. There were streetlights in so many places, so why were there so many evil people? Was the lack of streetlights a reason to commit evil? Her eyes took on a deep, indelible grayness.
"Illuminate the heart?"
The young man's sneer made Su Qing's gaze drift to him.
"I want to illuminate the light within your heart. Don't you understand?"
His blazing gaze burned every inch of her skin, a blazing fire that burned fiercely.
It was too heavy for Su Qing to handle. She clutched at her fingers, looking away, a bit embarrassed.
"So, Qing Qing, did you agree to come find me today because I didn't give your house food money, or are you here to repay me?"
His fingertips, having just touched the icy soda, felt so cold that a slight chill seeped through Su Qing's lifted chin.
Instinctively, she retorted and shook her head.
"Neither."
"What was that?"
Watching the fingertips twist past his own, Jiang Sui's ears lingered with words like flowers, blossoming with earth-shattering force.
"I want to try it with you."