Xue Rui waited outside Baichuan Academy for the whole morning. Among the children coming and going to school, he didn't see Yu Xiaoxiu.
The bell rang in the academy. Xue Rui didn't want to disturb him halfway, so he continued to wait outside. At noon, when class was over, he went to the Talent Institute to look for him, but he didn't expect to find him again.
"Yu Xiaoxiu? He didn't come to class today. "
"Didn't come? Did he ask for leave? "
"No, that child has always been good, but he was absent today. I don't know if he's sick or has something to do at home."
Xue Rui was puzzled. He thanked the headmaster of the academy and went out to sit in the carriage. He felt that it was a coincidence, and something was wrong.
He couldn't find Yu Xiaoxiu, so he couldn't find Yu Shu. However, Xue Rui didn't give up. If it was any other time, he would go to Baichuan Academy again tomorrow. But now that he was in the middle of the Dayan Examination, he had to save as much time as he could. If he didn't find her tomorrow, he would have wasted another day. There were only three days left before he had to hand in his paper.
But, where could he find her?
Halfway through the carriage, Xue Rui suddenly remembered something. He immediately asked the coachman to turn the carriage around and ordered, "Go to the Thai Heng Chamber of Commerce in the south of the city."
If he remembered correctly, the last time he chatted with the master of Tehen, he mentioned promoting a manager from Yiyang to work in the capital. That person happened to be Pei Jing, whom he had met once.
Maybe Pei Jing had already come to the capital, and Yu Shu's sudden move might have something to do with him.
Xue Rui suddenly had an idea. He turned around and went to the main branch of the Thai Heng Chamber of Commerce in the south of the city. He found the manager and showed his identity. After asking a little, he heard that Pei Jing had come to the capital. He found out which branch Pei Jing was working in and got on the carriage again.
Jing Chen didn't come back.
Yu Shu ran home from the street, hoping to be lucky, but the result was disappointment.
Zhao Hui was so worried about the children that she didn't even have an appetite for lunch. The few servants in the courtyard were all sent out to look for them. Only the cook and the maidservants were still there. Yu Xiaoxiu came back from outside first and was pulled to the stove by her to warm his hands. Seeing that the child's face was pale from the cold, her heart ached terribly. Then, she saw that Yu Shu came in right after and her lips were actually blue and purple. She immediately asked the maidservants to bring a blanket and wrap him up. Then, she hurriedly called the kitchen to bring some ginger soup over.
She held Yu Shu's icy hands and felt that this child was faintly trembling and almost crying. Then, she looked at her dazed look and remembered He Fangzhi's speculation. She knew that this child really had feelings for that Jing Chen.
"What are you doing? Young Hero Jing is such a big person, how can he go missing? Maybe he will come back after a walk. Why do you need to go out to look for him in this cold weather?" Zhao Hui coaxed Yu Shu. She was afraid that she would be so stubborn that she would run out later.
Yu Shu didn't say anything. She looked at the stove by her feet and the dancing sparks. It was like her heart was burning.
She didn't listen to what Zhao Hui said. She sat quietly for a while and drank the ginger soup that the maidservant brought to her. When her body was warm again and her throat wasn't so dry, she stood up and whispered to Zhao Hui, "I will go out to look for him again."
Zhao Hui grabbed her and anxiously said, "Do you really want to make a fuss until you fall sick? If he really left, would you be able to find him?! "
Yu Shu's body stiffened. She turned her head and pushed Zhao Hui's hand away. She bitterly said, "If I don't look for him, he really won't come back."
She thought about it for the whole morning, but she couldn't figure out why Jing Chen would quietly leave without saying a word. She didn't believe that he didn't have any reluctance to part with her these days. Thinking about it, he was probably afraid that if he saw her, he wouldn't be able to leave.
She didn't know where he was going or where he would go, but she had a premonition that if she left him alone like this, he might get into trouble again.
Ignoring Zhao Hui's obstruction, Yu Shu went back to her room to put on a coat and a hat before leaving. Yu Xiaoxiu wanted to follow her, but he was scolded by Zhao Hui, so he could only stay in the room with his ears drooping.
It was a surprisingly cold day. The water splashed outside the door in the morning had turned into ice, and the breath she exhaled was a cloud of white fog. Yu Shu changed her route and asked around along the way. This time, she went even further. She directly went from the east of the city to the south of the city, and even went to Huixing Street.
Unknowingly, it was dusk again. There were fewer people on the street. In this cold winter, people had to close their stalls early and go home to their wives and children.
Yu Shu walked half of the south of the city and blisters appeared on her feet. Seeing that the sky was getting dark, she had no choice but to turn back. The sky was getting dark, and the people on the street were rushing back home. She was the only one walking slowly.
Before, she still had a glimmer of hope that Jing Chen had just recovered his memory and couldn't accept it. He would go out for a walk and come back. But after she couldn't find any trace of him for a day, her heart was even more certain that he had really left.
This couldn't help but make her think back to the last time they parted. It was in the alley of Yiyang City. He came to say goodbye to her and calmly told her the reason why he was leaving. No matter how she tried to persuade him to stay, he still insisted on leaving.
At that time, she could wave goodbye and send him off with a smile. But now, it was hard for her to let go. But this time, he didn't even say goodbye.
The wind blew past her ears. Yu Shu's eyes were a little dry. She looked down at the road, her hands and feet were so cold that they couldn't feel them.
Suddenly, a little bit of ice fell on the tip of her nose. She raised her head and saw that in the gray blue sky, there were scattered specks of white and silver light.
It was snowing.
One or two flakes fell on her forehead and melted. She lowered her head and felt dizzy for a moment. She wrapped her clothes tightly around herself and continued to walk forward.
This was the first snow of winter. In an instant, it was getting heavier. It floated on the ground and the road under her feet gradually turned white.
Her mind was in a mess and she was a little dazed from the cold. Suddenly, she heard someone call her name. She raised her head and her eyelashes were covered in snow. She blinked her eyes and vaguely saw a white figure standing in the snow not far away. He was holding an umbrella and in the white snow, he was walking towards her with large steps. The snow under his feet made crunching sounds.
Her heart was filled with joy. She shouted "Jing Chen" and rushed towards that person. But before she could run a few steps, her head felt heavy and she fell to the ground. Then her vision turned black and she lost consciousness.
"Ah Shu!"
Xue Rui was shocked when he saw Yu Shu fall down, and he hastily ran forward before tossing away his umbrella and squatting down to help her up. When he leaned against her chest to take a look, he saw that her face was livid, her lips were purple, and there was a layer of snow on her eyebrows and eyes. Her entire body seemed to have been frozen stiff, and she seemed to have fainted.
"Ah Shu, Ah Shu?" Xue Rui shook her. He was a little flustered, so he reached out and touched her forehead. It was frighteningly hot, so he immediately tore off the fur cloak on his shoulder and wrapped it around her. Then, he carried her in his arms and turned around to run towards Zhao Hui's house. He didn't care if Zhao Hui recognized him as he barged into the house.
Yu Shu still hadn't returned in the evening. Zhao Hui was worried and regretted not forcefully holding him back. Yu Xiaoxiu and He Fangzhi went out together to look for Yu Shu. She waited in the front hall. Suddenly, she heard someone shouting at the door from outside the courtyard. There was a series of footsteps and the curtain was pushed open from the outside.
"Ah!" Seeing a strange man come in, the little maidservant Yun Dou cried out in surprise.
Zhao Hui's eyes were sharper than hers. She saw Yu Shu in the man's arms and hurriedly got up. "What happened, Xiao Yu!"
She looked up again and saw Xue Rui. Under the light, his face was very familiar. A light flashed and she blurted out, "You, you — — Shopkeeper Cao?"
Xue Rui hastily nodded. He didn't have time to explain more to her. He urged in a low voice, "She's fainted from the cold. Quickly go and boil a bucket of hot water and a bowl of spicy soup. Where's the bedroom?"
Zhao Hui hurriedly ordered the maidservant to boil water and led the way for Xue Rui to Yu Shu's bedroom.
Xue Rui placed Yu Shu on the bed. Together with Zhao Hui, they took off Yu Shu's damp jacket and covered her with two blankets, covering her tightly. They then turned around to find a fire in the room and moved it to the bed. They lit the fire and burned the charcoal. They did this without stopping.
The maidservant brought hot water in. Zhao Hui was flustered and almost knocked over the basin. Xue Rui was the calmest. He didn't mind the heat. He soaked his entire hand in the boiling hot water and wrung out a towel. He wiped Yu Shu's face clean. When the chef brought over a ready-made bowl of spicy ginger water, he pinched Yu Shu's cheeks, pried open her mouth and forced her to drink half a bowl.
"Ahem." Yu Shu was half-conscious. She groggily called out, "Jing Chen." Xue Rui's eyes turned cold. He pretended not to hear her and wiped away the water at the corner of her mouth with his thumb. He put down the bowl and covered her with the blanket. He turned around and asked Zhao Hui.
"What's going on?"
Zhao Hui was at a loss. She didn't have time to think about why "Cao Zixin" suddenly appeared. She looked at Yu Shu on the bed and answered absentmindedly, "Young Hero Jing is missing. Xiao Yu went out to look for him the whole day."
After answering, she remembered that Cao Zixin didn't know who Jing Chen was. She was about to explain when she heard him ask, "Jing Chen?"
Zhao Hui was stunned. "You know Young Hero Jing?"
Xue Rui nodded. He didn't look happy. "I know him. I've seen him a few times. What do you mean by he's missing?"
When Zhao Hui heard this, she knew that Yu Shu had seen Cao Zixin before. Because they had been neighbors in Yiyang for several months, she knew Cao Zixin's character. Although she was puzzled, she didn't hide it. She answered, "Young Hero Jing used to live in the courtyard on the west side. When he woke up this morning, he suddenly disappeared. Xiao Yu was worried that something had happened to him, so she went out to look for him the whole day. No matter how I tried to persuade her, she wouldn't listen. Alas, Xue Rui was a shrewd person. As soon as he heard this, he sensed that something was wrong. With a few words, he found out that Jing Chen had lost his memory from Zhao Hui.
Then he understood why he had stayed in Yu Shu's house for a long time and couldn't leave.
After he understood this, Xue Rui turned around to look at Yu Shu who lay on the bed with a dazed and ghastly pale countenance, and besides feeling heartache, he couldn't help but feel depressed. He actually didn't know when this little girl had become a good person.
Why was she so heartless to him?
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