redvbooks Chapter 39 is silly, but sweet.
Chapter 39 is silly, but sweet.
The kitchen lights were dim, casting a soft glow on Chen Feng's gentle face, yet inexplicably giving Shen Xingruo a sense of tranquility she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Shen Xingruo... Xingruo."
Chen Feng repeated the name softly, a smile playing on his lips. He looked into the girl's eyes, which were no longer so dull, and spoke very softly.
"Xingruo, your name is beautiful. Xingruo, Xingruo, shining like a star. Even in the deepest darkness, a star never gives up shining. You are now striving to live in this dark world, just like that star shining in the night."
When Chen Feng said these words, he felt waves of pain in his heart.
He silently added in his heart: Yes, even in hardship and homelessness, this child could still think of earning a living through labor when faced with temptation, and could still feel compassion and want to stay and help when he learned that he was "heavily in debt." Isn't this kindness and diligence etched into his bones the most brilliant and precious starlight in the darkest times?
Truly, his name reflects his character, and starlight fills the room.
"I want to shine too! Mengmeng wants to shine as brightly as Sister Xingruo!"
Mengmeng was sitting on a small stool, diligently scrubbing her little bowl with a cartoon rabbit printed on it. Hearing her father praise her older sister, she immediately raised her little hand, covered in soap bubbles, and waved it excitedly in the air, as if trying to catch those ethereal specks of light.
Xingruo was stunned.
She hadn't heard anyone praise her for far too long.
During that later period in the Lin family, her name was always accompanied by insults, the sound of shattering porcelain, and the vicious nickname "jinx".
In the orphanage, her name was mostly forgotten. At this moment, the new meaning Chen Feng gave to her name was like a gentle brush, slowly washing away the thick layer of dust from her heart.
She felt her heart, which had been frozen in her chest, now pounding, with an urge to truly "light up."
"Thank you... thank you, Master."
She answered in a soft voice, smiled somewhat awkwardly, and then quickly lowered her head. Her dirty little hands moved faster in the foam, as if only by working harder could she repay this weighty praise.
The two of them worked much faster. The bowls and chopsticks that had been piled up in the sink were gradually cleared out.
After washing the last dish, the three of them returned to the shop to rest. Mengmeng was already exhausted and looked a little listless. Her little head rested on Chen Feng's lap, her eyes were squinted into slits, but she still refused to fall asleep, her little hands tightly clutching the hem of Chen Feng's clothes.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and Zhang Qiang rushed in carrying four or five shopping bags of various sizes, his forehead still covered in sweat.
The bags were printed with the logo of the Old Street Commercial City. These were clothes for Xingruo that I had secretly sent to Li Xiuzhen after the celebration banquet.
Upon seeing Zhang Qiang enter, Xingruo's body, which had just relaxed, tensed up again instantly.
Even though she knew that "Uncle Qiangzi" was a cheerful and warm-hearted man, she still subconsciously shrank back behind Chen Feng. She pursed her lips tightly, lowered her head, and only dared to glance at the energetic man out of the corner of her eye.
"Fengzi! Here, you can trust my mom to handle things. She specially picked out pure cotton, so it won't itch your skin."
As Zhang Qiang spoke, he placed the bag on the counter and casually wiped away his sweat.
Chen Feng stood up, took the bag, and handed it to Xingruo, saying gently, "Xingruo, don't be afraid. This is some change of clothes that I asked your grandma Xiuzhen to buy. The one you're wearing is too thin. It'll be cold in the old street tonight, don't get cold."
Xingruo stared at the colorful bags, completely stunned.
New clothes?
At the orphanage, she mostly wore secondhand clothes donated by kind people, some of which even had worn-out collars.
After the Lin family's tragedy, she didn't even have a decent piece of clothing left. She couldn't remember the last time she owned any clothes of her own.
She looked up at Chen Feng, then at Zhang Qiang, who was grinning sheepishly.
In that instant, the overwhelming feeling of being loved like a "child" surged through her tear ducts.
"Thank you... thank you, Grandma Xiuzhen. Thank you... Uncle Qiangzi."
Her face flushed red with nervousness, and her voice trembled slightly. This was the first time she had taken the initiative to call out to Zhang Qiang.
"Oh my! This is the first time this girl has called me 'Uncle'!" Zhang Qiang was so happy to hear "Uncle Qiangzi" that he couldn't stop smiling. His loud voice seemed to shake the ceiling so much that dust seemed to fall down.
"Alright! Xingruo, if you need anything in this old street area, just ask your Uncle Qiangzi. If anyone bullies you, I'll hit them with a wrench! Okay, Fengzi, I have some work to do, I'm off. See you tomorrow, Mengmeng!"
Zhang Qiang came and went quickly, leaving behind a man's warm spirit and a room full of affection.
Chen Feng locked the shop door, and the bustling atmosphere that had been lively all day fell completely silent.
He led Xingruo and Mengmeng up to the second floor.
The furnishings on the second floor were very simple, yet exuded warmth. Chen Feng had assigned one of the guest rooms he had prepared to Xing Ruo. The room was very clean, with soft bedding on the bed and a cute rabbit plush toy that Mengmeng had just given her beside the pillow.
"You can sleep here tonight." Chen Feng pointed to the bathroom in the inner room and began to patiently teach her how to adjust the water heater. "This is for hot water, turn it to the left. This is for cold water. Take your time, don't rush, enjoy your shower."
After explaining all this, Chen Feng pulled Mengmeng, who kept turning back to look at him, out of the room and gently closed the door behind him.
In the bathroom, steam quickly rose.
Xingruo took off her dress and stood under the shower. As the warm water cascaded down her shoulders, the grime on her body and the chill that seeped into her skin seemed to dissolve instantly.
"Splash—"
The sound of water was loud. As Xingruo listened to the sound of the water and looked at her blurry, fragmented reflection on the tiles, the grievances that she had been suppressing in her heart finally burst forth like a flood.
She crouched by the bathtub, her hands gripping the grout between the tiles tightly, letting the hot water pour down on her head, blurring her vision.
This time, she didn't hold back anymore. With the sound of rushing water, Xingruo burst into tears.
She cried for the despair after the Lin family's explosion, for the cold words she heard at the funeral, for the lingering fear after escaping death from human traffickers... and even more so for the "master" who, at this moment, could give her a hot meal, a title, and a new set of clothes.
The cries contained a farewell to the past, and also a deep appreciation for this unexpected happiness.
She took a full hour to shower.
An hour later, the bathroom door finally opened.
Xingruo changed into a light blue cotton loungewear set that Li Xiuzhen had bought for her. The clothes were a little big, hanging loosely on her body, but they made her look much softer.
After drying her hair, she walked back to the living room on the second floor, feeling a little embarrassed. Because she had been crying for so long, her voice was hoarse, her eyes were swollen and red like two ripe peaches, and the tip of her nose was also red.
She lowered her head, like a child who had done something wrong, not daring to look at Chen Feng.
Chen Feng, who was looking through something in the living room, heard the noise and looked up.
He naturally heard the crying coming from the bathroom as he was preparing the hairdryer, and he could tell that Xingruo looked like she had just finished crying, but apart from feeling sorry for her, he didn't show anything unusual. He didn't ask anything either.
He casually picked up a glass of water that had been prepared on the table.
He had just come downstairs and made a cup of warm water with honey and loquat syrup.
"Finished washing? Perfect timing, have some water. This water's good for your throat, the food today was really too heaty."
Chen Feng's tone was as calm as a "good morning" greeting when you open the window in the morning.
Xingruo took the cup, the warm liquid sliding down her throat, the sweet taste instantly soothing the sting in her throat. Watching Chen Feng's focused and busy back, the tangled mess in her mind gradually began to unravel.
"Master...I...I'm going to sleep."
"Go on, get some rest."
Back in her room, Xingruo gently closed the door.
She walked up to the full-length mirror.
The child reflected in the mirror was no longer the disheveled, filthy, and vacant-eyed street urchin.
She was a pretty girl wearing new clothes.
It feels a bit unfamiliar.
Although her complexion was still somewhat sallow and her eyes were still red, it seemed that light had returned to her eyes.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Xingruo suddenly felt that all of this was so unreal, like a dream.
She first tentatively tugged at the corners of her mouth, and then an irrepressible sense of joy spread to every cell in her body.
She suddenly started giggling at herself in the mirror, and it was unstoppable.
She laughed while covering her mouth with her hand, afraid that her laughter would disturb Chen Feng outside.
At that moment, she was really laughing very foolishly.
But it's also very sweet, very sweet.