Chapter 90 - 88: Let’s Share an Umbrella

Chapter 90: Chapter 88: Let’s Share an Umbrella

At her words, the girl blinked, her heart instinctively tightening.

’She has a point!’

"I guess that’s okay," she replied in a small voice.

Blushing and trying to hide her guilt, she walked over to Xiao Ran.

Then, she reached out, took the umbrella from his hand, and passed it to Si Yingying. "Here, take it."

Si Yingying gave her a meaningful, triumphant look, her smile sweet and friendly. "Thanks! You really are my best friend."

With that, she opened the umbrella and headed toward the dorm building.

The girl nodded, unable to stop herself from thinking, ’You too.’

Seeing this, Xiao Ran had no choice but to hold his own umbrella over the girl’s head.

’Oh well. She lent her umbrella to someone else, so we’ll just have to use mine.’

The girl didn’t refuse. She ducked under Xiao Ran’s umbrella, then looked up at his face with a sweet, radiant smile.

"Brother Ran, let’s go home!"

Xiao Ran nodded. "Let’s go."

He turned and started walking along the school’s narrow, winding path toward the main gate.

His umbrella wasn’t very big. Worried the girl would get rained on, Xiao Ran had her walk in front while he held the umbrella from behind.

His arm was right behind her shoulders. As they walked, Xiao Ran’s arm would unintentionally brush against the smooth, fair skin of her exposed neck.

Their bodies would also bump into each other from time to time.

She could feel Xiao Ran’s body heat and that faint, fleeting touch.

A tingling sensation spread across the back of her neck. As the contact became more frequent, that spot grew uncontrollably hot.

Even her heartbeat picked up its pace, fluttering with joy.

To keep her from getting wet, a good portion of Xiao Ran’s body was out in the rain, and by now, he was soaked.

But he didn’t mind in the slightest.

After all, she wasn’t wet.

’A big guy like me can handle it.’

His clothes, soaked by the rain, had visibly darkened in color.

The girl, who had been enjoying the sweet feeling, tilted her head to look at Xiao Ran. As she did, she saw the obvious wet patches on his clothes.

Looking down, she saw his pants were just as wet.

In an instant, the joy in her bright eyes turned to heartache.

’He’s only getting wet because he’s trying to keep me dry.’

Yan Xici sniffled, her soft voice filled with an indescribable guilt.

"Brother Ran, move closer to me. Your clothes are all wet."

As she spoke, she unhesitatingly shifted her slender frame outward to make more room for Xiao Ran under the umbrella, so he wouldn’t get rained on.

Xiao Ran was startled by her action. ’Who told her to move out?’

Without a second thought, the arm still holding the umbrella wrapped around her shoulder. With a gentle pull, he easily brought the girl back into the small world sheltered from the curtain of rain.

His embrace was firm and strong, and it carried a certain warmth.

In that instant, the girl felt her heart uncontrollably skip a beat.

Her face turned red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

’He’s actually holding me!’

Even though it was just for a moment, it was more than enough to make the innocent girl feel excited and flustered.

That wonderful, uncontrollable feeling traveled from her brain cells to every single nerve, to the point that even her toes curled slightly in excitement.

After pulling the girl back, Xiao Ran returned to his previous posture.

"Don’t move around," he said seriously. "You’ll get wet."

’We had two umbrellas, but now there’s only one. What can I do?’

’Besides, I’m already soaked. If she gets wet now too, wouldn’t I have gotten wet for nothing?’

’That would be a really bad deal.’

Yan Xici’s mind was currently filled with the heart-pounding thrill of him holding her just now.

Naturally, she would listen to whatever he said.

They were out of the school gate in just a few more steps.

Looking out, they saw a white curtain of rain. Raindrops hit every corner, and the DRIP, DRIP, DRIP was incessant.

The scene made Xiao Ran frown.

If they really walked home like this, both of them would be soaked to the bone.

The girl beside him pressed her tender pink lips together, lost in thought.

To be honest, she wasn’t afraid of getting wet. She was just worried that if Brother Xiao Ran kept getting rained on like this, it would be troublesome if he got sick.

Their umbrella wasn’t big. For both of them to stay dry, the best way was for her to link her arm with his.

Body pressed against body.

Only then could they save enough space.

But such a gesture was definitely a bit too intimate.

Just thinking about it made her little face burn.

’No, no, a smart girl can’t suddenly make such an intimate move!’

’But if I don’t, Brother Xiao Ran will definitely get sick if he keeps getting rained on.’

But seeing his clothes get wetter and wetter, the guilt and pity in the girl’s heart grew stronger.

She really couldn’t bear to watch him get rained on for her sake!

’Maybe... I should give it a try?’

The girl took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and lifted her slender arm. She quickly looped it through the crook of Xiao Ran’s arm and leaned her whole body against him.

Afraid he would reject her, her muscles were tense.

Her body was a little stiff, and her arm was slightly cool to the touch, but that didn’t detract from her naturally good skin.

As that cool, soft, and supple feeling reached him, Xiao Ran’s pupils contracted sharply.

’This is...’

’She’s... linking her arm with mine!!!’

He was clearly startled by the girl’s action.

And his heart began to beat faster without him realizing it.

Afraid that Xiao Ran would reject her, Yan Xici kept her blushing face taut. Her voice was filled with an unspeakable nervousness, and her bright eyes were full of embarrassment.

"Brother Ran, the umbrella is too small... This is the only way we won’t get wet..."

The soft and cute girl in front of him had eyes and a heart filled with nothing but worry for him.

For a moment, Xiao Ran was speechless.

Xiao Ran’s mouth felt a little dry.

He pressed his lips together. "Let’s walk faster."

He couldn’t help but start wondering, ’Does she like me?’

If last night was an accident, then today, right now, she was clearly doing this on purpose.

Xiao Ran wasn’t exactly inexperienced when it came to romance.

No matter how he looked at it, this intimate gesture made him think she had some ideas about him!

Xiao Ran, who didn’t exactly have the purest of intentions himself, had run into a girl with her own ideas.

’What a situation...’

To be honest, Xiao Ran wasn’t the only one who was nervous. Yan Xici’s heart was in her throat.

After all, this was the first time she had ever linked arms with a boy.

And it was the person she liked, no less.

This feeling was truly unforgettable!

She was sure she would never forget this for the rest of her life.

Looking at the girl’s dewy eyes, smelling the pleasant, light fragrance on her.

Xiao Ran felt a tingling sensation in his arm. The feeling traveled up his arm and straight into his heart.

There was a bus stop not far ahead.

Xiao Ran frowned. "Why don’t we take the bus?"

To be honest, he really hadn’t expected the rain to be this heavy. If he had known, he would have driven his mom’s car. Then things wouldn’t have gotten so complicated.

The girl glanced at a small pine sapling by the side, trembling under the onslaught of the rain.

She nodded. "Okay."

’Actually, I wanted to keep walking like this with him, to feel that quiet intimacy and ambiguity.’

’But since Brother Xiao Ran suggested it, I can’t really refuse. With rain this heavy, if I insisted on walking, he’d probably think I’m some kind of lunatic.’

The girl linked her arm with his, and they walked toward the bus stop together.

Once they were under the shelter of the bus stop, Xiao Ran finally closed the umbrella.

The girl reluctantly pulled her arm back.

As the distance between them grew, even the air around her arm felt colder.

Her little thumping heart wasn’t fluttering with as much joy as before.

There was a sense of wistful loss.

Xiao Ran, however, had no mind to look at the girl right now. His gaze was fixed on the approaching bus. As the bus got closer, his mood lifted.

He didn’t know when it started, but whenever he was with her, his heart would always act up.

And his brain would send out signals of pleasure and a desire for possession.

It was agonizing for him.

The bus gradually came to a stop.

Probably because of the rain.

The bus was very crowded today, with no seats available.

Xiao Ran walked on first, letting the girl follow behind him.

Just as the bus started moving again, the driver looked closely and saw someone else running toward it.