The sky lights up again. A few seconds later, a clap of thunder rumbles.
Then, big raindrops start falling.
“It’s way past five. Why do you want me to pick her up? You should’ve arranged for someone to pick he up a while ago!” Han Qilu’s face is filled with disdain.
Jiang Yuan is fuming. Her silence is eerie. “I was about to arrange for someone to pick her up and not have you do it. But now, I’m instructing you.”
“What?!” Originally, he didn’t intend to join in his wife’s humor but Han Liuhai is shocked. He jumps up from the sofa and says, “She certainly did not bring an umbrella. Why didn’t you send someone to pick her up?”
“Oh, I
thought Qilu should go!” Jiang Yuan regrets not telling her son sooner. Han Qilu immediately turns around and runs out in the rain.
Han takes big steps to the hall, through the long stone road, and into the garage. It takes as long as half a minute, and from the garage to the door, another three or four minutes.
In a flash, Han Qilu’s car engine launches. He disappears at the end of the long stone road.
This rain is not that heavy. However, three or four meters away from the place, the weather has been unclear.
“I hope the child is quietly in the classroom waiting for for us to send someone to pick her up.” Liu Hai looks at the dark
dark vast sky, softly praying.
Jiang Yuan quietly hugs Liuhai from behind. Wrinkling her brow, she asks, “What do you mean?”
Han Liuhai turns around and wraps his arm around his wife’s shoulder. “The child may not want to give us trouble, so will choose to come back by herself. This rain is heavy. If that’s the case, she will certainly be cold!”
Palms together, Jiang Yuan earnestly prays, “Rain, please stop. Do not let our An Chuxia get caught in the rain.”
On the other side of town, An Chuxia bids farewell to the few students she was with in school. There is no car to pick her up. She stands for a while, waiting. But when a few streaks of lightning appear
lightning appear in the gloomy sky, she ponders.
She can either leave now or be like a chicken and wait in the shed.
Originally, she wanted to make a phone call and ask Jiang Yuan for a ride but her cell phone is not in her bag and is left in the classroom. She doesn’t have the heart and wouldn’t want to trouble the Han family, so she decides to limp back to the Han mansion instead.
On the road, a classmate offers her a ride home but she is afraid of being found out that she is residing at the Han property so she politely apologizes and rejects the offer.
Now she braves the hard rain and she has to move forward. Looking ahead, forward. Looking ahead, she feels confused and frustrated.
She actually forgets about Qilu… .
She looks ahead at the fork in the road. She can’t remember which path leads home. Unable to think as the rain gets heavier and heavier, she chooses the road on the left.
Despite deliberately walking along the roadside and shielding herself under the rooftop eaves, she is still being poured on.
In order to keep her books from getting wet, she takes off her coat and covers the books as she walks. Because of her sprain, walking has become an inconvenience. But for now, she’s away from Stein College.
But where is she?
Farther and farther, the houses gradually become scarce. After some time, she finds herself in front of a cemetery.