Chapter Fifty-Seven Hand in Hand Through Wind and Rain

  Life in the martial arts hall was very regular, but having a routine also means that life will be monotonous and unchanging. So everyone dug out an aspect that interested them.

  That summer evening, after Xia Liqiu sent Duan Yixuan back to his room, the two of them didn't have much to talk about at first. One was as calm as a ghost orchid, while the other was like a bashful mimosa, and they remained silent for a long time.

  Later, Xia Lixiu discovered that his training camp actually had a box of hidden books. When he asked about it, he found out that these were all the books Duan Yuxuan had prepared to read during his free time in training.

  Looking at the thick stack of translations involving various subjects, even Xia Lixia, a study goddess, couldn't help but gasp in surprise. What truly left her stunned was Duan Yuxuan's incredibly strong memory ability - he could read a book at a glance and remember it after just one look, no wonder he had the confidence to bring so many books - at his speed, maybe he wouldn't even have enough time to read them all?

  As soon as they started talking about books, the two top students immediately had a common language. As they chatted, they talked about the segment where Xia Liqiu asked Hua's question in the morning, and Duan Yixuan spoke eloquently, which made Xia Liqiu, who was originally interested in flowers, even more curious.

  At the age of 15, making friends is a very pure and simple thing. Although apart from talking about knowledge, Duan Yixuan was still shy and nervous and couldn't speak, with Xia Liqiu dominating the conversation with her calm and composed demeanor, communication wasn't difficult either.

  So for these two days, apart from training, Duan Yixuan accompanied Xia Liqiu in the flower beds and orchards, acting as a commentator.

  And while training, he saw that someone was very valuable to Li Qiu, so he privately gave Duanyuan a green light.

  Xia Zhi's piano is naturally impossible to carry with him, so he has given himself a few days off. His teacher has already recommended a new piano master for him abroad, and after the start of school, it will be another busy period. In these few days, he took the time to look at some materials from his new teacher and carefully familiarized himself with the teacher's style. Hiding under the shade of trees in nature, closing his eyes and listening to piano music has become Xia Zhi's most enjoyable thing.

  This is what vacation should be like.

  Xia Fei's daily routine hasn't changed much. Apart from eating, he spends most of his time alone in his room, drawing, watching match videos, and reading books, which suits his introverted personality.

  The busiest person is naturally Zhan Zhu Zhu. After experiencing the first few days of chaos, she quickly became one with the group of kids. No choice, who made her a genuine martial arts champion, not accepting anything less. Moreover, every day's training, although many people complained about the hardship and fatigue, but the one who did the most, the best, and the most standard was always Zhan Zhu Zhu.

  Can a group of young men really make a girl look down on herself?

  Huang He and Yi have been repaired by Zhan Yu for several days, and they don't have much temper anymore. Although Zhan Yu always "takes care" of him in a special way, she doesn't play tricks, is straightforward and laughs with you, making Huang He and Yi unable to get angry even if they want to, and after several days, they habitually give up.

  The weather in July is abnormally changeable, with fierce and sudden thunderstorms in the afternoons. One moment I was still practicing martial arts with those kids in the courtyard, the next moment big raindrops were falling from the sky.

  The crowd naturally had no awareness of training in the rain, and suddenly scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing back to the corridors of the quadrangle courtyard, with Zhang Dashuai running first.

  Training is fine, why be so serious and suffer, comforting myself. I looked up at the sky, feeling complacent, when suddenly I slapped my thigh: "Not good!"

  Xia said to her brother, "Li Qiu and Duan Yi Xuan seem to have gone to the back mountain, right?"

  It's absolutely unacceptable for a little beauty like Li Qiu to get soaked in the rain, she can't bear it, and with her delicate and weak appearance, getting rained on won't make her sick, right? —— That Duan Yi Xuan is also, if she gets sick from the rain, how will she explain it to Shi San Shixiong?

  And! There's also Xia Zhi Gege! How can the elegant Prince Xia Zhi get rained on?

  With a sweep of his eyes, he originally wanted to grab a strong soldier and divide them into two routes, but as soon as he lifted his head, he suddenly thought that there was already a strong soldier upstairs who didn't need to be used in vain.

  She rushed upstairs, originally intending to burst in, but remembering the handsome man from the first day coming out of the bath, her face suddenly turned red, and she forcibly stopped herself. She then heavily knocked on the door several times and loudly shouted: "Xia Fei Han! Come downstairs! It's raining! I'm going to lend Li Qiu an umbrella! Can you hear me?"

  In the midst of the heavy rain, Xia Fei Han didn't quite catch what was being said, but the knocking on the door that made the floor vibrate couldn't help but grab his attention. And then there was the unique voice of Zhan Yu Yu, which he could pick out even if a hundred people were speaking at the same time.

  Xia stopped what she was doing and stood up to open the door. Outside, everything was empty and still, with only a few raindrops visible on the window like thin lines.

  Xia Fei Han's eyebrows furrowed slightly. What did it mean? A ghost knocking on the door in the middle of the night? The timing wasn't right either. What had she just said? Going downstairs?

  What's the point of listening to her? It's raining and thundering, does he still have to accompany her to collect clothes?

  Just as he was about to close the door again, a small flower umbrella suddenly appeared in the gap between the bars. The girl held the umbrella and rushed into the rain curtain, looking up at Xia Fei Han and waving her hand vigorously. Amidst the patter of the raindrops, Xia Fei Han finally heard what she was saying.

  Bring an umbrella!

  Shit! He stays in his room every day and doesn't even know the whereabouts of Xia Zhi and Li Qiu, and he actually forgot about this.

  Xia Fei was decisive and directly locked the door, then rushed downstairs from upstairs.

  Zhan Zhan just shouted, already drenched in the rain, saw Xia Fei Han coming downstairs, immediately handed him a raincoat, while helping him hold an umbrella to put it on, and dragged him out running.

  "Where are they?" The sound of the rain was too loud, Xia Fei Han had to speak loudly.

  "I don't know, maybe in the orchard!"

  Fortunately, the road to the orchard and flower garden is still pretty good, avoiding the muddy and watery pain.

  Both of them wanted to hurry, but neither could hurry up. The small flower umbrella in the wind swayed back and forth, advancing against the wind was extremely arduous; while Xia Fei Han wore a raincoat, but the bean-sized raindrops hit his face, dazing his eyes, and the taste was absolutely not good.

  Two people were running one after another, planning to go their separate ways, when a figure suddenly appeared in the rain, who else could it be but Xia Zhi.

  "Xia Gege!" Zhan Zhu Zhu waved her hand vigorously, almost flying the umbrella away; she quickly ran forward and suddenly surpassed Xia Fei Han, covering Xia Zhi under her own umbrella: "Are you okay?"

  "Silly girl, go back quickly!" Xia Zhi was also startled by the sudden heavy rain and immediately ran back but couldn't escape getting soaked. Looking at Yu Tong and Fei Han who were under the umbrella but not much better off than himself, Xia Zhi felt a warmth in his chilled body that had been pounded by the rainwater.

  "Go back first!" Xia Zhi looked at the two drenched chickens huddled under the umbrella, feeling quite displeased in his heart. He felt a surge of acid and thought to himself: If you want to show affection, you have to consider the time, place, and occasion. In this heavy rain, can't these two be more restrained? He really couldn't bear to look at them for another moment.

  "Where are you going?" Xia Zhi asked, because of the heavy rain, the three people spoke loudly, and they were all drenched from head to toe.

  "I'm going to find Li Qiu!" Xia Fei Han said to Xia Zhi, and naturally didn't compare to the impatience of fighting against the rain, after a brief explanation, he rushed into the rain again.

  Looking at the blurry figure in the rain curtain, she stomped her foot in hatred. What a hero! This mountain is her territory, can he find his way back? And the uneven muddy slope, it's easy to slip and fall!

  Careless guy.

  "Xia Zhi gege, you go back and take a hot bath first! I'll also go take a look!" Zhan Liuli handed over an umbrella from her hand and shouted in Xia Zhi's ear.

  "Want me to go with you?" Li Qiu was outside, Xia Zhi was also worried.

  "No need! You go back first! You don't know the way! Even if you went, you wouldn't be of any help! Don't worry, I know where they are!" Just as Xia Fei Han's figure was about to disappear from view, Zhan Er hurriedly pushed Xia Zhi to hurry back home, then quickly chased after Xia Fei Han.

  It's not cool in the dead of summer, what a lively gathering! Zhan Zhuang was annoyed in his heart and had completely forgotten that it was he himself who had caught someone at the door just now.

  Although she was familiar with the terrain, Xia Fei had set off earlier and ran faster than her, and the distance between them was getting bigger and bigger. Zhan Zhan gritted her teeth, put away the umbrella in her hand which didn't have much practical use, and went all out, lightly equipped and charging forward!

  "It's not cool in the summer!" As soon as he finished shouting, a mouthful of rainwater splashed into his mouth. He shivered and wiped the rainwater from his face with one hand, making a megaphone shape with both hands: "Come back to me!"

  She was just shouting in a perfunctory manner, after all, the road was still very far away, and her decibels couldn't keep up with the rain. But just as she was about to give up and continue playing the game of tag, Xia Fei suddenly stopped in front of her, turned around, paused for a moment, and then ran towards her again.

  Xia Fei Han initially thought he was hallucinating, he was certain that except for the sound of the rain, there were no other sounds in his ears, but somehow, he felt as if a warbled cry had risen up in his mind. He didn't know what she was saying, but he was certain it was her voice.

  So he stopped and took a look to reassure himself. Who knew that with this one glance, he really did spot the familiar bean sprout, standing foolishly in the heavy rain.

  Xia Fei's fiery temper has flared up again. This silly pighead! Where is her umbrella? Is she here to deliver an umbrella to someone or get rained on herself? Does she think this is fun?

  "What are you doing here?" Xia Fei Han rushed to Zhan's face, putting on the raincoat that he had opened while running, his face cold and stern, with a small flame in his eyes: "Go back quickly!"

  "What are you doing?" Zhan Liuliang retorted, he was already soaked to the bone, what's the point of wearing a raincoat now? Why did he have to come down into the water with her again, was it fun? Zhan Liuliang opened the umbrella and handed it to Xia Feichan: "You go back quickly! Are you familiar with this place? I'll go myself!"

  "You'd better watch out for being blown away by the wind!" Such a thin and weak little body, I don't know if it was beaten by the rain or chilled by the wind just now, is trembling with fear, but still talking tough.

  "You'd better be careful not to get lost! Don't give me more work to do!" The two people were used to arguing, and at this time they still didn't forget to retort with sharp words. "Hurry back!"

  "Shut up!" Xia Fei Han was angry for the first time because of Zhang Dou Dou's stubbornness. This woman, did she really think she was an invincible Iron Maiden? Normally, accompanying her to play and cause trouble was one thing, but did she really not care about her own body at all? Was this kind of dirty, tiring, bitter, and dangerous work something a woman like her should be doing? What were men for then?

  "Shut up!" Zhang glared at him, really treating kindness as pig's liver and lung: "What are you doing?" Why did he put away the umbrella? Did he think this was an outdoor swimming pool?

  "Let's go together!" Xia Fei Han made a final decision and turned around to set off again.

  "Hey! Wait for me!" Zhan Yunyun was stunned, and then hurriedly caught up... The two of them changed their equipment again and started chasing each other.

  "Ah!" The raincoat that Zhan Liuli had prepared for Xia Feichan was a men's style, too long and wide. On Xia Feichan, it just passed her calves, but on Zhan Liuli, it almost reached her ankles. With one stride too big, the sole of her foot slipped, and she flew out. Fortunately, she had exceptional athletic ability, so she rolled with the momentum, and nothing happened to her except that she got a muddy bath.

  Hearing the exclamation from behind, Xia Fei Han's heart skipped a beat, his eyebrows furrowed, and he involuntarily stopped in his tracks. Turning around, he saw Zhan Liang Liang quickly getting up from the muddy water. Xia Fei Han put his mind at ease, this troublesome guy, with movements so swift, should be fine, right?

  "Are you okay?" The tone of the inquiry wasn't very good, and it was a bit awkward. He usually only felt happy about her silly attitude, rarely expressing kind inquiries.

  "It's nothing, it's nothing!" Zhan Yu habitually expressed sincere gratitude for other people's concern, and his mind was preoccupied with Li Qiu and Duan Yixuan, without noticing anything else: "Don't worry about me, continue. They should be at the small pavilion on the mountain, where they can take shelter from the rain!"

  "Should've said that earlier!" Xia Fei Han muttered, then glanced at the dirty and disheveled Zhan Yu Yu - who had actually been washed clean by the rain: "Let's go!"

  A large hand broke through the layers of raindrops, accurately grasping her small hand. It wasn't their first handshake, but it was their first time holding hands. Xia Fei Chun looked at Xia Nuo's hand in a daze as he started to run quickly, momentarily unsure of what to do.

  He was drenched from head to toe, his hair disheveled and clinging to his cheeks and forehead, but without a hint of panic or disarray; his transparent shirt clung tightly to his robust muscles, revealing a broad back and sleek physique that fell into her gaze; his hands grasping each other were so slender yet firm, steady, powerful, with a scorching body heat that dispelled the chill of the rain.

  She gazed at the familiar yet strange profile, and for a moment thought it was Xia Zhi, only Xia Zhi's older brother would hold her hand like that; but the unruly profile and cold facial features clearly told her that this person was Xia Fei Han.

  My heart is racing again. Is it because I ran too fast? In a daze, I instinctively followed Xia Fei Han's footsteps. The scenery after the rain washed over me like a movie screen, flashing by quickly from the corner of my eye, but leaving no trace in my heart.

  Her heart was filled with confusion, from the moment Xia Fei Han took her hand, she had been in a daze without thinking.

  After Xia Fei held onto Zhang Da's hand, her heart seemed to settle down as well. This guy who was more likely to cause trouble than accomplish anything, only held onto her because he didn't want any more complications, only held onto her to save time, only held onto her because... simply because she might be a guide.

  The anxious heart seems to have calmed down, but the concerns about Li Qiu still exist, and the search actions are no longer frantic.

  The silent young boys and girls, hand in hand, ran wildly in the heavy rain.

  "Where are they?"

  Ran to the small pavilion where Xia Lixia and Duan Yixuan were supposed to be, Xia Feihan finally let go of Zhan Dou's hand. However, after searching around, there was no sign that anyone had been in the pavilion recently.

  Huh? Zhan Yu was also a bit stunned. This is one of the places where Liqiu will pass through today, and it's also the only place to avoid the rain. It shouldn't be gone, right?

  Xia Fei Han's angry expression on her face lit up, and the chaotic thoughts she had just now were also cleared a bit by the rainwater blocking her head. Wasn't she confused by the rain just now? How could she think that Xia Fei Han looked a bit like Xia Zhi Gege? Pfft!

  How did she know why not here! She didn't even give her the coordinates, she just inferred a location based on the most likely idea, and even if there was a 90% chance of success, wasn't there still a 10% chance of failure? Was it because she met him with bad luck?

  "How am I supposed to know! Keep looking!" Warmed up impatiently, his heart was also getting anxious. Where could Li Qiu's little segment be if it wasn't here? The orchard on several hills is so big, and it can't be found in a short while!

  Xia Fei Han put one hand on Zhan Yu's shoulder, stopping her: "You stay here and see if Li Qiu comes back, I'll go look."

  Although Li Qiu's athletic ability is not as good as Dou Ya Cai, Li Qiu is much smarter than her. If she hadn't already found a place to take shelter from the rain, at this time, it would have been enough for her to run back in the rain.

  The orchard on the mountain is well-maintained and not in a remote wilderness with potential dangers. Two intelligent 15- or 16-year-olds together should be able to handle it. It's this bean sprout that, even on his home turf, makes him feel so uneasy.

  "You just stay here, be careful not to get lost, I'll go." Zhan Zhu Zhu wouldn't accept this kind intention. As the host, of course, he should go himself.

  Shit! It's really a 24/7 confrontation with her. Xia Fei Han was thinking if he should just knock her out, when the vibration in his pocket reminded him of an incoming call.

  One hand continued to hold hers, preventing her from rushing back into the rain, while the other hand took out his phone, checked the number and answered immediately: "Li Qiu?"

  "Second Brother, where are you?" Xia Lixiu's voice still sounded calm and composed, almost inaudible amidst the sound of rain.

  "Where are you?" Xia Feihan retorted.

  "We're home, big brother said you guys came looking for us?"

  Xia Fei hummed in agreement and put her mind at ease: "Alright, rest well, we'll be back soon."

  Zhan Zhan had been staring at Xia Fei Han with her ears perked up and eyes wide open as he answered the phone. As soon as he hung up, she immediately asked: "Has Li Qiu arrived home? Is everything okay?"

  Xia looked at her silently for a moment, it was she who had pulled him out, under the pretext of giving everyone an umbrella. Now that everyone had left, only the two of them were left, like a couple of drowned rats in the wilderness.

  "Hey! I'm asking you something, are we home yet?" Zhan was dissatisfied with being ignored.

  "We're home." Ugh, I'm so annoyed. Xia Fei's gaze fell outside the pavilion, and the rain seemed to be getting heavier, casting a gloomy mist over the entire sky, reducing visibility to just a few dozen meters.

  Zhan Yu let out a long sigh, his face lit up with joy, and he said, "As long as Xia Zhi's brother and little Autumn are home safely, that's all that matters." As soon as he relaxed, his drenched body seemed to react, and his nose started to twitch. Zhan Yu suddenly let out a series of sneezes, "Achoo! Achoo!"

  "Serves you right!" Xia Fei said coldly, but her body still turned away slightly.

  The pavilion was not big to begin with, it was only used for fruit farmers to store tools and take a temporary rest. Except for the shed on top, the surroundings were basically empty. The strong wind brought heavy rain from the southeast direction, howling in and hitting Xia Fei Han, who became a human shield.

  Digression

  The little brother is so gentlemanly, should we give him some feedback? Haha, the answer is definitely yes, so, looking forward to the next chapter, continue to develop.