Chapter 24 Deep Sorrow

An hour later, Xia Yuxun still hadn't come out.

Leng Siche put down the document in his hand and looked uneasily towards the direction of the bathroom.

Another twenty minutes passed, and Leng Siche couldn't help but knock on the bathroom door.

"Xiaoxun, are you done? Xiaoxun?"

Leng Siche's heart tightened as he tentatively turned the doorknob. The door creaked open, she hadn't locked it.

There was a misty vapor in the bathroom, and then, he saw...

That girl had actually fallen asleep on the toilet lid.

Her hair was half-dry, and she was wearing his white shirt, which she hadn't even managed to button up completely. It hung loosely on her body.

The shirt, exceptionally oversized for her, covered her little hands and almost reached her knees, looking like a costume.

She could catch a cold like this.

But there Leng Siche stood, unable to muster the courage to approach her despite being only a few steps away.

He couldn't face Xia Yuxun like this.

The emotions he had suppressed for so many years were an utmost test for him in this moment.

It wasn't until Xia Yuxun sneezed delicately that Leng Siche suddenly snapped out of it and, no longer considering anything else, hurriedly walked over and picked her up from the knees.

-

He carried her back to bed and was just about to leave when Xia Yuxun suddenly opened her eyes.

Already unsettled, Leng Siche jumped at her sudden movement, stammering, "Xiaoxun, you're awake? I—I saw you were asleep in the bathroom, so I... I didn't mean to..."

Xia Yuxun pressed down hard on Leng Siche's shoulders, then flipped over, pinning him beneath her with her bright, animal-like eyes glaring into his.

"Xiaoxun... you..."

Xia Yuxun stared straight at Leng Siche, her eyes gradually filling with tears, and then a droplet fell with a plop onto his cheek.

Leng Siche immediately panicked, "Xiaoxun, what's wrong? I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it, I didn't see anything..."

Xia Yuxun's tears surged even more fiercely.

"I... I will take responsibility for you..." Leng Siche said with a blush coloring his innocent face.

"Bastard..." Xia Yuxun's hands clenched into fists against his chest, sobbing intermittently, "Why? Why do you have to treat me this way? Why bully me?"

"I—I—let me explain... please don't cry..." Leng Siche was completely at a loss.

She clung to his clothes, crying her heart out, "Achen, I like you so much, why can't you like me back just a little, just a bit... Why do you always have to say such cruel things..."

The moment Xia Yuxun said the words 'Achen,' Leng Siche's heart felt as if a bucket of cold water had poured over him.

"Achen... Achen... please don't ignore me... don't hate me, okay? I'm scared... really scared..."

Trembling, Leng Siche, the next second, angrily flipped her back under him, his eyes full of pain, "Xia Yuxun, do you know you're the truly cruel one! Why do you have eyes only for him, why does your world revolve around him, unable to see me? Even after I have returned, do you still not see me?"

"Achen... Achen..." she continued to murmur cluelessly,

In the end, Leng Siche's eyes were filled with self-mockery and profound sadness.