Rebirth: Starting from Saving the Desperate Girl

Chapter 16 Didn’t your mother teach you not to hold hands with boys casually?

"But... they all say it's ugly."

The girl spoke some unconfident words bit by bit.

"who are they?"

Chen An squirmed his body and changed direction, which made it easier for him to exert his strength.

"They... a lot of them, anyway, a lot of people say so..."

Perhaps because of the unpleasant memories that came to her mind, the girl's voice became lower and lower.

Chen An was tidying up her long hair and understood something in his mind.

This is no longer the ancient times where superstitions are important, so those who verbally attack girls' hair are mostly children of the same age.

No wonder the girl showed so much hostility towards me when we first met.

"Do they include your mother, too?"

"Of course not!"

This time, Hanyu Shio answered very quickly, with a hint of eagerness that did not allow anyone to slander her.

"My mother is the best mother in the world. She only praises me for my good looks."

"That's fine, I think it looks good too."

"..."

Being praised suddenly, Hanyu Xi blushed slightly. She clenched the bed sheet and whispered, "You are a pervert, and your words don't count."

Now it was Chen An's turn to be unhappy, and he shouted, "Why not let it go? I didn't expect you to start playing double standards at such a young age, right?"

“What does double standards mean?”

Hanyu Shio heard another new word from his mouth. He was always like this, liking to say words that he had never come across before.

"Double standards... Well, how should I put it? It's just like what you did just now. I just said the same thing as your mother, but you thought I was a pervert and your mother was the best mother in the world."

"Mom is!"

The girl was unexpectedly stubborn on this topic.

"Yes Yes."

Chen An didn't argue with her. He wiped the girl's hair, then thought of something and asked:

"By the way, why did your mother leave you alone in the garden? Wasn't she afraid that something might happen?"

The girl pursed her lips and explained for her mother, "She usually cleans the nursing home and can come over anytime. She just happened to be going to the outpatient department today."

During the few days of observation, Chen An already knew that the girl's mother worked as a cleaning lady in the hospital, so he was not surprised by this answer, but was still a little confused.

"So she knew she couldn't stay with you today, so she pushed you to the garden?"

Faced with the questioning, the girl remained silent this time, turned her head away and refused to look at him.

Looking at her in silence, Chen An thought of something and suddenly reached out and grabbed the slender little hand that looked unusually pale due to the rain.

Only a little mud can be seen between the fingers.

"You pushed it over there yourself?"

Chen An was stunned for a moment when his guess was confirmed.

But the girl just pulled her hand back and still didn't look at him, let alone respond.

Looking at that stubborn look, Chen An finally confirmed his guess and stood there in a daze.

He never thought that just because of his casual words "see you tomorrow", the girl would keep her promise so well...

Having experienced the ups and downs of business in his previous life and the intrigues among adults, he had long lost trust in such verbal promises.

However, the little girl in front of him seemed to have taught him a new lesson.

He could even imagine the scene of the girl clumsily pushing the wheels with her hands, moving the wheelchair forward little by little in order to go to the garden.

But I...didn't take it to heart at all.

I deserve to die.

Chen An took a deep breath, rubbed his face, and felt his throat a little hoarse.

"Why are you so stupid... Could it be that I can't come or I forgot, and you're just going to keep waiting like this?"

"I wasn't waiting for you!"

When she mentioned this, the girl's voice suddenly became louder.

"No, no, why are you yelling so loudly?"

Chen An found it a little funny, so he stood up and poured her a cup of hot water, then took the towel and went to the bathroom to wash it and wrung it dry.

Hanyu Xio sat on the bed, watching him busying around without saying a word. She held the paper cup with both hands, feeling the hot steam coming out of the cup, slowly covering her face, bringing a slight moistness.

After a while, Chen An came out again. The towel in his hand had been washed and wetted with hot water.

"Hands out."

Yuzuru hesitated for a moment, but still slowly stretched out her hand and did as she was told.

The warm towel with heat carefully wiped the palms, backs of her hands, and every knuckle.

"Your wheelchair is still in the garden. I'll help you move it in when the rain stops. Now just stay here with me."

Looking at the boy's profile as he wiped his hands carefully, Yuzuru lowered his head and remained silent.

And Chen An's mumbling continued.

"Well, and what you said at the beginning, you said that many people think your hair is ugly, or something like that, but you don't need to care too much."

"Rather than being ugly, I think it's more likely just a way for them to get your attention."

"But then again, a little boy of eight or nine years old does take pride in teasing girls... So, where do you go to school, Pingyang Primary School? Or the Second Primary School?"

There are not many primary schools in the county, and these two are the more famous ones.

"I'm dropping out of school."

"Su...Suspending school?"

Chen An was stunned when he heard this. He put away the towel and stood there, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Hanyu Shio glanced at him, but there was not much emotion in her voice.

"My mother said that I was not in good health and that I broke my leg some time ago, so she arranged for me to take a leave of absence from school."

This is really...an unexpected yet reasonable answer.

Chen An wasn't too surprised and just nodded.

"It's okay. Elementary school studies aren't very important anyway. It won't be a big deal if you delay it for a year or two."

He paused, then smiled and faced the girl.

"Well, we've known each other for such a long time, but I still don't know your name. You refused to tell me before, but you can tell me now, right?"

Chen An felt that after this rain, the relationship between the two of them should have become much closer.

At least it's not as heated and tense as it was at the beginning.

Sure enough, under his gaze, the girl pursed her lips slightly and slowly said her name.

"Huang... Hanyu Shio."

She originally wanted to say the name she used in school, but when she was about to say it, she changed her mind for some reason.

"Yu...sheng...xi?"

Chen An took out a pen and paper from the bedside table, wrote down these three words, and then looked at him inquiringly.

How about it, did I write it correctly?
Seeing this, Hanyu Shio puffed up her face, snatched the pen, crossed out the words "Yu" and "Xi" on the paper, and then wrote them again.

"Oh... this Hanyu Shio."

"I was wondering why it sounded weird before."

Chen An put away the paper and pen, chuckled, and extended his hand to the girl.

"Then let's get to know each other formally. My name is Chen An, Chen means old things, and An means peace."

"From now on, we are friends."

……friend?
Looking at the hand that was stretched out in front of him, a hint of confusion flashed in Hanyu Shio's eyes.

She remembered that she had friends before, but that was a long time ago, even back in her hometown...

Ever since she came to Xia Country, the true nature of the man who deceived her mother was revealed. She followed her mother in hiding, and her own personality became worse and worse. She hasn't spoken to strangers of the same age for a long time, let alone made friends.

"friend?"

She repeated it quietly and placed her hand on it.

With her hands clenched, she heard the boy's powerful answer.

"Yes, my friend."

However, this harmonious scene was soon broken by an angry shout.

"What are you doing! What are you doing!"

"Didn't your mother teach you not to hold hands with boys casually?!"

　OK, quietly, um, can you please give me a monthly ticket? Moshi Moshi?

　　
　
(End of this chapter)