Mud beads

Chapter 79 Disbelief

The lightning went out, and Yuejian Che's face turned into a blurry black. Yu Zhu listened as he paddled closer and climbed onto the stage. When his soaking wet shoes stepped onto the old stage, a long wooden creak came from deep within the stage.

He silently grabbed her shoulder and pulled her close, his gaze sweeping from her wet hair to her face, then down to her shoulders, arms, and legs.

She was unharmed. Sober, calm, with a faint glimmer of water reflected in her dark pupils, revealing an almost obsessive stubbornness.

Echizen loosened his grip on Yu Zhu's shoulder, finally letting go of the clenched teeth he had been holding all the way.

"Do you like playing the saint?"

A gust of wind lifted half of the old embroidered curtain beside the stage. A damp cloth billowed up behind them, revealing the faded paintings on the wall. Grandma Lin said that this place had performed *The Peony Pavilion*, *The West Chamber*, and *Farewell My Concubine*. When the gongs and drums sounded, the actors on stage expressed their loves and hates, while gods and Buddhas sat atop the clouds, watching the gatherings and separations of humankind.

The opera troupe has long since disbanded; the phoenix crown rots in the opera box, and the costumes are burned in the fire. But the old stage has not fallen, and tonight it awaits another couple. The gongs and drums have turned into muffled thunder, the audience has turned into yellow water, and the gods and Buddhas in the murals are awakened for a moment by lightning, hiding in the darkness, watching.

Yu Zhu looked at Yue Jianche, speechless.

"Just because you see a stage, you start acting out a story of self-sacrifice for righteousness?" Echizen Toru wiped the water from his face, his anger now impossible to conceal. "Does he think standing in the ancestral hall makes him stronger?"

Yu Zhu's hand, through her raincoat, was still protecting the rare book in her arms. Raindrops fell down her eyelashes, and through the cascading rain curtain, she seemed to see Yue Jianche at seventeen again—he was the one who came to pick her up back then, but he was wearing a black hoodie and standing in the white light of the school corridor, his gaze much calmer than it was now.

"Why is it that when someone cries a couple of times or begs you, you're ready to give them everything you have?"

"You've been running that run-down bubble tea shop for three years, you've poured your heart and soul into teaching that clueless kid you've never even met, you've risked your life to pick up those few scraps of paper—"

Anger made his eyes gleam in the rain. Yu Zhu had never heard Yue Jian Che say so much before.

"Why the hell are you so nice to everyone?!"

A muffled thunderclap rolled across the brackets of the stage, causing water to drip from the cracks in the tiles.

The sound of thunder finally cut off Toru Echizen's voice.

He quieted down, and only deep breathing remained.

The rising floodwaters continued to crash against the stage, causing the wooden structure to sway slightly, making the entire stage resemble a boat sailing in the dead of night.

Yu Zhu stared intently at Yue Jianche. He suddenly smiled. The smile was faint, settling on his rain-soaked brows and eyes, almost weary.

"Yu Zhu, you don't believe I'd come looking for you, right?"

She couldn't answer.

The night wind, carrying rain, rushed towards the stage. Yu Zhu's eyes stung from the rain, and just as she turned her head away, Yue Jianche pulled her back to face him with both hands.

He leaned down and kissed her.

His kiss was forceful and intense, like the pent-up anger within him finally finding its outlet. Rainwater streamed down his brow bone, lying between their intertwined noses, before seeping into their lips and tongues in a lingering embrace.

Yu Zhu trembled as she pushed against Yue Jianche's chest.

He didn't let go; instead, he pulled her into an even deeper embrace. Through his soaked coat, she could feel his heavy, rapid heartbeat, a heart alive beneath her palm, trembling along with the raging wind and rain.

A rumble of thunder rolled across the sky above the ancestral hall, and a bright flash of lightning once again cleaved through the darkness, revealing the faded embroidered curtains, red-lacquered pillars, and the countless gods and Buddhas depicted in the murals.

Yu Zhu opened her eyes, her gaze shifting from the sky and earth to Yue Jianche's tightly closed eyes.

His eyelashes trembled along with his body in the downpour.

She looked at him for a moment, then slowly closed her eyes.

Moth

The SUV drove out of Qing'ao Village, its headlights piercing the chaotic rain ahead.

The wipers were on their fastest setting, clearing a patch of water before the rain instantly flooded the glass again. The road was flooded, and with each wheel, muddy water swelled up from both sides. The houses along the road were deserted, with only the makeshift warning lights of the rescue vehicles flashing intermittently in the wind and rain.

Yu Zhu sat in the passenger seat, her soaked raincoat clinging to her body, water still dripping from her hair. The mountain road was muddy, and although the waterproof bag on her chest was tightly wrapped with tape, it still bounced up and down with the car. Worried, she pressed her hand to her chest again.

Toru Koshima gripped the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the road ahead.

After passing a section of road damaged by floodwater, Yuejian Che accelerated, trying to speed through it in one go. The car jolted violently, and Yuzhu subconsciously turned her head to see his brows suddenly furrow.

The car accelerated again, and his right foot returned to the pedal, but the movement was much slower than before.

Yu Zhu looked away and lowered her head: "How's your leg?"

"Thanks to you." Echizen Toru frowned, his gaze unwavering. "It hurts terribly."

Yu Zhu fell silent.

She pulled the seatbelt down a bit, the wet strap pressed against her palm, and her fingers tightened little by little.

Koshima Tetsuya didn't say anything more.

The SUV drove towards the temporary resettlement point through the torrential rain. Occasionally, rumbles of thunder rolled by in the distance; inside the vehicle, only the sound of the windshield wipers could be heard.

The SUV eventually stopped outside the town's middle school gymnasium.

A few temporary power lines were strung along the corridor, and incandescent light bulbs hung in mid-air, their light flickering with the roar of the generator. Soaked villagers wrapped in blankets sat on both sides, while volunteers in work clothes moved among the crowd, carrying bowls of ginger soup.

As soon as Yu Zhu entered the museum, Teacher Zhou rushed out from the crowd.

"Yu Zhu!"

She grabbed Yu Zhu's arm, first looking at her face, then down at her legs. Once she was sure she was alright, she raised her hand and patted her hard on the shoulder.

"Who told you to go back!"

Yu Zhu shrank back, not daring to utter a sound.

"You scared me to death, you know that?!" Teacher Zhou's hair was soaked with sweat, and her eyes were red. "You came over and said something to me, did I agree? I turned around to help someone, and you disappeared!"

Several classmates around looked over.

"I'm sorry, Teacher Zhou..."

"I asked everyone, and they all said they hadn't seen you." Teacher Zhou's voice suddenly choked as she said this. "I've been teaching for over twenty years, and I've never lost a student..."

Yu Zhu felt a lump in her throat and quickly lowered her head.

She took off her raincoat, revealing a waterproof bag taped to her chest. Teacher Zhou stared at the bag for a while, her lips trembling, before finally taking off her own coat and draping it over the girl's shoulders.

Her classmates surrounded her, some pulling her coat tighter, others taking the folder of documents from her arms, all asking her where she was trapped and how she got out. Yu Zhu was led into the building by them, but after a few steps, she turned back.

Echizen Toru was still standing at the door.

Someone handed him a dry towel, which he took and used to wipe his face and hands. The county leaders in charge of resettlement surrounded him, and the principal rushed out from the temporary command room, extending his hand to him from a few steps away.

"Mr. Yue, thank you so much for tonight."

Just hours earlier, the principal was attending a coordination meeting for local cultural projects in the county seat. The typhoon suddenly changed course, leaving several low-lying villages and towns without communication, and teachers and students involved in the fieldwork trapped. All of the county's rescue forces were deployed to the coastal areas and areas prone to flash floods, resulting in a severe shortage of vehicles and equipment.

The principal made phone calls to several partner companies.

At the time, Toru Koshima was in a neighboring city discussing a project. After the call connected, he didn't ask many questions, only instructing the local branch to send all the vehicles that could wade through water, and also contacting a civilian rescue team. When the principal arrived at the town's middle school, the vehicles were already lined up outside the gymnasium, their trunks filled with life jackets, ropes, drinking water, and first-aid kits.

Tetsuya Echizen also arrived at the town's middle school by car.

He sat outside the makeshift command room, wearing a black windbreaker, his face expressionless. Rescue vehicles returned one after another, and he rarely spoke, only occasionally asking, "Are all the personnel here?"

The university president, having spent a long time in academia, has seen many shrewd and opportunistic young entrepreneurs. They'll donate a few boxes of supplies, bring a photographer and videographer, stand in the rain for ten minutes, and the next day they'll be able to produce a heartfelt report.

When Echizen Toru arrived in his full outdoor gear, the principal had initially suspected the same thing. But when the SUV plunged into the downpour, leaving the area behind empty, not even a single person was there to take a picture of him.

"You flatter me." Echizen Toru grasped the principal's outstretched hand, his usual smile returning to his face. "It was nothing, thankfully the students are all safe."

Moth

Yu Zhu sat down on a bench on the side of the gymnasium, holding a bowl of ginger soup.

All the strength in my body finally dissipated at this moment.

Volunteers were registering names around her, and the resettlement instructions were being played repeatedly over the loudspeaker. Plastic cups and first-aid kits were constantly being handed to her. She lowered her head and took a sip of ginger soup, her tongue tingling from the heat.

My phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket.

She put down her bowl and pulled her phone from her pocket. The phone, which had previously only displayed an emergency call screen, suddenly jumped from one bar to three. Missed calls and messages flooded in, and the phone vibrated continuously in her palm.

Spicy Rabbit Head: Did a typhoon hit where you are?

Spicy Rabbit Head: I saw in the message that it's going to rain heavily where you are tonight.

Spicy Rabbit Head: Are you busy?

Spicy rabbit head: The other party has cancelled.

Liang Dong. No calls answered.

......

More than twenty missed calls.

Yu Zhu stared at the name, the light from the screen shining on her wet face, illuminating her motionless eyebrows and eyes.

The phone vibrated again; it was a new call.

Liang Dong.

Yu Zhu raised her head.

Toru Echizen stood at the doorway, his face slightly turned to the side, talking to the principal.