The night is getting darker, the summer weather changes at a moment's notice, and it rains heavily in the evening without warning.
Heavy raindrops hit the car window, blurring the city's neon light and shadow. Lu Xiaoxiao leaned on the passenger seat and rubbed the center of her brows slightly tiredly - she had just finished shooting a night scene and was taken home directly from Film Crew by Ji Yunhuai.
The car drove into the Lu Family's mansion and as soon as it stopped, Lu Yubai hurried out holding an umbrella with a rare look of anxiety on his face.
"Sister! Brother-in-law! You are finally back!" Lu Yubai opened the car door and spoke quickly, "Fan Chiran He left in the afternoon! He said he was going home, but I always feel something is wrong!"
Lu Xiaoxiao got out of the car and paused. "Something's wrong? Why is something wrong?"
"Just... when the admission results came out, he answered the phone, and then he seemed to have lost his soul, and his face was frighteningly pale! He didn't seem to hear anything I told him, and then he said in a daze that he wanted to go home, and stumbled away!" Lu Yubai gestured, frowning, "I called him later, but no one answered! He didn't reply to the message! It was raining, and I don't know if he went home, and he and his father are not..."
Lu Xiaoxiao felt a thump in his heart, and a bad premonition came over him.
She immediately called the system in her mind, "037, what's going on? What happened to Fan Chiran? Where is he now?"
037 answered quickly, "Something happened. Fan Chiran was confirmed to be admitted to his first choice university this afternoon, but his major was not Computer Science. This is because his father contacted the class teacher before and changed his choice to Public Administration, Fan Chiran suffered an emotional breakdown after learning the truth. He has not returned to his home yet and is currently out of contact. He is walking aimlessly in the old town in the west of the city, and... well... it has been raining continuously for more than two hours."
This paragraph 037 was not only passed on to Lu Xiaoxiao, but also specially made to be heard by Ji Yunhuai on the side - now its existence is no longer Secret to Ji Yunzhun, and he would normally use his consciousness to help young lovers transmit sounds across thousands of miles (most of the time it is an emergency, occasionally it is because Lu Xiaoxiao is bored and initiates harassment)
After listening to 037's words, Lu Xiaoxiao's heart tightened suddenly, and then a mixture of distressed, angry and helpless emotions came up.
She couldn't help but ask, "How could this happen? Then how did he get admitted to Computer Science in the original book?"
"Oh, this is also Butterfly Effect!" 037 analyzed calmly, "In the original line, Fan Chiran did not have a fierce head-on conflict with his father on the issue of volunteering due to long-term depression. He also secretly changed it later on. However, in the current timeline, your previous encouragement from the host has significantly enhanced his sense of autonomy and courage, causing the conflict between him and his father to intensify in advance and become public, which in turn triggered a chain of events in which the volunteering was tampered with."
After hearing this explanation, Lu Xiaoxiao felt complicated.
She didn't think she was wrong in encouraging Fan Chiran to pursue his dream, but knowing that it was her intervention that indirectly caused the child to suffer greater frustration and pain at the moment still made her feel an indescribable annoyance.
In a complicated mood, Lu Xiaoxiao subconsciously turned his head and looked at Ji Yunhuai.
Ji Yunhuai caught her gaze and immediately understood what she was thinking.
He spoke with a calm expression, "It's actually easy to change your major. It just seems like the sky is falling for him, but for us it's just a matter of making a phone call. Let's get him back first."
"Yes, we have to find him first!" Lu Xiaoxiao nodded immediately, took Ji Yunhuai's hand and walked out, "It's raining so hard, don't walk alone outside and get overwhelmed by the scenery, we have to go quickly!"
Ji Yunhuai allowed her to hold him while he took out his mobile phone with his other hand and started arranging manpower to check the specific location.
On the way to pick up the car, he glanced at Lu Xiaoxiao, who was frowning next to him, and suddenly teased in a slightly jealous voice, "I heard that this kid was interested in you before?"
Lu Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, then laughed and said, "Here you go again! Why compete with a child? In my eyes, there is no difference between him and Yubai."
"Besides, I have actually thought about you!" She said in a serious tone, "Xiao Fan is a rare talent, smart, capable and willing to endure hardships. If you help him now, he might become one of your generals Ji Corporation in the future. How can this not be a good thing for mutual benefit?"
Ji Yunhuai chuckled lightly, and the subtle jealousy in his eyes dissipated and turned into a touch of indulgence. "Yes, our teacher Lu is very kind to everyone."
Lu Xiaoxiao raised his eyebrows and looked at him sideways, with a sly light in his eyes. "Isn't it bad for you?"
Ji Yunhuai held her hand, lightly scratched her palm with his fingertips, and said in a serious but affectionate tone, "No, it's best for me. So I have to keep it up in the future. After all, I have a... glassy heart, and I can't stand that kind of gap."
Lu Xiaoxiao was amused by his self-proclaimed "glass heart" comment, and his gloomy mood was mostly gone. He raised his hand and hit him on the shoulder. "It depends on your performance. You have to earn your salary, do you understand?"
While the two were talking, they had already obtained the exact location information of Fan Chiran.
The car cut through the rain curtain and sped towards the old town in the west of the city.
At the same time, Fan Chiran had been walking aimlessly in the cold rain for a long time.
The rain flowed down his hair and cheeks, soaking through his thin clothes. It was biting and cold, but he seemed not to feel it.
His mind was in a mess, like a ball of wool that had been scratched by a cat. The anger of having his wishes changed, the sadness of being betrayed, despair for the future, and a deep sense of powerlessness were intertwined together, almost swallowing him up.
As a result, the perception of the outside world becomes dull and blurred, and the surrounding scenery and sounds seem to be separated by a layer of frosted glass.
He moved his steps mechanically, and after walking for an unknown amount of time, he came to an old street with dim lights and few pedestrians.
At this moment, a bicycle suddenly turned out of the alley next to him at a very fast speed. The rider seemed not to have expected that there were people on the roadside on a rainy night. The handlebar almost brushed Fan Chiran's body!
Fan Chiran was brought staggering, his center of gravity was unstable, and he fell heavily to the ground with a "snap", splashing a piece of muddy water, and felt burning pain in his elbows and knees.
The rider was startled and hurriedly stopped the car. When he turned around and saw Fan Chiran falling in the mud, instead of apologizing, he cursed out of fright and annoyance, "Damn it! You don't have eyes when you're walking?! It's raining so hard without an umbrella. You're like a wandering spirit! You're crazy! Don't drag others down if you want to die!"
The cursing voice sounded particularly harsh amid the sound of rain.
Fan Chiran was a little dazed after the fall. He curled up and subconsciously apologized. "Yeah, right..."
"Bad luck!" the rider cursed again, seeming too lazy to bother. He glared at him, got on the bike and quickly disappeared into the rain.
Fan Chiran froze in place, the second half of his apology stuck in his throat.
The rain was still falling non-stop. He slowly raised his head and glanced at the sky, and saw that the day was gray and gloomy, as if he couldn't see any light at the moment.
Fan Chiran pursed his lower lip and suddenly began to dislike himself.
Why... why is he so thin? Why does he fall over when someone touches him lightly?
Why is he always so useless? He has such bad luck that he gets knocked down even when he walks, and he can't even protect his own future...
The bicycle incident was like the last straw that broke the camel's back. Although the physical injuries were not serious, Fan Chiran's psychological defense had completely collapsed at this moment.
The huge grievance, helplessness and self-loathing washed him away like a flood that burst a dam.
He couldn't help it anymore, he lowered his head suddenly, buried his face deeply into his curled knees, and his shoulders shook violently.
People often cannot cry when they are extremely sad, and Fan Chiran is no different at this time.
He could only feel the warm liquid mixed with the cold rain, flowing freely.
Just when he was immersed in his despair and felt that the whole world had abandoned him, suddenly, the cold raindrops hitting him... stopped.
Immediately afterwards, a voice that was so familiar to him, but now like the sound of nature, with obvious concern, sounded above his head:
"Xiao Fan? Finally found you! Why are you here in the rain?"
Fan Chiran's whole body stiffened suddenly, and all the crying and trembling stopped in an instant.
He almost didn't dare to raise his head, and the huge panic and inferiority overwhelmed him like a tide.
Why... why is it that every time he is in the most embarrassing and unbearable state, he is always seen by sister Xiaoxiao?
How much he wants to show her his best and strongest side! But why can't he always do it?
Just when his heart was tearing wildly, Lu Xiaoxiao's voice sounded again. The voice was gentle and patient, without the slightest blame or disgust. "I know everything about you, and I know it's uncomfortable, but professional matters are not insurmountable. The most important thing now is not to let our future Computer Science genius catch a cold and get sick in the rain. Let's go home with my sister first, okay?"
Her tone seemed to have a magical power, instantly calming the turbulent waves in Fan Chiran's heart.
Fan Chiran raised his head stiffly and extremely slowly.
With his eyes blurred by tears, the first thing he saw was Lu Xiaoxiao's worried face but trying hard to put on a comforting smile.
Then, he saw a clear blue sky.
That was not the real sky, but the umbrella Lu Xiaoxiao held above his head - the lining of the umbrella was a bright, blue sky pattern, dotted with a few soft white clouds.
In this cold, gray rainy night, this piece of "sunny sky" held up by an umbrella suddenly burst into his eyes like an incredible miracle.
--After that campus bullying incident, she once again held up a small sunny day for him during the most embarrassing rainstorm moment in his life, but it was enough to illuminate the whole world.
Fan Chiran stared blankly, looking at Lu Xiaoxiao's warm eyes under the umbrella, looking at the blue that symbolized the clear sky, and the accumulated tears surged out again without warning.
He choked with sobs and spoke incoherently, "Sister Xiaoxiao... I... I didn't want to... I didn't want to trouble you all the time... I thought... I wanted to handle things myself... but I... I'm so useless... I can't do anything well..."
Lu Xiaoxiao looked at his red eyes from crying and his embarrassed appearance soaked by the rain, and felt sad.
She knelt down, took out a tissue, and began to wipe away the tears on his face bit by bit with very gentle movements.
"How can you say that? Don't belittle yourself." Her voice was as light as the night wind, but with firm strength, "Everyone is particularly fragile. When they feel that they can't do anything well, no matter how powerful they are, it's the same. Sometimes when I encounter something particularly sad, I will secretly hide under the quilt and cry! I just won't let others know~"
At this time, there was a slight cough from the side.
Ji Yunhuai also got out of the car at some point, holding a black business umbrella and standing a few steps away. Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows and looked at Lu Xiaoxiao, with a somewhat meaningful tone in his tone. "Oh? Then there shouldn't be such a time to hide under the quilt and cry recently, right?"
Lu Xiaoxiao:"..."
She turned back and glared at Ji Yunhuai, mouthing silently: Shut up! If you talk more, you can coax me!
Ji Yunhuai then raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I was wrong, you continue."
The natural and intimate interaction between the two of them quietly broke up the solemn atmosphere.
Only then did Fan Chiran notice the existence of Ji Yunhuai.
He looked at the tall and noble man standing in the rain, and the natural pampering and protection when he looked at Lu Xiaoxiao. Then he compared it with his own embarrassment at the moment, and the hazy sourness in his heart that had been caused by Lu Xiaoxiao suddenly felt relieved.
What rose instead was a faint sense of distance, like looking up at the stars.
Xiaoxiao's sister's boyfriend is indeed just like her, a person standing in the clouds. He is so well matched that even envy would feel like transgression.
But this is very good, and she should have such a person beside her.
Just when Fan Chiran was lost in thought, Lu Xiaoxiao turned to look at him again, and his tone returned to seriousness. "Xiao Fan, listen, you don't have to worry about professional matters. I have discussed with you... well, Brother Ji, we can help you switch back to Computer Science major, and we can also subsidize all your tuition and living expenses. This is not difficult for us."
She glanced at Ji Yunhuai, who nodded slightly to confirm.
"Really... is it really okay?" Fan Chiran's eyes burst out with incredible light for an instant, but then dimmed again. He lowered his head and said in a small voice, "But... this kindness is too great... I don't know how to repay..."
"You don't need to pay it back." It was Ji Yunhuai who spoke this time. His voice was calm and steady, with a persuasiveness that had been at the top for a long time. "Ji Corporation already has a special charity fund to support potential poor students. After graduation, most of these people I am also willing to work at Ji Corporation. This is a virtuous circle. It is something to support strangers, and it is also something to support people you know. Since you have this fate, you cherish this opportunity and learn something in the future, which is the best reward. Hesitation and shrinkage will only disappoint those who think highly of you."
Lu Xiaoxiao nodded in agreement, took over the conversation, and looked at Fan Chiran with burning eyes. "Yes, Xiao Fan. We help you essentially because we appreciate people who work hard and have dreams. You are with us You are already very, very outstanding among people your age! This time you have the courage to fight against your father for your dream, which is very, very brave in itself! You are not useless, you are just... temporarily stumbling by some bad things and bad people, aren't you?"
She paused, and her tone became softer, but with a power that hit people's hearts. "Perhaps people are always more accustomed to praising those who are already standing on the top of the mountain and shining brightly. But everyone's starting point is different. In fact, from the abyss to the bottom of the valley, a little by one's own strength Climbing to the shore requires no less courage and effort than those who walk from the flat road to the top of the mountain, or even more! So, Fan Chiran, you have done a very, very good job! Don't deny yourself!"
These words, like a warm light, penetrated the heavy haze in Fan Chiran's heart.
The young man stared blankly at Lu Xiaoxiao, the unabashed trust and encouragement in her eyes, and the "clear sky" in the umbrella above his head. His cold heart seemed to be injected with warmth and began to melt little by little.
It turns out... it turns out that he is already very powerful.
In the eyes of sister Xiaoxiao, he is already very powerful!
Thinking of this, Fan Chiran's eyes suddenly became hot. He nodded vigorously and fiercely, his voice choked with sobs, but also with determination to regain his strength. "Yes! I understand! Sister Xiaoxiao, Brother Ji, thank you! I will definitely study hard! In the future... I will try to work for Brother Ji's company in the future!"
Ji Yunhuai looked at his rekindled fighting spirit, a hint of appreciation flashed in his eyes, but he still kept his venomous tone. "We are still far away from being able to work at Ji Corporation. The top priority now is to go back and change out of your soaked and dirty clothes, and then drink a bowl of ginger soup to drive away the cold. Tsk... you are all wet."
Lu Xiaoxiao also stood up with a smile and stretched out his hand towards Fan Chiran. Her palm was warm and dry. "I completely agree with this. Let's go, Xiao Fan, go home with your sister! Before school starts., you can rest assured to live in the Lu Family, and also supervise and supervise Lu Yubai's studies for us. That boy can now regard you as a role model for learning. He is more energetic than before. You don't know how much you have helped us!"
Fan Chiran looked at the hand stretched out in front of him, then looked up at Lu Xiaoxiao's warm smile under the umbrella and Ji Yunhuai's expressionless face next to him, showing tacit support, and the last trace of gloom and uneasiness in his heart disappeared.
He stretched out his hand, held Lu Xiaoxiao's hand tightly, and stood up with the help.
Although his body was cold and his clothes were soaked, it felt like a fire had been ignited in his heart that would never be extinguished.
He nodded vigorously, his face showing his first truly heartfelt and hopeful smile today:
"Yeah! I'll go home with you!"
The rain is still falling.
But the sky under the umbrella was already sunny.