A Bedraggled Deity

The water in Wind Chime Alley had already risen past the ankles.

Pu Yu could not catch her breath, pounding hard on the tightly shut wooden door.

"Yuan Su! Yuan Su!"

It was the first time she had ever called his name so loudly, her voice carrying a distinct sob and tremor, mingling with the thunder to appear exceptionally faint.

A few seconds later.

Hurried footsteps came from inside the door.

The moment Yuan Su opened the door, he saw Pu Yu, drenched from head to toe and in a sorry state.

His figure paused slightly, a trace of astonishment flashing through his pitch-black eyes.

"What are you..."

"Yuan Su, can you help me?"

Pu Yu looked as if she had grabbed hold of a straw to save her life, her voice appearing extremely helpless in the wind and rain: "My roof is leaking, leaking really badly. Grandma is still catching water in the main room. I know it's bad to disturb you so late, but I-I don't know who else to look for..."

The girl spoke incoherently, her eye rims red.

Yuan Su did not wait for her to finish.

He glanced at the violent rain outside, turned, and dashed into the inner room.

When he came back out, his hands held an extra roll of thick waterproof tarpaulin and nylon rope.

"Stop crying."

He casually snatched an old raincoat off the wall and, without putting it on, directly draped it over the shivering Pu Yu.

The oversized raincoat carried the distinct, crisp scent of soap and a faint pine fragrance belonging to the youth, instantly shutting out the wind and rain outside.

"You..."

"Let's go."

Before Pu Yu could finish speaking, she was interrupted by Yuan Su.

Without even asking another question, he pushed the door open and charged out into the rain first.

Arriving at Pu Yu's house, the situation was even worse than imagined.

There was already nowhere to step in the main room, with seeping stagnant water spreading everywhere.

Seeing Yuan Su enter drenched in the rain at that very moment, Li Suhua furrowed her brows. "You child, why didn't you even put on a raincoat?"

"There's no time, Grandma Li."

Yuan Su raised his head to glance at the spot where it was leaking, his brows tightly locked. "The tiles were lifted by the wind. I have to go up and take a look."

"Go up now?"

Looking at the pitch-black sky outside, Li Suhua was not very at ease. "No, it's raining this heavily. It's too dangerous."

"If we wait until the rain stops, the house will be flooded."

Although Yuan Su's tone was cold, his movements were very nimble.

He fetched a ladder from the courtyard, propped it under the eaves, and tested its stability.

"Pu Yu," he called out to her.

Pu Yu immediately ran over. "I'm here."

"Do you have a flashlight?"

"I do!" Pu Yu hurriedly went to the inner room to find the flashlight. When she came out and handed it to him, her hands were shaking.

Yuan Su turned back to look at her and instructed, "You hold the ladder down below and don't let it shake. I'll go up and take a look."

"But it's too slippery up there, and it's dark..."

"It's fine."

Yuan Su tied the tarpaulin around his waist with a rope, bit down on the flashlight, and, using both hands to climb the slippery ladder, ascended step by step.

Pu Yu hugged the bottom of the ladder for dear life, raising her head and allowing the rain to rush into her eyes without daring to let go.

The wind on the roof was even stronger than below.

The tiles were blown into a rustling clatter, and Yuan Su's figure flickered in and out of view amidst the lightning.

"Yuan Su! Be careful!" she could not help shouting out loud.

The youth above seemed to have heard, but he did not look back, merely raising a hand to make an "okay" gesture.

The leaking spots were not just in one place, and some tiles had even broken completely.

Yuan Su had no choice but to move intact surrounding tiles over to temporarily block the rain.

"Pu Yu, check the leaking spots and shout to me from below."

"Okay!"

Pu Yu let go of the ladder and ran back into the main room.

Outside the house, the wind and rain roared, and she had to use all her strength to shout upward:

"Yuan Su--"

From the roof came the scraping sound of tiles being carefully moved, which sounded indistinctly mixed into the rain.

"Is it still leaking?" His voice came from overhead, somewhat blurry.

Pu Yu looked at those few spots that had leaked the worst earlier.

Rainwater still trickled down along the wood, but the momentum seemed to have slowed somewhat.

"It seems a bit better!"

Just as she spoke, a gust of fierce wind swept past fiercely, and a muffled sound akin to sliding came from the roof.

"Yuan Su?"

There was no immediate response.

Pu Yu's heart tightened, and she hurriedly ran out to look at him.

The beam of the flashlight swept down from the eaves, briefly grazing her upturned face.

"It's fine. Where else?"

"Straight ahead, right in front of you."

The last leaking spot was carefully blocked.

Yuan Su knelt on one knee atop the tiles, pressing down a corner of the tarp with his knee. Holding bricks and rope from the roof in his hands, he expertly secured and tamped it down.

Yet the wind was too strong.

As soon as the tarpaulin was spread out, the other corners fluttered wildly everywhere.

Rainwater streamed crazily down his hairline, and his black top was already drenched through, clinging tightly to his body and outlining the slender yet powerful muscle lines of the youth's back.

At that moment.

Pu Yu felt as though he were a deity in the dark night.

Propping up her crumbling world.

After about half an hour, the tarpaulin on the roof was finally secured.

Yuan Su climbed down the ladder.

The moment he landed, his footing staggered slightly, likely because the muscles tensed for a long time up there were somewhat exhausted, or perhaps because he was frozen numb.

"Yuan Su!"

Pu Yu hurriedly let go of the ladder to steady him.

Yuan Su's hair was completely soaked, plastered messily against his forehead, and his hands were icy cold to the touch, yet he still pushed Pu Yu toward the eaves at the very first moment.

"Stay back. I'm all wet."

Pu Yu cared not a whit whether he was wet or not, pulling him along into the inner room. "Wait here, I'll go get you a towel!"

Yuan Su casually wiped the water from his face, raised his head to look at the roof that was no longer leaking, and only then relaxed slightly.

"The tarp is pressed down. Once the rain stops, we can just find someone to replace it with new tiles."

Holding a dry towel, Pu Yu ran back. Looking at him in this state, her heart felt as though it had been pinched by something, aching and swelling.

"You wipe off first. Grandma is cooking ginger soup, and it'll be ready soon."

Yuan Su stood at the doorway, looking at the warm, yellowish glow of the lights inside the house, and then at his own drenched state, his hands covered in black mud.

He instinctively took half a step back and did not take it.

"No need."

His voice trembled slightly, yet he still maintained that aloof detachment: "I'll head back first."

"How can that do! You'll catch a cold like this!" Pu Yu anxiously went to pull his hand.

Just as the two of them were arguing, Li Suhua walked over holding a large, steaming bowl filled with thickly brewed ginger soup to ward off the cold.

"Drink it before you leave."

Grandma's tone was somewhat blunt, but the hand holding the bowl was very steady. "On such a cold day, standing up there and getting rained on for half a day, even a body of iron couldn't take it."

Yuan Su was stunned, and just as he wanted to open his mouth to refuse, "I..."

"No way." Pu Yu directly blocked the doorway, her voice carrying an unarguable stubbornness. "You have to drink it."

Looking at her anxious face illuminated by the light, her eye rims still red, Yuan Su ultimately accepted the bowl handed over by Grandma.

Instead of walking into the house, he stood at the threshold and finished that bowl of ginger soup.

The scalding liquid slipped down his throat, banishing a trace of the chill and causing his complexion to appear somewhat less pale under the dim light.

"All done." He handed the empty bowl back to Li Suhua, his voice low and hoarse. "Thank you, Grandma Li."

Taking it back, Li Suhua went to the small kitchen to ladle out a second bowl for him.

Before Yuan Su could stop Grandma-

Pu Yu had already taken that dry towel, walked up to him, and stood on tiptoe.

"You..."

Before the words fell.

Softness carrying a dry warmth unexpectedly covered his damp, cold head.

Yuan Su abruptly lifted his eyes, meeting her gaze at close range.

Because she was on tiptoe, she was almost level with him.

The girl's eyes were clear and bright, reflecting the warm yellow light of the room.

Seeming to know he would refuse a clean towel, she didn't even ask, directly leaning in on tiptoe.

Yuan Su slightly clenched the palms hanging by his sides.

He undoubtedly looked a mess.

Yet there was not the slightest bit of scrutiny or disgust in her gaze-only soft, stubborn concern.

That heart which had remained calm even on the windy, rainy roof.

At this moment, it was gently struck by something, echoing dully.