Incurable Pain

Incurable Pain | Chapter 28

You’ve never witnessed what a true scoundrel looks like.

Bai Xunyin remembered the year her family encountered trouble. She had not yet graduated from junior high school, and during the crucial months leading up to the entrance exam, their usually harmonious home inexplicably turned into a volatile “battlefield,” constantly plagued by arguments between Ji Huiying and Bai Hongsheng due to differing opinions.

Later on, they moved from Jingyuan in the south of the city to the current neighborhood not far from Linlan Third High School, but it was a remote and old community, far from being considered “comfortable”.

It paled in comparison to the previous community they resided in, and it was even farther from the bustling commercial areas of the city.

Except during the peak hours of morning and evening rush, there weren’t many people around. Because it was secluded and cold, it helped save money.

It was only after being with Bai Xunyin that Yu Luoyin discovered this cramped and quiet neighborhood in Linlan. In this small alley, there was even a separate bus stop.

Apart from the two of them, no one got off at this stop. Stormy weather provided an excellent opportunity for conversation.

No one disturbed them, only the two of them had the chance to be “alone” and talk.

Amidst the rustling wind, snowflakes, and rain.

After Yu Luoyin reluctantly apologized, there was nearly a minute of complete silence between them.

In the almost suffocating atmosphere of silence, Yu Luoyin struggled to open his eyes, soaked with rain, and stared blankly at the pale-faced girl in front of him without blinking.

Bai Xunyin looked at him expressionlessly, allowing herself to block the narrow path in front of her.

Even after hearing Yu Luoyin’s apology, there was still no emotion in her eyes, as if she was listening to a cold joke.

Yu Luoyin’s once ‘confident’ inner self, like an inflated balloon, was punctured by this icy glare. The ‘air’ inside vanished instantly, leaving behind only a limp shell.

Gorgeous on the outside, but worthless within.

Bai Xunyin couldn’t find her words, but the emotions in her eyes seemed understandable to him—as if saying, “Are you done speaking?”

Yu Luoyin hesitated for a moment, reluctantly forced a smile, pretending not to understand with a shameless face, and persistently continued the conversation, “At least give me a response?”

So Bai Xunyin let out a barely audible sigh.

She turned away and ran to a nearby spot under a roof that provided some shelter from the rain, no longer willing to stand foolishly facing Yu Luoyin in the wind, frost, snow, and rain.

The girl’s creamy white cashmere coat was already soaked by the rain. As she moved, the hem brushed against Yu Luoyin’s fingertips, who was then snapped back to attention.

They ran to the shelter one after the other. Yu Luoyin watched as Bai Xunyin took out her phone, her fingers, red from the cold, casually wiping the icy raindrops off the screen before stiffly typing a message.

[I remember you used to tell me that in this darn weather in Linlan, you always keep an umbrella in your desk.]

Seeing this, Yu Luoyin’s gaze flickered slightly.

Shortly after they confirmed their relationship, fine drizzles fell from the sky after school. Most Linlan residents were accustomed to rainy days, and few bothered with umbrellas for such light rain.

But Yu Luoyin was meticulous, insisting on using one, and even dragged the indifferent Bai Xunyin under it.

His long arms draped over her shoulders as he complained, “Rainy days are so annoying, making you all wet and sticky. If you don’t keep an umbrella handy in Linlan, you’re an idiot. I keep one in my desk for all 365 days…”

The memory abruptly halted, blending with the present scene…

It was laughably contrived.

Bai Xunyin’s eyes lowered slightly, her lips perhaps curling into a sarcastic arc, as she calmly continued typing—

[You’re afraid I’ll catch a cold, yet you didn’t bother to bring out the umbrella?]

Yu Luoyin’s fingers by his side awkwardly twitched, his gaze fixed on Bai Xunyin.

He had never realized before that the quiet girl’s words were so insightful. He had been foolish to think she was merely clever and gentle, lacking any sharpness.

Now, it seemed he was utterly mistaken.

Bai Xunyin was the epitome of a taciturn, astute individual.

[You apologize, but even your prelude is a lie. That’s quite amusing.]

Bai Xunyin pursed her lips, calmly typing line after line on her phone, finally showing it to Yu Luoyin—

[I can no longer determine if you’ve ever told me the truth, including this apology.]

[Yu Luoyin, you don’t have to force yourself to stoop so low.]

[There are only a few months left until the college entrance examination, please refrain from disturbing me any further.]

After finishing her last sentence, Bai Xunyin lifted her tea-colored eyes, seemingly washed by water, took a deep look at Yu Luoyin, and turned to leave. Her slender figure remained straight, walking briskly away.

This time, Yu Luoyin stood still and watched, without playfully following.

The rain had subsided from heavy to light, tapping rhythmically on the roof above.

It was strangely pleasant to listen to.

Yu Luoyin listened absentmindedly, squinting his eyes.

—The most beautiful thing isn’t the rainy day, but the eaves where we once sought shelter from the rain together.

Perhaps human nature is cheap. The more Bai Xunyin disliked him, the more Yu Luoyin found the faint sparks in her cold eyes alluring.

The girl was firm in her convictions, but still naive, unaware of what a true ‘scoundrel’ was.

And she had no idea how relentless an intrigued boy could become.

…..

The rain stopped.

The next day during class, Yu Luoyin, for some unprecedented reason, didn’t show up.

Upon noticing the vacant seat, Yu Shen furrowed his brow. He queried the classroom, “Where’s Yu Luoyin? Did anyone see him?”

The classroom fell silent, with no one speaking up.

In fact, Yu Shen had only realized later, just before the lunch break, that Yu Luoyin was absent… but Yu Luoyin hadn’t been present since the morning self-study session.

After nearly a minute, Zhou Xin followed up lazily, “Teacher, Yu Luoyin didn’t bring an umbrella yesterday. Seems like he caught a bit of a cold.”

Yu Shen frowned at him, “How do you know?”

Zhou Xin shrugged, “Because he gave me his umbrella.”

…

Amidst suppressed chuckles and whispers, one could faintly hear the grinding of Yu Shen’s teeth.

With a stern face, he dropped, “Focus on your papers first,” and stepped out of the classroom to call Yu Luoyin.

He dialed several times, the tone ringing out until it ended, with no answer.

The frustration in Yu Shen’s mind flared up. He forcefully dialed Yu Luoyin’s mother, Gu Yuan’s number—unsurprisingly, no one answered there either.

Yu Shen took a deep breath, rubbed his weary temples, feeling somewhat defeated.

Nowadays, most parents who considered themselves successful were in the prime of their careers, spinning around like they wished they had clones, often neglecting their families. Yu Shen was accustomed to such occurrences.

Especially at the age of seventeen or eighteen, in senior year, during the crucial period of college entrance exams, some parents would use the gaze of “You’re already an adult” and their own teachings to console themselves, ignoring their responsibility.

Many students were affected by family issues during this time.

Yu Shen knew about Yu Luoyin’s family situation and that Gu Yuan was a prominent figure in the Academy of Sciences.

But… if the children were reportedly catching colds from being in the rain, wouldn’t a responsible parent at least grant them a leave of absence or answer the phone?

It was absurd. It seemed that even though parents might excel in their own fields, they still struggled with “unlicensed” education.

Considering his own child at home, around the same age, Yu Shen couldn’t help but feel a sense of resentment.

When he returned to the classroom to teach, he couldn’t help but feel furious, startling the students into a stunned silence.

No one dared to breathe loudly—everyone was eagerly anticipating the end of the last class before lunch so they could go eat.

However, what made this group of lively kids even more cautious was yet to come. Yu Shen conducted a merciless interrogation.

“Stay for a moment longer… What’s with those expressions? Can’t you bear to stay two more minutes? Pathetic—Zhou Xin, do you know where Yu Luoyin lives?”

The sudden change in topic caught the classmates off guard.

Zhou Xin pushed his phone back into his pocket and calmly responded, “Yeah.”

“Good, during the lunch break, go visit Yu Luoyin’s house. Neither he nor his mother are answering calls. I’m worried he might faint at home with no one to call an ambulance.”

Yu Shen showed a rare hint of humor, eliciting chuckles from the class, then his face turned serious again.

“Also, bring the physics lecture notes from this morning to Yu Luoyin. With the first mock exam coming up soon, there’s no time to waste. You’re all so relaxed! And you have the nerve to laugh? All of you!”

“Teacher,” Zhou Xin pondered for a moment, recalling the WeChat message Yu Luoyin had sent him earlier.

His almond-shaped eyes shifted slowly as he spoke, “My notes from this morning aren’t very comprehensive, and I’m not as good at physics as Bai Xunyin… Can she go instead? I’ll give her the address.”

The message Yu Luoyin had sent him read: [Find a way to get Bai Xunyin to come and bring me the notes.]

Zhou Xin couldn’t help but feel a bit disdainful towards Yu Luoyin, who deliberately skipped class, didn’t ask for leave, and didn’t answer calls, all for this reason.

Bai Xunyin hadn’t expected this issue to involve her, and her hand holding the pen froze for a moment.

As for Yu Shen, he didn’t particularly care who went for the ‘home visit’ to deliver notes to the sick student. Whether it was Zhou Xin or Bai Xunyin, they were all the same in his eyes.

The address written on the note Zhou Xin gave her was “Lanjiang Residential Area,” which was within the school district of Third High School, very close to it, just one bus stop away.

Bai Xunyin didn’t expect Yu Luoyin to live in the school district.

She put on her coat, took the exercise book and notes given to her by Yu Shen, and skillfully made her way to Yu Luoyin’s residence.

Standing before the door of unit 2103, she knocked for quite some time without any response, furrowing her brow—there was now a valid reason to suspect that Yu Luoyin might have fainted.

After a minute of hesitation, Bai Xunyin debated whether to go in and check or call 120 directly. After a while, she decided to enter and entered the password written on the note by Zhou Xin.

With a click, the door opened a crack.

Whether Zhou Xin was meticulous in his thinking or had “anticipated” this, he hadn’t forgotten to write down the password for her.

Bai Xunyin looked into the spacious and eerily quiet room. After a moment of hesitation, she walked in while wearing her shoes.

The room was large and clean, but for some reason, there was a strange feeling of uninhabitability, even though the living room furniture such as the sofa and television were covered with dust covers…

It looked like a rented house, devoid of life.

She couldn’t find the words, so she decided to make some noise by knocking on the nearby wooden furniture. In the quiet space, the sound was particularly piercing.

But after knocking for quite some time, there was still no response from the bedroom.

Intentionally making a noise, Bai Xunyin walked towards the bedroom door, reaching out to push open the slightly ajar door—

The dimly lit bedroom had its curtains half-drawn, allowing a few rays of restless sunlight to enter, illuminating the room clearly. Yu Luoyin lay on the large bed, looking half-dead and lifeless.

His slender body was tangled in a thin blanket, crumpled like a pickled cabbage.

The gray pajama sleeves rode up, revealing a pale and skinny forearm, which rested weakly on his forehead, pressing down on his fine, disheveled bangs.

Under his slender fingers, his clear face was flushed with an abnormal redness.

Though the room was dimly lit, Bai Xunyin’s keen eyes could vaguely see—Yu Luoyin seemed to be running a fever.

It seemed that yesterday’s cold rain and snow had taught him a lesson.

Bai Xunyin watched with mixed emotions for a while, then gently placed the books she was carrying to one side and prepared to leave.

Before she could even move, she heard a lazy and prolonged “Hmm” from behind her.

A groan, as if in great discomfort.

And just moments ago, Yu Luoyin’s face had been as red as burning coals.

Bai Xunyin hesitated for a moment.

Perhaps because she was just a seventeen-year-old girl after all, in the end, Bai Xunyin couldn’t bring herself to be too heartless. Despite not wanting to see Yu Luoyin at the moment, she shouldn’t leave him lying alone here, burning up with fever.

Bai Xunyin pursed her lips and walked to the bedside in the bedroom.

She leaned down slightly and gently touched Yu Luoyin’s forehead, which was obscured by his black, messy hair—burning hot. Bai Xunyin was taken aback.

And perhaps due to her leaning down, the two tassels on the collar of her coat brushed against Yu Luoyin’s face, causing his finely arched eyebrows to furrow slightly, and his tightly closed eyes slowly opened in an extremely slow manner.

Bai Xunyin saw in Yu Luoyin’s pitch-black eyes, as if shrouded in a thin mist.

Damp, like a newly sprouted, innocent little animal.

Bai Xunyin’s cold fingertips resting on his forehead involuntarily recoiled, about to withdraw slowly.

When she was about halfway through turning, Yu Luoyin’s hot hand gripped her wrist.

His voice, weaker than usual, murmured, “Don’t go…”

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