To rely on others is to promise each other

Chapter 24 Confession

Jiang Yubai was in a relaxed mood when he stepped off the stage, and was even thinking about how to persuade Cheng Guo to allow him to take this suit home.He tugged at the knee-length skirt, casually took off the thin coat over the shirt, and turned a corner but fell into darkness.

Jiang Yubai frowned, and tried to shout to the end of the darkness: "Pei Shanqing?"

It was quiet around, he was the only one there, and no one responded to him outside. Jiang Yubai stood for a while holding the iron frame next to him, stretched out his toes and stepped firmly on the next step.

Stepping on the messy wires, Jiang Yubai's fingers touched the protruding rivet heads of the iron frame, and lowered his eyes to think for a moment.

The closing performance on the outside stage has also ended, the background music has also been suspended, and the host is giving a speech to buy some time for the judges' scores to be calculated.

Jiang Yubai chuckled, and slowly hung the shirt sleeves on the nails. In order to confirm the stability, he tried to push the iron frame. Cuts of fabric dangled dangling from his arms.

There were chaotic footsteps outside, and Pei Shanqing's call came from far to near: "Jiang Yubai, are you still inside? Jiang Yubai?"

Jiang Yubai kicked away the obstructive high-heeled leather shoes, closed his eyes and fell straight down facing the steps.

The dazzling light from the flashlight came over, and Jiang Yubai felt his knees were burning hot, and his ankles hit the edge of the iron steps. The swelling pain was piercing, he bit his lower lip tightly, and controlled himself to breathe out in pain .

"Jiang Yubai!"

Pei Shanqing rushed to him first, and hugged him horizontally without hesitation. Jiang Yubai hooked his neck with one hand, and said in a muffled voice, "Brother, I sprained my ankle."

"I'll take you to the infirmary." Pei Shanqing said, quickly avoiding obstacles on the ground, and walked out of the backstage in three steps at a time.

The onlookers gathered quickly, and Pei Shanqing caught a glimpse of the skirt Jiang Yubai was wearing, which had lost its ability to cover it under the action of gravity. He tried to change his posture, and finally said to him: "Hey, hold the skirt by yourself. "

Jiang Yubai finally recovered the shame that had been left behind, his whole face was blushing, but he still reached out and pinched the hem of the skirt with his fingertips, his forehead was covered with cold sweat from the pain.

Cheng Guo led the way, and the four rushed to the infirmary. The anxious posture surprised the teacher. After seeing the terrible injury on his knee, he gasped: "Where did you fall?"

Jiang Yubai bit his lower lip, pulled himself together and told her about the process of falling. The teacher nodded, took out disinfectant and cotton balls from the cabinet, and directed Pei Shanqing to put him on the bed, turned his head and Jiang Yubai said, "It hurts a little."

Jiang Yu's white eyelids twitched violently, and an ominous premonition welled up in his heart. When the cotton ball was about to stick to the wound, he reached out and grabbed the teacher's wrist: "Could it be alcohol?"

"It's not alcohol, it's hydrogen peroxide." The teacher looked at him suddenly with a very loving gaze, "It will hurt a little, bear with it, and it will be fine in a while."

Jiang Yubai closed his eyes and accepted this sad fact. The teacher immediately waved to Pei Shanqing: "Student, come over and press him."

Cheng Guo held back his laughter and endured it very hard, Ji Xiao complained in a low voice: "Why is your school reluctant to use iodophor?"

Cheng Guo shook his head, expressing that he was not clear, and added: "This is called self-inflicted."

Ji Xiao didn't understand, Jiang Yubai cast a cold glance at Cheng Guo: "It's almost time to announce the results of the competition? Are you still here to watch the fun?"

"Okay, I'll come and see you later." Cheng Guo spread his hands helplessly, "I wish you good luck."

Pei Shanqing stood by the bed, supported his injured knee with both hands, and looked directly at Jiang Yubai face to face: "Don't move around, you can pinch me if it hurts."

Jiang Yubai pursed his lips, and couldn't help but groan the moment the cotton ball touched him, he raised his hand and grabbed Pei Shanqing's shoulder, tears welling up physiologically rolled around his eyes.Pei Shanqing freed one hand to rest his head on his shoulder, and said softly, "It's okay, it will be fine soon."

The teacher took a moment to glance at them, continued with his hands, and asked, "Which class are you from?"

"Grade Three and Six." Pei Shanqing replied while comforting Jiang Yubai.

"Are you all participating in the clothing design competition? The design of the clothes is pretty good." The teacher lightly sprinkled the powder on the wound, then covered it with gauze, and praised.

Pei Shanqing said embarrassingly: "He is participating in the competition, I am not, I am his family."

"Family? You don't look very old, is that brother?" the teacher wondered, and stood up to search for the medicine.

"Well, it's my cousin."

"I said why doesn't it look so similar." The teacher said with a smile, and handed the detumescence spray to Pei Shanqing, "The injury on the knee should not be wet for a few days. If you are at home, you can remove the gauze and use iodophor Disinfect the surrounding skin. There should be no fractures in the ankle, spray medicine twice a day, and take some painkillers if the pain is severe."

Pei Shanqing took the medicine and thanked the teacher. She waved her hand and said, "It's okay. You can go home after a short break. Try not to let him move around." After finishing speaking, the teacher packed up his belongings and went home from get off work.

Jiang Yubai bent his injured leg, leaned half on Pei Shanqing's body, and tried to move his ankle, but it still hurt.

Pei Shanqing sat down beside him, stretched out his hands to hold the soles of his feet, carefully inspected the swollen ankle, and asked seriously: "Is the infirmary in your school reliable? The swelling is so high, why don't you go to the hospital to see it?" .”

"It should be fine." Jiang Yubai turned his face halfway, and tugged on the little skirt on his body: "If you go to the hospital, I ask you to change your clothes first."

Pei Shanqing laughed, took his hand and joked, "What's the purpose of changing clothes? It's not ugly. Besides, wearing a skirt is convenient for changing dressings."

"It's the same with shorts." Jiang Yubai pressed his face against his arm, and said after a long time, "Forget it, you think it looks good, so be it."

"Why did you agree to compete with Cheng Guo? Like to wear skirts?" Pei Shanqing squeezed Jiang Yubai's fingers deliberately and asked deliberately.

Jiang Yubai was blunt, and made an excuse and said, "It's just a favor. The head teacher always said that I look like a girl, so it's okay to wear a skirt."

Pei Shanqing glanced at him up and down, and asked again: "Then why didn't you tell me? I didn't mention it when I sent you here in the morning, trying to hide it from me? If I didn't come today, who would you ask to hug you when you fell? Cheng Guo ?"

Jiang Yubai felt that his tone was wrong, so he lowered his head and said dejectedly, "I'm afraid I'm too confident, but I don't look good when I wear it. If you see it, you should think I'm ashamed."

"Then tell me, when did I dislike you and lose face?" Pei Shanqing sighed and said, "Why do you always miss me so much?"

"I don't know..." Jiang Yubai stretched out his arms to hug Pei Shanqing, and nestled into his arms, "Didn't you say that you don't raise stupid children? Am I stupid now?"

"I remember those useless ones clearly. Do you remember the other things I told you?" Pei Shanqing stepped back half a step, stretched out his hands to pinch his chin, and forced him to look up at himself, "I'm almost an adult Why are you worried that I hate you all day long?"

"I remember." Jiang Yubai said, and took the initiative to get closer to him, narrowing his narrow eyes slightly, "I remember everything you said."

The birds outside the window lightly landed on the branches. After a slight tremor, a green leaf floated down and was carried away by the wind.

"But I'm too scared. I'm afraid that everything you said is just a trick to deceive people. Now that I think about it, it may be because you are my brother, and I am always worried that you will leave me alone." Jiang Yubai resisted His forehead, eyes closed.

The camouflage that he had worked so hard for was wiped out at this moment, and everything turned into a soft request in the end——

"Pei Shanqing, can you stay with me instead of being my brother?"

Pei Shanqing's fingertips trembled, the strength in his hands suddenly relaxed, his puzzled eyes softened, and he used his palms to touch his chin, soothing him slowly like teasing a kitten, but he didn't answer his words directly.

"Jiang Yubai, when you first came, I was thinking, a teenage child, forced to be fostered by relatives, how can I treat you to get rid of your inferiority complex and resistance? Fortunately, you are still clingy, I don’t really contradict me, but now that I think about it, I was wrong.”

"what?"

"I always think that companionship can solve everything and eliminate all the pain that the past has brought you, but this is just watching from my perspective, which leads me to generalize and think that you are the same."

"No, I just simply like you to be with me."

"Hey, don't jump to conclusions." Pei Shanqing pinched the back of his neck lightly and said, "Have you heard of the Pygmalion effect?"

"Expectation effect? ​​Unconsciously accept hints to change to what others expect? Is this it?" Jiang Yubai asked.

"Yes." Pei Shanqing said, "I always let your petty temper go and coax you no matter how you mess around, so as to give you a hint: only by sticking to him like this can I get his liking. And my fault is The fault is, I shouldn't hold you firmly by my side just because I'm worried about you."

"It's hard to distinguish between love and liking when you're a teenager. Your feelings for me are nothing more than the dependence when you were young, which became deeper under the hint of getting along with each other for a long time. Over time, you have the illusion that you can only maintain this relationship if you get closer. ...Although it is cruel to say so, your so-called liking for me is just a kind of over-pleasing mentality in a state of being dependent on others, do you understand?"

"Pei Shanqing, can you stop saying that?" Jiang Yubai's eyes were sour, and it seemed extremely difficult to say simple words, "I just like you, and it has nothing to do with these."

"Hey, it's not that you like me, you just rely on me too much, so you want to stay by my side in this extreme way." Pei Shanqing said softly: "When you become an adult and have the ability to face it independently, you will Slowly get out of this complex."

Jiang Yubai pushed him away emotionally, struggling to jump out of bed, Pei Shanqing's words were like sharp blades, cutting through his two years of deceiving dreams, and completely negating all his feelings.

He wanted to escape from this place, hide back in his fantasy, and continue his dream.

Pei Shanqing hugged him quickly, held his ankle involuntarily, and said in a stern tone, "Don't move around."

Bursts of pain came from the wound, but it was not as bitter as the bitterness in his chest. Jiang Yubai closed his eyes again, and pressed his lips cautiously.

It was a kiss as light as a feather, ready to part, yet so heavy that it seemed all bets were on.

Jiang Yubai asked him: "What about you? What are your feelings for me?"