Chapter 20.2
Editor: Jodi
Ning Sheng took his clothes off then soaked comfortably in Xu Ling’s family’s small wooden tub.
“Don’t splash water in my eyes.” Ning Sheng told Xu Ling. “It hurts.”
Xu Ling had just taken a wooden ladle to splash water on him, but when he heard this, he poured it over his head immediately.
Ning Sheng: “……”
“Why are you so annoying!” He snatched the ladle, eyes shut tight, water dripping from his wet hair, then he wiped his eyes and splashed Xu Ling with a ladleful of water.
“You asked me to help you wash. If you don’t use water, are you dry cleaning?” Xu Ling asked him.
“Are you two having a Water Festival in there?!” Xu Ling’s mom knocked on the door, “Come out now!”
“Ning Ning, I’ve washed your clothes.” Xu Ling’s mom said from outside. “You’ll wear Little Bell’s tonight.”
Ning Sheng: “Who wants to wear his!”
The two of them were both in fourth grade, but Xu Ling was already much taller than his peers, outgrowing clothes quickly.
So wearing Xu Ling’s pajamas, the sleeves and pants were too long for Ning Sheng, making him look even smaller in the mirror.
“Ning Ning needs to eat more. You look like a little dumpling now.” Then Xu Ling’s mom said, “You two, hang the clothes to dry, then off to bed.”
Xu Ling, carrying a basin of clothes, led Ning Sheng to the yard.
The clothesline was high up, so Xu Ling stepped on a chair to reach it, then handed Ning Sheng a few hangers.
“Can you hang them?” Xu Ling asked him.
Ning Sheng: “Do I look like an idiot to you?”
He picked the clothes up from the basin, hung them on hangers, then lifted them for Xu Ling to place on the clothesline.
“Clothes need to be spread out and smoothed.” Xu Ling rearranged the clothes. “Otherwise, they’ll dry all wrinkled.”
Xu Ling: “Can you or can you not do the job?”
Ning Sheng: “I can kick your dog head like a ball.”
“Oh, I’m so scared.” Xu Ling poked him with a hanger.
Ning Sheng was pushed back a meter.
And when he looked down, he recognized his own clothes. The sleeve, previously torn by a branch, now had an inconspicuous patch sewn on it. He stared at it, somewhat dazed.
What had been dirty and tattered, in Xu Ling’s mom’s hands, had become beautiful again.
Xu Ling took the clothes from him, wrung out the water, stretched them out neatly, and hung them properly.
Looking up, Ning Sheng saw a row of neatly hung clothes under the moonlight, his and Xu Ling’s side by side, as if holding hands.
“Let’s go.” Xu Ling reached out and put his hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go and sleep.”
“Your hand is damp, don’t touch me!” Ning Sheng pulled away.
Sitting on the edge of Xu Ling’s bed, he watched as Xu Ling brought an old electric fan into the room.
“This is noisy.” He told him.
“It would be too hot without it.” Xu Ling plugged the fan in, and when it started whirring, he said, his voice trembling, “Ning Ning.”
“Childish, I might as well go home for the air conditioning.” Ning Sheng turned over, pulled the blanket over himself, and fell asleep.
Xu Ling adjusted the direction of the fan to prevent it from blowing directly on Ning Sheng’s head before getting into bed himself.
The next morning at 7, Ning Sheng kicked the soundly sleeping Xu Ling awake.
Xu Ling: “A grudge from last night?”
“Am I that petty!” Ning Sheng said, “Get dressed, we have violin practice today, no slacking, and no lunch if you don’t practice fifty times.”
Xu Ling: “……”
In the end, because he was being taught by a top violin teacher and with Ning Sheng’s supervision, over the years, Xu Ling had broken several violins but also learned many pieces and had began to play quite well.
Melodious violin sounds came from the study, causing Ning Sheng’s lips to curve contentedly.
Xu Ling, holding the bow, tilted his head slightly, playing along with the teacher, softening his usual wildness.
Teaching the little devil king to play the violin was the right choice.
I’m really too excellent. Ning Sheng thought to himself.
Then he heard talking in the living room. His grandmother was on the phone with someone and curious, he listened in.
“En, Ning Ning is recovering very well.” Ning Sheng’s grandmother said on the phone. “He can walk normally now and even runs a little when he’s playing and happy.”
“I just heard him say he’s learned to climb trees recently, although I think he’s just bragging, hahaha.”
“….En, yes, he’s become much more cheerful than before.”
“En? You guys want to take him back? I wouldn’t recommend it. I think the environment for his recovery is very important.”
“….. You could come and see him first then decide.”
Ning Sheng: “….”
He remembered this a little.
In his previous life, just before middle school, when his body had recovered enough for him to stand and walk, his parents took him back to S City to continue his studies.
But now, he was only in the fourth grade. Because the little devil king had been dragging him around for wild adventures, his recovery process had sped up.
This wouldn’t do. He didn’t want to go back.
He hadn’t had enough fun yet, and Xu Ling hadn’t “bloomed” fully yet. He didn’t want to go back for middle school, he wanted to grow up with Xu Ling.
Rushing into the storage room, he dusted his wheelchair off, sat down, then wheeled himself back to the living room.
After finishing the phone call, his grandmother turned around and saw her grandson sitting in the wheelchair.
His grandmother: “?”
His grandmother: “What’s wrong?”
“I suddenly can’t feel my legs.” Ning Sheng told her.
His grandmother: “…..”
Read without ads and unlock a total of up to 110 advanced chapters with coins or Patreon
Please kindly turn off the adblock, thank you