Ruan Ruan, Let Go (2)

Could it be possible that he only needed a close friend, just like in his previous life, and it was enough for them to drink and chat merrily and casually meet like before? For someone as cold and arrogant as him, would he think a gentleman’s friendship was like water*, and such an intimate relationship was actually a bit vulgar?

*T/N: A gentleman’s friendship is like water: not demanding, coercive, jealous, or clingy to each other. Therefore, in the eyes of ordinary people, it is as pale as white water.

What if, then? If that were the case, what should he do?

It would be okay… As long as Qin Yuan could remain by his side, Ruan Qingmu would do whatever his boyfriend wanted.

It would be best to have a tacit understanding that no one else could interfere with and be intimate lovers. But if Qin Yuan didn’t like it, he could carefully hide his feelings, put away his desire to kiss him every day, and be an ordinary friend watching him from afar.

***

Qin Yuan dashed to the cliff and called out loud, “Xiao-Quan, where’s Miao Miao? Is she down there too?”

Xiao-Siquan whimpered and cried, “She and I came here to take pictures. When I fell, she went to look for people. Gege, you didn’t see her?”

Qin Yuan’s heart abruptly sank. “How long has she been gone?”

Xiao-Siquan, disoriented by the cold, cried out, “Seems to be an hour already… she told Xiao-Zhuang and me to wait here…”

Qin Yuan was even more appalled. No, as long as one walked in the right direction, It wasn’t so far between here and the resort. If Miao Miao had gone out, then the adults outside who Miao Miao had informed should have already come to search for them.

The most likely scenario was that the little girl was lost too. It wasn’t just Xiao-Siquan waiting to get rescued. There were now two people whose lives were in danger.

“Siquan, don’t be afraid. Gege is here. I can definitely save you. Can you tell me the circumstances around you? I can’t see clearly from here.”

Xiao-Siquan kept hugging the tree, terrified of what was below. Her strength was so severely lost that her voice was weak. “Beside me is a tree, growing on the mountain wall… I’m hugging it, bu-but it seems to be making sounds.”

The tree trunk was not thick and she was fortunate to have landed between several branches that crossed together to hold her, but the weight would not hold her for long. As she spoke, another branch beneath her cracked.

“Ahh! It broke again…” Xiao Siquan screamed, her voice muffled with sobs. “Gege, will I fall? Am I going to die…”

Qin Yuan was anxious and his whole body was lying on the mountain’s edge. “Xiao-Quan, don’t be afraid. Gege is here and absolutely won’t let anything happen to you! Why don’t you try to see if there’s any thicker branch around you?”

“Huhu, no… I can’t see clearly.”

Qin Yuan’s heart was in turmoil as he tried his best to calm down.

He turned and climbed to his feet, grabbed the little mute beside him, stared hard into his eyes, and pointed toward where he had come from. “Return again and look for people. Find your Ruan-gege and tell him to bring people, understand?”

Other people might not understand what the little mute meant, but his Ruan Ruan would undoubtedly understand!

The little mute looked into his eyes. In the moonlight, his eyes seemed to be very wise.

Qin Yuan couldn’t be bothered to study his eyes anymore and nudged him again. “Go, hurry up! Everything depends on you!”

The little mute looked at him silently, finally turned around, and pulled his legs up to run frantically toward where he had come from once again. He fell and got up again, determined and hurrying as if he was even more frightened than he had been a moment ago.

Qin Yuan watched him go away before returning to the hill’s edge. “Xiao-Quan, how is it over there?”

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness on this side, he finally located the pale yellow patch of his sister’s body in the middle of the dark, identifying her approximate location.

It was about two or three meters from the top of the hill where he was and there was no way to get to her without any tools.

But the place where Xiao-Siquan wasn’t the tree’s main trunk.

Not far away, there was the thicker main trunk sticking out diagonally and it looked much sturdier.

“Gege… gege, don’t go.” Xiao-Siquan was so scared that she sniffled and started crying.

“Xiao-Quan, you’re a brave girl, right?” Qin Yuan said softly. “You said it before that you wanted to be like your class monitor, learning boxing and beating the bad boys into crying.”

“Mm… I’m not afraid.”

“Now, listen to gege. Slowly move to the left and grab that tree trunk over there.” Qin Yuan’s voice was gentle yet firm, with a strength that screamed reassurance. “Gege can see it from here. As long as you grab onto it, you will be all right. Don’t worry!”

Xiao-Siquan answered and moved over there with trepidation, but as soon as her body moved, several of the small branches holding her broke off with a snap!

“Ahhh! I can’t. The branches are going to break.” The little girl was too frightened to move, her arms stiffly clinging to a few unstable tree branches, already losing more and more strength. “Gege, I can’t hug it anymore. I’m going to fall…”

The mountain was silent and the snapping branches sounded like a life-threatening drumbeat that struck Qin Yuan’s heart, making his heart burn with anxiety.

“Xiao-Quan, can you hug the tree with strength? You have to do this.” He tried his best to relax his tone. “Ruan-gege and Dad will come soon. Don’t be anxious.”

It was too late. Siquan could fall at any moment.