Showbiz Scandal: The Official Announcement of My Ex and Myself-Chapter 245: I’ll Carry You on My Back

Xie Qingci grabbed her.

"Don’t rush, get the full story."

He bent down and asked the elderly man, "Excuse me, is this road the shortest one? Can we ride bicycles on it?"

The elderly man spoke slowly, "If you want to take the shortest route, you can’t ride a bike. The riverbank is full of stones, it’s not possible. If you want to ride, take another route, detour to the highway exit, then go up the mountain from the other side. It’ll take you an extra half hour."

Xie Qingci stood up and looked at Yu Xia, "We can’t ride bikes."

Yu Xia gritted her teeth, "Then we’ll walk, and leave the bikes somewhere."

Luckily, she was wearing sneakers; if she were like Ling Luo, today’s trip would have been difficult.

Having made up their minds, the two went to store their bikes, shouldered their backpacks, and made their way from the bridge down to the riverbank.

This riverbank was vast, extending into the distance on both sides, with no end in sight.

They needed to head downstream to the right; the uneven pebbles hurt their feet, and after just a few steps, the soles of their feet began to ache.

Yu Xia frowned, didn’t say anything, and continued to endure, keeping up with Xie Qingci’s pace.

But if that wasn’t troublesome enough, there was another issue.

Some of the pebbles on the riverbank were dark, likely due to being soaked during a previous high tide, leaving deep-colored moss that was quite slippery.

As soon as Yu Xia stepped on one, she slipped and fell heavily to the ground, her legs and lower back hitting the rocks, hurting so much she almost swore.

Xie Qingci turned and tried to grab her, but missed, and saw her fall painfully in front of him. He hurried to her side, squatted down, tightly knitted his brows, wanting to help her but unsure of where she was hurting, reaching out a couple of times but not touching her.

"How are you doing, where did you get hurt? Does it hurt a lot, can you stand up?"

Yu Xia waved her hand, unable to speak.

After the pain subsided a bit, she finally said, "I’m okay, these rocks have moss, super slippery."

Xie Qingci helped her up, then turned his back to her and squatted down again.

"Come on, I’ll carry you."

Yu Xia refused, limping around to the side.

"No need, we have to hurry. It’s just a fall, not like I can’t walk. Let’s go, let’s go."

She’d already walked a few steps ahead, and Xie Qingci had no choice, sighed softly, got up, and continued walking, quickly passing her, then said in a low voice, "Follow where I step, it’ll be easier."

This was agreeable, she nodded, and started following his footprints.

Wherever he walked, she’d follow, stepping in the same spot, like a child having fun.

Xie Qingci glanced back at her every now and then, seeing her obediently stepping in his footprints, he felt relieved and continued forward.

Even without much contact or eye contact, their independent yet coordinated efforts exuded a warm harmony.

After walking quite a stretch, the river forked, and the water in the channel became shallower. There were also people by the bank turning over rocks, looking for crabs.

Yu Xia, enduring the pain, shaded her eyes from the sun with her hand, looking across the river.

On the other side stretched a long low mountain, sparsely dotted with buildings.

"Is that the place?" she asked, wiping sweat from her nose.

Xie Qingci said, "Should be."

The group of aunts searching for crabs had long since stood watching the two newcomers, along with three half-grown children staring at them, eventually breaking into smiles, whispering amongst themselves, likely talking about her and Xie Qingci.

She flashed a friendly smile, cheerfully asking the nearest aunt, "Auntie, may I ask, is the Pingzhang Folk Museum over there?"

The auntie nodded, "Pingzhang Folk? Yes, it’s across there, up on that mountain, the entrance fee is just ten yuan."

"Can we wade across from here directly? Or do we have to detour?"

Auntie: "You can, the water here is always shallow. If we cross, we just wade across, it’s a lot closer."

A kid about eleven or twelve walked to the middle of the river to show them, "Not deep at all, the deepest part only reaches here."

He gestured to his knees.

"Around my mid-calf," Xie Qingci said as he began to take off his shoes.

Yu Xia quickly followed suit, just undoing the bow of her shoelace, when Xie Qingci stopped her.

His expression was calm, precisely making his words resolute, leaving no room for negotiation.

"The river water is still cold, and the stones in the middle are very slippery, I’ll carry you across."

Yu Xia looked up at him, "Is that really necessary? I’m not that delicate, plus you still have your backpack."

He rolled up his pant legs, revealing sturdy calves, then swung his backpack around to his chest, kneeling in front of her.

"It’s fine. Or, Sister Yu Xia, would you rather carry me?"

"... Fine, then it’s up to little brother to take on the trouble."

She cautiously climbed onto his back, arms hooking onto his shoulders as Xie Qingci stood upright, her view suddenly elevated.

Suppressing a gasp that almost escaped her throat, she silently chided herself for overreacting.

Come to think of it, even after all this time, Xie Qingci had never carried her. For one thing, there were few occasions that called for it in their usual interactions. For another, their interactions typically avoided others, more like sneaky moments. With little time spent together, such opportunities almost never arose.

Xie Qingci carried her steadily into the water, his tone indifferent, "You can hold onto the straps of the backpack on my shoulders."

His hands only barely held her under her knees, fists clenched, palms not touching her legs.

Yu Xia quickly responded, "Oh oh," climbing up a bit, almost bumping her forehead against the back of his head.

As she wondered why his behavior was so noncommittal, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Xie Qingci’s ears tremble slightly, likely touched by her breath when she spoke.

Yu Xia stared intently.

His ears were a little red, though she wasn’t sure if it was from walking for so long or something else entirely. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

She felt an itch in her heart, and as he walked into the deeper part, she pretended to inadvertently brush past his ear, saying, "Be careful, the stones in the water must be even slipperier."

While speaking, she kept a close eye on his ear.

Sure enough, it trembled again!

Damn, that’s too cute! Not only is his skin tender, but his ears even twitch; was he really born the wrong gender?

She pursed her lips, holding back laughter, and chattered on, "So, is the water cold? I suppose the river in March hasn’t warmed up yet, right? Am I heavy? I told you I don’t need to be carried; revealing my weight is so awkward."

Xie Qingci gave her a little bounce upwards, answering one of her questions.

"You’re not heavy."

"Haha, I knew it, youngsters eat so much, who knew — turns out they’re quite strong, despite looking skinny!"

Clearly improvising to fill the silence, Xie Qingci probably realized what she was up to, but ear twitching is an involuntary response. He couldn’t control it, resigned to her toying.

The comments once again misinterpreted their behavior.

[Clearly see Yu Xia’s awkwardness and the constant small talk]

[Xie Qingci looks so tough when not smiling, truly reliable man!]

[Showing gentlemanly behavior helping a lady... right?]

[Must have been a hard fall for Yu Xia earlier, kudos to her for not complaining, especially compared to Ling Luo next door, who’s been whining so much that Luo Sheng looks stressed]

[Little brother is so doting on his sister!]