A Marshmallow: Chapter 10
Chapter 10: Crybaby
When Jiang Yan doesn't smile, he's like a textbook version of abstinence guy. No matter where he goes, he's a handsome guy that no one dares to approach, and I don't know how many girls' hearts he's broken.
But it just so happens that this cold-faced police officer has a pretty dimple just a centimeter away from the corner of his mouth. When he smiles, it's almost blinding and gentle enough to drown someone.
Gu An stood in front of Jiang Yan, her cheeks still warm, not daring to raise her head. But her mind was filled with barrage of thoughts:
'Wow, his dimple is so... so beautiful! Look at it! I really want to poke it...'
-
Three days later, in the evening, Gu Zhen returned from a business trip.
As soon as he opened the door, a large, unknown creature affectionately rushed up to him. Following the unknown creature was a small human cub, Gu An, whose eyes blinked without end as she looked at him.
Gu Zhen ruffled the fur of the German Shepherd with one hand and went to rub Gu An's head with the other. "How did my great nephew end up in our house?"
Gu An, pleasantly surprised, said, "You know Zaizai, too?"
Originally, she was worried that her brother wouldn't allow her to keep Zaizai at home and was thinking about how to persuade him to let her keep it.
It seemed that Zaizai was loved by everyone. When Gu Zhen saw him, it was as if he had met a kindred spirit.
Gu Zhen rubbed the German Shepherd's head, gentler than when he rubbed her head. "Yes, I know him."
"Then why do you call him your great nephew?"
Gu Zhen placed his black shoulder bag on the hallway cabinet and squatted down. The German Shepherd cub affectionately approached him once again.
He may look good, but there's always a hint of playfulness in his good looks. Hearing this, he smiled with a hidden meaning, "His dad is my comrade."
"Oh..." Gu An didn't think much of it. She just reached forward to touch Zaizai's fluffy head, her eyes curved with a smile. "Brother Jiang Yan said that when you're not at home, Zaizai can keep me company."
"What did you say?" Gu Zhen's pupils shook.
Did he have a hearing problem, or had Jiang Yan been possessed by someone else? How could he allow his precious godson to be a bodyguard for a little kid?
After a while, Gu Zhen stared at Gu An's innocent bangs and said with a meaningful tone, "Well, you've got some skills."
"Hehe." Gu An's eyes curved like crescent moons, and she laughed like a mischievous child.
After the 11th holiday, Jing City First High School's autumn sports event arrived as scheduled.
"Brother, are you coming to watch me play today? It starts at 4 in the afternoon!" Gu An, after finishing her breakfast and slinging her backpack, approached Gu Zhen with anticipation in her eyes, and her little tiger teeth protruded.
The First High School sports event had a dedicated parents' section.
Her own brother was so young! And so handsome!
Sitting among a group of parents, it was undoubtedly a stylish and prestigious place to be!
Gu Zhen reached out to ruffle her head. Other people's brothers would pat their heads, but her own brother was practically rubbing her bald.
His grip was too strong, and her head felt a bit dizzy. She only heard Gu Zhen speak with his usual teasing tone, "What's so interesting about a bunch of kids running around with a ball?"
Gu An's lips drooped, and her head hesitated, eventually turning to the person next to Gu Zhen, saying, "What about you, Brother Jiang Yan? Are you coming?"
She seemed to ask casually, but her hand unconsciously tugged at the backpack strap, like a primary school student waiting to be scolded, nervous and uneasy.
"Dream on?" Gu Zhen scoffed lightly. "Both your Jiang Yan brother and I are extremely busy."
Jiang Yan stared at Gu An's anxious, trembling eyelashes, lips slightly pursed.
Today, he had an outside assignment. If everything went smoothly, he could return to the office before lunch and take a two-hour break in the afternoon. If things didn't go well, he might not be back until midnight. It's better not to let her have false expectations about unpredictable matters.
Gu An, with her messy bangs, went out with her face scrunched up like a bitter melon, muttering softly as she walked, "Why can't he come? It's not like it's boring..."
Jiang Yan didn't respond. But elder brothers usually found such things boring, so how could he possibly come...
Life is not easy.
An An sighed.
-
In high school, the sports day atmosphere was no less festive than a holiday. High school students, confined to their four-square boxes, rushed to the sports field, a rare moment of relaxation.
The morning featured the opening ceremony and track events, while the afternoon was reserved for basketball matches. This year, a new addition was the girls' basketball game, which could be considered the most anticipated event of this sports day.
Gu An wore her own white short-sleeved shirt with a bright red jersey on top, holding a basketball with joy, thinking that this was the color of Shohoku High in "Slam Dunk."
"Wow! A real-life Haruko Akagi ?" Jiang Ning hooked her arm around Gu An's neck and ruffled her hair. "Why are you so adorable? Come to your big sister's embrace!"
Gu An had a short and round face, to the point that you couldn't see her bone structure, but her facial features were small, pure, and harmless, lacking any hint of aggressiveness, making people want to pat her head and pinch her cheeks.
Jiang Ning's compliments made Gu An feel a bit embarrassed, and she smiled, showing her small tiger teeth.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the referee's whistle marked the beginning of the game.
Being cute and able to play basketball, Gu An didn't clash with these two attributes, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
With fair skin, she particularly stood out in her red jersey. Her basketball shorts revealed slender and straight legs that seemed to glow under the indoor lighting.
"She's so short, but she can play basketball? Is she around 1.60 meters tall?"
"When she passes the ball with that small face, my heart flutters!"
"She's from Class Seven this semester, named Gu An, and everyone privately thinks she's the school's beauty."
In the parents' section of the sports field, a young man in a black jacket and black pants sat there. He had a cold and aloof temperament, with straight lips, which set him apart from the noisy surroundings.
[Gu Zhen: Take a few pictures for me.]
Jiang Yan opened the camera and casually took a few shots, paying no particular attention to the angles.
The blurry photos were sent across via the internet.
[Gu Zhen: Oh, wow! You're really talented!]
[Gu Zhen: You've made my sister look like a short-legged corgi, hahaha!]
In just a few minutes, Gu Zhen created an emoji.
Jiang Yan's lips curled, and he clicked "save."
In the first half of the game, Class Seven was leading by a significant margin.
During halftime, members of Class Three gathered together, frequently glancing in Gu An's direction.
"Nan Nan, their short defender is called Gu An."
The girl called "Nan Nan" turned to look, and countless boys surrounded Gu An, some even being school heartthrobs.
However, Gu An politely declined one by one, and in the end, she just sipped from her blue thermos, her face round and cute.
Jealousy began to spread like vines. Nan Nan's gaze turned cold, "Hmph, pretending to be cute."
In the second half, the competition heated up.
Just a few minutes later, the referee blew the whistle and signaled a foul.
The girl from Class Three, named Nan Nan, directly knocked down Gu An while dribbling the ball.
Gu An pushed herself up from the ground, feeling a sharp and intense pain in her palm, which was covered in a dense redness. That part had thin skin with no cushioning.
The audience was filled with parents and classmates, and she stood in the center of their sightlines, suddenly unsure of what to do.
In the midst of the noisy crowd, she heard footsteps approaching her side. Before she could turn around, a black jacket fell on her, and a familiar but cold scent enveloped her.
Just as she locked eyes with him, the next moment, her entire body felt weightless as she was lifted up around the waist.
In an instant, the sound of heartbeats drowned out all the noise, and Gu An's eyes widened in astonishment: "Jiang Yan... gege?"
Before her were his sharply defined jawline, and for the first time, she saw his profile from such a close distance, held in his embrace.
"Hmm." Jiang Yan's lips remained straight, and his remarkably handsome face seemed to be veiled in a thin layer of frost. Even though he rarely smiled, Gu An could still sense that he seemed somewhat angry.
She didn't know why he was angry, but her intuition told her it might be because of her, and she felt both guilty and fearful: "You, I mean, I can walk by myself..."
Jiang Yan's gaze swept over her reddened knees and the scraped elbow.
"Gu An," Jiang Yan lowered his eyes, his voice chilling, "Did you ask me to come here just to get yourself injured?"
He frowned and his breath fell lightly on her forehead as he spoke, "Stay put, don't move."
Gu An tightly clutched her left wrist with her right hand but still couldn't avoid touching his hair and the skin of his neck. Her palms had started to sweat.
His coat wrapped around her, probably to prevent any accidental exposure, or perhaps to avoid any contact between his arms and herself. He was wearing only a loose white T-shirt, his collarbone exposed with a hint of chiseled muscles below.
The pain in her knees and elbow seemed to be numbed as Gu An's face against Jiang Yan's shoulder slowly turned slightly red.
There weren't many people at the school infirmary, only one duty doctor.
The female doctor cleaned Gu An's wounds, "It's okay, just superficial scrapes. I'll give you some iodine, you can apply it yourself."
"Okay, thank you," Gu An replied obediently.
As the iodine was handed over, it was intercepted by someone on the way.
She sat on the chair, and Jiang Yan crouched in front of her.
From her perspective, she could only see his hair, which was different from others; his hair was very soft. She had accidentally touched it when he was holding her...
Long, slender, pale, cold fingers held a cotton swab and lightly touched her wound, causing a sharp, icy pain.
"Jiang Yan, did you take leave to come here?" Gu An sat on the chair, her fingers supporting her body on either side, trying to make small talk.
"Yeah."
Before the basketball game, he used all his rest time to practice with her. Now, was he disappointed?
She didn't know when he arrived, and she didn't know if he saw her fall. Every time in front of him, she felt embarrassed...
She didn't know how Class Seven was doing, and they didn't even have a substitute.
"I thought neither you nor brother would come."
Jiang Yan didn't respond. His long eyelashes drooped, and his lips were tightly pursed.
As if he couldn't smile or had never smiled before.
Gu An felt ashamed and self-blamed.
Her pent-up emotions burst out instantly because of Jiang Yan's cold face.
The cotton swab in Jiang Yan's hand was dipped in iodine, and his actions were unusually gentle.
He didn't care about the hundredfold or thousandfold more serious injuries on his own body.
Should they go to the hospital and get an X-ray?
Are the doctors at the school hospital reliable?
When he saw Gu An being deliberately knocked down, his handsome face, as cold as snow, showed a faint anger. At this moment, seeing her furrow her brows slightly because of the pain but still trying to endure it, Jiang Yan's beautiful and dark eyes were full of hostility.
"I'm sorry..." Gu An spoke softly, her voice filled with a restrained hint of a sob, "I've troubled you again..."
Tears dropped heavily on the back of his hand.
Jiang Yan was stunned.
"Why are you crying?" Only then did he raise his head to look at her, but his brow was furrowed.
Gu An felt even more wronged. Her tears fell, changing from big drops to sobs.
Jiang Yan had never had the experience of comforting a crying child before.
In the past, Jiang Ning cried, and he would simply bring her in front of his cousin.
"How can you stop crying?" Jiang Yan's voice involuntarily softened, and he gently wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, only to find more and more coming, "Hm?"
Gu An's eyelashes were misty, and she whimpered pitifully, "There's a way... too..."
"Uh, big brother is listening." Jiang Yan stood up and placed the iodine on the table, looking down at the tearful little girl in front of him.
The little girls who were once captivated by Jiang Yan's charm didn't know how many tears were shed in the Jing City Public Security Bureau.
Jiang Ning, who was often verbally attacked by Jiang Yan back then, didn't know how many times she cried loudly until she was out of breath.
If one were to see the scene before them, it's hard to say how they would feel.
Gu An sniffled, slowly calming her emotions, muttering without looking at him, "Then, show me your dimples..."
A smile would make him seem less cold.
Today, Jiang Yan seemed really stern.
She summoned her courage, her fingers clenched into a fist, knuckles turning white. "I just want to see your dimples."
Jiang Yan didn't hear clearly. "What?"
Gu An quickly extended her finger, poking at the corner of his mouth, "The little dimple right here."
Her voice grew softer but determined, "I want to see it."
Jiang Yan had spent four years in the police academy and three years in the force, facing criminals and life-and-death situations amidst a hail of bullets.
He had never imagined that one day he'd have to deal with a child who could make him smile and want to cry.
In front of him, the child's eyes were wide, staring without blinking, full of cautious anticipation, both cute and pitiful.
"Alright, little crybaby," he said, with a tone of indulgence he was unaware of.
He looked at her, his eyes clear and bright like beautiful glass marbles.
His lips curled up slowly, revealing the dimple she loved so much.
Gu An knew he was handsome.
But she didn't know that he was especially so when he smiled at people.
"Did you see it clearly?" He asked, a hint of irritation in his tone.
Classmate Gu An, who was captivated by beauty and had successfully forgotten to cry, had long been stunned.
Jiang Yan, seeing her remain silent, bent down closer.
He was tall and thin, and now, with his hands in his pockets, he leaned forward.
The slender gaps in his eyes were filled with a clear light, the corners of his eyes were curved, forming an upward arc.
The shallow dimples at the corners of his mouth were stunning to the point of being dazzling.
A few days ago, Gu An unintentionally learned that this type of eye shape, with its inward hook and outward curl, seemed to be called "peach blossom eyes." They were so close that his long, distinct eyelashes seemed like they could sweep directly onto her heart.
She just wanted to see him smile and not be scary with a cold face.
But she didn't expect him to actually bend down and show her his dimples...
Gu An blushed and her heart raced. Behind her was the wall of the school hospital, and she could only move back a little at a time, pushing her little head back, saying, "Okay, I see it clearly now..."
Clearly, she wanted to see him smile, but now her eyelashes dodged and she refused to look up.
Jiang Yan bent down to meet her gaze, and when he lowered his eyelashes, they were like raven feathers.
"It hurts, but you still want your big brother to comfort you."
In the silent air, the man's voice was exceptionally cold, but the dimples at the corners of his lips displayed a gentleness he had never shown before.
"Are you a little kid?"
-
Note:
See the type of eye shapes and their names from the photo below. (The illustration was from @zeldacw in twitter)
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