A Marshmallow: Chapter 17
Chapter 17: Wait until she falls asleep
"Come here, let big brother hold you."
Jiang Yan extended his hand to her, and the dazzling lights of the amusement park gathered behind him, like a prince stepping out of a fairy tale.
Absolutely unparalleled in beauty, causing all onlookers to pale instantly.
Gu An took a deep breath to steady her racing heart and thought slowly, 'You're so good-looking that it's almost unfair to me. Do you even realize it?'
Jiang Yan, without showing any emotion, surveyed Gu An's current position.
The young girl sat on the carousel, clinging to the pole like a lifeline, huddled into a small ball, resembling an abandoned child with no one to take her home.
He pursed his lips, facing an unexpected challenge.
...How should he hold her?
The amusement park staff began to clear the area. Gu An thought it was no big deal and said heroically, "Come on!"
Jiang Yan hesitated for a moment, then saw Gu An releasing the railing and reaching out to him, with her arms open, like a kindergarten child waiting for a hug from a parent.
Her porcelain doll-like face turned bright red, even her ears and neck changed color, and her eyes avoided looking at him.
With all her courage, Gu An managed to say those two words. She felt as if the air had been sucked out of her body, and she began to visibly deflate.
Hurry up and hold me!
She wrinkled her little eyebrows in distress.
Otherwise, I'm going to start feeling shy!
Just then, the person in front of her approached, and his scent overwhelmed her. The dazzling lights disappeared behind him, and his clean, handsome features were just inches away.
His hand gently landed on her lower back, and with a slight effort, he lifted her off the carousel, holding her like you would hold a child.
With her height, he was relatively lower, so when she held onto his neck, it looked even more like a child cuddling into his arms. Gu An tightly grasped her own left wrist with her right hand, her chin resting on Jiang Yan's clean and cool neck.
The feeling of weightlessness was brief, but the cool and pleasant scent, the warmth of his neck, and the sensation of his stubble against her ear lingered for a while.
The world seemed to suddenly quiet down, the night became serene and sweet, and the starlight sparkled wherever her gaze fell.
It wasn't until her feet touched the ground, and the sensation of weightlessness vanished that she regained her senses. Her face still felt warm, and she looked at Jiang Yan in a daze.
Jiang Yan reached out to touch the back of her head. "Did I startle you?"
Gu An, not fully recovered from the unexpected hug, took a while to respond. Her cheeks had cooled down by now, and she spoke in a small, almost inaudible voice, "Big brother, am I heavy?"
It was a mosquito-like buzzing sound, her soft voice muffled in her throat. Jiang Yan was tall, so he had to bend down to bring his face closer to her ear.
Gu An was defenseless against his sudden closeness. With him right in front of her, she noticed his pale, slightly slender jawline, and his eyelashes were as dense as feathers. "What did you say, big brother couldn't hear."
"Am I, heavy...?" Gu An continued, seemingly becoming interested in her pineapple-shaped crossbody bag. Her head was almost tucked into her neck, and she looked down, avoiding eye contact.
Oh no, I should've gone easy on snacks today... This way, it feels like I'm slightly underweight...
She heard a chuckle accompanied by a sigh with a hint of laughter.
As she raised her head, she saw Jiang Yan's eyes slightly curved, a smile spreading from the corners of his eyes to his lips, and the shallow dimples were exceptionally charming.
"Why are you laughing?" Gu An asked.
Jiang Yan lowered his gaze to her as Gu An walked, hands clasped behind her back, exhibiting a somewhat veteran demeanor. Her baby face looked stern as she surveyed the surroundings, everything but him. But her mouth didn't stop:
"If you think I'm heavy, it's because I had three custard buns and a large glass of milk for breakfast, then I had mochi, sticky rice cakes, and hot pot for lunch. I got tired from playing just now, and didn't I let you buy a large cola for me..."
Gu An's mouth twitched, and she added, "I drank it all in one breath!"
She blinked her round eyes and chattered on.
Very noisy, but very cute.
Suddenly, in front of him, a furry, adorable head emerged. The owner of the head asked him seriously, "So, do you understand what I mean?"
Jiang Yan lowered his gaze, and his eyes sparkled with a pure, bright smile. "Hm?"
Wasn't that "hm" a bit too indulgent? Gu An gently touched the innocent little ears that had been electrified. Her fingers held the strap of the pineapple crossbody bag. "So, I'm not heavy. It's the food I ate that's heavy."
"I'm serious!" Jiang Yan was genuinely amused this time.
His eyes curved smoothly, the corners of his eyes lifting tenderly, sparkling in a fraction of his clean, bright gaze.
He looked like a carefree and bright young man, with shallow dimples at the corners of his mouth, filled with gentleness.
It turned out that Jiang Yan, who was forbidding and icy when not smiling, transformed into someone even more alluring when he did smile. He was stunning in a soul-stirring way.
Gu An blushed and her heart raced, completely disoriented by the handsome face, until the handsome guy bent down in front of her, propped his hand on his knee, and looked at her.
Jiang Yan asked, "Gu An, how old are you this year?"
Gu An replied nervously, "I'm seventeen, what's wrong?"
He gazed at her with eyes that were long and gentle, like raven feathers.
Further down, his nose was as straight as a blade, and the curve at the corner of his lips seemed somewhat helpless.
His hand smoothed over her hair at the top, a stark contrast to the way Gu Zhen ruffled her hair as if wanting to make it stand on end. His touch was very gentle.
He straightened up, his voice clear and cold but with a hint of a smile. "But how does big brother feel like you're still a child?"
The little girl was completely dumbfounded.
Who could resist this? From the amusement park to home, it was very close, and it was a direct ride on Metro Line 3. Gu An sat obediently all the way, her hands placed neatly on her knees, her shoulders straight, as if practicing military posture.
Some people and scenes were just too much to contemplate.
Thinking about it made her heart feel like it was going to explode...
Back at home in the evening, she rushed back to her small attic and cautiously recalled all the images of the day, like flipping through her favorite picture book.
She took out her sketchpad.
Jiang Yan was shooting with a gun.
Jiang Yan's image of holding her down from the carousel.
Jiang Yan bent down to look at her and said, "Why do you always look like a little kid?"
The last picture had a round, handwritten wish list, listing:
Boyfriend
Holding hands
Kisses
Hugs
After "hugs," there was an exuberant checkmark, indicating a goal achieved.
She put away her sketchbook and dove into the soft, fluffy blanket, with a starry galaxy outside the arched window.
Every time she thinks of him, she draws a comic strip.
Would she be able to turn this person into a boyfriend when the little boys and girls in her comics were together?
-
The next day, Jiang Ning asked Gu An to come out to discuss emotional issues. Girls their age, despite having little romantic experience, often felt like relationship experts due to their surroundings.
They met at a dessert shop popular with elementary school kids. Jiang Ning ordered two servings of brown sugar pearl ice cream, and from a distance, she spotted Gu An. She was wearing a simple yellow T-shirt and a denim pinafore skirt, with a pineapple-shaped crossbody bag, looking like a walking marshmallow.
Marshmallow, with a puzzled expression on her face, had a chubby round face that was so white it shone.
Coming from a military and police family, Jiang Ning might look like a girl on the outside, but inside, she was quite manly. When she saw someone as cute as Gu An, her protective instincts kicked in like, "Cuddle, cuddle, cuddle."
So when she heard that Gu An had a crush on someone—
Her first reaction was, "Could she be getting scammed?"
The second was, "Is my precious little cabbage, whom I've protected so diligently, going to be snatched away by some lucky pig?"
And finally... she wanted to beat up that pig.
When Gu An saw the brown sugar pearl ice cream, her eyes went wide, and she couldn't help but swallow her saliva.
Yes! Pearls! Ah!
It had been a whole ten months since she'd last enjoyed those shiny and plump pearls!
Just looking at them, you could tell they were soft, chewy, and elastic!
Not to mention the layer of brown sugar on top!
And beneath that was the rich, creamy ice cream!
Oh, this was a heavenly combination!
"I can't eat pearls." Gu An reluctantly pushed her ice cream in front of Jiang Ning. She couldn't afford to take her eyes off it for even a minute. One extra look, and she'd want to claim it as her own. "Take all the pearls away! Take them away!"
She looked as if she were facing a mortal enemy.
Jiang Ning couldn't understand but still did as she was told. "But didn't you used to love pearls the most?"
"Well," Gu An said solemnly, "I prayed at the temple before, wishing for my brother and that person's safety year after year, and vowed never to drink milk tea or eat pearls again."
How much she liked it mattered a lot.
Only willing to trade with something I like the most.
Jiang Ning scooped out the pearls and pushed the ice cream back in front of Gu An. "Did you have fun yesterday?"
The young girl across the table instantly brightened her eyes, even more than when she saw the brown sugar pearls. Her little fangs happily peeked out. "Yes!"
Jiang Ning was charmed by this and was about to reach out and pinch her cheek when Gu An furrowed her brows again. "But... I think he's like taking care of a child."
"Can you give an example?"
"When he talks to me, he bends down, and his tone is like he's talking to a little kid..." Gu An scratched her head, looked at Jiang Ning, and continued, "He even asked me why I always act like a kid..."
"That's how it should be!" Jiang Ning put down the ice cream in her hand. "It shows that he's a well-balanced policeman! If he really looks as good as you say, and he's so gentle, if he wanted to deceive you, a snap of his fingers would be enough."
Jiang Ning's good impression of the pig that brought her little white cabbage skyrocketed.
"The carousel was broken, and he carried me down, using this spot..." Gu An pointed at her wrist. "He rested his wrist on my waist, without even touching me..."
"Good-looking, tall, gentle, and tactful," Jiang Ning widened his eyes. "What a perfect man! Does he have any single friends?"
Hearing her good friend praise the person she liked, Gu An couldn't help but smile.
"Grow up quickly, baby, age is the only problem."
Gu An clenched her fists silently, making "Chasing Jiang Yan" the first thing on her to-do list after growing up.
After finishing their ice cream, with nothing else to do, Jiang Ning suggested, "How about going to the movies?"
Gu An nodded and followed eagerly.
Standing in front of the cinema, Jiang Ning analyzed for Gu An, "You see, if you watch those romantic movies now, you might end up thinking about that person more and more, which will make you even sadder. So, we won't watch a romance film!"
Gu An nodded absentmindedly, almost as if she had "I'm easy to deceive" written on her face.
"How about a horror movie? It seems exciting, and the reviews are pretty good! What's the solution to sorrow? Only horror movies! Let's go!"
At seven in the evening, the first thing Gu An did when she got home, with the company of the German Shepherd, was to turn on all the lights she could. But when it actually started to get dark, her heart inevitably reached her throat.
She huddled on the sofa, wrapping herself tightly in a small blanket, and sent a WeChat message to Gu Zhen: "Brother, when are you coming home?"
The response from the other side added to her distress: "Late at night."
Outside the window, the sky had turned completely dark. The sound of the wind and cicadas seemed eerie in her eyes. The TV seemed to hide unspeakable things, and even looking at the mirror in the bathroom, she kept her eyes closed.
Just then, everything in front of her suddenly went pitch black.
What do they say about "misfortunes never come singly"!
I swear, you just want to scare me, little Gu An!
The scenes from the movie she had watched with Jiang Ning at the cinema that afternoon played back in her mind frame by frame at double speed, giving her goosebumps. She felt a chilling breeze, as if something was lurking nearby.
The scenes from the afternoon when Jiang Ning and I held hands at the movies were now replaying in my mind frame by frame at 0.5x speed. A chill ran down her spine, and she felt an eerie presence.
Oh no, I'm never watching horror movies again!
Gu An tightly clutched a small blanket, not daring to get off the couch to find a candle in fear of bumping into something in the dark. She curled her lips into a pout and buried her head deep in her arms.
After a while, she dozed off on the couch. The sound of the door lock turning woke her up. Gu An instantly looked towards the door, alert like a startled cat.
Her eyes couldn't focus well, and her mind was still in a fog. She saw a tall, slender silhouette entering the room, standing in the darkness, gazing at her. Gu An suddenly found it hard to catch her breath.
"Why aren't you sleeping in your room?"
The voice of the silhouette was soothing, yet cold, and very familiar.
Gu An felt like crying, her voice trembling as she replied, "I went to see a horror movie with my classmates during the day..."
Jiang Yan frowned, "Why did you watch a horror movie?"
Gu An sighed as if it was a matter of great importance, "I was feeling down and needed a distraction."
"Why were you feeling down?" Jiang Yan prodded, but Gu An suddenly couldn't find the words to explain.
Because the person I like doesn't like me, he only sees me as a kid. Because I'm younger than him, but I can't ask him directly if he can wait for me to grow up a little bit more.
Jiang Yan lit a candle, casting a dim light in the room.
He approached her, and his voice softened involuntarily, "It's late; you should go to sleep."
Gu An wrinkled her little face and looked at him with puppy eyes, "I don't want to."
"Why not?" Jiang Yan asked.
"To go to sleep, I have to wash up, but the bathroom has a mirror! In the movie, that ghost came out of the mirror..." Her voice grew softer, and her cute little nose quivered.
She huddled in the corner of the couch, making her seem even smaller, with the blanket up to her nose, leaving only a pair of moist eyes timidly gazing at him.
Jiang Yan rubbed his nose, a mixture of amusement and helplessness in his expression.
Then there was Gu An, brushing her teeth and washing her face, occasionally striking up a conversation with him in between.
Jiang Yan leaned against the door with his arms crossed, using his phone as a light for her, but his eyes politely looked away.
Gu An finished her routine, wiped her little face clean with a towel. Jiang Yan lowered his gaze and quietly asked, "Can you go to sleep now?"
He spoke in a gentle tone, and in the soft yellow light, his features appeared delicate.
Only his eyes remained distinctive, with a clear, black-and-white contrast.
"Do you know how scary that horror movie was? My classmate didn't count after watching it, and she even invited me to watch a documentary about real paranormal experiences..." She said, her voice trembling as if she was scaring herself once again.
Finally, Gu An walked to the bedside, neatly covering the thin blanket and pulling it up to her chin. Jiang Yan sat in the hanging chair next to her bed.
After the little girl lay down, she was initially flat on her back, but she gradually turned towards his direction.
Jiang Yan found it amusing. "Do you need a bedtime story?"
Was there such a good thing?
Gu An's big, timid eyes immediately lit up.
Suddenly, she felt a bit fortunate that the power was out, thankful that she had listened to a few ghost stories that had almost scared her out of her wits. She smiled with a hint of sweetness at the corner of her mouth and her voice softened. "Yes!"
Jiang Yan, within arm's reach, had a voice like a deep cannon, clean and cold, with a touch of youthfulness. He could definitely excel as a voice actor, perfectly suited to dub the noble young men in ancient novels.
Then, she heard Jiang Yan, using his cool and pleasant voice, gently ask, "Do you want to hear about a dismemberment case or a mysterious disappearance?"
Gu An couldn't help but imagine horrifying scenes, and her mouth couldn't stop chattering, like peas shooting out, "No, no, no..."
"In that case, go to sleep."
"Oh..."
The cicadas outside sang in waves, and the moonlight was gentle.
Because the person she liked was right there, the air surrounding her seemed sweet.
Gu An closed her eyes.
She was about to leave for training soon.
She wouldn't be able to see this person anymore.
When she returned, would Gu Zhen suddenly tell her that he had a girlfriend?
Would he speak to his girlfriend in an especially gentle tone?
Would he spoil her? He already took such good care of his friend's sister.
As she thought about it, Gu An suddenly felt a surge of uncontrollable sadness.
So, following her innermost desires, she opened her eyes.
Taking advantage of the darkness, she blatantly gazed at Jiang Yan's profile.
The faint moonlight outlined his cold, slender figure.
His slightly sunken eye sockets, high eyebrows, straight and handsome nose, and somewhat sharp jawline, along with the black training suit he hadn't managed to change out of, all made her feel a deep fondness.
Jiang Yan, with his eyes downcast, pondered whether he could approach the case he hadn't solved during the day from a different perspective. Then he noticed that there was a pair of eyes on him again.
When he looked at her, she quickly closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She did it with great fanfare, and even in the moonlight, you could see her trembling eyelashes because she was caught and her tense little face because she was holding her breath.
Was she afraid he'd leave her behind?
Clearly scared but still wanting to watch a horror movie.
And after watching the horror movie, she scared herself again.
So it seems like she really can't grow up.
But it seems like he has no way to deal with her completely.
Jiang Yan shifted his gaze without a word, his brows slightly curved in a helpless arch.
"Go to sleep," in the darkness, his voice was gentle and steady, with a touch of tenderness, just like comforting a little child. "Big brother will wait until you're asleep before leaving."
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