Chapter 26: The Warm Baby in the Blizzard
The mont they stepped out of the car, the cold wind felt like knives slicing their faces.
This was an old-fashioned outdoor platform with no roof, and snow the size of goose feathers was pressing down relentlessly.
The accumulated snow had already covered their ankles, making a crunching sound with every step.
"Damn it! What kind of awful weather is this!"
Chen Man let out a scream the mont she stepped out of the car, shrinking into a quail.
Her thin cashre coat, chosen purely for style, was practically just a sheet of paper in the depths of the Qinling Mountains where the temperature was below minus ten degrees Celsius.
Su Qingge wasn't faring any better. Her high heels were a disaster; the heels sank directly into the snow and wouldn't budge.
Every step she took felt like dancing on a minefield.
"It’s too cold..." Lin Wan pulled her scarf tighter, but the wind still snaked in through the collar, chilling her until her teeth chattered.
Jiang Chen first moved all the luggage out and piled it up behind a slightly wind-sheltered billboard.
He glanced at the three won shivering from the cold and frowned.
"Put this on first." Jiang Chen took off his assault jacket. He was only wearing a thin black sweater underneath.
Without waiting for permission, he draped the jacket over Chen Man, who was wearing the least.
The jacket still held his body heat, and it was so large it resembled a cloak, directly covering most of Chen Man's body.
"What about you?" Chen Man was stunned, clutching the collar of the jacket. The warmth made her feel a little choked up.
"I'm fine, I have this." Jiang Chen patted his chest. "My internal fire is strong."
After speaking, he squatted down and looked at Su Qingge's feet, which were deeply embedded in the snow.
"Sister Su, your shoes won't work."
Su Qingge bit her lip, looking stubbornly miserable: "I didn't expect such heavy snow either..."
"Get on," Jiang Chen turned his back to her and squatted halfway down.
"What are you doing?"
"Giving you a piggyback ride." Jiang Chen turned back, his tone leaving no room for argunt. "This path is full of ice shards. If you walk two more steps in those shoes, your ankle will be ruined. Then I'd have to go to the hospital to take care of you, which would be even more troubleso."
Su Qingge hesitated, but Lin Wan next to her gave her a push: "Sister Su, don't force yourself. Little Jiang is strong, just let him carry you. It's not worth getting sick in weather this cold."
Su Qingge looked at the vast white expanse ahead, then at Jiang Chen's broad back, and finally let go of her ridiculous reserve.
She climbed onto his back.
Jiang Chen cupped her legs at the bend of her knees, the familiar position, the sa heart-fluttering sensation.
But this ti he was a gentleman; his hands were clenched into fists, using his wrists to support her, deliberately avoiding touching the thighs wrapped in black silk.
"Let's go," Jiang Chen called out and stood up steadily.
Su Qingge's weight felt as light as a feather to him.
She adjusted her posture sowhat unnaturally, wrapping her arms around Jiang Chen's neck, pressing her entire body against his back.
It was very warm.
That heat was transmitted continuously, making her cheeks feel almost hot.
"Sister Wan, hold Sister Man's hand so she doesn't slip," Jiang Chen directed as he walked. "We're heading to the exit hall; there's a waiting room over there."
The group of four trudged laboriously through the wind and snow.
The surrounding travelers were all grumbling; so had fallen, others were fighting for space on the path.
Only their strange group, though moving slowly, was exceptionally harmonious.
"Brother, are you cold?" Chen Man, wrapped in Jiang Chen's jacket, felt a little guilty looking at him in just his sweater.
"It's alright," Jiang Chen's voice drifted slightly in the wind. "As long as you three don't drop the ball, I'll be fine."
"Hmph, tough talker," Chen Man pouted, but she quickened her pace, staying close to his side, trying to use her body to block so of the side wind for him.
Lin Wan walked on the other side, occasionally reaching out to brush the falling snow off Jiang Chen's hair.
Her movents were light and natural, just like a wife caring for her husband setting out.
"It looks like it's blocked up ahead," Su Qingge, who could see further from Jiang Chen's back, suddenly spoke up.
It was indeed blocked.
The area near the exit hall was swarming with people, a dense mass of heads, and the noise was deafening.
"What happened?" Jiang Chen stopped walking.
"It seems they closed the road," an uncle passing by, wrapped in a military greatcoat, spat out unluckily. "A section of the railway bridge ahead collapsed under the snow, and they are repairing it. All services are suspended. Nobody is leaving tonight."
"All suspended?" Chen Man's eyes widened. "Then what do we do? Sleep in the snow?"
Jiang Chen's expression darkened.
He gently set Su Qingge down, letting her stand on a patch of concrete free of snow.
"You wait here, watch the luggage, and don't go anywhere," Jiang Chen said sternly. "I'll go ahead to scout the situation and see if I can find a place for us to stay."
"I'll go too," Lin Wan instinctively tried to follow.
"No," Jiang Chen pressed down on her shoulders. "Sister Wan, you are the most careful; stay here to look after the other two. Sister Su's leg is inconvenient, and Sister Man... Sister Man tends to argue with people."
Chen Man: "..."
"Be good," Jiang Chen finally squeezed Lin Wan's palm. It was a secret signal only they two understood.
Lin Wan pursed her lips and nodded: "Then be careful, and co back quickly."
Watching Jiang Chen's back disappear into the crowd, the three won stood in the wind and snow, suddenly feeling an emptiness in their hearts.
"We're done for," Chen Man pulled the coat tighter and sniffled. "I realize now that without this young man, I'm practically incapable of taking care of myself."
Su Qingge said nothing, only staring in the direction Jiang Chen had left. Her hand unconsciously stroked the spot where he had carried her, where his warmth seed to linger.
Twenty minutes later.
Jiang Chen returned. His hair was damp, his eyebrows were coated with a layer of white frost, and his expression was sowhat grim.
"How is it?" The three asked in unison.
Jiang Chen wiped the lted snow from his face and exhaled a puff of white air: "The bad news is, traffic is indeed suspended. Trains won't run until noon tomorrow at the earliest."
"Then what's the good news?" Chen Man asked eagerly.
Jiang Chen glanced at them, his expression a little strange.
"The good news is, I managed to snag a room at the station guesthouse."
"That's great!" Lin Wan let out a sigh of relief. "We finally don't have to freeze."
"Don't celebrate too soon," Jiang Chen interrupted her, shaking a single finger. "There's only one room. And... only one bed."
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