Backlash Part 1

Chapter 64: Girl's Day Out

Wen Qing had been anxious ever since she woke up this morning. Yesterday Wen Qing had been invited to go on an outing planned for the next day, which was now today. Jiang Yanli and a very excitable classmate, Luo Qingyang, who insisted on being called Mianmian, had approached her to invite her along. Wen Qing wasn't unhappy with the invitation. On the contrary, taking a break from everything sounded wonderful. From her eyes she had gone from more or less being in hiding with the last remaining members of her family, to then waking up and spending practically every day either trying to take care of her didi or trying to think of a way to change future disasters. Disasters that she could not talk about with almost anyone because it would sound ludicrous.

So yes, a break sounded like a very good idea and in fairness her usual sources of relaxation were not very accessible at the moment. However, Wen Qing had never really done outings such as this. Her last time at Cloud Recesses she had deliberately avoided socializing. She was never willing to leave Wen Qionglin for long periods of time, and she definitely never left Cloud Recesses without him before. Things were different this time.

Now he wasn't alone, and she knew there were people who would look out for him. Aside from Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang had become a somewhat frequent visitor. He had shyly shown up after lessons the week after the Jiang's visited, hoping to spend some time with Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian, Nie Huaisang, and Wen Qionglin had ended up having a good time. After Nie Huaisang sobbed about studying Wen Qionglin had offered to help him. So now if the two of them weren't spending time with Wei Wuxian, then they were usually sitting together and studying.

Wen Qing had been a little surprised at Nie Huaisang's willingness to study. The first few times made sense. There was an upcoming test that he was agonizing over. She vaguely recalled seeing Nie Huaisang suddenly in the library before tests during her last time at Cloud Recesses. So a few times before the test made sense. Except that he continued to show up after the test was over. Wen Qionglin seemed happy, so Wen Qing did her absolute best not to pry. The last time around she had practically pounced on anyone who so much as looked at her youngest didi. She was really trying to learn to give him more space. Trust that she had done her best to teach him how to take care of himself, and let him make friends.

Wen Qing didn't do more than ask about Wen Qionglin's day. She didn't insist on being told what they were studying. She didn't interrogate Nie Huaisang. She didn't supervise their study sessions. For an entire month she kept that up and it was possibly the hardest thing she had had to do since the last time Wei Wuxian got the brilliant idea that he should cook for everyone at Burial Mounds. For everyone's safety she had physically pried the cooking utensils out of his hands. Then dragged him to Granny's house where she shoved him onto the floor and planted Wen Yuan on his chest. Then, out of an abundance of caution and vivid recollections of the last time he had entered the kitchen, she made Wen Qionglin guard the door to prevent Wei Wuxian from leaving until dinner was prepared.

So after a month of giving her youngest didi space to make friends and not hover over him to make sure those friends did not take advantage of him, she compromised with herself and asked Wen Qionglin about their study sessions. Which was when she learned that her didi was sort of bribing Nie Huaisang in order to motivate him to study. Apparently Wen Qionglin would set out for them to study a certain amount of material. Once they finished studying that material they would begin to do other things. Most of the time this apparently involved painting or making fans. Wen Qionglin didn't know how to do either of these things, but Nie Huaisang was apparently just thrilled that someone was willing to do them with him. So Nie Huaisang had been enthusiastically finding Wen Qionglin almost every day to study.

Wen Qionglin had never shown a particular interest in art or fans, but he didn't dislike the activities. She wasn't certain if he had developed a new interest or if he was just enjoying making a new friend. In either case Wen Qing didn't mind as long as Wen Qionglin was having fun. Fun. Which was what she was supposed to be doing right now. Wen Qing focused back in on the conversations happening around her, but quickly discovered it wasn't something that she was going to add anything to. Wen Qing liked nice clothes and cute accessories as much as anyone else. However the last time she had the luxury to think about such things felt like a lifetime ago.