The Little Duck 25

Chapter 25

That night, Jian Xin had a dream.

In the dream, she was a little Call duck, living with her mom and dad at their home in Nanjiang.

By the sofa in the living room, there was a duck nest and a small, tent-like dog bed.

The Corgi was eating duck feed on the side, its tail wagging like a little feather duster.

Dad was on the balcony watering his newly planted tomatoes. Mom poked half her body out of the bedroom and called her name.

She subconsciously stood up. Before she could even take half a step, the Corgi beside her had already trotted over.

Mom crouched down, rubbing the Corgi’s little head, her face full of smiles.

“Quack?” If it’s Xin Xin, then who am I?

She tilted her head, dazed for a moment.

The old grandfather clock suddenly chimed. She looked up and saw that it was already four in the afternoon.

She was stunned for a moment, then suddenly jumped up with a “quack”!!

How is it already four o’clock! I have a date with Yan Lu!

She rushed to the door in a panic, squawking and clamoring for someone to help her open the door, her little wings flapping so fast they were almost on fire.

“What’s Cauliflower making a fuss about?” Mom walked into the living room, hands on her hips, looking at her unhappily.

The Corgi ran over, wagging its tail, and sat down obediently at Mom’s feet.

Mom: “Cauliflower is so noisy, and Xin Xin is so good. Mommy will cook Cauliflower for you tonight, okay?”

“Quack ah?!”

Mom, Mom, Mom!! Look closely, who is your daughter!!!

Seeing that Mom was coming to catch her, she was so scared that she flapped her wings and flew around in a panic.

She flew from the door to the center of the living room, onto the sofa, and then to the balcony.

She felt like she had never flown so fast and so high in her life!

She knocked over Dad’s tomatoes. The balcony at home wasn’t enclosed, and she unhesitatingly jumped out from the railing.

The moment she flew out of the railing, she thought to herself—it’s a good thing the balcony at home isn’t enclosed. Now I can hurry and find Yan Lu!

However, the next second, she was a full seven stories high, and her wings seemed to be useless no matter how hard she flapped.

A feeling of weightlessness made her frantically kick her two little feet—

After that, Jian Xin suddenly felt a sharp pain in her leg and opened her eyes with a heavy breath.

This dream… so bad…

She was in a daze, staring at the ceiling for a long time. She took out her phone and checked the time before she finally recovered from the nightmare.

What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.

It’s all Cauliflower’s fault that I’m having such dreams!

Last night was clearly very happy. She had received a big job and had a dinner date for today.

But the thought that she might turn into a duck the moment she opened her eyes and miss this opportunity made it impossible for her to sleep peacefully.

Jian Xin closed her eyes and slowly took several deep breaths.

—Fortunately, I’m still a person now.

She pulled open the bedroom curtains, and the noon sun filled the dim bedroom. She leaned against her desk and pushed open the long-closed window.

This room, it seemed, hadn’t been aired out in a long time.

For a moment, Jian Xin even had a feeling of sudden enlightenment.

It was scary to think about. Her life had been so decadent lately. She hadn’t gone out at all, just huddled in her dim bedroom. For a while, her life had consisted only of reading novels and watching dramas—she had even asked the next delivery person to help her throw away the trash from her last takeout.

If it weren’t for her date this afternoon, she wouldn’t have realized that she had been living like this for over a month.

This shouldn’t be, this really shouldn’t be!

Since it was still early, instead of just sitting around and waiting, she might as well get herself ready.

With this thought, Jian Xin, leaning on her crutches, hopped all the way to the bathroom.

Her leg was still injured, so it wasn’t convenient to take a shower. She wiped her body down with hot water, changed into her going-out clothes, got into her electric wheelchair, and went to the hair salon to get her hair washed. She also got her bangs trimmed and the ends of her hair styled into a very natural slight curl.

After that, she went home, pleased with herself, and spent a long time in front of the mirror.

When she was working, she was busy. She could go out with just a headband. When it got hot, she would just grab her hair and tie it into a ponytail or a bun. She really didn’t have the mind to bother with anything else.

But it was different now. As a musician, she had to have some spirit!

She leaned against the closet door, rummaging through her wardrobe, and finally chose a casual, light-colored tank top that showed off her collarbones, paired with a pair of light blue denim shorts. After putting them on, she felt like something was missing, so she cleverly tied a contrasting silk ribbon around her waist.

Finally, she hopped on one leg to the mirror, put on a delicate nude makeup look, and seriously styled her hair like a celebrity—a classic sweet girl’s low pigtails, fluffy and voluminous, youthful and beautiful.

A spritz of perfume on her wrist, and she was done!

After all this fuss, it was already almost three o’clock.

Jian Xin looked at herself in the mirror, a little dazed.

She hadn’t dressed up like this in ages. At first glance, it was like she had gone back to her university years.

This twenty-something music girl’s style was a perfect match for her naturally sweet features. The only drawback was that it was so trendy that her twenty-eight-year-old knees hurt a little.

—Oh, and!

She was currently lame in one leg.

Jian Xin took a deep breath, smiled, and patted her cheeks. Like a little drama queen, she pointed to her reflection in the mirror, “Why are you wearing Pin Ru’s clothes? You’re so slutty!”

Slutty or not, who cares?

It’s rare to dress up. As long as I’m happy!

Yan Lu arrived downstairs around three-thirty. The moment Jian Xin got the call, she happily rushed downstairs in her wheelchair.

In the elevator, she happened to run into an acquaintance who stared at her with wide eyes for a few seconds and couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you meeting today?”

“Uh-huh—just having a meal with a friend,” Jian Xin replied, looking up.

“Oh~ a boyfriend?”

“No, no, no, a girl, a girl.”

“Oh~~ a girlfriend?”

“No, no… not a girlfriend.”

“Oh~~~ haven’t won her over yet.”

Jian Xin opened her mouth but couldn’t come up with a reply.

My brain must have short-circuited today, she thought. It’s just meeting an ex. Why go to so much trouble?

The elevator stopped on the first floor. Before the acquaintance left, she smiled and gave her a fist pump. “You look especially beautiful today. Go for it!”

Jian Xin nodded in response, forcing an awkward but polite smile.

Yan Lu had said she would wait for her at the elevator entrance in the underground parking garage.

The moment the elevator doors opened, she saw Yan Lu outside.

The moment their eyes met, a hint of surprise seemed to flash in Yan Lu’s eyes, but it quickly calmed down. She came forward to help her out of the elevator.

The navigation in the phone started, and Yan Lu followed the instructions, driving towards the restaurant where they had booked a private room the night before.

The atmosphere in the car was as silent as the previous two trips to the hospital. Besides the continuous voice of the navigation, there was only the city traffic radio program.

Jian Xin played with her phone for a while with her head down when Yan Lu’s voice suddenly came from her side.

“The ribbon is very pretty.”

“Huh?”

Jian Xin was taken aback for a moment, then looked up and asked, “Me?”

Yan Lu: “Mmm.”

“Oh, I bought it at the beginning of the year,” Jian Xin said with a smile, her eyebrows arching. “Want the link?”

“No, it suits you better,” Yan Lu replied faintly. “It matches your clothes well.”

“Not counting work and the hospital, I haven’t been out in a long time,” Jian Xin’s voice was soft. “I thought since it’s a rare trip out, I’d just dress up a bit… It’s been so long, I’m not used to it.”

Hearing this, Yan Lu smiled faintly. “It’s very pretty.”

Jian Xin pursed her lips and looked out the window, a hint of joy in her eyes.

The restaurant they had chosen last night was on a small island in the middle of a lake. There were few tall buildings around, the greenery was good, and it was very quiet.

The bubble room they had booked in advance was near the lake, and the atmosphere inside was very nice.

Jiang Lan had said that watching the sunset in the bubble room, watching the red clouds gradually dissipate, the sky slowly darken, and then lighting the candle lamp on the table to become a bright light in the middle of the lake, would be a very romantic experience.

Jian Xin happily ordered a table full of food, full of anticipation for tonight’s sunset. But she had forgotten to check the weather forecast yesterday. Not long after the food was served, the previously bright sky suddenly darkened.

The dark clouds came quickly, and in just a few short minutes, it started to rain heavily outside.

The promised sunset was nowhere to be seen, and the rain outside was so loud and noisy. Jian Xin felt that her good mood was like a piece of paper that had fallen into the toilet. With a push of the button, it was washed away by the rushing water.

She sighed softly, her expression a little awkward. “I’m sorry, I forgot to check the weather…”

Yan Lu looked up at the falling rain.

“This is nice too,” she said with a faint smile, turning on the candle lamp on the table. “Who says rain isn’t a kind of scenery?”

Jian Xin was taken aback for a moment. Following Yan Lu’s gaze, she stared blankly at the heavy rain outside.

The raindrops fell one by one from the dark clouds, hitting the transparent bubble, splashing countless water droplets, and then quickly sliding down.

It was as if they were trapped here, with an orange night light.

The sound of the rain outside was not quiet, and it masked the honking of the city, making the whole world seem much quieter.

Who says rain isn’t a kind of scenery…

It’s just that some scenery, everyone can see, while some scenery, only a few people can see.

In the past, she was always the one comforting Yan Lu. Now, it was Yan Lu comforting her.

Jian Xin slowly retracted her gaze, listened to the sound of the rain in her ears, looked at the candle lamp in front of her, and after a long silence, she suddenly said, “Thank you, Yan Lu.”

A hint of confusion appeared on Yan Lu’s face. “Thank me for what?”

“It’s hard to explain in a few words, but there are many things I should thank you for,” Jian Xin said. “During my hospitalization, and after I was discharged, you’ve always taken good care of me.”

“After all, it was my cousin who hit you. We’ve known each other for a while, and you’ve helped me a lot in the past,” Yan Lu said, pausing for a moment before continuing. “I can’t just pretend I didn’t see and not do anything, right.”

Hearing this, Jian Xin couldn’t help but laugh at herself. “Actually, given our relationship, it wouldn’t have been wrong for you to pretend you didn’t see.”

Yan Lu: “What is our relationship?”

Jian Xin was stunned for two seconds, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. “Why this question again? You asked yesterday, and you’re asking again today. I don’t even know how to answer correctly anymore.”

As she said this, she suddenly had a flash of inspiration and threw the question right back at her. “Why don’t you tell me, what is our relationship?”

Yan Lu lowered her eyes, thought quietly for a moment, and said softly, “At least there’s no enmity.”

“Really?” Jian Xin picked up the coconut milk and took a sip. “I always thought there was a lot of enmity between us.”

Yan Lu couldn’t help but laugh and asked back, “Why would you think that?”

“Mmm—” Jian Xin thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, “Because you disappeared so completely back then. I always thought you must have hated me.”

The moment her words fell, only the sound of the rain was left in her ears.

The sky grew darker and darker, so dark that it seemed like the sky was about to collapse.

Yan Lu looked at the flickering flame in the candle lamp, silent for who knows how long, before she said in a low voice, “You’re overthinking it. I never hated you.”

“Oh—” Jian Xin replied, biting on her straw.

She felt that this coconut milk was a little too sweet. She used to like very sweet things when she was a child, but now that she was older, she found them a little cloying.

It seems that it’s hard for a person to like something forever.

The snacks she loved as a child, the novels and dramas she liked, the singers and actors she followed, most of them had faded to indifference now. Even if she revisited them, she couldn’t find the same feeling as before.

Yan Lu is like that to me, and I should be like that to Yan Lu, she thought.

The reason she had so many complicated and indescribable feelings the moment she saw Yan Lu was just because her mindset hadn’t been corrected yet.

Since she was a child, she had always been the most big-hearted one among her friends. Everyone said that she was very open-minded and could pick up and let go of anything.

Now that Yan Lu had already moved on, how could she lose?

“Yan Lu, you asked me what our relationship is. Actually, if I have to say, I always feel that… we have a relationship that hasn’t been properly handled.”

“…”

“I remember, I was the one who brought up the breakup, but you didn’t seem to give me an answer, and then you just suddenly disappeared and I couldn’t contact you anymore,” Jian Xin said with a smile, her eyebrows arching. “Let me just confirm, we did break up back then, right?”

“Mmm,” Yan Lu nodded.

“Alright then!” Jian Xin clapped her hands with a smile, the sound very loud. “I get it now. Our relationship is exes!”

“Sigh, I just never figured this out, you know? Sometimes when I think of you, I’m in a daze. I always feel like I’m not really single. There were so many things we didn’t have time to make clear, like a story that only had a beginning and a middle, but no end…”

Jian Xin said, then fell silent for a few seconds, looked at Yan Lu, and asked with a smile, “So… Yan Lu, do you think exes can be friends?”

Yan Lu: “What do you think?”

“I think they can, but it’s useless if I’m the only one who thinks so,” Jian Xin said, unconsciously clenching the chopsticks in her hand. “Do you know what I was thinking the year we broke up?”

Yan Lu: “What were you thinking?”

Jian Xin: “I just regretted it. If I had known we were going to break up, why did we get together in the first place?”

Yan Lu: “…”

“I don’t regret being with you, I just regret that because of this, I lost a very good friend,” Jian Xin’s words paused for a moment, her eyes slightly red, but her lips were still smiling. “Even rabbits don’t eat the grass around their own burrows, but I just had to take that bite. I didn’t believe it when I was eating it, but after I ate it, I found that the burrow was empty. It didn’t block the wind in winter, and it didn’t provide shade in summer. It wasn’t a good place to live, and it wasn’t good to look at…”

Yan Lu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but hesitated for a long time before she finally said, “What kind of analogy is that…”

Jian Xin took a deep breath and shook her head. “Sigh! I’m not a writer, my ability to express myself is limited. Just bear with it, as long as you understand.”

“…”

“So what about you?” Jian Xin looked at Yan Lu and asked very seriously, “Do you think we can still be friends? You don’t have to be polite. I’m asking if we can start as friends who at least won’t be awkward when we meet, after letting go of the unpleasant past.”

She said that if possible, they could start as ordinary friends. They didn’t have to contact each other at all if there was nothing, but they could find each other if they needed to, whether to share happy things or to complain. They should just be natural with each other.

As for what kind of relationship they would end up with, they would just leave it all to fate!

“If, and I mean if, you feel that you can’t do that, you can just tell me directly,” Jian Xin said with a seemingly nonchalant smile. “From now on, we won’t bother each other. If we’re going to break up, let’s break up cleanly—after all, I don’t want every chat we have to be awkward, and every time we meet to be a long drive with less than three sentences exchanged.”

Yan Lu listened quietly for a long time. After making sure there was nothing more, she finally sighed softly.

“Jian Xin, I’m sorry.”

Her voice was so small that it was almost drowned out by the heavy rain, but Jian Xin still heard the apology.

How strange, what does she have to apologize for?

Even if they couldn’t be friends anymore, it was always good to be able to talk things out.

As for the duck, she could think of other ways.

Right, I haven’t been to the temple to pray yet. Maybe it will be fine after I pray?

If praying doesn’t work, then I’ll just find a few more masters to try!

With this thought, Jian Xin was about to open her mouth to be magnanimous when she heard Yan Lu speak first.

“It’s because I don’t know how to get along with you now that I’ve made you so awkward every time,” Yan Lu said softly. “Actually, your regret is also my regret… I say I’ve moved on, but many things don’t seem to have passed so completely.”

“Ah, so…”

“So, let’s try it like you said,” Yan Lu said with a smile. “I also want to know if exes can really be friends.”

Jian Xin blinked and tilted her head to ask, “Then—can friends speak their minds?”

Yan Lu: “Mmm.”

Jian Xin: “That OST, it has something to do with you, I’m not wrong, right?”

Yan Lu: “Mmm…”

Jian Xin wiped away a tear, sniffed, and said huffily, “I knew it a long time ago. This meal was to thank you for that! You, you just had to wait until we’ve said all this to admit it. Is helping an ex get a job something that can’t be seen in the light of day?”

Yan Lu smiled without a word.

“Alright, alright!” Jian Xin waved her hand, a heartfelt smile in her eyes. “I will seize this opportunity with 200% of my strength! I will definitely not let down a friend’s good intentions!”

Seeing her like this, Yan Lu couldn’t help but ask, “Friends can speak their minds, right?”

Jian Xin: “Of course! Say whatever you want!”

“Actually, I have a Chinese stomach,” Yan Lu said with a smile.

“…”

Jian Xin looked at the table full of barely touched Thai food and couldn’t help but fall into a deep thought.