Chapter 44 p2
On August 27th, the last two days before school started, it happened to be Jian Xin’s birthday. The roommates from 509 gathered together and celebrated her birthday in a private room at a restaurant.
When they got home, after finally digesting their food, they blew out another birthday candle and ate a few bites of the birthday cake their parents had bought.
When the excitement finally died down, Jian Xin rubbed her round little belly, lay down on her bed with satisfaction, and started to watch videos on her phone.
Yan Lu closed the door, silently walked back to her computer, and sat there in a daze for a long time without doing anything.
Time passed by, second by second. She lowered her eyelashes, pursed her lips, and clenched a corner of her nightdress, as if having made some kind of resolution.
“Jian Xin”
“Mmm?” Jian Xin rolled over with her phone and looked up at Yan Lu.
“I have a birthday present for you…”
“Eh?” Jian Xin sat up from the bed, moved to the side of the bed, and her smiling eyes were filled with a hint of anticipation and curiosity. “What present? Why are you only telling me now? Are you hiding something good? Let me see!”
Yan Lu got up and walked to the wall, silently took out a very exquisite small box from her old schoolbag, and came to Jian Xin’s side with a timid expression.
“This is…”
The box opened, and inside was a platinum necklace with a small, hollowed-out leaf pendant—small and exquisite, and it didn’t look cheap.
“Jian Xin, I can earn money now, and I will earn more money in the future.”
“Uh-huh—”
“This is for you,” Yan Lu’s voice was very small, but her tone was incredibly serious.
“Thank you…” Jian Xin reached out to take it, her gaze on the necklace flickering.
They were silent for a moment in the bedroom. Jian Xin blinked, her eyes curving as she took it out of the small box and held it to her neck to see how it looked.
“It’s very beautiful!” she said, turning her back and saying to Yan Lu with a smile, “Can you help me put it on?”
Yan Lu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly reached out to take it and carefully put it on Jian Xin’s neck.
Jian Xin’s neck was long and slender. The thin, silver-white chain fell on her collarbone, outlining a beautiful contour and making her skin look even fairer.
Yan Lu’s fingertips landed on her shoulder, her voice as light as a breeze. “Jian Xin, I like you…”
After a few seconds of silence, she heard a reply.
Softly, three words: “I know.”
Yan Lu was taken aback. “…You know?”
Jian Xin: “Mmm.”
Yan Lu: “I’m not talking about…”
Jian Xin: “I know!”
Yan Lu was in a daze, standing by the bed at a loss.
She saw Jian Xin turn her head, look back at her seriously, a smile in her eyes.
“You said it in your second year of high school.”
“When…”
“You don’t remember?” Jian Xin tilted her head and moved a little closer to her. “It was at the internet cafe!”
Yan Lu’s eyes widened. “You… you heard it all…”
“Mmm-hmm,” Jian Xin gazed into Yan Lu’s eyes, as if waiting for something.
Yan Lu was flustered for a long while before she finally composed herself, took a deep breath, and asked her softly, “Then… are you willing to be with me?”
Asking this question had already exhausted all her courage.
She knew that it was still too early, and perhaps not the most appropriate time.
But in two more days, they would be going to different cities, very, very far apart.
There were always too many people around Jian Xin. She was afraid that the opportunity she hadn’t seized would be taken away by someone else in a place she couldn’t see.
As much as she was afraid of being rejected by Jian Xin, she was also eager to confirm their relationship.
“If you think I’m not good enough, it’s fine. Can you, can you just give me a chance, just… just… can you wait for me and not be with anyone else first?” she said, a little flustered, her eyes welling up with tears. “If you wait for me for a few more years, I’ll become very good, I…”
“Okay,” Jian Xin interrupted her flustered words.
Yan Lu took a moment to process. Through a thin layer of mist, she looked at Jian Xin’s slightly curved eyes and asked cautiously, “Are you willing to wait for me?”
“Why wait?”
“…”
“You’ve always been very good,” Jian Xin said, a sly smile on her face.
She placed her hands on Yan Lu’s shoulders, knelt on the side of the bed—tilted her head up slightly, and kissed her.
After a brief taste, she pulled her onto the bed, blinked, and asked knowingly, “So, what kind of relationship do you want us to have in the future…”
Before her words could fall, her lips were sealed by a soft touch.
Without a single extra thought, she climbed onto her back, leaned back, her heart pounding, and looked forward to something in her eyes.
Actually, long before Yan Lu had spoken, she had also asked herself many times in her heart.
She liked Yan Lu.
It wasn’t just a simple liking of wanting to be friends for a lifetime.
So let’s start from this moment—they would be together, truly together.
But—
“We’re still at home, we have to be a little quieter…”
“Okay.”
…
My head is so dizzy, I had a strange dream again.
In the dream, she was pinned to the bed by Yan Lu, settling some old scores.
What about seeing the sea, what about family, what about a lifetime, what about wishes or not…
She was being pressed down so hard that she could barely breathe. She wanted to turn over but had no strength, as if she had been drugged. All she could do was let the person on top of her do as she pleased, venting the anger in her heart.
The strange dream was suddenly woken up the moment Yan Lu said she was leaving forever.
—Leaving after the deed, what kind of breakup sex?
Jian Xin subconsciously gritted her teeth and found that her mouth was empty, with nothing to bite…
She cracked open her eyes, and sure enough, she was still at Yan Lu’s house.
Xin Xin was sleeping on its back beside her, its mouth open… oh no, to be precise, it was sleeping on her.
This little dog was practically using her as a pillow, which made her hot and unable to breathe.
No wonder she had had such a strange dream. It was all because of this little naughty dog pressing on her!
Jian Xin opened her mouth, stretched her neck forward, took a deep breath, and struggled with all her might—she failed!
“Uh-huh—”
I can’t get out, why is it pressing so tightly…
“Quack quack quack—ah!”
Little fatty, you really should lose some weight, or you’ll crush Cauliflower to death sooner or later!
As if hearing the duck’s complaint, the dog dazedly moved a little to the side.
Jian Xin seized the opportunity and escaped from the duck nest. Her feet were still numb, but the duck had already waddled out of the study and into the living room.
The sky was already bright, and Yan Lu was sitting on the sofa, reading a book that Jian Xin had never seen before.
The old-fashioned grandfather clock on the wall showed that it was two in the afternoon.
—Jian Xin was extremely anxious about this.
This was already her third day here. This had never happened before.
Undoubtedly, Jian Xin had always been a big-hearted person since she was a child.
On the first day, she had just treated it as normal.
On the second day, she couldn’t go back. She was in a daze for a while, then comforted herself a little—that body was a little weak lately, so it was no big deal to sleep a little longer.
At this moment, on the third day, no matter how big-hearted she was, she really couldn’t sit still anymore.
A person can’t, or at least shouldn’t, be in a coma in bed for three days straight without eating or drinking, right!
She had been joking when she had said in her heart that she wanted to be a duck forever!
She was still so young, and she had finally escaped from the beast of burden company. She couldn’t just die silently at home like this, hey!!!
Jian Xin flapped her wings, flew from the floor to Yan Lu’s side, and stretched her neck to let out a series of quacks!
Yan Lu came back to her senses, looked down at the frantic little duck by her leg, her eyes full of confusion.
She had already prepared the food and placed it in the study. Cauliflower was quacking so loudly, so it probably wasn’t hungry.
She didn’t know what was wrong with this little one lately. It would stay up very late at night and couldn’t wake up during the day. She couldn’t even get it to go for a walk every day.
At this moment, it had just woken up and was running out to quack at her.
What was going on?
Jian Xin was quacking anxiously on the side, using all her strength, but the language barrier was too great, and Yan Lu just couldn’t understand.
She looked at Yan Lu opening her phone and searching in her browser—why does a Call duck suddenly keep quacking?—with a look of despair.
“Quack?” No, what are you searching for? Is that thing even useful?
Jian Xin flapped her wings, flew onto the back of the sofa, and looked down at Yan Lu’s phone.
—It could be hunger.
“Quack ah!”
No, no, I’m not hungry at all right now!
—It could be a change in environment, making the Call duck feel uncomfortable and scared.
“Ahhh ahhh—”
I am indeed very scared, but it has nothing to do with the environment. It’s because I might be about to die!!
—It might be a physical problem. In this case, the cries are usually abnormal, and the spirit will be relatively listless. You can pay attention to the Call duck’s condition. If it’s not normal, you should take it to the vet for a check-up in time.
“Quack quack quack quack quack quack quack!”
No, no, I’m very healthy now, my voice is very loud, and I’m not sick at all—I mean, the duck is not sick, but I myself might be very sick!!!
Jian Xin shouted anxiously, and to prove that she was very healthy, she even jumped around on the sofa a few times to show her that her duck was in good physical condition at this moment.
Yan Lu frowned and continued to look down—
—If there is no change in environment, and there is no problem with hunger or physical health, it may be seeking attention.
Call ducks can also feel lonely and will constantly make noises to seek their owner’s attention and companionship. You can try to find a companion for the Call duck, or put a mirror in the cage to give the duck some visual companionship.
Jian Xin: “…”
Uh, that’s, that’s not necessary…
Yan Lu turned her head to look at the duck standing high up. “Should Mommy find you a companion?”
If she were to get one, it would probably be too late to raise a new one. It would be best to find a duck of a suitable age from someone else’s home, see if they could go on a blind date, and get a match—they could visit each other often to make Cauliflower happy.
With this thought, Yan Lu opened a duck-raising friend group and sent a few pictures of Cauliflower.
Cauliflower’s Mom: Are there any ducks in Jincheng, about two years old, who are interested in going on a blind date?
Cauliflower’s Mom: It would be even better if they’re in the North District.
“Quack ah?!”
No, no need… no need to be so fast!!
After sending the message, Yan Lu started to wait in the group. And sure enough, two people came out and asked, “Do you want a male or a female duck?”
After getting the answer “either is fine,” the three of them discussed it and immediately arranged a date and place for the blind date, and no one seemed to care about the gender or number.
No? Are you duck raisers all so open-minded?
You really don’t care about the gender, and you’re going on a blind date with three of them?
No, no, that’s not the point!
Jian Xin’s brain suddenly took a turn. Realizing that the situation had completely gone off track, she was so anxious that she landed directly on Yan Lu’s lap, stretched her neck, and started to peck at Yan Lu’s phone screen with her beak.
Yan Lu was startled by the duck’s action. When she came back to her senses, the last message Jian Xin had sent her three days ago was in front of her.
—Yan Lu, I want to see you. Even if we want to draw a clear line, we should at least make things completely clear.
The little duck flapped its wings and started to peck at the sentence, as if it were not a phone screen but today’s meal, so fragrant that it couldn’t stop.
Was this also a coincidence?
Even a duck going crazy could find this message…
Yan Lu trembled and took a deep breath, and replied to her with a message.
—When do you want to meet?
“Quack ah!!” The little duck instantly jumped up.
What are you still asking!
Now, immediately, right away!
If you don’t go and find me, I’ll really die for you to see!
