The Little Duck 47

Chapter 47

The moment after the hysteria, time seemed to freeze.

No one spoke again, and the room was so quiet.

Jian Xin quietly gazed into Yan Lu’s eyes. This silence pulled her out of her almost-collapsed emotional state, allowing her to see the undercurrents beneath the still water.

In some distant memories, they had had countless arguments.

When they were friends, they always felt that the other was perfect in every way, and they wished they could stick together for the rest of their lives.

So, they made a decision, tried to shorten the distance between them, thinking that this would give them forever.

But it wasn’t like that. Emotions were far more complicated than they had imagined.

Humans are insatiable creatures. Once two people change their relationship, their expectations also change.

The things they want in their hearts are increasing, but what they can give, because of the distant distance between them, is gradually decreasing.

They had made a promise, to grow up together, to see the sea together.

A more distant thought was to grow old together, supporting each other as they walked along the riverbank where they had made their promise in their youth.

But arguments, on the road before they had time to grow up, took root and sprouted, silently, spreading into a prison.

She, since she was a child, had always been so competitive, yet she would always turn red in the face during arguments with Yan Lu, unable to gain the upper hand.

How could there be such a person in this world? The more hysterical you are, the calmer she is, as if she has no heart, just reasoning with you over and over again.

She didn’t want to reason. Even if she was being unreasonable, was it really so hard to hear a soft word from that person?

She could feel how ugly and unbearable her expression was, twisted with anger, and the person who made her like this was always calmer than her mom when she was scolding her.

Why, she asked in her heart over and over again.

She was asking herself, and also asking Yan Lu.

—Maybe it was wrong from the beginning.

She couldn’t see what Yan Lu was thinking in her heart. She gradually began to doubt whether Yan Lu’s words of liking her were just a habit, a dependence, a craving for the feeling of being protected by her.

They were both gradually growing up.

To be precise, Yan Lu was growing up faster than her.

When she was still using her family’s money to support her passion, Yan Lu already had an almost stable income, her own readership, and a confidence she didn’t have before.

She was happy for her, but she also had to admit that she no longer needed her protection.

If Yan Lu was really dependent on her, then what way could she, who could no longer be relied on by Yan Lu, use to hold on to such a relationship?

Jian Xin didn’t know. She just gradually became childish, unreasonable, hysterical…

Yan Lu had once said, “When you get angry, you can say all sorts of outrageous things.”

She thought so too. When she got angry, not only could she say all sorts of outrageous things, but she also couldn’t perceive any external emotions.

This seemed to be the first time that she had quickly calmed down after getting angry and saw the complex emotions in Yan Lu’s seemingly indifferent eyes that were hard to read.

So these eyes would also shine with tears, would be dazed and at a loss, and would even turn slightly red, trying to dodge.

Was it like this in the past too?

Then she, this careless person, had indeed missed too, too much…

Jian Xin subconsciously opened her mouth, as if to say something, but Yan Lu came back to her senses before she could and walked out of the door without looking back.

She still left in the end, not even wanting to say another word.

Jian Xin leaned against the half-open door and quietly watched Yan Lu’s back completely disappear from her sight.

She thought she would be very angry, or particularly sad, just like after every argument in the past, wishing she could drink until she was dead drunk to get rid of the sorrow in her heart.

But this time… it was different.

She didn’t know why, but her heart was unexpectedly calm.

The moment the door closed, she leaned against the cold door and, uncontrollably, thought of many things.

Those thoughts were messy and chaotic. She couldn’t sort them out, but she also didn’t care much.

When the doorbell rang, Jian Xin took a bowl of brown sugar ginger tea from outside the door, and all the chaotic thoughts receded from her heart, leaving only a simple thought.

—Yan Lu, don’t think you can break up with me so easily.

Whether it was being unreasonable or shameless.

Anyway, she had long been used to being the thick-skinned one, and there was nothing to pretend about.

*

Yan Lu returned home, as if escaping, not daring to look back.

But what could she do when she got home?

The words Jian Xin had said were repeating in her ears, leaving her nowhere to run.

She really found it hard to believe that those words were true. How could a person turn into a duck, and so coincidentally, the duck she was raising?

But if all of this wasn’t true, then how could Jian Xin know so many things that she couldn’t possibly know?

A pinhole camera?

Yan Lu, with a suspicious mind, drew all the curtains in her house, opened her phone’s camera, and checked her house from top to bottom.

—No red dots were found.

Perhaps she had indeed overthought it. How could Jian Xin have had the chance to install such a thing in her house.

Besides, the blind date yesterday afternoon, and the duck pecking at the door last night, also didn’t happen in her house…

So, Jian Xin wasn’t lying?

Is there really such a paranormal thing in this world?

Yan Lu pinched her phone and stood in the living room, her brow tightly furrowed, her chaotic thoughts making her at a loss.

Cauliflower and Xin Xin walked into the living room one after the other, tilting their heads to the left to look at her.

“Woof!”

A bark from behind made Yan Lu snap back to her senses.

She turned to look at the two little ones behind her, her eyes growing more serious.

After a brief suspicion, Yan Lu walked to their side and crouched down, rubbing the two little ones’ heads with one hand, her gaze moving to Cauliflower, and she tentatively said, “Jian… Xin?”

“Woof-woo!” Xin Xin’s eyes widened.

I think I heard my owner call me. I’m not sure, but I’ll answer first!

Yan Lu: “…”

Was I calling you, and you just barked…

After a brief awkwardness, Yan Lu rubbed Xin Xin’s head and then tentatively said to Cauliflower, “Cauliflower?”

“Quack quack quack!” The little duck flapped its wings and replied cheerfully.

But could this be an act?

Yan Lu looked at Cauliflower, lost in thought for a moment.

After a long period of contemplation, she got up and walked into the kitchen, opened a bag of duck feed that the duck had completely ignored last year before it had even been opened, picked out a few dried mealworms from it, and walked back to Cauliflower, holding out her palm to it.

Cauliflower tilted its head and glanced at it, then stretched its head forward and ate the mealworms.

—Sure enough, it’s not a picky eater!

Yan Lu couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Whether what Jian Xin had said was true or not, at least at this moment, Cauliflower should still be Cauliflower.

After confirming this, Yan Lu went back to the kitchen, prepared the day’s meal for the two little ones, and curled up alone on the swing chair on the balcony in a daze.

The winter sun shone on her body, with only light, no warmth.

She hugged her knees and carefully recalled many things. Every little detail of the past six months was picked up and examined in her heart.

It was only at this moment that she realized that there were so many things that were not right.

The little duck she had raised for two years had suddenly become a picky eater, and had also become very timid for a time, sometimes afraid of Xin Xin, and also afraid of the river.

The little duck, which had always only slept with Xin Xin, had suddenly started to wake up in the middle of the night and insist on curling up on her lap.

It had once jumped onto her computer desk and shouted at Lin Xiyu on the other end of the voice call.

And it had also secretly shed tears while watching a drama with her…

Childish, boisterous, and crying at the drop of a hat, wasn’t that just Jian Xin?

Thinking back now, perhaps on the day of their reunion, when she had returned from the hospital and seen the mess at home, Jian Xin’s body had already been inhabited by Jian Xin.

At this thought, Yan Lu couldn’t help but laugh at herself.

She actually believed Jian Xin’s words, believed that someone in this world could suddenly turn into a duck.

Not only did she believe it, but she had also found enough evidence to prove that such a thing had indeed happened.

Most importantly, in this state of ignorance, she had been “monitored” by Jian Xin for half a year—this was practically a matter that required calling the police.

But even if she told the police about this, she would probably just be treated as a lunatic, right?

Yan Lu felt that she should be angry, or feel ashamed about this.

But when all the chaotic thoughts were sorted out, all she felt was a wave of sadness…

Jian Xin also knew that even if she said such things, she would only be treated as a lunatic’s ravings.

For these abnormal things that were no different from seeing a ghost, she could only hide them in her heart, not knowing who she could tell, and not daring to tell anyone.

She didn’t know when she would come here, and she didn’t know when she could return to her own body.

So sometimes, even a voice call couldn’t wake her up.

So one early morning, on her way home, she had to find someone to talk to, not because she was afraid of the driver, but because she was afraid of falling asleep.

So on the day they had a date to watch a movie, she had said she was looking forward to it, but she was still late, also because of this helplessness.

—If I ask you out on the same day, can you still make it?

That day, her cautious question was not because she was lazy, but because she was worried that she wouldn’t be able to wake up at the appointed time and would be forced to miss it again.

But even if she hadn’t missed it, they had still parted on bad terms.

That day, the duck that had found the small notebook that had once been torn and then carefully taped back together in the bookshelf was also Jian Xin…

That person, she really wanted to find evidence that would make her surrender.

Then what was she thinking in her heart when she turned into a duck and stayed here for three whole days?

She was standing on the sofa, shouting so loudly, she must have been terrified… but she couldn’t understand anything, and she had even taken her on a blind date with other people’s ducks.

Jian Xin was right. Even if they were to make a clean break, she should at least help her solve this matter.

But she had never faced such a thing before…

Yan Lu sat on the balcony for a long time, so long that the sky outside gradually darkened, and her body sent out signals of hunger over and over again, but she was completely unaware.

Xin Xin and Cauliflower started to play in the study, and the somewhat noisy sound made her slowly come back to her senses.

The clouds in the sky were layered, a dim gray-black nearby, and a brilliant orange-red in the distance.

The sunset was beautiful, but it also told her that it was already so late.

After a brief daze, Yan Lu got up and walked into the kitchen.

—No matter how upset she was, she could skip work, but she still had to eat.

To “go on a hunger strike” to the point of being hospitalized, for a certain person, it could be said to be unavoidable, but for her, there was no reason at all.

Yan Lu’s dinner was very simple. She just boiled a small handful of thin noodles, mixed them with chili sauce, and fried a runny egg.

Xin Xin came over, smelling the food, as if it wanted a bite from its owner’s mouth, its fluffy little head held high.

Yan Lu quickly finished her noodles, then went back to the kitchen and made dinner for Xin Xin.

Finally, she sat back down at her computer, opened a silent private chat, and once again fell into a deep thought.

Perhaps she should apologize to Jian Xin. She had said such harsh words today.

But Jian Xin’s words today were not much better.

They always seemed to be like this, back then, and now. Every argument, it was hard to tell who was right and who was wrong, or maybe… in matters of the heart, it was hard to distinguish right from wrong.

Yan Lu hesitated for a long time, but in the end, she couldn’t make up her mind to send even a single message to Jian Xin.

She opened her private chat with Lin Xiyu.

Perched by the Roadside: Are you busy?

Lin Xiyu: Oh, honey!

Lin Xiyu: Are you a worm in my stomach?

Lin Xiyu: How did you know I’m waiting for a flight? I’m so bored right now!

Perched by the Roadside: What a coincidence.

Perched by the Roadside: Then are you free for a voice call?

Lin Xiyu: [Alert]

Lin Xiyu: Great Author Yan never comes to me for no reason. Could it be that you’ve had a fight with that someone again?

Perched by the Roadside: No, I suddenly thought of a plot, and I wanted you to take a look.

Lin Xiyu: [Hello, I’m a tool]

Lin Xiyu: Come on~

Lin Xiyu: But I’m about to board, so we don’t have much time~

Yan Lu pressed the voice call button, and Lin Xiyu answered in a second.

“Are you starting a new book?”

“Not necessarily, I have to figure out the plot first.”

“Then you can start.”

“Mmm.”

Yan Lu organized her words and said seriously, “Two main characters, A and B, have been broken up for many years and have reunited due to an accident… A has a dog at home, and ever since she reunited with B, her dog has also suddenly become strange.”

“Ah…”

“But this strangeness is still within a reasonable range, until one day, the dog went crazy and led A out of the house, all the way to B’s door, and started barking at the closed door. A felt a little strange. No matter if she rang the doorbell or called, there was no response from inside. She was a little worried, so she contacted the landlord to help her open the door…”

“Ah?”

“She walked into the house and found B in a coma on the bed, so weak that she seemed to be on the verge of death. She was terrified and took B to the hospital. After emergency treatment, she was out of danger.”

“Oh!”

“But after B woke up, she told A a secret—she said that she would often turn into her dog, and it was unknown when she could return to her own body. This time, she was in a coma for three days also because of this, and she had absolutely no intention of taking her own life,” Yan Lu said thoughtfully. “To make A believe this nonsense, B told her many things that, in theory, no one but A could possibly know.”

“Wow!” Lin Xiyu said. “This is so fun. Doesn’t that mean A’s every move at home was being watched by B?”

“…That’s not the point,” Yan Lu said, clearing her throat with some embarrassment, and said seriously, “The point is, A knows about this and definitely has to help B solve it. How do you think the subsequent plot should develop to properly solve this matter?”

“Mmm…” Lin Xiyu pursed her lips and thought seriously for a long while. “In a coma for three days and in the hospital, that means the dog transformation has already seriously affected B’s health. Before a solution is found, at least B’s personal safety should be guaranteed—but, this kind of thing can’t be told to others, because no one will believe it!”

“So, A should invite B to live with her, so that she can take care of her body when B turns into a dog,” she said, snapping her fingers with a proud, but not very loud, snap. “And then you can start the much-anticipated sweet moments! Living together, so sweet! Am I right?”

“…Mmm, I guess so,” Yan Lu said with a smile, just for show.

Care was indeed necessary, but sweet moments were not.

Lin Xiyu: “Then what about the character settings for your new book this time? Besides the ex turning into a dog, is there anything else fun? Are you writing a sweet novel this time? You…”

Yan Lu: “It’s not a sweet novel.”

Lin Xiyu: “Eh?”

Yan Lu: “It’s urban paranormal, thriller, and suspense.”

Lin Xiyu opened her mouth, and it took her a long time to squeeze out a single word, “Awesome!”

As expected of her Great Author Yan, the genres she was dabbling in were getting wider and wider…

She couldn’t help but think of something more distant. “But this genre, if it’s made into a drama, it’ll be hard to pass the review. It has to be explained in a scientific way.”

“Mmm, you’re thinking a little far ahead…”

“Then if you write it, will you choose me as the main character?” Lin Xiyu asked with a grin.

“Do you want to be the dog, or the one being monitored by the dog?”

“Let’s see in the next book!” Lin Xiyu said, glancing at the time. “Aiya, I have to board now, talk to you later!”

“Talk to you later.”

After the voice call was hung up, she stared at the message in her private chat with Jian Xin, which had not yet been replied to, and was in a daze for a long time.

Lin Xiyu was right. In her current state, Jian Xin did need someone to take care of her, and it was really hard to tell her family and friends—emotionally and logically, she should take care of Jian Xin before a solution was found.

But they had already said such harsh words to each other in the afternoon. How should she start now?

Yan Lu took a deep breath, typed and deleted, and deleted and typed a simple sentence, changing the wording countless times, but she still couldn’t find the courage to press the enter key.

Just as she was hesitating, the little duck flapped its wings and ran to her side, tilting its head up and staring at her with wide eyes.

“Quack ah!”

Yan Lu was taken aback for a moment. Looking into its eyes, she tentatively called out, “Jian Xin?”

The little duck hopped in place a couple of times, flapped its wings, and flew onto Yan Lu’s lap. It stood on its tiptoes, stretched its neck, and twisted its head to look at the computer screen.

Yan Lu took a sharp breath, pressed the duck’s head down, and quickly deleted the unsent message.

But Jian Xin still saw a few keywords at the first glance.

—Come live with me.

She knew it. No matter how harsh Yan Lu’s words were, in the end, she wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Quack quack quack quack ah!” The little duck struggled to lift its head and, under Yan Lu’s surprised gaze, flew onto the computer desk.

She glanced at the computer screen, then at the keyboard at her feet, and without much thought, she pecked out the word “okay” on the keyboard with her beak.

Yan Lu’s mouth instantly opened, her eyes widening.

Although she had been somewhat prepared in her heart, the moment she really saw a duck typing with its beak in front of her, the four words “a duck has become a spirit” couldn’t help but appear in her mind.

“You really turned into a duck?” Yan Lu reached out and grabbed Jian Xin, and with a mixture of anger and amusement, she looked into the pair of beady eyes.

“Quack!” Of course, why would I lie to you!

Yan Lu: “I was wondering why Cauliflower suddenly became a picky eater. It turns out you’re the one being picky!”

Jian Xin: “…”

Hey, hey, hey, is that right?

Isn’t that a bit of “it’s easy for you to say”! Those are worms, hey. If it were you, wouldn’t you be a picky eater?!

The little duck turned its head to the side in dissatisfaction, to show that it was very angry!

But the next second, her head was gently pushed back by a finger.

“So you’re the one who’s been jumping on my lap all this time!” Yan Lu’s tone was like a question.

The little duck shrank its neck and didn’t dare to reply.

After a few seconds of silence, she flapped her little wings and was thrown back to the floor by Yan Lu like a piece of trash.

When she landed, she lost her footing and even slid on her duck butt.

“Quack ah!!” Rude, so rude!

Xin Xin heard the duck’s cry and rushed over with its four short little legs, whining and wanting to play with her.

But Yan Lu just sat in her computer chair, rolled her eyes at the duck, and said with a barbed tone, “Xin Xin, what are you pestering her for? She’s just an impostor.”

Jian Xin: “Quack?”

That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it? Was she willing to be this impostor?

Xin Xin: “Woo?”

The little Corgi’s two front paws were on the duck’s back, its head tilted in confusion.

“Ugh ugh ugh, ahh ahh quack quack quack…”

Little silly dog, don’t be confused. Your intelligence and vision are not enough to understand Yan Lu’s words.

“Quack ahh—”

You can just play as usual, you don’t have to worry too much. She’s just saying angry words.

Jian Xin said this, not knowing if Xin Xin could understand.

To comfort this fluffy little fool, she specially twisted her neck and used her beak to smooth its neck fur.

Xin Xin was happy and once again pressed the duck down.

Yan Lu shook her head helplessly, her face full of the word “speechless.”

It took Jian Xin a long time to struggle out from under Xin Xin’s claws. She walked to Yan Lu’s feet and quacked a couple of times.

—Hey, I’m a little hungry!

Yan Lu ignored her.

She thought for a moment, walked to the study door, and shouted a couple more times.

Yan Lu glanced at her, but still had no intention of paying attention.

Jian Xin was so angry that she clapped her beak a few times, ran to the kitchen, stretched her neck, and started to shout loudly.

Xin Xin heard the sound and ran over, stretching its neck forward and also started to shout along with her.

Yan Lu was so annoyed that she got up and rushed to the kitchen, glaring at the duck on the floor—it was clearly her own little pet, why did it look so punchable today?

Jian Xin puffed out her chest and flapped her wings forcefully a few times.

“Quack ah!” I’m hungry, I want to eat!

Yan Lu was silent for a long while, then asked coldly, “Hungry?”

“Quack quack quack quack—”

“I don’t understand. Quack once if you’re hungry, and twice if you’re not.”

Jian Xin: “…”

What a cold woman.

Even though they’re in the same body, Yan Lu’s attitude towards Cauliflower and towards her is completely different!

—What gentleness, it’s all just a facade!

Oh well, bowing down for food is not shameful.

“Quack!”

Yan Lu sighed and shook her head. She took out a small bowl, picked up the small knife and apple from the dining table, and silently started to peel it.

The apple was quickly cut into small pieces and poured into Cauliflower’s food bowl.

Watching the little duck with its little wings on its back, waddling to the food bowl, and burying its head in it to eat, Yan Lu couldn’t help but think of Jian Xin.

She couldn’t help but let out a barely audible laugh.

She quickly came back to her senses and sat back down in front of her computer with a blank expression.

—What’s so funny, it’s better to hurry and write the outline.

After the little duck finished eating, it once again ran to her feet and quacked a couple of times, as if it wanted to, as before, squat on her lap and keep her company while she worked.

But this time, Yan Lu completely ignored her, so she didn’t make a fool of herself and silently shrank back into the duck nest.

Time passed quickly. The old-fashioned grandfather clock in the living room chimed several times, and Jian Xin gradually felt sleepy.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, Yan Lu turned off her computer first, walked over to her, and picked her up from Xin Xin’s side without a word.

“—Quack?” What is she doing?

Jian Xin tilted her head in a daze. Before she could react to what was happening, she was stuffed into the duck cage by Yan Lu with a blank expression.

To prevent Xin Xin from coming over to help her unlock it, Yan Lu even picked up the duck cage and placed it on the computer desk, where the Corgi could definitely not reach.

“Quack ah?!” That’s a bit much!!

“Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ahh!!!” Why are you locking me up? Are you treating me like a thief?!

No, your house has already been thoroughly explored by me. What’s the point of locking it up now?!!

She didn’t treat Cauliflower like this before!

Differential treatment, this is blatant differential treatment!!