The Little Duck 61p2

Chapter 61p2

After dinner, the two of them sat in the kitchen and rested for a while, cleared the bowls and chopsticks, and then slowly walked towards the print shop outside the community.

The setting sun gradually sank, and through the shade of the trees on the side of the road, it cast swaying orange-red light and shadows.

The autumn wind was cool, accompanying them.

Life seemed to be such a simple thing, day after day, going with the flow. Everyone had their own joys, angers, sorrows, and happiness, which would wax and wane with the rising and setting of the sun.

Yan Lu seemed to be looking at the sunset in the sky, and Jian Xin was looking at her dress and hair, which were being blown by the wind.

In a very distant past, Jian Xin had always walked quickly in front, and had never noticed that behind her, there had also been a pair of eyes that were full of her.

Actually, she knew, she should have known. Yan Lu had described such a gaze more than once in her novels.

It was beautiful, romantic, and suitable for every teenager in the throes of their first love.

The difference was that at that time, what she saw was youthful exuberance, and now, what she saw was the quiet and good years.

Yan Lu seemed to have felt Jian Xin’s gaze and looked back.

Jian Xin did not dodge, just smiled openly.

Yan Lu: “Why are you so thoughtful?”

This question was a little strange, and the wording was even a little literary. If it had been her, she would probably only have been able to ask, “What are you thinking about.”

Jian Xin thought for a moment and shrugged. “Actually, my mind is empty right now. I seem to have thought about the past for a moment, but I also seem to have not thought of anything.”

Yan Lu: “Then you’re quite prone to being in a daze now.”

Jian Xin: “After being ravaged by work for a few years, my mind will be a lot empty when I’m free.”

Yan Lu’s footsteps did not stop, and she just asked faintly, “Why did you give up on music back then? With your family’s conditions, it wouldn’t have been a problem to support you for a few years of willfulness. What if you had made it?”

Jian Xin smiled. “My spirit was gone, I couldn’t have made it.”

Yan Lu: “How did it go away?”

Jian Xin: “It just suddenly went away, I can’t say why.”

Yan Lu sighed and did not reply.

Jian Xin smiled and continued.

She said that after graduating from university, she had drifted in the Capital for two years. She hadn’t felt it when she was in school, but after she graduated, she found that the pressure of life there was so great.

They didn’t have a very stable income, and sometimes the money they earned from a small performance couldn’t even cover the cost of the rehearsals.

When she hadn’t graduated, she could still ask her family for money with a straight face, but once a person graduated and saw that their peers had all found jobs where they could earn their own money, while they were still asking their family for money, it became much harder to ask.

So, in about a year or so, everyone in the band had gone their separate ways. In the end, only Xiang Yuanyuan and Chen Yuan, a junior who had just graduated, were left.

Speaking of which, the place she was living in at that time was a place she had rented with Xiang Yuanyuan.

In that city where every inch of land was worth gold, even renting a place together was not cheap for a month.

The band had disbanded, and she couldn’t get any small performances. She also didn’t want to always ask her family for money every few days, so she could only find some odd jobs on her own to earn rent and living expenses.

But there were still many young people chasing their dreams there. They were enthusiastic, in groups, and were even willing to perform for free. Their cost-performance ratio was much higher than hers.

What should she do? She just went to various bars and asked if they needed a resident singer, saying that her song library was very deep and she could try any style.

In the year after she had parted ways with everyone, she had been a resident singer in many bars, but she never lasted long, because the customers would also get tired of her, and the boss always wanted to find some cheap new voices.

Some bars had a bad environment, and when the customers got drunk, they would make things difficult for the resident singer. If she couldn’t satisfy him, he might make a scene.

And she, she had had a big temper since she was a child, and she had had many arguments with people because of this.

She still remembered one time, a person had held up a wine bottle and was about to hit her, but he was stopped by the bartender on the side, who coaxed and persuaded him.

That day, the boss had let her go home early. She was sitting on the last subway home by herself, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt aggrieved.

And then, she had seriously thought about the meaning of going on like this.

The result of her thinking was that the things that had once seemed very meaningful now seemed quite meaningless.

And this meaninglessness was not something she had suddenly felt.

It had existed for a long, long time, but she had still been living in a routine, trying not to face it.

She said that that feeling was very magical.

It’s just that, you’ve had a dream since you were a child.

You’ve run towards it for a long, long time.

And then suddenly one day, you ask yourself in your heart, “When my dream comes true, who will I share my joy with?”

You don’t get an answer, and then the once-brilliant dream suddenly becomes boring.

After that, you lose your passion.

It’s not regret, and it’s not sadness. It’s just that you suddenly lose the spirit you once had to fight with all your might and let the whole world see you.

So you start to feel that it’s also good to live a plain life.

So you find that you’ve never been the main character of this world, and you’re not as dazzling as you had imagined.

So you let go of your dream and return to reality.

Jian Xin said this faintly, a faint smile in her eyes that had long since been indifferent to the passage of time.

Yan Lu listened quietly. The sunset had also completely set, leaving only a faint pink in the sky that was about to disappear.

“Then what about now?” she asked Jian Xin. “What do you think now?”

“Now I’m holding on to a big thigh. Life will definitely get better and better!”

“You have spirit again?”

“This is not a matter of spirit anymore,” Jian Xin said, shaking her head.

“Then what is it?”

“It’s that after all the twists and turns, I finally found that I still prefer another kind of life. It’s best if I can be rich and famous, but it’s also fine if I’m a little poor. Being happy is more important than anything.”

Yan Lu remembered some things from the past and said with a soft laugh, “Yeah, I also feel now that no matter what it’s for, there’s no need to push myself too hard.”

Jian Xin nodded and let out a breath, looking at the distant sky. “If I can, I still really want to buy a big villa!”

“Buying a house is not a good investment at all now,” Yan Lu said.

“I don’t need it to be an investment. I’m buying it to live in, not to rent or sell!” Jian Xin said, her lips lifting as she fantasized in her heart.

She still wanted to save money to buy a big villa, preferably a detached one, with three floors and a yard!

If she really bought one, then the areas had to be divided in advance.

Yan Lu liked quiet and also loved to grow flowers. She should have a floor to herself, maybe the third floor? Not only should there be a study, but also a simple and spacious activity room, and a balcony with good lighting.

It would be like an exclusive studio, and no one would be allowed to go up and disturb her without permission.

On the second floor, there would be their bedroom, and also a special room for pets. It would be filled with all kinds of big and small toys for pets, dog beds and duck nests, and they would also customize some entertainment scenes where the small animals could jump around or crawl through.

The first floor would have a large living room, and the kitchen would also be very large!

And also, the villa would have a yard, and in the yard, there would be a locust tree.

If possible, they could have a swimming pool, the kind that was cleaned regularly by someone.

Of course, she couldn’t swim. The main reason for this was to make it convenient for Cauliflower to play in the water at any time.

The more Jian Xin thought, the happier she became, as if she had already foreseen a beautiful future.

But she didn’t say anything, just thought this in her heart—after all, she had also experienced the matter of being slapped in the face by life after boasting too early.

Now she was just a little worried…

“Do you think, if I sign this contract, what will happen if I suddenly turn into a duck during the recording?”

“…”

This was undoubtedly a very serious problem, and Yan Lu’s footsteps even paused for a moment.

She frowned and asked with some hesitation, “How about… before the program starts recording, we go to another temple to pray?”

“Uh-huh—” which temple?

Where should she go to pray for this kind of thing, and which god should she pray to for it to be effective?

—It’s really giving me a headache.

She always felt that praying to a god was probably not as good as going home and praying to a duck more.

With this thought, the moment she got home, she grabbed Cauliflower from the balcony outside the study, and like holding a piece of porcelain, she carried it all the way to the sofa in the living room.

Xin Xin chased her all the way with its head up, its tongue hanging out, and its tail wagging, its eyes full of curiosity as it stared at the Cauliflower that was being held high.

Jian Xin sat on the sofa with Cauliflower and, while learning Yan Lu’s technique of petting it, she started to negotiate with it in a good-natured tone.

She smoothed its feathers and showed it the contract in her hand.

Fearing that the little duck wouldn’t understand, she even read the key points to it.

“Cauliflower, little Cauliflower, my great duck spirit, can we make a deal? Starting from September 15th, for the next three months, can you please restrain yourself a little? If I’m not at home, please don’t tie me back, okay?”

“Quack quack quack quack quack!”

“I really don’t understand what you’re saying, but you’re shouting so loudly. Can I take it that you understand what I’m saying and are willing to agree?”

“Quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack ahh ahh—”

“Awoo?” Xin Xin tilted its head in confusion. Seeing that the duck hadn’t been put down for a long time, it was a little anxious and started to pat Jian Xin’s foot with its little paw.

“Wait a minute, Xin Xin. I have something to talk to Cauliflower about,” Jian Xin said, and seeing that Yan Lu was still in the bathroom, she suddenly rubbed the little duck in her palm with force, widened her eyes and held it up to the duck’s head, and said in a low, secret voice, “As long as you don’t disturb my recording, I swear, when I have money in the future, I’ll get you a big swimming pool!”

At this point, she felt that this promise was a little big, so she took a small step back in her words. “Even if I can’t get you a big swimming pool, I’ll get you a small pond. How about it?”

“Quack ah!”

“If Xin Xin bullies you in the future, I’ll always have your back!”

“Ahhh ahhh quack quack!”

“I’ll take that as a yes!”

“Quack quack quack quack!”

“How about this? If you understand what I’m saying, you can bite my finger,” Jian Xin said, holding her finger to Cauliflower’s beak.

Cauliflower slowly turned its head to the side, then lowered its head and looked at Xin Xin.

Jian Xin’s face darkened, and she pouted. She stubbornly held her index finger to Cauliflower’s beak again. No matter how Cauliflower turned its head, she would hold her finger to the duck’s beak, with a hint of a forced sale.

Cauliflower let out a “quack,” and its flat beak impatiently tapped her hand.

A duck has no teeth, so it doesn’t hurt to be tapped like this—it has a little bit of force, and it’s inexplicably quite comfortable.

“Deal!”

Jian Xin cheered and placed the little duck back on the floor.

Xin Xin jumped up and was about to pounce on it. Jian Xin instantly crouched down, caught Xin Xin, and started to rub it with a smile.

She muttered something, “Xin Xin, you can’t always bully Cauliflower!—Cauliflower, I’ve got its back, understand~~~~?”

Cauliflower quacked and laughed, puffed out its chest, and with its wings on its back, it started to hop around the two Xin Xins with an “I-don’t-recognize-my-own-kin” gait.

Yan Lu, who had just come out of the bathroom, happened to see this scene. She couldn’t help but laugh, and sighed and shook her head.

Where did this childish person come from? She’s almost thirty, and she’s still like she was before.

These two little ones at home are also very close to her…

Jian Xin seemed to have felt her gaze and looked up at her with a smile.

It was such an ordinary smile, yet it was so captivating.

That person, ever since she had moved in, she would always play with the little duck and dog when she had nothing to do, which made the house very noisy.

But this noise was not annoying at all, as if it were a part of life.

Sometimes she didn’t want to admit it, but she had to.

She had used seven years to get used to a life of being alone.

But to break a seven-year habit, all it took was the appearance of one person.