Volume 9: The Acidity of the Setting Sun
Chapter 16: A Door Apart
After class, Chen Jianing rushed to the dormitory like a shot, rummaging through everything to find her makeup that she hadn’t used in ages. When she first started university, she would still study how to dress up, but now she just went with whatever was most casual. Those bottles and jars had long been shelved in some forgotten corner. In the end, she could only quickly wash and blow-dry her hair, put on some light makeup, and change into a dress she almost never wore.
She was short, and when she wore skirts before, she was always laughed at by the boys in her class for having short legs, so she had always had a complex about skirts. In reality, Chen Jianing’s legs weren’t short at all; in terms of proportion, she had “little” long legs. After getting ready, she took a few deep breaths, put on an air of calm composure, and dialed Lu Li’s number.
“Hello? Lu Li, I have time now. I’ll take you to the hotel.” She had carefully polished this sentence to highlight her composure and casualness while not being impolite. She would never admit that she had run panting from the classroom back to the dorm for Lu Li.
After getting Lu Li’s reply, Chen Jianing’s heart was still pounding. This was the first time she had asked a boy to a hotel to “get a room”—truly, just to get a room. She wondered if she should find an excuse to stay the night. Would Lu Li do anything to her? He must be feeling very empty after breaking up with Chu Jingyi… Suddenly, she felt a little ashamed, as if she were a despicable woman.
She liked Lu Li, that was undeniable, even knowing he was already taken. She had thought before that if one day Lu Li got tired of the other girls and came to her, she would probably agree. So, did that make her the one to take him on in the end?
She had arranged to meet Lu Li at the hotel entrance, mainly because she was worried that being seen going to a hotel together wouldn’t look good. Their guidance counselor was very nosy; at thirty years old, she hadn’t found a man for herself and often preached the superiority of being single.
She didn’t wait long at the hotel entrance before she saw Lu Li’s figure. The little tiger happily raised her hand, about to greet him, when she suddenly saw that Lu Li’s other hand was holding that of a beautiful young woman. It was Chu Jingyi. The two of them were holding hands, not walking very fast. Lu Li was waving at her, Chen Jianing, while Chu Jingyi was gazing with deep affection at Lu Li’s profile. Even a fool could see that their relationship was very good; they hadn’t broken up at all.
The expression on Chen Jianing’s face froze for a moment. She withdrew her greeting and said in a cold tone, “What took you so long? I’ve been waiting for ages.”
At a time like this, she had to pretend she had known all along that the two of them were together. The calmer her expression, the fewer flaws would show.
Lu Li was surprised. He had been wondering how to explain the matter of getting a room to the Little Tiger, but now she didn’t seem to care much? And it was as if she had expected it? When did this little annoying ghost get so clever?
“Chen Jianing, thank you.”
“Don’t call me by my full name, it makes it sound so formal. Alright, let’s go in.” Chen Jianing tossed her head and strode toward the hotel. “Are you two the ones getting a room?” She had actually been hoping to hear Lu Li say, “No. Jingyi is just walking me part of the way.” But Lu Li’s answer felt like a hammer blow to her heart.
“Mm. Yes.”
Her heart wasn’t just heavy; it felt like it was being kneaded and squeezed.
What is this…
If you’re sleeping with another girl, why do you need me to get the room? What am I to you…
Chen Jianing’s eyes suddenly reddened. But she didn’t turn around, not letting Lu Li see her expression. “Oh.” She looked down at the little dress she had so carefully prepared and suddenly felt that everything had lost its meaning.
The little Chen Jianing bottled up her grievances and, pretending to be mature, went to the hotel’s front desk. After completing the check-in, she led Lu Li and Chu Jingyi to room 2011 on the second floor. She paused in front of the door for a long time. Only after making sure there were no flaws in her expression did she turn back to look at the two of them. “I still have class tonight, so I won’t accompany you. Remember to check out before 12 PM tomorrow. I’m not extending the room for you.” As she spoke, she handed the room card and her ID card to Lu Li.
Her nose was runny, and her voice sounded a little strange. Lu Li asked, “Do you have a cold?”
“No. Rhinitis.” She made up an excuse. After speaking, afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold back the grievance and gloom in her heart, she strode downstairs, not looking back at Lu Li and his girlfriend again. When she reached the stairwell, she suddenly received several more WeChat messages.
They were from her dormitory group chat. Her roommates were all asking if Chen Jianing had arrived at the hotel, if she was nervous, and a whole bunch of other nonsense. They were all first-year university students who had not yet been too deeply corrupted by the poison of consumerism and still held a curiosity and longing for sex.
Only then did the Little Tiger remember that she had boasted too much in front of her roommates. She wasn’t going to a hotel with her boyfriend; she was just getting a room for the person she liked and his girlfriend. If she went back to school in such a dejected state, she would definitely be laughed at until graduation… She felt like such a clown…
Chen Jianing sat on the stairs in a daze, not knowing where to go tonight. The hotel cleaning lady gave her a strange look as she came up the stairs with a mop. Chen Jianing, who was shy with strangers, stood up awkwardly and stiffly and walked toward the front desk.
She remembered Lu Li had given her eight hundred yuan, so maybe she could get another room. At least for tonight, she could just sleep and pretend nothing had happened. But the front desk said that one ID card could only be used to get one room and asked her if she hadn’t just gotten one. Why did she need another? The front desk clerk’s suspicious gaze was like a knife scraping at the Little Tiger, and his other hand was on the landline phone. It seemed he was treating her as a suspicious person.
Chen Jianing felt her pocket; she had given her ID card to Lu Li. Now she couldn’t even go to another hotel to sleep for the night.
She was never good at dealing with strangers. She stammered that the room was too small and couldn’t sleep three people. The front desk clerk then asked her to get the ID cards of the other two people. Worried about messing things up, Chen Jianing said to forget it, that they could squeeze in, and then ran back to the second floor under the front desk clerk’s shocked gaze.
The dazed Little Tiger found herself back at the door of 2011. The hotel’s soundproofing was very good; at least she couldn’t hear the voices inside clearly.
Are they talking? Studying? Or holding hands? Hugging? Kissing? Or taking it a step further?
Chen Jianing sat at the door, hugging her knees. She found that she was truly an idiot; she messed up everything she did. If only she had been born mute, then she would have a legitimate reason not to speak, and everyone would treat her favorably. Plus, there were extra points for people with disabilities on the graduate school entrance exam…
She leaned against the door. The thought of Lu Li and Chu Jingyi being inseparable as glue inside, and the thought of herself outside, homeless, made her unable to hold back her tears. Why are you treating me like this… I just don’t want to be looked down on by others…
…
Lu Li and Chu Jingyi sat on the bed. The atmosphere was a little awkward, the air temperature a little high. It wasn’t Lu Li’s first time getting a room with a girl, but it was Chu Jingyi’s first time being alone with a man in a hotel. The young girl’s shoulders were tense, and she sat up straight and proper, like a primary school student in class.
“Ahem, want to watch TV?” Lu Li fumbled and found the remote control. “Jingyi, you should get under the covers. It’s cold outside.”
Chu Jingyi said, “Oh,” took off her shoes and socks, revealing her delicate, jade-like feet, and then asked, “What about you?”
“I… I’ll get in too,” Lu Li said.
