The Little Duck 11

Chapter 11

Jian Xin had to admit that Yan Lu’s seemingly passive-aggressive remark did make her withdraw into herself for a moment.

But on second thought, it was only normal for an ex not to give her a pleasant look.

If an ex could be gentle and sweet, would they still be an ex?

Instead of getting hung up on this, she should focus on what really mattered.

Speaking of changing tastes, it reminded her of something very important!

Her duck… oh no, Cauliflower’s duck feed needed a temporary change.

But this was Yan Lu’s duck, after all. How could she bring up her concern without sounding suspicious?

The drama on the phone was still playing, but Jian Xin could no longer focus on the plot.

Seeing her viewing buddy suddenly zone out, Yao Wenqian thoughtfully paused the show and even rewound it a bit. “Do you and my cousin have something you want to talk about? Should I step out for a bit?”

Jian Xin: “No!”

Yan Lu: “No.”

Their simultaneous response left Yao Wenqian’s butt, which had just lifted off the bed, hovering in mid-air.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward for a moment. Jian Xin quickly cleared her throat twice. “There’s nothing you need to step out for. It’s just that we haven’t seen each other in so many years and wanted to chat a bit… Sit, sit down.”

Yao Wenqian blinked and cautiously sat back down.

Jian Xin couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief—that was close, the cousin almost left.

She and Yan Lu were likely to disagree on everything, making it very inconvenient to bring the conversation around to duck feed.

But the cousin was different. The cousin was so talkative; it must be easy to guide the conversation with her!

“Haha, it’s so quiet,” Jian Xin laughed awkwardly, bringing up the topic she wanted to discuss in a very forced manner. “Do you guys like small animals?”

Yan Lu didn’t answer, just took out her phone.

Yao Wenqian, however, was very cooperative. “I do! I follow a lot of cute pet bloggers and get my daily dose of cats and dogs online!”

“Right? Me too!” Jian Xin quickly followed her lead. “After watching them online for so long, I want to get one myself!”

“Yes, yes!” Yao Wenqian agreed repeatedly.

“But then I think about how the furniture might get ruined, how the poop and pee might not be easy to clean up, how the fur would get everywhere, and how I’m so busy every day that I have no time to take care of a furry child, and I get discouraged.”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!”

“People with small pets at home must be so happy!” Jian Xin said, unconsciously glancing at Yan Lu.

Yan Lu just kept her head down, scrolling through her phone.

Fortunately, there was still one person who would answer this question.

“My cousin has a Corgi at home!” Yao Wenqian’s face lit up as she talked about the dog. “I’ve petted that Corgi before. It’s so lively and super cute!”

“A Corgi…” Why only talk about the Corgi and not mention the duck!

“Yeah, my cousin’s Corgi isn’t docked. Its tail is long and fluffy, and when it’s up, it looks like a foxtail grass!” As Yao Wenqian spoke, she suddenly remembered something, and her eyes grew even brighter. “Oh, right, that Corgi is named Xin Xin, the same as Sister Jian Xin’s name. What a coincidence!”

“Hahaha—that’s a real coincidence,” Jian Xin’s lips couldn’t help but twitch slightly.

What a coincidence indeed. Do you want to guess why it’s such a coincidence?

So annoying, but I have to keep smiling.

Yan Lu, who had been silent for a long time, couldn’t help but clear her throat. “Jian Xin is afraid of dogs.”

Yao Wenqian froze for a moment, then suddenly realized she had said something she shouldn’t have and panicked.

After a brief moment of alarm, she quickly employed the topic-changing technique.

“Hey, Sister Jian Xin, do you know about Call ducks?”

“Call ducks!” Finally hearing the keyword, Jian Xin was so excited she almost teared up.

She knew, oh, she knew all too well. There was no one in this world who knew more about Call ducks than she did!

Yao Wenqian: “My cousin has a Call duck at home. It waddles when it walks and always plays with the dog. It’s a real scene of chaos, so much fun!”

“Wow!”

That’s so much fun indeed—she gritted her teeth.

“I have a video, let me find it!” Yao Wenqian picked up her phone and started searching.

She had no idea that her mission was already accomplished. Her Sister Jian Xin no longer needed her for the time being.

Jian Xin looked at Yan Lu. “You have a Call duck too?”

Yan Lu looked up. “You have one too?”

“Not really,” Jian Xin shook her head and began her fabricated story. “It’s a friend of mine! My friend, she also has a Call duck!”

“Oh,” Yan Lu replied coldly, clearly uninterested in a stranger’s story.

Jian Xin didn’t care whether Yan Lu wanted to listen or not. She just opened her mouth and started talking—

“Speaking of which, her duck was always healthy, ate whatever it was given. But a while ago, it suddenly lost its appetite. She tried several different kinds of duck feed, but the duck wouldn’t eat much. She took it to the vet, but there was nothing wrong with it. My friend was so worried!”

Jian Xin said all this in one breath, her eyes brightening as she took a breath. “Guess how she solved it in the end?”

Yan Lu’s interest was piqued. “How did she solve it?”

Excellent, that’s the line I was waiting for!

Jian Xin cleared her throat. “She switched the duck feed to fresh fruits and vegetables, chopped them up finely, and mixed in some breadcrumbs and shrimp—the little duck was willing to eat right away!”

After she finished, she smiled with relief, as if a great wish had been fulfilled. She no longer looked at Yan Lu, but turned her gaze to Yao Wenqian’s phone screen.

—Yan Lu didn’t want to talk to her, and she didn’t really want to talk to Yan Lu either.

She was just that kind of person, always wanting to win at everything, even when it came to giving someone the cold shoulder.

Beside them, Yao Wenqian muttered, “I can’t seem to find the video…”

Jian Xin: “It’s fine, let’s just keep watching the drama!”

“Oh, okay!” Yao Wenqian closed her photo album and placed the phone back on the small table.

Perhaps because they had chatted for a while, the atmosphere in the room was finally not as awkward as before. The three of them naturally started watching the same drama on the small phone screen.

Yan Lu had never thought that one day she would be able to sit by Jian Xin’s bed so peacefully, watching her seriously follow the TV series adapted from her novel, occasionally guessing the plot’s direction.

That curious and serious look, just like back then…

Several times, she felt a little dazed, suspecting that none of this was real.

That evening, Yan Lu went home first, while Yao Wenqian reluctantly said goodbye to her new drama-watching buddy late at night.

Jian Xin figured she wouldn’t be able to use her phone with her hands injured anyway, so she asked Yao Wenqian to help take her phone to a repair shop to get the screen replaced.

Even though a person knows they can’t use their phone, the moment it’s gone, they still feel a little dazed.

The hospital room was quiet, with the occasional chirp of cicadas coming from outside the window.

Jian Xin lay in bed, smelling the medicinal plaster on her body. She wanted to sleep but didn’t dare, afraid that if she closed her eyes and opened them again, she would be back in the body of a certain duck.

But no matter how scared she was, drowsiness eventually crept up on her.

As her consciousness grew fuzzy, she sighed and decided to let herself go.

Anyway, I’ve already told Yan Lu what I needed to say. The duck’s food should improve. As for the rest…

As long as I don’t starve, no matter how troublesome things get, they can always be overcome!

With this thought, Jian Xin closed her eyes as peacefully as a corpse.

*

It was nine o’clock at night when Yan Lu got home.

The moment she pushed open the door, aside from a few pieces of duck poop on the floor, the house was relatively clean.

In the study, the two boisterous little ones were squeezed into the small duck nest, curled up and snuggled together, sleeping very obediently.

The dog’s food bowl was empty, and the duck feed seemed to have been touched. Cauliflower hadn’t eaten much, but at least it had eaten something.

Yan Lu breathed a sigh of relief, turned, and walked into the kitchen, putting the frozen shrimp she had just bought into the freezer.

I’ll try a change of flavor for Cauliflower tomorrow.

She thought, then opened Weibo on her phone, went to Lin Xiyu’s homepage, and silently scrolled through the superstar’s photos.

A few minutes later, she silently turned off the screen and tossed her phone onto the table with a blank expression.

Everyone likes young, beautiful, and vibrant girls.

She didn’t even have time to take care of her own duck’s tastes. Why should she care about what that woman’s tastes were now?

She shouldn’t care at all.