Chapter 12
With two minutes left before class ended, the music teacher was already standing at the door, textbook in hand.
This was the third class of the afternoon, and after this, school was out. The moment the bell rang, she was the first one out of the classroom, scurrying away faster than the students rushing to the cafeteria.
Jian Xin stretched, stood up, and glanced behind her. She was just about to call her previous deskmate to go to the cafeteria together when she saw her laughing and chatting with her new deskmate as they ran out the back door—without even a second glance in her direction.
The bonds between people often change in intensity as distance changes.
Look at that, how long has it been since we switched seats, and she’s already made better friends. We used to be together every day…
Having lost her regular meal buddy, Jian Xin felt a pang of disappointment.
Most of the students had already left the classroom. She had missed the prime time for grabbing food, and going to the cafeteria now would mean waiting in a very, very long line.
The thought of it instantly killed her appetite. She slumped back onto her desk, feeling listless.
The classroom was empty and quiet. Everyone had gone to the cafeteria, and the only sound was the soft, continuous scratching of a pen beside her.
What is this person writing so diligently for, skipping dinner?
Could this be the reason she improved by five hundred places in the mid-term exams?
The thought of the mid-term exams reminded Jian Xin of the study plan she had diligently made the night the results came out, but had yet to follow for a single day.
In the blink of an eye, the next monthly exam was approaching, and she was still the same lazy bum who even copied her homework.
It seemed that even if she started working hard now, she wouldn’t be able to switch deskmates this month.
Jian Xin sighed, put on her headphones, and closed her eyes—if I don’t see, don’t hear, and don’t think, anxiety can’t catch up to me!
Anxiety couldn’t catch up to her, but hunger eventually did.
Argh, so annoying!
I don’t like eating alone!
After her stomach had rumbled for the third time, Jian Xin couldn’t help but sit up straight.
She glanced to her left. Yan Lu was still engrossed in her writing.
After some thought, Jian Xin decided to try inviting this person to eat.
So she gently poked Yan Lu’s arm. “Hey, what are you writing?”
Yan Lu flinched as if electrocuted, covering what she was writing with her workbook. She shook her head without even daring to look up. “Nothing…”
Why is she covering it up like that?
So nervous, it’s definitely not practice problems.
—Could it be a secret crush diary, or a love letter to some classmate?
Pfft! What does that have to do with me?
Food is more important!
Jian Xin retracted her curious gaze and got straight to the point. “It’s already five-thirty. Why don’t you stop writing for now and let’s go to the cafeteria for dinner?”
Yan Lu looked up, a somewhat surprised expression on her face.
Jian Xin: “What’s wrong?”
Yan Lu opened her mouth, the surprise in her eyes slowly turning into hesitation.
Jian Xin was a little exasperated. “It’s a simple yes or no. Why are you so hesitant? If you don’t want to go, I’ll go by myself!”
Yan Lu: “I… only paid for lunch.”
Jian Xin: “…”
After a brief silence, Jian Xin couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you a boarding student?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a boarding student, and you only eat one meal a day?”
“Yeah,” Yan Lu replied, lowering her head again.
“…” Seriously, sister? That frugal?
No wonder she looks so malnourished, so thin and small she looks like she could be blown away by the wind.
Speaking of which, they had been deskmates for almost a month, and Jian Xin had barely spoken to Yan Lu.
This deskmate was very reserved. If you didn’t initiate a conversation, she would never approach you, a complete breathing, transparent mute.
Jian Xin’s impression of Yan Lu was that of a quiet, small girl who wore a school uniform two sizes too big every day, kept her head down whether sitting or standing, and was so introverted she seemed to have severe social anxiety.
Thinking back now, this deskmate didn’t even have a pencil case. The pens, erasers, rulers, compasses, and other stationery she used were all pulled out from a faded old schoolbag.
Yan Lu’s family was probably not well-off, which was why she could only afford to pay for lunch on her meal card.
At this thought, and remembering her own impatient tone just now, Jian Xin felt a little embarrassed.
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
After much hesitation, she pursed her lips and muttered, “Zhang Danya went to eat with someone else, and I don’t like going to the cafeteria alone. Can you come with me?”
“I don’t eat much anyway, and you can get free rice refills. You can grab a soup bowl and eat with me,” she said, gently poking Yan Lu’s arm again. “I’m begging you, please come with me.”
Yan Lu hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded under Jian Xin’s expectant gaze.
When the two of them arrived at the cafeteria, it was already empty. Only two or three food windows were still open, and the selection of dishes was very limited.
“Auntie, can you give me a little more of the tomato beef, please? Thank you, Auntie!”
“Auntie, can you give me a little more of the cabbage too! Thank you, Auntie!”
“Auntie, a little more of this too… and a little more rice… Thank you, Auntie, you’re the best!”
Jian Xin’s sweet “thank you, Auntie”s pleased the cafeteria lady, who piled so much food onto her tray that it was almost overflowing.
After getting her food, she grabbed two pairs of chopsticks, picked up an empty bowl from beside the soup cauldron, and quickly walked over to Yan Lu.
Yan Lu had chosen a corner seat hidden by a pillar, looking somewhat guilty.
Two people eating a meal paid for by one person—she was genuinely afraid of getting caught and scolded.
Jian Xin, however, had no such worries. She sat down and pushed the tray to the middle of the table, her eyes full of pride.
“Impressive, right? With my sweet-talking, I got so much food. It’s definitely enough for the two of us!”
“Is this really okay?” Yan Lu asked in a low voice.
“What’s not okay about it? It’s not like I didn’t pay!” Jian Xin retorted.
“I didn’t pay…”
“Isn’t it fine as long as I paid?” Jian Xin said, scooping two large clumps of rice into the small soup bowl and handing it to Yan Lu. “What are you afraid of? Just eat—the school usually turns a blind eye to small things like this because it’s too much trouble to manage.”
“…”
“I’ve done this countless times in middle school when I forgot my meal card!” Jian Xin stuffed a mouthful of braised pork into her mouth and said indistinctly, “You’re jus’ too thin-skinned!”
“…”
Jian Xin swallowed her food. Seeing that Yan Lu still hadn’t touched her chopsticks, she simply took her meal card from her school pants pocket and stuffed it into Yan Lu’s hand.
Yan Lu’s eyes widened.
Jian Xin: “If someone really comes to check, just say the meal card is yours and I’m the one mooching, okay?”
Yan Lu: “But…”
Jian Xin: “The worst that can happen is a written self-criticism. How hard is that to write?”
Yan Lu stared at the meal card in her hand for a few seconds, then finally picked up her chopsticks and started eating the plain rice in her bowl.
Seeing that she was only eating from her own bowl, Jian Xin didn’t say anything, just silently put some dishes into her bowl.
Every time a cafeteria lady passed by to collect trays, Yan Lu’s eyes would dart away. It wasn’t until the meal was over and no one had said anything that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
On the way back to the academic building, Yan Lu handed the meal card back to Jian Xin.
Jian Xin took it back with a smile. Before she could put it back in her pocket, she asked again, “Why don’t you hold on to it for me? I’m a day student, so I forget to bring it easily!”
Yan Lu: “Huh?”
Jian Xin: “From now on, we’ll eat together. If you keep it for me, I won’t miss any meals.”
Yan Lu opened her mouth, as if unsure how to reply.
Jian Xin: “Is it inconvenient? Then don’t worry about it…”
Yan Lu took the meal card. “It’s convenient.”
“Thanks then!” Jian Xin said, raising her arms for a stretch and walking ahead quickly.
Yan Lu hurried to catch up.
There were still twenty minutes before evening self-study, and the classroom was gradually filling up.
The two of them walked into the classroom one after the other. Jian Xin returned to her seat and, seeing the students at the desk behind her playing Fight the Landlord, she watched with great interest for a while. It wasn’t until the bell rang and the students hid their playing cards that she sat up straight again.
The moment the entire classroom fell silent, her peripheral vision unconsciously glanced to the left.
Yan Lu was still writing something, densely packed. The finished parts were covered by her textbook.
This person seemed to be writing every day, as if she could never finish.
So much content, it probably wasn’t a diary, and certainly not a love letter.
The more Jian Xin thought about it, the more curious she became. She couldn’t resist tearing off a small piece of paper and passing it over.
—What on earth are you writing every day? So mysterious. We’ve even eaten together! Can you really not tell me?
When Yan Lu received the note, she was first a little surprised, then hesitated for a moment, and finally wrote a reply and quietly passed it back.
—I’m writing a novel.
Jian Xin opened the note and glanced at it. Her mouth moved unconsciously, forming a silent “wow.”
—You can write novels? That’s amazing!
As expected, there was no reply to the note she passed.
Jian Xin pouted, tore off another corner from her scratchpad, and passed it over again.
—What kind of novel is it? Can I read it when you’re done?
—It’s a long way from being finished.
—Can I follow the updates then!
—It’s not good.
—I don’t believe you, unless you let me take a look! If it’s good, then you lied to me, and I’ll praise you to death!
Yan Lu looked at the note in her hand, blinked, and the corners of her mouth seemed to lift slightly.
She finished writing the end of a paragraph, closed the notebook in her hand, and gently pushed it towards Jian Xin.
“You have to return it to me quickly,” her voice was very soft and small. “I still have to write…”
Jian Xin nodded and happily opened the first page.
Winter Night, Summer Solstice
[Prologue]
[Lin Xiaoshuang’s world was nothing but an endless winter night.]
[The scorching afternoon sun, the hustle and bustle of the campus, were a summer she could not blend into.]
[That day, the hot wind rushed towards her, beating against the fear deep in her heart.]
[She spread her wings, only to curl up and cry in fear.]
[Many years later, Lin Xiaoshuang still wondered, if on that day, Li Xia had not been there to block the scorching sun on the rooftop for her, she might have truly become a bird that flies only once in its lifetime.]
[So from that moment on, she told herself in her heart—]
[If she could get close to Li Xia, she was willing to give up flying.]
