The Little Duck 33

Chapter 33

The hot water in the bathtub was almost full.

Yan Lu crouched quietly on the side, her hands gripping the edge of the tub, watching Jian Xin test the water temperature with her fingers.

The ripples created by her fingers were reflected in her curious eyes.

Today was the sixth day of the summer vacation of the second semester of her first year of high school.

Yan Lu had been living at Jian Xin’s house for a while, but this was her first time using the bathtub.

Jian Xin usually preferred speed and convenience and didn’t like to use it, just a quick shower would do. But Yan Lu had always been curious about the bathtub—she had only seen such things on TV. Seeing that Jian Xin’s family had one, she wanted to try it but didn’t dare to say so.

At dinner, Huang He said she had seen a great deal on a hot spring trip and wanted to take the whole family.

The two young ladies were instantly excited, their eyes full of anticipation.

However, after dinner, just as Jian Xin was starting to help Yan Lu pick out a swimsuit on Taobao, Huang He suddenly said she had misread the conditions. The deal was a senior package, only for people over 55—the original price was too expensive, and the place was too far, so they decided not to go.

Amidst Jian Xin’s wails, Madam Huang calmly said, “next time for sure.”

“It’s just a hot spring, no big deal…” Jian Xin muttered softly, propping her face in her hand, a look of regret on her face as she sat in front of the computer.

The computer screen still showed the Taobao page for swimsuits, but the anticipated hot spring trip had already gone down the drain.

Yan Lu sat beside her and said softly, “That’s good, then we don’t have to buy a swimsuit. It’s quite expensive anyway, and I haven’t earned much money…”

“Oh, it’s fine!” Jian Xin said, lowering her voice a little. “The Taobao account is linked to my dad’s credit card. It’s not our money.”

Yan Lu opened her mouth but didn’t dare to speak.

Jian Xin sighed softly, closed the Taobao page, took a deep breath, and said with a “hmph,” nonchalantly, “Isn’t it just a hot spring? Soaking in hot water is the same! Don’t we have a bathtub at home?!”

“Huh?”

“It’s the same! The same! The bathtub even has a massage function!” The moment Jian Xin’s words fell, she ran off with a grin to rinse the bathtub.

What a spontaneous person.

Jian Xin’s family’s bathtub was very large, fan-shaped, with two massage seats, and was located in the bathroom connected to Jian Xin’s bedroom.

Actually, two people could have soaked in it together, but Yan Lu seemed a little embarrassed, so Jian Xin generously gave the spot to her.

In the end, she didn’t really want to soak in a hot spring that much. She was just thinking that Yan Lu might not have experienced it before and hoped she could.

At this moment, the bathtub was full.

“Alright!” Jian Xin said, standing up straight and pointing to the buttons on the bathtub. “You can adjust the massage modes here. Bubbles, surfing, vibration, you can try them all!”

Yan Lu blinked and looked up at Jian Xin.

Jian Xin: “I’ve set it to a constant temperature, so you can soak for as long as you want!”

Yan Lu: “Oh!”

Jian Xin: “Then I’ll go out now?”

Yan Lu: “Mmm!”

Jian Xin hopped away, closing the bathroom door behind her.

The hair towel and bath towel were a set, light blue, folded neatly, and placed on a high shelf on the side.

Yan Lu took off her nightdress, carefully sat in the bathtub, and hugged her knees, a little dazed.

Everything before her didn’t seem real.

In Jian Xin’s world, there were many things she had never had, or even seen.

Delicious snacks, tasty drinks, beautiful stationery, and a big, clean home that seemed to be able to hold all the good things.

Yan Lu didn’t know what method Jian Xin had used to actually convince her aunt and uncle to take her in.

It was like… taking in a stray kitten.

Perhaps it was out of kindness, but there must have been some serious consideration. It wouldn’t have been an easy decision.

But her aunt and uncle didn’t say anything.

They didn’t ask about her family background, nor did they ask why she had come home with Jian Xin. They just told her that if she liked it here, she could come whenever she wanted and stay for as long as she wanted.

And so, she stayed.

She no longer needed to stay alone in the empty dorm, no longer needed to save that little bit of money by taking cold showers in the dorm while the weather was still not cold.

Every weekend, Jian Xin would take her home.

There was air conditioning, delicious food, and carefully cut fruits.

There were also pajamas, slippers, and clean toiletries prepared especially for her, just for her.

Auntie grew many flowers in the house that Yan Lu couldn’t name.

When Uncle was at home, besides helping with some housework, he would either watch TV or play on the computer.

He didn’t talk much, didn’t smoke or drink. There was never a hint of smoke or alcohol in the house, only the faint scent of flowers.

Yan Lu liked this atmosphere very much. It was like escaping from a cage and finally being able to breathe freely.

But she couldn’t help but feel a lot of unease in her heart.

She was afraid of doing something wrong, saying something wrong, and being disliked and driven away.

She was even more afraid that if she didn’t go home for a long time, she might anger the drunkard at home.

On the day the final exams ended, Yan Lu hesitated for a long time, then finally used Jian Xin’s phone to compose a text message and send it to her dad’s phone.

In the text, she said she wanted to save the family some money, so she would be staying at a friend’s house for the summer vacation and would also go out to work to earn the tuition and living expenses for the next semester.

The sent text received no reply. Yan Lu was not surprised at all, just taking it as a tacit approval.

Jian Xin’s family was very good, and her family was also very good, but she still needed money to continue her studies, and she couldn’t bring herself to ask someone else’s parents for it.

So just a few days after the summer vacation started, Yan Lu was in a hurry to go out and find a job.

At first, Jian Xin would go with her to look.

However, they never found anything. Jian Xin was going crazy from the heat on the road, and the small fan in her hand was a blur.

They would walk and rest, and from time to time, they would go into a shop on the side of the road to enjoy the air conditioning, eat ice cream, and order a very expensive cold drink.

After three days, they hadn’t earned a single penny, but they had spent quite a bit.

Yan Lu really couldn’t continue to be so degenerate. She quickly and tactfully expressed her hope that Jian Xin would just stay at home and have fun.

Jian Xin pouted, saw Yan Lu’s predicament, and silently nodded in agreement.

On the fourth day, Yan Lu left home early by herself.

Her luck wasn’t bad. With only two yuan for the bus fare in her hand, under the scorching summer sun, she found a bubble tea shop three kilometers away from Jian Xin’s house where she could work as a temporary worker.

The hourly wage was eight yuan, with one meal included, and she could be paid daily.

The store manager, seeing that she was young, didn’t arrange any messy shifts for her, just let her work from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon every day.

Yan Lu cherished this opportunity very much. She would arrive at the shop early every day, and when it was time to get off work, she would also help the sister who was taking over for a while before leaving.

On the day she received her first salary, Yan Lu happily took two ice cream cones from the shop.

It wasn’t rush hour when she got off work, and the bus was not crowded.

She was very careful all the way, bringing the ice cream in her hand to Jian Xin.

Unfortunately, the weather was too hot. By the time Jian Xin took it, the ice cream cone had already melted quite a bit.

The refrigerator at home always had a lot of ice cream that they couldn’t finish, some costing fifty cents, some a few yuan, and they had whatever flavor she liked.

The ones Jian Xin had bought on the side of the road when they were looking for a job together a few days ago were even more expensive.

Yan Lu felt that Jian Xin probably wouldn’t like the one she had brought back from the shop very much, but she just inexplicably wanted to bring it back for Jian Xin to try.

Jian Xin’s expression when she received the ice cream was happier than she had imagined.

Even though this ice cream was only worth two yuan, and even though it had already melted a little, there was not a hint of dislike on Jian Xin’s face.

“How can someone buy me ice cream with their first salary? Yan Xiaolu, you’re too good to me!” Jian Xin said happily, her eyes smiling into crescent moons.

She said that this was the best ice cream she had ever eaten—so cheap, yet so fragrant and sweet. It seemed it was time to frequent Yan Lu’s shop more often!

Yan Lu laughed after hearing this. “It’s three kilometers away. If you want to eat it, I can just bring it back for you!”

“That’s not the same feeling!” Jian Xin said with a laugh. “I want to stand in front of you, watch you make it for me with your own hands, and then hand it to me with your own hands!”

“I’ll talk to you later, I’m all sweaty. I’m going to take a shower!” Yan Lu said with a smile, turned around, picked up her nightdress, and walked into the bathroom.

That afternoon, every time someone came home, Jian Xin would hop to the door to greet them and happily announce, “Yan Xiaolu treated me to ice cream with her salary today!”

Yan Lu stood at the bedroom door, looking at Jian Xin’s smug expression, and a smile couldn’t help but appear on her face.

In this world, there was only one person who was always tirelessly telling others about her insignificant good deeds.

It was as if… she was really that good.

After dinner, Jian Xin lay on her stomach by her pillow, swinging her raised legs, and finished reading the passage Yan Lu had written at her desk the night before.

She rolled over, propped her head on her hands, and asked curiously, “Did Li Xia finally lead Lin Xiaoshuang out of the eternal dark winter night?”

Yan Lu blinked and smiled faintly. “Guess.”

Jian Xin: “Then she must have!”

Yan Lu did not answer.

—Did Li Xia finally lead Lin Xiaoshuang out of the eternal dark winter night?

To be honest, she didn’t know either.

But she thought, maybe soon…

Lin Xiaoshuang was about to walk out of that lightless ice field.

Because, she had firmly grasped her summer.

*

Winter is so cold.

The moment Jian Xin stepped out, she was hit by a shiver.

Today was the day of Wang Xiaofeng’s wedding banquet. Many old classmates from their class were invited, and even the head teacher was invited.

She didn’t want to go at all. After all, they weren’t close. But all her roommates from 509 were going, saying that they missed Old Li a little, and that they hadn’t seen their old classmates in a long time, so it was always good to have a chance to meet.

They even started chatting in the dorm’s small group chat, which had been silent for centuries—saying that after the wedding, they wanted to find a place to sit and have tea, chat, and then go to a KTV at night.

When it came to going to a KTV, everyone unanimously tagged Jian Xin.

Li Zhu: It’s been so long since I’ve heard Jian Xin sing!

Yang Tian: Please, please, Jian Xiaoxin, give us a professional-level audio-visual shock!

Shuangyi: It’s not easy to come back once. Why don’t we just book the whole night!

Zhao Zhao Zhao Yiran: I’m in!

That night, Jian Xin stared at the group chat for a long time. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that since her old friends had said so much, it would be rude of her not to go.

So she reluctantly and stingily gave Wang Xiaofeng a red envelope of two hundred yuan.

During the banquet, everyone from 509 sat at the same table. There were also a few faces at the table that were somewhat unfamiliar, yet inexplicably familiar.

Jian Xin couldn’t recognize them, so she could only give an awkward but polite smile when they greeted her.

“Jian Xin, what happened to your leg?”

“Ah, this, I was accidentally hit by a car last summer.”

“Oh my god! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, I was only in the hospital for half a month. I’m almost better now…”

“Hey, I remember Yan Lu was very good friends with you, right? Is she coming today?”

“Uh-huh—she’s not in Nanjiang.”

“She’s very famous now!”

“Mmm-hmm—”

“It would be great if she could come. Our class produced a great author. We have to bask in her glory!”

“Ahaha…”

Liang Shuangyi couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Wang Xiaofeng bullied Yan Lu back then. What would Yan Lu be doing at his wedding? Crashing the party and slapping him in the face?”

An unfamiliar classmate said, “That’s a bit much, isn’t it? It’s been over ten years.”

Li Zhu: “But you have to admit, it has the flavor of a satisfying novel.”

Yang Tian nodded with a smile. “Indeed!”

Jian Xin couldn’t help but smile and send a message to Yan Lu.

Picked Up a Heart: I’m at Wang Xiaofeng’s wedding banquet today.

Perched by the Roadside: He could still find a wife?

Picked Up a Heart: Right? I’m quite surprised too!

Picked Up a Heart: I haven’t seen the bride yet, but Wang Xiaofeng has changed. He’s wearing glasses now and looks quite decent, not as punchable as in high school.

Picked Up a Heart: I heard he’s a teacher at the junior high department of No. 3 High now, teaching computer science, I think.

Perched by the Roadside: That’s good.

Picked Up a Heart: Even good? I thought you’d hold a grudge.

Perched by the Roadside: I’ve almost forgotten about him if you hadn’t mentioned him.

Jian Xin was taken aback for a moment, then pursed her lips.

Picked Up a Heart: That’s true, not everyone is worth remembering.

Picked Up a Heart: But speaking of which, this world is really strange, isn’t it? I thought he would be a street hooligan at most back then.

Perched by the Roadside: People change.

Picked Up a Heart: [You’re right]

Jian Xin thought for a moment, then continued to write a message.

Picked Up a Heart: You’re really famous now. A lot of people are asking me about you.

Picked Up a Heart: But don’t worry, I only said you’re not in Nanjiang.

Picked Up a Heart: After the banquet, Yang Tian and the others want to find a place for tea, and then go to KTV at night.

Picked Up a Heart: It’s been a long time. Everyone has changed a lot.

She told Yan Lu a lot of things.

For example, Yang Tian, Li Zhu, and Zhao Yiran were all living in Nanjiang now.

Li Zhu was an elementary school teacher, and Zhao Yiran was teaching junior high. There was also a girl at the table who recognized her but whose name she couldn’t remember for the life of her, who was also a teacher.

The three of them, when they got together, would complain about the annoying things at school.

As for Yang Tian, she now had an original clothing store online. Her designs were very good, and the store was somewhat famous. She had bought clothes from Yang Tian’s store a few times, and the materials and workmanship were very good.

As for Liang Shuangyi, she was now working in the capital. She heard that the pace of life was frighteningly fast, and she was on the verge of not being able to make it. She had been thinking for the past two years about whether to come back to Nanjiang and find a random job to slack off—after all, although Nanjiang was small and poor, the pace of life was always good, at least it let people breathe.

Jian Xin chattered on and on, and Yan Lu would reply from time to time to show that she was still listening.

A short while later, the bride appeared, smiling brightly, with two beautiful bridesmaids by her side.

Someone was reading a long blessing at the microphone, occasionally interjecting a question or two to the bride and groom.

Jian Xin looked up a few times. Seeing that everyone around her was applauding, she also started to applaud.

Yan Lu had said that people change, and she thought so too.

Everyone was changing, and she was no exception.

In the past, she loved liveliness the most. For her, getting along with the various people around her was as simple as breathing.

But now, in such a lively occasion, she could no longer adapt easily.

She held her phone, inexplicably silent, until the banquet was over. Accompanied by her roommates, she carefully walked down the stairs on her crutches and was hit by a bone-chilling cold wind, which finally made her feel comfortable.

Yang Tian hailed a taxi and took her long-lost old classmates to a tea house with a simple and elegant decoration.

When they had just sat down, the tea set had not yet been brought.

Someone mentioned Yan Lu, their words filled with some nostalgia and a bit of self-deprecating humor.

“Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Yan Lu… If I hadn’t seen her picture with Lin Xiyu last year, I would have thought she had disappeared from the face of the earth.”

“She’s so famous now. Can we still reach her?”

“I’ve even bought her novels. I didn’t know it was her back then. I wonder if I’ll ever have the chance to get a personalized signature.”

“Jian Xin was good friends with Yan Lu back then. They should still be in contact, right? Why don’t you ask her out to chat sometime! After all, we were in the same dorm for three years!”

Jian Xin listened and just said with a faint smile, “Maybe there’s a chance, when she’s not busy…”

No one knew that she and Yan Lu had been together back then, and now, no one knew that they had been separated for a long time, she thought.

If she and Yan Lu could still mend their cracks, then everyone would have a chance to meet again.

With this thought, Jian Xin picked up her hot tea and asked casually, “When that time comes, how about we go to that skewer shop near the school?”

Liang Shuangyi was taken aback. “It’s still open?”

Jian Xin: “It should be. It was still open last year.”

Yang Tian nodded. “It’s open. Li Zhu and I went there not long ago!”

Liang Shuangyi: “Has the taste changed?”

Li Zhu shook her head, a smile on her face. “The decoration has changed, it’s not such a hole-in-the-wall anymore.”

Zhao Yiran: “That’s great! Why don’t we not wait for Yan Lu and just go eat there first?”

Liang Shuangyi: “There’s no time like the present. Why don’t we have this for dinner tonight?”

Yang Tian: “Okay!!”

And so, everyone decided on tonight’s dinner.

Finally, they sat around the tea table, chatting about everything under the sun.

When there was nothing to talk about, they would stare at the steam coming from the teapot, waiting for someone to bring up the next topic.

Someone complained about a greasy and overly confident blind date, someone talked about a disastrous experience with a strange person while traveling, and someone shared a magical gossip they had heard from a friend of a friend of a friend.

Jian Xin listened on the side for a long time and couldn’t help but complain about her life as a beast of burden these past few years, as well as her car accident and rehabilitation experience.

But in this story, she omitted her reunion with Yan Lu.

Everyone listened attentively, first feeling angry for her, then giving her a thumbs up for quitting her job. When they heard about the car accident after drinking, they all gasped and were relieved that her injuries were not serious.

As they chatted, the day quietly darkened.

When the first rumble came from someone’s stomach, they laughed and took a taxi to the vicinity of the school, and walked into the skewer shop from their memories.

When they were full, they moved on to a nearby KTV.

It was around eight in the evening. Jian Xin sent a message to Yan Lu—we’re at the KTV.

Soon, Yan Lu replied to her—your leg isn’t healed yet, don’t drink.

Jian Xin looked at her phone and nodded, replying with a smile—I know!

Then she turned off her phone and, at Yang Tian’s urging with a loud reverb, she moved to the song selection screen and started to look for songs she wanted to sing.

That night, they sang in the KTV for a long time, and everyone was crazy.

Perhaps it was because they had finally managed to briefly escape from their a rule-abiding lives that it felt like it would be a great injustice to themselves not to go a little crazy.

The lively gathering ended. Everyone hunched their necks, stood in the wind, and made their final small talk before parting.

The taxi Jian Xin had called was the first to arrive. As she got in, everyone was waving goodbye to her.

“Send a message in the group when you get home!”

“Okay!”

“Let’s go out again when we have the chance!”

“Okay!!”

The car window closed, and the driver drove in the direction of Jian Xin’s home.

After a whole night of crazy fun, all the fatigue came rushing in the moment she got in the car, but she didn’t dare to fall asleep.

In the middle of the night, taking a taxi alone and sleeping was somewhat unsafe.

Even if it was a taxi from a regular platform and the whole trip was recorded, she was still afraid that if she fell asleep, her soul would suddenly go to Jincheng when she woke up, and she wouldn’t be able to get out of the car and go home smoothly.

So she patted her cheeks, looked out the window, and tried to stay awake by looking at the names of the shops along the way.

The streetlights passed by one after another, receding quickly in her eyes.

She tried hard to keep her eyes open, but her consciousness grew increasingly blurry.

The moving car suddenly stopped, startling Jian Xin. She opened her eyes and saw that it was just a red light.

After a brief hesitation, she lowered her head and opened her private chat with Yan Lu.

Picked Up a Heart: I’m on my way home, but I’m a little scared taking a taxi alone.

Picked Up a Heart: If you’re still awake, can you talk to me on a voice call for a while?

Jian Xin knew that Yan Lu was always awake at this hour.

These writers, nine out of ten of them had very otherworldly schedules. A mere one in the morning, the nightlife was just beginning.

But after the message was sent, there was no reply for a long time.

Jian Xin bit her lip and silently shrank into her scarf.

Sigh, it’s such a cold winter… as cold as some people’s attitude towards her.

She should have worn more when she went out during the day.

Just as she was sighing and about to go to the roommate group or the band group to find someone for a voice call, her phone suddenly rang with the default ringtone of a voice call.

She looked at Yan Lu’s profile picture in the voice call, and a hint of warmth rose in her heart.

—Winter is not so cold after all!