The Little Duck 6

Chapter 6

If someone seriously claimed to have turned into a pet duck after a car accident, even if they weren’t sent to a psychiatric hospital, they would likely be scheduled for a round of psychotherapy.

Jian Xin desperately wished it had all been a dream, but the memory was far too vivid. Even now, awake in a hospital bed, she still found it difficult to distinguish fact from fiction.

She cautiously raised her head to look at her phone.

The cracked screen showed 10:20 AM. It seemed the alarm had already gone off twice.

A short while later, the alarm stopped.

Watching the sunlight spill onto the floor, Jian Xin gazed at the warm patch of light and unconsciously thought of the duck locked in the cage—the first rays of morning sun had streamed into the duck cage just like this.

So, had she really become a duck? Had she been chased by a Corgi to the point of near-death? And had she…

Had she seen the real Yan Lu?

Just as Jian Xin was lost in thought, her phone alarm suddenly rang again.

She was the only one in this hospital room. With her hands and feet incapacitated, she couldn’t turn it off and could only let it continue to ring.

Fortunately, she was able to look on the bright side and managed to console herself within a few seconds.

Let the alarm ring, she thought. The volume on my phone wasn’t that high to begin with.

Besides, since I’m injured like this, I definitely don’t have to go to the office for overtime.

And since I don’t have to work overtime, this sound that usually hounds my life and soul no longer holds any power over me!

Thinking this way, her mood instantly improved!

See? You can’t just look at one side of things. Everything has two sides!

Actually, thinking about it carefully, that memory of her turning into a duck, while seemingly clear and incredibly real, had many parts that were completely illogical!

She had clearly just seen what Yan Lu looked like now during the day, and that very night, she just so happened to “see” Yan Lu.

The person who hit her with the car happened to be Yan Lu’s cousin, and after being hit, she just so happened to “soul-transmigrate” into the pet Yan Lu was raising.

And Yan Lu, whom she hadn’t heard from in seven years, even happened to be in the same city as her…

Please, you wouldn’t dare write such a coincidence even in a novel!

Even if all of the above were true, what was with that cousin?

She had known Yan Lu since high school. Even if she couldn’t move in the same circles now, they had once shared a heartfelt friendship—she had never known Yan Lu to have a cousin.

Thus, although this memory could possibly be real, the possibility of this memory being real was a bit unlikely.

Perhaps she should look at this bizarre event from a scientific perspective.

Jian Xin frowned and pondered for a long time, then suddenly had a flash of insight!

She figured she must have injured her brain in the car accident last night, which caused her to have a brief hallucination while in a state of dissociation—she had read about similar situations in novels.

Simply put, it was a psychological defense mechanism. The brain was using this method to reduce her perception of the pain her body was suffering, helping her get through the ordeal!

Yes, that must be it!

Haha! Humans truly are the essence of the universe, the primate of all creation!

Only we humans possess such a precise and magnificent physical structure!

Having reached this conclusion, Jian Xin had completely convinced herself.

Finally understanding the whole story, she let out a sigh of relief.

The next second, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open.

A girl with an unfamiliar face, wearing a weary expression that screamed she was dying for sleep, walked in listlessly, carrying a small bag of fruit.

The next second, seeing that the person on the hospital bed was awake, the girl’s expression changed abruptly. Her eyes lit up with a mixture of surprise and apprehension.

Jian Xin opened her mouth, about to ask something, but saw the girl quickly take out her phone and dial a number. Before the call connected, she hurried back to the door, half-covering her face—as if whispering, but her tone was full of alarm.

“Cousin! Your old acquaintance is awake!”

“Cousin, quick, quick… come help me!”

That voice and tone of pleading for help were so inexplicably familiar that she didn’t want to face it.

—Little sister, your cousin wouldn’t happen to be named Yan Lu, would she?

***

“If you could become a small animal, never have to work again, and have a gentle, beautiful owner to dote on you, what would that experience be like?”

A certain Jian Xin, who wishes to remain anonymous, states—

Thanks for asking, but please don’t ask again.

Having had the “privilege” of experiencing it once, her worldview, which she had painstakingly patched together with her limited knowledge, had completely collapsed.

That famous author who had risen to prominence in recent years, the cousin of the young lady who had accidentally hit her, her ex-girlfriend—Yan Lu, was at this very moment sitting in her hospital room, head down, peeling an apple.

The clothes she was wearing, the bag she was carrying, even the color of her phone case, were all exactly the same as what she had seen when she had turned into a duck last night!

Science no longer existed. It was time to switch to the paranormal channel.

Silence. The air was thick with awkwardness.

One hospital room, three people, not a single peep for a long time.

Yao Wenqian stared with wide eyes, looking at Yan Lu, then at Jian Xin. Seeing that neither of them had said a word, she finally couldn’t help but raise her hand and use the classic “I need to pee” excuse to escape.

Well, that was great. Now the room was left with just two people who had long since run out of things to say to each other.

It wouldn’t do to let this stalemate continue. After some thought, Jian Xin decided to speak first.

“Long time no see.”

“Yeah.”

“What a coincidence, meeting you here.”

“Not a coincidence. My cousin hit you.”

“That’s quite a coincidence too, that it just had to be your cousin.”

“True.”

“Haha, so strange…”

“…”

Jian Xin took a deep breath and unconsciously clenched her back teeth.

I can’t stand it. This conversation is going nowhere. I’m about to get secondhand embarrassment…

The small hospital room was filled with a heavy silence.

Jian Xin simply closed her eyes and began to avoid this speechless situation.

Suddenly, a voice sounded in her ear.

“Have some fruit.”

Jian Xin opened her eyes and saw a plate of peeled and sliced apples on the bedside table.

She peeled that for me?

She had thought Yan Lu was going to peel the apple in front of her, then eat it herself, just to spite her.

Jian Xin looked at the apple and pouted. “My hands are a bit inconvenient.”

The moment she said that, a slice of apple was held to her lips.

She froze for half a second, then opened her mouth to accept it, mumbling a thank you.

After swallowing the apple in her mouth, Jian Xin couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you in Jincheng?”

“I write novels. It doesn’t matter where I live,” Yan Lu replied faintly. “My cousin is here. She wanted me to come, so I came.”

Jian Xin: “I see…”

Yan Lu: “Yeah.”

The topic she had thrown out had once again died. Jian Xin felt like she had run into the legendary conversation killer.

After a brief silence, she spoke again. “Speaking of which, after graduation, I drifted around in the capital for two years. I couldn’t really make it, and I didn’t want to go home and be laughed at by my relatives. I had an acquaintance here, and I thought it’s always good to have someone to look out for you when you’re away from home, so I came over.”

Yan Lu picked up a toothpick and put another piece of apple in her mouth.

Jian Xin continued while chewing, “Those relatives of mine, you’ve met them. They’re very gossipy!”

“Agh, I can imagine with my toes what they’d say if they saw me go back—” She cleared her throat and imitated the tone of her relatives gossiping. “Aiya, what’s the use of graduating from the Capital Conservatory of Music? Spent so much money studying music, wanted to be a big star, but in the end, couldn’t make it in the big city and still had to come home and rely on her parents!”

Finally, she sighed. “It’s a matter of pride. No matter how hard it gets, I won’t go back.”

Yan Lu nodded but still said nothing.

Seeing this, Jian Xin bit the inside of her lip and silently stopped her awkward attempt at making small talk.

The apple on the plastic plate was quickly finished. All she wanted to do now was ask Yan Lu when she was going home so she could rest in peace for a while.

But Yan Lu suddenly spoke up.

“About your hospitalization, I’m guessing you don’t want your aunt and uncle to know for the time being, so I didn’t call them.” Her tone was flat, as if discussing a work matter. “The place where my cousin hit you wasn’t a crosswalk, and you reeked of alcohol, clearly intoxicated. Technically, you bear some responsibility for this incident. But considering we’ve known each other for so many years, we will fully compensate you for your hospital bills, nutrition fees, and lost wages. You can focus on recovering.”

“Then…”

“Who needs to be informed about your hospitalization—family, your boss, or friends?” Yan Lu picked up Jian Xin’s phone and held it in front of her. “Unlock it, and I’ll make the call for you.”

Jian Xin subconsciously wanted to say the password hadn’t changed, but when she opened her mouth, she found she couldn’t get the words out.

“I can’t enter the password like this, aren’t my fingers bandaged?” She pointed with her chin to her heavily wrapped left hand. “Index or thumb will do. Just use one of them to press it.”

Hearing this, Yan Lu unlocked the screen with Jian Xin’s index finger without a change in expression.

“Who should I call?”

“No need to call my parents… They’d insist on coming over if they knew. The doctor said it’s not serious, so there’s no need for all that fuss.” Jian Xin said, then fell into a brief thought.

In the end, she only told two people about her car accident.

One was Director Niu, the other was Zheng Xinyue.

It wasn’t that she wanted to keep it a secret, she was simply too lazy to repeat the whole story to more people.

She believed that the world was a circle. As long as she told these two, everyone who needed to know would eventually find out.

After the two calls were made, she felt that being alone in the room with Yan Lu was finally not as awkward as before.

But this didn’t stop Jian Xin’s mood from being a little complicated at the moment.

To be honest, she had never thought she would see Yan Lu again in this lifetime.

Just as she had never thought back then that she would one day completely lose contact with Yan Lu.

This feeling was truly incredible.

She and Yan Lu had met in high school and had gone through university together.

Yan Lu knew her temperament.

Yan Lu knew her dreams.

Yan Lu was familiar with her family.

Yan Lu even knew almost all of her good friends.

Yan Lu had once permeated every corner of her life, to the point that for a long time, she always felt that no matter what, as long as she told Yan Lu, she would be understood.

Just like a moment ago, the complaints that had slipped out inadvertently seemed to be hoping for a response from her.

But they had been apart for so long.

Time could always wash away many things, even a once-passionate relationship.

But perhaps this was for the best. Maybe it was because things had faded that meeting again wasn’t as confrontational as she had imagined. It was even quite peaceful.

As Jian Xin was thinking this, she suddenly saw Yan Lu get up to leave. She couldn’t help but call out to her.

Yan Lu stopped and turned back to ask, “Is there anything else?”

Jian Xin looked at Yan Lu by the door, not knowing what was going on in her mind, and blurted out, “Are you coming tomorrow?”

Yan Lu: “…”

Jian Xin came to her senses and quickly tried to explain. “Oh, I don’t mean anything else. I just wanted to ask, it’s not very convenient for me to move like this, I might need someone…”

Yan Lu: “My cousin and I will take turns looking after you until you’re discharged.”

Jian Xin blinked, said “oh,” and silently pressed her lips into a thin line.

The person she hadn’t seen in ages had just left, and someone’s disappointing smile was already irrepressible.

The next second, she frowned and squeezed her eyes shut.

—A good horse doesn’t go back to the same pasture!