Viola

In the evening, in the self-study classroom.

Lu Er didn't eat dinner in the cafeteria; she arrived at the classroom early and sat down. While studying her vocabulary, she thought, "I'll go for a walk outside the school after class."

The bell rang, and the students in Class B sat down at their respective group desks. Lu Er noticed Ruan Xiyan's furrowed brows: "What's wrong?"

"I just can't get past this level."

Lu Er leaned over to look; he was playing a mini-game from the WeChat app he'd played before, "Happy Little Chef." Ruan Xiyan obediently went to click on the ad: "You wouldn't know how to play without watching the ads."

"Let me see?"

“Look, here’s the French snail section.” Ruan Xiyan clicked on the sixteenth level. “I chopped up these onions, scallions, and cilantro and put them in the pot. I also heated the water, but these vegetables just won’t go into the pot.”

Lu Er observed carefully for a while and pointed out, "These are the small ingredients; you should put the snail meat in first. You'll need to use this can opener."

Ruan Xiyan did as instructed, and it worked. He scratched the back of his head and said, "Okay."

"After cooking the snail meat, put it back into the snail shell and seal it with butter. It also needs to be heated before microwaving."

Level sixteen is passed smoothly. Ruan Xiyan's silent expression speaks volumes: "This little game follows the real-world process quite well. So, what about level seventeen, the Tuscan salmon?"

The fishing rod in the game moved, and Lu Er quickly clicked to reel in the fish, catching a big bluefish: "Next, we need to clean the fish." She plugged the plug, drained the water, washed the fish, took it out, wiped it clean, and used a knife to cut off the excess parts of the fish meat.

"Yes, after I got to this point and threw all these things in the trash, I still couldn't pour out this seasoning. Time was almost up, and we weren't even at the later stages, so I could only watch the ads."

Lu Er gestured for him to drag the cleaver, and with a smile, she curled her lips and said, "Of course the seasoning should be sprinkled on the fish meat. Why don't you sprinkle the seasoning on the fish skin?"

Ruan Xiyan tried it once, and the seasoning did indeed spill. He was slightly embarrassed: "After all, when playing this kind of game, I just randomly tap the screen and don't use my brain."

"Chop the tomatoes and onions...cook this dish. Heat oil in a pan, cook the fish, then heat oil again to cook the tomatoes and onions, add cooking wine and salt, and finally add the fish."

She passed the seventeenth level. Ruan Xiyan was completely impressed by her and put away her phone: "...If you don't have any cooking knowledge, you can't play cooking games."

"It also wants you to see ads through this method." Lu Er clicked on Xingou English. "Let's do today's task."

Before the evening self-study session ended, Yan Songqi gave the two a word of advice: "When you have time, you can go over the script with each other, because we will be going on stage in a few days. The more you prepare, the more confident you will be."

Ruan Xiyan and Lu Er nodded simultaneously. Ruan Xiyan wanted to tell Lu Er that they could go over their lines together after self-study if they had nothing else to do, but when she saw Lu Er zoom in on the map on her phone to check the surrounding shops, she suddenly hesitated and said, "You... Teacher Lu, are you going out later?"

"Yeah, I'd like to go out for dinner."

"I'll take you there. I know some good restaurants nearby." When he met her gaze, he seemed to instinctively look away. "We're a perfect match; we can go over our lines."

Lu Er thought having a free tour guide wasn't so bad: "Okay then."

—

As I stepped out of the school gate, the moon looked like a sweet dumpling filled with white sugar, its light spilling down and covering several streets in a clean, white glow.

Ruan Xiyan tilted her head and asked, "Why didn't you go to the cafeteria for dinner?"

"I eat out occasionally because the food served in the cafeteria is too monotonous."

Ruan Xiyan took off her baseball cap, tidied her hair, put it back on, and nodded: "I think so too. What do you want to eat? Spicy hot pot, barbecue?"

Lu Er pondered for a while, and was about to speak when a familiar shout from the street distracted him: "Lu Er, Ruan Xiyan!"

Turning their heads, they saw Atno and Mina, the foreign teachers, smiling broadly at the two of them from under the nearby barbecue stall. Atno was even waving vigorously at them.

Lu Er followed Ruan Xiyan over: "Teacher Aono, Teacher Mina. Are you having a late-night snack here?" Mi Tian's short-haired head popped out from beside the table, "Me too."

"Yes, the skewers are freshly ordered and still warm. If you have time, please sit down and eat with us."

"We can't accept this, teacher. Let's order ourselves."

Mi Tian tried to persuade them to stay, saying, "There are so many people over there. If you go and order, you'll probably have to wait for more than an hour. We've been waiting since 7:00 to 7:30." Her lips curled into a sharp pout. "We're so hungry our stomachs are practically empty."

Teacher Mina smiled and said, "Sit down. We'll join you for dinner from your group's camping trip; consider it my treat." Unable to refuse her hospitality, Lu Er and Ruan Xiyan sat down across from each other at the square table.

Skewers of grilled sausages, beef, and squid, sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, smelled so enticing that they made one's lips lick them repeatedly. Lu Er slowly munched on a grilled shrimp while Teacher Mina chatted with Ruan Xiyan: "Were you two out for a late-night snack just now?"

“Yes.” Upon hearing this, Teacher Mina’s gaze towards the two of them held a hint of a smile. “So you two have reached the point where you can invite each other out for meals.”

During the conversation, Teacher Mina remembered something and looked at Ruan Xiyan: "Xiyan, if I remember correctly, you're an art student, right? The art students at No. 3 Middle School are supposed to go for intensive training after this summer vacation, right?"

"Yes, but the teacher said he was on a business trip at that time, so we won't be able to leave for the training camp until late August."

What was said in jest was taken to heart by the listener. Lu Er's teeth seemed to move in slow motion as she chewed the barbecue; even the shrimp tasted bland after she swallowed it. She hadn't forgotten the troublesome matter of her soul swap with Ruan Xiyan. It was alright during the holiday, but what would happen afterward? It would be a complete mess.

She frowned in distress. Mi Tian observed her expression, couldn't help but tug at her sleeve, and called out softly, "Sister Lu."

"Um?"

"It's too obvious."

Lu Er: "...?" She looked confused, while Mi Tian turned back to eat her kebabs.

Mr. Ono had already noticed the stack of papers in their hands. Seeing that he had a moment to spare, he asked, "What are those papers you're holding?"

"It's our play script."

"What did I draw?"

"Shakespeare's Twelfth Night".

“A comedy, I like this.” Teacher Honoré spread out the script, studied it for a minute, then looked up and asked the two in awkward Chinese, “What are your roles?”

"Viola, Osino."

"Oh." His emerald eyes were filled with laughter, and he lingered meaningfully between the two of them for a few seconds. "The roles are great. I think your personalities are very suitable."

After having a late-night snack and saying goodbye to Teacher Ono and Teacher Mina, they walked back to school, glancing at the script along the way.

Ruan Xiyan read the English lines: "If I could be so ruthless, why can't I kill the one I love like the Egyptian thief on his deathbed... I would sacrifice my beloved lamb, the appearance of a white dove and the heart of a raven."

Lu Er smoothly continued his lines: "I would gladly suffer a thousand deaths, as long as your heart finds solace."

"I follow the one I love, whom I love more than life and my eyes, far more than my love for my wife. May God witness my sincerity, and if there is any falsehood in it, I will gladly die."

...

After going through the paper once, Ruan Xiyan still held it in his hand, his gaze falling on it: "Actually, I think Viola's love is much braver than the Duke's." Lu Er glanced at him and said softly, "Viola disguised herself as a man and fell in love with the Duke, but she still had to ask other men for love on his behalf. In the end, she bore the Duke's misunderstanding and only said, 'I am willing to suffer a thousand deaths, as long as you find peace in your heart.'"

Duke Orsino, who was fond of Olivia, was a giant in words but a dwarf in deeds when expressing his affection for her.

“I don’t agree with what Osino did.” Ruan Xiyan looked back at her. His eyes were dark and soft, and his hand holding the brim of his hat rose a little higher. “When you meet someone you like, grabbing her first is more important than anything else.”

—

On the fifth night of summer camp, Ms. Mina informed everyone in the afternoon to gather in groups on the playground. Lu Er arrived relatively late, and when she returned to her group, the playground was lined with stalls selling lace and fleas. Xu Ting said that a flea market was about to open.

Classes A, B, C, D, and E have all assembled. The students in Class B have formed seven small circles, chatting and laughing while waiting for Teacher Mina to give them their assignments for the evening.

Ruan Xiyan and Yan Songqi were chatting when a call popped up on his phone screen. He gestured to Yan Songqi, then sat down on a section of exposed brick wall in the flower bed to answer the call.

"Cousin!" Ruan Tang's loud voice burst out as soon as she pressed the answer button. Ruan Xiyan was about to answer when two barks suddenly came from the receiver, "Listen! Mao Mao misses you a lot."

Ruan Xiyan smiled and said, "Okay. Mao Mao, I'll come home to see you." Ruan Tang was on the other end of the phone, and Mao Mao, being clever, recognized Ruan Xiyan's voice and stopped barking.

"Cousin, that black and white cat you brought back is so naughty. Ever since it recovered from its injury, it's been causing a huge ruckus at home. So far, it's stolen water from my cup twice, and it's knocked over and carried away your little chubby cat three times!"

"Hey! Mao Mao, stop it!" Ruan Tang's voice was far from the phone, but Ruan Xiyan seemed to hear the urgency in her tone, "It's scooping up the goldfish from the fish tank!"

After a moment, Ruan Tang's voice became clear again. She said in a depressed tone, "You heard it too. That big bad cat was just catching the goldfish in our living room! It turns out that what people online say about black and white cats being crazy is absolutely true."

As Ruan Xiyan listened, the smile on her lips didn't fade. He didn't offer any genuine comfort to his cousin, suggesting she help take care of the calico cat, promising to give her half of his allowance later.

Seeing that he had hung up the phone, Lu Er looked up at him: "Were you talking about that cat?"

"Yes, my cousin is taking care of it now."

Lu Er thought to herself, "I know it's quite mischievous. I hope it hasn't caused you any trouble. I'll take it home after summer camp. Thank you for taking care of it these past few days."

Ruan Xiyan said it was nothing, and then Teacher Mina called everyone to gather: "Students, come here and listen to me."