Cloud Girl Chapter 3
The Spring Festival passed by quietly, just like always.
Besides Chen Nanyi preparing new clothes for Chen Yijing by hand a long time ago, and Chen Yijing herself going to her parents' closet to find some old clothes that they rarely wore to wear as new clothes, this festive season with lights on in every household felt even more desolate to them than usual.
Chen Yiwen returned to the neighboring city the next day. Before leaving, she instructed Chen Nanyi to take Chen Yijing to the community's annual meeting. Chen Yijing really wanted to go, but she didn't dare to bother Chen Nanyi, so she just begged Chen Yiwen to let her go.
"Nan Yi, did you hear that?" Chen Yi asked.
Chen Nanyi stood there, somewhat stunned, nodding as if she didn't understand.
In fact, she had heard Chen Yiwen's instructions clearly, but it wasn't that she was being cold-hearted and deliberately doing it. It was all for Chen Yijing's health that she did it this way. She had witnessed the severity of it once before and was afraid that Chen Yijing's asthma would relapse, so she never took her to noisy places.
Explaining it to a normal person or someone with intellectual disabilities is useless—because she will only think that you are just preventing me from playing and will rebel.
She felt somewhat helpless, but she didn't want to agree to something she couldn't do, so she hesitated.
What Chen Nanyi really wanted to tell Chen Yiwen was that it was something that could be resolved with just a few words.
But for some reason, looking at Chen Yiwen's face, she just couldn't bring herself to say it—like the difference between a regular friend and a best friend—she could foresee the reactions she wouldn't like, and felt awkward.
Chen Nanyi couldn't bring herself to say it, so she reluctantly agreed to Chen Yiwen's request but didn't intend to follow through.
Chen Yiwen seemed to notice her absent-mindedness, her eyes flickered, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she squatted down and pulled Chen Yijing's cheek into a smile, "Yijing, if your second sister doesn't take you, you have to tell your eldest sister, okay? Your eldest sister will help you!"
After saying this, Chen Yi, seemingly in a fit of pique, turned and left without lingering.
Watching that resolute disappearing figure, Chen Nanyi's vision blurred.
She knew that working in a big city would lead to a better future, and she also knew what Chen Yiwen would sacrifice, so she tried her best to dissuade him.
But no matter what, you can't just give someone a glimmer of hope, then shatter it and leave like that! She was the one who said she'd come back…
Chen Nanyi tried her best to hold back the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. Even though she felt that Chen Yiwen had misunderstood her, she didn't want to explain. They were all human, and she would also feel wronged and want to complain. However, she would try her best to restrain herself and not show any expression on her face. She knew that once she showed weakness, she would really lose all face.
The oppressive atmosphere at home lasted for several days before Chen Nanyi finally emerged from her slump.
She felt a little guilty when she realized that she was going to register for the exam on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, but hadn't taken Chen Yijing out for a walk yet.
After all, it's normal for them to lack interest in anything when they're born into families without parental love, especially since she doesn't feel like she's missing out on much, nor does she think her emotions are that important...
It doesn't matter if it's just her alone, but Chen Yijing shouldn't be like this—she shouldn't be ignored like this.
She was already so pitiful, what more could happen? And these past few days, Chen Yijing seemed afraid of her, as if she didn't dare to provoke her—this was not a good thing for Chen Nanyi.
So on the tenth day, Chen Nanyi got up early in the morning, took out the steamed cakes that Chen Yiwen had made and put in the refrigerator before leaving, heated them up, ate a simple breakfast with water, and after tidying up Chen Yijing, she picked up the gifts that Chen Yiwen had bought and took Chen Yijing to the street office of the Tuluo District Community Committee.
The community station chief of Tu Luoshan has taken good care of the sisters over the years. Not only did she raise two children on her own, but she was also enthusiastic about community affairs. Sometimes when she was busy, she would ask her elderly mother to help take care of Chen Yijing. So, she would visit the station chief's home every year when he had fewer guests to express her gratitude.
This year, Chen Nanyi skipped a grade and entered the third year of Lu's Academy, giving her much more time. Although Chen Yiwen did not return as planned, Chen Yijing's condition had improved significantly, so she decided to leave Chen Yijing at home while she attended classes.
Anyway, she doesn't have many classes, and she can go home to check on her whenever she wants, even during breaks between classes. So Chen Nanyi didn't want to bother the stationmaster anymore; she should at least let him know in advance.
Chen Nanyi walked very slowly, as if she were enjoying a rare outing.
Chen Yijing was in front, picking a small flower on the left and touching the tree trunk on the right, occasionally running and jumping, singing sweetly. Her innocent and carefree nature made Chen Nanyi smile.
Although she was walking behind and lost in her own thoughts, Chen Nanyi kept her eyes on Chen Yijing's figure, afraid that she might accidentally fall.
Walking down the flowing road, you are surrounded by an endless, low-lying, dark green ocean. The cold frost has given the ferns that still survive the winter a heavy color, and the flow is full of the intensity of deep winter.
The yellowish-brown pine needles along the blue stone path blended with the color of the soil, exuding the fragrance of the forest. Bathed in the sunlight filtering through, they drew colorful arcs in the air, making her feel even more relaxed.
Chen Nanyi was wearing a dark jacket today. When she picked up Chen Yijing, who was already tired from walking, she could wrap her up in her arms.
When they were almost at the foot of the mountain, Chen Nanyi decided to rest for a while in a small pavilion nearby.
She strolled leisurely into the pavilion, put down the gift, and her careful movements still woke Chen Yijing.
"Lin," Chen Yijing slid off her leg, rubbed her sleepy eyes and called out, then climbed back onto the wooden chair in the pavilion and looked around.
Chen Nanyi smiled helplessly—it wasn't that she hadn't taught Chen Yijing to call her "sister," but in the end, when she taught her to say, "Call me sister, sister..." she always felt that Chen Yijing was taking advantage of her, so she just let her call her whatever she wanted.
Perhaps because it was the New Year, the usual bustling students were nowhere to be seen at the stadium at the foot of the mountain. This once tranquil land in Chen Nanyi's eyes had returned, and a feeling of peacefully taking a walk with her mother in her childhood suddenly arose.
Chen Nanyi leaned back in her chair, using one hand to protect Chen Yijing, who was leaning against the railing.
The cold air was a bit pungent. Chen Nanyi wiped her nose with her hand and casually glanced down the mountain. A moment later, she noticed a tall, thin person walking up the mountain.
Chen Nanyi glanced at it casually and didn't pay any attention, assuming it was just someone leisurely taking a walk in the mountains in the early morning.
Unexpectedly, just as the person was about to pass the pavilion, he turned and followed them inside.
Chen Nanyi subtly moved Chen Yijing closer to her. Before she knew who it was, she looked up and saw the boy standing directly in front of her, flashing a bright smile that revealed eight teeth.
"Hello, my name is Xu Xiaomeng. Xu is the character for two people, Xiao is the character for spring dawn, and Meng is the character for grass above and light below."
As soon as the boy spoke, Chen Nanyi felt something was off—after all, no one would introduce their name so formally in such a casual situation, right?
But despite his thoughts, Chen Nanyi didn't say anything.
However, she probably didn't know that Xu Xiaomeng had never done that before—because his name contained the character "meng," which sounded very feminine, he generally didn't say his full name in front of others.
But for some reason, he did this in front of her—as if he would feel extremely uncomfortable if he didn't.
The clear voice stirred the surrounding air and pleasantly entered Chen Nanyi's ears, making Chen Nanyi, who did not usually pursue a refined life, suddenly find the person in front of her somewhat pleasing to the eye.
The morning light pierced through the dense forests, winding its way behind him, subtly lengthening his shadow, and revealing a hidden smile.
Chen Nanyi is afraid of the cold and always wears thick clothes in winter. Some stray hairs fell down her forehead when she tied her hair up. Next to the stray hairs were large eye bags, thick and long eyelashes, a delicate nose and thin lips, and pointed ears. Her facial features matched her slow movements, both gentle and even revealing a very lovely and convincingly kind face - this may be what the physiognomist called a kind face and a kind heart, or just a good first impression!
But her personality is probably really bad, and she is also very good at controlling herself.
Upon hearing those words, her square jaw tightened slightly, her pointed ears twitched, and she glanced at him. She didn't say anything or make any movement, but she conveyed her doubt and the signal that "please continue."
Upon receiving the signal, Xu Xiaomeng immediately said, "Uh... I'm a student at Lu's Academy. I only started participating in community activities this year. Oh, Director Lian asked me to tell you that she took her mother on a trip this Spring Festival, so you don't need to make a special trip to her house to wish her a Happy New Year."
The boy's voice was consistently peaceful and gentle, a tone that was pleasant and harmless to listen to.
However, Chen Nanyi frowned and said, "I don't know Director Lian."
Clearly, she didn't believe his words and thought that the boy was like Chen Yiwen's other suitors, trying to strike up a conversation under some pretext and indirectly ask for Chen Yiwen's contact information—because people in the college had done this countless times before.
It's not surprising that Chen Nanyi thought that way. After all, she was only 18 and looked weak. From her teenage years until now, she had to go home immediately after class to take care of Chen Yijing. There was really no one who would come to her because of her. Moreover, Chen Nanyi didn't know any director at all, so she immediately got up coldly and was about to leave.
"Huh? That's not right. She's the head of the community committee. You even took a picture together. How could you not recognize her..."
Xu Xiaomeng was suddenly embarrassed by her actions, as if she were a bad person who had been exposed. She blushed and muttered to herself in shame.
Upon hearing this, Chen Nanyi paused, turned around stiffly, and cleared her throat. "Ahem, you mean the stationmaster? Ah... I'm sorry, thank you for coming all the way here... I understand."
Chen Nanyi spoke in a flat tone, finishing all her words in just a few words.
Knowing that the stationmaster was not home, she lost interest in going down, so she gave a barely perceptible bow and prepared to go back—and when she was about to leave the pavilion, she even avoided Xu Xiaomeng a little, which was full of a sense of distance.
Xu Xiaomeng waved her hands repeatedly, embarrassed, "It's okay, it's okay..."
He watched silently as Chen Nanyi walked past him, about to leave the pavilion. He stood there blankly for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, turned around immediately, and called out to her.
"Oh, right, Nan, Chen... Nan Yi, if you need any help while the station chief is away, you can contact me. This year I'm in charge of assisting the station chief with community work... Um, and also, your contact information is still blank in the member logbook—so, if it's convenient, could you please give me your contact information so I can keep track of it..."
Xu Xiaomeng spoke very humbly and tactfully, and I believe that even someone with a bad temper wouldn't have anything to say about it.
Chen Nanyi was taken aback, and remained silent for a while, as if she had never heard anyone speak like that before. Then she frowned, but unconsciously softened her tone a little.
"Oh, sorry! I don't have a phone, and I don't have one at home either... Um, can I get one later?"
"Huh? Okay, okay, anytime is fine, no rush," Xu Xiaomeng replied hastily, somewhat afraid to look her in the eye, unsure of what to say.
In fact, he really couldn't say anything.
He didn't know much about her either. Apart from that one glance he made when he was helping her sister carry things, they had never crossed paths before.
What's even stranger is that both he and she have lived in this community for so long, and it's not a big or small place, yet they had no idea that she even existed in this community!
After meeting him that day, he felt inexplicably attached to him.
It wasn't until later, through Grandma Yao, one of the social work clients, that I learned about her original happy family: a wonderful father, a kind mother, a beautiful older sister, and a lovely younger sister. If her parents hadn't passed away unexpectedly when she was young, perhaps she would have had many more smiles on her face!
Sometimes he would think that way.
But he heard from others that she was different from a young age, that she never liked to smile, even when her parents were alive and her family was happy. She always had a blank expression, which made people not want to get close to her.
However, given the circumstances at the time, she was probably only in fourth or fifth grade, while he was already in junior high. They simply missed each other at each grade level, which is why he had no recollection of ever seeing her, let alone knowing whether she was truly expressionless...
But, one wonders if that awkward encounter could be considered the greatest stroke of luck in his life.
Because the sky that day was so warm, so ambiguous, and just as the sunlight was about to fade, he happened to see her smile after she softly called out "sister," a smile so beautiful amidst the rustling trees in the breeze...
What's more, this was his first time seeing her—the very first night he had ever dreamt of those shameful and tender scenes because of a strange girl's cold and aloof eyes. That's why he shamelessly "stole" his classmate's opportunity to volunteer at Tu Luo Mountain—all for the sake of this moment, so that he could stand here and use his position to ask for her phone number—and the worst part is that he hadn't even gotten it yet, and his mother would laugh at him!
Xu Xiaomeng pretended not to care, her gaze passing over Chen Nanyi's head, looking at the distant, winding pine tree. She swallowed hard, a thought lingering in her mind. She felt that no one could look directly into her calm, deep eyes without any distraction.
Chen Nanyi: "You probably don't know, but I used to be really silly. In the past, I actually made a wish to the moon, praying for a Moon Prince so that when I opened my eyes, I could start kissing him..."
Xu Xiaomeng: "Ahem, now, I allow you to start kissing me—"
Chen Nanyi: "What makes you so confident that you want me to kiss you? I don't like your type."
Xu Xiaomeng (⊙ω⊙`), "Come on, don't you naturally like fair-skinned and refined people like me? You're trying to fool me... Oh dear, what are you doing now? Peeking at me, aren't you!"
Chen Nanyi (ー_ー)!!, “You’re not wearing any clothes, so why can’t others see them?!…”
Xu Xiaomeng (⊙o⊙): "Ugh, where's my bath towel!"
The west wind, sweeping away the bath towel, chuckled, "Hahaha!"
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