Another year
In early November, Jiang Zhun arrived in Beijing. His lecture started at 7 p.m. and ended after 9 p.m. He had a tight schedule and after a short rest tonight, he would fly back to the United States tomorrow morning.
After the lecture ended, the crowd gradually dispersed. Lu Er received a WeChat message from Jiang Zhun asking her to go backstage, so she picked up her bag and went out with him through the back door.
Jiang Zhun inquired about some recent events from Lu Er, and her answers remained as untroubling as ever.
As they approached the Zijing Apartments area, Lu Er suddenly pulled an envelope from her bag. She looked at Jiang Zhun and handed it to him: "Brother Jiang Zhun... there's 120,000 in here."
Jiang Zhun was puzzled for a moment. After a few seconds, he snapped out of his daze and his eyes swept across her face with mixed feelings. Finally, he smiled, but the smile hid a hint of disappointment: "Xiao Er, as expected, I knew it... I'm sorry for me interfering in your affairs."
Lu Er shook her head: "Brother Jiang Zhun, I know it's because you mean well. But I can do it, so there's no need to trouble you."
Jiang Zhun smiled and shook his head. He adjusted the scarf around his neck, looked into the distance, then turned to look at her: "That, isn't that the guy you were with back then?"
Ruan Xiyan jogged over from under the lamplight; she was tall and slender with a straight nose and red lips. He stood not far away, watching the two of them.
Not being close, Jiang Chun sensed a subtle hostility. He chuckled and said to Lu Er, "Your little boyfriend is quite jealous."
"It's getting late, you should go back now. I'll come see you again next time I'm at Tsinghua. If you have the chance, come visit us at home. Your parents miss you very much."
Lu Er waved to him: "Okay, goodbye, Brother Jiang Zhun."
Seeing that Jiang Zhun had left, Lu Er turned around and saw that Ruan Xiyan was still standing in the same spot, looking like she wanted to come over but didn't.
The frost in her eyes gradually melted, turning into a faint smile: "Ruan Xiyan."
He then ran towards her, studied her expression, and glanced in the direction Jiang Zhun had disappeared: "What were you two talking about?"
"Let's talk about you."
"Really?" Ruan Xiyan didn't believe it, but the corners of her mouth curved up slightly.
Lu Er looked up at him and smiled gently: "We were saying that there is someone who is very different from us, and you can smell the jealousy just by looking at him."
"Hmm, I'm incredibly jealous." Ruan Xiyan cupped her face, her dark eyes like whirlpools. "Haven't you figured out how to coax me yet?"
Lu Er reached out and covered his lips, then kissed him through the thin back of her hand.
Ruan Xiyan laughed and pulled her into her arms. Ruan Xiyan's embrace and the crook of her neck were warm, as if they were going to turn her pale face into two red lanterns.
"I saw what you gave him." Ruan Xiyan loosened her grip slightly, but still kept her nose almost touching. "Did you owe him something?"
Lu Er hesitated for a few seconds before telling him the whole story.
"So," Ruan Xiyan's voice was slightly muffled, "you've been working so hard at part-time jobs for the past six months, just to pay him back, and to your family too?"
"Um."
Ruan Xiyan's face remained motionless, while two warm hands touched her face and held her hand, saying, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"..." Lu Er nestled her head against his chest, "With an idiot like you, it would have been better not to tell you."
"Teacher Xiaolu, you can rely on me."
Lu Er took a step back, looking steadily at him: "Yes, I can. But I would do the same even without you."
Even without the soul swap, she would still have to go through all of this.
Even if she hadn't met Ruan Xiyan, she would have followed the predetermined path.
Ruan Xiyan was a fleeting comet in her life. Her arrival was a blessing, but she could not rely on that blessing. She had to rely on herself first in order to become herself.
-
Winter vacation began shortly after the New Year. After Lu Er severed ties with Cui Feng and Lu Guoyang in a meaningful way, he had nowhere to go in Huai'an.
She will mainly stay in Beijing this winter break, but she promised Ruan Xiyan that she would go back to his home for two weeks.
Around the time of the Lunar New Year, Ji Sibai hosted a gathering at his home, inviting only a few familiar friends. When Ruan Xiyan and Lu Er arrived, Ji Sibai and Chen Xiang were playing Dou Dizhu (a card game).
"Hey, didn't you see there are three Kings on the other side? Why are you playing bombs?!"
"Who told you to have such bad luck? I teamed up with you and my luck got worse too."
"I can't take it anymore! Those two bastards on the other side only have bombs left. If they can't beat me, can't I at least fight them? Hurry up and throw rotten eggs at them!"
The house was noisy and chaotic. It finally quieted down, but the argument started again a few seconds later.
Lu Er was curled up on the side memorizing CET-6 vocabulary, while Ruan Xiyan played Dou Dizhu with a few people for a while before losing interest. Lu Er was holding her tablet in her arms when she felt a fluffy head resting on her knees.
As Ruan Xiyan lay down, she gently rubbed her lower abdomen: "Is this okay?"
Lu Er's period started yesterday, and her stomach had been feeling like it was dropping since morning. She took ibuprofen before coming to Ji Sibai's house in the evening, which barely relieved the pain.
Seeing the two of them being all lovey-dovey in the corner, Ji Sibai couldn't stand it anymore: "Ruan Xiyan, don't you dare dirty my house!"
Someone looked around the crowd and asked, "Wen Fei didn't come?"
"Wen Fei has never really liked coming here, has he? He finds us noisy, that's normal."
The man looked around again: "It seems like Sheng Jiao isn't here either?"
"Ah." After he said that, many people looked around anxiously. "He really didn't come?"
They were used to Wen Fei not coming, but Sheng Jiao's absence was quite surprising. After all, Sheng Jiao was never absent from gatherings, karaoke parties, and other events, and often she was the one who organized them.
Lu Er opened a vocabulary app and messaged Sheng Jiao: "Why aren't you here?"
After about ten minutes, Sheng Jiao replied with a voice message. Her voice was slightly hoarse as she said she had a cold. Since her voice was nasal, Lu Er didn't think much of it.
It was New Year's Eve again, but this year, a light rain fell in Huai'an. The rain was chilly, and Ruan Xiyan went to close the windows and curtains. Her movements were a bit too abrupt, startling the cow-patterned cat sleeping on the bay window slapping its tail and jumping down.
Ruan Xiyan showed Lu Er a photo album: "Look, these are my photos from elementary school." Young Ruan Xiyan had a fair complexion and big, bright eyes.
He stood in the elementary school classroom, smiling broadly, making him easily noticeable.
“This one,” Ruan Xiyan flipped to one of the photos, “I told you before, I was stung by a bee. It was outside our school classroom, under that tree.”
In the photo, Ruan Xiyan has red bumps on his forehead, corners of his mouth, and cheeks. His eyes are the worst affected; his right eye is completely closed, and the skin is swollen and purplish-red. He seems to have been photographed unintentionally, his expression blank, clearly not yet recovered from the shock.
Ruan Xiyan said angrily, "I swear, I really didn't touch the bees. It was a few boys in my class who poked them, and they hit me as I was passing by. My mom took this picture, and instead of comforting me, she even developed it."
Lu Er smiled, her lips curving upwards again and again: "I know."
Turning to the end, there were photos of the two of them from last year at the amusement park and summer camp. Lu Er looked at the closing photo of the drama performance, and at the matching red dresses they were wearing: "You wanted me to choose red back then, was that what you wanted?"
Ruan Xiyan's gaze drifted, and she muttered softly, "What's wrong with wanting to wear the same style as someone you like... Besides, back then, weren't we playing the role of a couple?"
"..." Lu Er smiled, revealing her dimples.
Seeing her smiling, Ruan Xiyan felt a surge of desire. She tossed aside the photo album and kissed her lips: "You don't even comfort me, and you're still smiling."
He kissed her dimples again and again, then simply pulled her into his arms, his neck drooping down, his wet, sticky teeth biting her collarbone. Her skin there was rubbed raw and flushed, and the strap of her tank top slipped down a bit.
Sensing his increasingly unrestrained movements, and the subtle hint of him moving downwards, Lu Er's heart raced: "Ruan Xiyan..."
Ruan Xiyan innocently raised her long eyelashes: "Baby, is it okay?"
“…” Lu Er exhaled a deep breath of hot air.
“Or,” he said, his voice sweet and gentle, like sesame seeds, coaxing her. Ruan Xiyan leaned forward slightly, “using your hands…”
Lu Er's eyes were slightly closed, her face flushed and hot: "...That one is there."
"What?" Both of them were breathing heavily.
"……cat."
Ruan Xiyan barely managed to catch her breath, turned her head, and glanced behind her. There was no cat there; the black and white cat had already slipped out of the room.
Lu Er, like a cat, broke free from his embrace with lightning speed, rushed into the bathroom, locked the door, and said, "Take care of it yourself."
Ruan Xiyan cried out in grievance, "You went into the toilet, where am I supposed to relieve myself?"
"...You're outside."
"Then what were you doing in there?"
"I need to change my sanitary napkin."
Ruan Xiyan was still trying to coax, "Baby, let me help you." Lu Er heard his voice from behind the door, "After all, back then last year, didn't we both see it..."
"Ruan Xiyan, shut up!"
During the two-week holiday, Lu Er and Ruan Xiyan went back to the Third Middle School for a visit. Ruan Xiyan pointed to the laboratory building over there and said, "It rained heavily that day, and neither of us brought an umbrella."
Lu Er recalled: "You insisted on using your school uniform to shield yourself from the rain as you ran across."
“If you didn’t have a school uniform, you would have run straight there and gotten soaked to the bone.” Ruan Xiyan’s voice drooped pitifully as she said this, “Back then, you didn’t want to talk to me.”
Ruan Xiyan's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke: "You told me to let go, but you didn't reply to my messages or talk to me."
"..." Lu Er turned her head away, weakly and softly defending herself, "Aren't we still together now?"
"But I'm still afraid. I'm afraid that if I don't do something, we won't be where we are now."
Lu Er pursed her lips inwardly, sighed silently, and hooked her arm around his: "Okay, I won't do it again. Let's go upstairs and take a look."
The two arrived at an empty art classroom; the door was unlocked. With a gentle push, they were able to enter.
Ruan Xiyan thought of something: "I haven't drawn a picture for you yet. Shall we do it now?"
"It's not good to touch other people's things."
Ruan Xiyan smiled, "Teacher Xiao Er, you don't seem to know, but there are still some drawing boards I left here." During the two years Ruan Xiyan spent in this art classroom, he left behind quite a few art supplies. The year he left, he didn't take them with him, but passed some brand-new ones down to the next batch of students.
Lu Er complied with his request and sat on a high stool by the window. The window was open, and a large amount of sunlight and wind streamed in, illuminating her profile.
After an unknown amount of time, Ruan Xiyan put down her pen and said, "It's done."
Lu Er peeked over to look, and he tore the painting off to show her: "Actually, I could have drawn it even without looking at you." The girl in the painting had slender eyebrows, delicate lips, and hair that fell over her shoulders.
Lu Er held the painting protectively in her arms: "I will treasure it carefully." She wanted to jump off the high stool, but Ruan Xiyan stopped her. "Actually, there is one more thing I want to do."
"What?" Lu Er tilted her head slightly to meet his eyes.
He pressed his face closer, his wet lips brushing against the corner of her mouth, their tongues gradually intertwining. Finally, Lu Er, deprived of oxygen, gasped for breath, while Ruan Xiyan's cheeks flushed slightly, a smile playing in her eyes: "I want to kiss you in the art studio."
"When...did you think of that?" Her lips were blocked again, the syllable stuck in her throat.
"A long time ago."
That's what I thought when I realized I was starting to like you.
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