Cooking rice
The two remained silent.
"...Anyway, I don't know why." Lu Er looked out the window. "At this point, we can only take it one step at a time."
“Don’t tell anyone about our soul swapping yet.” Lu Er turned back and stared at his face. “Besides that, we also need to play our respective roles well.”
"You mean I'm impersonating you and you're impersonating me, right?"
Lu Er: "Mm."
"Let me first explain my family situation." Lu Er was relieved that it was summer vacation, otherwise things would have been in complete chaos during the school week.
“My family…” she paused, then said, “I live with my second uncle’s family. You can just call them uncle and auntie. During the day, I’m responsible for washing clothes and taking out the trash, and at night I wash the dishes… Oh, and I also cook dinner. Can you cook?”
Ruan Xiyan listened intently to her. He kept his mouth shut while listening to the beginning, and when he heard the second half about housework, he tried to memorize it. But when he heard the last sentence, Ruan Xiyan was stunned, as if he'd been hit hard: "Cooking?"
Seeing his expression, Lu Er knew it was hopeless: "I'm responsible for making dinner every day. You... can't you do that at all?"
"...Does being able to fry an egg count?" Ruan Xiyan asked tentatively.
"..." Never mind, Lu Er temporarily put that aside. "What's it like on your end?"
Ruan Xiyan thought for a moment and said, "Me? Only my mother is at home. She's been traveling for the past few days and hasn't come back yet. Ruan Tang... you know her, right? She's my cousin." Seeing her nod, Ruan Xiyan continued, "She's just staying at my house for a while, that's all."
Upon hearing this, Lu Er added, "I have a cousin, but we're not that close... don't worry about it too much."
After saying this, the two fell silent again.
Is there anything else to say? Probably nothing.
Ruan Xiyan secretly glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. Lu Er, no, to be honest, Ruan Xiyan, who possessed Lu Er's temperament, with her aloof face, really... had a unique charm.
Lu Er remained indifferent, but his eyes suddenly darted over, and Ruan Xiyan guiltily turned her gaze away.
To be honest, he had never interacted with a girl like Lu Er before. Ruan Xiyan had many friends, but Lu Er was someone he had never met before who was so taciturn and whose thoughts were so hard to fathom.
Therefore, during this moment of silence, he didn't know what to say, especially in such an awkward situation.
The two of them sat facing each other at the coffee table in silence for a while.
Lu Er was feeling heavy-hearted, and whenever she encountered trouble, she would unconsciously purse her lips. After a long period of daze, Ruan Xiyan across from her strangely blushed.
He raised his hand and scratched himself, his gaze becoming unfocused, muttering something under his breath. Lu Er couldn't hear him, and frowned: "What?"
“I mean,” Ruan Xiyan glanced at her, then quickly looked away, “what… what are we going to do about taking a shower?”
"..."
Lu Er felt the veins in her neck twitch twice with crystal clarity. She was silent for a while, then said, "Just wash as usual."
Before her cheeks warmed up, Lu Er glanced at Ruan Xiyan and warned, "Don't touch me." Perhaps feeling it wasn't fair, she added, "I won't touch you."
Ruan Xiyan immediately raised her hand and swore an oath to show her sincerity: "Ah Hao... I'm sure! I promise! I swear!"
Hmm, but why does this conversation sound so strange? It has a kind of suggestive quality... No, stop! Ruan Xiyan quickly extinguished the swirling thoughts.
Lu Er felt the conversation was getting increasingly awkward. She sat up, noticing the sunlight streaming through the window cascading in one direction. It was getting late, so Lu Er gave her final ultimatum: "Anyway, let's leave it at that for now. Let's each play our part. Remember, don't tell anyone about this."
Seeing Ruan Xiyan nod like a chick pecking at rice, Lu Er said, "Then let's go back first."
"Wait, let's exchange contact information? It's inconvenient to keep calling. Do you have WeChat?"
The two opened WeChat and added each other as friends. Ruan Xiyan's nickname was Manmao, her profile picture was a lively cartoon rabbit, and her Moments were filled with endless photos and text.
In contrast, Lu Er's is much simpler: Cat Shadow, WeChat name 11. She has never posted a single thing on her Moments, as empty and cold as her owner.
After adding each other as friends, Ruan Xiyan subconsciously asked, "Shall we go back together?" If she remembered correctly, there was a stretch of road between his house and Lu Er's house that they could walk together.
"You go first, I'll go pay the bill."
"Okay." Ruan Xiyan turned around. "Bye."
Although Lu Er verbally agreed to pay the bill, she actually used Ruan Xiyan's phone. Standing at the bar, Lu Er silently noted down the charge.
—
Ruan Xiyan stepped out from under the shade of the sycamore tree, bathed in the creamy yellow afterglow.
Becoming a different person... it really feels like a dream.
Ruan Xiyan was feeling dizzy and walked up the steps without even hearing someone calling him. The person called several times before he turned around as if waking from a dream. When he turned around, Ruan Xiyan was stunned.
"Have you thought things through yesterday?" The woman had smiling eyes and an elegant demeanor.
He remembered who called him, of course—Mina, the English teacher of Class 18. Teacher Mina was known for her unconventional teaching methods; she often came up with new ideas in class to make English lessons less boring. Many students in Class 18 enjoyed her classes, including Ruan Xiyan.
Did the teacher used to live in this building?
Wait, is Teacher Mina really that familiar with Lu Er? Ruan Xiyan's mind slowly began to work.
When Ms. Mina saw that he didn't respond, she called out again, "Lu'er? Do you want to go to tutoring class?"
"Huh? Okay, sure." Ruan Xiyan realized she had been in a daze for too long, and in her panic, she didn't pay attention to what the person was saying, so she agreed.
Teacher Mina smiled happily: "Okay, I'll send you the time and place via WeChat."
After Ms. Mina left, Ruan Xiyan returned to the floor where Lu Er lived, entered the house, and sighed.
"What can we do now?" Ruan Xiyan thought as he lay in bed, but his optimism quickly returned. "Maybe after a good night's sleep, things will be back to normal by tomorrow morning."
Ruan Xiyan quickly calmed herself down. She turned over, gazing at the gold thread inlaid by the window, vaguely recalling something.
He seems to have forgotten something.
That's it! Ruan Xiyan suddenly realized—clothes! And—cooking!
Lu Er remained absent-minded until she entered Ruan Xiyan's house. She knew perfectly well that the fact that she and Ruan Xiyan had swapped souls was a loss for him and a gain for her.
I wonder if he can tolerate the conditions at home... Lu Er pondered, then looked up and saw two bare feet standing in front of him.
She looked up again and saw the girl standing with her hands on her hips, scrutinizing her. Ruan Tang and Ruan Xiyan looked alike, especially their eyes, which resembled the bright, sparkling glass marbles that a three-year-old child would love.
Ruan Tang looked a little annoyed, while Lu Er, unaware of the situation, simply asked, "What's wrong?"
"Cousin, you promised to play games with me!" Ruan Tang's chubby cheeks puffed out slightly, like a pufferfish. "You haven't been online on Egg Party for two days, and you haven't teamed up with me for three days!"
What is an egg waffle party? Lu Er hadn't played many games. She was also used to being aloof to others, so she instinctively said, "I don't play."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Lu Er realized something was wrong. Surely Ruan Xiyan wouldn't refuse to play games? So she abruptly changed the subject: "...I'm not playing today, cousin. I need to study hard." She paused, then hesitantly patted him on the shoulder, "You too, during summer vacation you should...study hard and improve every day."
Although it would be safer for her not to play games because she would make many mistakes, it was obviously more strange and eerie to hear such words coming from Ruan Xiyan's mouth.
Lu Er realized this, but for the moment she had no other choice. Before she completely went out of character, she tried her best to keep a calm expression and hurried back to her room upstairs.
Ruan Tang's eyes were still following Lu Er's retreating figure. Even after the door closed, Ruan Tang remained speechless, staring blankly for a long time.
Something's not right, is it? Teacher, is this really our Ruan Xiyan? Is this really the cousin she knows??
—
Lu Er rushed back to her room, locked the door, and her heart was still pounding when a call popped up on her phone screen with her name in the contact list.
She steadied her slightly disordered breathing and clicked to answer: "What is it?"
"Help! Help!" You could hear the despair in his voice. "Are you getting ready to make dinner? What am I going to do?"
"..." I almost forgot about that. Lu Er closed her eyes and took a barely perceptible breath. "Listen to my instructions. Go to the refrigerator and see what ingredients are in there."
“Eggplant, baby bok choy, and a plate of green beans… peas or green beans.” Ruan Xiyan opened the refrigerator and rummaged inside. “There’s also a bag of dumplings.”
Lu Er decisively ordered, "Bring out the dumplings."
"Oh, okay." Ruan Xiyan did as she was told, walked to the stove, and asked blankly, "And then?"
"Wash the pot first. Do you know how to wash a pot?"
Boiling frozen dumplings is not a difficult task, to be honest, but Ruan Xiyan either couldn't find a sponge to wash the pot or forgot to turn on the gas when lighting the stove.
Ruan Xiyan asked helplessly, "Why haven't we started the fire yet?"
Lu Er: "Turn the gas valve to the left. Did you turn it to the right?"
Ruan Xiyan: "The dumplings look like they're turning into mush QwQ."
Lu Er: "...Take out the ones that are almost burnt."
Lu Er was more eager to cook than to eat, while Ruan Xiyan was busy with three things at once. It took the two of them more than an hour to finish making dumplings.
The phone was getting a little hot. Ruan Xiyan picked up a dumpling and tasted it: "...It seems like there's too much salt in it."
"..." Lu Er didn't want to care anymore. "If they ask, just say... the dumplings were kept for too long, so I took them out to cook." Before hanging up the phone, she reminded him, "Don't forget to wash the dishes after you finish eating."
While Ruan Xiyan went back to her room to charge her phone, Cui Feng and Lu Guoyang returned. They sat down at the table one after another, but Ruan Xiyan, feeling uneasy, hesitated to move.
Lu Guoyang noticed first: "Dumplings for dinner tonight?"
"Dumplings?" Cui Feng glanced at them and said casually, "I remember I put the groceries in the fridge, didn't you see them, Xiao Er?"
Ruan Xiyan's nerves were taut, and upon hearing this, she reflexively replied, "Uh, dumplings are delicious, dumplings are round, dumplings are good... eating dumplings is so good. Haha."
"..." The adults at the dinner table fell silent, exchanging strange glances.
“…Well,” Ruan Xiyan tried to salvage her shattered image, “because…because an expert said that today’s weather and location are perfect for eating dumplings. Haha…actually, the dumplings are about to expire, and if we don’t eat them soon, we’ll have to throw them away.”
The more she talked, the worse it got. Ruan Xiyan was heartbroken and desperate.
"..." Lu Guoyang kindly spoke up, "Xiao Er actually has a bit of a sense of humor. Haha."
You might as well shut up.
As night fell, Ruan Xiyan lay back down on the bed, exhausted.
When Lu Er called, he answered but didn't even have the strength to greet her: "Hello?"
"Are you alright?" Lu Er could hear the weariness in his voice.
"Thank goodness, she's still alive." Ruan Xiyan closed her eyes, then opened them again after a moment. "By the way, Teacher Mina, she invited you to her tutoring class... I accepted. It shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"It's okay. I was planning to participate from the beginning."
There was a moment of silence on the microphone; nothing more could be said. Ruan Xiyan tried to start a conversation: "How are things on your end?"
"Hmm." Lu Er paused. "Your cousin wanted to play games with me, but I... didn't agree."
Ruan Xiyan didn't care: "I don't need to play with her, there are plenty of other people who will. Never mind her." He had a question to ask, and after carefully considering his words, he asked, "What's your relationship like with your second aunt and uncle?"
"……generally."
"Oh..." She didn't want to talk more, and Ruan Xiyan tactfully didn't ask any further questions. The two phones fell silent again.
“This can’t go on,” Lu Er said finally. “I’ll see if I can teach you how to cook when I have time.”
"Okay, sure." Ruan Xiyan was extremely sleepy, his eyes were sore, and Lu Er was the one who hung up the phone first after hearing his muffled voice.
Maybe you'll feel better after a good night's sleep.
That's what they both thought.
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