The third soul swap
The two walked for a while longer and then ran into Chen Xiang.
When Chen Xiang saw Ruan Xiyan and Lu Er, who were shoulder-length together, his jaw dropped: "Xiyan, class monitor? You... what's going on with you two?"
Lu Er wasn't keen on wasting time talking to others, and her bus stop was just a dozen steps away. She nodded to Chen Xiang and then turned to Ruan Xiyan: "I'm going back now. Please take care of it."
Okay. Goodbye.
Lu Er lifted her eyelashes to look at him and said, "Okay, goodbye."
Lu Er left, but Chen Xiang remained rooted to the spot, astonished: "Wait, you two? What are you doing here so late at night?"
"Nothing much, I was just looking after someone's cat." Ruan Xiyan nodded and tossed the dog leash to Chen Xiang. "Here you go."
Chen Xiang gripped the rope, and the golden retriever chased after him: "When did you two become so familiar with each other behind my back? I thought you were in the same class but never interacted."
Ruan Xiyan didn't say anything. The way he held the box in his arms made it seem so precious that Chen Xiang couldn't help but glance at it a few times out of the corner of his eye: "What are you carrying? It's so valuable." He leaned forward and saw a cat lying inside. "There really is a cat. So you weren't lying to me."
What good would it do me to lie to you?
Chen Xiang chuckled: "Now I believe it, your relationship is purely that of cat caregivers."
"How did you end up here at this time?"
"My dad sent me out to fend for myself. I ate at a barbecue restaurant and came out, and I called you guys in the group chat, but none of you came to have some skewers with me. Well, I just happened to run into you guys when I came out."
As Chen Xiang spoke, he looked Ruan Xiyan up and down: "By the way, how did you get Sheng Jiao to change her mind? She suddenly said in the group that she was coming back to play for a few days, and she's already bought her plane ticket."
A few jacaranda petals drifted down and landed right on the black and white cat's head, making its ears twitch several times. Ruan Xiyan stared at it for a while, finding it amusing, until Chen Xiang repeated the question before she calmly replied, "She can come back whenever she wants."
"..." Chen Xiang's intuition told him that it was inextricably linked to Ruan Xiyan, but he didn't ask any further questions. His attention shifted to the black and white cat. "Is this little sheriff cat Lu Er's? And it's a bastard. More milk than cows, less milk than cows, how many cows make a real cow cat..."
Chen wanted to tease the cow cat a few times, but Ruan Xiyan, who was looking up and deep in thought, suddenly asked, "Can you do me a favor?"
"What?"
"Keep an eye out for part-time jobs nearby that are suitable for someone my age."
Chen looked at him, shocked, and said, "You want to do a part-time job? No way, does Young Master Ruan need money?"
Ruan Xiyan didn't tell him the real reason: "...I'm helping a friend find it." Chen Xiang wanted to pry, but Ruan Xiyan pretended to kick him, "Just find it, don't ask so many questions."
"Okay. Is your friend over sixteen? I remember that most people can't do much work before they're sixteen."
"..." Ruan Xiyan was also unsure of Lu Er's actual age, but he guessed it shouldn't be too far off. "I'm probably full. I'll ask her when I have time."
—
Lu Er woke up early on Saturday. The days in July are brighter than in any other month, but the weather forecast predicted rain starting in the morning, with heavy leaden clouds gathering in the sky, accompanied by a stuffy atmosphere.
After washing up, Lu Er noticed that the leaden-gray clouds were getting even lower. After a moment's hesitation, she dialed Ruan Xiyan's number.
The phone rang for a few seconds before being answered: "Hello?"
"Ruan Xiyan, are you awake?"
"I'm awake. I'm eating breakfast, what's wrong?"
Lu Er leaned against the windowsill, one hand outstretched to catch raindrops: "I want to test whether our soul swapping has anything to do with rain. Now, it's about to rain."
"Okay, sure."
Three, two, one. Lu Er counted silently in her mind. When the first raindrop hit her palm, she felt as if something had shone into her eyes, and when she opened them again, the surroundings were completely unfamiliar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that she was still holding a cup of hot milk in her hand.
Lu Er took a deep breath and thought, "I guessed right."
Before the call was even finished, Ruan Xiyan on the other end was both bewildered and excited: "My God, it really changed?"
"It really is related to the rain! You're amazing, like a prophet!" Ruan Xiyan was still marveling when Lu Er took a few seconds to process the news. She slowly finished her hot milk, lost in thought, and asked Ruan Xiyan, "You have art class this weekend, right?"
“Yes, art class is in the afternoon.” Remembering this gave Ruan Xiyan a headache. He quickly thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go over now and teach you a few things. That should be enough to get by.”
"good."
After hanging up the phone, Ruan Xiyan quickly tidied up and prepared to leave. He paused as he passed the restroom. Lu Er was still wearing a mask; he wondered how her allergy symptoms were.
Ruan Xiyan stepped into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. The rash had almost subsided, with only a few red spots remaining on her cheeks. But the girl's delicate face was unaffected, at least in Ruan Xiyan's eyes. Her features were beautiful, like a flower cut from white paper, instantly brought to life by splashes of ink.
She still looks very good. Ruan Xiyan thought that it would be even better if she could smile more.
Ruan Xiyan didn't ask Lu Er to pick her up. When she arrived at the door, she was about to enter the password when she stopped and chose to ring the doorbell instead. Lu Er opened the door for her, and the big golden retriever followed behind, breathing warm air on her.
"Aren't your family members home?" Lu Er asked.
"They went shopping a long time ago and probably won't be back for a while."
Ruan Xiyan led Lu Er into her studio. The studio had bright wooden floors, and the walls were covered with paintings of all shapes and sizes. Lu Er could clearly see one oil painting, thickly coated with vibrant paint, like springtime. The actual title of the painting was "Facing the Sea, with Spring Blossoms," a poem by Hai Zi.
Ruan Xiyan followed her gaze and saw it, a smile curving her lips as she said, "That's my graduation project. Part of it is from competitions like the China Academy of Art and the Dandelion Award, and some is from my casual doodles."
“I started learning to draw when I was six years old. My parents sent me to the Children’s Palace to learn for a while when I was in elementary school. Later I found out... I’m quite talented.” Ruan Xiyan looked at the painting, with the year marked in the lower right corner. “I got into No. 3 Middle School because of my art talent in the high school entrance exam.”
Ruan Xiyan walked to the window, where an easel stood, covered tightly with a dust cloth: "We use easels in class, and sometimes we bring them when we go out to sketch." He lifted it up and added, "But most people also use digital tablets, or sketchbooks."
“Our course mainly covers three areas: sketching, color, and quick sketching,” Ruan Xiyan explained, noticing Lu Er’s slightly shifting gaze. “As for oil painting, I’m personally quite interested in it, and I’ve learned a bit about that.”
He rubbed the tip of his nose, not even realizing that his smile had become a little shy: "Because I want to get into the oil painting program at Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, so I've been paying more attention... uh, sorry, I'm getting off topic. You can teach me art class this afternoon, and I'll teach you some essentials."
The obvious problem is that no one can grasp the essence, or even just the surface, of a completely unfamiliar field in just a few hours. Lu Er has outstanding learning and memory abilities, but even she can't excel in both.
Ruan Xiyan rested her chin on her hand and gritted her teeth in frustration: "It's really too difficult for people who don't study painting."
"How about this..." Ruan Xiyan thought for a moment, "The afternoon class should also be sketching. I'll make a finished piece in advance, and you can use it to practice during class. As long as it's not a live drawing session, but I guess it won't be necessary for the afternoon class."
Lu Er had no objection; she nodded and said, "I'll listen to you."
—
Ruan Xiyan sat down and began to paint. Looking out from the nearby window, she saw that the sky had cleared, the clouds looked like milk smeared messily on a blue cloth, and the sun was like an egg yolk, so round that it seemed to flow down from the horizon.
Lu Er watched Ruan Xiyan paint quietly. Several tens of minutes passed, and he remained in the same position in front of the easel.
Lu Er had never seen Ruan Xiyan so focused before; perhaps he wasn't focused on his studies. He cared deeply about many things and many people.
"alright."
It wasn't until his wrist started to ache that Ruan Xiyan put down the charcoal pencil, getting up and thinking that the wrist strength he could use was different now that he had a different body. He saw Lu Er standing to the side, watching for who knows how long: "...You weren't just standing here the whole time, were you?"
"..." Lu Er walked over to look at his painting. Ruan Xiyan had painted some tableware that looked like something from the Western Middle Ages: a jar, apples and pears, and a table corner with simple yet not somber lines. Lu Er couldn't understand the sense of space and techniques, but he nodded twice instinctively. "So amazing."
"It's alright. I've been learning for a long time, but thank you for your praise anyway." Ruan Xiyan's eyes curved into a smile. After so much time, it was almost lunchtime.
Ruan Xiyan deduced that Ruan Tang and Ruan Song would probably be back soon, so it wasn't wise to stay any longer. After thinking for a moment, he turned around and went into his room, took a sketchbook from the bookshelf, and handed it to Lu Er: "This is a sketchbook I filled with drawings during my second year of high school... The pages inside are removable. Take it with you; it's essential for any eventuality."
Lu Er hummed in agreement and then asked him if he minded flipping through the notebook himself. Seeing him wave his hand dismissively, Lu Er finally opened the notebook in front of him.
The first page featured a close-up of a dog's face. Lu Er stared at it for two or three seconds before realizing it was Ruan Xiyan's golden retriever.
The second page shows a corner of the classroom corridor. The third page...
Lu Er flipped through the comic strips in bits and pieces and noticed that a kitten appeared frequently on several pages.
Ruan Xiyan took the opportunity to tidy up the paint boxes for a while. He walked over and saw Lu Er staring at that spot. He peeked out and said, "Ah, this is Xiao Ba."
Perhaps the doubt in Lu Er's eyes was too obvious, so Ruan Xiyan paused for a moment and explained, "It's a cat protagonist from a Japanese anime, Chiikawa, also known as Jiyikawa, with bangs on its head in the shape of the number eight. I quite like it."
“You might have heard this voice.” Ruan Xiyan was thinking about how to describe it to her when, on a whim, she pinched her throat and imitated Xiao Ba’s voice, laughing twice, “Haha.”
"Let's go." "What's wrong?"
"Huh?" Ruan Xiyan imitated a couple of Japanese phrases and even made a classic emoji. Seeing Lu Er tilting his head slightly to look at him without smiling or moving, his face immediately burned. Then, as if remembering something, Ruan Xiyan ran into the house.
When he came out, he was carrying a plush toy. The cat had a blue head and a blue tail, and it fit perfectly in his arms. Ruan Xiyan held the toy up in front of her, her eyes sparkling with laughter, along with the dimple on her right cheek: "Look, this is Xiao Ba, it's super cute."
For a moment, Lu Er seemed to sense it; the stars in his eyes, sparkling brightly, leaped from their sockets, and sparks grazed her skin.
It's clear he really likes this uniquely styled cat.
"Hmm, quite cute." Lu Er remembered the word "kikkawa" in her mind.
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