You smile
"Tell me, should we dress the baby in this outfit or this one today?"
Ruan Tang held up two lace-trimmed dresses in front of Mao Mao to compare them. The two dresses were identical in style, only the colors were different.
The golden retriever wagged its tail, its paws hovering in the air as if intently analyzing its owner's words. Two seconds later, it pointed at the indigo one.
Ruan Tang's eyes immediately sparkled: "Mao Mao, you're so smart! How did you know I wanted Xiao Ying to wear this outfit today too?"
Lu Er was changing her shoes in the entryway not far away, thinking to herself, "Isn't it because the indigo skirt is placed closest to Mao Mao?"
She just thought silently. If everyone's innermost thoughts could be expressed using speech bubbles, then Lu Er would only have three standard ellipses above her head.
Ruan Tang spotted Lu Er and saw that she was dressed neatly and about to go out. Remembering that Ruan Xiyan had been ignoring her lately, she was a little dissatisfied: "Cousin, are you not free today either?"
Lu Er replied coldly, "No."
"Fine, you won't join me for the egg waffle party." Ruan Tang's lips pouted so much you could lift a small oil bottle. "It's been so long since you acted with me! I play the emperor, Xiao Ting plays the princess, Mao Mao plays the crown prince, Xiao Ying plays the princess, and nobody plays the servant anymore."
Acting...? Lu Er instinctively felt that this was not a game suitable for her, and besides, playing the role of a servant did not sound like a good thing.
Lu Er remained expressionless: "Find someone else to act with you. My cousin needs tutoring."
Lu Er went out, and Ruan Tang stroked the dog's head, staring at the person's back, and said to herself, "Mao Mao, don't you think my cousin has been acting strange lately?"
The golden retriever barked twice, clearly agreeing with Ruan Tang. Because, as it glanced at the TV cabinet, it realized its owner hadn't taken it out to play in a long time.
"Hmm, you think so too, right? So today you'll play the role of a servant, is that alright?"
"Woof woof!"
Lu Er, on the other hand, skillfully navigated out of Ruan Xiyan's residential area. Her biological clock was always regular, so attending tutoring classes at eight o'clock wasn't difficult for her.
When Lu Er arrived, there were only a few people scattered around inside. The seating in the tutoring rooms wasn't fixed, so she found a chair in the middle. Lu Er sat down, intending to review her notes, when suddenly a voice called her name.
Lu Er turned her head and saw an unfamiliar girl standing beside her. The girl quickly looked away when Lu Er met her gaze, her face flushed. Several girls behind her huddled together, glancing over every now and then and chuckling. Lu Er sensed something.
Sure enough, the girl spoke up shyly: "Um, classmate, could I have your contact information?"
I didn't expect this to happen. Lu Er's brow furrowed slightly, and she said politely, "I'm sorry."
The girl insisted, "I just want to talk to you about studying, or anything else is fine too. I don't mean anything else."
"Then you've talked to the wrong person." Lu Er didn't say this, her attitude remained unchanged: "I'm sorry."
"Okay, sorry to bother you." The girl walked away dejectedly. The chattering behind her also subsided.
—
Even in a different body, Ruan Xiyan couldn't hide the listlessness emanating from him. He walked into the school gate and yawned deeply. Tao Yangnian excitedly popped in from the corner of his eye: "Lu Er, good morning!"
Before Ruan Xiyan could answer, he eagerly pulled out a bag of breakfast buns, as if to claim credit: "Have you had breakfast? I specially... I have some leftover breakfast from the breakfast stall we met yesterday."
That idiot, if he knew that Lu Er's real name was Ruan Xiyan, he'd probably turn on the spot. Ruan Xiyan glanced at him, thought about Lu Er's usual attitude, and replied in a serious manner, "I've eaten, thank you."
The two walked towards the classroom together. Tao Yangnian glanced at her casually: "Didn't you see the WeChat message I sent you yesterday?"
"...What is it?" Ruan Xiyan fell asleep as soon as his head hit the bed last night and didn't check his phone. He entered the classroom, looked around, and sat down behind Lu Er without thinking. Tao Yangnian followed closely behind him.
"Well, well, uh." Tao Yangnian leaned over the edge of the table, wanting to say something, but when he saw Teacher Mina come in after the bell rang, he hesitated for a long time and then gave up. "Why don't you check your WeChat?"
Every class—Chinese, math, English—brought Ruan Xiyan to tears of exhaustion. He secretly scrolled through his WeChat, wondering what Tao Yangnian was talking about; he'd sent several messages last night asking Lu Er if she played games.
He had just started typing when a message suddenly popped up at the top of the screen.
【Slow Momo】: This morning
Ruan Xiyan paused for a moment, then clicked the button. After waiting for ten seconds without receiving a message, Ruan Xiyan looked up and saw her slightly hunched back, her shoulders inexplicably straightening a little.
[Slow Momo]: A girl asked for your contact information, but I didn't give it to her.
"What could it be?" Ruan Xiyan replied.
【11】: It's okay, do we know each other?
【Slow Momo】: I don't know her.
[11]: That's alright, you can handle it however you want if you encounter it again in the future.
Lu Er didn't reply to the message again. Ruan Xiyan looked up again and saw that Lu Er had returned to her usual attentive posture. Ruan Xiyan thought about it and put her phone away as well. Suddenly, another message popped up on the screen. It was from Tao Yangnian.
[Tao Yuannian]: I thought you never used your phone during class.
[Tao Yuannian]: I heard from Ruan Xiyan that you have excellent grades. I thought that top students like you probably don't play on their phones during class, right?
Ruan Xiyan typed two crisp words: "No." Because he was Ruan Xiyan.
Upon receiving the reply, Tao Yangnian was probably even happier, bombarding the class with a barrage of messages. If his phone hadn't been on silent, he would have been caught red-handed in class.
Tao Yuannian: You still haven't told me about the problem I had last night.
[Tao Yuannian]: Do you have any favorite games? LOL? Eggman? Honor of Kings? Sky: Children of the Light? I play all of these, and I can show you how to play.
[Tao Yuannian]: It would be fine to bring Ruan Xiyan along too.
[Tao Yuannian]: Where do you live? I live near No. 11 Middle School. I occasionally go to No. 3 Middle School to visit Ruan Xiyan, so I might run into you sometimes. By the way, it's summer vacation now, so if you're free for a few weekends, we can get together...
There were so many words it was dizzying. Ruan Xiyan knew exactly what this kid was thinking. He picked one of them and replied, "I don't play games," and then locked his phone.
—
As soon as the bell rang, everyone rushed out of the classroom. Ruan Xiyan stepped out of the classroom, her mind initially preoccupied with what to eat for lunch, but then a thought struck her, and she recalled the scene of Lu Er handing out flyers yesterday.
Since she'd already become her, she might as well do the work for her while she was at it. Ruan Xiyan immediately headed towards the street.
"Ruan Xiyan." Lu Er caught up from behind. "Where are you going?"
For some reason, Ruan Xiyan didn't dare to look her in the eye directly, and looked away slightly: "Um, I remember you took on a job distributing flyers, right? I was thinking of helping you distribute the flyers first, and then going home for dinner."
"..." Lu Er's tone was somewhat complicated, "You don't have to do this in this special situation." She had troubled Ruan Xiyan too much.
"It's okay. I became you, and you became me. We'll play our roles well, and it won't affect anything." Ruan Xiyan's eyes smiled, the corners of his eyes like tender buds sprouting in spring snow. He and Lu Er were so different. He used Lu Er's face, but when he smiled, he showed an innocence and vitality that was completely different from Lu Er's.
Lu Er couldn't refuse, so she said, "Then I'll go with you." She felt bad leaving Ruan Xiyan to do her things alone.
Just as the two were about to go over together, a voice called out to them from afar. Turning around, they saw Aunt Jiang leading Jiang Yanyan by the hand.
"Xiao Er? What a coincidence. I've run into you here." Aunt Jiang waved, and Jiang Yanyan waved back to greet them, "Sister Lu, Brother Xiyan."
Hello, Auntie.
Aunt Jiang looked closely at Ruan Xiyan beside her and said with delight, "This boy must be your friend, right? Thank you both so much for helping my Yanyan with her studies."
Aunt Jiang then said apologetically, "Well, Xiao Er, because of my work, I have to go abroad for a while. Yan Yan's maternal grandmother just recovered and was picked up by his uncle. I didn't feel comfortable leaving Yan Yan alone at home, so I took him with me on this trip. So..." Aunt Jiang hesitated, and Lu Er understood what she meant, "The tutoring might have to be stopped."
Lu Er remained silent, her face still. Ruan Xiyan paused for a moment before remembering that he was now Lu Er. He glanced at Lu Er quickly out of the corner of his eye: "It's alright, Aunt Jiang, I'm already very grateful that you let me tutor you."
"Auntie, I'm so sorry. Please give me double the wages for these past few days as an apology."
Ruan Xiyan glanced anxiously at Lu Er a few times, then looked away, trying to cover up her embarrassment, saying, "No need, Auntie, this..."
Aunt Jiang insisted on giving it to her, and Ruan Xiyan couldn't argue with her no matter how much she refused. Seeing Lu Er nod, she finally felt relieved and said, "Okay. So, starting tomorrow, we don't have to go anymore?"
"It'll be around this weekend, tutoring until Friday. Thank you so much, Xiao Er. And also, this little boy."
After seeing Aunt Jiang and Lu Er off, Ruan Xiyan and Lu Er were on their way to pick up flyers. He observed Lu Er's expression and said, "Hey, how about you tutor me after this tutoring session is over?"
Lu Er knew what he was thinking and shook her head: "This is none of your business, you don't need to take it to heart."
The flyers were being handed out a little slower today than yesterday. When they were finished, Ruan Xiyan glanced at the sky and shielded his eyes from the glare with his right hand: "You have class this afternoon, hurry up and go eat. Anything is fine, use whatever's in my wallet... just don't exceed the limit." He knew in his heart that Lu Er wouldn't be that kind of person.
Lu Er nodded and agreed. After walking along the shopping street for a while, Ruan Xiyan suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, I almost forgot, my mom will probably be back this Friday. I wonder if we'll switch back then... as long as we don't give ourselves away."
Lu Er hesitated: "...How can I avoid giving myself away?"
That's a good question. Ruan Xiyan thought for a moment, then said nonchalantly, "Just don't be so cold, my mom is easy to handle. As for the specifics..." Passing by a clothing store, their reflections were seen in the window, and Ruan Xiyan stopped, "Just smile more, that should do the trick."
He slowly demonstrated in front of the glass, saying, "Curve the corners of your mouth a little, so it looks like you're smiling. Hmm, just smile naturally, and that'll be fine."
Lu Er subconsciously followed suit, pursing her teeth slightly and curling her lips up as if mechanically lifted rather than naturally.
Ruan Xiyan stared at the swirling dimple in her cheekbone, then turned her head and said, "Look, we also have a symmetrical dimple."
Caught off guard, Ruan Xiyan reached out and lightly touched Lu Er's dimple on his left cheek with her fingertips. But she only touched it briefly before withdrawing her hand.
“You actually look quite pretty when you smile,” Ruan Xiyan said with a smile. “I’ve heard that smiling more brings better luck.”
Lu Er thought to himself that no one seemed more suited to smiling than Ruan Xiyan.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
