MY - 18

Jiang Xi hadn’t expected Lu Nandu to follow her.

Returning without a word yesterday was partly because she didn’t want to see him. Yet, now that he appeared here, she wasn’t too surprised.

The streetlights were dim, but she could still glimpse Lu Nandu’s expression—innocent, pure.

Like a child, with the person in front of him as his whole world. Jiang Xi had once believed it.

But even if he was a child, he was a calculating one.

It was precisely because he was smart that he caught on to Jiang Xi’s rare moments of softness. No matter how indifferent she was to him, he remained unmoved, even pursuing her relentlessly.

He was the person in this world who best understood all her sensitive spots, whether psychological or physical.

Jiang Xi’s hands were in her outer coat pockets. She looked away: “There’s no need to look for me.”

Lu Nandu, however, was completely unaffected by her cold tone: “I didn’t want you to pay attention to me.”

He stood a few steps away, staring intently at her: “I just want to see you.”

Jiang Xi lowered her eyes to the ground, her eyelashes trembling slightly at his words, ultimately not looking up.

Lu Nandu always seemed to have a way of leaving her speechless.

Seeing her, Lu Nandu’s morning annoyance at being stood up had vanished, completely forgetting the unpleasantness.

“Jiejie, will you have dinner with me?”

Even though he knew he’d be rejected, he always asked anyway.

Jiang Xi’s phone rang again. She took it out and glanced at it. Xia Xinyan was asking if she had returned home.

She put her phone back in her pocket, no longer looking at Lu Nandu, and walked straight past him: “No time.”

________________________________________

Lu Nandu followed Jiang Xi home.

Not really “followed,” Lu Nandu already knew her home address.

Jiang Xi’s car stopped smoothly outside the gate. She pushed the door open and got out. The person behind her also got out. He quickly caught up, and Jiang Xi couldn’t walk away.

Lu Nandu grabbed her hand and asked her: “We’ll have a chance to have dinner together in the future, right?”

Jiang Xi didn’t know where he got such a thick skin. She looked up directly at him, saying coldly: “No.”

But he insisted: “Yes, we will.”

Lu Nandu’s dark pupils stared straight at her, stubborn and unreasonable.

She didn’t know why there was such a stubborn person, who hadn’t changed from before to now.

Jiang Xi turned her head, too lazy to waste any more words on him.

Seeing her not refute, Lu Nandu pressed further: “Will you come out to see me tonight?”

Jiang Xi didn’t turn back, her tone calm: “Lu Nandu, that’s enough.”

Lu Nandu looked at her profile, intentionally saying: “But I want to see you.”

Jiang Xi turned back: “What if I say I don’t want to?”

Lu Nandu, however, chuckled lightly, succeeding in making her turn to look at him.

He answered irrelevantly: “Then I’ll wait for you downstairs at your house tonight.”

Jiang Xi’s indifference always seemed to land on cotton. She completely gave up trying to talk to him. With a cold face, she shook off his hand and went inside: “Do whatever you want.”

________________________________________

Chen Huan didn’t come back. At the dinner table, Xia Xinyan and Jiang Xi ate.

“She called me half an hour ago and said she wouldn’t be home for dinner,” Xia Xinyan put a piece of meat into Jiang Xi’s bowl, “You must have waited a long time outside.”

Jiang Xi didn’t tell Xia Xinyan about tonight’s events, so Xia Xinyan didn’t know about Chen Huan texting her only to stand her up and then running off to play, a rebellious act of teasing others and escaping.

Xia Xinyan asked if she had waited long, and she said: “It was alright.”

“Kids these days are really hard to manage,” Xia Xinyan said, “You two used to be so obedient, and I never had to worry about your studies.”

Dinner finished, Jiang Xi said little.

After clearing the table, she wanted to help Xia Xinyan with the dishes but was pushed out of the kitchen by Xia Xinyan: “You finally have a holiday, so get some good rest. Don’t worry about these chores.”

Jiang Xi went to the living room and sat down. Xu Yanran sent her a message.

Two polite and tentative words: Are you there?

Jiang Xi replied that she was free.

Xu Yanran quickly sent a voice call.

Jiang Xi answered. Xu Yanran’s tone was a bit apologetic: “Sister Jiang Xi.”

Jiang Xi leaned back on the sofa: “What’s wrong?”

Xu Yanran was a bit hesitant at first: “Um, I, er...”

Jiang Xi could probably guess what she wanted to say: “It’s okay, tell me.”

After a few seconds, Xu Yanran finally spoke, her voice dejected: “Sister Jiang Xi, this morning I accidentally let slip that you were going home.”

Jiang Xi going home was something even Tong Yun didn’t know; the only one who did was Xu Yanran, who chatted with her before she went to the airport.

Xu Yanran continued: “I didn’t think Brother Nandu would go there either. I’m sorry.”

Xu Yanran had good relationships in the crew and was also good friends with Lu Nandu, so when Lu Nandu asked for her help, she obliged.

Knowing that Lu Nandu was interested in Jiang Xi, she also secretly helped, but all she could do was small things like sending cakes, nothing more.

This morning, when Lu Nandu couldn’t find Jiang Xi, Xu Yanran accidentally blurted out that she had gone home. She felt guilty all day. She really didn’t want to do anything that would disturb Jiang Xi.

Xu Yanran apologized again: “I’m sorry, Sister Jiang Xi.”

Jiang Xi didn’t mind too much. She knew that even if Xu Yanran hadn’t told Lu Nandu, he would have found her on his own.

Thinking of this, Jiang Xi glanced outside the door.

The night was deep, a bottomless ink color. She withdrew her gaze and said faintly into the phone: “It’s fine.”

Xu Yanran cautiously asked: “Sister Jiang Xi, you don’t mind, do you?”

Jiang Xi chuckled, speaking honestly: “If it were someone else, I would mind.”

She knew Xu Yanran had no ill intentions.

Xu Yanran apologized repeatedly again. Jiang Xi didn’t interrupt her.

When Xu Yanran had said enough and stopped, Jiang Xi lazily said: “I accept your apology. Now, let’s move on from this.”

As expected, Xu Yanran, the young girl, was quite susceptible to this, and her mood quickly improved.

After chatting for a few more sentences, she asked directly: “Sister Jiang Xi, do you know that I’m helping Brother Nandu pursue you?”

Jiang Xi was silent for a while, then hummed.

Xu Yanran was surprised: “When did you know?”

Jiang Xi chuckled: “Want to hear?”

She was afraid Xu Yanran might feel discouraged if she told her.

Xu Yanran: “Of course! I want to know when I gave myself away.”

Jiang Xi: “The day you gave me the cake.”

“You knew that day?” Xu Yanran was surprised, then a little disappointed, “I thought I was hiding it well.”

“You were pretty good.”

“Nonsense,” Xu Yanran said, “If I were hiding it well, you wouldn’t know.”

Jiang Xi slightly curved her lips and said: “Don’t help him anymore in the future.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end. Xu Yanran was stunned, then asked: “You... really don’t like him?”

Jiang Xi lowered her eyes for a few seconds, didn’t answer, and only asked: “Don’t you still have to film?”

Xu Yanran was still filming, but she called her during a break. She said: “Oh right, I’m on a break now.”

They chatted for a few more minutes and then quickly hung up.

________________________________________

Jiang Xi hadn’t left the house since finishing dinner.

It wasn’t until it was almost time to rest that she left the Xia family’s house. Lu Nandu’s car was no longer outside.

It was just talk, after all.

Jiang Xi didn’t pay it any mind and went straight back to her own house.

The temperature difference between day and night in this city was significant. Before going to sleep, Jiang Xi forgot to close the window, only drawing the curtains. In the middle of the night, a cool breeze blew, and Jiang Xi woke up.

The wind carried fine drizzles of rain in through the window, leaving a thin mist on the marble tiles.

Jiang Xi got up and closed the window.

People with poor sleep tend to wake up thoroughly after a slight disturbance. Jiang Xi was wide awake and went downstairs to get a glass of water.

She didn’t turn on the lights on her way downstairs, a habit she had maintained for several years.

Night’s darkness seeped through the window, casting shadows on the floor. Jiang Xi poured a glass of water and leaned against the counter, slowly drinking. The cool water in her throat only made her feel more awake.

The window by the wall suddenly rattled. Jiang Xi continued to drink, glancing over.

Most windows in this type of small villa were old-fashioned, with two casements. The kitchen window wasn’t locked from the inside, and someone opened it from outside.

Jiang Xi stood in the shadows, calmly drinking her water and watching in silence.

The person outside propped both hands on the windowsill and vaulted onto it, quickly flipping through the window and jumping into the house.

Jiang Xi lowered her eyes and said lazily: “You’ve got the wrong house.”

A short-haired girl with bobbed hair was bending down, about to pick up her backpack, when someone in the kitchen unexpectedly spoke. She paused.

The next second, she said irritably: “Damn it, is there something wrong with not turning on the lights when you’re alone here in the middle of the night?”

Jiang Xi placed her water glass on the counter and slowly flicked on the nearby light switch: “Be civilized in other people’s homes.”

The lights suddenly came on, and both parties clearly saw each other.

Chen Huan had bobbed hair, an earring on her left ear cartilage, her hair slightly damp with rain, and a pair of large eyes that were stubborn and wary.

She wore a leather jacket on top, black leggings on the bottom, and boots on her feet. Not the loose, baggy school uniform; even her appearance exuded rebellion.

Jiang Xi picked up her water glass from the counter again, slowly sipping it.

Chen Huan probably figured out what was going on and asked very indifferently: “My aunt’s house is next door?”

Jiang Xi casually nodded.

Chen Huan wasn’t shy at all. She picked up her guitar bag from the floor, placed it on a dining room chair nearby, and then asked Jiang Xi: “Got any cigarettes?”

Jiang Xi looked up at her. Two seconds later, she lied without batting an eye: “No.”

Chen Huan looked at the pack of cigarettes on the counter by Jiang Xi’s hand: “...”

She walked stiffly straight towards Jiang Xi, and without Jiang Xi’s permission, took her cigarettes and pulled one out.

Jiang Xi didn’t mind her. Her glass of water still wasn’t empty.

Chen Huan didn’t leave; she also leaned against the counter.

A teenage girl, only slightly shorter than Jiang Xi, skillfully lit a cigarette and smoked.

A minute passed, and Chen Huan suddenly chuckled, her voice carrying the mischief characteristic of her age: “Hypocrite.”

“What’s so bad about others knowing you smoke? I don’t know why you adults guard your reputation so fiercely every day.”

Her words didn’t provoke Jiang Xi at all. After she finished speaking, Jiang Xi calmly said: “It’s not that I don’t want you to know; I just don’t want to give it to you.”

Chen Huan: “...”

She turned her head and stared at her, then, as if thinking of something, suddenly laughed: “Were you the one who went to pick me up from school tonight?”

She had waited for her outside the school gate for over two hours.

Jiang Xi chuckled: “Seems like I’m a slightly vengeful adult.”

Just because she was vengeful, she wouldn’t give her a cigarette. Chen Huan clicked her tongue: “You’re so childish.”

“Oh, and you intentionally texting to stand someone up isn’t childish?”

Perhaps finding it amusing, Chen Huan burst out laughing.

Jiang Xi also found it amusing that she was bored enough to engage in a verbal battle with a child here. In truth, she wasn’t angry; she was just purely bored.

Half a cigarette later, Chen Huan seemed to suddenly remember something: “Ah, that’s right.”

“There was a guy outside your house just now.”

Jiang Xi’s perpetually calm expression stiffened slightly. She paused.

“Tall, and quite handsome,” Chen Huan said, resting both arms on the counter behind her, her voice carrying the unique timbre of a young girl, “Didn’t look like someone who’d trespass, unlike me.”

Jiang Xi had already returned to her natural state, but she didn’t speak.

Although young, Chen Huan was a sharp cookie: “It’s raining outside, and he had a bandage on his hand. He was probably waiting for you.”