STT – Chapter 8

She is Willing to Stand as a Scarecrow in Flowing Time

Throughout the night, Jiang Huaixi’s fever persisted. Lu Zizheng did not sleep, resting at the edge of the bed. Every hour, she checked Jiang Huaixi’s forehead and helped her sit up to drink some water. It was not until dawn drew near that Jiang Huaixi’s temperature finally returned to normal and she drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Lu Zizheng wiped Jiang Huaixi’s face with a warm towel before standing up to stretch. Relieved, she took a change of clothes and stepped into the bathroom to take a hot shower, washing away her exhaustion.

            

When she stepped out of the bathroom after her shower, Jiang Huaixi was still fast asleep in bed. Lu Zizheng rummaged through her suitcase, retrieved some cold medicine, and placed it on the nightstand. She grabbed a pen and wrote a note to stick on it, telling Jiang Huaixi to order room service once she woke up, and to remember to take the medicine after eating. She added that she had things to attend to in the morning and had to head out first.

In the morning, Lu Zizheng went out with Lian Xuan one more time. Her work for this collaboration was nearly finished, and she could soon prepare for her return trip.

When Lu Zizheng met Lian Xuan, the other woman was as she had always been—exquisitely made up, highly energetic, and thoroughly professional. Upon seeing Lu Zizheng, even the curve of Lian Xuan’s smile did not waver in the slightest. Everything that had transpired the night before—her embarrassment, her unfinished words—seemed like a dream that ceased to exist once daylight broke.

            

Perhaps the night simply had a way of making people fragile.

Once all matters were settled at noon, Lian Xuan invited Lu Zizheng and Ji Yao to have lunch, ostensibly declaring, “It’s rare for the three of us, old classmates, to gather like this. We’ve been so busy with the project that we haven’t had a chance to sit down and chat. Now that everything has wrapped up successfully, let’s have a meal together to celebrate.”

Ji Yao looked back and forth between Lian Xuan and Lu Zizheng, looking as if she was fine with whatever they decided.

            

Lu Zizheng, however, looked at her watch and said hesitantly, “President Lian, I’m sorry. I thought there would be no work at noon, so I already made plans to have lunch with a friend.”

Instantly, Lian Xuan’s expression cooled. “Zizheng, eating with us isn’t work. It’s just a friendly invitation.”

Hearing this, Lu Zizheng nodded slightly as if suddenly understanding. Then she said calmly, “I’m sorry, President Lian, but it’s rare for my friend to visit, so I can’t break my promise. Please go ahead with Manager Ji. If you will excuse me.” Though she apologized, there was not a trace of actual regret in her expression.

            

Seeing Lu Zizheng’s aloof expression, Lian Xuan frowned, looking as though she wanted to say something but held back.

Ji Yao, however, reached out and took Lian Xuan’s arm, saying calmly to Lu Zizheng, “All right then. Lian Xuan and I will head out first.”

Lian Xuan lowered her head slightly, hiding her expression from Lu Zizheng. Lu Zizheng watched as Lian Xuan and Ji Yao got into the car and drove away before turning around to hail a cab back to the hotel.

            

The moment she swiped her key card and pushed the hotel room door open, the theme song of Doraemon drifted out from inside: “Every day is just the same, but once in a while, a wild idea sparks. As long as Doraemon is here, the fantasy stretches on forever…”

Lu Zizheng couldn’t help but laugh. She closed the door and looked at Jiang Huaixi, who was dressed in fresh clothes, sitting upright and proper. “I’ve known you for so many years,” Lu Zizheng joked, “and I never knew you were so young at heart.”

Jiang Huaixi stared intently at the TV screen, refusing to spare even a glance for Lu Zizheng. “This just goes to show that despite all these years, you still don’t understand me at all,” she replied, sounding displeased.

            

Lu Zizheng paused. In truth, she really didn’t know Jiang Huaixi very well. Yet, it was also obvious that Jiang Huaixi had rarely given her the opportunity, and she herself was never one to pry or press for answers.

She grabbed a throw pillow and sat down casually beside Jiang Huaixi, teasing her, “Sitting so upright just to watch Doraemon… you’re doing a disservice to the very concept of proper posture.”

Jiang Huaixi shot her a sidelong glance, crossed one leg over the other, and picked up the remote control to shut off the television.

            

Lu Zizheng asked, “Did you take your medicine this morning? Do you still have a fever?”

Just then, Jiang Huaixi’s phone on the table began to ring. She casually swiped to reject the call, stood up, and headed toward the door. “Thanks to you, I drank a whole belly of water. How could I not be better?” She opened the door, took a few bags from someone outside, and closed it again.

Hmph, the implication in those words made it sound as though she didn’t appreciate good intentions. Lu Zizheng knitted her brows. But before she could voice her annoyance, she saw Jiang Huaixi turn around and sit at the table. Jiang Huaixi began pulling container after container of food from the bags, quickly filling the entire tabletop.

            

“I had someone bring me a change of clothes, so I asked her to buy some food on her way. I’m not familiar with this place and don’t know what’s good, so I just had her order whatever. Have you eaten? If not, I don’t mind sharing some with you.”

Lu Zizheng bit her lip. Perfect. She hadn’t had time for breakfast, and by now her stomach was already singing the empty city stratagem¹. Jiang Huaixi had successfully diverted her fire—no, her attention—with delicious food.

She took off her coat, sat down beside Jiang Huaixi, and picked up a pair of chopsticks. “You really never miss a chance to show off your capitalist colors, do you…” No sooner had the words left her mouth than Jiang Huaixi snatched her chopsticks away. “I know you are an advanced member of the proletariat,” Jiang Huaixi said. “Since that’s the case, you should draw a clear line between yourself and your capitalist enemy. No food for you.”

            

Lu Zizheng let out a soft laugh. Calmly reaching over, she picked up another pair of chopsticks, grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork rib, and placed it into her bowl.

Jiang Huaixi let out a cold snort. “Karl Marx says he is very disappointed in you—you don’t have an ounce of backbone.”

“…”

            

After they finished eating, Jiang Huaixi informed Lu Zizheng that she would be returning to Linzhou that evening.

For a split second, the question of why she was in such a hurry almost slipped past Lu Zizheng’s lips. That morning, Lian Xuan had mentioned that the project was over and their flights were booked for tomorrow afternoon. Lu Zizheng had been planning to invite Jiang Huaixi to a small town in Jiangbei for the afternoon and stay overnight there, so they could take in the famous night views together. In the end, however, she merely nodded and asked, “Do you want me to see you off?”

Jiang Huaixi shook her head. “No need. Someone will be coming to the hotel to pick me up.” After a brief pause, she added, “Do you have time this afternoon?”

            

Lu Zizheng nodded. “Why do you ask?”

Jiang Huaixi arched an eyebrow and said, her tone dripping with mock condescension, “I will grant you the honor of being my tour guide for the afternoon. Take me for a stroll through the streets and alleys of Jiangbei.”

For once, Lu Zizheng didn’t trade barbs. She simply agreed compliantly, “All right.”

            

Although she had been in Jiangbei for nearly a week, this was actually Lu Zizheng’s first time wandering its streets. It was less like she was acting as Jiang Huaixi’s guide and more like the two of them were simply roaming the town aimlessly together.

Wearing long boots, Jiang Huaixi walked leisurely ahead of Lu Zizheng with long strides. She turned back with a smile. “It seems you never make a decent tour guide. Back in Juzhou, it was always ‘we can’t go here’ and ‘we can’t go there.’ Now in Jiangbei, it’s ‘I’m not familiar with this place’ and ‘I don’t know that area either’…”

Lu Zizheng replied calmly, “Yet, I wonder who it is that begs me to be their guide every single time, acting as if it simply won’t do if I don’t!” She emphasized the words “simply won’t do if I don’t” heavily, clearly referring to what had happened back in Juzhou.

            

Jiang Huaixi, however, turned her head back, pretending not to understand the implication.

By the end of November, the weather in Jiangbei had grown freezing cold. Walking behind Jiang Huaixi, Lu Zizheng noticed that her left hand, hanging by her side, was already red from the cold. Looking closer, she realized that Jiang Huaixi’s coat had only a single pocket—just as full of personality as its owner!

Lu Zizheng took a few quick steps to catch up on Jiang Huaixi’s left side. After glancing around awkwardly for a moment, she asked in a strained voice, “Is your hand… cold?”

            

Jiang Huaixi didn’t hear her clearly and looked at her in confusion. “What was that?”

Steeling her resolve, Lu Zizheng answered with action. She reached out her right hand, grabbed Jiang Huaixi’s left hand, and quickly tucked it into the pocket of her own trench coat. Her heart beat wildly. Damn it, the wind blowing against her face was clearly freezing, so why did her face still feel so hot? Forcing a casual front, she stared straight ahead and said, “I’ll buy you a pair of gloves up ahead in a bit.”

Instead, she heard Jiang Huaixi reply in a soft, amused voice, “No need. I think it’s quite warm enough like this.”

            

Lu Zizheng pretended to look around with great interest, not daring to glance at Jiang Huaixi’s expression. As they walked past a shop window, she caught her own slightly flushed face reflected in the glass. She deceived herself in her heart that this was surely just from the freezing cold.

As they passed a charming little shop, Jiang Huaixi suddenly stopped. Lu Zizheng stopped alongside her and looked up at the sign: Time’s Slow Post². It was a boutique shop that mainly sold postcards and offered a service where, for a fee, they would mail out stored postcards at a specified time in the future.

Jiang Huaixi turned to Lu Zizheng. “Let’s go inside and take a look. I feel like I suddenly have a lot to say to myself ten years from now.”

            

Lu Zizheng smiled. “I’ve discovered another side of you today. Not only do you like watching Doraemon, but you’re also quite artsy and sentimental.”

Jiang Huaixi raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Do you have an issue with that?”

Lu Zizheng laughed and stepped into the shop ahead of her. “No issue at all. Go on in and write. If you want my advice, well, you should remind your future self ten years from now not to be as supercilious, self-righteous, arrogant, and oppressive to the proletariat as you were ten years ago…”

            

“You seem to have quite a few grievances against me.” Jiang Huaixi selected a postcard, sat upright at the writing table, and looked askance at Lu Zizheng with a pen in hand.

Lu Zizheng strolled casually around the shop, examining the various postcards displayed on the shelves and hanging on the walls. She replied nonchalantly, “What a pity it took you this long to realize.”

Jiang Huaixi held the pen and gazed deeply at her for a long moment before lowering her head. A faint smile touched her lips as she began to write.

            

Growing tired of looking at the postcards, Lu Zizheng walked toward Jiang Huaixi to see what she had written. Jiang Huaixi suddenly looked up, alert and defensive. “No peeking,” she said, sounding slightly tense. “Don’t you know some secrets are meant only for oneself?”

Lu Zizheng stopped in her tracks and let out a helpless laugh. “I have absolutely no interest in your secrets.” She turned back around to look at the postcards again. In truth, she was actually a little curious.

After a while, Jiang Huaixi finally finished. She handed the postcard to the shopkeeper and paid the fee. With a look of relief, she walked over to Lu Zizheng and said, “Let’s go. Or would you like to write something to yourself ten years from now?”

            

But Lu Zizheng turned and walked toward the exit, replying as she went, “No. Ten years is too long. Roads will be rerouted, shops will move, and smoke will rise over farmlands. Who knows where I’ll even be ten years from now…”

Jiang Huaixi stood there, listening to Lu Zizheng’s words and watching her push open the door and walk out, stepping further and further away.

Realizing Jiang Huaixi wasn’t following, Lu Zizheng stopped and turned around. She looked back in confusion at the other woman, who remained motionless.

            

Jiang Huaixi’s eyes held a gentle gaze, but Lu Zizheng was standing too far away to see it clearly. She only saw Jiang Huaixi walking toward her, step by step, with a steady, unhurried pace, moving with exquisite grace. Finally, Jiang Huaixi stopped right in front of her, her face a mask of haughty displeasure. “How bold of you, peasant, to walk ahead of Us. Considering your loyal service in the past, We shall grant you an opportunity to redeem yourself.” She held out her cold, stiff left hand and instructed, “Our hand is cold. You performed admirably earlier.”

The corner of Lu Zizheng’s mouth curved upward. Under Jiang Huaixi’s watchful gaze, she extended her right hand, only to bring it down with a sharp smack onto the back of Jiang Huaixi’s hand. She turned and walked ahead. “What can Your Majesty do to me?”

Jiang Huaixi drew in a soft breath. Catching up to Lu Zizheng, she rubbed her smarting left hand with her right. Her brows knitted in irritation, and she was just about to loftily order Lu Zizheng’s execution when the other woman suddenly reached out without warning. Lu Zizheng grabbed her hand, tucked it back into her pocket, and began gently massaging the back of Jiang Huaixi’s hand with the pad of her thumb.

            

A smile tugged at the corner of Jiang Huaixi’s mouth as she pushed her luck. “With that much force, are you trying to poke holes in my hand? Mmh, a little lower.”

Lu Zizheng turned her head slightly to shoot Jiang Huaixi a cold glance, looking thoroughly displeased. Yet, her hand indeed moved down a bit, and her touch grew even gentler.

Jiang Huaixi nodded in satisfaction and continued walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Lu Zizheng as if nothing had happened. Her expression was soft as she looked straight ahead, though her peripheral vision remained fixed entirely on Lu Zizheng beside her.

            

Heh, ten years was indeed a very, very long time—long enough for all people and circumstances to shift and change. Jiang Huaixi did not know where Lu Zizheng would be in ten years, either.

But she knew she was willing to stand as a stationary scarecrow in the flowing current of time for Lu Zizheng’s sake. As long as Lu Zizheng looked back, she would see her.

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