STT – Chapter 21

Do not have undue expectations.

As soon as the day broke on the second day, Lu Zizheng and Lian Xuan had breakfast, and then Lian Xuan drove with Lu Zizheng on the road back to Linzhou. Along the way, Lian Xuan seriously apologized to Lu Zizheng for her improper conduct and impulsiveness the previous night, and Lu Zizheng smiled and indicated she did not mind, though she couldn’t help feeling a bit emotional inside. Lian Xuan always behaved appropriately during the day, knowing when to advance or retreat, but at night, she often lost her composure, appearing fragile. After all, which one was the real her? Lu Zizheng couldn’t understand, and, did Lian Xuan herself understand?

During the journey, Lian Xuan received several phone calls inquiring about her sudden departure the previous night; she responded indifferently that she had gone to see a friend on a whim.

The last phone call rang several times. Lian Xuan glanced at the caller ID and did not want to answer, eventually just turning off her phone. She glanced at Lu Zizheng somewhat guiltily, hoping she would ask why she wasn’t picking up, which would mean she still cared somewhat about herself, yet also hoping she would not ask, because she didn’t know how to calmly explain Zhou Zhong’an’s presence…

However, Lu Zizheng seemed to have not noticed and just kept her head down, her hands resting on her phone, her expression hesitant. Lian Xuan’s heart gradually sank…

Lu Zizheng was indeed conflicted; because of Lian Xuan’s issue the previous night, it was too late, and she did not want to disturb Jiang Huaixi, but she kept worrying about her being sick with a fever. At this moment, she hesitated whether to send a message to ask about Jiang Huaixi’s condition, but also worried it was too early and she might still be asleep, disturbing her peaceful dreams.

After much thought, she could not overcome her concern and worry, moved her fingers, and sent a succinct text message asking: “Is your cold better?”

After sending the message, it was like a stone sinking into the sea; she received no reply from Jiang Huaixi until Lian Xuan dropped her off at her home in Linzhou.

Lu Zizheng sat at her desk, chin propped on her hands, staring at the photo of the snowman on the desk with the inscription “May we live long and share the beauty of the moon even if thousands of miles apart,” and the half-finished period for a long while. She patted her forehead, finally tucked the photo into a drawer, turned off her phone, and pulled out documents to start working.

Do not think of things you shouldn’t, do not have undue expectations.

Once Lu Zizheng got busy, she forgot everything, even missing lunch and dinner, until the phone rang with a call from her mother to the home landline, awakening her as if from a dream—it was already dark outside.

Mother Lu first asked with surprise why her phone was turned off. Lu Zizheng glanced at the dark phone and casually responded that it had run out of battery. Mother Lu inevitably nagged her a few sentences: “You should remember to charge your phone when the battery is nearly dead. If you were outside, I couldn’t contact you even through the landline; that would be so worrying. Such a big girl, and still making people worry so much.”

Lu Zizheng obediently promised her mother, saying she would be more careful next time.

Then Mother Lu continued to ask her if she had eaten since it was quite late. Lu Zizheng didn’t dare to confess and fibbed that she had already eaten, telling her not to worry.

Finally, Mother Lu said, “New Year’s is on Friday; don’t plan any activities. Come home for dinner; I’ll make dumplings for you.”

Lu Zizheng had no reason to refuse and happily agreed. Ending the call, she felt her stomach begin to hunger upon hearing her mother mention food. Lu Zizheng figured her mother was about to hang up, and thought about where she could go to eat something. Her thoughts drifted far away, recalling the campus food map that Jiang Huaixi had drawn for her during their university days…

Little did she know, Mother Lu wasn’t finished yet, and added one more sentence: “Does Huaixi have plans on Friday?”

Lu Zizheng immediately caught the implication that her mother wanted Jiang Huaixi to join them for dinner. Thinking about the previous refusals and today’s message that sank like a stone in the sea, Lu Zizheng’s eyes dimmed, and she lowered her voice, helplessly persuading Mother Lu, “On such an important holiday, she surely has her own plans in the evening.” After saying this, she softened her voice and coaxed, “Mom, isn’t it enough having your beloved daughter with you? Can’t we just enjoy our time together as two?”

Mother Lu chuckled and said, “Who said you were my treasure, don’t flatter yourself. Alright, then, no worries, you go on with your things.”

Lu Zizheng coaxed her mother with a few more words before hanging up the phone. She touched her empty stomach, took the keys from the side, and prepared to go out for food. Reaching the door, with her shoes already on and hand on the doorknob, she paused, took off the shoes she had just put on, returned to the study to get her phone which had been turned off and left on the desk, slipped it into her bag, and then left the house feeling reassured.

It was a dark, cold night, and the streets were pitifully empty. Occasionally, one or two people hurried by with expressionless faces, a stark contrast to the festive atmosphere of just a few days ago.

Lu Zizheng walked leisurely and thoughtfully, eventually stopping altogether. She took her phone out of her bag, swiftly turned it on, watched as the screen lit up, observed the SIM card being successfully read, and finally, saw a notification for an unread message from Jiang Huaixi.

Despite herself, Lu Zizheng couldn’t help but curve her lips upward, revealing a shallow yet content smile.

She had told herself a thousand times, ten thousand times, not to have expectations. But still, she couldn’t help but anticipate.

Opening the inbox, Lu Zizheng saw Jiang Huaixi’s reply quietly lying there: “If it’s not better, are you prepared to come and care for me without taking off your clothes?”¹

Lu Zizheng pursed her lips and smiled in response: “To be so presumptuous, it seems you must be better.”

After sending the text, she held the phone in her hand and continued walking forward, her face still wearing an unvanished smile, her steps noticeably lightened.

Just as she sat down in a noodle shop and ordered a bowl of noodles, the phone clutched in her palm vibrated—it was a reply from Jiang Huaixi.

“Do you have time Friday evening? I want to show you something.”

Lu Zizheng found herself in a dilemma. She had made an unbreakable promise to go home for dinner with her mother, but she was also keenly aware that she did not want to decline Jiang Huaixi’s invitation. She furrowed her brows and replied, “I need to go home for dinner with mom first, can it be a bit later?”

Within a minute, Jiang Huaixi replied: “No worries, have a good dinner with Auntie. I’ll wait for you downstairs at ten. Please wish Auntie a happy New Year for me.”

After Lu Zizheng replied with a simple “Okay”, her noodles arrived. She placed her phone securely in her bag, picked up the chopsticks, and started eating the noodles bite by bite, finding them unexpectedly delicious.

On December 31st, after finishing work, Lu Zizheng rushed towards her mother’s house. Due to the holiday, the roads were exceptionally crowded. Lu Zizheng waited for one bus after another, barely managing to squeeze onto one. By the time she reached her mother’s house, the moon was high in the sky, and Lu Zizheng, exhausted, pulled up a chair to sit down and didn’t want to move anymore.

Mother Lu, holding a spoonful of dumpling filling with one hand and a dumpling wrapper with the other, looked at the listlessly seated Lu Zizheng and couldn’t help but tease her with a laugh: “Getting this tired just from a bus ride, I think Huaixi has spoiled you.”

Lu Zizheng weakly retorted to her mother, “Mom, you’re overthinking it; today was an exceptional situation. You don’t know how terrible it was on the bus. There was a girl who, trying to squeeze onto the bus, couldn’t fit and ended up having her entire bag caught outside the door.”

Mother Lu chuckled and said, “So, managing to get yourself completely onto the bus counts as a skill, then?”

Lu Zizheng hummed proudly twice, then remembered and said, “Huaixi asked me to pass on a message to you, ‘Happy New Year.'”

Mother Lu sighed, reminiscing, “I remember a few years ago, the first time you brought Huaixi home, it was also December 31st, and I was making dumplings for her. She didn’t know how to make dumplings, but she insisted on standing by and watching me make them. She was so sweet, complimenting how well I rolled the dough, praising how good the filling was, and she kept bringing me tea and water. I was so happy at the time, thinking you had finally made friends with a good kid, but you treated her as if nothing she did was right.”

Lu Zizheng pouted and said, “That’s because she was afraid I’d kick her out, so of course, she had to charm you to secure a strong ally.”

Mother Lu, displeased, lectured Lu Zizheng, “You always take advantage of Huaixi’s good nature to bully her.”

Lu Zizheng felt wronged and protested, “Mom, you’re biased. From the beginning until now, it’s always been her bullying me, you’ve never seen her true face!”

Lu Zizheng felt that over the years, Jiang Huaixi had always been evolving, slowly turning into the shape that moved her heart. The Jiang Huaixi she initially met was utterly flamboyant, domineering, and inexplicably infuriating.

When she woke up from an illness during her freshman year in the hospital, Jiang Huaixi was already gone, and Lu Zizheng was not surprised. She was just pondering how to repay this favor.

During the large class in the afternoon, Lu Zizheng specifically scanned the entire classroom but didn’t see Jiang Huaixi. She felt somewhat relieved; meeting her again while still figuring out how to repay her would have been somewhat awkward.

However, this relief did not last long. Jiang Huaixi appeared before her in an astonishingly flamboyant manner. Just after class ended in the afternoon, as Lu Zizheng was exiting the school building, she saw Jiang Huaixi’s eye-catching Lamborghini parked by the roadside. She paused her steps; given their unpleasant first encounter, she instinctively felt nothing good would happen this time either.

Sure enough, Jiang Huaixi pushed open the car door, got out, furrowed her brows, and pursed her lips, walking straight towards her.

Lu Zizheng’s first reaction was to turn around and head back to the college, which is indeed what she did.

However, just after taking a few steps back, Lu Zizheng felt her arm being tightly gripped. Jiang Huaixi’s cold voice rang out from behind: “Come with me.”

It was during the period when classes were changing, and people were coming and going. Lu Zizheng felt that everyone slowed their pace, looking at them with interest. What Lu Zizheng hated most was being in such a situation, yet Jiang Huaixi repeatedly challenged her limits. Her face darkened, and she turned her head and said coldly to Jiang Huaixi, “Let go.”

Jiang Huaixi acted as if she hadn’t heard, tugging slightly at her arm and frowning, “If I let go, will you come with me?”

The classmates around them began to brazenly stop, gradually looking as though they were about to encircle them. Lu Zizheng felt extremely embarrassed. Wasn’t the gossip from the last library incident enough for her? Continuing this scene with Jiang Huaixi, who knew what it would turn into by tomorrow? Lu Zizheng’s brows were so furrowed they nearly formed a knot, and after a heavy sigh, she reluctantly compromised. She followed Jiang Huaixi out of the college and got into her car.

On the way, Lu Zizheng rubbed her forehead, feeling somewhat headachy, and asked Jiang Huaixi, “Where are you taking me? What are you planning to do?”

Jiang Huaixi just glanced at her faintly and retorted, “Why ask so many questions? With your looks, even if I kidnapped you, it’d be hard to sell you off. What’s there to worry about?”

Lu Zizheng became frustrated. It wasn’t that Jiang Huaixi couldn’t understand people; she just didn’t know how to talk like one. Every time she spoke, it was like she aimed to choke her. All these years, Lu Zizheng had been extremely careful in her interactions, never engaging in arguments. How could she possibly out-talk Jiang Huaixi? Annoyed to the extreme, she could only choose to fall silent and ignore her.

The car seemed to drive into a residential area, and Lu Zizheng recognized it as the school’s faculty apartments. Jiang Huaixi stopped the car, and while opening the car door, naturally instructed her, “Get out.”

Lu Zizheng remained seated, not moving. Jiang Huaixi raised an eyebrow and coldly said, “Or do you want to be gawked at again here?”

Lu Zizheng’s gaze was so cold it could freeze someone to death. She glared frostily at Jiang Huaixi, but Jiang Huaixi remained unfazed, her expression indifferent. Ultimately, Lu Zizheng admitted defeat, pushed the door open forcefully, got out of the car, and then slammed it shut with a loud, startling bang.

However, a faint smile appeared on Jiang Huaixi’s lips; she preferred this furious version of Lu Zizheng to the flat, lifeless mask she usually wore. Jiang turned, casually pressed the car key to lock the vehicle, and began walking ahead of Lu Zizheng with a leisurely stride.

“Keep up.”

LP: Re-translated on August 06, 2024

1. “Without taking off your clothes” is a phrase that, while sounding literal and perhaps confusing in English, metaphorically means to come and help immediately or continuously without even taking the time for personal comfort or change.