Drifting on a String - Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Chen Piaopiao's first university exam week was, in a word, head-spinning.
She often thought that this must be where the university began its trial-by-fire for future members of society. For those not so good at self-discipline, the psychological trend easily shifted from "I have to get a high score" to "just passing is fine," drying out their ambitious selves until they became salted fish just lying flat.
Some students pulled several all-nighters to get through their exams, then slept like the dead afterward. When they finally woke up, they had already forgotten what their next exam was.
Chen Piaopiao's spirits were still holding up, but with only two exams left, she began to feel a sense of reluctance.
She had promised her Grandma she would go back as soon as her exams were over. At the time, she hadn't considered that going home meant being separated from Tao Jin for a while.
The inevitable always comes. Walking out of the exam hall, she stuffed her pen into the pocket of her down jacket and kicked at the snow on her way back. Then she sent Tao Jin a WeChat message: "I'm done."
Tao Jin happened to finish that morning as well, so they went out for Haidilao. Tao Jin asked for Chen Piaopiao's flight details, saying she would adjust her own time for going home so she could take her to the airport.
That night, Tao Jin went back to her family's home again, as there was a family gathering the next day.
Thinking about her upcoming winter break, Chen Piaopiao decided to work one last shift at the Whale Bar before the new year. She didn't tell Le Chu in advance this time, but Le Chu wasn't the least bit surprised. She just told her to go change and sat at the bar, watching as she expertly arranged the aromatherapy lamps on the tables.
"That gift of yours, did you give it away?" Le Chu asked.
"No, I lost it."
"Ah, oh…" Seeing that she didn't look particularly sad, Le Chu gave a perfunctory reply.
"Are you about to head home for the New Year?" she asked again.
"Yeah. Will you still be open during the holiday?" Chen Piaopiao picked up a scrap of paper from the floor and threw it in the trash.
Le Chu leaned against the bar. Business had been getting worse and worse since winter set in. Beicheng was cold in the winter, and the alleyways were even colder. No one liked to go out at night. There were bustling nightclubs, of course, but those were high-energy places, different from a quiet bar like this where you could have a drink and listen to some live music.
But if she didn't stay open, she had nowhere else to go.
Le Chu flicked a lighter back and forth in her hand, the lid clicking open and shut. "We'll see."
After midnight, two tables of customers came and went. Then, Li Yu arrived.
She sat in a corner of the bar. Le Chu didn't chase her out, perhaps because business was truly dismal.
"There's a minimum charge, you know. 698," she said, snapping her fingers at Li Yu.
Li Yu met her gaze calmly. "Only the booths upstairs have a minimum charge."
"I just set it. Is that a problem?" Le Chu pointed toward the door. "That folding stool by the wall doesn't have a minimum charge. Be my guest."
Chen Piaopiao walked over with a menu. Li Yu tucked her hair behind her ear and ordered Le Chu's usual, Black Label. She ordered enough for twenty glasses, then closed the menu. "You don't have to serve them. Just keep them on a tab."
Le Chu glanced at her. "You're not drinking?"
"I've resigned. I'm going home for the New Year," Li Yu said. "I'll probably be gone for twenty days. One glass a day, my treat."
Le Chu's eyelid twitched. "Like I'm not taking a holiday too? We'll be closed."
Li Yu lowered her head and smiled. "That's good then."
The way she said it, it was as if she was worried Le Chu would be here all alone during the New Year, but also as if she didn't mean that at all.
For the first time, Le Chu felt like she'd been hooked by a plain-looking carp.
She turned her head away and continued to play with the lighter. The flame danced across her face, so vibrant she looked like a phantom. Meanwhile, Li Yu sat by the window, cradling a cup of hot tea, her gaze following the whale swimming back and forth by the entrance.
Their eyes never met, yet they serendipitously kept each other company for half the night.
At two in the morning, the clattering sound of a rolling shutter door echoed from the alley as the late-night barbecue stand at the entrance closed up. Le Chu suddenly stood up and said, "Do we still have those big spinners we bought last year? Let's set them off."
Mu Xing was busy fussing with her hair in front of a mirror. "Probably. In the storage room. Go look."
Le Chu scoffed. It was like she'd invited a living Buddha. But she didn't say anything, just strode toward the back on her long legs.
Seeing that there were no more customers, Chen Piaopiao went upstairs to clean. When she came down a dozen minutes later, she saw Le Chu crouching in the alley by the entrance, fiddling with some fireworks. Le Chu caught sight of her and waved her over. "Come on. You're going home, so we'll set off these big spinners as a send-off for you."
It was a strangely phrased invitation. Chen Piaopiao put on her coat and said, "Aren't fireworks banned within the Fifth Ring Road?"
"It's the middle of the night. Not even a dog would show up. Who's gonna know?" Le Chu said nonchalantly.
Chen Piaopiao listened as Le Chu implicitly compared herself and her customers to something less than a dog.
She huddled into a ball and sat on the doorstep. Le Chu crouched down to find the fuse, then said with her back to her, "You should call Mu Xing and the others out too. It's not often we get to do this."
Besides Mu Xing, the only other person in the bar was Li Yu. If she had only meant Mu Xing, she wouldn't have used the plural "them."
So Chen Piaopiao called both Mu Xing and Li Yu out. The three of them sat by the bar's entrance and watched Le Chu set off the fireworks.
Amidst the sizzling of the fuse, Le Chu stood up, stuck her hands in her pockets, and moved to the side. The small firework on the ground spun in a circle, sparks flying in a flurry and making a whizzing sound in the alley.
It died out in less than twenty seconds, leaving only the smell of sulfur in the air, mingling with the dampness of the accumulated snow.
The second one didn't light; it seemed to be a dud. Le Chu lit the remaining three or four in one go, then retreated into the shadows to watch.
This time, she hid by the wall, having swapped places with Li Yu.
After they were all finished, Le Chu smiled and leaned against the wall, asking Chen Piaopiao, "Wasn't that pretty?"
"It was alright."
"You must set off fireworks for New Year's back in your hometown, right?"
"They're not allowed anymore there either."
Le Chu seemed even happier. "Then it's like we got to see our New Year's fireworks ahead of time."
Chen Piaopiao didn't spoil her mood by pointing out that her little fireworks weren't much of a spectacle. Because she saw Le Chu glance at Li Yu before casually lowering her gaze.
Perhaps this firework show, and these questions, weren't meant for her.
As they were closing up, Le Chu kicked the rolling shutter with her leather boot and asked Chen Piaopiao, "Are you coming back after the New Year?"
Of course Chen Piaopiao was coming back—back to Beicheng for school.
So she didn't answer, and heard Le Chu add, "That's just a pleasantry. It's like I told you before, just let me know in advance if you want to come."
"Okay." Chen Piaopiao thought for a moment, then said to her, Mu Xing, and Li Yu, "See you next year."
"See you next year."
Four young people of different ages and personalities, with different pasts and futures, watched an illegal firework display and then went their separate ways in the alley.
There is a certain order to the gatherings and partings in life. For instance, the roar of a plane's engines marked her arrival in Beicheng, and it marked her departure as well.
Once again, Tao Jin and Chen Piaopiao took the airport express to Terminal 3. This time, it was to send Chen Piaopiao back to Xindu.
They were loath to part, clinging to each other like two inseparable fish. They held hands and leaned on each other on the subway, and they held hands and leaned on each other in the airport. Unwilling to go through security so soon, Chen Piaopiao found a coffee shop where they sat on the same side of a sofa, holding hands, squeezing and kneading them over and over.
Chen Piaopiao didn't realize it then, but she was a little scared. There were just too many people at the airport, a microcosm of the great tide of the era. It felt as if one careless moment could sweep them apart forever.
In her youth, she classified this faint anxiety as the sadness of parting. It was like a dense thicket of thorns, a sharp reminder to Chen Piaopiao that she had already come to rely on Tao Jin to this extent.
How much did she not want to leave her? She wished she would receive a text at that very moment announcing that her flight had been canceled due to extreme weather.
Tao Jin checked the time and stacked her boarding pass and ID card neatly. "Let's go, time to get through security."
"There are still forty minutes."
"Let's go a bit early, the line is pretty long."
Chen Piaopiao's brow furrowed. She glanced at her half-finished coffee. "Are you that eager for me to go in?"
She said it very quietly, but the unfamiliar tone made Tao Jin pause.
Soon, Tao Jin smiled again, just as she had in the car on the way to Nanli. Her eyes seemed to say—Chen Piaopiao, are you pouting?
She loved it when Chen Piaopiao pouted at her. In this world, Chen Piaopiao only acted that way with two people.
Tao Jin reached out to tidy Chen Piaopiao's hair, then hugged her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. She lowered her head and asked softly, "Then can you not go?"
"This is the first time I've ever hated the New Year," she said in a low voice.
Chen Piaopiao lifted her soft eyelids to look at her. It was also the first time she had ever heard the gentle, spring-breeze-like Tao Jin say the word "hate."
The little fox was satisfied. Love, in the end, was a game of give and take. If the other person was just as deeply invested, then you could feel a little more at ease.
She snuggled against Tao Jin and said slowly, "While I'm at home, every time I send you a WeChat message, you have to reply to me right away, okay?"
"Okay."
"And when you have time, give me a call."
"Okay."
"If you go out, let me know?"
"Okay."
"Or maybe you just shouldn't go out so much?"
Tao Jin's eyes curved into a smile. "Okay."
"Sigh, you're agreeing too readily." The fox's ears drooped. It didn't feel very sincere.
Tao Jin smiled and tickled her palm, then picked up her bag and boarding pass to walk her to the security checkpoint.
The queue moved slowly. This time, she was really running out of time. Chen Piaopiao sighed and reluctantly let go of Tao Jin's hand, slinging her bag over her shoulder and turning around.
She had just taken a step when the strap of her backpack was gently pulled. She turned back. Tao Jin was looking at her quietly.
She pursed her lips three or four times before she finally spoke. "Piaopiao."
"Hm?"
She looked so solemn that Chen Piaopiao couldn't help but feel nervous, thinking she might have forgotten something.
Tao Jin looked earnestly into her eyes. "Will you miss me a lot?"
Her tone held a hint of unease, something extremely rare for Tao Jin.
Chen Piaopiao's gaze trembled. So, emotions spared no one. So, separation anxiety could also appear in the ever-composed Tao Jin.
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